Day 9: Be Yourself!

Since the time we were shamed into leaving Eden for taking from the tree of the knowledge to be “like” God, we have always wanted to reach for the tree of life.

Thankfully, Michael, the Prince of the heavenly hosts, in concert with Jesus, the Lord of hosts, has saved those of us who want to be “like” God or gods from reaching for the eternal tree in the garden.

Thankfully God became one with us so we could put on Christ, the new Adam, and live with Christ as God. Now we can reach for the cross of Christ, the tree of our eternal salvation.

To live in Him as He lives in us is eternal life. It is heaven!

Heaven is relational, communal, and familial. We belong to God’s royal family. To think otherwise is to deny our identity, our purpose, and our destiny.

True Christians long to be; 

to be at the Father’s right hand;

to be One in the Spirit and One in the Lord; 

to be Christ!

We should be grateful to God for Saint Michael who was sent not only to spare us from the evil one, but save us from our false selves. We are Christian and our heavenly home is living in God as God lives in us.

As we long for our heavenly home, we are not out of the woods. St. John Paul II, in an address to pilgrims at a shrine of St. Michael, stated frankly:

“This battle against the devil which characterizes the Archangel Michael is still going on, because the devil is still alive and at work in the world. In fact, the evil that is in it, the disorder we see in society, the infidelity of man, the interior fragmentation of which he is a victim, are not merely the consequences of original sin, but also the effect of the dark and infesting activity of Satan, of this saboteur of man’s moral equilibrium.” (May 24, 1987)

Satan is still at work, trying desperately to set us off course and so lose our identity, our equilibrium. Thankfully, Michael the Archangel is also at work, reminding us to stay on course as he whispers into our ears his very name ... “Who is like God?” The answer is, “no one.” But, then again, no one is like you. 

God is God, 

Michael is Michael, and 

you are you!

Be yourself!

Day 8: Abandonment

The world in which we live invites us to stay busy. Rather than an invitation to be calm, peaceful, or serene, we place a value on our being with what we do. If I am doing something, then I am somebody.

To be “like” God or like someone we are not is a never ending task. It is 666 never reaching seven. It is doing rather than being.

Striving to be anything other than who we are leads us to despair. Yet, “doing” rather than “being” is what the world offers. We are always taught to be on the go, to have a work ethic, to achieve our dreams, and to play hard.

Reaching for the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was our first act of “doing” and our first step away from being. The act of doing is a response to the greatest lie offered by Satan: “If you want to be like God you need to work at it.”

As we consider Saint Michael, perhaps we should avoid the image of the Prince of the Heavenly Host in an act of physical war. Rather, we should witness him defeat Satan by whispering into the ears of all souls, “Be yourself!”

Being created and graced is not “our doing.”. If there is any “doing” at all it is found in the act of abandonment. Abandoning myself to Christ who asks me to abide in him is all that is necessary for me to be happy in this life and the next.

The act of abandonment or desire to simply be does not mean that we stop moving. We are Christian, but we are still human, complete with movable arms and legs. However, we acknowledge that all that we do can never match the grace bestowed on us by Christ who makes us who we are. By our nature we are human and by grace we are Christian.

The act of abandonment to Christ is the holiest action for any Christian on this earth. A great prayer of abandonment goes:

“Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my

understanding, and my entire will, all I have and call my own.

You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me.”12

Abandoning ourselves to God simply means removing all of the costumes, masks, and façades that we have put on intentionally or unintentionally over the course of our lives. Being our true selves means ridding ourselves of the things that we are not. This includes not being merely human. We are human, but not “only” human.

A Christian who says, “I am only human” (commonly used when we have failed at something), may just as well say, “I am only God.” Both would be untrue.

If a body was capable of acting on its own apart from the soul, it would not be a human body. Likewise, a soul operating apart from the body would not be human. (We have already acknowledged that only angels are souls without bodies.)

In the same way a Christian who says, “I am only human,” denies his Christian self and thus continues to strive to be “like” God.

So, is a Christian God? Only in the sense that he has a share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity. As a soul and body make up the human

person, the human and divine make up the Christian. 

A Christian cannot have a share in the divine nature of God except through grace. Christ by his nature is divine and human. He is fully God and fully human. We are fully human by nature and by grace we are God.

Born again, we die to the old and mortal human selves and rise as Christians - human and divine.

Christians, who die here on earth will, through the grace of our divinity, rise with our body and soul. We do not cease being human when we are graced with divinity. We are fully integrated and newly created beings that rise with Christ carrying within us body, soul, and divinity.

For this reason, a Christian lives in a lie when he says, “I am only human.” Only humans, like Adam, desire to be “like” God. Christians are the new Adam, the body of Christ, Who is God.

Satan’s desire to be “like” God was really a desire to step over God or push God out of the way. A Christian, on the other hand, accepts God for who God is and accepts the unearned grace of sharing in God’s divinity.

A true Christian does not push God out of the way. Rather, such a Christian gladly accepts God, through Christ, as “the” Way, and the Truth, and the Life.

A Christian believes that Jesus Christ did not find the way to be “like” God. Jesus is the Way, because he is God.

There are thousands of philosophers, theologians, and self- helpers trying to find a way to get to heaven. On a very human level, this has been going on since the beginning of the great Fall.

In fact, there are many who would rather push God aside to make sure that they get to heaven. They demand their place in heaven, even though they have lived a life contrary to what they were created to be. It is as if some would say, “It is my right as a United States citizen (or some other citizen) to get to heaven.”

Only through the Passover of Christ are the heavens rent – like the waters of the Red Sea – and we are able to enter eternal life. We cannot do this on our own. Christ, by his nature is God. By our nature, we are not. We must abandon ourselves and accept this reality.

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NOTES:

12. St Ignatius, Suspice

Day 7: Heaven is Real

John Lennon’s, Imagine, challenges us to consider a world that surpasses the world that we know. Imagining a world where there is no war, poverty, or hunger is “really easy if we try.”

Thankfully, we don’t have to “imagine” such a world. It does exist. However, one would have to admit that to ponder the things of heaven would take a lifetime and then some.

Considering some things of heaven that we do know should bring us to our knees in prayers of gratitude. The aforementioned qualities of heaven – no war, hunger, and poverty – are reasons enough to thank God forever. But heaven offers so much more.

Consider, for example, a world where there are no gradations of power. In the Kingdom of God, the valleys are filled and the hills made low. There is a level playing field where everyone has a place at the table of God. In God’s kingdom, there are no vassals. Everyone belongs to the Royal household of God.

Called and chosen by Christ to be adopted sons and daughters of the same Father, we are all seated at the right hand of God. From an earthly perspective, this is hard to “imagine.” How can we as individuals collectively be seated at the Father’s right hand? And yet, we are.

Imagine a child resting her head peacefully on her father’s chest and listening to his heart. In Christ, we all are blessed to be so intimately close to our Heavenly Father. We are that close! This is more than mere “imagination.” It is real!

Though we trust that this is real and more than mere “imagination,” we still live in this world confined by the things of this world.

Getting beyond mere imagination and accepting the very real truth that we are at God’s right hand and in communion with our God is very difficult. Limited by our body’s senses and our soul’s intellect and will, this truth is often “theoretical.”

There is a temptation not to press us into accepting this reality. We become comfortable being merely human and merely imagining what is real, rather than accepting the reality for what it is.

We really are in communion with God. We really are brothers and sisters in Christ. We really are Christ for one another. We really are God’s sons and daughters. We really are members of his royal household.

This grace of Christ living within us calls us beyond the lie that we are “like” God.

Who is like God? “No one” is the true answer. Rather, born again in Christ Jesus, we “are” Christ who “is” God.

John puts it this way: “See what love the Father has for us, that He has called us sons of God, and so we are!...We are truly children of God” (1 John 3:1-2).

Calling on the name of St. Michael to defend us in battle against the father of lies helps us to reclaim our true essence.

It should be remembered that the name of St. Michael reminds us who we are, but the name of Jesus makes us who we are.

Jesus means, “God saves.”

Being saved is more than getting to heaven. Salvation is making us who we are predestined to be. Only through faith and hope in Jesus are we able to step beyond mere “imagination,” and into reality.

Thankfully, we have the Word and Sacraments to guide us and help us to accept who we really are.

During our life on earth the Word and Sacraments are received in an imperfect manner by faith; in the life of heaven we will assume it perfectly in the glorious vision St. Paul speaks of: “When perfection comes, the imperfect will disappear.... Now we see as in a mirror, darkly; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in an imperfect way; then I will know as I am known” (1 Cor 13:10,12).

The more we reflect on the Word and celebrate the Sacraments in our church, the more we claim who we really are. The sacraments themselves are more then mere symbols of Christ’s presence. They are both signs and reality of the real presence of Christ among us.

This is best realized in the Eucharist where what we receive is not “like” the body of Christ. We receive the true body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ. And we become what we receive.

As we consider heaven, it is best to understand it as something more than a place for living. Rather, heaven is a state of being.

In this state of being, we are one with God. Our Creator-Being invites us to be with Him. In and through Christ, we abide in God and God in us.

In heaven there is no separation from God or “likeness” to God. In heaven, “we are one in the Spirit and one in the Lord.” (1 Cor 6:17)

This is true for us on earth; though, while we abide here in the world that is seen and visible, our oneness with God is not fully recognized.

As we abide here on earth, we must strive always to be one with God. We must likewise avoid being “like” God.

Desiring to be one with God means putting on love. God is Love and if we abide in love we abide in God and God in us. Heaven, therefore, is not a place but a state of being ... Being In Love!

Saint Michael, unlike Satan, abides in heaven because he desires not to be “like” God or anything other than what he was created to be. He rests eternally in the state of being in love.

Day 6: Peaceable Kingdom

To be perfect as our heavenly father is perfect is possible and very real when we live in Christ and He in us. For it is in him that we live, and move, and have our being.

Yet, we know that we still retain within our nature free will. Thus, at any time we can remove ourselves from the Body of Christ. At any time, we could seek to be someone that we are not. Jesus reminds us that if we put our hands to the plowshare and then turn back, we are not fit for the kingdom of God.

Though our sins are washed away through the blood of Christ and we desire to be in communion with God who is love, we have the ability to lose our way when we do not claim our true selves.

This happens all of the time. In the most egregious ways, we see Christians who have become dictators, murderers, abusers, and participants of every kind of evil. In subtler and less egregious ways, we have all stepped away from reality and have desired to be something or someone that we are not.

How often do we find Christian husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, priests and nuns, teachers and doctors, business owners and employees, forget their true nature?

As Christians, we are not merely human with body and soul. By Grace, we are Christian with a share in the divinity of Christ. Our true essence is Christian. When we forget who we are, then we lose our way.

We understand that, like Satan, our first parents desired to be something that they were not. This Original Sin is washed away in baptism with the gift of sanctifying grace.

Still, there is a great temptation for us as Christians to fall back into sin. Even if we do not choose to sin, the inclination to sin is always there because of Original Sin.

This inclination toward sin and evil is called "concupiscence."10 While baptism erases original sin and turns us back towards God, the inclination toward sin and evil persists and we continue to struggle against concupiscence.11

Our free will and intellect is not enough to overcome concupiscence. Only by returning to Christ through the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist are we made whole again. Our Father, through his Son and with the Holy Spirit, "re-members" us.

When our God, through the grace of these sacraments, "re-members" us, we in turn remember that we are not just fathers, mothers, teachers, etc. We are Christian fathers, Christian mothers, Christian teachers, etc.

Concupiscence is the effect of Original Sin and we must live with it until Christ returns in glory at the end of time. Therefore, we understand that, while we live in Christ and he in us, we still long for a perfect and eternal communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

St. Paul reminds us that we live in this world, but we are not of this world. There will be a day when we will not live in this world and, if we remain in Christ, we will live in the peaceable world that has no end.

The peaceable world includes a world without sin or even concupiscence. Presently, the peaceable world is not the world in which we live, but the world to which we belong. While in this world, we are ambassadors of an eternal world - a world of peace and perfect communal love with our Triune God.

Living in this imperfect world due to sin, we are constantly confronted with temptations to fix our imperfections. We try to bring a perfect world of peace according to our will, our might, our strength, and our intellect. We try to be "like" God.

How many political philosophies, treaties, legal systems, or financial strategies have we had in human history to try to bring about a just and peaceable world?

Certainly, this is our desire. This is also God’s desire. The prophet Isaiah foretells the coming of a peaceable Kingdom where the valleys will be raised and the hills will be made low. There will be a perfect and level playing field for all humanity.

But, our God can only win this peaceable Kingdom. It has been won! Christ our Lord won it for us already by laying down his life as a sacrificial offering to our Father on our behalf. Only Christ our King, our Lord and God and Prince of Peace achieved what we have long desired.

This peaceable Kingdom was won without guns, swords, or weapons of any kind. Christ did this alone by laying down his life for us.In his conversation with Pilate, Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my subjects would be fighting to keep me from being handed over. As it is, my kingdom is not here." (John 18:36-37)

In Christ’s kingdom, there are no weapons of war. In his kingdom, there is an everlasting peace. Recall his words to Peter who attempts to save Jesus from being arrested, "Put your sword back into its sheath." (John 18:11)

A peaceable world cannot be won with weapons. God who is forgiving, merciful, and loving can only win it. In Christ’s Peaceable Kingdom, "swords shall be turned into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks." (Isaiah 2:4)

Even as we consider paintings of St. Michael the Archangel standing above Satan with his sword drawn, we rarely see him thrust the sword into the beast. Most images simply show Michael with an upper hand as the devil is trapped or chained.

We do ask Saint Michael to defend us in battle. But, he does this by his very name: "Who is like God?" His name (in question form) mocks Satan who will forever be "like" God. He reminds us that we ourselves cannot be "like" God. As ambassadors of the peaceable Kingdom, we can only be ourselves. We can never be someone that we are not. We are human by nature and Christian by grace.

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NOTES:

10. (CCC 405)

11. (CCC 2520) 

Day 5: Amazing Grace

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux said, “Everything is a grace,
everything is the direct effect of our Father’s love.”

This idea of grace would have been the farthest thing from
the minds of Adam and Eve as they were being banished
from the garden. But, as mentioned earlier, the banishment
was more of God’s loving protection from what could have
been their eternal hell.

Posting St. Michael at Eden’s gate was the first act of grace
bestowed upon humanity after our Original Sin.  This
unearned grace comes from God who is Love. Our first
parents who desired to be “like” God, failed to understand
the immensity of God’s merciful love. And so, they walked
away in shame.

It should be noted that our first parents never asked God for
forgiveness and, for that matter, nowhere in the fifty chapters
of Genesis do we find anyone ask God to forgive them.
Grace is truly unearned and everything is grace.

Throughout the Bible, we see grace unfold. From the Garden
of Eden to Noah’s family, to Abraham’s clan, to the Holy
Nation of Israel, and through the line of King David, we
witness grace upon grace.

Finally, we witness in Scripture the fullness of grace in
Christ, our Lord.  The history of grace (or salvation history)
is brought to completion in Christ Jesus.

Though we are made from dust and dust we shall return, the
Amazing Grace of our God saved us from an eternal hell and
raised us with his Son.

When God created angels, they were complete. Saint
Michael, St. Gabriel, our guardian angels, all are wholly
integrated souls complete with intellect and free will.
However, as we discover through salvation history of
humanity, we are not made complete until the death and
resurrection of our Lord.

Remembering that our nature includes body and soul, we
stand at the pinnacle of God’s creation. This, at first, would
suggest that we are sufficiently whole.

Indeed, the book of Genesis has God say, “It is good,” after
each day of creation. And when He creates humanity, God
says, “It is very good!”  But, not until Jesus dies on the cross
do we hear the words, “It is finished!”

These words are uttered by our God who became man,
humbling himself, being born in our likeness, and suffering
for our sake.  This Amazing Grace takes on our human
nature with body and soul, so that through his death and
resurrection we could be sharers in his divine nature.

We are wholly integrated beings only through Christ’s death,
resurrection, and ascension into heaven.  Together with
the breath of the Holy Spirit through faith and baptism in
Christ, we are more than human. We are properly called
Christian.

From an ancient homily delivered on holy Saturday
morning, we read about Jesus who descends into hell to call
out Adam whom God spared from perpetual misery:

“But arise, let us go hence. The enemy brought you out of the
land of paradise; I will reinstate you, no longer in paradise, but
on the throne of heaven. I denied you the tree of life, which was
a figure, but now I myself am united to you, I who am life. I
posted the cherubim to guard you as they would slaves; now I
make the cherubim worship you as they would God.”8

Through faith and baptism, we are born again and enjoy
what is referred to as divine filiation. Thus, the Catechism of
the Catholic Church states: “By his death, Christ liberates us
from sin; by His Resurrection, He opens for us the way to a
new life. [Justification] brings about filial adoption so that
men become Christ’s brethren.”9

Over the course of human history, God’s masterpiece moved
from good to very good, but was finally finished when God’s
Son signed it with his own blood. Through, with, and in
Christ we are God’s opus.

All of this is made possible because of grace. Not by our
nature are we called Christian. Our nature is body and soul
with intellect and will. By Grace we become Christ!
It is important to note that we are not “like” Christ. Rather,
we are Christ. Jesus is the head while we are, as St. Paul
reminds us, his body. But, as our church fathers would ask,
“What is the head without the body?”

The whole Christ, head and members, sits at God’s right
hand.  This, of course, is hard to fathom and is a deep
mystery. A mystery worth pondering in prayer throughout
our lifetime.

With this mysterious gift of being one in Christ comes
great responsibility.  Not only are we called by nature to be
stewards of all that is seen and unseen, but also we are now
called by grace to love as God loves, to be merciful as God is
merciful, to be forgiving as God is forgiving.

Jesus’ commands to carry our cross each day and follow
him, to abide in his love, to love our enemy, are not for mere
humans. This rule of life first belongs to God’s nature and,
being born again in Christ, we now take ownership of these
commands. This rule of life is for those who are not “like”
Christ, not “like” Love, not “like” God, but are now one in
God.

In Christ, we are not 666 trying to be that perfect seven. 
Rather, we are being conformed into Christ to be perfect as
our Heavenly Father is perfect.

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NOTES:

8. This Holy Saturday homily was written in Greek around the 4th century. It is found in the Catholic Office of Readings. The author is unknown.

9. (CCC 654)

Day 4: Who is like God?

Both Satan and our first parents, according to Genesis,
had one thing in common. They both longed to be like
God.  “If you only eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil,”
said Satan to Eve, “you will be like the gods.” (Genesis 3:5)

The desire itself to be like God is a reminder that we are a
creature and not the Creator.  God who is love has no desire
to be anything other than God. One who loves perfectly has
no desire to be anything but Love.

Our Original Sin, as in the fall of Satan, began with a desire
to be somebody that we are not. This desire automatically
acknowledges that we, by our nature, are not Love.

When first we do not get what we want or become who we
want to be, we are either shameless and spiteful, as in the
case of Satan, or we may quickly recognize our shamefulness
and either hide or repent.

Herein lies the difference between Satan and our first
parents.  While Satan and our first parents were shameful in
their thoughts and actions, only Satan remains shameless.

We know that Adam and Eve walked naked in the garden
and without shame. Before they desired to be what they
were not, they had no reason to live in shame. But when
they sinned, they clothed their nakedness and hid from God
in shame.

Thankfully, God intervened to help us discover our
shamefulness. He found us hiding in the garden and asked,
“Who told you that you were naked?” (Genesis 3:11)

A child will walk around naked and be fully transparent. A
child’s innocence begins with a lack of self introspection.
Children, in their innocence, do not compare themselves to
others.

The book of Genesis captures this innocence in the Garden
of Eden where nakedness and transparency is not even a
question. Only when Adam and Eve reach for the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil do they become introspective. It
is at that time when they miss the mark.

Sin is a Greek word for  “missing the mark.” The original
missing the mark (Original Sin) is our introspection.  With
introspection comes a lack of appreciation for ourselves and
a desire to be someone that we are not.

The third chapter of Genesis tells us that God hands out a
punishment for the serpent that seduces Eve, a punishment
for Eve herself, and a punishment for Adam. But, the
greatest punishment for humanity is the granting of our
wish to have knowledge of good and evil. God grants us our
desire to be introspective. And from then on, we live in our
sin.

We hear our Triune God saying, “See! The man has become
like one of us, knowing what is good and what is bad! Therefore,
he must not be allowed to put out his hand to take fruit from
the tree of life also, and thus eat of it and live forever.” (Genesis
3:22)

God sent Adam and Eve to live a life that they desired. A
life of self introspection and self destruction.  Seeking to be
something that they were not led them to their own demise.

Thankfully, God sent them away from the tree of life and out
of the Garden of Eden for their own sake. Whereas Satan
chose to live “like” God and would therefore eternally live in
that state of being “like” God.

In the Hebrew language and culture, the number seven
represents perfection. God is perfect and is given the name
Lord, Sabbaoth (meaning, The Lord of the Sabbath, or
seventh, day). If seven is perfection, then 666 (a number
given to Satan) is imperfection. 666 nearly reach the number
seven, but always comes up short. Satan will never be God.
He will always be “like” God.

Though our first parents also sought to be “like” God, God
spared them from being in that perpetual and eternal life of
“likeness.”  They were restrained from eating of the tree of
life eternal.

What appears at first to be a punishment, the banishment of
Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and the tree of life
is the beginning of God’s plan of redemption for humanity. 
We do not have to live in the perpetual state of being “like”
God.

This plan of redemption and salvation is brought to
completion in Christ Jesus. Jesus, the new Adam, will take
our “likeness” of God and bring it to perfection.  Only then,
will we be able to taste from the tree of eternal life.

Saint Michael, according to legend, is counted among the
angels (cherubim) who guard Eden from our first parents.7
Renaissance paintings show Michael with a fiery sword
defending the gate of Eden and banishing Adam and Eve
from the garden.

As mentioned, God banishes our first parents from the
garden and from the tree of life to protect ourselves from an
eternal desire to be “like” God. Michael stands at the gate,
not to defend Eden, but to protect us from ourselves.

This is the beginning of grace. God creates us and God
defends us. Saint Michael is placed as our guardian to defend
us not only from Satan but also from our wanting eternity
while living in our state of sin.

Mortal sin begins with our desire to be something that we
are not. When we die in this state, we live in this eternal
desire and become like Satan who will always be 666 and
never seven.  To live in a perpetual state of wanting to be
“like” God and always coming up short is truly hell.

Mention only be made that Michael in Hebrew (Mikha’el)
means, “Who is like God?” Note the question mark
associated with his name. Not to be confused with Satan
who is “like” God, Mikha’el purposefully ends with a
question mark as a rhetorical question for Satan, Adam and
Eve, or anyone who desires to be “like” God.

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NOTES:

7. Here, it must be noted that various Saints and scholars have studied the nature of angels and have placed them in order of rank. However, cherubim in early Hebrew literature would have generally referred to angels rather than the second ranked “Cherubim,” in the order of angels. As for

St. Michael the Archangel, early Christian and Renaissance artists would place him as the guard just outside the gates of Eden. Even though the Scholastic era included the following ranks of angels, it was not unheard of to place Michael as the prince of these heavenly hosts. The traditional ranking of angels is found here:

Seraphim - first order (those who see most clearly) 

Cherubim - second order (fullness of knowledge) 

Thrones - third order (contemplate divine justice) 

Dominations - fourth order (providence is enacted through them)

Virtues - fifth order (movement of the heavenly bodies) 

Powers - sixth order (precise and preserved enactment) 

Principalities - seventh order (welfare of human affairs as a whole)

Archangels - eighth order (sharing of higher things to all of mankind) 

Angels - ninth order (individual affairs of mankind)

Day 3: The Fall

Since God is Love; God always and forever will love God.This is not so for creation. Unlike the Creator, we have a beginning. Unlike God whose eternal nature is Love, we were created at a point in time to love.

Being made in his image and likeness, angels and humans were given the gift of free will. Our free will affords us the possibility of loving God with our whole heart, soul, and strength, or hating God, or simply being ambivalent toward God.

Our faith tells us that angels were created before man and woman. Some of these angels are found in the Holy Scripture and are given names. Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and even Satan are just a few of the many angels created by God. They, like us, have free will.In the Catechism of the Catholic Church we read, "The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing."4

It is a mystery why an angelic creature that lived in the heavens with an all loving God and had no tempter before him, would ever find hatred for God. However, for reasons unknown to us, the angel Satan freely chose hate instead of love. And, because he abides in a world that is non-temporal, he forever hates. This is his irrevocable lot of existence.

Again, the catechism teaches, "There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death."5

Nothing possessed Satan - also called Lucifer - to act contrary to God. His fall began with him and him alone.We see in Isaiah what was stirring in the mind of this angel Lucifer (meaning Light or Morning Star) who was created to be good:

"How you have fallen from the heavens, O Morning Star, son of the dawn!In your heart you said: "I will scale the heavens;above the stars of God I will set up my throne.I will be like the Most High!"

The church recognizes that all angels were created to be good. But, being a creature and not the Creator, Satan and all angels were given free will. This free will necessarily allows us, by our nature, to freely choose God who is Love. It stands to reason that one’s freedom to choose Love must include the freedom to choose hate.We read, that he chose to be like God. Was he envious of God’s power? Did he have a desire to defeat God? Why was he God’s adversary? There are no simple answers to these questions found in Scripture.

Nevertheless, Satan chose wrongly. And for his choice, he was banished from heaven and the banishment was irrevocable. Moreover, nowhere in Scripture do we find Satan ashamed of his desire to be like God. In fact, he urges Adam and Eve to also be like God. From the beginning of time on earth, the father of lies unleashed his shameful reign on earth by seducing us to become gods in place of God. 

While Satan and other angels defied God, there exists in heaven a host of angels who adore the Lord. We are reminded in Scripture of guardian angels, angelic messengers, and angels who are given a proper name such as, Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael. Michael the Archangel is best remembered from the book of Revelation as the one charged to fight Satan:

"...There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven." (Rev 12:7-9)

This was foretold in the book of Daniel, where we read, "At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise." (Dan 10-12)

In the Christian world, thousands of paintings, statues, poems and prayers depict the battle between Michael and Satan with Michael always having the upper hand. A familiar prayer in our Catholic tradition sums up Michael’s purpose:

St. Michael the Archangel,defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts,by the power of God,thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits,who prowl about the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.6

Prowling about the world to seek the ruin of souls has been a preoccupation of Satan and other fallen angels since the beginning of humanity. We read in the first book of the Bible: "Now the snake was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made." (Genesis 3:1)

The last book of the Bible tells us who that serpent is, "He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years." (Rev. 20:2)

In Genesis, the snake brings the woman into his frame of mind by saying what he himself longed for before his own fall from grace, "God knows well that when you eat of [the tree] your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil." (Genesis 3:5) 

Once fallen, this enemy of God spews his venom wherever God creates, beginning with man and woman. His rage chases down humanity including the Son of Man himself and, according to Revelation, the Lord’s Mother:

"And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness..." (Rev 12:4-6).

Fortunately, we know how this story ends. Christ rules forever and saves all who come to know him through faith.

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NOTES:

4.  Catechism of the Catholic Church, (CCC 391)

5.  CCC 393

6. 1884, Pope Leo XIII ordered certain prayers to be said after Low Mass, in defense of the independence of the Holy See. The prayer to St. Michael was one of these prayers. In 1964, the requirement to pray to St. Michael was lifted, but private or public recitation was still encouraged.

Day 2: God is Love

Standing at the peak of God’s creation, in addition to being stewards; human beings have the awesome responsibility of knowing, loving, and serving our God in this life so to be happy with him in the next. Made in God’s image and likeness our desire to know, love, and serve our Lord is a response to our God who knows, loves, and serves us first.

More importantly, our love-response stems from God who loves himself. From a Trinitarian theological perspective, we understand that the three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - are one God who is Love. This undivided unity and perfect communion of love is the cause of our joy.

More than a mathematical, theological construct, the holy Trinity, undivided unity, holy God, mighty God, is “Love loving Love.” God who is Love must necessarily, for our sake, be an undivided, uninterrupted, and unmatched unity of love. It is in God that we find our source and summit of love in this life.

Jesus’ command to love God with our whole heart, soul, and mind belongs not only to man and woman, but to angels as well. Souls in both the visible and invisible world give glory to God as the source of all creation. In fact, all that lives and breathes responds to God with praise. The heavens, angels and archangels, the mountains, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, the moon and the stars, the wind and the rain, praise and exalt God forever.2

When a couple stands at the altar, they make a vow to love and honor each other in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, until death. This Sacrament of vocation to marriage responds to the love that is found in the most perfect communion of our Triune God.

A couple’s commitment to love and honor is a necessary daily task not only for the man and wife, but also for the sake of their children. If a child sees parents committed to each other, the child feels secure. Observing his parents kiss, dance together, pray as one, and genuinely enjoy each other’s company brings a child peace. This is also true for adult children who watch their parents grow old together.

Often, young children and adult children may try to pit one parent against the other. This may be played out when a child asks the father for a treat and the father says, “You can have one if it is okay with your mother.” Sometimes, adult children will try to get one parent to disagree with the other

in order for the adult child to get his way.

Couples who love and honor each other will not allow their children to get in between them. Not surprisingly, this absolute bond of love is for the benefit of the children as well as for the parents. When the authority of parenthood in the vocation of marriage is challenged and weakened, the whole family suffers.

A strong vocation of marriage mirrors God’s perfect, undivided unity. God must love God. Not only for God’s sake, but for the sake of all creation. We benefit from God loving God. Only in this Trinity of perfect love is all creation held together.

Even when a married couple lives out their daily commitment to love and honor each other for the sake of their marriage and for their family; children do not make the same vows. They are taught to respect one another and to live in harmony, but that is a learning process.

Because it is a learning process, and because children have free will, there is bound to be sibling rivalry and disharmony. For young children, this is normal. For adult children, this is discomforting.

Often, when siblings are corrected for not getting along, a child’s anger may turn from peer-to-peer rivalry to child-parent disharmony. When adult children with free will choose to turn their problems on their parents, the family is disjointed. But, if the couple stays true to their commitment to love and honor each other, the family will not be destroyed.

The same is true for God and all souls with free will. Angels and humans turning against each other is a sign of a disordered world. Thankfully, we have a God who abides in perfect communion - God loving God. And so, while we may be disordered, we are not destroyed.

Our loving God and Creator, calls us back to him and invites us (commands us) to love one another. Recognizing that we are limited in our capacity to remain in his love, God sent his only begotten Son, the Word made flesh, so that creation might love the Creator perfectly.

The command to love God with our whole heart, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves, is a command of fidelity.

As a husband and wife must be faithful to each other, God expects us to be faithful to him. Not only in the sense that we are to follow his commands, but that he asks us to accept him and not lose trust in him; in the same way a child begs his mother to not leave him.

This call to fidelity - to follow and not abandon - has been a command from the beginning of creation.

Even before the Fall of Satan, God commanded his angels to abide in his love. Even before the original sin of our first parents, our God expected us to walk in his garden of perfect communal love.

Thankfully, when sin entered the world, God set in motion a plan of salvation. While we abandoned God and failed to follow him, God remained faithful to us. In fact, because we had sinned, we saw the depth of God’s fidelity to us.

The Exultet, proclaimed at the Easter Vigil goes, “Oh, happy fault! Oh, necessary sin of Adam.” This means that if we had not sinned, God would have had no reason to save us.

Because of God’s endless fidelity to self and to us, all creation, all angels, all holy souls, can rightly sing together, “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory! Hosanna in the highest!”3

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.

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Notes:

2. Daniel 3:52-90 

3. Sanctus, Roman Missal

Day 1: We are Very Good and God is Great!

In our very early years, we discover that we are not alone. As children, we discover that we are a part of a family. Later, we learn that we come from our parents. Finally, if we are a part of a faith family, we discern that our first parent is God.

This process of discovery and discernment leads us to an obvious question: if God is the first parent, the creator of all things visible and invisible, then who created God? Who came before God?

The Judeo-Christian answer is God always was and that there is only One God. God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. God is before all else that is. It is God who was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.

In the Book of Genesis, we discover our eternal God “in the beginning.” In the beginning, God is the creator of all things visible and invisible, all that is seen and unseen.

While our Catholic faith is careful not to declare that creation either occurred as outlined in the book of Genesis or over a span of many years through evolution, we do affirm that however we came to be, God created us, God sustains us, and God will forever hold us in the palm of his hand.1

Long before St. Michael and the archangels, the cherubim, seraphim, Earth, Sun, Moon, planets, stars, trees, dogs, and man and woman were created, there always was and always will be an unmoved mover, the One True God.

Our human senses allow us to experience what God has created on this side of the veil; namely, all that is seen.

For a child, the initial glimpse of a flower brings excitement. Seeing birds for the first time, petting a dog or a cat invites the child to come to know a world beyond him or herself. Like a computer uploading new programs, a child uploads images, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings. Soon these sensible things become an extension of the child’s life.

Using our senses, we begin to wonder. A question arises, “Where did all of this come from?” When we couple our five senses with the sense of wonder, we seek answers to the purpose and source of creation around us.

As people of faith, we come to discern that the source of creation is God. We also discern that, being a part of creation ourselves; we live in harmony with all that surrounds us. We acknowledge that we are not alone on this vast planet and, as we look to the stars, the sun, and the moon, we see ourselves as just a small speck of a visible world that has yet to be discovered.

As people of faith, we express our gratitude to our God for creating all things revealed to us by our senses. We thank God for all that is witnessed by us in this visible world.

Throughout history, our human sense of wonderment has led us to a world beyond the visible. Nearly all cultures celebrate a metaphysical, invisible, and unseen world through faith.

At times something or someone beyond the veil of the visible world moves the human senses. A sudden sound, the awesome feeling of an unknown presence, a mysterious fragrant smell, or even a faint sighting of a ghost will bring us peace or make us shake with fear.

Other times, we use our mere intellect to ponder the things beyond the veil of senses. And what we know through intellect is that the world of the unseen and invisible includes intellectual beings. God, of course, is the primary intelligent being. Likewise, we recognize spirits, and souls as creatures with intellect.

Such is the nature of angels. Angelic beings, like St. Michael the Archangel, are souls with both intellect and will. Intellect, in that they can wonder as we human beings can wonder. Will, in that they can choose between right and wrong as we can choose.

Pondering the nature of angels, St. Augustine said, “Angel is the title of the office of a being whose essence is soul.” As part of their office, we understand from Scripture that angels are messengers of God, worshipers of our Lord, defenders and protectors. In St. Michael’s case, we recognize him as both defender and protector.

In Genesis, we read, “In the beginning God created the world.” God created all that is seen and unseen, visible and invisible. And, according to Genesis, as God unfolded his creation, God said, “It is good!”

It isn’t until he creates man and woman when we hear God say, “It is very good!”

Why are we as humans called “very good”, while other creatures in the visible and invisible world are merely good?

We have come to understand that angels are souls with intellect and will, but they do not have physical bodies as recognized in the visible world. We are also aware that in the visible world - trees, dogs, cats, tadpoles - do not have intellect or will. What makes humans very good is that we have bodies as in the visible world and souls with intellect and will as in the invisible world.

Man and woman are unique in God’s creation. With body and soul we stand between two worlds. This is why God placed us as stewards of all creation. We are charged with the responsibility of having dominion (not domination) over the whole world. We are called to be caretakers of our physical, visible world, and to be guardians of souls.

If we should take this responsibility seriously, we not only acknowledge that we are very good. We, in turn, give our Creator praise and acclaim together, “God is great!”

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.

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Notes:
1. Pope Pius XII declared that “the teaching authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions . . . take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter—[but] the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God” (Pius XII, Humani Generis 36).

Intro to a Novena with St. Michael the Archangel

On Sunday, you are invited to begin a nine day journey with me as we consider St. Michael the Archangel and how he may help us to recall our Christian identity and to celebrate our unique selves. This novena begins on September 21 and concludes on the Feast of the Archangels.  Feel free to respond to my blogs after each posting.  If you are interested in a paperback book of this novena, Who is Like God?: A nine day journey with St. Michael the Archangel, please email srllibrary2006@blogspot.com.  Books are $10 each and all proceeds go to Haiti relief.

Below ...  An intro to the novena.

INTRODUCTION

Sin begins and ends with wanting to be “like” someone that we are not. Coveting, lusting, desiring to be like another person – even like the person of God – is our downfall.

As this novena unfolds, you will discover that Saint Michael the Archangel was sent not only to defend us from Satan but also to spare us from the eternal hell of bearing an image that is not ours. He reminds us to be ourselves.

When we know who we are, we know where we are going. When we lose our equilibrium, we lose our Way! Christ is our Way and we are Christian! Saint Michael the Archangel is the protector of our true selves along the Way!

Over the next nine days, you are invited to reflect on each chapter. After day nine, you are encouraged to pray the Litany to St. Michael.

It is my prayer that this novena will assist you in your journey to celebrate your unique self.

You are created by God. You are loved by God. Be yourself!

Father John P. Dolan

Day Nine - Rose, Spouse of Jesus

Isabella received the name of “Rose of Saint Mary” by her Lord in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary at the church of Santo Domingo. By that time she already had a relationship with the Lord. When she was just five years old, she attempted to imitate the holiness of St. Catherine of Sienna and had personally consecrated her virginity to God by vow, promising henceforth to live only for the accomplishment of His holy Will.

Rose was more than a disciple for the Lord. We always remain as Christian disciples of the Lord, but as we grow in holiness, we realize that we are more than just students. We become more aware of what it means to have a share in the Body of Christ - As Christ has a share in our humanity, we have a share in his divinity. As Saints Peter and Paul remind us: “[The Lord] has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:3-4) and “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ,” (Gal 3:27) and again “For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily, and you share in this fullness in him, who is the head of every principality and power.” (Col 2:9-10)

Rose was more than just a disciple. She was fully united to Him. At the age of twelve, she had already reached the highest degree of prayer, which mystic writers call the prayer of union. Whether awake or sleep she was one with God. While she was working in the yard or helping her mother at home, she continued to have an inner conversation with God.

Retreating into her little cell – her hermitage, Rose prayed the 149 names of God over and over again. This exercise would quickly bring her to that state of complete joy. “If you abide in my love,” says the Lord, “my joy will be in you and your joy will be complete.” In this prayer cell, Rose would utter the Holy Name of Jesus and soon find the Divine Spouse with her. Before her eyes, she would see the Divine Infant, her “Little Doctor,” who would offer her comfort.

Her greatest love was to receive her Lord in the Eucharist, often fasting for more than a day before she received her Lord. She authored a prayer and would recite it often within her heart, especially after she received communion:

Adorable Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, our Creator and our Redeemer, I grieve from the bottom of my heart for having so often offended Thee, because Thou art He Who is, and because I love You above all things. O true God, the betrothed of my soul, most amiable Jesus, my adorable consoler, I desire to love Thee with that perfect, complete, sincere, incomparable, invincible, and eternal love wherewith the Blessed in Heaven love Thee! Yes, O God of my heart, joy of my soul, I desire to love Thee as much as Thou art loved by Thy Mother, blessed among all women, my Mother and Lady, the most pure Virgin Mary. I would gladly love Thee as Thou lovest Thyself, my Lord and my God, my salvation and my happiness. O my most adorable Jesus, grant that I may be consumed and melted in the furnace of Thy most ardent charity!

Following this prayer, Rose would go into a state of ecstasy. On one occasion, Rose fell into this rare spiritual state of oneness with her Divine Spouse and received a revelation that she was to take the Habit of the Third Order of St. Dominic. Shortly thereafter, she received a message from her Lord, “Rose of My Heart, be thou My Spouse.”

In addition to knowing and loving the Lord, Saint Rose was devoted to serving the Lord. She beheld her Divine Spouse in the suffering poor she served. “Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, so you do unto me,” says the Lord. In the manner of St. Dominic, preacher to the poor and to lost souls, Rose used her acts of charity to bring the people of Lima closer to the Lord.

Rose underwent great torment in her own life. Her health was always delicate, but she would rather die than complain. Instead, she knew that the cross she carried brought her closer Jesus. She would pray, “O Lord, increase my sufferings, but increase also Your love in my heart.” On one occasion, her Lord responded:

“Affliction is always the companion of grace. Grace can only be attained by suffering; Divine consolations are distributed in the same portion as sufferings; let everyone understand this. Let no one deceive themselves. The way of the cross is the only path which leads to Heaven. Earthly sorrows are the roots of heavenly joys.”

More illnesses were placed upon the patient Spouse of the Lord. The last sickness that overtook her paralyzed her right arm. She was in great agony, but she would have it no other way. If her Divine Spouse died on the cross, she would not be spared the same pain. When her mother placed a pillow under her head, Rose cried, “Take away the pillow so that, like Jesus, I may die resting my head upon wood.”

After receiving Last Rites – Confession, Anointing, and Communion – and like the wise virgins of scripture awaiting with lighted lamp the return of the bridegroom, Rose asked for a blessed candle. After receiving it, she uttered her last words were, “Jesus, Jesus, be with me.” At the age of thirty-one, August 24th, 1617, the Bridegroom came to meet her.

As was the case for Catherine of Sienna, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, or John Paul II, Rose was declared a Saint immediately by the world around her. However, she was not officially canonized until August 30th, 1671 by Clement X.

This child of Divine Love was the first Saint of the New World. She is the patroness of Peru, the Americas, the Philippine Islands and countless dioceses and parishes throughout the world.

Prayer:

Rose, Spouse of Jesus,

Pray that I may learn to love the Lord and become one with Him.

May your life inspire me to abide in His love and come to that complete joy

That you gained in your time on earth.

Finally, pray that I may Lord may come to me in my hour of death and

bring me to Heaven where you live with Mary and all the Saints, in union with Christ,

Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

Day Eight - Rose of the Sick

When a person sneezes, we say, "God Bless You!."


According to one legend, saying this blessing originates with the belief that a person's heart stops for a fraction of a second during a sneeze. Even though that old wives' tale won't help cure the cold or allergy that caused the sneeze, people continue to say it. It's a kind gesture and a simple prayer for the person in their moment of ill-health.

Visiting the sick, one of the Corporal Works of Mercy, can be done through prayer. How many times do we pray for the sick; especially at Mass?

Saint Rose not only tended to the sick, she prayed for them unceasingly. Her infirmary within her parent's home offered great support to the women of Lima. Not wanting to be a social worker, however, Rose made sure that her support for her patients was directed toward prayer and a closer union with her Lord. She said, "Prayer is the great pharmacy where we can find the medicine for all our ills."

Pope John Paul II once wrote in an address to the sick and suffering, "You who are weighed down by suffering are in the front line of those beloved by God." Rose of Lima understood that by visiting the sick she would find those who were closest to God. How is it that the sick are closest to God when it appears as though God has abandoned them in their illness?

The answer is found in the cross. By suffering, dying, and rising, the Lord gave the mystery of human suffering and death a profound and salvific meaning. We are all called to imitate Christ - to be living icons of Jesus the Lord. In sickness and death, we most closely reflect the Lord who suffered and died for us. This is why Rose had her infirmary. She saw her Lord in the sick and suffering.

Rose would not pass up the opportunity to teach her guests in the infirmary about the Lord. When her patients would give her praise for her works of mercy, she would point to a statue of the child Jesus which she had set in the window. She would say, "There is your divine physician. Give him the praise. I am just an instrument."

The statue of the child Jesus was a gift to Rose from one of her wealthy benefactors. Rose kept it in the infirmity and referred to it as her "little Doctor." As she cared for her patients, she would keep her eyes fixed on the image and utter her 149 names of the Lord. This mantra and contemplation of her Lord helped her to overcome the tremendous smells of the cancerous patients she served.

Rose was a pioneer in her zeal to help all women living on the streets. The Spanish would not care for the African, Indians, or Meztizos. Rose cared for them all; Not because she was partly quechua herself (on her mother's side), but because her heart knew no boundaries. How could it? This woman, who so loved the Lord, knew that in Him "there is no Jew, or Greek, slave, or free." In God's eyes, all are the same. 



Prayer:


Rose of the Sick,

 Your love for those you served in your infirmary was a love for Christ himself.
Teach me to see my Lord in the sick and in my own sufferings.


Help me to see that all suffering, all crosses, even death itself can lead me to know Christ.

Lord Jesus, bless me in my moment of suffering and at the hour of death. Amen.

Day Seven - Rose of the Saints

Devotion to Saints goes back to the early Christian period and is found in the Creed that we proclaim today, "I believe in the Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins ..."

Giving honor to the Saints as we do on feast days celebrates the holiness of men and women who followed Jesus their Lord.  They are models for us on earth. Their lives, their writings, their ways of faith, show us what sort of life true Christians can live when they follow Christ.

We honor civic people every day to show us how, through their heroic lives, we can live as true citizens.  Honoring Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, John Kennedy, Susan B Anthony, sitting bull, Martin Luther King, Jr., mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill and other famous leaders is a way of recognizing their gift to humanity.

In the same way, we honor St. Paul, Peter, the apostles, and the holy men and women of Scripture. We honor St. Benedict, Francis of Assisi, Augustine, Ambrose, Aquinas, and a whole host of holy men and women throughout Christian history.

Devotion to the Saints is more than honoring, however. Devotion to the Saints recognizes that they have a share in the membership of Christ. As members of the body of Christ, they are one with Christ. Take for example, Peter and Paul in the Acts of the Apostles. Because they were one with Christ, many cures were attributed to them. Of course, Jesus, the Head of the Body of Christ, cure the sick and expel demons through his members; such as Paul, Peter, and the apostles.  Scripture also shows that Jesus, through these members of his body, would care people even when Peter and Paul word within touching distance of the sick:

They even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mattresses so that has Peter came by, at the least his shadow my overshadow some of them. (Acts 5:15).

God worked many miracles by the hands of Paul. In some cases, bits of linen and clothing from his body were taken to people who work, and their diseases went away from them and the evil spirits went out.

The people who came to Peter and Paul in the New Testament are no different than those who come to Saints today. We come to holy members of the body of Christ who, through Jesus the head, have the ability to heal. So I'm asked, "Why don't Catholics just go to Christ himself?"  The answer is, "We do."  As long as Saints Paul, Peter, and all the rest are members of the body of Christ (for what is the head without the body?) we are coming to Christ. In addition, going to the Saints in prayer always concludes with, "We ask this through Christ our Lord."

The fact is, St. Paul tells us to intercede for one another, to pray for one another. Recognizing that Jesus is the great intercessor and mediator, all members of his body have a share in his intercession.  A Christian's intercessory prayer, in union with Christ as the head, is quite powerful!

Rose of St. Mary would often go to Mary, the Queen of all Saints, disciple of the Lord par excellence, and to her favorites, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Dominic.

Rose would often visit the chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary at the church of Santo Domingo.  It was there that she had received the blessing of her name. Her Lord expected her to carry the name of Rose and, at the same time, honor his mother. Thus, Rose of St. Mary, would show devotion to the Queen of All Saints.  On many occasions, in the chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary, Rose would be found in a prayer of ecstasy. She, like many saints before, would be so struck with the power of the love of God that she was incapable of moving. In fact people who witnessed her in the spiritual state would be unable to move her or gain her attention.

St. Dominic, the famous founder of the Order of Preachers and patron of the parish church Rose attended, would also have a tremendous influence on her.  In her early years, she begged Dominic to give her the choice of entering is order. She wanted to bring, as he did, thousands of people to Christ. She was struck by his gift of preaching and longed to share pearls that would move the people of Lima to be one with Jesus our Lord.  Unable to enter the Dominican convent, her mother agreed to let Rose join the Third Order of Dominicans.

Perhaps the one saint Rose admired the most was St. Catherine of Siena. Catherine was a powerful woman. She deliberately told Popes, Queens, and Kings how to behave. She was spontaneous, unafraid of authority and fearless in the face of death. She was a Dominican religious, like Rose, who corresponded with popes and peasants alike.

Born in 1347, at Siena, Italy, St. Catherine lived through the Black death, famine and numerous civil wars.  During her lifetime the papal residents moved from Rome to have Avignon and back again and the great western schism pitted pope against anti-pope.   Wanting Pope Gregory XI to leave his residency in Avignon and return to Rome, and knowing the supreme pontiff was afraid of being poisoned, Catherine wrote to him, "be not a timorous child, but manly ..."

As she grew up, Catherine loved her quiet prayer. She became a Third Order Dominican when she was 16. For years, she had visions of Christ, Mary and the saints. For a number of years, she only spoke to God and to her professor. On one occasion, she had a vision of herself as a bride of Christ, and saw the infant Jesus giving her a wedding ring. Her spiritual life led her to tend to the sick, to serve the poor and work for the conversion of sinners.

If the life of St. Rose of Lima seem similar to the life of Catherine of Siena (including her ability to be stubborn), it is no coincidence. Rose so wanted to model her life after Catherine that she would ask yourself, "what would Catherine do?" When confronted with a situation.

Devotion to the Saints only led Rose to a deeper relationship with Christ our Lord.  She was happy to know his faithful members, talk with them, love with them, and eventually travel with them to the kingdom of heaven.

Rose of the Saints,

You called on the friends and Mother of Jesus to help you in your time of need. I ask you, my friend in heaven, to beg our Lord Jesus to be with me always. Help me, through your example, to walk closer with Jesus and his Church, the Body of Christ.

Lord Jesus, I love you with all of my heart, all of my soul, and all of my strength. Amen.