Availability

This morning, as I spent time with Our Lord, some words from Adrienne von Speyr really struck me. I would like to share this thought with you: When you approach the Father in prayer, do you come with a heart directed to "availability"? This is not the availability of the Father to hear you, but rather of you to hear the Father, to be present to what He desires for you. Ask Our Lady to teach you her prayer of availability. May the Spirit of God fill your heart with His wisdom and peace.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Reading Schedule

The Devotion to The Sacred Heart of Jesus

 How to practice the Sacred Heart Devotion

Fr. John Croiset, S.J.

September 12:

   Chapters 1-3, begin the motives for this devotion

October 10:

     Chapter 4-6, conclude the motives for this devotion

November 7: 

     Part 2: The Means of Acquiring this Devotion, Chapter 1-Chapter 2, end of second obstacle (self-love)

 December 5:

     Part 2: Third obstacle through end of Chapter 3

January 9:

     Part 2: Chapter 4 (particular means)

 

February 6:
     Part 3: The Practice of this Devotion. Chapters 1-3

March 6:

     Chapter 4-Visiting the Blessed Sacrament

 

April 10:
     Chapters 5 and 6-Holy Mass and Holy Communion

 May 1:

     Chapters 7 and 8-Marks of this devotion and select writings

 

June 12:

     Chapter 9-Meditations for the Feast of the Sacred Heart

 

I believe, I Adore, I trust

Offering the Sacred Heart of Jesus

I offer Thee my heart with all the sentiments of which it is capable; I give myself entirely to Thee, and from this hour I protest most sincerely that I desire to forget myself and all that can have reference to myself, in order to remove the obstacles which might prevent me from entering into this Divine Heart which in Thy divine goodness Thou openest to me, and where I desire to enter in order to live and die with Thy most faithful servants.

Amen.

 

Blessed Claude de la Columbière

 

Maurice and Thérèse Reading Schedule

September 19:
    Introduction and Chapter 1

October 17:

     Chapter 2 through the Christmas Miracle

November 14: 

     January 31, 1897-April 25, 1897

December 12:

     The Little Way-June 21, 1897

January 16:

     Merciful Love-July 17, 1897

February 20:

     A Lovely Home in Your Holy Friendship-August 5, 1897

March 13:

     I Found Jesus in You- Death of Thérèse

April 17:

    Chapter 3

May 8:

     Chapters 4 and 5

 

I wish “to make God loved”

St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Dear St. Therese,

We implore you to be with our community as we strive to serve the Father’s will.  Perfect in our hearts the desire to “please Him in all things”.  Ask the Father to bless our apostolate of spiritual maternity so the fruits of our labors may be realized in the drawing of souls to Christ, particularly the souls of His little ones, those at risk, and those who have lost hope.  Amen.

 

Women’s Apostolate to Youth

“The teacher thus needs a basic education in dogma and asceticism. Apologetics is certainly also good, but the former seems more important to me: ready arguments, as right as they may be, often do not have penetrating force. But she whose soul is formed through the truths of faith — and I call this ascetic formation — finds words which are proper for this human being and for this moment respectively.” St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Essays on Woman)

Daystar Mother-Daughter Retreats

The Women’s Apostolate to Youth conducts a twice-yearly series of Mother-Daughter retreats(for girls in grades 7-9). Each retreat includes talks and special activities (fun!), as well as opportunities for confession, adoration and Mass.

Please click here for more information and to register on our new website: https://www.waywomen.com/daystar

Schedule: October 2012

October 1-WAY Promise and Renewal Mass and installation of new director, St. Raymond of Penafort Church, Springfield. 7:30 PM
 Mass to be followed by a reception of gratitude for Robin Maas (no confessions this evening). More details to follow.

October 10-Rule Talk/Discussion-Croiset-Chapters 4-6 (concludes the motives for this devotion)

 As you address our study of the Sacred Heart this month, I ask you to consider reading the meditation for the First Friday of the Month (there are meditations for the Friday's of each month, if you are able to read all or part of these meditations, great!). See chapter IX, The exercises of this Devotion. Your practice this month-Commit to making a visit to the Blessed Sacrament on one of the Fridays of this month and read all or at least part of the Friday meditation. Jot down words or phrases that resonate in your life. What is the Holy Spirit asking you to give Our Lord's Sacred Heart? If you are in a position to do this each Friday, please do-and hold your fellow sisters' intentions in your prayers. God will reward you for your generosity!

October 17-Maurice and Therese Chapter II read up to and through "The Christmas Miracle" As you read the letters between Maurice and Therese, you may choose to read the commentary, or simply allow Maurice and Therese to teach and guide you. Consider the intimacy and trust that is required of them both. Ask Our Lord to deepen your trust and confidence in Him this month.

October 24-Community Holy Hour and Mass-Angelus Academy

Schedule: September 2012

September 5-Full Member WAY-In (location?)

September 12 Rule Talk/readings-on the Sacred Heart: Croiset-Chapter's 1-3 (The Motives for this devotion)

 As you begin this month and the study of the Sacred Heart, address one way you can show greater devotion to the Eucharist.  Possible practices to acquire/adapt (work on only one thing!): attire for Mass/Adoration/visits to the Blessed Sacrament; wearing of the veil; prayer of thanksgiving following reception of the Eucharist; length of fast before reception-3 hours versus one hour; preparatory prayer (time and quality) before Mass.  This is not an exhaustive list, ask the Holy Spirit to guide the emphasis of your devotion. Your practice this month-add/increase one aspect of your Eucharistic reverence and note the impact this has on you or those around you.  


September 19-Study of Therese:  Maurice and Therese
Read the Introduction and Chapter One-A Leap of Faith As you read the correspondence between Maurice and the Reverend Mother, I urge you to consider the impact our words have on one another-of our human need to be loved and supported in an efficacious and holy manner.  The life of a priest can be a lonely life.  The prayers, sacrifices and words of encouragement we offer will help or hinder their human and spiritual formation.  Beseech Mary to guide your words.


September 26-Council Meeting (location-Vivian's home?)

Schedule: August 2012

August 1-no scheduled meeting


August 8 -Rule Talk/Discussion
 Two readings:
   1. Porta Fidei Apostolic Letter on the Year of Faith (see your retreat packet, page 175)by Pope Benedict XVI
   2. On The New Evangelization, Address to Catechists and Religion Teachers by Cardinal Raztzinger
(http://www.ewtn.com/new_evangelization/Ratzinger.htm)
Please read both of these documents in light of our study on prayer, our mission as a community: "to promote the spiritual well being of children and youth and to provide spiritual formation and moral support for women who are called to work in a variety of apostolates dedicated to this end" (Chapter One, The Nature of the Apostolate), and our participation in both the WAY retreat for scouts and the Pope's Year of Faith for the Church.

August 15th-Feast of the Assumption-a holy day of obligation. No meeting tonight so our members can facilitate a reverent observance of this marvelous feast within their families.


August 22-Community Mass, St. Raymond of Penafort Church

August 29-Study on the Sacred Heart
Study on the Sacred Heart: The Two Hearts: A History of Doctrine and Devotion (retreat packet, pages 52-62) This will lay the foundation for our study of the Sacred Heart and in particular, Father Croisset's book on St. Margaret Mary's Devotion to the Sacred Heart As you read this introduction, ask the Holy Spirit to open your mind and heart to this very efficacious devotion.

"Although martyrdom represents the high point of the witness to moral truth, and one to which relatively few people are called, there is nonetheless a consistent witness which all Christians must daily be ready to make, even at the cost of suffering and grave sacrifice. Indeed, faced with the many difficulties which fidelity to the moral order can demand, even in the most ordinary circumstances, the Christian is called, with the grace of God invoked in prayer, to a sometimes heroic commitment. In this he or she is sustained by the virtue of fortitude, whereby--as Gregory the Great teaches--one can actually "love the difficulties of this world for the sake of eternal rewards." From the Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor (the Spelndor of Truth) by Pope John Paul II.

Conscience Protection - Act Now!

On February 10, the Catholic bishops of the United States called for a renewed effort to change the HHS imposed mandate that violates religious liberty.

Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, president of the USCCB, sharply criticized the decision by the Obama administration in which it "ordered almost every employer and insurer in the country to provide sterilization and contraceptives, including some abortion-inducing drugs, in their health plans....Never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience. This shouldn't happen in a land where free exercise of religion ranks first in the Bill of Rights."

Click here for more information at the USCCB website

Click here to write Congress Now

The Women's Apostolate to Youth Invites You to Pray for our Bishops

Click here for downloadable pdf copy

Prayer for the American Bishops
O King of Kings and Shepherd of Souls,
unto whom all powers and principalities are subject,
take pity on your flock, threatened by those who seek
the destruction of the holy influence and converting power
of the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians,
and the prayers of all Your martyred bishops,
may the Holy Spirit descend in power
and fill our earthly shepherds, the American bishops,
with wisdom, courage, and unwavering zeal
to defend their Bride, Holy Mother Church,
the truth of her teachings, the integrity of her sacraments
and our God-given right to freely practice our religion.
Amen.

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend them!
Cast the father of lies into the pit of hell.
By thy Holy and Immaculate Conception, O Mary, deliver us from evil.
Crush the head of the serpent that is attempting to devour our country.
Amen.