LISS Day 33

The Eucharist and Reconciliation

John 6:53-56 and James 5:16

"O Lord, the depths of man's conscience lie bare before your eyes. Could anything of mine remain hidden from you, even if I refused to confess it? I should only be shielding my eyes from seeing you, not hiding myself from you. But now that I have the evidence of my own misery to prove to me how displeasing I am to myself, you are my light and my joy. It is you whom I love and desire, so that I am ashamed of myself and cast myself aside and choose you instead, and I please neither you nor myself except in you.
So, O Lord, all that I am is laid bare before you. I have declared how it profits me to confess to you. And I make my confession, not in words and sounds made by the tongue alone, but with the voice of my soul and in my thoughts which cry aloud to you. Your ear can hear them. For when I am sinful, if I am displeased with myself, this is a confession that I make to you and when I am good, if I do not claim the merit for myself, this too is confession. For you, O Lord, give your benediction to the just, but first you make a just man of the sinner. And so my confession is made both silently in your sight, my God, and aloud as well, because even though my tongue utters no sound, my heart cries to you. For whatever good I may speak to men you have heard it before in my heart, and whatever good you hear in my heart, you have first spoken to me yourself." [ St. Augustine, Book X, 2.]

I'm sure that by now, you've heard lots of misunderstandings that the Catholic Church approves of the iPhone Confession app. Now, firstly I must state that I do not own an iPhone... so I have not seen or tried the app on the iPhone myself. My engagement with it is redundant. The first I'd heard about the app was on twitter, but didn't really investigate... until I overheard something on TV that immediately caught my attention.
My grandmother watches a lot of rubbish on TV. One of these things is the Loose Women chat show on ITV.  I mostly ignore what is on the show, except one day last week, I could not ignore what was going on in the show because these 'loose women' (whatever that is meant to mean) were talking about confessions. This is a kind of summary of their discussions:
1. "With this app you can confess directly to God without the need of going through a priest."
2. "Offloading your own guilt onto someone else (a friend) is selfish!"
3. "If you had an affair with someone and got away with it, why would you want to upset your partner by confessing?"
4. "You should take responsibility of your own actions and live with it (I guess with this they meant the guilt)."

Wow. And I mean... wow. The thoughts of these women sadden me, and the women themselves are in need of intercessory prayer. They spoke with very wordly minds, and no traceable attempt to understand what this special sacrament of confession is all about. Remember that I watched this conversation on TV before I investigated this app. So they lead me to believe that this app gives you absolution for your sins. I was shocked, because they lead me to believe that using this app, one would no longer need to go through a priest to be forgiven, or even to confess in the first place, and that you pretty much just key it into the phone for everyone to see.
It is not my place to judge, so I will only say a couple of things about points 2-4 that the loose women made. Jesus didn't sacrifice himself on a cross so that we could feel that offloading our guilt onto Him would be selfish! He became Incarnate to SAVE us from that guilt! I don't think that loving and trusting in our Lord Jesus is selfish... in fact, it is a self-less thing to do as St. Augustine does; 'cast ourselves aside and choose God instead'.

That same day, @KoreUK messaged me a link to someone's argument which claims that the Catholic Church approves of the 'confession app', which he/she even fails to prove. Follow the link, and you will read that the Catholic Church neither approves or disapproves, but says it is a good tool for examining the conscience before a confession is made. It also refers back to Pope Benedict XVI's World Day of Communication message last month where PBXVI says that although we should embrace the digital world in order to communicate the Gospel message, he does also say that this medium cannot replace personal and human relationships. In this BBC report on the confession app, a radio interview with the developer explains that the app was created to help Catholics PREPARE for the sacrament of Reconciliation. So for example, the examination of conscience (which I always need help with, and use a sheet of printed paper for this) would help people to reflect on many sins since their last confession. The app also takes the user through the sacrament that they will receive when they are in the confessional, for example what to say when you enter, the act of contrition, and maybe some points that happen in between. It is not intended to become a substitute for the sacrament according to the interview! I do not believe that the app would claim or pretend to absolve you from sin, but there is a great danger that someone with little faith (like a lapsed Catholic) who perhaps does not fully understand or grasp the sanctity of this sacrament may think that the app is good enough at helping them confess directly to God, therefore bypassing the need to confess to a priest.

May I just bring you back to James 5:16. "The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective". At the last talk, Sudhir emphasised the need to sustain ourselves in prayer. We are made up of body, soul and spirit. So where we might be so used to thinking our spirit might be the only part of us that needs sustenance in prayer, that is indeed not true. Our sinful souls are also in need of prayer, meaning everyone else is also in need of prayer for their sinful souls. 'For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world'. We must love one another as we love ourselves. So we do unto others as we do unto ourselves too... including praying for each others' sins. Replace the word 'me' with 'us', 'my' with 'our', 'I' with 'we', and pray with me...

Psalm 51:1-17
Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love;
according to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,
and done that which is evil in thy sight,
so that thou art justified in thy sentence
and blameless in thy judgment.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me,
and I shall be whiter than snow.
Fill me with joy and gladness;
let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice.
Hide thy face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence,
and take not thy holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of thy salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors thy ways,
and sinners will return to thee.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness,
O God, thou God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of thy deliverance.
O Lord, open thou my lips,
and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
For thou hast no delight in sacrifice;
were I to give a burnt offering, thou wouldst not be pleased.
The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

LISS Day 23

Citizens of Heaven

Reflections: Ephesians 2:19-20 & Colossians 3:1-4

We are all called to be holy - to know and share the Love that the saints knew - to follow the paths that Jesus' disciples trod. I do not say this lightly - and I meant it in both a spiritual and literal sense. Nobody could have ever prepared me for the overwhelming immersion of Love, Peace, Light, Happiness, Goodness, Grace, and Beauty flooding straight to a deep place within me that I never knew existed before this experience. I simply walked El Camino for a plenary indulgence for Grandaddy, who, rest his soul, will be 1 year old in his new life away from human existence... but that is where the first phase of my conversion happened. This was the way of St. James - one of the many 'ways to holiness'. All of a sudden, through my experience, I came to understand the true value of Life, and of Love... and Church teachings made so much sense to me, when they hadn't done before. There is a new dimension to me that is slightly outside my being, but still a very connected part of me. Why would God choose someone so lowly like me to have this most awesome experience? I do not know... I am just like you. I feel like a whole new person than I was before the summer... but I am nobody special. We are all equal. We are the same, and we are all loved by God equally, immensely, immeasurably. Perhaps what makes a difference is that I completely surrendered myself to Him on El Camino. But I tell you, God gifted us all with bodies, souls and spirits to come to know His Love - He did not just gift the converted with this... no! He gifted every single one of us with a great capacity to become Citizens of Heaven, and it helps to open our hearts to this citizenship.

God the Father, in Jesus Christ His Son, and through the Holy spirit invites us all to enlightenment. I encourage everybody to pray often - because it is in prayer that you are no longer 'strangers and aliens', but are instead, 'setting your mind on things that are above'; joined in communion with the saints and angels of heaven - adoring, loving and acknowledging the humble King, our Lord Jesus Christ. If you feel like a hypocrite for praying, please don't. God wants you to connect with Him, even if all you have to say doesn't seem very nice - HE LOVES YOU MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW IN THIS LIFE! And just that you would give Him that time of day is the first small step in the right direction! Give God a chance to set you free... for nothing on this earth ever could. We are restless until we rest in God, as St. Augustine says. Also, give it time. God doesn't always work straight away! It could take days, months, years, even decades. So keep your petitions, intentions, thanksgivings in daily prayer. Focus your mind, and seek things that are above. "Do not model your behaviour on the contemporary world, but let the renewing of your minds transform you, so that you may discern for yourselves what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and mature." [Romans 12:2]. Let Christ reveal Himself to you, and the love you know will be transformed into the sacrificial Love of Christ. Drink of His life-giving blood and water, and you will never go thirsty again, except when you do not nourish yourself with the Sacraments and prayer.

There is no question about our citizenship being a free ride into Heaven. It is not. When the Love of God hits you, it becomes your greatest desire to do everything in your power to return that Love. When you falter, even unintentionally, you desire to pick yourself up, and begin again, because in some sense, you are willing to make that sacrifice. I faltered yesterday - I did not attend Mass - which is the key part of First Friday Devotions. It wasn't my intention to miss Mass, but I was too lazy to check my devotional, on this criteria... so my 5th Friday Devotions were not complete. I am so sorry to Jesus, that in my laziness, I did not fulfill my promise to devote heart and soul to His Sacred Heart, and that instead I prioritised myself above receiving His Body in Holy Communion. So I begin my First Friday Devotions again. I don't really know if God cares whether I falter 1 time, or 100,000 times; as long as I always return to Him - most especially through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, there is hope for me. At least that is how I see it.


Humble Lord of Mercy and Love, you forgive me my sins yet again. How much more can you bear my sinfulness? With my human patience, I would already be tired and irritated of me... but You are so good, so perfect, and so wonderful - if only the whole world knew what they were created to receive and to give! You took away my sins, and washed me clean so that I may love you freely again. The words "You let yourself get hurt" do not eat into my soul as they did this morning when I awoke because of them. You have granted me this über-tiny mini-miracle. I beg of you to heal the hurt of others too, and bless them with fresh hearts with which they may begin again to love with, so that upon the our hour of death, you may welcome us with arms open wide, as citizens of your Kingdom. Pour in me, Lord, a stronger spirituality, and by Your Will, plant in me a desire to pray more, striving always to reveal You to others.

P.S. I always wondered where in the Bible the reference to Jesus being seated at the right hand of God was. When I first heard this as a child, I was looking at Jesus on the Cross. I have been sitting in the left side of the congregation at Masses ever since!!! Silly... I know! But this is where I got it from!

LISS Day 3

God wants my heart

HE doesn't just want MY heart, he wants ALL our hearts! Very much! In Life in the Spirit's 3rd day of reflection, I am struck by this particular passage:

"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, says the LORD." Jeremiah 29:12-14

It's a little bit funny this, because on the way home in Las' car on Thursday night, I was saying that it might not be possible to find the Lord if you FORCE it, and that the Lord would instead find you if you open yourself to Him. In essence, what I was saying is that 'as long as we open ourselves to Him, God might show us his Light and Love'. But according to The Word, which IS Truth, and IS God ("In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." John 1:1-2.), He invites us to seek Him, to find Him. With all our hearts, we are invited to actively find Him, not just sit passively with an open heart. The passage just above has put me back in my place, and shown me how little wisdom I have. I can see that John the Apostle and I are going to have a fantastic relationship throughout my time with LISS. I always wondered whose Gospel (witness of Christ) would be the one to whom I would feel closest to in my journey of faith, and I now realise it is John's, because everything he proclaims, my heart absorbs and rejoices with such fervent fire! This is not to say that I don't love all the Gospels, but for sure, my favourite and dearest is John's.

St. John the Apostle, I beseech you to pray that I, and everyone taking part in the LISS programme,  search, seek and find God through His most divine Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, with all our hearts. You were so loved by our Lord, that He entrusted His Father's most favoured Lady, our Blessed Mother Mary, to your care, upon His dying breath. We thank you for the gift of your Gospel, so that we may come to know Christ in this special way of Scripture. Help us to seek Christ even more, through Eucharistic Adoration and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We ask this in the name of our Lord, Amen.

Invitation to Devotion

You may or may not be familiar with the Devotions on the Firsts. I know I wasn't... until my encounter with the Holy Trinity during my summer pilgrimages, when with all my body, mind and soul, I offered myself, sinner though I am, to the Will of God, begging His refuge; and to my wondrous surprise (understatement!), my empty heart was set alight with His love. It made me thirst to learn more about, and proclaim the Gospel truth, and become his servant in thought, word and deed, as well as becoming an everlasting witness to my faith, which I am to actively and publicly communicate. Through the Holy Spirit, God graciously planted in me a deep and growing desire for three things. I wish not to describe all these three things in this post - as it is not yet time for me to share with you my encounters during my pilgrimages. But I can tell you that the third one was a request for penance, reparation and a deeper devotion to our Heavenly Father through prayer, for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, which by my lowly self, am not worthy of, yet need beyond the bounds of my own human capacity.


I thought the only way I would be able to offer this penance and reparation was by concentrating harder during my standard daily prayers, the Rosary, etc., but I realise now, that those who intercede on our behalf want more than this. By God's will, I stumbled across a beautiful book in which the Blessed Virgin Mary explicitly promised to assist all those at the hour of death if we make reparation to her Immaculate Heart. More recently, I discovered the devotion which the Sacred Heart of Jesus requests on the First Friday of every month, for nine months. So here, I share with you what I have discovered about these things; what they are, and why we are called to do them. I would love to invite you to share my spiritual journey, as a young Catholic discovering more about the depths of God's love and my desire to live a life of holiness. 

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Today is an ultra special day. It is not only the first day of the month dedicated to The Most Holy Rosary, which means that like last year, I strive to pray my rosary whenever I can - but at least once a day. It is also the First Friday of the month...


First Friday Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus  
(source: http://www.fatimaprayers.com/currentnews/the-9-first-fridays-devotion.html)

The First Friday Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is based on a promise made by our Lord Jesus Chirst during an Apparition to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. This promise was implicitely approved by the Church in the 1920 canonization of St. Margaret Mary.

The 12 Promises are contained in a letter written in May, 1688, by St. Margaret Mary to Mother Saumaise:

"On a Friday during Holy Communion, [Our Lord] said these words [...], if I mistake not: I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that Its all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on nine first Fridays of the month consecutively, the grace of final repentance; they will not die under My displeasure or without receiving their Sacraments, My Divine Heart making Itself their assured refuge at the last moment."

The Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque:
1. "I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life."
2. "I will establish peace in their homes."
3. "I will comfort them in their afflictions."
4. "I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all in death."
5. "I will pour abundant blessings upon all their undertakings."
6. "Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy."
7. "Tepid souls shall grow fervent."
8. "Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection."
9. "I will bless every place where a picture of My Heart shall be set up and honored."
10. "I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts."
11. "Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be effaced."
12. "The all-powerful love of my heart will grant to all those who shall receive communion on the first Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure nor without receiving the sacraments; my heart shall be their assured refuge in their last hour."
The following First Friday devotions are advantageous in honoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus:

• - The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
• - Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
• - Act of Reparation
• - The Litany To The Sacred Heart of Jesus 

I want so badly to please our Lord Jesus Christ, and I'm inviting you to do the same alongside me - from wherever in the world you are. Over the next 9 months, I will share more with you real-life experiences relating to the 12 promises, and how this devotion is sure to change my life. Perhaps I could even help you with finding that 'picture of My Heart', or give you examples of how peace in my own family home has come as a result of my outpouring of this devotion. For any young Catholics in the London area, I'll be heading to the 19:00 First Friday Mass at the parish of Our Lady of Fatima in White City.

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Tomorrow is also an ultra special day. It is the first Saturday of the month of The Most Holy Rosary - a month of Our Lady.

Devotion of the Five First Saturdays to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
 (source: http://www.fatimaprayers.com/currentnews/five-first-saturdays.html)

On July 13th 1917, Our Lady of Fatima, after showing the three Fatima seers a vision of hell, she said

"You have seen hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my immaculate heart... I shall come to ask for... the Communion of reparation on the First Five Saturdays."

On December 10, 1925, Our Lady said to Sister Lucia (who was then one of the three children)

"Look, my daughter, at my heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful [Children of God] pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me with your prayers and sacrifices. I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for their salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me."

Why Five Saturdays?
Five first Saturdays of reparation were requested to atone for the five ways in which people offend the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
1. attacks upon Mary's Immaculate Conception
2. attacks against her Perpetual Virginity
3. attacks upon her Divine Maternity and the refusal to accept her as the Mother of all mankind
4. for those who try to publicly implant in children's hearts indifference, contempt and even hatred of this Immaculate Mother
5. for those who insult her directly in her sacred images.

Letter of Sister Lucia explaining this devotion:
1 November, 1927, letter to Doña Maria de Miranda, her godmother, Sister Lucia wrote:

"I don't know if you already know about the reparatory devotion of the five Saturdays to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. As it is still recent, I would like to inspire you to practice it, because it is requested by Our dear Heavenly Mother and Jesus has manifested a desire that it be practiced. Also, it seems to me that you would be fortunate, dear godmother, not only to know it and to give Jesus the consolation of practicing it, but also to make it known and embraced by many other persons.

"It consists in this: During five months on the first Saturday, to receive Jesus in Communion, recite a Rosary, keep Our Lady company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, and make a confession. The confession can be made a few days earlier, and if in this previous confession you have forgotten the (required) intention the following intention can be offered, provided that on the first Saturday one receives Holy Communion in a state of grace, with the intention of repairing for offences against the Most Holy Virgin and which afflict Her Immaculate Heart.

"It seems to me, my dear godmother, that we are fortunate to be able to give Our dear Heavenly Mother this proof of love, for we know that She desires it to be offered to Her. As for myself, I avow that I am never so happy as when first Saturday arrives. Isn't it true that our greatest happiness is to belong entirely to Jesus and Mary and to love Them and Them alone, without reserve? We see this so clearly in the lives of the saints...They were happy because they loved, and we, my dear godmother, we must seek to love as they did, not only to enjoy Jesus, which is the least important -- because if we do not enjoy Him here below, we will enjoy Him up above -- but to give Jesus and Mary the consolation for being loved...and that in exchange for this love they might be able to save many souls."

The following First Saturday devotions are helpful in honoring the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
1. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
2. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
3. Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary*
4. Act of Reparation
5. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary
6. The Sacrament of Reconciliation
*You may use any of the traditional forms or your own words in making the Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Everything in Mary leads toward her Son, Jesus the Christ. Everything in Mary lifts up our hearts to praise God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

And so, tomorrow, I intend to celebrate this, by seeking the grace to offer my devotion in the above ways, and to celebrate the life she so willingly brought to this world, by joining the 40 days for life group, who are currently praying and fasting for the conversion of those who work at abortion clinics, and to end abortion in London (and indeed the UK). The power of prayer is wondrous, ladies and gentlemen - for two days ago, the Marie Stopes abortion clinic (where they prayed outside) closed for the day. Imagine the power this set of devotions would have for the conversion of poor sinners, and the reparation of our own sins against the Blessed Virgin Mary's Immaculate Heart!!

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A Day of Rest and Social Time!

Although I strongly encourage fervent prayer, I know that I am but a human being, limited to the needs of the human mind and heart too - so I am going to want some social time (Christian socialite that I am)! What better way for me to do this, than with my fellow young Catholics at First Sunday Plus @ The Church Of The Immaculate Conception in Farm Street?! I've never been before, but know a bunch of friends that do go! Promoted in London by the British Jesuits, it's a great opportunity for young Catholics to practice their faith in an Ignatian context. Mass kicks off at 19:15 and we'll be hitting the pub afterwards ^_^ 

I pray this blogpost may somehow encourage some of you to become active in some form of regular devotion, to contemplate and reflect on the requests of our merciful Jesus and Blessed Virgin Mary, and/or to even meet me at one of my First Fridays and/or First Saturdays over the next 9 or 5 months respectively. I especially ask all readers of this post to say at least one prayer for me in my devotions. ^_^

God bless you!