Ijournal 121514 # 50 Season of Advent, week III GO SAINTS! Quotes by St. Bernard, Msgr. Ronald Knox, St. Irenaeus, and Fr. REGINALD MARTIN, O.P. In Conversation With God, Daily Meditations for Each Day of the Year, by Fr. Francis Fernandez-Carvajal. How to make a good confession: Examination of Conscience, by Fr. Bill Kelly, S.T.D. THE ART OF WAITING: A RETREAT GUIDE FOR ADVENT", Meditation 2. By Fr. John Bartunek
Advent, week III
“Christ, then, may be symbolized both as a bee and as the flower springing from the rod. And, as we know, the rod is the Virgin Mother of God. This flower, the Son of the Virgin, is "white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands". It is the flower on which the angels desire to look, the flower whose perfume shall revive the dead, the flower, as He Himself declares, of the field, not of the garden. This flower grew and flourished in the field independent of all human culture; unsown by the hand of man, untilled by the spade, or fattened by moisture. So did the womb of Mary blossom. As a rich pasture it brought forth the flower of eternal beauty, whose freshness shall never fade nor see corruption, whose glory is to everlasting.” By St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Link to free pdf copy of "Sermons of St. Bernard on Advent and Christmas:
https://ia902501.us.archive.org/6/items/sermonsofstberna00bernuoft/sermonsofstberna00bernuoft.pdf
GO SAINTS
SAINTS 00 BEARS 00
Cheese & Crackers = Quotes by St. Bernard, Msgr. Ronald Knox, St. Irenaeus, and Fr. REGINALD MARTIN, O.P.
The Veggies =
The Potatoes = In Conversation With God, Daily Meditations for Each Day of the Year, by Fr. Francis Fernandez-Carvajal
The Meat = How to make a good confession: Examination of Conscience, by Fr. Bill Kelly, S.T.D.
The Dessert = THE ART OF WAITING: A RETREAT GUIDE FOR ADVENT", Meditation 2. By Fr. John Bartunek
The Meat = How to make a good confession: Examination of Conscience, by Fr. Bill Kelly, S.T.D.
The Dessert = THE ART OF WAITING: A RETREAT GUIDE FOR ADVENT", Meditation 2. By Fr. John Bartunek
The Cheese & Crackers
🔴 “As He once came visibly in the body to work our salvation in the midst of the earth, so does He come daily invisibly and in spirit to work the salvation of each individual soul; as it is written : " The Spirit before our face, Christ the Lord." And that we might know this spiritual advent to be hidden, it is said : " Under his shadow 1 Heb. x. 7. 2 Wisd. xviii. 14, 15. 3 Ga”. By St. Bernard
🔵 "Once you get beneath the surface of the Old Testament, so largely disedifying, so largely unattractive to the reader, you can see, all down the centuries, an intensive work of preparation going on, for one particular event, when the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity becomes incarnate on earth, to describe him as coming home. The thunders of Sinai are the artillery meant to soften just this one particular point in Satan’s defenses. The corpses piled up in such profusion are so much manure meant to fertilize this one particular plot of the earth’s surface. The sudden snatches of hundred per cent spirituality which keep on cropping up here and there in the Old Testament, taking your breath away, are the soft twigs and leaves out of which a nest is being built for the Heavenly Dove to find a refuge at last, after all the desolation the deluge has left behind. I always regret the two books of Machabees being put in where they are, because it spoils the whole crescendo effect Malachy makes on you. Malachy is the last book of the Old Testament; “Here am I sending my messenger to prepare the way for thy coming”; everything’s ready for zero hour, the land was never in such good heart, the nest is all finished, down to the last detail: now!" By Msgr. Ronald Knox
⚫️ "The Lord prescribed love towards God and taught justice towards neighbor, so that man would be neither unjust, nor unworthy of God. Thus, through the Decalogue, God prepared man to become his friend and to live in harmony with his neighbor". By St. Irenaeus
⚪️ "THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, THE FOUNDATION: The commandments Jesus and Paul refer to, of course, are what we call the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue or “Ten Words” God revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. Like Jesus’ reply to the Pharisee, God’s words to Moses are concise and to the point. In the Books of Exodus and Deuteronomy, Moses will interpret and add to these simple and direct statements, and they will become the cornerstone for the entire moral framework of God’s People in the Old Testament. In themselves, though, they could not be simpler or more direct. God had centuries of dealing with our limited attention; He knew how prone we are to stray from the point, so he made certain to state His case very clearly, without unnecessary details". By Fr. REGINALD MARTIN, O.P.
The Veggies
"1 John 4:10 In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins"
Wisdom 18:15 "Your all-powerful word from heaven’s royal throneleapt into the doomed land"
There was a prayer in the book: "In Conversation With God", asking Almighty God to grant us the will to greet our Savior with our good works when He comes, so that we may be worthy to be on His right hand and possess the kingdom of heaven. My goal is to wet your appetite with one meditation from the book, it's really a great spiritual investment, as those who own the series can attest to (thanks for the turn on, PIC2). Fr. Francis Fernandez-Carvajal in one daily meditation says the following:
"Ronald Knox in a sermon on Advent on Dec. 21, 1947, said everyone knows what it is to plod on for miles, eagerly straining to see the lights that mean home. How difficult when you are doing that to judge distances. It might be a couple of miles, or just a few yards, but pitch darkness makes the judgment call a hard one. So it was with the prophets who looked forward to the redemption of their people. They did not know when, but they knew one day deliverance would come from the stock of David. So during Advent, with the shepherd-folk for our guides, we need to begin our travels at the dead of night, straining our eyes towards the chink of light which streams out of from that cave of Bethlehem.."
The mediation further states this:
"if we are aware that our vision is impaired & we can't see clearly the radiance emanating from Bethlehem, a good examination of conscience & interior purification will be greatly needed. Take note & loosen what has an hold on us separating us from God, & cast it away. The examination must penetrate the very roots of our actions & scrutinize deep down the motives which inspire the actions of our hearts. Therefore confession is a way of preparing for Christmas by removing the main obstacles that hinder & obstruct the growth of our Christian life. The principal enemies of our sanctity need to be rooted out.
In this time of Advent let us not forget our hearts are darkened by gluttony & the cares of this life, so that we lose sight of the supernatural dimension. St. paul compares this guard over ourselves to that of a well-trained soldier who is not taken by surprise. We remain ready if we are attentive to personals prayer, which enables us to avoid lukewarmness & a cooling fir our desire for sanctity. We will be constantly on the alert if we continue with our little mortifications which keep us awake to the things of God. A refined examination of conscience helps us look to the points at which. Almost without noticing it, we depart from our path"
The concluding part of the mediation is taken from a sermon by St. Bernard, it's on the six aspects of Advent. He exhorts us to steep ourselves in the meaning of these Advent days:
"Pay heed to Him who is approaching; think whence he comes & wither it is he who advances; consider His purpose in coming, the ripeness of the times, & the route he may choose for his approach. Let us go forth with a clean heart to receive the supreme King, for He is to come, & will not delay".
The mediation ends with this reflection:
"Holy Mary, our Hope, will help us to improve this season of Advent. All her thought are directed towards Jesus, who will be born in Bethlehem. At her side it will be easy fours to dispose our souls in such a way that the arrival of Jesus will not find us distracted by other things which have little or no importance in the light of the coming of God".
Now it can definitely be seen more clearly, how we can only receive as much of the Supreme King as our heart is clean. Sin blocks the residing presence of The Lord. Filled with self and pride, there is no room at the Inn in our heart for The Lord. A great preparation for the special day of Christmas that is soon approaching as the Advent season rapidly winding down, is to examen our conscience based on the ten commandments. If God is indeed at work, hoping we all pay attention to the moment of our visitation, for grace is so precious and should not be wasted. Frequently celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a must, and besides, it's very useful for spiritual growth.
The morning this Ijournal entry was worked on, an email came from "Catholicism Pure & Simple". The post was “Mary is the New Eve” – St. Irenaeus. That was my high five, because one of my cheese and crackers was by St. Irenaeus. If this email would have arrived a tad bit earlier, that article may have been the perfect potato dish to serve. Hopefully, what is being presented is as the Holy Spirit would have it. It is impossible for me not to share this great quote from the article. The way St. Ireneaus explained this really touched me, maybe this was just a big grace moment. Anyone feeling the same?
"When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman. The enemy would not have been defeated fairly if his vanquisher had not been born of a woman, because it was through a woman that he had gained mastery over man in the beginning, and set himself up as man’s adversary. That is why the Lord proclaims himself the Son of Man, the one who renews in himself that first man from whom the race born of woman was formed; as by a man’s defeat our race fell into the bondage of death, so by a man’s victory we were to rise again to life.” –St. Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies)
There was a prayer in the book: "In Conversation With God", asking Almighty God to grant us the will to greet our Savior with our good works when He comes, so that we may be worthy to be on His right hand and possess the kingdom of heaven. My goal is to wet your appetite with one meditation from the book, it's really a great spiritual investment, as those who own the series can attest to (thanks for the turn on, PIC2). Fr. Francis Fernandez-Carvajal in one daily meditation says the following:
"Ronald Knox in a sermon on Advent on Dec. 21, 1947, said everyone knows what it is to plod on for miles, eagerly straining to see the lights that mean home. How difficult when you are doing that to judge distances. It might be a couple of miles, or just a few yards, but pitch darkness makes the judgment call a hard one. So it was with the prophets who looked forward to the redemption of their people. They did not know when, but they knew one day deliverance would come from the stock of David. So during Advent, with the shepherd-folk for our guides, we need to begin our travels at the dead of night, straining our eyes towards the chink of light which streams out of from that cave of Bethlehem.."
The mediation further states this:
"if we are aware that our vision is impaired & we can't see clearly the radiance emanating from Bethlehem, a good examination of conscience & interior purification will be greatly needed. Take note & loosen what has an hold on us separating us from God, & cast it away. The examination must penetrate the very roots of our actions & scrutinize deep down the motives which inspire the actions of our hearts. Therefore confession is a way of preparing for Christmas by removing the main obstacles that hinder & obstruct the growth of our Christian life. The principal enemies of our sanctity need to be rooted out.
In this time of Advent let us not forget our hearts are darkened by gluttony & the cares of this life, so that we lose sight of the supernatural dimension. St. paul compares this guard over ourselves to that of a well-trained soldier who is not taken by surprise. We remain ready if we are attentive to personals prayer, which enables us to avoid lukewarmness & a cooling fir our desire for sanctity. We will be constantly on the alert if we continue with our little mortifications which keep us awake to the things of God. A refined examination of conscience helps us look to the points at which. Almost without noticing it, we depart from our path"
The concluding part of the mediation is taken from a sermon by St. Bernard, it's on the six aspects of Advent. He exhorts us to steep ourselves in the meaning of these Advent days:
"Pay heed to Him who is approaching; think whence he comes & wither it is he who advances; consider His purpose in coming, the ripeness of the times, & the route he may choose for his approach. Let us go forth with a clean heart to receive the supreme King, for He is to come, & will not delay".
The mediation ends with this reflection:
"Holy Mary, our Hope, will help us to improve this season of Advent. All her thought are directed towards Jesus, who will be born in Bethlehem. At her side it will be easy fours to dispose our souls in such a way that the arrival of Jesus will not find us distracted by other things which have little or no importance in the light of the coming of God".
Now it can definitely be seen more clearly, how we can only receive as much of the Supreme King as our heart is clean. Sin blocks the residing presence of The Lord. Filled with self and pride, there is no room at the Inn in our heart for The Lord. A great preparation for the special day of Christmas that is soon approaching as the Advent season rapidly winding down, is to examen our conscience based on the ten commandments. If God is indeed at work, hoping we all pay attention to the moment of our visitation, for grace is so precious and should not be wasted. Frequently celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a must, and besides, it's very useful for spiritual growth.
The morning this Ijournal entry was worked on, an email came from "Catholicism Pure & Simple". The post was “Mary is the New Eve” – St. Irenaeus. That was my high five, because one of my cheese and crackers was by St. Irenaeus. If this email would have arrived a tad bit earlier, that article may have been the perfect potato dish to serve. Hopefully, what is being presented is as the Holy Spirit would have it. It is impossible for me not to share this great quote from the article. The way St. Ireneaus explained this really touched me, maybe this was just a big grace moment. Anyone feeling the same?
"When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman. The enemy would not have been defeated fairly if his vanquisher had not been born of a woman, because it was through a woman that he had gained mastery over man in the beginning, and set himself up as man’s adversary. That is why the Lord proclaims himself the Son of Man, the one who renews in himself that first man from whom the race born of woman was formed; as by a man’s defeat our race fell into the bondage of death, so by a man’s victory we were to rise again to life.” –St. Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies)
The Potatoes
In Conversation With God, Daily Meditations for Each Day of the Year, by Fr. Francis Fernandez-Carvajal
Link to complete article : http://www.aquinasandmore.com/catholic-articles/about-the-in-conversation-with-god-series/article/176/sort/relevance/productsperpage/12/layout/grid/currentpage/1/keywords/in%20conversation%20with%20god
"Have you been looking for an intensely spiritual prayer aid? A resource that delves into the meaning of the Catholic faith, with Biblical passages, wisdom from the saints, and other reflections? In Conversation with God by Francis Fernandez is just such a resource. With too much information and inspirational wisdom to condense into one book, this is a seven book series that can really help one to enrich his or her prayer life. And while each page is brimming with information and reflections, it is not something reserved for only a scholar or Biblical expert. This book series is aimed at the average Catholic, intended to be an aid to anyone and everyone in deepening and strengthen their prayer lives.
Why Daily Meditations?
Why is daily meditation on scripture and faith such a good idea? Prayer is, as the title of this series implies, a time when we converse with God. The saints would pray for hours each day; those in religious orders still do. In centuries past, prayer was more strongly emphasized. Even those who were not in religious orders but lived secular lives were raised to understand the value of conversing with God. Why would we want to miss out?
Unfortunately, in modern society, many outside sources are encouraging us to fill our time with everything but prayer. In a world so immersed in media, cell phones, and entertainment, it can be hard to re-train oneself to become focused and immersed in deep, meditative prayer instead. For this reason, prayer meditation and reflection books such as the In Conversation with God series become invaluable. They provide the reader with scripture and inspirational words from the saints - and reflective guidance to help understand them - so that the reader may focus, meditate, and engage in true, meaningful conversation with God.
In Conversation with God - Seven Volumes of Daily Meditations
As mentioned above, the books in this series are filled with wisdom - too much text to fit into one book. Rather, the daily meditations are neatly organized into seven volumes, separated by liturgical season. Each volume includes meditations on the gospel readings for every day of the year, including the 3 cycles for years A, B, and C.
The Seven Volumes are:
Advent and Christmas
Lent and Eastertide
Ordinary Time, weeks 1-12
Ordinary Time, weeks 13-23
Ordinary Time, weeks 24-34
Special Feasts, January - June
Special Feasts, July - December
The books are available individually, or as a complete seven volume set.
About The Author- The author of this series of books is Francis Fernandez-Carvajal, a priest of the Opus Dei Prelature. He is a graduate in history from the University of Navarre and also holds a doctorate in Canon Law form the Angelicum in Rome. Aside from In Conversation with God, he is also the author of such titles as Lukewarmness: The Devil In Disguise and Children of God: The Life Of Spiritual Childhood Preached.
If you'd like to learn about the Opus Dei prelature Francis Fernandez is part of, click here to view our selection of Opus Dei resources"
Continue having a good spirit filled Advent y'all, and if you find it necessary, fight to experience what is spiritually right. Here is another spiritual aid, a site for reflections and prayers for each day of the year.
Reflect & Pray link:
http://www.prayingeachday.org/reflectdecember.html
Praise The Lord for another conformation that came at the end of the day, what a surprise. It turned out that my regular scripture reading from Philippians, confirmed what was written earlier about "fight to experience what is spiritually right".
Philippians 1:27 "Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear news of you, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind struggling together for the faith of the gospel"
Philippians 1:30 "Yours is the same struggle as you saw in me and now hear about me.
The Meat
Deuteronomy 10:4 "The LORD wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments he had proclaimed to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. And the LORD gave them to me"
How to make a good confession: Examination of Conscience, by Fr. Bill Kelly, S.T.D.
Link to complete article: http://stmarysdedham.com/how-to-make-a-good-confession
✏️ 1. I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.
- Failure to pray on a daily basis
- Not trying to love God with my whole mind, heart, soul and strength
- Trying to control things rather than seek God’s will
- Failing to seek out or learn the teachings of the Church
- Indifference or ingratitude to God
- Lukewarmness in the relationship with God
- Not trying to grow spiritually; being content with mediocrity
- Acedia (spiritual laziness)
- Putting other things or people before God, e.g., TV, radio, sports, hobbies, Internet, etc.
- Attachment to human respect or affection, i.e., caring more about what others think than what God thinks in order to fit in or be liked
- Not trusting God
- Failure to fulfill the duties of one’s state in life
- Going to a fortune teller, Ouji Board, séance, horoscopes, satanic ritual, etc…
- Embarrassment of being Catholic
- Failure to defend the Church when ridiculed
- Failure to support the work of the Church monetarily and/or with time and ability
- Not taking part in the work of evangelization
- Being willfully distracted at Mass or in prayer
- Putting off confession needlessly
- Failing to accept or offer up suffering
- Refusing or denying the mercy of God
- Failure to pray when tempted not to
- Failure to examine one’s conscience daily
- Giving into self pity or self deprecating thoughts
✏️ 2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
- Using the Lord’s name lightly, in surprise or in anger (habitual, not thinking)
- Cursing thoughtlessly
- Using the names of Mary, a Saint, the Pope or other sacred persons irreverently
- Using vulgar or inappropriate language
- Telling bad jokes about sacred persons or objects
- Speaking badly of the Church
- Inappropriate or irreverent use of Scripture
✏️ 3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.
- Missing Mass on Sunday or Holy Days
- Doing unnecessary work on Sunday
- Failing to keep Sunday as a day for family and recreation
- Failing to spend extra time on Sunday in prayer and study of the Faith
- Allowing sports or other schedules to dictate the Sunday schedule
- Being irreverent in church
- Not paying attention or participating fully at Mass
- Coming late to Mass or leaving early without a serious reason
✏️ 4. Honor your father and mother.
- Fighting with siblings
- Disobedience to parents or authorities
- Failure to give proper respect to parents or those in authority
- Treating those under one’s authority disrespectfully
- Failure to respect the dignity of children
- Speaking badly about parents
- Speaking badly about children
- Speaking badly about one’s spouse
- Neglecting duties toward spouse or children
- Failing to give good example to one’s family
- Not trying to cultivate peace in the family
- Taking one’s spouse for granted
- Making fun of or failing to help the elderly or handicapped
- Not praying for those entrusted to your care
- Failing to pray for those in authority over you, e.g., parents, teachers, employers, government officials, etc.
- Failure to teach children adequately about God and the spiritual life
- Lack of gratitude toward parents
- Nagging spouse or children
- Treating adult children like minors
- Meddling in the affairs of married children
- Too lax with rules, boundaries and discipline
- Too strict with rules, boundaries and discipline
- Breaking just civil laws without serious reason
- Being ashamed of or embarrassed about parents
✏️ 5. You shall not kill.
- The willful killing of another human being
- Participating in any way with an abortion or ending the life of an elderly or ill person – Vanity Pride, arrogance
- Stubbornness without good reason
- Rudeness
- Failure to apologize
- Fighting or arguing over slight matters
- Acting out in Anger
- Using obscene or vulgar gestures
- Prejudice
- Harboring a grudge
- Seeking revenge or retaliation
- Wishing evil upon another
- Impatience
- Selfishness
- Listening to bad music
- Excessive watching of television
- Excessive playing of computer games
- Excessive use of the internet
-Refusing to forgive another
- Pornography
- Watching TV or movies that promote sex or violence
- Playing computer games that promote sex or violence
- Intemperance (overeating or drinking too much)
- Driving carelessly
- Failing to care for one’s health
- Smoking or chewing tobacco
- Abusing medications
- Sloth (laziness)
- Procrastination
- Lack of punctuality
- Failure to respect the dignity of self or others
- Giving scandal to another
- Treating another unjustly
- Failure to take medications if such are necessary
- Doing things willfully to anger others
- Violating friendships
- Failure to pray for deceased parents or relatives
- Using the “silent treatment” on others
- Failure to pray for sinners
✏️ 6. You shall not commit adultery.
- Sexual relations with one not your spouse
- Lack of custody of the eyes (looking inappropriately at others)
- Allowing the heart to stray from one’s spouse
- Dressing somewhat immodestly
- Acting or carrying oneself immodestly
- Treating others as objects
- Failure to respect persons of the opposite sex or your own sex
- Seeking wrongful attention from another
- Selfishness in marital intimacy
- Homosexual activity
- Masturbation
✏️ 7. You shall not steal.
- Theft of large, expensive or small or inexpensive items
- Willful Failure to return borrowed items
- Wasting time
- Failure to pay debts promptly
- Failing to practice charity or to help the poor
- Squandering money on needless things or pursuits
- Not keeping a promise
- Cheating in games, school work, etc
✏️ 8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
- Lying
- Gossiping
- Spreading rumors or tale bearing
- Talking behind another’s back
- Being negative, critical or uncharitable in thought regarding others
- Making rash judgments
- Being unjustly suspicious
- Failure to seek to restore the good name of another whom you have injured through speech
- Speaking unkindly to or about others
- Exaggerating the truth
- Bragging or boasting
- Flattery
- Complaining, whining or attention seeking
✏️ 9. You shall not desire your neighbor’s wife.
- Telling or listening to impure or vulgar jokes or stories
- Brief entertainment of impure thoughts or fantasies or lustfulness
- Not trying to control the imagination
- Curiosity or playing with temptation
- Seeking out or looking at persons or pictures which are immodest
✏️ 10. You shall not desire your neighbor’s goods.
- Envy (sadness or anger at the good fortune of another)
- Jealousy (desire for the goods of another)
- Greed
- Materialism; Attachment to riches or material goods
- Not trusting that God will provide for all material and spiritual needs
How to make a good confession: Examination of Conscience, by Fr. Bill Kelly, S.T.D.
Link to complete article: http://stmarysdedham.com/how-to-make-a-good-confession
✏️ 1. I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.
- Failure to pray on a daily basis
- Not trying to love God with my whole mind, heart, soul and strength
- Trying to control things rather than seek God’s will
- Failing to seek out or learn the teachings of the Church
- Indifference or ingratitude to God
- Lukewarmness in the relationship with God
- Not trying to grow spiritually; being content with mediocrity
- Acedia (spiritual laziness)
- Putting other things or people before God, e.g., TV, radio, sports, hobbies, Internet, etc.
- Attachment to human respect or affection, i.e., caring more about what others think than what God thinks in order to fit in or be liked
- Not trusting God
- Failure to fulfill the duties of one’s state in life
- Going to a fortune teller, Ouji Board, séance, horoscopes, satanic ritual, etc…
- Embarrassment of being Catholic
- Failure to defend the Church when ridiculed
- Failure to support the work of the Church monetarily and/or with time and ability
- Not taking part in the work of evangelization
- Being willfully distracted at Mass or in prayer
- Putting off confession needlessly
- Failing to accept or offer up suffering
- Refusing or denying the mercy of God
- Failure to pray when tempted not to
- Failure to examine one’s conscience daily
- Giving into self pity or self deprecating thoughts
✏️ 2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
- Using the Lord’s name lightly, in surprise or in anger (habitual, not thinking)
- Cursing thoughtlessly
- Using the names of Mary, a Saint, the Pope or other sacred persons irreverently
- Using vulgar or inappropriate language
- Telling bad jokes about sacred persons or objects
- Speaking badly of the Church
- Inappropriate or irreverent use of Scripture
✏️ 3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.
- Missing Mass on Sunday or Holy Days
- Doing unnecessary work on Sunday
- Failing to keep Sunday as a day for family and recreation
- Failing to spend extra time on Sunday in prayer and study of the Faith
- Allowing sports or other schedules to dictate the Sunday schedule
- Being irreverent in church
- Not paying attention or participating fully at Mass
- Coming late to Mass or leaving early without a serious reason
✏️ 4. Honor your father and mother.
- Fighting with siblings
- Disobedience to parents or authorities
- Failure to give proper respect to parents or those in authority
- Treating those under one’s authority disrespectfully
- Failure to respect the dignity of children
- Speaking badly about parents
- Speaking badly about children
- Speaking badly about one’s spouse
- Neglecting duties toward spouse or children
- Failing to give good example to one’s family
- Not trying to cultivate peace in the family
- Taking one’s spouse for granted
- Making fun of or failing to help the elderly or handicapped
- Not praying for those entrusted to your care
- Failing to pray for those in authority over you, e.g., parents, teachers, employers, government officials, etc.
- Failure to teach children adequately about God and the spiritual life
- Lack of gratitude toward parents
- Nagging spouse or children
- Treating adult children like minors
- Meddling in the affairs of married children
- Too lax with rules, boundaries and discipline
- Too strict with rules, boundaries and discipline
- Breaking just civil laws without serious reason
- Being ashamed of or embarrassed about parents
✏️ 5. You shall not kill.
- The willful killing of another human being
- Participating in any way with an abortion or ending the life of an elderly or ill person – Vanity Pride, arrogance
- Stubbornness without good reason
- Rudeness
- Failure to apologize
- Fighting or arguing over slight matters
- Acting out in Anger
- Using obscene or vulgar gestures
- Prejudice
- Harboring a grudge
- Seeking revenge or retaliation
- Wishing evil upon another
- Impatience
- Selfishness
- Listening to bad music
- Excessive watching of television
- Excessive playing of computer games
- Excessive use of the internet
-Refusing to forgive another
- Pornography
- Watching TV or movies that promote sex or violence
- Playing computer games that promote sex or violence
- Intemperance (overeating or drinking too much)
- Driving carelessly
- Failing to care for one’s health
- Smoking or chewing tobacco
- Abusing medications
- Sloth (laziness)
- Procrastination
- Lack of punctuality
- Failure to respect the dignity of self or others
- Giving scandal to another
- Treating another unjustly
- Failure to take medications if such are necessary
- Doing things willfully to anger others
- Violating friendships
- Failure to pray for deceased parents or relatives
- Using the “silent treatment” on others
- Failure to pray for sinners
✏️ 6. You shall not commit adultery.
- Sexual relations with one not your spouse
- Lack of custody of the eyes (looking inappropriately at others)
- Allowing the heart to stray from one’s spouse
- Dressing somewhat immodestly
- Acting or carrying oneself immodestly
- Treating others as objects
- Failure to respect persons of the opposite sex or your own sex
- Seeking wrongful attention from another
- Selfishness in marital intimacy
- Homosexual activity
- Masturbation
✏️ 7. You shall not steal.
- Theft of large, expensive or small or inexpensive items
- Willful Failure to return borrowed items
- Wasting time
- Failure to pay debts promptly
- Failing to practice charity or to help the poor
- Squandering money on needless things or pursuits
- Not keeping a promise
- Cheating in games, school work, etc
✏️ 8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
- Lying
- Gossiping
- Spreading rumors or tale bearing
- Talking behind another’s back
- Being negative, critical or uncharitable in thought regarding others
- Making rash judgments
- Being unjustly suspicious
- Failure to seek to restore the good name of another whom you have injured through speech
- Speaking unkindly to or about others
- Exaggerating the truth
- Bragging or boasting
- Flattery
- Complaining, whining or attention seeking
✏️ 9. You shall not desire your neighbor’s wife.
- Telling or listening to impure or vulgar jokes or stories
- Brief entertainment of impure thoughts or fantasies or lustfulness
- Not trying to control the imagination
- Curiosity or playing with temptation
- Seeking out or looking at persons or pictures which are immodest
✏️ 10. You shall not desire your neighbor’s goods.
- Envy (sadness or anger at the good fortune of another)
- Jealousy (desire for the goods of another)
- Greed
- Materialism; Attachment to riches or material goods
- Not trusting that God will provide for all material and spiritual needs
The Dessert
THE ART OF WAITING: A RETREAT GUIDE FOR ADVENT", Meditation 2. By Fr. John Bartunek
http://rcspirituality.org/the-art-of-waitinga-retreat-guide-for-advent-guide/?submissionGuid=0b83d29e-84e8-4ad2-86b3-417b3ca091fd
🔗 In the second meditation, we will take some time to recall what we are waiting for.
Thanks 4 taking a little time out to feed you soul
Trying to provide quality nourishment is my number one goal
To prevent a lack of spiritual knowledge from taking it's toll
✞ⓂⓂ/℘✞L̶o̶r̶d̶ \o/
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