The name of God is so holy that Moses was given the second commandment, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,” and Jesus praised His Father’s Name in the most important prayer He taught us. Honoring this commandment has profound effects not only on our spiritual life, but also on our mental and emotional well-being.
It doesn’t take a genius to see that when teens and young adults are exposed to the extreme vulgarity that pervades much of our music, movies, tv shows, books, and even speech, that they become angry or depressed themselves. Many adults have been angry or depressed for so long they don’t remember when that feeling began. Taking the Lord’s Name in vain is a serious sin that harms the soul. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, a doctor of the Church, serious sin also dulls the intellect. According to neuroscientists, repeated actions and exposure to intense emotional states rewire our brains and reinforce those habits. So when young people listen to angry music and think they feel better because the music expresses their feelings, what is actually happening is they have remapped their brains and anger has now become a more comfortable emotion.
There is a way out of this morass. Jesus Himself guides the way: “Hallowed be Thy Name.” Praising the Name of God not only fulfills our obligation to Him, it brings us to the center of His Divine Heart. Praising Him elevates our own souls because it actually fills us with His joy.
Anyone who has attended a Charismatic Conference or Mass understands the power of praise music and its ability to touch us profoundly. For those who are introverts or are struggling with depression or anxiety, Gregorian Chant is profoundly healing. Neuroscientists have demonstrated that when engaged in Chant, the entire brain lights up on imaging machines. Meditating on the Rosary in Chant has been shown to remap and heal the brain.
Praising the Holy Name of God brings us innumerable blessings. We increase in our own humility – the understanding of who God is as Our Creator and who we are as the created. As our souls marvel at His glory, our faith increases and our fears disperse. We increase in gratitude; we change our focus from ourselves and our list of wants, to Him and the many gifts and mercies He has already bestowed on us. His hope within us increases, which in turn increases our generosity toward others and expands our capacity to give and receive love.
Praise Him and He meets us where we are, as we are. Whenever we find ourselves still struggling with attaining peace and joy, then we start with a deep examination of conscience, forgive others from our heart, and go to Confession. We need not have any fear of being rejected because that won’t happen. When Jesus hung on the cross, He saw every sin that each of us would ever commit. He saw each one of us at our ugliest moments and He loved us so much even in those moments that He chose to die; He died for me and He died for you. He delights in forgiving you. He delights in filling you with His Peace. The journey to the center of His Divine Heart starts with a single step. Praise His Holy Name with a sincere heart and He will fill you with His abundant joy.
Raphael called the two of them aside privately and said to them: “Bless God and give him thanks before all the living for the good things he has done for you, by blessing and extolling his name in song. Proclaim before all with due honor the deeds of God, and do not be slack in thanking him. A king’s secret should be kept secret, but one must declare the works of God and give thanks with due honor. (Tb 12:6-7)
I recently returned from a trip and shied away from writing about my experiences because this isn’t a travel website nor is it about my personal life. But after hearing the words of St. Raphael, the Archangel known for healing, it became clear that it’s not about me, but about the fingerprints of God and recognizing Divine intervention in even the most ordinary of circumstances because He loves us so much.
After years of talking about a visit to Ireland, I finally sat down and planned it. I had heard about Knock, a place of apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I didn’t really know much about Knock, but felt a burning desire to go and knew I was being called there. As with all pilgrimages, traveling there had its own ordeals, but our arrival was met with a sense of peace.
On our first morning, we headed for the Reconciliation Chapel. I knew the Holy Spirit was present because the priest understood things about me that we hadn’t even discussed. He recommended that we attend the 3:00 Healing Mass at the Basilica and that we visit the museum. “Do it today,” he said. At the healing Mass the priest called each of us by name and did the anointing and all the prayers of the Sacrament of the Sick. Having three sacraments in one day was so amazing we didn’t even notice our jet lag.
I had a whole list of things to do at the Shrine, but the priest told us to go to the museum so we went. It was like viewing a time capsule from 1879, and at the very back of the museum was a large binder full of hand-written letters in beautiful European script. For some reason I sat down to read the letters. Some kind soul had transcribed in type-written form all 600 of them. People were pouring out their hearts about illnesses, accidents, and deformities. In every letter the person described either rubbing a piece of mortar from the gable wall, or touching the wall, or putting the mortar in a glass of water and drinking the water. All of them were miraculously healed. 600 verified miraculous healings between 1881-1884. I had no idea this apparition site was a place of healing –it’s the Lourdes of Ireland. We saw photographs of many crutches left at the gable wall because people had been healed. I inquired about the mortar and was told that the portion of the gable wall where Blessed Mother, St. Joseph, St. John the Evangelist and the Lamb of God appeared had been incorporated into the outer wall of the apparition chapel and we could go touch it. Had we not started the day with Reconciliation, we would not have known about the healing Mass, nor discovered the important secret revealed in these letters.
A few days later we booked a 13 hour bus tour that brought us from Dublin to the West Coast of Ireland, the Cliffs of Moher, Galway, and the rural countryside. Once again, the inconveniences of life turned out not to be coincidence. Upon arriving at the tour bus stop, we joined a crowd of over 300 people booked on a tour bus that accommodated 63. Our tour guide explained that normally there was a high no-show rate, but they were calling in four other buses to handle the demand. Unfortunately, although we presented our confirmation and payment receipt we were not on her list. Unflustered, she told us to ride with her to the last pickup point and hopefully people wouldn’t show up — “Don’t worry. We’ll get you sorted out.” We started praying to our guardian angels that four people would change their minds about taking a tour. Amazingly, four didn’t show up so we were let back on the bus. The only seats left were the front row “reserved” seats which is exactly where I wanted to sit. I couldn’t have planned it better.
On the three hour ride back to Dublin, the friendly couple behind us shared their adventures in Spain and Morocco and how a layover in Ireland had turned into a spontaneous five day vacation extension. We all agreed that seizing the present moment instead of always planning for some distant future was a much more fulfilling approach to life. I settled in to my 15 decade rosary while reveling in the beauty of this marvelous green country with its endless rolling hills. At the 7th decade, the man behind us dropped his phone. Something in his wife’s panicked, “Robert, are you okay?” made me turn around. He was definitely not okay – he was having a stroke. In the middle of nowhere. He made a convulsive grimace and then his head fell to the left, his mouth slack open, his eyes unfocused, his face like yellow wax. His wife screaming his name and thumping his chest with no response. No rise and fall of his chest – no breath. No movement or recognition in the lifeless stare. Desperate to help them, I didn’t even have an aspirin. But I had my rosary – the simple plastic rosary that I had touched to the gable wall at Knock. I held it up and told her I was praying for him. I knew he was dead. She knew he was dead. The tour guide knew he was dead. I prayed anyway as the bus pulled into a rest stop. Then suddenly he coughed so hard his arms and legs flailed about. When he was able to speak, it was obvious he had no idea what had happened to him and sought to reassure his wife that he “was just coming down with something but was fine.” Miraculously he was able to walk down the steps of the bus and speak in coherent sentences.
His wife and the tour guide tried to convince him to go to the hospital while he continued to insist he was fine. Not wanting a repeat episode on their flight to Los Angeles the following day, I asked the Holy Spirit to give me the words to encourage him to make a better decision, and, as always, He responded: “Robert, I know that as a man you are expected to be the strong one, the one who takes care of the family. You want to be in control, but today that is not the way to be strong or take care of your family. Look at your wife. She is terrified. She will have no peace until she knows you are okay. For her sake Robert you have to be strong in a different way. Sometimes being a man means you must fall on your sword and do something you don’t want to do, but you do it for the good of your wife and family because you love them. Today is one of those times.” He agreed to go to the hospital.
Thinking back on this trip, I see the fingerprints of God everywhere, in every inconvenience, in every decision, in every path to which I was guided. None of this happened on my own. He guided me to Confession. The priest was guided to instruct me to go to the museum. With all the beautiful art around me, I sat down to read letters. We discovered the gable wall. We somehow wound up in the front of the bus with this couple and I had my rosary with me. God intervened and restored this man to life through the intercession of Our Lady and many witnessed it. The miracles of Knock continue. Praise be Jesus now and forever.
P.S. –I prayed for all of you while there and lit several candles. The last candle was for anyone I have ever met or ever will meet, and anyone who has ever or will ever pray for me or my intentions that they be filled with an abundance of joy in this life and especially in the next. So if we have never met and you would like the blessing of abundant joy from God through Our Lady of Knock, you know what to do: “Hail Mary full of grace …… ” And for those non-Catholics who do not yet know the love of Our Blessed Mother, “Our Father Who Art in Heaven …..”
P.P.S. – In 1879, 15 villagers in Knock saw the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, St. John the Evangelist, and the Lamb of God. The villagers prayed the rosary for 2 hours in the pouring rain during the apparition. The Church has investigated and found the eye witnesses to be credible. The faithful laity and devoted priests have created a beautiful Shrine of pilgrimage and retreat. Find out more at Our Lady of Knock.
The Gospel story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19 is read with Wisdom 11 on the Sunday cycle Year C (a cycle that rotates the Gospels over a 3 year period) and read with Revelation 3 on the weekday reading. These readings together demonstrate the mercy of God. Most of us know the story of this short-statured, wealthy tax collector who climbs a sycamore tree to see Jesus. We are familiar with the self-righteous crowd who grumble that Jesus chooses to have dinner at the house of a sinner, but we are not used to seeing how much we are like Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus makes a startling choice. He runs ahead of the crowd, but instead of simply doing that and then standing in the middle of road where he would eventually cross paths with Our Lord, he climbs a tree. Zacchaeus feels the calling, the pulling toward something new and better, and strongly desires it, yet he is not ready to get up close to Our Lord. Well aware of his sins, he does not want to be inspected too closely.
Each of us has had this experience at some time in our lives. We have all sat in the tree wanting what Our Lord offers, but not feeling forgivable. We have all had moments where we felt so unworthy and so ashamed of ourselves that we did not want to go to Confession out of fear and embarrassment at what the priest might say. Reflecting on the first reading, “But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook people’s sins that they may repent” (Ws 11:23), we realize this is exactly how Jesus approaches Zacchaeus. Jesus sees his longing and his fear and walks up to the tree and extends an invitation. One might think that Jesus is inviting Himself to dinner, but what He is actually doing is inviting Zacchaeus back into the community that Zacchaeus has lost through his sin. He gives back to Zacchaeus his human dignity and respect, telling both Zacchaeus and the grumblers that Zacchaeus is not only loved, but treasured: “For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made.” (Ws 11:24) Zacchaeus responds to Our Lord’s call with repentance (Lk 19:8) and joy.
Like Zacchaeus, Jesus meets us where we are: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.” (Lk 19:10) Once we have been found, we are invited to journey with Him. Our journey is one of continuing conversion, constantly striving to know Him better and love Him more. One sure sign that we have climbed back up in the tree is a lack of peace in our lives. The events going on around us and in the news are unsettling and do require a great deal of prayer, but they should not make us live in fear.
How do we transform our spiritual lives so that we not small boats being tossed among the waves, but instead submarines in the deep water, unfazed by the storm far above? We need to increase our trust in Him. This starts with a good Confession. Are we saying to ourselves “Well I have nothing to confess,” or “I confess the same sins every week”? If so, this is an invitation to go into the deep water. Sin includes what I have done, said, or thought, as well as the good that I failed to do. Inviting the Holy Spirit to reveal these things to us is the way to uncover what is keeping us bobbing about the surface. Personally, I am amazed at what the Holy Spirit reveals to me, not only where I have fallen short, but also how it has affected others. He gives me the ability to experience remorse and gives me a firm purpose of amendment. And I am forgiven. Even when I approach Him with trepidation, He meets me with open arms. I can trust Him. Every time. It is this continual experience of revealing myself and still being met with unconditional love that builds up my trust in Him. It is this trust that is the source of peace.
This is the peace Jesus offers Zacchaeus when He says, “Today salvation has come to this house.” Jesus also asks to dine with us: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rv 3:20) What are you waiting for? Open the door.
Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. (Joel 2:12-13)
This was the first reading for Ash Wednesday. God speaks to us through Scripture and also through the natural world. It is no coincidence that Lent begins in the winter and yields to Easter in the Spring. God uses these cycles to call us back to Him, to deepen our connection to Him. If we approach Lent the way we approach a garden, we can yield beautiful flowers in the garden of our hearts.
First, we begin with weeding. The biggest weed is gossip. Weeding needs to continually be looked after just as we need to continually mind what comes out of our mouths. This is difficult for all of us, but we can ask St. Joseph for help with this. St. Joseph had a major secret – his betrothed was pregnant and the baby wasn’t his. He was devastated by this, but instead of telling anyone, he kept it to himself, preserving Mary’s reputation. In the end he found out that he had misjudged the situation, but he had caused no harm to Mary in the process. Gossip is difficult to overcome, especially when we think we are in the right, but St. Joseph can teach us how to receive the gift of silence.
Second, we must get rid of all the large rocks in our garden. Some of them are quite big and heavy because as we carry resentment for past wrongs the rocks grow larger and heavier with each passing year. Forgiveness cannot be achieved alone, so St. Theresa of Calcutta is there to help. She would often beg for food for the poor. One day she brought a child into a bakery and asked for bread. The shopkeeper spit in her face. She calmly said, “Thank you for that gift for me. Now how about some bread for this child?” The child received the bread. She understands well how to react with humility and forgiveness in the face of wrongdoing and she can help us get rid of those rocks.
We must then add amendments to our soil so it will be a healthy place for our plants. Even after forgiving others, some wounds are very deep and still need healing. Psychologists say that the greatest thing they do for their patients is listening to them. In our culture listening is a lost art. How often have we tried to have a meaningful conversation with someone who was constantly checking every alert on their cell phone? How often have we done that to others? To heal these deep wounds, we need to take them to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Spending time with Him in the silence, pouring our hearts out to Him and giving Him time to speak to our hearts when we are silent and listening to Him, allows Him to heal these wounds. He will ask us to pray for those who caused the wounds, but this is part of our healing process so it needs to be done.
We are then ready to plant our seeds. Almsgiving and acts of kindness and charity are the best seeds to plant because they are not only planted in our hearts, but also in the hearts of those around us. Water the garden thoroughly with prayer, especially the Rosary. Gentle pruning is required as well, so we fast to help us get rid of those bad habits that keep wanting to grow back.
Just as flowers need to be fed, our “miracle-gro” is frequent reception of the Eucharist, daily if possible, and Confession. When Easter arrives our daffodils will bring us joy as they blossom and our roses will bring us peace when they bloom. Those around us will also enjoy the beauty of our garden, but most importantly, Jesus will join us on our porch swing and make His home with us.
I have been blessed to be a lifelong Catholic, but in my early 20s I found myself growing complacent in my faith while I pursued my educational and career goals. I found myself being “successful” in the eyes of the world; I had most of the things I wanted and was on track for achieving all my goals. So why wasn’t I happy? After much soul searching, I realized that I had ignored my most important relationship. I returned to the Sacraments and joined a Rosary prayer group. I had never been interested in the Rosary, but the couple leading the young adult group welcomed me into their home with such love and acceptance that I found myself returning every week. While my grandmother taught me my prayers, this couple taught me how to really pray. I found that in entering into deep meditation of the Rosary, the Gospels really came alive to me and spoke to me in a way I had never experienced.
I know that many people are in the same boat I was in – rowing in circles. The current conditions we are experiencing with the coronavirus are unprecedented and even faithful Christians can grow weary and discouraged. This is why I started this blog: to bring you encouragement, to help you deepen your prayer life, and to help you open your heart to the peace, love, and joy that Jesus wants you to have.
