St. Joseph the Worker

May 1, 2017

But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working still, and I am working.”
-John 5:17

Meditation

Work is tedious. Work is a grind. It’s hard, long and can sometimes be laborious. Work. Is. Work!

At times however, it can also be incredibly satisfying. Accomplishing something good, worthwhile and beneficial for others can lead to a sense of purpose and fulfillment. One thing is for certain, we can work all day, all week and all year long, but there will always be more that we feel we must get done.

Today is May 1st, the feast of St. Joseph – the Worker.  St. Joseph is revealed in Scripture to be 1) a just man before God, 2) spouse of Mary and 3) father of Jesus. Those are his big 3.

The Holy Spirit also wishes us to know something else about St. Joseph’s identity – he was a carpenter. The Holy Spirit reveals his work to us and the Church celebrates this feast!

Amidst the daily grind of work, we imitate God in very tangible ways. First, God is the ultimate Creator, but he has given humanity the dignity to participate in his creative genius. We get to create things through our work. Second, God is the Provider. Through work, we are given the dignity to provide for the needs of others, especially our families.

So whatever you are, whatever you do, consecrate your work to God each day.

This only scratches the surface of what St. Joseph wishes to teach us. Together, let’s walk with St. Joseph and allow him to lead us to new
spiritual heights.

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Prayer
St. Joseph,
Mystery hidden from the wise and learned,
But revealed to the little ones.
Take me to Nazareth and train me in your ways.
Reveal to me Christ’s hidden face present in my children.
Unveil for me the love of the Holy Spirit present in my spouse.
Teach me to manifest for them the Father who is rich in mercy.
Help me exclude all evil from my heart and my home,
So that we might find union with God,
And experience his love, peace and joy.
Amen.

50 Days of Easter

April 25, 2017

“He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
-John 20:22

Meditation

We’re still in the glow of the Resurrection. Indeed, in the mind of the Church, the Easter Season is longer than the Lenten Season. Easter lasts
for 50 days while Lent only lasts for 40 days. The Church certainly believes
in rejoicing!

During these 50 days we are called to enter into a special prayer. We are called to prayer for the Holy Spirit to come into our lives in a very real and personal way. To make this a reality, we would like to suggest two things:

First, pray the novena to the Holy Spirit from Ascension Thursday
to Pentecost.

Second, pray a prayer to the Holy Spirit every day. The two most common
of the Veni Creator Spiritus. The other is a very short prayer that you can actually say easily throughout the day:

Come Holy Spirit and fill the heart of thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your spirit and they shall be created and you will renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray that through us God will help to renew the earth. Thank you
and my God bless you.

Prayer for Easter
Come Holy Spirit and fill the heart of thy faithful
and enkindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your spirit and they shall be created
and you will renew the face of the earth.

Spiritual Masters for Your Journey

April 18, 2017

“For he has risen, as he said.”
-Matthew 28:6

Meditation

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. He is alive. He is the living word. You can have union with him – today and every day. Now you continue the journey. In the spiritual life you either go forward or backward. There is no standing still. We pray that you chose to go forward.

To do so, we highly recommend that you take 3 spiritual masters for your guide. The first is Brother Lawrence who wrote “The Practice of the Presence of God.” Put it into practice and you will be a spiritual giant.

The next two are the patron saints of Paradisus Dei. The first is Don Bosco. Get his book “Give me souls.” It is Steve Bollman’s favorite saint story.

Next, take St. Therese who wrote “The Story of a Soul”. It is on everyone’s short list of must read spiritual classics.

Prayer for Easter
Come Holy Spirit and fill the heart of thy faithful
and enkindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your spirit and they shall be created
and you will renew the face of the earth.

Overcoming Dryness in Prayer

April 11, 2017

“In my distress I cry to the Lord, that he may answer me.”
-Psalm 120:1

Meditation

Last week we saw that we can change our distractions into a pathway to
an encounter with Christ. Now we need to tackle another challenge in the spiritual life.

It’s called dryness. There are times when you won’t seem to be getting anything out of your prayers. Suddenly the Scriptures no longer seem to speak to you. During Eucharistic Adoration you can hardly stay awake. During Mass, you can’t concentrate on anything. Everyone will face
these moments.

The first thing we need is flexibility. If you’ve been reading Scripture every day and suddenly it is no longer speaking to you, pick up a great spiritual book. It could be a saint’s reflections on Scripture or an autobiography or another great book. You could also switch to the Rosary, which is simply asking Our Lady to help you meditate on the mysteries of Christ’s life containing in Scripture. There are a number of resources, so go to good trusted resources and allow yourself some flexibility.

Prayer for Lent
O gracious Master, infuse in our hearts the spotless light of Your Divine Wisdom and open the eyes of our mind that we may understand the teachings of Your Gospel. Instill in us also the fear of Your blessed commandments, so that having curbed all carnal desires, we may lead a spiritual life, both thinking and doing everything to please You. For You, O Christ, our God, are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies; and to You we render glory, together with Your eternal Father, and with Your all holy, life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and forever. Amen.

Overcoming Distractions to Prayer

April 4, 2017

“And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up into the hills
by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.”

-Matthew 14:23

Meditation

One challenge that everyone faces with daily prayer is distractions.

To battle distractions, we need to recognize two different types of distractions – internal and external. External ones are the ones that come from the outside. The biggest one today is all of our technology. Simple answer – leave it outside of your prayer time. Or if you are using prayers on your phone – put it in the airplane mode before you begin your prayer.

The internal ones are more difficult to battle. These are all the internal things that pass through your mind while you are trying to pray. The best advice we’ve heard about internal distractions is to turn them into prayer. So if you’re trying to pray and you keep thinking about something major in your job, simply use that as an opportunity to ask God to help you with that issue. It could be something with your wife or children, your finances or a temptation, all of them can be an opportunity to take that specific issue to prayer asking for God’s help. Suddenly, your distractions have become a pathway to prayer.

Prayer for Lent
O gracious Master, infuse in our hearts the spotless light of Your Divine Wisdom and open the eyes of our mind that we may understand the teachings of Your Gospel. Instill in us also the fear of Your blessed commandments, so that having curbed all carnal desires, we may lead a spiritual life, both thinking and doing everything to please You. For You, O Christ, our God, are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies; and to You we render glory, together with Your eternal Father, and with Your all holy, life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and forever. Amen.

Daily Triggers to Prayer

March 28, 2017

“Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

1 Thes 5:16-18

Meditation

Just as we need to feed our bodies, we need to feed our souls. Therefore, every time you feed your body, take the moment to feed your soul. This begins by “saying your prayers at mealtime” – which includes when you eat out. But you can also expand it to include any time that you have something to eat or drink. Before you know it, you’re taking the time to say a brief prayer 10 times a day or more.

From there you can take another step. You can establish explicit prayer triggers to help remind you to prayer. The concept is really simple. Pick something in your life that you do repetitively throughout the day. Use it to trigger a brief, silent, personal prayer to God. Between coffee, bathroom breaks, meetings, and other things, it can happen around 20 times a day.

Believe it or not, it is actually possible to unite yourselves to Christ throughout the entire day. He is waiting for the encounter. Imagine how different your life can be!

Prayer for Lent
O gracious Master, infuse in our hearts the spotless light of Your Divine Wisdom and open the eyes of our mind that we may understand the teachings of Your Gospel. Instill in us also the fear of Your blessed commandments, so that having curbed all carnal desires, we may lead a spiritual life, both thinking and doing everything to please You. For You, O Christ, our God, are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies; and to You we render glory, together with Your eternal Father, and with Your all holy, life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and forever. Amen.

Encounter with a Living Person

March 21, 2017

“You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me.”
–John 5:39

Meditation

The Scriptures put us in touch with Jesus Christ. Now here’s the key. He is alive and the Scriptures are the living word of God. In prayer, we need to prepare for an encounter with a living person.

That’s why an important part of preparation for prayer is “to place yourself in the presence of God.” That simply means turning aside all the other distractions and letting yourself become aware of God’s presence. At first, it can be somewhat challenging. We don’t see with our eyes or hear with our eyes that we are in the presence of Christ. This is why the Church has historically used images of Christ – a crucifix, a Sacred Heart statue or picture – in its prayer.

Do the same thing in your home. Set aside a place in your home. Have an image of Christ or Our Lady or your favorite saint. Something that speaks to you personally. Then still yourself for a moment. Say a brief personal prayer to Christ asking him to send the Holy Spirit to help guide you in prayer and then open yourself to an encounter.

Prayer for Lent
O gracious Master, infuse in our hearts the spotless light of Your Divine Wisdom and open the eyes of our mind that we may understand the teachings of Your Gospel. Instill in us also the fear of Your blessed commandments, so that having curbed all carnal desires, we may lead a spiritual life, both thinking and doing everything to please You. For You, O Christ, our God, are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies; and to You we render glory, together with Your eternal Father, and with Your all holy, life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and forever. Amen.

Praying with Scripture

March 14, 2017

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
–Hebrews 4:12

Meditation

What do I do with my prayer time each day?

Jesus Christ is the source and he established channels by which he feeds us. The most critical ones are the Sacraments, living a holy life, and “the Word of God” – which would be first and foremost the Scriptures, but also Magisterial documents and the writing of the saints. The one that is perfectly suited to your morning and evening prayer at home is Scripture.

Many Catholics have not spent a lot of time reading Scripture and are somewhat intimidated. Therefore, we suggest this great little guide called, “The Magnificat.” It gives you the daily readings from the Mass. It frequently has writings from the saints or Popes. And it is all nicely organized and you get a new one each month.

We like this so much we established a relationship with Magnificat. You can go to www.magnificat.net/paradisusdei to find out more.

Prayer for Lent
O gracious Master, infuse in our hearts the spotless light of Your Divine Wisdom and open the eyes of our mind that we may understand the teachings of Your Gospel. Instill in us also the fear of Your blessed commandments, so that having curbed all carnal desires, we may lead a spiritual life, both thinking and doing everything to please You. For You, O Christ, our God, are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies; and to You we render glory, together with Your eternal Father, and with Your all holy, life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and forever. Amen.

Quantity Matters

March 7, 2017

“But truly God has listened; he has given heed to the voice of my prayer.”
–Psalm 66:19

Meditation
Last week we saw that we need to pray consistently. We need to pray every day. This week we see that quantity matters.

Michael Jordan didn’t become a great free throw shooter by throwing up a couple a day. He shot so many that he could literally make them with his eyes closed. If we want to become pros at prayer, we need to take our game up a notch. A couple of minutes here and there probably won’t get us where we want to be.

I suggest starting with 10-15 minutes in the morning and the same before bed. I know many of you might be questioning, “What am I going to do?” Don’t worry, we’ll have some tips on that next week.

Prayer for Lent
O gracious Master, infuse in our hearts the spotless light of Your Divine Wisdom and open the eyes of our mind that we may understand the teachings of Your Gospel. Instill in us also the fear of Your blessed commandments, so that having curbed all carnal desires, we may lead a spiritual life, both thinking and doing everything to please You. For You, O Christ, our God, are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies; and to You we render glory, together with Your eternal Father, and with Your all holy, life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and forever. Amen.

Practice Makes Perfect

February 28, 2017

“But truly God has listened; he has given heed to the voice of my prayer.”
–Psalm 66:19

Meditation

This edition of Live It! begins a series of seven Live It! weekly videos focusing on Lent.  Specifically, this series will offer practical tips on prayer.

Each year during Lent, the Church asks us to focus on prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Without a doubt, the one that most people struggle with is prayer. We know how to give up alcohol or caffeine or tobacco or sugar. We know how to make contributions to a worthy charity.  But we all seem to struggle with prayer.

We can spend a lot of time talking about it.  We can spend a lot of time reading about it. But, at the end of the day we need to go practice it!

Prayer for Lent
O gracious Master, infuse in our hearts the spotless light of Your Divine Wisdom and open the eyes of our mind that we may understand the teachings of Your Gospel. Instill in us also the fear of Your blessed commandments, so that having curbed all carnal desires, we may lead a spiritual life, both thinking and doing everything to please You. For You, O Christ, our God, are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies; and to You we render glory, together with Your eternal Father, and with Your all holy, life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and forever. Amen.