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Through prayer, penance, and by offering up our sufferings in union with Christ, we bring powerful help to those trapped in sin
When we present our offerings to Our Blessed Lady, for her to perfect them before we approach the Lord, we are like a child who checks a gift with her mother, before she approaches a beloved father with a birthday present.
In the early Church in Rome, faithful Christians did not offer incense to the Emperor, who was widely regarded as a God. They refused to do so. They honoured Christ as God - as we do today. And we Christians today should avoid participating in the worship of non-Christian religions.
In the early Church in Rome, faithful Christians did not offer incense to the Emperor, who was widely regarded as a God. They refused to do so. They honoured Christ as God - as we do today. And we Christians today should avoid participating in the worship of non-Christian religions.
Our prayers, with the prayers of the Saints (whose intercession we seek), rise up like incense to Heaven, like a fragrant offering which is acceptable to Him.
The prayers of the Saints rise up to join the sacrificial prayer of Christ, as it rose from the Cross and rises still from Christ Who offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which is Calvary's offering, re-presented.
The prayers of the Saints, offered for needy souls, are like a fragrant offering to God. As they rise to Heaven, they can penetrate even those hearts which are locked 'from the inside', and persuade sinners to open their hearts to God.
After the Consecration, we can be certain that Christ is Present amongst us: Christ Who died on the Cross, praying for sinners, and Who is Present now, praying for us in our day, and offering the same sacrifice.
Christ asked me to place two pictures side by side in a new published card, so that people can see that the prayer He offers, as our High-Priest, from the sanctuary at Mass, is the very same sacrificial prayer and offering that He once offered from the Cross.
Christ asked me to forget about my little faults, and to be joyful at the wonderful company of the Saints. They gather here with us, at Mass, to praise the Father through Christ, at the offering of the Holy Sacrifice.
As we gather in church for Mass, we can be sure that Christ Himself will be with us, offering worthy praise to the Father from our sanctuary, in the presence of all the Saints and Angels. And we unite our prayers with His.
Christ said that by offering up our sufferings in union with Him, in intercession for others, we can (by His grace) save people from committing mortal sin, or save sinners who are dying from falling unrepentant into Hell.
Just as a dying sinner can (by God's grace) be saved from Hell by the visit of a charitable person, such as a nurse, for example, who pauses to pray with him, so sinners can be held back from committing mortal sin if we pause to 'offer up' our sufferings in intercession.
Christ said that by offering up our sufferings in union with Him, in intercession for others, we can (by His grace) save people from committing mortal sin, or save sinners who are dying from falling unrepentant into Hell.
As soon as I asked the Saints and Angels for their help, it was as if they surrounded me in a huge crowd, to support me, as I knelt before the Father's throne, offering Him my evening praise. Truly, the Lord assured me, I have an army of Heavenly friends.
In deliberate steps (Christ explained), He had led me slowly towards a recognition of the reverence and beauty associated with the Traditional way of offering the Holy Sacrifice, and the customary way, for women, of veiling their hair in His Presence, during the Sacred Liturgy.
We can be helped to bear painful memories if we notice the spiritual growth that was the result of accepting and offering up those trials in union with Christ - even those caused by our own foolishness. All seems disastrous when a flower bud splits open; but only by that 'injury' can a beautiful flower emerge.
Truly, only by His Death and Resurrection did Christ defeat sin and death; and that saving work is made present now, in what we call a sacramental manner. Hidden under the appearance of bread and wine, Jesus Christ is bodily Present with us, offering His once-for-all Sacrifice to the Father, in the Spirit.
Even as we pray to Christ, offering our lives in His service and praying for help in our need, we can be certain that He is holding us, and all our concerns, close to His heart. Indeed, He is holding us in existence; and all that concerns us - life, family, work, friends, prayer, struggles, church - is of concern to Him too.
Children today marvel at stories of wizards, and secret formulas; but a greater marvel is the transformation of a weak person into a Saint, by the grace of Christ. Our 'formula' is the morning offering. Our heroism is to give glory to God not to ourselves, and the Mystery we speak of is not for a select few. Everyone is invited to enter the Mystery which is God.
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