My best friends are the saints!

"Each one," Pope Benedict said, "should have a saint that is familiar to him, to whom he feels close with prayer and intercession, but also to imitate him or her. (PBXVI)

 

I am always grateful to my parents for giving me a saint name, a saint middle name and the awareness that the saints were there for me and all I had to do is call upon them! How often as a child I imagined them surrounding me at night, each a place in my room. They were my first real friends and in many ways still are. I am forever getting “lost” along the way, but they are like a GPS guide, always there to assist in prayer and directions (their lives, writings and stories inspire me).

 

Dear Lord I am in awe of the gift of saints that you have given to me and to the whole Church. May we more and more know the power of friendship that starts on earth and leads to heaven! Amen.

 

My best friends are the saints!

Pro Sanctity Meeting with Archbishop George Lucas

My Mother, My Confidence!

August 30, 2010

 

Hi Pro Sanctity Family

 

These days have not been the slow days of August, but filled to overflowing with apostolic energy. We praise God because we today we had our first official meeting with our new Archbishop, George Lucas There was Kay, Fr. Frank, Fr. Tom W, Rita H and myself. He was so gracious!! He affirmed us, affirmed our Sodales, the Animators, and especially our promotion of the Universal Call to holiness in a manner that people can receive, at the same time he highlighted the necessity of a movement with its supporting groups, like ours to encourage it. He thanked us for working with our priests and with young people particularly!! He was very happy with our formation program plans, and our emphasis on interiority for the apostolate!

 

Plus!

He said yes to invite Cardinal Arinze in next September (who has already been approached and was waiting for Archbishop Lucas to OK it), he said yes to celebrating November lst with us and preaching on our theme, Saints: Fully Human, Fully Alive (including children) and he said a tentative yes for the Pro Sanctity Convention in July (depends on his retreat)!!!

 

What a great meeting, we thank God, our Lady, Our Founder and all the saints!! We thank all of you for you are the Movement!!

 

I am going to pray in now in thanksgiving!

 

Love, Teresa

 

PS: I am trying to set up SKYPE with my phone, give me a few days and  I will have it figured out under the name of: Teresa.Monaghen

 

 

******************************************

USA NATIONAL PRO SANCTITY CENTER

11002 N. 204th St. Elkhorn, NE 68022

 psm@prosanctity.org or 402-289-2670

 www.prosanctity.org

 BLOG: http://prosanctity.blogspot.com/

 

  THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....G. Giaquinta

"Mary is the motive of trust; whatever moment we are living, in whatever difficulty we find ourselves, we turn to her: My Mother, My Confidence!" (Giaquinta)

 

Pro Sanctity Meeting with Archbishop George Lucas

Celebrate Mother Teresa - Listen on Saturday 102.7 Lisa and Teresa on Theresa

I have the joy and privilege to write a few words about Mother Teresa. I intend to write a “few” words because it would be so easy to write volumes, in fact volumes have already been written on her, and still there is so much more to say!  In all honesty, I cannot add any new fact about her either because I am by no means a scholar of Mother Teresa and her work. No, I am just a fellow “Teresa” who for one reason or another, find myself following her tracks, seeing her shadow and admiring her from a distance over the years.  I follow in her tracks because she, before me, took St. Therese of Lisieux as her model, mentor and for her religious name. I, too, took Therese as model and mentor, not because Teresa of Calcutta did it, but for the same reason she did: because of St. Therese’s attractiveness and inspiration to me. Mother Teresa’s shadow literally passed in front of me for years. It would be so frustrating to find out that I was in a place just a moment too late and missed meeting her or seeing her! This happened many times! I have had spiritual directors and friends who knew her well and told me many stories, but I never once saw her live and in person.   I have admired her, too, from a distance as millions of others have, and her example, her love and joy, her dedication and drive, her straightforwardness and her “Christ-centeredness” have long been a source of inspiration to me. It is in this spirit, I now wish to share a few notes about her, that you too may reflect on your relationship with her and grow in love and appreciation of the Church who now officially celebrates her as a “blessed person” of our times.

 

 

Celebrate Mother Teresa - Listen on Saturday 102.7 Lisa and Teresa on Theresa

Saints make great friends!

Pope Benedict XVI Encourages Choosing a Special Saint Recommends Namesake as a Model

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 25, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is recommending that everyone have devotion to a particular saint -- he suggested, for example, a namesake -- so that the saint can offer closeness through intercession but also be a model to imitate.

 

The Pope said this today when he reflected during the general audience on the saints. He gave the audience address from Castel Gandolfo, where he is staying at the papal summer residence through next month.

 

The Holy Father said that it is important "to have 'travel companions' on the journey of our Christian life: I am thinking of a spiritual director, a confessor, persons with whom we can share the experience of faith, but I am also thinking of the Virgin Mary and of the saints."

 

"Each one," he said, "should have a saint that is familiar to him, to whom he feels close with prayer and intercession, but also to imitate him or her. Hence, I would like to invite you to know the saints better, beginning with the one whose name you bear, by reading his life, his writings. You can be certain that they will become good guides to love the Lord ever more and valid aids for your human and Christian growth."

 

The Pontiff noted his own closeness to St. Joseph and St. Benedict, as his namesakes, but also reflected on a saint who has "become a good 'travel companion' in my life and my ministry": St. Augustine.

 

Pursuit

 

Benedict XVI said that St. Augustine's teaching is particularly relevant today, since "relativism is, paradoxically, the 'truth' that must guide thought, decisions and behavior."

 

Augustine was a great seeker of truth, the Pope noted -- not '"pseudo-truths' incapable of giving lasting peace of heart, but that Truth that gives meaning to existence and that is the 'dwelling' in which the heart finds serenity and joy."

 

"St. Augustine understood that it was not he who had found Truth, but that Truth itself, which is God, pursued and found him," the Pontiff reflected.

 

Referring to a passage from Augustine's "Confessions," in which the saint is with his mother and both "for a moment touch the heart of God in the silence of creatures," the Holy Father said: "[C]reatures must be silent so that there will be a silence in which God can speak. This is also true in our time: Sometimes there is a sort of fear of silence, of recollection, of reflecting on one's acts, on the profound meaning of one's life. [...] [T]here is fear of seeking the Truth, or perhaps there is fear that the Truth will find us, will grip us and change our life, as happened to St. Augustine."

 

"Dear brothers and sisters," the Pope concluded, "I would like to say to all, also to those in a difficult moment in their faith journey, those who do not participate much in the life of the Church, or those who live 'as if God did not exist' that they not be afraid of the Truth, that they never interrupt their journey toward it, that they never cease to seek the profound truth about themselves and about things with the internal eyes of the heart."

 

"God will not fail to give Light so that one can see," he said, "and Warmth to feel the heart that loves us and that wants to be loved."

 

Saints make great friends!

Mother Teresa Birthday - August 26, 2010 - 100 years old

Thank you, Mother Teresa!

You no longer are just a good witness, a fascinating story or a wonderful role model; you are now my personal friend. In the communion of saints, I can go to you personally. You speak to my heart today of your love for Jesus and you inspire me to love Him with all my being as you did. You tell me not to count the cost, to refuse Him nothing and in the spirit of Mary, do whatever He tells me. The Church is calling you “Blessed” and this assures me that our friendship is real and alive.

Dear Mother Teresa, along with St. Therese of Lisieux, I ask you to guide my journey and help me to be as holy as I know I am called to be, and with you, win all souls to Jesus!  Instruct me in how to let go of my self-absorption and put on your Christ-centeredness. I am so pleased to have finally met you! I thank the Lord for this opportunity and I pray that in these next days many may come to know you, love you and follow the Lord as unconditionally as you did. Amen!

 

 

Mother Teresa Birthday - August 26, 2010 - 100 years old

Feast of the Assumption - Reflection on Mary - Msgr. Andrew Vaccari

Reflection - the rewards of a holy life

Mary's Assumption is another example of God's grace in her life.  She receives this blessing and this special gift because of the choices of God, no other reason.  Here we see her raised to heaven at the end of her life, body and soul united with the Father.  What she has received already, we hope to achieve some day too!  She said yes to God's will for her and God preserved her from original sin.  Safe from sin, she escaped the separation of death.  Her holiness shines in the heavens and God filled her soul with more than she could have imagined.  And so for us too.  Though we are touched by original sin, the victory of God surpasses the pains of sin and death.  God has kept in heaven for us far more than we might imagine or even hope for!  Each sacrifice we make, each time we persevere, each act of charity and forgiveness leads to the blessings God has kept for us.

 

Mary, pray for us that we may keep our eyes on your Son.  He promises great rewards to all who remain united with him.  He holds for us a prize for holiness, greater than all the world can offer. Msgr. Andrew Vaccari, National Pro Sanctity Spiritual Advisor

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....G. Giaquinta

"Mary is the motive of trust; whatever moment we are living, in whatever difficulty we find ourselves, we turn to her: My Mother, My Confidence!" (Giaquinta)

 

Feast of the Assumption - Reflection on Mary - Msgr. Andrew Vaccari