Jesus is the door to God's kingdom

Jesus is the door to God's kingdom

Jesus proclaimed to his disciples that he came to fulfill the
prophetic dream of Jacob in his very own person: "You will see heaven
opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of
man" (John 1:51). Jesus proclaimed that he is the door (John 10:8-9)
and the way (John 14:6) that makes it possible for us to access heaven
and God's very throne. But Jesus woefully warned the religious leaders
and successors of  Jacob that they were shutting the door of God's
kingdom not only on themselves but on others as well. The word woe
expresses sorrowful pity as well as grief and sadness. Why did Jesus
lament and issue such a stern rebuke?
Scripture:  Matthew 23:13-22

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September 8th - Nativity of Our Lady

We can measure the immense finesse of the Church in dealing with
everything when we consider that the only saint with a special feast
for her birthday is Our Lady. We are not considering Christmas, of
course. This corresponds to the worship of hyperdulia that the Church
reserves for her.

The Church reserves the worship of latria, or adoration, only for
God--for Our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, Who is the Word Incarnate.
The worship of dulia, or veneration, the Church assigns to the saints.
But to Our Lady she has a worship that is neither the simple worship
of dulia nor the supreme worship of latria, but rather the worship of
hyperdulia, which is a higher veneration unparallel to any other.

So, we have a feast celebrating the birthday of the Holy Virgin, one
of the many feasts the Church reserves for her.

Analogously, because of her singular virtue, the Church permits that a
church can have more than one statue of Our Lady at the same altar, a
rule that does not apply to any other saint. In this way she makes it
understood that Our Lady is beyond comparison with any other creature.
It is a liturgical way to teach the theological truth that she is the
Mother of God.

The feast day of the nativity of Our Lady induces us to ask: What
advantage did her birth bring for mankind? And why should mankind
celebrate her nativity in a special way?

In the order of nature, Our Lady was conceived without original sin,
giving her a singular and peerless value. She was a lily of an
incomparable purity and beauty that appeared in the night of this land
of exile. She also had all the natural psychological gifts that a
woman can have. God gave her the richest personality imaginable. To
this, He added gifts of the supernatural order, the treasures of
graces that were hers. She received the most precious graces God ever
gave to any human creature.

Given that she was without original sin, she had the entire use of
reason from the moment she was conceived. Therefore, already in the
maternal womb, Our Lady had very elevated thoughts. The womb of St.
Anne was for her a kind of temple. There she was already interceding
for the human race and had begun to pray--with the highest wisdom that
was a gift from God--for the coming of the Messiah. In reality she was
influencing the destiny of mankind as a source of graces. Scripture
tells us that the tunic that Our Lord wore was a source of grace that
cured those who touched it; this being the case, you can imagine how
Our Lady, the Mother of the Savior, was a source of graces for
whosoever would approach her, even before she was born. For this
reason we can say that at her nativity, immense graces began to shine
for mankind and the Devil started to be smashed. He perceived that his
scepter had been cracked and would never be the same again.

At the time of her birth, the world was laid groveling in the most
radical Paganism. Vices prevailed, idolatry dominated everything,
abomination had penetrated the Jewish religion itself, which was a
presage of the Catholic Religion. The victory of evil and the Devil
seemed almost complete. But at a certain moment God in His mercy
decreed that Our Lady should be born. This was the equivalent of the
beginning of the destruction of the reign of the Devil.

Our Lady was so important that her birthday marks a new era in the Old
Covenant. The History of the Old Covenant was a long wait for the
coming of the Messiah. After the original sin of our first parents,
mankind had to wait 3,000 years, perhaps more, for the Messiah. But at
a certain blessed moment, Divine Providence decreed that a woman
should be born who would deserve the coming of the Messiah. Her
nativity represents the entrance into the world of the perfect
creature who found grace before God and had merit sufficient to end
that extensive wait.

All the prayers, sufferings, and faithfulness of the just men living
and dead reached their apex with her arrival. There had been
Patriarchs, Prophets, just men among the Chosen People and certainly
some just men among the Gentiles who had prayed, suffered, and waited;
none of this was sufficient to attract the coming of the Redemption.
But when God so willed it, He made the perfect creature be born to be
the Mother of the Savior. Therefore, the entrance of this exquisite
creature into the world marks the presage of the Redemption. The
relationship between God and man began to change, and the gates of
Heaven that had been tightly locked were semi-opened, permitting the
light and breeze of hope to pass through.

Her birth represents the entrance into the world of a new grace, a new
blessing, a new presence that was an incomparable presage of the
presence, blessing and grace that would come with the Savior.

For all these reasons the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady should be
most dear to us. It is the event that announces the fall of Paganism.

Since we are sons of Our Lady not by our own merit but by her choice,
on this day we can ask of her a special grace. Many mystics who had
visions of Our Lady said that on her feast days she visits Purgatory
to release a great number of souls whom she takes back with her to
Heaven....

See Images at:
http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j090sdNativity_9-08.htm


Saint Quote:
Compassion my dear brother is preferable to cleanliness. Reflect that
with a little soap I can easily clean my bed covers but even with a
torrent of tears I would never wash from my soul the stain that my
harshness toward the unfortunate would create.
--Saint Martin de Porres

Bible Quotes:
"Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything
that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in
heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name,
there I am in their midst."  (Matthew 18:19,20)

I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will constantly speak
of his glories and grace.  (Psalm 34: 1 verse 1)


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Touchiness

It is not enough to stop at our natural affections. We must not spare
our sensitiveness, that excessive touchiness which reduces us to tears
at the slightest word or the least contradiction, at the mere
appearance, I do not say of contempt but of inattention or
indifference or coolness on the part of others. There are very few
Christians who have brought their sensitiveness completely under
control, who in the course of their ordinary day ask for nothing, take
exception to nothing and are indifferent to praise or blame. Alas!
people complain, and not without reason, that pious folk are actually
more sensitive, more difficult to get on with, take umbrage more
quickly, than others. Do not give cause for this reproach, both for
your own sake and for the honour of religion. Extreme sensitiveness is
an unfailing source of distress. Our peace of mind is destroyed, we
become suspicious of our neighbours, we look upon everything with a
jaundiced eye, charity is lessened, and we run the risk of giving a
fatal form to our feeling of resentment.