Fr. Patrick, PES, shared highlights of the inspiring lives of Saints Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, showing how their everyday practice of heroic virtue points us to a higher vocation of holiness.
On Saturday June 21
Fr. Pablo Menor, our founder, was a member of the Society of Jesus which St. Ignatius founded and a faithful spiritual son of this great saint. Like a good householder, “who brings out of his treasure both what is new and what is old” (Mt 13:52), Fr. Menor passed on to us, his spiritual children, the new and unique charism of our Institute along with many of the riches of Ignatian spirituality.In the Catholic Advance, our spirituality is that of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Properly speaking, what is Ignatian is our style: the way we do things and the approach we take both to our institutional and pastoral activities and also to the spiritual life itself. Consider these the principles which guide our efforts in attaining our goal of union with God through holiness.
The Catholic Advance is a spiritual family. Like any family, membership is not primarily based on activity, on “what you do.” It goes deeper. It is a question of identity, of a relationship created by God. Our belonging to the Movement, therefore, is not a function of how much we do as a member, but how deeply we identify with its mission and spirit. Likewise, just as our participation at Mass is not based on how loudly we sing or what active role we have in it, but rather on how closely we are united to Christ who offers Himself to the Father in the Eucharist, so too our participation in the Catholic Advance is not primarily gauged by how many events we attend or apostolates we take part in, but by how deeply we live the spirituality and principles of the Movement.
Serious Knowledge of the FaithTo understand the faith we must develop a habit of study, for God wills that we labor toremedy the ignorance that results from original sin: “By the sweat of your brow you shall eatbread” (Gen 3:19, NABRE). Those who have been away from formal schooling for some timehave no reason to be intimidated. Within the busyness of daily life, the Lord has opened up formodern man a rich variety of channels to arriving at knowledge of Him. A plethora of digital andaudio books, recorded talks, and videos of spiritual conferences can easily be at hand, asidefrom those opportunities we have to engage in spiritual conversation or even more formallearning with those possessing sound spiritual and theological formation.Annual RetreatThe key word for any retreat is conversion. Without despairing or becoming discouraged overour weakness and inconstancy, we must realize that we are always in need of returning to God,from whom we fall away by failing to respond to His love. Thankfully, God’s mercy is infinite,and He is always inviting us to begin again, to be made new creatures in His grace and love.
When we speak of a spirit of vigilance (or watchfulness), we mean a habit of attentiveness to our spiritual wellbeing. Mindful of the words of the Apostle, “Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet 5:8), and of our own weakness, guard our soul like a prudent householder guards his possessions, or a stock trader monitors his positions.
Each member of the Catholic Advance ought to strive to appreciate the personal and ardent love that the Virgin Mary has for him or her and to trust in both her motherly concern in their regard and in the great power she has before the throne of her Son to obtain all the graces needed to acquire holiness and make our path to holiness both easy and sweet.
It should come as no surprise that the most essential of the Seven Basic Points is to love Jesus Christ. For “he is the image of the invisible God,” (Col 1:15) and in loving Him we fulfill the first of all commandments to love God with our whole being. When we are in Heaven, we shall love Him there, “face to face.” While we are yet on earth, we must love Him as He is present to us, within our hearts and hidden under the veil of the Eucharist.
“If any man wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24). Whether it is to avoid sin, to better serve our neighbor, or simply to be more united with Christ crucified, we as Christians must be well-trained in the art of “saying no” to our irrational passions and inclinations, and governing the rational.
It should be of no surprise that prayer has preeminent importance for our spiritual lives. Yet hopefully now we are able to see why that is so. It is through prayer that our relationship with God plays out from day to day, and through it that our knowledge and love of Him grows and matures. As we saw above, prayer is essentially a humble attentiveness to God, seeking both from Him all that we need to do for Him all that He desires. In the end, both to receive from God or to give back to Him are two movements of the same act: to love.
Dunrovin, 12/08/2024
Men´s Silent RetreatDunrovin - 12/7/2024
Men´s Silent Retreat 2024Dunrovin Retreat Center
On Dec 6, 2024
On November 16, 2024
This devotion has been present in the Church from its beginning. To venerate the Heart of Christ is to adore the Second Person of the Godhead, who offered us His pierced Heart when He offered up His life to the Father. On the night He was betrayed, St. John rested his head on His breast and listened to His beating Heart. This, we may say, is the first recorded act of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart. Like St. John, we are to listen attentively to the mysteries hidden in the Heart of Jesus, true God and true man.
Introductory Course - Session 3 - Holiness