By The Way: Jesus Speaks French… An Advent Reflection

Fr Jacque Philippe

Fr Jacque Philippe

So the other day I ran into Jesus; and he was speaking French…

I suppose that statement needs some major clarification, but first I want to ask a question:  Have you ever gone into a situation with a certain set of expectations, only to find your expectations totally blown away or turned upside down? I know I have. A few weeks ago I had one of those moments…which ties back to my first statement.

It was a typical Sunday night; I had gone to Mass in the morning, hung out with friends and did some homework in the afternoon, and was planning on going to the adoration chapel to have a holy hour in the evening. At least I was going to…until, towards the end of an extended dinner in the cafeteria, I heard the name “Jacques Philippe”. Being a huge fan of this very holy man, my ears and eyes instantly turned down the table, where a few friends were sitting. Continue reading

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Power of Imagination

sunflowerThere were probably 15 or 20 of them: smiling, squiggling, four year olds. It was their turn to visit Jesus, exposed in the monstrance for First Friday adoration at Northwoods Catholic School.

And it was me and them for the next 15 minutes.

We went through the routine. We pointed to the red sanctuary candle, which shows us “Jesus is home.” We pointed to the crucifix, and I got the unanimous exclamation of “Jesus!” to my question, “Who is that?” Before I could even turn to the Our Lady of Fatima statue, one little boy already blurted out “It’s Mother Mary!” Continue reading

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Every sin…

snin“Every sin is the distortion of an energy breathed into us…” — CS Lewis

Every time I go to Confession, my focus is on telling Christ that I am heart-fully sorry for messing up his plan.  I chose myself over him, impatience over kindness…not allowing him to effectively love through me in the way that he wanted.  He is so merciful and so forgiving…and he never tires of forgiving us!

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Lessons from the Hospital

year of mercy logoEvery other week I get the opportunity to accompany Patricia Bannon as she distributes communion in a hospital in Madrid. The whole process is very simple but impacting especially in light of the Jubilee Year of Mercy that we are beginning. Here are some things that stand out to me:

Lesson 1: Faith transforms us

Each time I have gone it has been to the geriatrics unit. We enter the room, greet them, ask if they are ready to receive Jesus and then begin our communion service. Most of the people are quite sick and there is an evident desire in them to be close to Our Lord, their faith is tangible. This impresses me because generally, people who are sick, uncomfortable or in pain are kinda grumpy and closed off or just miserable. I know I can be like that. It’s very normal, very human- we don’t like pain and we aren’t meant to like it. But when these patients realize that they are about to receive the Eucharist their faces light up, there is a relief that comes over them, they smile and seem to regain some of their vigor.  They are docile and receptive. They know that with Jesus their suffering isn’t being wasted. For example, one man we visited was gently crying due to the pain he was in but became so courageous after being reminded that he can unite his pain with the Cross for the conversion of his son. Continue reading

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Rejoice

44Today on the third Sunday of Advent we are invited to ask ourselves, in what do we rejoice? In our lives, there are moments that are moments of real joy for us; things happen that we will never forget. Today the liturgy presents us with the fact that there is something that happens always, which should always make us happy: that the Lord has removed our judgment and that He is in our midst, which means that we are accompanied by God, that He will never leave us. These days before Christmas, we are reminded of His fidelity and that we can always count on His presence in our lives. Yesterday 44 young men were ordained priests in our congregation. They are a proof of love that God will always accompany us. Let us pray for them and thank God for their vocation.

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Feliz Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in Madrid way surpassed my expectations. God has a habit of doing that.

Being greeted by my community, as well as the apostolate community, with a chorus of hugs and “Happy Thanksgiving” on Thursday morning started the celebrations. Since we had our meal on Saturday, I really wasn´t expecting to celebrate at all on Thursday, but it was definitely still Thanksgiving Day (although my first in school.) From that surprise on, all the little things added up to leave me feeling very loved and very grateful for experiencing God´s love through my community.

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Step 1. Make a trip to the American store. I discovered that Crisco, corn syrup, canned pumpkin, and Campbell´s cream of mushroom soup have become specialty items. But I´m pretty sure “Capri-Sonne” is not exactly spelled in English.

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A work before dying

DSCN0651Hidden in a niche in Rome’s Basilica of Saint Sebastian is a little-known Bernini treasure: his “Salvator Mundi,” or Saviour of the World. I rather happened upon it by accident, popping into a cool church to find relief after a long hike on the Via Appia and being captivated by a hauntingly beautiful bust.  Bernini, I found out later, called it his “Darling.”  Sculpted shortly before his death at the long-ripe age of 82, he wished it to be sum of his artistic endeavors and a final testimony of his personal love for Christ.

Perhaps it is not the most-visited Bernini work in all Rome, but it is the work that Bernini most loved. What will be the final work of your life? Will it be an expression of the love that has motivated you all your life?

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Vow of chastity

The consecrated in formation just finished a 3 day course on the vow of chastity. Our program of formation this year is taking a special emphasis on chastity, so various means are being utilized to go deeper in this area. Kathleen Murphy gave a basic and incredibly beautiful overview of what it means and implies to live the vow of celibate chastity with the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christ. It was a time to reflect on where each of us has been, to collect the treasures of our short consecrated lives and to look forward, in short, to pay attention. God is doing great things, so please pray for the fruit this little course will bear, and count on the prayers of those of us in the formation center. These moments are inspirational, but true love is lived one day, one choice, one “giving in” to the other, and one “getting back up” at a time.

At one point over the weekend, this song popped into my head.

May God grant each of us in our state of life, the grace to get to the point of “25 years” and more….

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The Love of Christ Impels Us

Love of Christ Impels UsI recently made my first visit to an ICU. But let me clarify: I wasn’t the patient—I was the student. Just two hours, and I learned so much.

As one of our apostolic experiences, those of us in the studies stage community take turns accompanying two of the consecrated women from the apostolate community who regularly visit and bring Communion to hospital patients. I can already tell that the Holy Spirit is bringing great fruits from this work of mercy, both in me and in those we visit, during this Year of Mercy. Continue reading

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So Much More

Giovanni_Battista_Tiepolo_-_Nativity_-_WGA22260Christ’s love in the manger is overwhelming. In the minor seminary, we used to have special dinners in preparation for Christmas. We called them Posadas after the Spanish tradition of having a procession in memory of the inns (“posada” is Spanish for “inn”) that had no room for Mary and Joseph. We began with the rosary followed by a procession outside and concluded with dinner prepared by one of the classes. I always remember processing outside in the icy, dark New Hampshire evenings, trying to keep my candle lit, avoid slipping on the black ice and landing on my tailbone, keep my fingers and ears from freezing, and respond to the litanies of the procession all at the same time, all the while hoping to survive until we arrived to a nice hot dinner. The thought would always strike me: Jesus, Mary and Joseph had it all that night except the warm dinner after. I don’t know if I would have survived those processions without that savory “carrot” in front of me, but those cold nights helped me appreciate more just what Jesus gave up for me. Continue reading

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