Our Lady: Our Hope

When we come to Our Lady, we often don't recognize how much she is our hope. Karl Barth, a famous Protestant Theologian once correctly recognized that the central teaching of the Catholic Church is that on Our Lady. How so? Jesus of course came to save us and to die on the cross for our sins, but if we do not give our YES to Him, then all is for nothing. Jesus cannot save us if we do not give him permission or allow his grace to work in our hearts. Our Lady is the only one who gave a full YES to God. Her YES was so powerful, that it not only was for her, but it was also for all of the rest of humanity. Her YES was able to be the yes for the whole human race. In her YES, we are able to say yes to God. For example, when riding a bicycle, it is much easier if we are following in the draft of another person because they take all of the friction of the wind and allow us to ride with much greater eases. Our Lady is able to take the wind so much in giving her YES to Jesus that it gives us the opportunity to keep up with her Son. Had the Blessed Mother not given her Yes to God, Jesus would not even have been born and we would not have had salvation. Our yes depends tremendously on hers. She is God's YES to Man and Man's YES to God. Allow the Blessed Mother to place her hands on your heart and join it to her Immacualate Heart so that you can give your full yes to the will of God in your life.

October 7th: Our Lady of the Rosary

The Rosary is such an incredible gift! How sad it is when people completely ignore it or minimize it's power.  It is not something that can be fully understood on the outside but rather you must pray it and experience the power that it has to interiorly change us.  Ever since my Uncle said so simple, "If you want to go to Heaven, pray the Rosary!!" I experienced how the beautiful "Our Father" and the glorious "Hail Mary" have resonated in my soul and heart and cleared & cleaned away all sin and filth.  Whereas so many people I know still struggle with many sins, the Rosary has given me such freedom to say YES to God in this vocation in a way that is fuller than other people.  Why is that?  Am I better than others? No, but the Blessed Virgin Mary IS!! And when you pray the Rosary, you get caught up into her virtues and her freedom and ability to say YES to God.  She is not merely a Model, just as Jesus is not merely a Prophet:: No, she is the Theotokos, the God-bearer and the Mediatrix of all graces.  She is our Yes to God and God's Yes to us.  Brothers & Sisters, I invite you to experience in your own bodies her intercessory and healing power.  Don't listen to the cynics or the lukwarm who care not for the Blessed Virgin, rather listen to a converted sinner who has been deeply touched by her powerful & motherly love.

De Maria Numquam Satis!!

Feast of St. Martha: Mary the New Eve

On this Beautiful feast of St. Martha, one where we honor someone very much loved by Christ and who served as many of us serve, we consider again the role of the Blessed Mother especially in light of the entire human race. St. Iranaeus of Lyon is one who especially promoted this idea although it is possible that it was around much before him. As God used Adam and Eve to begin the human race and for them to be a source of life and blessings for all of us following, so too Christ and the Blessed Mother were the New Adam and New Eve that God used to restore a new creation, a new day of rest, and a new human family. This is intrinsically tied to the fact that we are created in the image of God: "male and female he created them..." That is, we are to image the communion of the Trinity in the communion of the Family and so it follows that Jesus and Mary's yes were necessary for this restoration to happen within the laws of nature established by God. How else could a universal family be established if there is no Father or if there is no Mother, then Jesus and Mary are the new human parents of the new human family. Through the prayers of the Blessed Mother, may we come to know the love of Christ and of God the Father!

The Shrine of the Miraculous Medal

Today I had the wonderful privilege of visiting on the most beautiful shrines that I have ever seen. It was by God's providence that in a visit to Washington DC, we drove to Philadelphia where there is located the National Shrine of the Miraculous Medal. Visit the above link if you want to know more about that.

How much our Blessed Mother loves us!!! How much she wants us to experience that love. Today I did precisely that as I visited the beautiful lower chapel where the designs of the mosaics and statues are done with such love. All the details of the apparitions are beautifully depicted on either side of a statue of the Virgin holding the Globe. It says, "the globe represents the whole world and especially France..." Then before that it says, "come to the altar..."

Indeed that was a moment of prayer before the Blessed Mother to know the love of Jesus through her own heart. I imagined the pierced heart of Jesus behind the Blessed Mother and in fact being the source of her love. She generously shares that with us so that we can go on and share it with other people.

The highlight of the day was being able to Deacon at the Mass, wearing a blue colored alb with a Marian Deacon Stole. I knew that it was her wish for me to serve in her beautiful shrine. What love she shows us!

May Almighty God bless you! May Jesus heart enfold you in his Merciful Love and may the Blessed Mother shower graces upon you and your loved ones!!

Rooted in the Miraculous Medal

This weekend was an incredible experience to see the power of the Miraculous Medal at work in the life of teens from across the southern US. Steubenville on the Bayou was held where I got the opportunity to pass out 2800 Miraculous Medals. The providence of GOd was behind all of this even from the ability to obtain so many medals and the opportunity to attend this wonderful retreat. I would say that the Blessed Mother had her hand in the whole even to the point of coordinating the place where I attended my Diaconate year. So we went with 250 teens to the retreat of 3000. We were the largest group present at the event and it was very much alive with the Holy Spirit. Some experiences from the retreat were mostly the different teens that reacted so well to the Medal and especially those that came up to me asking for anther one. They knew that it was something Holy and recognized that the Blessed Mother was praying for them when they accepted to wear one. Perhaps the most beautiful sight is passing out these medals one by one to teens that otherwise would not be open to such public expressions of love for God and Mary.

Mary: God's Perfect Creature

St. Maximilian Kolbe says, "God comes to this most perfect Creature, the Immaculate One; and the fruit of Their love is Jesus Christ, the Mediator between the Creator and all creatures..."

We desire so much to be perfect in all the different aspects of our life.  We want our days to go well, we want our relationships to go well, and most certainly we want special events to go even better...

But we are not perfect and cannot be perfect without God's help.  God helps us through the Blessed Mother...she is our help and in fact she is called "Mary Help of Christians..."  God uses every opportunity to use others to help us because God is by nature communal...so when we come to the Blessed Mother...we get to see her perfection evident in the things we do.

When I asked for her help for my ordination to the Diaconate...her fingerprints were everywhere...the day, the weather, the food, the people, the ceremony turned out so perfect because I went to my and Our Blessed Mother for the perfect help that only she and Jesus can give us...

Do you want to find Jesus? The speak with the one who has already found her: the Virgin Mary!

May the month of Our Lady

We don't often consider how beautiful Our Blessed Mother is, especially in her humility.  For the month of May, it would be a beautiful spiritual exercise to see how she had to travel the road of humility in order to follow her son to the Cross.  Many of these ideas and images are from Hans Urs Von Balthasar, a German priest who had a great love for the Blessed Mother. 

Mary was above all a woman of humility.  She came to know who Christ was and recognizing that he was God, she could have demanded for herself the respect of all people.  Instead, she sits in the background and accepts herself as just one of the crowd...as if God was testing her to see if she could be humble here on Earth.  She remained quiet and humble, simply contemplating the beautiful work of her Son, only to be highly exalted in Heaven so that we consider her our most Heavenly Queen!

She was humbled when Jesus had to obey his Father's desire to be in the Temple and she lost him for three days.  She was humbled when Jesus said, "Who are my mother and my brothers? They who do the will of the Father?"  She didn't get special treatment from Jesus! She had to submit to God's will just like everyone else.  Was this because he didn't love her? No, instead it shows how profound his love for her was, that he was willing to humble her in order to bring her through the royal road to Heaven.  Had he spoiled her with special treatment, then she might have given in to pride and comfort.  She was also humbled at the cross when she had to consent to giving the Father back her Son and receiving a disciple in return.  She had to renounce her own motherhood in order to accept a new motherhood, that of being mother of the Church. 

In this way, she perfectly imitates her Son who, "emptied himself and took the form of a slave" where she says, "behold the handmaid of the Lord."  O most humble Blessed Mother, pray for us that we may have your beautiful humility!

Apparitions around the world: Our Lady of Akita, Japan

As I was reflecting on what to post, I felt that I was inspired to put some reference to Our Lady of Akita since about a month ago I finished a book on Our Lady giving references to all the different apparitions throughout the world.  It was a beautiful story of the author's visit to Japan and some of the miraculous things that happened to her.  So I went and found some of her messages and then put the title that you have read.  As I read, "Japan", it struck me all that is happening in Japan (which I had completely forgotten) and I realized that perhaps the Holy Spirit wants us to take more seriously some of the disasters happening throughout the world as moments for conversion.  Repent and be saved!

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August 3, 1973: the second message


"My daughter, my novice, do you love the Lord? If you love the Lord, listen to what I have to say to you."

"It is very important...You will convey it to your superior."


"Many men in this world afflict the Lord. I desire souls to console Him to soften the anger of the Heavenly Father. I wish, with my Son, for souls who will repair by their suffering and their poverty for the sinners and ingrates."

"In order that the world might know His anger, the Heavenly Father is preparing to inflict a great chastisement on all mankind. With my Son I have intervened so many times to appease the wrath of the Father. I have prevented the coming of calamities by offering Him the sufferings of the Son on the Cross, His Precious Blood, and beloved souls who console Him forming a cohort of victim souls. Prayer, penance and courageous sacrifices can soften the Father's anger. I desire this also from your community...that it love poverty, that it sanctify itself and pray in reparation for the ingratitude and outrages of so many men.

Recite the prayer of the Handmaids of the Eucharist with awareness of its meaning; put it into practice; offer in reparation (whatever God may send) for sins. Let each one endeavor, according to capacity and position, to offer herself entirely to the Lord."


"Even in a secular institute prayer is necessary. Already souls who wish to pray are on the way to being gathered together. Without attaching to much attention to the form, be faithful and fervent in prayer to console the Master."
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May our Blessed Mother be with you always and guide you as the Star of the Sea to the Ocean of Mercy that is Our Lord Jesus!

The Annunciation: the deep humility of God meets that of the Blessed Mother

These are just some very simple and yet profound meditations from the feast of the Annunciation just a few days ago.  Think about this: how is it that God would take the time to make creation? to create humans? to bother making a plan to save us from our sins? to send an Angel to Mary? to create Angels in the first place?  All these acts of God require his time and are more trouble to him than it would seem.  Why couldn't God just snap his fingers and fix everything, where instead he not only creates us but redeems us in such a way that it brings you to tears when you deeply meditate on the life of the Jesus & Mary.  What tremendous humility that not only does God take the time to make creation, he also allows us to participate in it and redeems us in such a beautiful way that it captivates our imagination.  After all, this is the infinite God, the omnipotent God, the everpresent God, and yet the characteristics of him that most shine out are that of mercy and humility.  Not only does God go through all this trouble for us, but he does so in such a way as to remain quite hidden.  God doesn't walk into a room and say, "hey everybody, look at me, look at my new haircut, aren't I awesome?" If anything, he makes it quite difficult for us to sense his presence!  There are people who blatantly deny his existence and God simply remains there, quiet, waiting, patiently....

You only have to remain quiet for a moment and observe the beauty of nature around to begin to understand how humble and gentle God is, how self-effacing, and how non-threatening....  Can we be afraid of a God who barely whispers when he talks and  yet somehow is able to create the entire universe out of nothing? 
The ineffable humility of God is only transcended by the sublime humility of Jesus & Mary, the two most important and influential people in the history of all humanity and yet they deman no accolades, no awards, and force no one to love them.  Yet their self-giving and a sacrificial love has drawn billions of people towards them....It is a difficult road to Jesus & Mary, yet their humility continuously draws us and in facts shows us the way to arrive at them safely and quickly.  There is no greater humility and love that that of Jesus & Mary, the Godman and the woman fully tranformed by God....may we always seek to imitate their example and beg for her intercession and His grace...

Honoring one of my Best Friends!!!!

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Originally uploaded by Militiaoftheimmaculata

I just got back from one of the most beautiful and special weddings I will ever attend to. For some people that had asked, I wanted to post a prayer that I prayed for Tommy & Marguerite while we were about to eat:

"Heavenly Father, I want to ask a special blessing upon Marguerite and Tommy, and especially upon their senses.

I ask that you bless their eyes and give them the gift of purity to always see the best part of each other especially in those moments of difficulty.

I ask that you bless their ears with generosity, that they may always be willing to hear deeply what the other person has to say.

I ask that you bless their nose with discernment so that when they are cooking, they know that it is time to stop and go to a restaurant.

I ask that you bless their mouth with the gift of encouragement that their words my always build each other up and provide the sign of unity that the world needs.

I ask that you bless their touch with the gift of healing, so that each touch may bring them one step closer to holiness.

Heavenly Father, over all these things clothe them with humility that in the deepest fiber of their being they may know that in putting the other first, they are in fact putting themselves first.

Now I ask that you bless the gifts of Tommy & Marguerite as well as the food we are about to receive: Bless us Oh Lord...."

Mary at the Foot of the Cross: a Model for the Laity

We all share in the priesthood of Christ.  There is the universal priesthood and the ministerial priesthood.  Both share intimately in the Mass but in very different ways.  These are not just in degree but in essence.  How can we understand this in a way that is meaningful for our lives.  The Blessed Mother is the one who unlocks the doors to the mysteries of God.  The Mass, as many of you know, is the re-presentation of Christ's sacrifice on Calvary.  Who else was there?  The Blessed Mother, the beloved disciple, and others...

Yet it was Mary's presence that was most significant because she was the sole representative of humanity that was fully united with Our Lord in that sacrifice.  She was there in his life from beginning to end so much so that when His Sacred Heart was pierced....hers was also mystically pierced.  Both hearts were pierced in this sacrifice of total self-emptying self-dontation and self-giving love that was offered to the Father in atonement for our sins and for our own redemption.  As the husband and wife united, offer themselves for the physical feeding and wellbeing of their children....so too Jesus and Mary offer themselves for the spiritual feeding and salvation of us...their spiritual children.  Outside of the self-emptying love of the Trinity...no where else do we see an image of this sacred and precious love that is found in Calvary...at the foot of the cross.

Each of us can share in these roles...sometimes we are in the place of Jesus...emptying ourselves for someone else....sometimes we are fully receiving the self-emptying love of another or of Christ himself....as Mary did...and sometimes we are the fruit of that blessed and mystical union...and hence we too are 'beloved' as the Beloved Disicple.  We are called by Christ to 'take up our cross'....but whenever we take up the cross....Jesus is on it....and Mary is at its' foot....

Mary's Work in my life

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Originally uploaded by Militiaoftheimmaculata

I want to give a quick testimony to Our Lady's work in my own life. Specifically, she has given me the gift of this Marian Garden that you see at the seminary. I first encountered it when I was on a discernment retreat in 2005 and was walking on the outer edges of the seminary, when I saw this faint white glow up ahead. It was the moonlight shining off of the white statue that you see. I was inspired to make a Marian Garden in the future sometime. I attempted to do so at Holy Trinity Seminary but it didn't work out. The garden was already have complete at St. Mary's but a main piece of the puzzle was missing. I had no money to get the work done. I had the idea approved by the faculty, and then my Father, brother, and I began working on it. As it had turned out, God inspired my Dad to donate some money to a garden at the seminary. Funny isn't it?? We started working on it and little by little, we began adding things to it. We first removed all the old plants. Then we added some new ones, added some mulch, and cleaned it up. Then we added a sprinkler system once we found out how much water it would need. Then the seminary added the black bench you see. Next I was able to get the next door neighbors add a wall to block out the sound of their pool pump system. This was quite a gift from Our Lady. Next I planted some wildflower seeds that we have yet to see if they grow. Finally, my Dad gave this red bridge that you see. It was part of a beautiful garden at his hospital, but the donors didn't like it, and so they put it in storage. My dad liked it, asked why it wasn't being used, and then asked if we could have it for the seminary. Guess what? It fit perfectly and now has added this beautiful element to the garden. I trust in Our Lady's intercession that by the time I am ordained a priest, this garden will be spectacular!!!

Of Mary there is Never Enough!

Pilgrimage to Our Lady of San Juan

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Originally uploaded by Militiaoftheimmaculata

This is a video from the Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of San Juan. It was such a beautiful pilgrimage. On the way to the Valley, Our Lady was showing me all the beautiful things that she had done in my life up until then. She was showing me by allowing me to see all the places that I had so often visited while living in San Antonio as well as bringing back memories of the a mission trip in the Valley. God was teaching me that sometimes, when you are difficult situations, you have to go back into your memory to remember and recall God's love for you in your life. As I brought to mind all these memories, I recalled more and more details that showed me all the different ways that God had poured out his love for me. Let me explain:

In San Antonio: We 'accidently' drove by St. Matthews, the Church where I had stayed (10 weeks) while in San Antonio for CPE. I remembered all the friends that I made there and all the hours of Adoration that I was able to make thanks to the chapel. We also stopped by the Shrine of the Little Flower, someone that I had just done a Novena to. It reminded me of all the confessions that had cleansed me from sin. The whole city was a witness of God's love for me.

In the Valley: I recalled the mission trip that I did in College, right after I had been converted to the faith. That first year had so many graced moments and so many cherished friendships that were made. It was almost a magical time for me when the faith was so beautiful and so new to me. This beautiful shrine made such an impact on me as we happened to be there on a feast day with a magnificent Mass. There was incense, a mariachi band, and several bishops there. Truly, it was the highlight of that mission trip.

These are just some of the memories of Jesus & Mary's love for me....