Devotion for today: the perfect start to a new year

Well, we have spent the past week spiritually preparing ourselves for the New Year. We have one final step left, and that is to make a good confession and start on a clean page. I offer you just a few thoughts on this incredibly refreshing and cleansing sacrament, one where we get the chance to speak to God through his priest ‘In Persona Christi’ and receive the amazing gifts of forgiveness, mercy and love. We leave the confessional rid of all our personal weeds which have turned the gardens of our souls into ugly patches of overgrowth. We transcend the physical world and enter the spiritual one, where God waits for us with loving arms and great expectations for us. We mirror the day we pass from life to death. Only in this sacrament, we pass from the death of sin into the life of God. How beautiful is that!

John 20: 22-23: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven. Whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.”

Archbishop Chaput, Diocese of Philadelphia, tells us in his book “Living the Catholic Faith”: The key to unlocking the richness of the Eucharist and the fullness of the Christian life is the Sacrament of Penance, which prepares the heart to recognize and receive its Savior. The most important single thing any of us can do to grow in Christ, reform our hearts, renew the Church, and change the world is simply this: God back to Confession, regularly and sincerely. Forgive and seek forgiveness. Everything else will follow.

Rosalind Moss tells us in the “Women of Grace” study guide: “What if I have been away from Confession for years?” you may ask. “What if I have been away from the Church?” God will say to you, “Come home, dear child. I've already paid for all your sins at Calvary. I came that you might have life and have it abundantly. There is no sin that is greater than my mercy. I will forgive you. I will restore you. I will heal you. And you’ll find rest for your soul, and peace, and happiness, and life beyond all you've ever known.” Don’t wait. Run to the nearest confessor. God will meet you there. God bless you.

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton tells us: Oh my soul, when our corrupted nature overpowers, when we are sick of ourselves, weakened on all sides, discouraged by repeated lapses, wearied with sin and sorrow, we gently, sweetly, lay the whole account at his feet, reconciled and encouraged by his appointed representative, yet trembling and conscious of our imperfect dispositions, we draw near the sacred fountain. Scarcely the expanded heart receives its longing desire, than wrapped in his love, covered with his righteousness, we are no longer the same.

Devotion for today: a time to forgive, and a time to ask for forgiveness

Mary asked us to always begin our prayers with a plea for forgiveness from God. This will keep us humble, honest and sincere in our prayers and in our dealings with each other. To begin the new year on a good foot, we now examine our lives based on the Beatitudes, the basis for all good Christian living. Take a really long, hard look at each of these and see how you fail. It is truly humbling and yet freeing. If you find yourself treating this as a test where you hope to get to the end without scoring any “sins” then trust me, you have missed the point. Ask me how I know. So then go back and do it again slowly, allowing God to pull up those nasty weeds for you to see, ask forgiveness for, and get rid of. Your will be amazed at how light and free you will feel.

LITANY OF FORGIVENESS

Lord Jesus Christ, you said:

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Yet we are preoccupied with money and worldly goods
and put our trust in what we possess
rather than in your care for us.

Have mercy on us,

O Lord, have mercy on us.

Lord Jesus Christ, you said:

Blessed are the gentle,
for they shall inherit the earth.
Yet we are so concerned about our own rights and self-interest
and so little concerned about serving others.
 

Have mercy on us,

O Lord, have mercy on us.

Lord Jesus Christ, you said:
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
Yet we are impatient under our burdens
and unconcerned about the burdens of others.
 

Have mercy on us,

O Lord, have mercy on us.

 Lord Jesus Christ, you said:
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall have their fill.
Yet we do not thirst for you,
the fountain of all holiness,
and we are satisfied with half-measures and mediocrity.
 

Have mercy on us,

O Lord, have mercy on us.

Lord Jesus Christ, you said:
Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive
mercy. Yet we are so quick to condemn, so slow to forgive.

 Have mercy on us,

O Lord, have mercy on us.

 Lord Jesus Christ, you said:

Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they shall see God.
Yet we have often regarded persons
created in your image as objects of our own lusts
and cannot raise our eyes to you.
 
Have mercy on us,
O Lord, have mercy on us.
 

Lord Jesus Christ, you said:

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God.
Yet we are so often ruthless with each other,
and our homes and our world are full of discord and resentments.
 
Have mercy on us,
O Lord, have mercy on us.
 

Lord, Jesus Christ. you said:

Blessed are those who suffer persecution for holiness' sake,
for the Kingdom of God is theirs.
Yet we suffer no opposition because we have been ashamed of you,
our Crucified Savior,
and have lived worldly compromises of your Gospel.

Have mercy on us,

O Lord, have mercy on us.
http://www.catholicdoors.com/prayers/english3/p02490.htm

Act of Contrition:

O My God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee;
And I detest all my sins because of Thy just punishments;
But most of all, because they offended Thee, my God,
Who art all good, and deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more,
and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen.

Lord Have Mercy, by Michael Smith and Amy Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDpp_YdXnqs

Devotion for today: a clean sweep

Let us end our week of New Year’s resolution-making and soul searching with a prayer to ask God to free us from any evil we may have invited, knowingly or unknowingly, into our lives. It is a prayer that we probably have never prayed, yet it is time to do so. Remember, do not be afraid. God is love, and he who abides in love, abides in God. That is what we want to be free to do from now on. Live only in and for God.

Prayer for Deliverance

My Lord, you are all-powerful,

You are God, you are Father.

We beg you, through the intercession and help of the archangels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel

For the deliverance of our brothers and sisters who are enslaved by the evil one.

All saints of heaven, come to our aid.

From anxiety, sadness and obsessions, we beg you, free us, O Lord.

From hatred, fornication, envy, we beg you, free us, O Lord.

From thoughts of jealously, rage, and death, we beg you, free us, O Lord

From every thought of suicide and abortion, we beg you, free us, O Lord

From every form of sinful sexuality, we beg you, free us, O Lord

From every division in our family and every harmful friendship, we beg you, free us, O Lord

From every sort of spell, malefic, witchcraft, and every form of the occult, we beg you, free us, O Lord

Lord, you who said, “I leave you peace, my peace I give you,” grant that, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, we may be liberated from every evil spell and enjoy your peace always in the name of Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

www.newhope-ky.org

There, now on to a new year and a fresh start! Amen and halleluiah!!!!