Repent and Save Yourselves from This Crooked Generations

When those in Jerusalem on that first Pentecost heard the preaching of Peter and the other apostles, they asked, “Brethren, what shall we do?” And Peter replied, “Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”. And Peter testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generations.” (Acts 2:37-40)

Repentance, a change of heart, rediscovering baptism as the source of joy, turning away from sin, growing as a new creation, fleeing from the culture of deatch and worldliness in all its aspects – this must be our programme in our preparation for the approaching “Holy Year”.

“What shall we do?” We too must ask ourselves the same question, as faith in the Gospel cannot be reduced to mere intellectual assent to doctrine. It is much more than that, it involves transforming our conduct and our lives. Saint Peter’s answer applies to us too. It is an asnwer that exhorts us to do three things: repent, draw on sacramental grace and distance ourselves from this “crooked generation”.

First of all then, “Repent!” We are not told to debate, dispute or discuss. Instead we are told to change ourselves from within, so that our life and our actions may gradually come to conform with the Easter mystery.

Then there is the second exhortation: Make your own baptism – which is a living reality in each of you – the inexhaustible source of your life of faith. By a faithful and ever more perfect participation in the Sacred Mysteries, banish all sin from your interior life, drive out the spirit of contradiction and allow the “new creation” (2 Cor 5:17) to grow within you. The risen Lord is tending the new life within you through the constant Pentecostal outpouring of His Spirit.

Finally, Saint Peter urges us, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” By “crooked generation” he surely does not mean humanity as a whole, to whom we must rather turn with charity, but rather everything within humanity that contradicts the eternal plan of the Father – the spirit of rebellion against God and His laws.

So understood, this “world” must not intimidate us with its bullying, nor entice us with its sordid glamour, nor indeed discourage us with its fleeting triumphs. Our Lord has already overcome the world of this “crooked generation” through His pascal triumph, and if we remain in Him, then we too will overcome it.

May the Blessed Virgin help us to repent and truly believe in the Gospel!

Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, President of ACN.

The Mystery of Holy Trinity

The dogma of faith which forms the object of the feast is this: There is one God and in this one God there are three Divine Persons; the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. Yet ther are not three Gods, but one, eternal, incomprehensible God! The Father is not more God than the Son, neither is the Son more God than the Holy Spirit. The Father is the first Divine Person, the Son is the second Divine Person, begotten from the nature of the Father from eternity; the Holy Spirit is the third Divine Person, proceeding from the Father and the Son. All three Persons contributed to and share in the work of redemption.

The Father sent His Son to earch, for “God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son.” The Father called us to the faith. The Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, became man and died for us. He redeemed us and made us children of God. He ever remains the liturgies par excellence to whome we are united in all sacred functions. After Christ’s ascension the Holy Spirit, however, became our Teacher, our leader, our Guide, our Consoler.

Rom 8: 14-17

Everyone moved by the Spirit isa son of God. The spirit you received is the no the spirit of slaves bringing fear into your lives again; it is the spirit of sons, and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are childre of God. And if we are children we are heirs as well: heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, sharing his sufferings so as to share his glory.

Matthew 28: 16-20

The eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, “All authority in heavenand on earth has been given tome. Go therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.”

Uniqueness of God as Trinity

The mystery of the Trinity as part of the revelation of God is something that we have come to know as part of the our faith. As we engage with the readings today, we encounter something of the biblical journey to the understanding we have.

Paul, beginning with the statement that those led by the Spirit are children of God, logically unfolds that relationship step by step, to reveal that we are joint heirs with Christ. In this short pasage, Paul presents Father, Son, and Spirit in relationship with believers, an important text for later development of the theology of the Trinity.

The Gospel contains the final verses of Matthew. The location – a mountain – immediately suggests a connection with the encounter with God. The eleven are gathered to see the resurrected Jesus before he ascends. They are then sent out to baptise in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The inclusion of teaching all future disciples to ‘obey everything I have commanded’ also echoes the words of Moses. Jesus words, ‘I am with you always’ links these final words with the beginning of Matthe’s Gospel and highlights the compassing presence of God from the beginning, and for all believers in future.

Surrender Prayer

Read the prayer all the way through as though Jesus is speaking to you.

Jesus says :

Why do you confuse yourselves by worrying? Leave the care of your affairs to me and everything will be peaceful. I say to you in trut that every act of true, blind, complete surrender to me produces the effect that you desire and resolves all difficult situations.

Oh Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (3 times)

It is agains this surrender, deeply against it, to worry, to be nervous and to desire to think about the consequences of anything.

It is like the confusion that children feel when they ask their mother to see to their needs, and then they try to take care of those needs for themselves so that their childlike efforts get in their mother’s way.

Surrender means to pracidl close the eyes of the soul, to turn away from thoughts of tribulation and to put yourself in my care so that only I act, saying “You take care of it.”

Oh Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (3 times)

How many things I do when the soul, in so much spiritual and material need turns to me, looks at me and says to me, “You take care of it,” then closes its eyes and rests.

In pain you pray for me to act, but that I act in the way you want. You do not turn to me. Instead you want me to adapt to your ideas. You are not sick people who ask the doctor to cure you, but rather sick people who tell the doctor how to! So do not act this way, but pray as I taught you in the Our Father; “Hallowed by Thy Name,” that is, be glorified in my need. “Thy Kingdom come,” that is, let all that is in us and in the world be in accord with Your Kingdom. “Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven,” that is, in our need, decide as you see fit for our temporal and eternal life.

If you say to me truly, “Thy will be done,” which is the same as saying, “You take care of it,” I will intervene with all my omnipotence, and I will resolve the most difficult situations.

Oh Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (3 times)

You see evil growing instead of weakening ? Do not worry. Close your eyes and say to me with faith, “Thy will be done, you take care of it.” I say to you that I will take care of it, and that I will intervene as does a doctor and I will accomplish miracles when they are needed. Do you see that the sick person is getting worse ? Do not be upset, but close your eyes and say “You take care of it.” I say to you that I will take care of it, and that there is no medicine more powerful than my loving intervention. By my love, I promise this to you.

Oh Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (3 times)

And when i must lead you on a path different from the one you see, I will prepare you. I will carry you in my arms; I will let you find yourself, like children who have fallen asleep in their mother’s arms, on the other bank of the river.

What troubles you and hurts you immensely are your reason, your thoughts, your worry and your desire at all costs to deal with what afflicts you.

Oh Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (3 times)

You are sleepless. You want to judge everything, direct everything and see to everything. And you surrender to human strength, or worse to men themselves, trusting in their intervention. This is what hinders my words and my views.

Oh how much I wish from you this surrender, to help you and how I suffer when I see you so agitated! Satan tries to do exactly this; to agitate you and to remove you from my protection and to throw you into the jaws of human initiative. So, trust only in me, rest in me, surrender to me in everything.

Oh Jesus,I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (3 times)

I perform miracles in proportion to your full surrender to me and to your not thinking of yourselves. I sow treasure troves of graces when you are in the deepest poverty. No person of reason, no thinker, has ever performed miracles, not even among the Saints. He does divine works whosoever surrenders to God.

So don’t think about it anymore, because your mind is acute and for you it is very hard to see evil and to trust in me, and to not think of yourself. Do this for all your needs, do this all of you and you will see great continual silent miracles. I will take care of things, I promise this to you.

Oh Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (3 times)

Close your eyes and let yourself be carried away on the flowing current of my grace. Close your eyes and do not think of the present, turning your thoughts away from the future just as you would from temptation. Repose in me, believing in my goodness, and I promise you by my love that if you sat “You take care of it,” I will take care of it all. I will console you, liberate you and guide you.

Oh Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (3 times)

Pray always in readiness to surrender and you will receive from it great peace and great rewards, even when I confer on you the grace of immolation, of repentance and of love. Then what does suffering matter? It seems impossible to you? Close your eyes and say with all your soul, “Jesus, you take care of it.” Do not be afraid, I will take care of things and you will bless my name by humbling yourself.

A thousand prayers cannot equal one single act of surrender. Remember this well. There is n novena more effective than this: “Oh Jesus, I surrender myself to you. Take care of everything!”

Oh Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (3 times)

Father, I am yours now and forever. Throuth you and with you I always want to belong completely to Jesus. Amen.

Pentecost Reflection

As Close As Our Breath by Richard Rohr

Jesus said t them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this. he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:21-22).

God has been trying through all of history to give away God. Jesus shows us that the gift is free and totally available, as available as our breath. It seems that God has hard time giving away God, however, because most of us aren’t interested. We’re interested in other things: money and power and success and good looks and politics. It takes a long time to get around to the one thing we were created for.

If you’ve ever ridden on the subways in London, before the doors open and you get out of the train, they say, “Mind the gap,” When the doors open, it’s written in big words in front of every door: “Mind the gap.” It means, of course, that there are a few inches between the doors and the sidewalk, and they don’t want anyone to fall in that gap. In teaching on the Holy Spirit, what we need to do is “mind the gap” – because the Holy Spirit fills the gaps of everything.

First, we need to be aware that there usually is a gap. There’s a space because we don’t recognize that Gofdis as available to us as our breath. We always allow God, by our own silliness and stupidity, to be distant, to be elsewhere. We always find a gap between ourselves and our neighbour., between ourselves and almost everything. We therefore feel quite lonely and isolated in this world. Without some awareness of the Holy Spirit’s presence, frankly, we’re not connected to anything or anybody. We just live an isolated life.

The Holy Spirit within us is the desire inside all of us that wants to keep connecting, relating, and communing. It isn’t above us. It isn’t beyond us – it is within us. It’s available as our breath, and that’s why the Risen Christ gives the Holy Spirit by breathing upon the disciples. He’s saying, in effect, “Here it is! Can you breathe in what I have breathed out?” As we grow on the journey, we’ll begin to experience that breath, that Spirit, as if it is the very air. It’s everywhere, all the time, and we can’t live one minute without it. Isn’t it amazing that air, the thing that’s most essential, most invisible to most people, is the one thing that’s everywhere all the time and free? The Holy Spirit likewise has been given to us freely.