The Most Joyful Spiritual Seat Is at the Penitential Table

Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? (Luke 14:31)

(Note: Those looking to deepen their spirituality sometimes do not discern where best to achieve their goal. Deacon Pasquella, a spiritual adviser to the Confraternity of Penitents, suggests that the best way to begin and progress is through honest and joyful admission of sin.)

One should always get proper spiritual direction before engaging in any form of intensive spirituality or seeking membership of any prayer group that is engaged is unique devotional practices. It is most dangerous to get involved in one form of deep spirituality or the other only to discover, after stirring up the hornets’ nest of demons, that we are not quite prepared for the battle that follows. The Lord says, “Or what king, about to go to make war against another king, does not first sit down, and think whether he be able, with ten thousand, to meet him that, with twenty thousand, comes against him?” (Luke 14: 31). We are not all called to be ‘prayer warriors’ in spiritual warfare.

However, we are all called to repentance; to do good and avoid evil. These we are enabled to do by grace received through regular prayers and frequent reception of the Sacraments. Indeed, the most comfortable and joyful spiritual seat is reserved at the penitential table. Sitting there continually, we are sorrowfully and humbly acknowledging what we truly are –sinners, and pleading for God's mercy crying: "Lord Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on me". And so are we confident before God and man. No pretense, no false self, and we have nothing to lose but everything to gain...God’s forgiveness. Being in a state of continual repentance is the express way to spiritual perfection. This is a stable and humble spirituality open to all. It is the spirituality of the Confraternity of Penitents.

Your servant in Christ,                                                                 

Deacon Joseph Pasquella

Diocese of Buffalo

Letter from a Confraternity of Penitents Sister in Christ

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

 

My name is Rhea Schoettner. I have been a pledged and privately vowed member of the CFP, since April 2, 2011. The name I chose when I pledged and vowed is sr. Benedict Mary Francis. I have always loved St. Benedict for some very special reasons and Mary is my mother! St. Francis ... well, there are no words to express my love for him! 

 

I serve as a Regional Minister for the United Kingdom, Europe, and Florida. I am also a formator, helping others in their journey towards becoming a penitent.

 

 

 

I began a group called the Francis and Clare Guild. Some of us make handmade greeting cards, others use purchased cards, and we send them to people we know who are alone, shut in, addicted, sick, etc. Someone who is in need of knowing someone cares for them. We choose people from our own lives and mail to them once a month. I began this because there are so many lonely people out there. I take care of my grandchildren for my son while he works so I can't get out and about like other people do. This was my way of being able to touch someone's life and let them know they are loved. The Guild is on Facebook if you would like to join us.

 

Living the CFP Rule of Life has changed me in so many ways. I have gained so much from the prayer life and the sacrifices we make as penitents. I live the rule in all ways except for the diet and fasting (because of unforeseen health problems). I actually have found that after adjusting to the diet part of the rule and then having to go off of it has been just as much of a sacrifice as it was when I was on it. Maybe even more so because I wanted to follow the rule completely and I can't. We don't always choose our sacrifices or even know that something is going to be a sacrifice. It is all up to God! I never imagined that having to eat the way everyday people do would be a sacrifice but it is!

 

In October of 2014 my husband and I went on vacation to Pennsylvania. It was the first time in 6 years since I had been home to see my family and friends. We managed to save enough money and set out for a fun escape for a few weeks! The day we left (after we left) a hose going to toilet in the bathroom broke. My son went to check on the house the next morning and found it full of water. He opened the front door and the water came gushing out. We notified the Landlord's agent and had to trust that she would do a good job. I will not go into detail because it is too long, but I will get straight to the point ... The rental agent did NOT do her job. She never entered our home until the day after we returned from vacation and we found mold everywhere. We lost nearly all of our furniture, all of our linens, our clothing, books that were on the bottom shelves to mold. We also lost some very sentimental items. It didn't have to happen that way. Everything could have been saved had the agent done her job!

 

 

 

I am sharing this because I learned some very valuable lessons over the last 3 months. I would like to share them because they just might help others if they ever come face to face with this kind of disaster.

 

First I learned that my CFP brothers and sisters are really my brothers and sisters. They are the only ones who helped us when we were in need. I learned that God has led me to the best place I could ever be. I will be forever grateful for the kindness and compassion the members of the Confraternity of Penitents had for us.

 

Second I learned that I am human! I think over time knowing that I had come so far in my faith journey, had placed me in a nice little nest of security. I have over the last 8 years detached from things and people who had too much control over my emotions. I learned that love is an action ... Not an emotion. And I thought I was doing very well and that I would never fall. How wrong I was. Because of the behaviour of the people responsible for the loss of our things, I became depressed. I also felt hopeless and angry and alone. I missed my THINGS! Me, who thought herself detached from the worldly things and people found myself in that dark place I had not been to in 28 years! I fell backwards in my prayer ... In my spiritual life in general. I did NOT lose my faith but I came close.

 

It was the actions of the people that depressed me the most. I could not believe that people could be so uncaring and hurtful. I forgot to trust in God. I forgot that He always has a reason for allowing things to happen. He knows best!

 

 

I woke up one day and realized that I was failing miserably ... I began to pick up my breviary again and to focus on my faith, family and home again instead of my misery. I began to focus on how to get back to the way of life I had worked so hard to build with the Confraternity of Penitents ... The life God had led me to and given me the grace to follow through with. Bottom line it isn't so easy to just get it back. It took a very long time to build it ... A few weeks to knock it down and ... A difficult time to rebuild! I didn't lose it all ... As I said I did not lose faith and I did pray ... I still kept up with the clothing rule ... It was praying of the Hours and the psalms and the meditation and reading that I failed to do. I became so engrossed in fixing everything and feeling depressed that I forgot to do those things that keep me going everyday!

 

There is a saying that if the devil can't get you to sin in everyday ways he makes you busy ... THIS IS TRUE ... I am just now pulling myself up and out of the hole I was in. I hope I never become so sure of myself again (in regards to faith) that I don't see I am already falling. It is the prayer together with the sacrifice that aids us everyday. It makes the hard things less difficult. It makes us strong and able to withstand the trials in life. I almost let that go. I am so thankful for the Confraternity because at all times it remained on my mind and I know it was God's way of nagging me ... Telling me to get back to the right way of life ... His way of life.

 

I guess the main message is that it is easy to think we are growing in holiness and can't fall like we used to. That is a great lie ... One we all need to keep in mind! I will end here and I hope each and everyone of my brothers and sisters in the Confraternity are filled with the love of God and are given all of the graces needed to face every trial with hope and trust in God!

 

God Bless you all ... Pax et bonum,

Rhea (sr. Benedict Mary Francis)

Prayer for Good Humor by Saint Thomas More

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
‘Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
   as on the day of testing in the wilderness,
where your ancestors put me to the test,
   though they had seen my works for forty years.
Therefore I was angry with that generation,
and I said, “They always go astray in their hearts,
   and they have not known my ways.”
As in my anger I swore,
   “They will not enter my rest.” ’
Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today’, so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end. (Hebrews 3: 7-14)

Prayer for Good Humor, Available from the CFP Holy Angels Gift Shop

            Now that the holidays are over, what excuse do we have for all the hustle and bustle of our lives? What distractions have replaced those of holiday preparation? The author of the letter to the Hebrews seems to be writing to people who have 'tuned out,' or who hear but don't listen. It seems that when the hearing is impaired, the heart tends to grow hard towards God and others. We need to surrender to the movements of grace and open ourselves to the needs of those we encounter along the way. 

Listening demands an act of the will. We need to cut through the chaos and chatter of the world and strive to enter the solitude of our hearts. There, in that secret space, to listen for the voice that speaks in hushed silence. There with our defenses down our hearts can respond to the movements of love. Taking the words of the author of the letter to the Hebrews to heart, let us strive to be present to the One Who is Ever-present and listen to His voice. I will close with the prayer of St. Thomas More that Pope Francis alluded to in his speech to the members of the Curia 

Prayer for Good Humor by St. Thomas More  Grant me, O Lord, good digestion, and also something to digest.  Grant me a healthy body, and the necessary good humor to maintain it.  Grant me a simple soul that knows to treasure all that is good  and that doesn’t frighten easily at the sight of evil,  but rather finds the means to put things back in their place.  Give me a soul that knows not boredom, grumblings, sighs and laments,  nor excess of stress, because of that obstructing thing called “I.”  Grant me, O Lord, a sense of good humor.  Allow me the grace to be able to take a joke to discover in life a bit of joy,  and to be able to share it with others. 

This Prayer is available from the Confraternity of Penitents Holy Angels Gift Shop on this link.

Letter to a Dying Woman Who Needs to Make Peace with God

The Confraternity of Penitents received this urgent prayer request for a woman who was dying. We reproduce the request here but have changed the name for privacy sake:

Please pray for Janine who is dying because of liver failure, that she would have the grace of true
repentance for her sins and complete trust in Jesus, our savior and friend. May God bless you for your faithful devotion and prayers.
In His service,
Jill

One woman who received this prayer request took the time to write back her thoughts and encouragement to Janine. Her letter is reproduced just as it was written.

Dear Janine,

I heard about your terrible suffering and wanted to communicate this message to you. God created your soul to live with Him eternally in the happiness of Heaven and He Loves you completely and entirely! All people are created in God's image and likeness - we are all made for Heaven!! We all know this Truth when we are conceived in the womb and reminded of it in the sacrament of Baptism, but this world is far from being heaven and makes many of us forget our Divine Creator and Heavenly Home. God understands this tragedy and extends us His Divine Mercy and Grace to Help save our souls - but we must accept it and turn to Him in humility in order to Receive It.

Please ask to speak with a Catholic Priest and do a confession and attend Catholic Holy Mass ASAP - it's best to do this in person but there are daily masses online if you can't go in person. Turning to God during your life - before your death - does more to save your soul and assure your eternal happiness than all the prayers said for you after your death. If you want to go to heaven then you must ask for God's Help, seek His Mercy and Grace and be humble, loving and kind before Him Who created you - and Who created the entire universe. 

Hating others who have hurt or wronged you is like trying to throw them off of a cliff - the problem is that when you throw them off you automatically go over yourself... Life is like a mirror in that way - "you get what you give". So Shift attention to God and His Divine Love which is a Reward in Itself - and thereby you will no longer suffer eternally. If it helps, you can feel sorry for those who are so hurt themselves that they have hurt you in your life. It's very important to shift your focus to the love of God if you want to go to Heaven. 

There's another good side effect to doing this - you may recover if it is God's Will and completely regain your health after turning to God with love and confessing your sins and truly repenting of them and asking for God's Help - and in fact many, many people have! Sin leads to suffering and death - hatred purchases suffering and death whereas Loving God and Loving others brings Life in this life and the next. 

You can read about the miracles brought about by conversions to the Catholic or Christian faith associated with any of the Saints including St. Brother Andre of Montreal. One man was bed ridden for years and was near death and finally did a confession with a Catholic priest and received other Catholic sacraments (the 7 Sacraments are Gifts from God for our health and happiness) and he went on to completely recover and live many years longer in good health! 

You will always be happy for lovingly asking God for His Help at this time and repenting of your sins and offering up your suffering in atonement for your sins and also to save the souls of poor sinners. Your anxiety will disappear once you are reconciled with God! Once you confess your sins, the Priest will give you some penance to do in atonement for your sins which may be to say a few short prayers to God. You will never regret doing this during your life whereas you may regret it eternally if you don't or it will significantly lengthen and intensify your purgatory which will not be fun. You may recover completely if it is God's Will so that you may glorify the Lord and your testimony will help others to save their souls - and that is what I am praying for Janine but either way you will be happy if you do this!

May God bless you Janine and may you embrace the Love and Mercy of God and find eternal salvation and hopefully recover too!!!

 Blessings in Christ,

Suzanne

Bishop Kevin Rhoades Offers Mass for Confraternity of Penitents

THURSDAY AFTER EPIPHANY – JANUARY 8, 2015 

On January 8, 2015, the Confraternity of Penitents was honored to have Bishop Kevin Rhoades accept our invitation to offer Mass in the Confraternity of Penitents house chapel and to remain afterwards for a pot luck luncheon. The photo was taken following the Mass, in the Confraternity House (chapel behind the group through the open doorway). Confraternity members from Indiana and Ohio were present at Mass and gathering. The Mass was concelebrated by Father Jacob Meyer, CFP Visitor, and Father Danial Johnson, Spiritual Assistant for Our Mother of Perpetual Help CFP Circle that meets in Delphos, OH. Father George Gabet, pastor of Sacred Heart Church, Fort Wayne, IN, was also present. Not shown in the photo is Tim Luncsford who works as an on site volunteer for the Confraternity. He was also present but was taking the photo.

Bishop Kevin Rhoades with Confraternity members and fellow priests, following the Mass he offered for the Confraternity of Penitents in the International Headquarters House Chapel (behind). Shown also Fr. Jacob Meyer, CFP Visitor (priest to right and rear of Bishop Rhoades) and Fr. Daniel Johnson and Fr. George Gabat, between Fr. Daniel and the Bishop.

There follows here Bishop Rhoades' homily at the Mass in the Confraternity of Penitents House Chapel. Bishop Rhoades' homily focused on the Confraternity of Penitents Motto "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, and with all your mind, (and) you shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Jesus's words as recorded in Matthew 22:37-38)

+ We are still in the Christmas season which ends this Sunday, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

 

+ Wonderful readings last week and this week from the first letter of Saint John.  Saint John, the beloved disciple, wrote 5 New Testament books: the Gospel of John, the three letters, and the book of Revelation.  A major theme: love (God’s love and our vocation to love).  Recall the famous words in the Gospel of John (the famous 3:16): “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  This is what we have been celebrating during this Christmas season – the gift of the Incarnation – the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us.   

+  When Saint John wrote his three letters, he was addressing a difficult problem in his communities at the end of the first century.  Many were being led astray by false teachers who were denying the truth of the Incarnation, the truth that the Son of God became flesh.  He called them “antichrists.”  They believed in Jesus but they denied that He came in the flesh.  They claimed they were being led by the Spirit.  Saint John makes it clear that it was not the Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth, that was guiding them, but the spirit of deceit, the father of lies.  This heretical group also claimed that they loved God, but they were not loving their neighbor nor keeping the commandments.  They hated the other members of the Christian community.  That’s why Saint John wrote in today’s reading: “If anyone says, ‘I love God’, but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” 

This teaching of Saint John is very challenging.  He says we are liars if we say we love God and hate our neighbor.  Being a liar means being on the devil’s side since the devil is the father of lies.  Loving God means we keep his commandments.  John writes: “For the love of God is this, that we keep his commandments.”  The principal commandment is charity, therefore, it is not possible to love God without loving one’s neighbor.  Love of God and love of neighbor are inseparable!  The true disciple of Christ loves God and neighbor.   

Earlier in this first letter of John, Saint John wrote that “God is love.”  This is a profound truth of Christianity.  With love, He sent us his Son.  This was entirely gratuitous.  In today’s reading, he reminds us that “we love God because he first loved us.”  But there is a requirement attached to God’s gift of love, that of sharing it with others.  The love for others brings us as close as we can come on earth to union with God.  Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that in this life we come closer to God through love than through knowledge.    

Saint John tells us God’s commandments are not burdensome, for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world.  And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.”  So faith and love are connected.  Our faith in Jesus, lived through love, enables us to conquer the world.  This is what our world so desperately needs.  It is the only way to true and lasting peace.  There is no justice nor peace without forgiveness and love.   

The Eucharist we now celebrate is the sacrament of love as Jesus comes to us, His Body broken and His blood poured out for us, giving us the grace and strengthen to love one another as He has loved us. 

May God help all of us to live our vocation to love!  This is what makes life meaningful and beautiful.  

--Bishop Kevin Rhoades

God's Grace Comes on the World through Suffering

As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. ³⁵When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; ³⁶send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ ³⁷But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ ³⁸And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ ³⁹Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. ⁴¹Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²And all ate and were filled; ⁴³and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men. (Mark 6: 34-44)

I cannot imagine anything more unsatisfying than bread and fish. But these people were satisfied by the bread and fish that they received. 

The message of this Gospel passage is that we need to take what we have and then know and trust that what we have is enough to satisfy God’s people. We think of the banquets served by wealthy kings or government leaders or people who live in huge mansions. Those banquets may fill us up, but the Lord satisfies us with as little as loaves and fishes as long as bring it to him first. What God gives us may not be satisfying in the eyes of the world, but it is satisfying in the eyes of God because it is given in his grace. There is not only enough for ourselves, but God gives us enough to feed the people of God and to satisfy the deepest longings of one’s heart with Christ. 

Caring for others is our job. Jesus said, “You give them something to eat.” Now I am not good at guarding my expressions. People say that you can read me like a book. So you can imagine what my eyes would have been like, what my facial expression would have been like, if I heard Jesus say to me, in front of all of these hungry people, “You give them something to eat.” How was I going to feed them? 

Nevertheless, God wants us to feed others and not look for Him to do everything. It is our job, our task to feed others and not wait for God to rend open the sky and come down and do it for us. It is our job. “You give them something to eat.” God provides us with the means to feed others. 

Think about the penitential lifestyle you are living. Just by living the way you do, the world takes notice and grace is given. Or maybe your penances are so hidden that most people have no clue that you are doing them. But God knows the voluntary penances you are undertaking out of love for Him.

The world need deeply needs grace, and how do we get grace? Through suffering. People are longing for fullness, but they do not understand the value of suffering. Suffering seems to the world to be as unappetizing as bread and fish, but that is suffering in a worldly view. Maybe the crowd did not even understand what had happened or how the bread and fish were multiplied. The world may not know about your penances, but does it matter? You should still rejoice because grace is coming to the world through those penances, through what the world would consider sufferings like fasting and abstinence and all those prayers and that weeding out of your clothing. Little penances that bring grace into this world. God will satisfy His people through this grace.” You give them something to eat” means to offer up your penances for the world so that they will not only help you to grow in grace but so that they will also bring God’s grace down upon others. It is God’s grace that satisfies more than any bread or fish or any other food.

--Father Jacob Meyer, CFP Visitor