Saints are not people who plan and organize their particular style of life and perfection and follow it strictly on their own strength. Saints are people who love and trust God to the point that they let Him guide them and lead them where He wants.

Catholic Insight Magazine May 2004 page 21 (quote from Vatican website)

Become a saint by doing God's Will!

May the Mother of Jesus, and our Mother, always smile on your spirit, obtaining for it, from her Most Holy Son, every heavenly blessing.

"When a person builds his philosophy of life on the principle of self-will, he is in for a tremendous shock. It happens that most other people he meets in the world have exactly the same principle. The result is that one individual has self-will contradicted by another; the ego is negated by another ego; wishes are not fulfilled; whims are negated, crossed and rejected by other egos equally bent on self assertion."

My Jesus, despite Your graces, I see and feel all my misery. I begin my day with battle and end it with battle. As soon as I conquer one obstacle, ten more appear to take its place. But I am not worried, because I know that this is the time of struggle, not peace. When the burden of the battle becomes too much for me, I throw myself like a child into the arms of the heavenly Father and trust I will not perish. O my Jesus, how prone I am to evil, and this forces me to be constantly vigilant. But I do not lose heart. I trust God's grace, which abounds in the worst misery. (606)

These thoughts for a day are taken from a daily meditation book based on the Messages of Our Lady of Medjugorje by Father Richard J. Beyer, Ave Maria Press.

Today the Blessed Virgin calls us to light:

Dear children, you have all experienced light and darkness during your lives. God gives every person the power to recognize good and evil. I am calling you to light, which you must carry to all who are in darkness. From day to day, people who are in darkness come into your homes. You, dear children, must give them the light (Weekly Message March 14, 1985).

As we see in John's gospel, Jesus himself is the light

Jesus said to them, "The light is with you a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness May not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you May become children of light." (Jn 12:35-36).

There is a famous cave, some 60 miles from Auckland in New Zealand. It is known as the cave of the glowworms. You reach it in a boat which is pulled by a wire for silence. As you glide down the stream, you suddenly come across a soft light gleaming in the distance; then you enter a magic world. From the top of the cave, thousands of threads hang down from the glowing insects. So great is the light that it is possible to read a book there. But if there is a slightest noise, the bright light dies out, just as if a switch had been turned off.

The light to one committed Christian can illuminate not only his family, but also the parish and community in which he lives. Most of us have known someone like this; their kindness, unselfishness, and love have had special effect on our lives. If you multiply such an individual several million times, you have a power which can enlighten an entire world. This is the reason why Our Lady came to Medjugorje, and why we have been asked to live her messages.

Carry the light of faith and peace to all you meet today. May your example draw them closer to Christ.

Plenary indulgence announced for anniversary of the Apostle to the G

Plenary indulgence announced for anniversary of the Apostle to the Gentiles

Vatican City, May 12, 2008 / 11:11 am (CNA)

.- On Saturday a decree from the Vatican stated that Benedict XVI will grant the faithful plenary indulgence for the occasion of the two-thousandth anniversary of the birth of St. Paul. The gift of indulgences, states the document, assist in the attainment of purification and honor the great saint.
The Plenary Indulgence will be valid throughout the Pauline Year which will run from June 28, 2008 to June 29, 2009.

Plenary indulgences, if all the conditions are fulfilled, remove all temporal punishments that afflict people as a result of their sins. The scriptural roots of indulgences are found in Matthew 16.
The decree states that the Holy Father is granting the indulgences to provide the faithful with â spiritual treasures for their own sanctification in honor of St. Paul.

"In fact, the gift of indulgences which the Roman Pontiff offers the Universal Church, facilitates the way to interior purification which, while rendering honor to the Blessed Apostle Paul, exalts supernatural life in the hearts of the faithful and spurs them on ... to produce fruits of good works."

The means to obtain the plenary indulgence are as follows:
The indulgences are available to "All Christian faithful - truly repentant, duly purified by the Sacrament of Penance and restored with Holy Communion. The faithful must undertake a pious visit in the form of a pilgrimage to the papal basilica of St. Paul on Rome's Via Ostiense and pray in accordance with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff to be granted and imparted Plenary Indulgence for the temporal punishment of their sins.
Each person may obtain an indulgence for themselves or for anyone who is deceased as many times as the aforementioned acts are undertaken; it remains the case, however, that Plenary Indulgence may be obtained only once a day.

"In order that the prayers pronounced on these holy visits may lead and draw the souls of the faithful to a more intense veneration of the memory of St. Paul, the following conditions are laid down: the faithful, apart from pronouncing their own prayers before the altar of the Blessed Sacrament, ... must go to the altar of the Confession and pray the 'Our Father' and the 'Creed', adding pious invocations in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Paul; and such acts of devotion must remain closely linked to the memory of the Prince of the Apostles St. Peter."

The document mentions those who may have difficulty traveling to the basilica can receive the indulgence by participating in a celebration for St. Paul. "Christian faithful from the various local Churches, under the usual conditions (sacramental Confession, Eucharistic communion, prayer in keeping with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff) and completely unattached to any form of sin, may still obtain the Plenary Indulgence if they participate devotedly in a religious function or in a pious exercise held publicly in honor of the Apostle of the Gentiles: on the days of the solemn opening and closing of the Pauline Year in any place of worship; on other days determined by the local ordinary, in holy places named for St. Paul and, for the good of the faithful, in other places designated by the ordinary."
The decree concludes by addressing Catholics who are suffering from sickness or are unable to fulfill the necessary requirements for a legitimate reason. These people may still receive a plenary indulgence even if they are unable to leave their homes. In these situations, the faithful must fulfill three conditions: While striving to refrain from sin, the person must spiritually unite themselves to a Jubilee celebration in honor of St. Paul, offering their prayers and suffering to God for the unity of Christians.

Medjugorje Day By Day May 14 - GOD RULES OVER ALL RELIGIONS

"Especially from the Eucharist, as from a font, grace is poured forth upon us; and the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God, to which all other activities of the Church are directed as toward their end, is achieved in the most efficacious possible way" (Sacrosanctum Concilium).

My son, you do not know the effects of obedience. Well, for a yes, for a single yes, be it done onto me according to Your word, to do God's will, Mary became the mother of mother of the Most High, professing herself to be His handmaid and keeping her virginity which was so dear to God and herself. Thanks to this "yes" pronounced by Mary Most Holy, the world obtained salvation and humanity was redeemed. Let us always do God's will and always say yes to the Lord

"The stubborn worship of a theory has had most appalling consequences in our day. To the theorist, it does not seem to matter that whole nations are deprived of liberty, that millions starve, that thousands are purged - so long as the theory is maintained in power. Instead of making the hat of governmental policy fit the head of man, the modern tendency is to cut off the head if it does not fit the hat - to demand that institutions, political schemes and social theories must prevail, no matter if their cost proves to be the destruction of man himself."

My Jesus, despite Your graces, I see and feel all my misery. I begin my day with battle and end it with battle. As soon as I conquer one obstacle, ten more appear to take its place. But I am not worried, because I know that this is the time of struggle, not peace. When the burden of the battle becomes too much for me, I throw myself like a child into the arms of the heavenly Father and trust I will not perish. O my Jesus, how prone I am to evil, and this forces me to be constantly vigilant. But I do not lose heart. I trust God's grace, which abounds in the worst misery. (606)

These thoughts for a day are taken from a daily meditation book based on the Messages of Our Lady of Medjugorje by Father Richard J. Beyer, Ave Maria Press.

The Mother of God speaks of ecumenism, or brotherhood, today. In answer to the question, "Are all religions good?" she responded:

All religions are similar before God. God rules over them just like a sovereign over his kingdom. In the world, all religions are not the same because people have not complied with the commandments of God. They reject and disparage them (First Years October 1, 1981).

In this same spirit, St. Paul calls us to be ambassadors of reconciliation among God's people:

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and had given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. (2 Cor 5:18-20).

Both Our Lady and St. Paul call us to reconciliation with each other, both as individuals and as groups. Today the Gospa tells us that, "All religions are similar before God, "although not the same. Her desire is that our common brotherhood unite all faiths, each respecting the other.

This is the spirit that underlies the story of the Grand Rabbi of Lyons, who was a Jewish chaplain to the French during World War I. One day, a wounded man staggered into a trench and told the Rabbi that a Roman Catholic was on the point of death in no man's land, and was begging that his priest should come to him with a crucifix.

The priest could not quickly be found. The Jew rapidly improvised a cross, ran out with it into no man's land, and was seen to hold it before the dying man's eyes.

Almost immediately, he was shot by a sniper. The bodies of the Catholic and the Jew were found together.

Today, pray especially for the unity of all God's children. If you ever have the opportunity to go to an ecumenical service(often held on special holidays), make a special effort to attend in response to Our Lady's message today.