God's dog must be a Wheaten terrier

This fluffy breed, a Wheaten terrier, is rated as the best for kids, babies even.  She doesn’t shed.   She took the phobia away from my boys who were afraid of dogs before.  I never heard her growl even when she’s bothered while eating.  Sometimes, my kids accidentally step on her.  She’d yelp then limp away.  But after sometime, she'd be back ready to play again.  She’s obedient even if  she has a mind of her own.  When I come home late, she’d wake from her slumber & stagger to check who’s coming in.  She's usually more enthusiastic & energetic to meet us.  Then, she’d  contently rest at my feet.  She doesn’t get bored nor find the need to entertain herself when I am around.  When we leave, she stays by the door awaiting our return.  She hate baths.  I have to hold her by the leash then hose her down.  But she settles down & accepts her fate by the time I lather her with shampoo. 

Weeks ago, there’s a post about a dog saving another after a traffic accident.  The post commented on how the dog taught brotherly love.  My dog made me think of the love of God.  If I were the dog & God was me, will I await His coming longingly?  Will I be content to stay still in His presence?  Will I accept the baths and purifications?  Will I guard His house and wake from my slumber whenever something happens?  Will I forget the hurts that His children inflict on me and always come back to serve?

Red Envelope Campaign

Get a red envelope. You can buy them at Kinkos, stationery or party supply stores. On the front, address it to:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington , D.C. 20500-0001

Make sure you also print your name and return address on the envelope. (I think that without it your envelope would just be tossed without being counted.)

On the back of the envelope, write the following message.

This envelope represents one child who died in abortion.
It is empty because that life was denied the chance to offer anything to the world.
Responsibility begins with conception.

Seal the empty envelope. Put a stamp on it and mail it.
The hope is that the president will receive millions of these.

Making & becoming a saint by frequent Confessions.

St. John Bosco's method of going to Confessions frequently has produced 29 official saints.  So, I decided to make it a family routine to go every Saturday.  My nine year old has become more docile and my wife more collaborative.  One can go even if one has no grave sins.  It is beneficial because of the grace that the sacrament provides.

From a parenting aspect, it makes it easier because the children are now conscious about obeying God's laws.  St. John Bosco said, "Our words become God's words."  And the kids will be trained to do good all the time whether others see them or not because God always sees them.

It was also hard to start.  The kids were saying how boring it will be & the wife is wondering why I needed to go.  But after the first time, I got my wife to support it and my kids don't find it that bad. And why would it be that bad, God is there.

Frequent confession is a technique given by God to St. John Bosco through visions.  It was a revolutionary idea back in the 19th century but as history shows, it works.

(Picture:  Saturday night family event - Confessions )

Short visits & prayers to the Blessed Sacrament

St. John Bosco (1888) did not make his boys do long prayers. Instead he encouraged short visits to the Blessed Sacrament & ejaculatory prayers (one liners).

With regards to the quick visits, Fr. Jimmy Hernandez from the Archdiocese of Washington D.C. shared this to me. A construction worker would use his lunch breaks to visit a nearby church. It took him half an hour to get there, so all that he can do is knell and pray, "Lord, this is Jose. I just dropped by to say hello." Then he'd hurry back to the site.

One day he had an accident and was hospitalized. When his friends stopped over, they found him laughing. He said the Lord stopped by saying, "Jose, this is the Lord. I just dropped by to say hello."

While most churches are closed when there’s no service precluding a chance visit, we can at least say an ejaculatory prayer like “O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, all praise & all thanksgiving be every moment Thine.” as we drive by.

Being Jesus the husband & daddy

This morning, I read about 6 young women & their quest to serve God  in

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/01/21/DI2009012102496.html

Back in 1993, Albert Herbert  lists more than 20 visionaries & stigmatists in the book “The Visionaries –USA- Today”.  And you have probably seen the video “Marian Apparitions of the 20th Century” that documents our Lady’s “recent” apparitions in Zeitun, Medugorje, Kibeho, Garabandal & Akita.  Then there’s the 200+ who were canonized by the late John Paul II.  If you check out:  http://www.usccb.org/pope/canon.htm  , you’ll see quite a diverse population. 

I ‘ve heard of a family whose teenage daughter would go into a prayerful trance neither eating, sleeping nor doing anything else for hours, even days.  The family is keeping it quiet & understandably so.  And I’ve met people whom I or others consider saintly:  a pastor - Fr. McGreedy, a novice master - Fr. Cogliandro, a CEO of Fiat & a Carmelite nun.  There’s an aura, a refreshing joy, a deep & constant serenity about them.  It must be the transforming union with God referred to in spiritual theology.

What’s cool about it is that everyone is meant to be filled with God – maybe in that way or another.  When I sought how, Fr. Cogliandro, shared with me what the Lord told a perturbed Salesian sister in a vision.  “Live the present moment with love” was the Lord’s counsel to her.  And since I tend to pick up on the weird stuff (like St. Francis stripping), he suggested that I be “extraordinarily ordinary.”   It does not mean to be mediocre but rather, to be holy in an unnoticeable way by fulfilling my duties with great diligence.

I think this still holds true even now.  If I can be so united with Jesus, then that will be the best thing that I can be & do for my wife & kids as is written in John 17:19 “And for them I make myself holy, so that they may be made truly holy. “

May the Queen of all saints pray for the graces that we need to be saints today.

Watching the watchers - vigilance in youth orginazations

 Last Tuesday, I attended a mandatory seminar entitled “Protecting God’s Children” because I am going to participate in my parish’s CCD program.  There were tapes about pedophiles revealing their trade secrets. It alerted me on the need for vigilance even in church organized activities & groups.

Actually our vigilance begins at conception & through the more important formative periods: the first six weeks, six months & six years.  The first six weeks in when the brain develops so, the mother needs to get the right nutrition.  Six months after delivery is when the child gets impressions about the world – whether it’s harsh or inviting.  That message is communicated through touch (and maybe some Barney episodes).  The first six years is when the foundation is laid for social-development, those 8 stages presented by Eric Erikson,

After that period is when this seminar becomes relevant as we entrust our kids to the catechists, teachers coaches & even priests & religious.  Sad to say that molesters came from that trusted group.  There’s more material at www.virtus.org.  

And we know from TV reports, how molesters befriend kids in the internet chat rooms.  My 9 year-old already chats with other players of Roblox & Adventure Quest.  So, one can monitor this by putting the PC in a public spot & with software that records the chat in the file that you can read later.  I googled “software monitoring chat tools” & found a lot of them.

May St. Michael the Archangel assist us in our watch.

Mental prayer - drab at first but awesome later

Last night, I managed to get a half-way decent mental prayer – or meditation.  I went to my blog site & clicked on the Mass Readings.  I just listened to them because it was too drab to read.

 Because I’m the priest of my domestic church, I need to get a jump start of spiritual juice every day.  Otherwise, I’ll slide into selfishness, vice & sin and end up yelling at the kids & resenting my wife.

 So, I struggle to make something out of this exercise.  After listening to the word & nothing’s flowing, I resort to techniques. 

 The first technique, called Ignatian, works when one is in a thinking mode.  One mulls over the reading & what the Lord might be saying.  Then one responds first with words, then with actions.

 The other way, called Sulpician, lends itself to feelings.  One tries to feel what the Lord is feeling & uses this in conversing with the Lord & then doing something about it.

 Then I intercede for my wife & kids.  That’s what priests do – become a go-between God & man.

 It does not have to take a long time,  The Salesians do 30 minutes, the Dominicans an hour & the Carmelites, 2 hours.  Maybe we can start with 5 minutes & bring it up to 15 minutes.

 It works for me so I thought I’d share.