Prayer and Petition

We all have specific needs we must present to God in prayer. God wants us to ask. However, we must make sure we are asking for things in their proper order. Among the most important things we need to constantly beg God for is the amendment of our lives and true contrition for our sins. When we ask for the amendment of our lives and the grace to be truly contrite for our sins we must sincerely mean it. It is not enough to simply go through the motions and say the words. Unless we have a strong, sincere desire to change our lives, chances are God won't be answering the requests for the other things we are asking Him for.

If we do in fact find ourselves simply going through the motions we must beg God for the proper disposition. We must ask for the grace of contrition and conversion. This is a petition we should make to God every single day. Let us constantly ask God for contrition and the amendment of our lives.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

Following the Lord

The prophet says: "The Lord is my light and my salvation." Those who are privileged to know this light cease to sin or offend God in any way. If we truly walk in the light of Christ as spiritual creatures we possess the courage to withstand all things. We are able to bear trials and sufferings because we find our strength in God. We are capable of enduring all things with patience and humility.

The spiritual person, when faced with temptation, acknowledges that Christ is his light. Temptation may come upon him, but he can always overcome it. Evil desires may come over him, but he is never conquered by them. God is his strength.

Let us pray today that we may give ourselves more completely to God. He is our strength and our salvation.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

Holiness II

We may often here others or even ourselves refer to certain people as being "holy." What does it mean to be holy? We know that the Church invites us all to embrace holiness. In fact there is a universal "call" to holiness for every single member. Do we think of ourselves as holy? Do we strive for holiness?

Holiness begins with our own personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As we begin a new year it is a perfect time to renew our dedication and fideltiy to our Lord. We do this initially by deepening our prayer life. We must continue to beg our Lord for the grace of prayer. Christ longs for our attention. He wants us to place ourselves at His feet and simply remain in His presence. Christ will communicate with us intimately when we make it a regular habit to calm our minds and clear our heads in order to listen to Him speak to us.

We must develop a disciplined, well-ordered, daily life of prayer as a creature of God. After we have established a well-ordered spirituality with Christ, we must in turn use this foundation to serve one another. Without a spirit of charity we cannot expect to be holy. How do you plan to serve Christ today? What have you done for God and His Church lately? What have you done for your brothers?

We pray for the strength to answer God's call to prayer. We pray that we will respond to the needs of others by our good works. If we pray and love, we fulfull our twofold duty toward our Creator.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

Trust in God alone and not in men

Our ultimate goal is of course God. He is the source alone of all that is good and holy. Faith in God is among our greatest gifts. God wants our faith to be strengthened. Christ demanded faith from all those for whom He worked His miracles. In order to hear our prayers, our Lord wishes us to experience poverty, distress, abandonment and even persecution. In His wisdom, this is how God shows us we are included among His beloved friends. However, we must remain faithful to Him in all such circumstances.

God wants us to always grow in our confidence in Him alone and in nobody else. God refuses to work in and through those who refuse to place all their confidence in Him alone. On the other hand, if we have a lively faith and hope in Him He will do great things for us. God always raises up the lowly.

Finally, God wishes to test His faithful servants like gold in the furnace. We must remain unshaken and steadfast in times of distress. God will in turn always raise us up. This is the way God has always dealt with His saints. If we remain faithful in the face of trials, God will give us true peace in this world and life forever in the next.

In Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

Holiness

If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. To many, the Lord's command seems difficult and painful. But to those who experience the wisdom of Christ His command is not really difficult or painful because Christ Himself helps us to do what He commands. Christ says "my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Love makes easy whatever may be difficult with respect to His commands.

To take up one's cross means we must endure many things that are painful. When we decide to follow Christ and embrace His teachings we will inevitably be contradicted. People will try to stop us. Even those who call themselves disciples of Christ will sometimes do so. Many people call themselves Christians, but few are truly friends of Christ because few are truly willing to suffer for His sake. If we wish to follow Christ we must use any obstacle and unite it to the cross. We must endure all hardships for the sake of Christ. "If anyone wishes to follow me, let him deny himself."

This is a command to all people; virgins, brides, widows, married women, monks, married men, clergy and laity. It is a command the whole Church must embrace. All members have their place in the Church. All must follow Christ in their own particular way of life. We must deny ourselves. We must rely on not our own strength, but on the strength of Christ Himself. We must take up our cross by enduring whatever pain the world brings our way.

Let us learn to love Christ more completely. He can neither deceive nor be deceived. He will never fail us. His promises are all true. Often people's faith fails because Christ does not offer an immediate reward. However, if we hold out and endure with patience we have carried our cross.

In Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

Salvation

Saint Peter exhorts us to embrace virtue. We have been invested with a divine power by virtue of our baptism. We therefore have everything necessary for living a life of genuine piety. This is part of our two-fold responsibility toward our Creator. Through the knowledge of Christ Himself who has called us to be His own, we have the strength to fulfill our responsibility.

Saint Peter says we must embrace virtue with a lively faith. Since we have left a world corrupted by lust to become sharers in the divine nature, we must practice self-control. Self control leads to perseverance. Perseverance leads to piety. Piety in turn leads to charity. Charity leads to love.

We thus fulfill the second part of our duty toward God, namely to love. Saint Peter says that these qualities bear fruit in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. If we lack these qualities we possess a spiritual blindness.

In Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching