Athletics and the spiritual life

Presently, in Daegu, South Korea, the world Athletics Championships are being held.  In Jamaica, this is a big event since many of the world's fastest sprinters are Jamaican or Jamaican born.  Even though Jamaica is not doing very well in the medal totals thus far, this reminds me of a wonderful verse of Scripture from St. Paul.  "Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize?  Run so as to win.  Every athlete exercises discipline in every way.  They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.  Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing.  No I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified." (1 Cor. 9: 24-27)

All of this goes well with a book I have recently read and some audio CD's I am currently listening to: Spiritual Combat Revisited and CD's on the Seven Deadly Sins.  These explain that our spiritual life is truly a combat against all the lies the devil tempts us with: namely the seven deadly sins.  How hard do we train ourselves to fight the good fight?  To run the good race?  Do we spend as much time taking care of our souls as we do our bodies?  These are all questions we need to pose ourselves.  May we be true winners of the real race that counts (with God's help, of course)... holiness!!!

Universal prayer

I am not quite sure why I never remember seeing this prayer before, but this morning, I stumbled on a beautiful prayer attributed to Pope Clement XI called the "Universal Prayer".  I found it to be quite beautiful, basically asking the Lord for all the virtues one can think of in the amount of time it takes to say this prayer.  That's really what our Christian life should be like, cultivating the virtues to the best of our ability with all the help we can get from God.  If we are able to acquire any virtues, it is only thanks to God's help.  I attach the prayer below.


On another note, I saw one of my godsons today whom I had not seen in over a year!  Please keep Javier in your prayers!

Lord, I believe in you: increase my faith.
I trust in you: strengthen my trust.
I love you: let me love you more and more.
I am sorry for my sins: deepen my sorrow.

I worship you as my first beginning,
I long for you as my last end,
I praise you as my constant helper,
And call on you as my loving protector.

Guide me by your wisdom,
Correct me with your justice,
Comfort me with your mercy,
Protect me with your power.

I offer you, Lord, my thoughts: to be fixed on you;
My words: to have you for their theme;
My actions: to reflect my love for you;
My sufferings: to be endured for your greater glory.

I want to do what you ask of me:
In the way you ask,
For as long as you ask,
Because you ask it.

Lord, enlighten my understanding,
Strengthen my will,
Purify my heart,
and make me holy.

Help me to repent of my past sins
And to resist temptation in the future.
Help me to rise above my human weaknesses
And to grow stronger as a Christian.

Let me love you, my Lord and my God,
And see myself as I really am:
A pilgrim in this world,
A Christian called to respect and love
All whose lives I touch,
Those under my authority,
My friends and my enemies.

Help me to conquer anger with gentleness,
Greed by generosity,
Apathy by fervor.
Help me to forget myself
And reach out toward others.

Make me prudent in planning,
Courageous in taking risks.
Make me patient in suffering, unassuming in prosperity.

Keep me, Lord, attentive at prayer,
Temperate in food and drink,
Diligent in my work,
Firm in my good intentions.

Let my conscience be clear,
My conduct without fault,
My speech blameless,
My life well-ordered.
Put me on guard against my human weaknesses.
Let me cherish your love for me,
Keep your law,
And come at last to your salvation.

Teach me to realize that this world is passing,
That my true future is the happiness of heaven,
That life on earth is short,
And the life to come eternal.

Help me to prepare for death
With a proper fear of judgment,
But a greater trust in your goodness.
Lead me safely through death
To the endless joy of heaven.

Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Lady of Holy Hope!

Today, Passionists throughout the world celebrate Mary under the title of Our Lady of Holy Hope.  This is particularly special to our diocese here in Mandeville, as it was this day 20 years ago that Bishop Boyle, our Founder, was ordained bishop and installed as the first Apostolic Vicar of the newly erected Vicariate of Mandeville, which would later become the diocese it is today.  So, at St. Vincent Strambi, we celebrated this today in a special way with a solemn Mass and potluck lunch afterwards.  (On the left, you see in front of the altar, the photo of Bishop Boyle and just beside him, the image of our Lady of Holy Hope - one can also see the pectoral cross Bishop Boyle wore the day of his ordination).  Below, you will see some of the children from the Children's Home.  3 of them helped me out with the music today - 2 played conga drums and another played another African instrument (I don't even know the name of the instrument, but I love the sound it makes - goes well with Caribbean rhythms!)  The names of the children are Brittania, Jaheel (sister and brother), and Lamoya and Samoya (quite obviously twins).

Britannia

Samoya

Lamoya

Jaheel

St. Maria Goretti

Back in Jamaica!!!

I have been back in my beloved Jamaica now for almost two weeks.  That is very difficult to believe, but true!  I left Rome and spent 3 lovely days with a great friend of mine and his lovely wife in Washington, DC.  They were recently married (May) and it was wonderful to spend some time with them.  They were terrific hosts and I am already looking forward to when I might be able to visit them again... hopefully, with a child in the house!

I made it back to Jamaica just in time for our school's graduation.  It was wonderfully prepared and went well as usual.  Several of our Jamaican teachers prepare all of our graduating students for this special day and they were all beaming as usual.  Two of the children from the Children's Home that Fr. Roland directs graduated this year (Romario and Sabrina).  Sabrina was one of the first children at Our Lady of Hope Children's Home.  She was so tiny the first time I saw her, and now she is 18 and graduated from high school.  Boy, time flies!

I recently made an acquisition of a new cell phone that allows me to take photos, so I can finally start to post a few pictures eventually.

Please keep one of my goddaughters in your prayers... her birthday is tomorrow (feast of St. Maria Goretti) and she is expecting a child any day now.  So, please keep the both of them in your prayers!

I hope to be going home for a few days this summer.  It will be great to see my family and spend some quality time with them.  I promise to try to be more faithful to my blogging this summer... at least with an occasional photo or two!

Please keep this poor brother in your prayers!  He needs them so much!!!!!

Thanks, thanks and more thanks!

It is not possible to thank God enough for all the wonders He does for us!  However, I wish to extend a great "thank you" to him at this time, as I finished my exams for my 3rd and final year of theological studies.  Praised be Jesus Christ!  It is only thanks to the prayers of many that I have been able to finish these three beautiful, yet challenging, years of my life.  I must thank them as well!  Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank all the benefactors who made it possible for me to study in Rome over the past three years.  I am so grateful to all of the above!

Even though these have been beautiful years, I am ready to head back to Jamaica.  Before that, I will stopping over in DC to visit a very good friend of mine along with his newly wedded wife.  I am looking forward to spending a few days with them before heading off to the Caribbean.  What is in the future for me?  God only knows.  I just hope and pray that He will give me the strength and courage to do whatever He may ask of me in the upcoming months.  I leave it all in His hands.  May God be praised now and forever!!!!  Amen!

In my previous post, I remarked (four months ago!) that I might not have much time during the semester to do much blogging.  That was perhaps the truest thing I have ever written!

Two Brothers

Although many in the world celebrate St. Valentine, the Church celebrates the feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the great apostles to the Slavs. When you study Church history a bit, it is very interesting to notice that these two brothers were very innovative, basically precursors to Vatican II in what concerns the use of the vernacular in the liturgies. They already accomplished this, with papal approval nonetheless, in the 9th century! I remember our history teacher telling us, "If there had been a few more Cyril and Methodius's around, maybe there never would have been the separation of the Eastern Church from the Western." That is certainly something upon which one can meditate. In his encyclical Ut Unum Sint, Pope JPII states that he named these 2 brothers as co-patrons of Europe (along with St. Benedict) to try to bring the East and West back together again, so that the Church can bring from its 2 lungs. Just last Friday (since I had already finished exams) I went to the crypt of St. Clement's here in Rome. That is where St. Cyril is buried! It is really remarkable because you can see the whole outline of the basilica (underneath the existing one) that was there from about the 10th or 11th century, plus going further down, one can see some ruins of 1st century Roman houses and streets!

Please keep me in your prayers as I begin this last semester. I will tons of reading to do this semester, so I imagine that my blogging will be very sporadic during this term. Even when I am unable to write anything here, know that I appreciate everyone's prayers and that I keep all of you in mine.

Happy St. Valentine's Day and Happy Sts. Cyril and Methodius Day!!!