Renungan Harian Katolik

5 menit audio ini bisa sebagai percikan api untuk menyalakan doa mental sahabat - sahabatku. "Doa Mental adalah berbicara kepada Tuhan dan mendengarkan suaraNya /  Mengenal-Nya dan mengenal diri kita sendiri: saling berkenalan "(St Escriva)

- Tempatkan diri Anda di hadirat Tuhan. - Tetaplah teguh sampai akhir.  Roh Kudus bekerja “dengan percikan api ” dan membutuhkan ketekunan. 5 menit Percikan Rohani (PR) ini untuk menyalakan Doa.  Saya Rudy Tjandra (awam) mengundang anda untuk berbagi keintiman Anda dengan Tuhan.   Temukan momen Anda, anggap Anda berada di hadapanNya.

- Tempatkan diri Anda di hadirat Tuhan. - Tetaplah teguh sampai akhir.  Roh Kudus bekerja “dengan percikan api ” dan membutuhkan ketekunan. 5 menit Percikan Rohani (PR) ini untuk menyalakan Doa.  Saya Rudy Tjandra (awam) mengundang anda untuk berbagi keintiman Anda dengan Tuhan.   Temukan momen Anda, anggap Anda berada di hadapanNya.

Tuesday 3rd week in ordinary time "Mk 3:31-35" A crowd was sitting about him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brethren are outside, asking for you." And he replied, "Who are my mother and my brethren?" And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brethren! Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother." Doing the Will of God. That's how Mary became the Mother of God: by accepting and doing God's Will - "Be it done unto me according to thy Word." If we want to be part of God's 'family' (brother, sister, mother...) that's all we have to do to take after Mary, our Mother and Jesus Himself in Gethsemane - "not my will, but thine, be done." Holiness comes down to one thing: Doing God's Will. "Do you really want to be a saint?" wrote St Josemaría, "Carry out the little duty of each moment: do what you ought and concentrate on what you are doing." Some people think that holiness is about doing good things: praying, offering sacrifices, giving alms to the poor and saying the Rosary... But actually holiness is about doing the right thing at the right time. A saint is not the one who is praying all the time but the one who prays when it's time to pray, reads when it's time to read and eats when it's time to eat. A saint goes to bed when it's bedtime and gets up when it's time to wake up. A saint is, in this sense, 100% predictable. Saints are always doing what God wants them to do, whatever they should do at any time. Any specific moment offers one right thing to do and an infinite number of wrong things to avoid. When it is time to study, studying is the right thing to do and all the rest is wrong. You might think that reading instead of studying is not 100% right but can be 50% right; at least, you can argue, 'it's better than being in my sister's room annoying her.' The truth is that studying is 100% right. Reading is 100% wrong. Annoying your sister would be 500% wrong. Do you understand? Those who do God's Will are doing the right thing at the right time. That is holiness. And that is why it is so difficult to do. Mary, my Mother, since holiness is for everyone, I believe that with your intercession and the help of God's grace, I can really achieve it!

- Tempatkan diri Anda di hadirat Tuhan. - Tetaplah teguh sampai akhir.  Roh Kudus bekerja “dengan percikan api ” dan membutuhkan ketekunan. 5 menit Percikan Rohani (PR) ini untuk menyalakan Doa.  Saya Rudy Tjandra (awam) mengundang anda untuk berbagi keintiman Anda dengan Tuhan.   Temukan momen Anda, anggap Anda berada di hadapanNya.

Thursday 7th week of Easter "Jn 17:20-26" "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me...Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am." It fills me with confidence to know that You, Lord, prayed for me to the Father. Because I'm one of those who believed in You "through their word." Over the years, in the Church, the faith has been transmitted by witnesses who received it and passed on faithfully what they were given. As Easter comes to an end, we commemorate the moment in which You, Lord, gave the last push to Your Church to keep moving steadily forward: we hear Your prayer for unity in Your Church, 'that we may be one.' The Church will be effective as long as it is united, as happens with a football team. We have one Manager (the Father), one Founder (Christ), one Coach (the Holy Spirit), one Captain (the Pope), one goal (the salvation of everyone). If we are united there is no enemy that could be a threat. Nothing is impossible if we are really 'united'. The rock band U2's hit single 'One' had the following lyrics: "We're one, but we're not the same." In the Church we are also many and all of us are different from each other, just as in the football team all the players have different positions, different skills and different roles. It would be ridiculous to have 11 goalkeepers on the field! An old man gave his grandson a tiny stick and asked him to break it. He broke it easily. Next he gave him ten sticks all stuck together; the boy couldn't break the bundle. Then he explained, "This is like the family: you can't break it if we are together." And that's what the Church is - our big family. You, Mary, Mother of the Church, are the Mother of this family of ours. I pray today with your Son for the unity of the Church. That we may learn to play together as a team, all in different positions, following the instructions of the Coach (Paraclete) and playing together with the Captain (Pope). Holy Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us... and actually, also 'play' for us!

Kontemplasi

Sixth day within the Nativity Octave "Lk 2:36–40" And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher; she was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, and as a widow till she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God, and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him. Anna was a holy woman. She was a soul of prayer and of penance. That made it possible for her to discover Jesus among all the people who visited the temple. She saw the Baby in the arms of Mary and she recognised Him. How many people were oblivious to the presence of God in their midst! How many passed by Mary, Joseph and Jesus and didn't recognise them. But Anna did. To be able to recognise someone you need to know that person first. And we get to know Jesus in the Eucharist and in our daily conversation with Him. But after meeting Jesus and giving thanks to God, Anna didn't keep her joy to herself. The Gospel says that she "spoke of him to all." She went around sharing her joy of having found Jesus and of knowing that our redemption had begun. She became the first 'apostle' to teach others about Jesus. Anna didn't think it was enough to give thanks to God for having found the Messiah. She didn't think it was enough to tell a few people about it. The Gospel says she spoke about Him to everyone. In an interview with St Teresa of Calcutta someone asked her if she and her sisters talked about God with the sick and poor. "Naturally!" she replied; "we teach them to pray, try to bring them to God through the sacrament of confession." The journalist made the point that we don't always have to talk about Jesus. The holy nun answered, "What else do we have to talk about, then? We would not be missionaries if we didn't talk about Jesus. We would be acting for something… but we act for Someone!" Mary, Queen of the Apostles, intercede for me that I can be daring enough to talk about your Son to everyone, with words and deeds.

Fifth day within the Nativity Octave "Lk 2:22-35" And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord...Simeon took Jesus up in his arms and blessed God and said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation..." And his father and his mother marvelled at what was said about him. The presentation of a firstborn Jewish child in the temple served two purposes; the first was the redemption of the first-born and the second was the purification of the mother. In this case, Jesus didn't need to be redeemed because He was God of the Temple; similarly, Mary didn't need purification because she was Immaculate from her Conception. Nevertheless, they went to fulfil the law. That's today's first lesson. There Mary and Joseph were amazed at the things that were spoken about the Baby. At the end of this chapter, St Luke writes that Mary "kept all these things in her heart." Some of us are amazed at the number of things that our mothers can remember about us. How much mothers can store in their memory - in their heart - about each of their children! Things that they did, things that they said, things that they love, things that they fear and also things that they heard about them. Love increases our capacity to remember. Our Lady was filled with these memories. Many years later St Luke came to ask Mary about Jesus in order to write his Gospels. He couldn't have found a better source! The heart of Mary was an archive of memories about Jesus. She stored them; she meditated on them; she spoke with Jesus about them; in time, she could understand them more and more. That is mental prayer: To take all these things written in the Gospels and meditate on them in your heart. Can you imagine the prayer of Mary when she remembered all these things? So should be your prayer and mine. Mary, my Mother, during this season of Christmas you can give a boost to my mental prayer. With you, I'll take the Gospel as cherished memories about Jesus, I'll find Jesus there and get to know Him better and love Him more. "May you seek Christ; may you find Christ; may you love Christ!" (St Josemaría)

The Holy Innocents, martyrs "Mt 2:13-18" An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt...Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men. We call martyrs those saints who chose to give their lives for Jesus Christ. These innocent children also gave their lives but they didn't choose to. They were chosen for martyrdom. For centuries innocent lives have been taken and people can't help asking 'why?' The suffering of innocent children is still a scandal for our human hearts. That happened during WWII in a concentration camp. The Nazi guards decided one day to hang a child in front of thousands of prisoners in formation. Elie Wiesel, who writes the story, explains that the child was so light that he hanged, struggling to gasp, for more than half an hour. "Where is God now?" asked one of those prisoners forced to contemplate the suffering of the child. 'Behind me,' writes Wiesel, 'I heard the same man asking: "For goodness' sake, where is God?" And from within me, I heard a voice answer; "Where is He? This is where – hanging here from this gallows..."' God's agony didn't finish on Calvary. When innocent children cry, God mixes His Tears with theirs; when they bleed, God's Heart bleeds with them. If they ask you 'where is God?', tell them that God is on Calvary still, dying every day in the womb of some mothers; He is the Victim of famines, of epidemics, of wars, of abuses, of bullying, of mafias, of trafficking, of abandonment, of persecution, of terrorism, of injustice of any kind. God is still in agony in the suffering of innocents. But we are with you, Mary, Mother of all Innocents, helping Jesus to bear His Cross, comforting Him with our prayer and reminding Him with our love that all that He suffers for us is worthwhile; and asking God for the end of all this injustice.

December 22 "Lk 1:46–56" Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree." Of course all generations would call you blessed, would they not? You are the Mother of God! Chosen from among millions to be the Mother of Jesus. And what did you say? "He who is mighty has done great things for me." It has all been God's doing. The only creature in the world who could boast about her gifts and talents, considers herself the handmaid of God. Blessed are you, Mother! When our friends praise us for our deeds, we thank them for their kindness. When Elizabeth extols Mary, Mary glorifies God. Mary receives praise as a mirror receives light; she doesn't store it but makes it pass from her to God, to whom is due all praise, all honour and thanksgiving. It is above all a wonderful praise of Almighty God, an act of thanksgiving for the goodness of the Creator. The shortened form of Mary's song – the 'Magnificat' – is: "Thank God." Mary's song has two notes: humility and joy. Her spirit rejoices because God has looked favourably on her humility. A box that is filled with sand cannot be filled with gold; a soul bursting with its own ego can never be filled with God. The emptier the soul is of self, the greater room in it for God. And Mary was all room, free space into which God could pour His Grace. God did great things in Mary because of her humility. He will hardly do great things in us if He doesn't also see our humility. Humility attracts the attention of God. "It was the virtue which attracted the gaze of the Most Holy Trinity to his Mother and our Mother: the humility of knowing and being aware of our nothingness... 'Because he has looked graciously upon the lowliness of his handmaid' ...I am more convinced every day that authentic humility is the supernatural basis for all virtues! Talk to Our Lady, so that she may train us to walk along that path". (St Josemaría)

December 21 "Lk 1:39-45" Elizabeth exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." "Blessed is she who believed." Mary had prophesied that many would call her blessed, and so it is. For centuries, millions of times a day, from all over the world, in all languages, people have called her blessed. How did she attract those blessings? The last blessing of Elizabeth in today's Gospel explains it: "Blessed is she who believed". Yes, Our Lady believed. She believed the Prophets, she believed her ancestors, she believed the Angel, but most of all, she believed God. The Incarnation happened because she believed. As a good daughter, she is blessed because she trusted her Father. In the 1800s, an acrobat named Blondin became famous for crossing Niagara Falls on a tightrope. One day a crowd gathered at the falls to see his most dangerous attempt yet. He planned to push an empty wheelbarrow across the tightrope. The slightest miscalculation could send him plunging to his death in the raging waters 160 feet below. Thousands watched breathlessly as he made his way to the other side, oblivious to the roar of the waters. The throng broke into cheers when his feet were firmly planted back on solid ground. He then challenged a reporter: "Do you believe I can do anything on a tightrope?" "Oh yes, Mr Blondin," replied the reporter enthusiastically. "Do you believe," continued the acrobat, "that I can do it with a full wheelbarrow?" "Sure you can!" answered the man with conviction, wanting to see it. "In that case," Blondin added, "get into the wheelbarrow!" Those who have faith, who trust God, have to prove it with deeds - just as Mary did. Blessed are you, Mother, for you believed; blessed because you trusted God and got into the wheelbarrow. And I feel blessed also for being your child; I ask you to intercede for me that I may grow in faith.

December 20 "Lk 1:26-38" In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus." O, Gabriel, what a decisive moment in history! Among the millions of Angels it fell to you to deliver the most important message ever announced. How many centuries practising your lines! In this divine play that started millions of centuries ago we were all given lines; but yours, Gabriel, were the most important ever to be spoken by a creature (after those of Mary, of course). You had three parts in the play: one with Zechariah, one with Joseph (although this was only in his dreams) and the one that was every Angel's dream to deliver, your message to Mary. How was it? Actually, how was she? Were you nervous? The salvation of the whole human race depended on the outcome of that conversation with Mary. What if your sudden appearance frightened her? What if your words wouldn't come out? What if you missed out a line? And what if...what if Mary said 'No'? But, of course, that couldn't happen...could it? Well, you, Gabriel, had centuries to prepare your lines, but not Mary. You had read the script millions of years ago, but Mary hadn't. You, Gabriel, were given your lines, but Mary wasn't. There were no lines for her in the script. There was a gap that only she could fill. All the Angels in Heaven knew the question. All the Archangels, patriarchs - and God Himself - knew your lines, Gabriel. And all of them waited eagerly for the reply. And that is the case for every vocation, for every mission that God gives men. Angels, Archangels, Saints and Holy Souls - and God Himself - know my calling and mission. What they don't know, what they are still waiting for, what history hasn't heard yet, is my reply. Here it is: Holy Mary, through your intercession, be it done unto me according to God's Word!

December 19 "Lk 1:5–25" The angel said to Zechariah, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John"...And Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel...and behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words." Zechariah was a godly man. However, when the Archangel Gabriel confirmed that Zechariah's prayer was heard, he wasn't ready to believe it: "How shall I know this?" How can I be sure? Was it not enough to receive the visit of an Archangel? As Jesus complained to St Faustina, "Distrust on the part of souls is tearing at My insides. The distrust of a chosen soul causes Me even greater pain; despite My inexhaustible love for them they do not trust Me." Many people find it difficult to make decisions out of fear: 'What if...?' More than daydreaming, it is day-nightmaring. They are petrified by the thought of some potential future calamities that could happen. Then the safest route is not to take any route. But not to make any decision is already a decision - the decision not to trust in God. One day Fr Lainez was quizzed by St Ignatius of Loyola. "If God gave you the choice between going straightaway to Heaven or staying here on earth working for His Glory - but risking your salvation - what would you choose?" Lainez answered quickly: "I'd certainly choose the first: my salvation." Then St Ignatius replied: "I'd rather choose the second. How could God allow my condemnation as a consequence of a previous act of generosity on my part?" Risk is part of human life. We can't do anything at all if we don't take some risks. To walk you have to take the risk of lifting one foot and balancing all your weight on the other. But if you don't... you can't walk! And what if I make a mistake? Don't worry! If you make it out of trust in God, He knows how to turn that mistake into something good. Mary, my Mother of God, help me to trust God more and to be daring in following His promptings.

Friday 2nd week of Advent "Mt 11:16-19" "But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates, 'We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.' For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon'; the Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds." Jesus complained about those who are never satisfied with anything. St John the Baptist had been preaching for them and they wouldn't listen to him; maybe they thought he was too harsh or too radical or too rustic... Then came Jesus and they didn't like Him either. They were expecting someone different. This happened many times in the history of Israel: they were never happy with the prophets that God gave them or with the messages that Our Lord sent to them. Have you heard the legend of Procrustes? He had an iron bed which all his victims 'had to' fit into. If a guest was shorter than the bed he would stretch him. And if the victim was longer than the bed he would cut off his legs... Some people can be a bit like Procrustes. Nothing ever meets their expectations. Not even God. At the end of the day, it was just pride: 'St John didn't eat; Jesus ate too much...' When people don't want to change their way of life they always make excuses. Imagine that a doctor tells a man to follow an uncomfortable diet to stay healthy. What would you think if that man refused to follow the diet, claiming that the doctor smokes or drinks too much? Excuses! He just doesn't want to follow the diet. Or if a man doesn't want to take the medicine because the doctor who prescribed it is a gambler? Some people who are not interested in going to Mass or confessing their sins, praying a bit more, giving money to the poor or lending a hand to their neighbours... they may try to accuse someone else of other vices to justify themselves and not do anything. Mary, Mother of Good Counsel, do not allow me to make excuses when your Son makes demands on me and when His plan doesn't coincide with my 'project'. Mother, teach me with your life that God can never ask too much of me.

Thursday 2nd week of Advent "Mt 11:11-15" "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force." Our Lord warned us that Christian life is a 'struggle'. It is a struggle to do your prayer, to say the Rosary, to go to Mass, to make good use of your time, to work hard and with perfection, to offer up sacrifices... It is a struggle because we have to "take it by force." Our struggle for holiness is a real battle against the enemy; he never gives up, but nor do we. To win this war we need to know the enemy well. In a war, if you know your opponent's strategy, their best soldiers, weapons and moves, their weak and strong points... you can plan your strategy better. And our enemy in this war for holiness has very predictable moves and obvious weak points. Think about the times he has beaten you: it has always happened in the same 'ways'. For example, you start wasting time and temptation comes; you stop doing what you should be doing or you start thinking about yourself or criticising someone else interiorly and you find yourself in temptation. When you allow these things to happen, you've already opened the door to the enemy; you are fighting now behind the enemy lines. On the contrary, if you fight against those things, the enemy always finds the door well shut. You are fighting on your own ground and the enemy has to comply and fight where you want, not where he wants. If we struggle to make good use of our time, if we stop thoughts of vanity or criticism of others, if we are doing what we should be doing all the time, if we are looking for new sacrifices to offer, new people to help, new good things to do... the enemy has no chance. It is like playing a football match in the opponent's half - they will never score and will let in goals one after another. Whilst the enemy has to defend himself, he can't attack. And he has to defend when we spend the whole day struggling to do what we have to do, pray as we have to pray, help whoever we should help and try all the time to become a saint.

Wednesday 2nd week of Advent "Mt 11:28-30" "Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." For some the demands of being a disciple of Jesus are too much. They feel overwhelmed with all their responsibilities: 'I have to pray, to offer sacrifices, to finish my work, do my jobs, to live charity with this person, to read, to...' They feel like they are doing more than everyone else. They are anxious, stressed, harassed, worried, frenetic... they spend the day complaining and don't find time for God. There is a rule we can follow to know whether a burden comes from God or not: its weight. If it is from God, He helps us to carry it. There is a joke about a tough man, very strong, who was helping his mother to move house, taking the furniture to a neighbouring one. A wardrobe didn't fit in the lorry. Being just one mile away, his mum told him to ask his brother for help and between them both to take it to the new house. After half an hour the lady saw her husky son approaching the house alone, staggering and sweating beneath the wardrobe. She opened the door and blurted out, "Didn't I tell you to ask your brother for help?" "But he is helping," replied the son, "he is inside holding the hangers!" Sometimes we are like that. The burden is heavy because we don't know how to accept it and we don't ask Our Lord for help; but Our Lord never sends us anything we can't cope with. His yoke is easy, He says. Have you seen those ladies carrying heavy burdens on their heads? The secret is in the 'balance'. In our lives, to cope with all our responsibilities, the secret is also 'balance': balance between prayer and action. Those burdens, taken for and with Jesus, become opportunities to sanctify ourselves. Complaining about your burdens would be like a bird complaining about the weight of its wings! Wings are a lovely burden for an eagle, for they allow it to soar! Mary, my Mother, may I never complain about the burden that God puts on my shoulders but rather, give thanks to Him and use that to soar to the heights of holiness.

Tuesday 2nd week of Advent "Mt 18:12-14" "What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." How much God loves sinners. He calls them "those little ones" because they are His children and He is looking for them. His Will is that not one of them is lost. As Pope Francis explained, "God never tires of forgiveness," He never gives up, He always goes in search of sinners to bring them back to Him. And in this task of bringing souls to Himself He relies on us, His apostles of the 21st century. If we stop going in search of sinners they may have no other chance. The enemy is adamant in discouraging God's apostles. The devil tries with all his energies to obstruct our apostolate, to dissuade us from trying again to bring sinners back to God, to demoralise us and interfere with our mission. But souls depend on us. Many souls depend on our struggle never to give up. For a while St John Vianney suffered the temptation of leaving his parish and retiring to a place where he could devote himself to prayer. But one day he had a very interesting conversation with the devil. The evil spirit talked to him through a possessed lady and insulted him: "How you torment me! You 'Vilain crapaud noir!" (the devil called him "ugly black toad"). And then, furious with the saint, the devil continued, "You are a miser of souls. You rob me of all you can...You are a liar! You said, a long while ago, that you wished to depart from this place, and here you still remain. What do you mean by that? Why do you not retire and rest, as others do? You have worked long enough...You talked of retiring into solitude. Why do you not do so?" So desperate was he to get rid of the saint that he was actually imploring him, like a little child, 'please, please, please... go away!' Because that is the only way the enemy can manage to get his way: when we give up on God's plan. Mary, Gate of Heaven, help me to never quit going in search of those souls that need to be brought back to your Son.

Second Sunday of Advent "Mk 1:1-8" "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way; the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." John the baptiser appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptised by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins." St John the Baptist was "the voice" that God had sent before His coming to prepare the people of Israel. John didn't just talk: he had to cry in the wilderness to make himself heard by the people. After listening to his preaching, people repented for their sins and confessed them. But this was all a preparation. St John didn't even have authority to absolve sins as priests have now. The best preparation for the coming of Our Lord was to repent, to confess their sins and to begin a new life. In the same way, Advent invites us to prepare for the coming of Jesus with the sacrament of Penance. The difference is that the people who confessed their sins to John could only expect that God would one day forgive them. But the treasure of the sacrament of Confession is that in it God really does forgive our sins forever. Two boys were spending their holidays with their uncle, a fine art auctioneer. One day they attended an auction. First a large canvas portraying a soldier was auctioned. The boys were surprised to see that someone bought it for a very small price. But later, a small picture was displayed, with the paint so dirty and faded that it was difficult to see what it actually portrayed. It was sold for a fortune! On the way back the boys asked their uncle the reason for this. The man explained that this piece had been painted by a great artist and all his works were always very valuable. And even if it was dirty and damaged, with the proper restoration it could decorate the walls of any museum. The same happens with our souls. They all come from a Great Artist. They may be a bit battered, but in the hands of the same Artist (who is also Restorer in the sacrament of Penance) they can be as good as new - priceless, in fact. Mary, my Mother, help me make good use of the sacrament of Confession.

5 menit Percikan Rohani (PR) ini untuk menyalakan Doa.  Saya Rudy Tjandra (awam) mengundang Sahabat untuk berbagi keintiman anda dengan Tuhan.   Temukan momen anda, anggap anda berada di hadapanNya