FG#5 – Interior Freedom episode 2- Fountains of Grace: reflections on contemporary spiritual classics with Donna Garrett

Join host Donna Garrett, with Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC, as they discuss the spiritual classic “Interior Freedom” by Fr.  Jacques Philippe  a priest of  Communaute des Beatitudes, an international association of the faithful of Pontifical Right founded in France in 1973.  The members of the Community, which has a contemplative vocation based on Carmelite spirituality, are actively engaged in the service of the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel.

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Discussed in this episode, among other topics,  from “Interior Freedom” page 81

“One of the essential conditions of interior freedom is the ability to live in the present moment. For one thing, it is only then that we can exercise freedom. We have no hold on the past— we can’t change the smallest bit of it. People sometimes try to relive the past events considered failures, (I should have done this.. I should have said that…”) The only free act we can make in regard to the past is to accept it just as it was and leave it trustingly in God’s hands,

We have very little hold on the future either. Despite all our foresight, plans and promises it takes very little to change everything completely. We can’t program life in advance, but can only receive it moment by moment.

All we have is the present moment. Here is the only place where we can make free acts. Only in the present moment are we truly in contact with reality.”

You can find “Interior Freedom” here

 

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Click here for the complete text and audio for the Mary, Untier of Knots Novena

Sign of the Cross
Act of Contrition

Ninth day:

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Bible reading:

« 14 All of these together gave themselves to constant prayer. With them were some women and also Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers…» and  »when the day of Pentecost arrived, all were filled with the Holy Spirit.» (Acts 1:14 and 2:1-4)

Brief Reflection:

Our Father sends the Holy Spirit on the feast of Pentecost , that will feed us in our faith. This is the same faith that with Mary’s maternal help, will remove the bonds that keep us prisoners. With the light of the Holy Spirit we see in meridian clarity which of our anguishes had our spirit trapped. The guidance of Saint Michael the Archangel has always been certain,  Saint Gabriel the Archangel will announce my freedom and Saint Michael the Archangel, will protect me from any attack. The Evil one (the serpent), overpowered by the presence of Mary, lies at her feet, made into a useless knot, unable to touch us.

( Brief meditation: meditate with one decade of the Holy Rosary: One Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, One Glory be and the Prayer to “The Virgin Mary untier of Knots”)

Click here for the complete text and audio for the Mary, Untier of Knots Novena

Sign of the Cross
Act of Contrition

Eighth day:

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Bible reading:

« 26 When Jesus saw his Mother, and the disciple whom he loved, he said to his Mother, “Woman, there is your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “There is your mother.” And from that moment the disciple took her to his own home. » (John 19, 26-27)

Brief Reflection:

At the moment Jesús went to the Father, he leaves us in the care of his Mother. It is the greatest legacy that Jesús left to Our Virgin Mary, and when he points out to the disciple he loves, he gives her custody of the whole humanity. She will be our Advocate, Helper, Benefac-tress, and Mediatrix. The handmaid of the Lord, will grant us freedom through her intercesión, she will untie the final knots that make us prisoners.

( Brief meditation: meditate with one decade of the Holy Rosary: One Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, One Glory be and the Prayer to “The Virgin Mary untier of Knots”)

O Key of David,

O royal Power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of Heaven:

Come, break down the prison walls of death for those

who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death;

and lead your captive people into freedom.

Key of David, O royal Power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of Heaven: Come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom.

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Isaiah had prophesied, AI will place the Key of the House of David on His shoulder; when he opens, no one will shut, when he shuts, no one will open.” (22:22), and “His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, from David’s throne, and over His kingdom, which he confirms and sustains by judgment and justice, both now and forever.” (9:6).

For greater text and musical credit visit
the  Discerning Hearts O Antiphon page

Below a Vatican Radio translation of the Holy Father’s general audience catechesis

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Last Wednesday we reflected on the desire for God that the human being carries deeply within himself. Today I would like to continue and deepen this aspect meditating briefly on some paths to knowing God, remembering, however, that God’s initiative always precedes any action of man, and even in the journey towards Him, it is He who first enlightens us, guides us and leads us, always respecting our freedom. And it is always He who allows us enter into his intimacy, revealing and gifting Himself us the grace to be able to welcome this revelation in faith. Let us never forget the experience of St. Augustine: it is not we who seek or possess the Truth, but the Truth that seeks us out and posses us.

However, there are paths that can open the human heart to knowledge of God’, there are signs that lead to Him. Of course, often we are in danger of being dazzled by the glitter of worldliness, which make us less able to travel these paths or to read those signs. However, God does not tire to look for us, He is faithful to the humanity He created and redeemed, He remains close to our lives, because He loves us. And ‘this a certainty that must accompany us each and every day, even if certain widespread mentalities make it increasingly difficult for the Church and the Christian to communicate the joy of the Gospel to all creatures and all lead to an encounter with Jesus, the one Saviour of the world. This, however, is our mission, the mission of the Church and every believer must live it joyfully, feeling it to be his or her own, through a life truly animated by faith, marked by charity, service to God and to others, and capable of radiating hope. This mission shines above all in the holiness to which all are called.

Today difficulties and trials are not lacking for the faith, often poorly understood, challenged, rejected. St. Peter said to his Christians: “Always be ready to respond, but with gentleness and respect, to anyone who asks you for the hope that is in your hearts” (1 Pt 3:15). In the past, in the West, in a society that is considered Christian, faith was the environment in which we moved; the reference and adhesion to God were, for most people, part of everyday life. Rather, it was those who do not believe that had to justify their disbelief. In our world, the situation has changed and, increasingly, the believer must be able to account for the reasons of his faith. Blessed John Paul II, in the Encyclical Fides et Ratio, emphasized how faith is put to the test in these times, crossed by subtle and insidious forms of theoretical and practical atheism (cf. nn. 46-47). From the Enlightenment onwards, the criticism of religion has intensified, history has also been marked by the presence of atheistic systems, in which God was considered a mere projection of the human mind, an illusion, and the product of a society already distorted by alienation. The last century has seen a strong and growing secularism, in the name of the absolute autonomy of man, considered as a measure and artifice of reality, but depleted of his being created “in the image and likeness of God.” In our time there is a particularly dangerous phenomenon for the faith: there is in fact a form of atheism that we define, as ‘practical’, which does not deny the truths of faith or religious rituals, but simply considers them irrelevant to everyday existence, detached from life, useless. Often, then, people believe in God in a superficial way, but live “as if God did not exist” (etsi Deus non daretur). In the end, however, this way of life is even more destructive, because it leads to indifference towards faith and the question of God

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Lord Jesus Christ, You have destroyed the power of death and given the hope of eternal life in body and soul.

You granted your Mother a special place in your glory, and did not allow decay to touch her body.

As we rejoice in the Assumption of Mary, give to us a renewed confidence in the victory of
life over death.

You live and reign forever and ever.

Amen

 

Day 6

Mary, our dear Mother and mighty Queen, take and receive our poor hearts with all their freedom and desires, all the love and all the virtues and graces with which they may be adorned.

All we are and all we might be, all we have and hold in the order of nature as well as of grace, we have received from God through your loving intercession.

Help us dear Mother to surrender to God all that we have including our petitions.

(mention your request)

Our Lady and Queen, into your gentle hands, we entrust all, that it may be returned to its noble origin.

O Queen Assumed into Heaven, pray for us.

Amen.

Click here for the complete text and audio for the Mary, Untier of Knots Novena

Sign of the Cross
Act of Contrition

Seventh day:

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Bible reading:

“ It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.”(Luke 23, 44)

Brief Reflection:

The Father’s will is about to be acomplished; Our Lord Jesus Christ will die on the cross for our salvation, in the promise of his Resurrection. From the darkness the light will shine to illumine us, freedom from darkness. We already see our problems with more clarity. Our ties loosen, in the measure in which  they conform to the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. At this time we are closer to his Mother, the Virgin Mary.

( Brief meditation: meditate with one decade of the Holy Rosary: One Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, One Glory be and the Prayer to “The Virgin Mary untier of Knots”)

The Second Thursday in Ordinary Time – from the Gospel of Mark the full reading and reflection

“All who had diseases pressed upon Jesus to touch him”

an excerpt from today’s reflection by Don Schwager:

Is there anything holding you back from giving yourself unreservedly to God? Jesus offered freedom to everyone who sought him out. Wherever Jesus went the people came to him because they had heard all the things he did. They were hungry for God and desired healing from their afflictions. In faith they pressed upon Jesus to touch him. As they did so power came from Jesus and they were healed. Even demons trembled in the presence of Jesus and acknowledged his true identity: You are the Son of God. When you hear God’s word and consider all that Jesus did, how do you respond? With doubt or with expectant faith? With skepticism or with confident expectation? Ask the Lord to increase your faith in his saving power and grace.

“Lord Jesus Christ, you are the Son of God and the Savior of the world. Inflame my heart with a burning love for you and with an expectant faith in your saving power. Set me free from all that hinders me from drawing closer to you.”

for the full reflection visit : Daily Reading and Meditation

Episode 4 – Regnum Novum: Bringing forth the New Evangelization through Catholic Social Teaching with Omar Guiterrez – Value 4 Truth, Freedom, Justice, and Love part 1 “Truth and Freedom”

Discerning Hearts is blessed to present Omar F. A. Guiterrez, M.A. , Special Assistant to Archbishop George Lucas of the Archdiocese of Omaha, in a groundbreaking series which breaks open the heart of Catholic Social Doctrine.

We encourage you to visit “Regnum Novum – A New Kingdom: A Revolution” Omar Guiterrez’s blog site

We live at a very special time. The confluence of many things has brought forth the clear need to be able to articulate the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church in a way that is accessible and applicable. This is not to be an effort where high-minded theories are to be bandied about. Rather, this is a time of opportunity wherein we can apply the Social Doctrine to the concrete so as to bring about a New Kingdom, a Revolution. – Omar G. from Regnum Novum

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From episode … 4. Truth, Freedom, Justice, and Love part 1 “Truth and Freedom”

These are the four values of the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church as they’re enumerated in the Compendium and as they were laid out by, again, Blessed Pope John XXIII in Mater et magistra and Pacem in terris. Without these values, the work of social justice becomes an albatross around our necks. It pulls us down, threatening to poison all the work we do, no matter how well intentioned.

When charity lacks truth, as Pope Benedict XVI states, it can be filled with every whim and agenda and becomes the opposite of itself. Truth is the truth of the fundamental dignity of the human person, a dignity we can only fully appreciate in the encounter with Christ.

A freedom that requires self-destruction is no freedom at all. Authentic freedom is the ability to do what is good, but this requires that we know the truth about the good.

(Justice and Love covered in proceeding episodes)

Also visit Omar’s “Discerning Hearts” page Catholic Social Teaching 101