Song, Video & Prayer Interlude: Breathe

While not specifically dedicated to St. Jude, this song by Ryan Star and accompanied video on YouTube is inspirational, passionate and pleasing. Sometimes, songs like this can inspire and strengthen our prayer life.

"Breathe, just breathe.
Take the world off your shoulders and put it on me.
Breathe, just breathe.
Let the life that you lead be all that you need."

I included it as an interlude in our blog, and hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Let God and St. Jude take the world off your shoulders...



Perhaps, as you watch, say and pray:

Most holy apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally, as the patron of hopeless cases, of things almost despaired of.

Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone. Make use I implore you, of that particular privilege given to you, to bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of.

Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly (here make your request) and that I may praise God with you and all the elect forever.

Article: The Prayer Jesus Taught Us

The Prayer Jesus Taught Us by Victor Hoagland, C.P., based on the New Catholic Catechism 2759-2865 (source link here)

"Teach us how to pray," the disciples said to Jesus. (Luke 11, 1) He answered by teaching them the prayer we call the Our Father or The Lord's Prayer.

The Lord's Prayer is a basic Christian prayer. As a model of prayer, every Christian learns it by heart. It appears everywhere in the church's life: in its liturgy and sacraments, in public and private prayer. It 's a prayer Christians treasure.

Though we memorize it as a set formula, the Lord's Prayer shouldn't be repeated mechanically or without thought. Its purpose is to awaken and stimulate our faith. Through this prayer Jesus invites us to approach God as Father. Indeed, the Lord's Prayer has been called a summary of the gospel.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.

God and MosesWhen Moses approached God on Mount Sinai, he heard a voice saying, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." An infinite chasm separates us from the transcendent God.

In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus invites us to draw near to God who is beyond human understanding, who dwells in mystery, who is all holy. We can call God "our Father".

Calling God "Father" does not mean that God is masculine. God is beyond the categories of gender, of masculine or feminine. None of our descriptions of God is adequate. God, who is "in heaven", whose name is holy, cannot be fully known by us.

By calling God "Father" we are more rightly describing ourselves and our relationship with God. Jesus teaches that we have a filial relationship with God; God sees us as if we were a daughter or a son. And we, on our part, can approach God in the familiar confident way a child approaches a loving parent. What is more, we approach God through God's only Son, Jesus Christ, who unites us to himself .

Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

God's kingdom. Jesus often said that God's power would appear and renew all creation. God like a mighty king would rule over the earth according to a plan that unfolds from the beginning of the world. God's kingdom would be marked by peace and justice. Good would be rewarded and evil punished. The kingdom, according to Jesus, is not far off, but already present in our midst, though not yet revealed.

In the Lord's prayer we pray that God's kingdom come, that God's will, which is for our good, be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

We are God's children. What can be more childlike than this petition in which we pray for our daily bread, a word that describes all those physical, human and spiritual gifts we need to live. With the confidence of children we say: "Give us this day what we need."

Forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.

This petition of the Lord's Prayer is a demanding one. Not only do we ask God's forgiveness for our daily offenses, but we link God's forgiveness of us with our forgiveness of others. Forgiving others is not always easy to do. We need God's help to do it. But it must be done or we ourselves cannot receive God's mercy.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Life is not easy. It is a daily battle. Trials like sickness and failure can crush our spirits. False values and easy promises can entice us and even destroy our souls. And so we ask God to keep us from failing when we are tested, to help us to know the right thing to do, to deliver us from the evil which awaits us in life.

The Lord's Prayer sums up the teaching of Jesus. It is also a prayer that offers the grace of Jesus: his reverence for God, his childlike confidence in his Father, and his power to go bravely through life no matter what comes. When we pray his prayer, his spirit becomes our own.

Article: Jesus Prayed

Jesus Prayed by Victor Hoagland, C.P., based on the New Catholic Catechism 2598-2616 (source link here)

We Christians learn to pray through Jesus Christ, who not only teaches us to pray, but prayed himself. The Gospels are filled with examples of his prayer.

Did Jesus himself have to learn to pray?

Yes, he did. True, he was the Son of God who knew all things. But as one like us, he had to learn to pray while growing up. In the village of Nazareth Mary and Joseph guided his first steps in prayer. At home, in the synagogue at Nazareth, in the temple of Jerusalem he learned the rhythms and words of Jewish prayer.

Yet even in his earliest years, Jesus prayed to God with a distinct intimacy. God was his Father and he was God's son. There was a childlike, filial quality to his prayer.

CrucifixJesus prayed regularly, his first disciples recalled. He prayed before decisive moments, beginning with his baptism and as he faced his passion and death. He prayed in times of human weakness and death, as he did at the grave of Lazarus. He frequently prayed to give thanks. His prayer was steady, thankful, and confident that God's will was for his good.

His prayer was heartfelt. Nowhere is that more evident than when he prayed on the cross.

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

"I thirst."

"Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother."

"My God, my God why have you forsaken me?"

"It is finished"

"Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."

They were prayers that came from the heart. They reveal him tender towards those he loved and forgiving to those who wronged him; he is human in weakness and strong in faith. Never did a human heart reach out to God more eloquently than when Jesus prayed on the cross.

He ended his life with a loud cry. Even that last rending cry was a heartfelt prayer to God, issuing from the depths of his being and summing up what could not said.

And his prayer was heard. God raised him up. We Christians believe the prayer of Jesus teaches that prayer is always heard. In his prayer is our hope.

What can we learn from the prayer of Jesus?

First, that true prayer should come from the heart. He prayed from within, not with just words or gestures. His prayer was not based only on feelings or passing emotions. Prayer comes from within, beyond level of feelings, from ourselves. " Go into the inner room, " Jesus says, " and there pray to your Father, who hears you." Sometimes prayer from the heart, from the "inner room" takes the form of words, at other times it may be like his own wordless cry.

Secondly, prayer is fed by faith. Jesus prayed with an unwavering faith in his heavenly Father, a faith that lasted till his death. He taught us to pray also with childlike faith in God, believing that our prayers are heard by One who loves us.

Thirdly, prayer should be steady and persevering as his prayer was, even when no answer comes or when no relief is in sight. "Watch and Pray," he says, "Seek and knock," till the door that reveals God's holy will be opened.

His disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. He did, and he teaches us too. Yet Jesus is more than a teacher. As Christians we believe that Jesus prays for us; he is our intercessor before God. As Savior he gathers our prayers, our needs, the cries of our hearts to make them his own and offers them to God who hears our prayers in the prayer of his Son.

That is why we complete our prayers so often with the beautiful phrase: "Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen." Jesus is our teacher and he is our Savior, who takes our prayers and makes them his own.

Article: God Cares!

Source link here.

Even in our darkest hours...God Cares!

Life has purpose. That, surely, lies at the heart of the Christian message. Yet Christians often feel they have drawn the short straw. That life has it in for them. Even that God has forsaken them in their blackest hour.

As Christians, we recognize we are on a pilgrimage. But few - if any! - Christians escape the pilgrimage without pressing problems of one kind or another. Illness, often. Loss of income. Low pay and its consequences. Bereavement. Family pressures. Loneliness. The life of the Christian is not strewn with roses. And the occasional rose often has its thorns. As the apostle Paul wrote "If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable" (I Corinthians 15:19)!

But this is the life to which a loving Father has called us, and whatever the trial we can be assured that it has been filtered through His love. A godly reaction, on our part, to our trials ensures that we learn valuable lessons. Strength built during today's trial prepares for the next one! Just as with athletes, our spiritual muscles are built as we lift current spiritual burdens. And our mettle is hardened as we endure today's fiery trial.

Sadly, many don't stick the pace. They opt out of God's training program for eternal life. It's not God's fault, for He assures us that "everything works for good with those who love him" (Rom. 8:28), and that "no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength. but will with the temptation also provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it" (I Cor. 10:13).

Note that. There's a way out - but it doesn't necessarily mean the burden is removed! What God does is provide ways and means to help us bear that burden.

Means Of Grace

The path each of us treads is unique. What is child's play for you may be a faith-threatening challenge for me. But whatever the challenge, whatever spiritual battles we face, there is for each of us personal individual tuition. God has in His Word and through His Church, by His divine power "granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness" (2 Pet 1:3f). The "means of grace" are there.

Let's look at some of these.

First, God has through Jesus Christ placed within the assembly of His people every gift we need to conquer every foe, win victoriously every battle, overcome every challenge life throws at us. This is why it's vital for Christians to keep in close contact with one another - where possible by visiting and assembling with other brethren, and through letters or by phone. Only by contact with one another can we bear one another's burdens. Jesus Christ has placed in you gifts to serve the assembly! Even when "scattered" we can't afford to be an armchair Christian!

Manual for Living

Then there's God's manual for righteous living, His Word. Every life situation is catered for at least in principle. No matter how often we dig into the pages of our Bible there are new treasures to unearth about coping with the daily grind. Read, and study, it daily! Absorb God's prescription for "life with a capital L" as faithfully as you swallow the doctor's prescription!

Next, every Christian is endowed with God's Holy Spirit - God dwelling in us. The Spirit prompts us to obedience and service. Heed what the Spirit says to you and to your church! Work out your salvation by expressing in your life all the divine "fruits of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22f). Being filled with the Spirit is obedience to the Word of God.

Prayer, now. Are we anxious, care-worn, worried? Paul tells us to "have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And [as a result] the peace of God will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:6-7). The Psalmist adds: "Trust in him at all times, O people, pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us" (Ps. 62:8). And the apostle Peter writes, "Cast all your anxieties upon him, for he cares about you" (I Pet 5:7).

Let us all, by faith, place our troubles, our concerns and anxieties upon the broad shoulders of our loving and merciful God, who in Jesus experienced the same kinds of trial that we undergo. "For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in times of need" (Hebrews 4:15-6).

He's not afar off - but present with us through every situation. Moses wrote: "The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27). The God whose power created the heavens and the earth has also the power to see us through all those dark tunnels through which every Christian wanders.

All our experience, if we react to it in a godly manner, is well worth it when we consider the hope that is set before us as heirs of God and fellow-heirs with Christ. Our present sufferings "are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18). In a sense, God, by creating man "subject to futility", places us at risk. All are subject to life's storms. to accident, to "time and chance". It is our response to life events that prepare Christians for a glorious eternity in the service of God.

Let's use every "means of grace", every resource God provides, to achieve the full potential of that glory. And let God take upon Himself our cares as He has promised!

September Messages of Thanks

Publish your messages of thanks (and special intentions) to St. Jude for September here.