St. Antipas

 

St. Antipas

Today, April 11th is the Feast Day for one of the eleven patronal Saints of Nazareth House Apostolate: St. Antipas. 

On this rainy morning; we make our way down to Grace Church

There, at the Holy Mass, we enthrone the Icon of St. Antipas

"I know where you live -- where satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to My Name.  You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city, -- where satan lives." -Rev. 2:13 (NIV).  (-"...yet you hold fast my Name.." (E.S.V.); "...Yet you have held on to My Name..." (B.S.V); "...yet you are holding on to my Name" -(C.S.B.) )

"... To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." Revelation 2:17. 

God loves His creation.  Sin corrupted it, but He has a plan to return it to its original state of perfection, and He will reward those who help Him carry out His plan. 

"If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door: it desires to have you, but you must master it." Gen. 4:7 (NIV)

"But He said to them, 'I have food to eat that you know nothing about." -Jn. 4:32 (NIV), because "In your struggle against sin, you have not resisted to the point of shedding your blood." Heb. 12:4 (NIV). 

The hidden manna is something you receive already in this life. It corresponds to your hidden life.  Our hidden life is the place inside us where no one knows what is happening except you and God. It's where you struggle with impure thoughts, pride, vanity, the untruth, etc. It's where you fight and overcome those temptations. 

The hidden manna is the assistance that you receive when you pray for it in those tempestuous times; the nourishment you receive, the power from on high. It is given to anyone that asks, all that ask with a heartfelt longing to be free from sin. 

At the time that the book of Revelation was written, a white stone was equivalent with innocence. If you were to be tried for a crime, a white stone signified acquittal. 

The white stone is a symbol of whom you have become through your faithfulness and your determination to conquer sin. It is rock-hard faith and purity.  Here on earth your faith is being tested - in eternity it will have been proven.  

Today at the NHA/Grace Church, we were given white stones as a remembrance of St. Antipas and the Scriptures of the day. 

Withstand the test. Written on the this flint-hard stone will be your new name "by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped corruption that is in the world through lust." - 2- Pet. 1:4

This name will reflect the struggles that you have stood in, and the sufferings you have endured. It will show who you've become because of your faithfulness and God's grace.  You know the fight you've had to live through to reach the place you are now, and you will instantly recognize that name and identify with it - - it is the ultimate symbol of victory and transformation.  Finally the name and the named are non-different, as the Name of Jesus and Jesus are non-different. So it will be for us.  This new name that only God and you know, is the attestation of your spirit; it's what God sees when He looks at you.  He won't be looking at your human nature, He'll zero in on the new creation in you, the outcome of your faithfulness to Him and His commandments. (2 Cor. 5:17) And that is what you will be for eternity, an eternally pure new creation, free from sin. 

 

Let your light so shine before men, that they may  see your good works, and glorify your Father which  is in heaven. St. Matt. v. 16.

Good Morning, “I am the light of the world,” said Christ. Because he has come, we are no longer living in the shadow of death. We can live in light. But without darkness, we would not know the light. God allows us to enter the darkness because he desires intensely that we identify with him, who took on himself the darkness of sin. In the darkness, we experience our helplessness and powerlessness. In the darkness, we are blind. Now God can heal us. The act of faith takes place in darkness, in regions where intellect cannot penetrate. When we enter this darkness of faith, eventually the light bursts in. But not right away. First God says: “If you believe in me, come.” But most of us are too filled with fear even to start out. There is a story of a boy in a burning house. His father is outside, calling to him, “Jump! Jump!” The child cries, “Daddy, I can’t see you!” “That’s okay,” the father says, “I can see you.” We want to see, not only the Father, whose arms are poised to catch us, but the very earth beneath his feet. We want everything sorted out and in order. We are afraid to walk into what seems like chaos to us, but is really perfect order to God. We want to say to God, “Let’s get organized,” and God refuses to organize himself to our standards. We cannot manipulate him—but oh, how we try! — Soul of My Soul

Pray, Pray Always

 "On this earthly pilgrimage—which for many has become a lonely road--we must walk in faith, keeping in our hearts the love of God above all things.

If you don’t know the faith, learn it. If you have forgotten it, find someone who knows it...get out the Bible and read, study and inwardly digest it.

Don’t be caught up in endless pointless polemics about who is more catholic (or proper or spiritual or devoted or more right) than whom. It’s the grand strategy of the devil to pit us against each other. He can do that easily if we don’t know what we’re doing, where we’re going, or why we claim the name Christian.

"We are hearing about and experiencing censorship in one manner or another these days -- Remember- No-one or Nothing can censor our prayers except our own sins. Pray, Pray always." - NHA (Remnant)

Faith is a gift of God

 

O LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people who call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Good Morning

 Faith is a gift of God. Only he can bestow it, and it is a gift that he passionately desires to give us. However, he can only give it to us if we ask for it. When we ask for faith, we are turning our face towards his face, and he can look into our heart. He loves to see us facing him, but we for some reason try to avoid this. Even while begging him for favors, we close the eyes of our soul, so as to avoid looking at him. 

Yet he is always looking at us, with deep love. It is faith that allows us to enter peacefully into the dark night each of us faces at one time or another. Faith walks simply, like a child, between the darkness of human life and the hope of what is to come, “for eye has not seen, nor ear heard what God reserves for those who love him.” Faith is a kind of folly, a folly of God himself. Faith breaks through barriers. When our face is turned to God in faith, our eyes meet his, and each day becomes more luminous. 


The veil between God and us becomes thinner and thinner, until it seems we can almost reach out and touch him.  “For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38–39 -(God in the Nitty-Gritty Life) 

“Down through the centuries and generations it has been seen that in suffering there is concealed a particular power that draws a person interiorly close to Christ, a special grace. To this grace many saints ... owe their profound conversion. A result of such a conversion is not only that the individual discovers the salvific meaning of suffering but above all that he becomes a completely new person. He discovers a new dimension, as it were, of his entire life and vocation ...”- John Paul II 

"The Jesus Prayer is understood best, when it is considered in connection with the Eucharist, where we are permitted to join our self-surrender to Christ's perfect act of Love: Bringing before Thee Thine of Thine own, From all and for all (Liturgy of St.John Chrysostom) In this self-offering within the consecration, we are part of Christ, even before we receive Him in communion. Both self-oblation and communion are things which happen in eternity as well as in time. In the Eucharist, it is self-evident that Christ is all that we have and and all that we are. He is, one might say, the most perfect expression of the whole of our being as we desire it to be. Our thoughts, our will, all the words we could ever find to express ourselves are Himself. Thus, in the Eucharist, as far as we offer ourselves, we are wholly simple, there we attain oneness. The practice of the Jesus Prayer, in which we allow Christ Himself to be our prayer, is the abiding in this simplicity and oneness." - Mother Maria

Devotion, Prayer, Scotch Tape and Ale8

September is the Month of Mary of Sorrows.  The Feast Day for the Sorrows of Mary is 15th of September.  Nazareth House Apostolate is convinced that Pilgrimage is important and necessary, especially in these troublesome times. 

There is a special place hidden away in Kentucky, where everyday people make pilgrimage.  It is a location where the property owner had a vision of Mary on the top of the hill.  A shrine was built in which the  statue of Mary of Sorrows was placed.  

Stairs reaching up the hill to the shrine were made, the neighbors pitched in. 

When the property owner passed away the neighbors and others purchased the property from Medicare which had taken the property to cover the cost of the lady's medical bills.  This Shrine is not owned by the church, but by laity.   This Shrine is not a church but is most definitely the unity of the Body of Christ within the brethren.

People come here and symbolically lay their hurts, their fears, their struggles, their hopes, their addictions and their thanksgivings at the feet of Mary, the "Yes" to God.  Knowing that Mary will do what she always does, point them to her Son, Jesus.  

At first glance, the artificial flowers, the items piled up at the shrine look almost "kitschy", gaudy... but as with anything, if you take the time to look deeper you see clearer.  Each item is a concrete memorial of the prayers of the people.   

A tape dispenser may be a prayer for binding things together, the Ale8 a last reminder of a deceased loved one, a pack of cigarettes in prayer for quitting.  I've seen full bottles of bourbon, left behind in prayers of sobriety.   This is humanity piled up and laid at our Holy Mother's feet, offered to her Son. 

When you arrive at the Shrine you are greeted by statues of Angels and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Just a bit East of the Sacred Heart is a Statue of Mary that leads to the bridge and the stairway to the Shrine. 

As you cross the bridge, you look over to see a building being constructed. 

This is a chapel being built by a man who lives in Cleveland, makes the bricks in his basement and hauls them to Kentucky in his old but well maintained car

 periodically adding a row of blocks to the chapel each visit.  The man's name is David Stillwell and he is an amazing Godly man. 

He'd like to finish the chapel some day, but it doesn't matter to him if he doesn't because his efforts are his gift to God. 

The people that come here are all amazing, and it is one of our favorite pilgrimage places to take the pilgrims that come to Nazareth House Apostolate. 

It is a holy place, complete with a stream to prepare for prayer with Ablutions.

Ablutions

“In the Name of...”, make a simple intention, then: 

1. Wash the hands to the wrists saying: “May these hands be instruments of peace.”
2. Then cup a handful of water to the lips with the right hand, rinsing the mouth three times saying: “May this mouth speak only the pleasing words, the healing words, the truthful words.”
3. Then lightly sniff water into the nose three times, which has a remarkable brightening effect on the senses.  Begin this stage by saying: “May I long for the sweet fragrance of His presence”, then sniff the water into the nose. 
4. Next wash the whole face and eyes saying: “May this face shine with the light of His countenance.  May these eyes behold the hand of the Creator everywhere they look.” 
5. Clean the ears by inserting the tips of the index fingers, wetted with water, into the ears twisting them around and in the folds of the ears then next pass the thumb behind the ears from the bottom, upwards and then over the nape of the neck saying: “May these ears be attentive to the resonance of His Word; may this neck bend in humility to the One. 
6. Wash feet (right foot first) up to the ankles, making sure that no parts of the feet are left dry.  “May these feet walk on holy ground.” 

True Ablutions: 

The purpose of washing each of these parts of the body is that it gives you time, bit by bit, part by part, to move your awareness away from the world and toward God.  It is to remind you of the need for inward impurity to be removed, a washing the self of the self (Ps. 51:2,7; Jn. 4:10-14; Jn. 3:3; Gal. 2:20). 

Time to say within your heart: 

I am now going to establish a connection with God

I am going to turn toward God.

I am going to hand over my cares and my love to God. 

As you make your way up the stairs you pass a Nativity Shrine, a Bathtub Mary

and small grottos.  This is not a perfectly groomed, sterile, disinfected, well marketed tourist spot.  This is a place that wreaks of humanity: its flaws, its strengths, positives, negatives -all coming together offering it all to God for His Will to be done.

As you approach the top of the hill you first glimpse a Golden Cross before you see the Shrine.

The shrine is in a cleared area surrounded by woodland and wildflowers.

On our visit for the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows this week, there was a man cutting the grass and trimming with a weed-eater.  He said that he and his wife have taken over the care of the lawn as a penance and devotion to God. 

Pilgrimage is both a journey and a sacred destination.  Its a conscious effort to journey afar either in search of meaning or as an act of praise, prayer and worship.

There are many places in the USA exactly like this, tucked away waiting for people to fill with prayer. In these days of confusion, I urge you to take the time to look for them.  We must remove ourselves from the bombardment of media, social media and all that seeks to distract us from our real center of focus - Our Lord and Our God.   Find your place of pilgrimage and visit often. 

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

"And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while..." - Mark 6:31

 

Where is Peace Found?

Matthew 4:1-11 

Keep your eyes on the Heart that refused to turn stones into bread, jump from great heights, and rule with great power. 

Who allows His Heart to be touched by the poor, the maimed, the halt and blind.  A Heart that becomes poor with the poor, rejected with the rejected and abandoned with the abandoned. 

"Where is peace found? - it is there in those places of the heart we feel broken, insecure, in agony, most afraid..   

Why there?  

Because in our weakness our familiar ways of: controlling and manipulating are being stripped away, where we no longer fix, force or find! --  Right there where we are most vulnerable, The Peace That is Not of This World is mysteriously hidden - "Peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your HEARTS and mind through Christ Jesus." - Phil. 4-8. 

You see, I am convinced that everything which happens to us is the instrument by which He Himself draws us into His wounded Heart through our own human condition.  It is He who first suffers the pain we suffer -this is love!  Only in the awesome environment of such Truth can we hear Christ speak to us Heart to heart. 

My Elder, Fr. McNulty, shares a  conversation between himself and Christ - Jesus speaking to him:

"You and I are one. You must not look anywhere else for the meaning of your pain or darkness, no matter what the sin or the consequences of it.  Come into my Heart through yours and I will show you everything.  All I need is a heart pierced by its own human condition just like Mine has been pierced, a heart that has no place else to go but to My Heart. I will do the rest."

Only God can say and do things like that.  This is not psychology, or mere spirituality, but Grace formed by revelation, not meant to be learned theoretically, but personally experienced and assimilated." -Seraphim+ NHA

 

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.