Continue reading »]]> Happy Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe!  The days are off my schedule…

but God I’m sure through St. Paul, has a plan to deliver this message TODAY!

The great news that we are all sinners!

Great????

Yes!  And we are ALL in need of a savior!  And the LAW is not going to cut it!

We are all in need of justification — we know it too — and we are always constantly forever trying to justify ourselves!!!!

St. Paul makes it really clear that by being good and following the Law we cannot MAKE OURSELVES JUST!

29 “since no human being will be justified in his sight by observing the law for through the law comes consciousness of sin.”

So great!  We can see our sinfullness and not one of us has a shot at justification…. on our own!

BUT GOD…

In His great Mercy… from before the world began… before the foundation of the world was established… had our way in mind..to be justified in Him!

In the person of Jesus Christ — the Son of God!

And in Jesus,22 the righteous of God has been manifested apart from the law, though testified to by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

THIS IS GOOD NEWS!  A great deal! Easy right?

Just have faith and believe!

Simply not easy… for it is truly a gift — and nothing we can do makes this happen!

Righteousness is “acting in accordance with divine and moral law”.

I must make an act of faith and ask for a strong faith that believes in the Son of God… everyday!

There are things in this world that distract and pull me away from a strong faith — I could have it one day and lose it the next… why is that?

Faith is not an emotion… it is a gift of grace… and yet it is a response to God when He moves my heart with the grace of His love…

When things happen in life… and they happen every day… how do I respond?  Every day is an opportunity to respond with faith…

and from faith to faith we might be righteous and justified – made just – through and in our faith in Jesus.

Why do I need to be justified?  So that I may freely share in the divine nature’s love and be in communion with God the Father through the Son and in the Holy Spirit -

So there is no way we can boast or be puffed up by our faith or when we act in righteousness — for we know that it is the Spirit of Jesus acting in and through us – and in this way making us holy…

and ready to receive Him who is perfect and holy — for we all fall short of the glory of God…

Thank God for Jesus!

Continue reading »]]> No Excuses for Judging!

Ouch — how often have I heard myself saying… I’m not judging I’m  just concerned about this or that person… and I tell you so you can pray!  Right!

But honestly, how often do I pass judgement — especially not having all the facts or truth about a person…

NAMELY what is going on in their heart!

This is for the just judge to pass judgement on… not me!

And what a coincidence that the very thing I am so worked up about in the other person I’m judging is the exact thing I DO!

Not a coincidence — which is why St. Paul says it here…

“Do you suppose, then you who judge those who engage in such things and yet do them  yourself , that you will escape the judgement of God?”

I love the words that say that God’s kindness is supposed to lead us to repentance — not to be abused by us or taken for granted!

This is truly the perfect time of year to hear these words!

A time when we might want to judge those celebrating Christmas when it’s Advent and not be celebrating with a heart centered on Christ.

But Paul goes on to say here that it is not about hearing the word of God — or knowing the law.

Those people — Gentiles of today — pagans — they might be doing more good following God and not even knowing it than someone like me who knows Him!

To be educated and knowledgeable and having the gift of understanding and even preaching the word is not enough –

We must be following Jesus and doing good — it starts from inside, in the heart.

The body must follow — and then we will have glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good! 10

HYPOCRISY does more damage than good — and it keeps people in darkness there in the dark – does no one good!

The world is watching and what will they see in you this Advent –

More importantly what does Our Lord see when He comes in Glory this Christmas?

He desires circumcision of the heart!  I love it!

It should hurt– it should be a sacrifice — because my flesh wants to judge — I don’t know why but it finds pleasure until I do it and I feel terrible afterwards…

thank God for confession

 OH SWEET Spiritual Circumcision — that I know and love God in my heart so I follow — in my actions by doing good according to His will!

This requires grace, committment daily, faith in action…

AND NO JUDGING!

God bless you!

Please share!

Continue reading »]]> The first week in Advent is coming to a close… do you have your spiritual plan?

Have you put it into action with God’s Grace?

It is a good idea to have a daily spiritual plan, and time carved out for God during this Holy Season which constantly tempts us to focus on Christmas day materialism… making a mockery of the most Holy moment the world has ever known!

I mean spend time meditating on that most holy hour, moment when the savior of the world left a throne and a glorious kingdom… a really good time…

For what?

For a bunch of arrogant, sinful creatures who ended up spitting on Him, trashing His name, and killing Him…

Crazy?  Crazy LOVE!

We would do well to have time thought out how we could spend time with Him… to prepare for Him…

So don’t be stressed in the second day of the 30 days —

If you haven’t started a plan… start today!

My experience is that people get all worked up about following a plan and then they realize how far their lives are from being disiplined enough to hold to the plan and it totally stresses them out!

So keep it simple — and don’t stress — but allow the Holy Spirit to show  you that your life might just have a lot of stuff in it that is not necessary –

Maybe you procrastinate… or waste time on other things and there is no room to add anything else…

Maybe it’s time to shut the TV off or talk on the phone less — stop texting and spend 20 minutes in the evening with the Lord…

Maybe you have to get up earlier…

God first, family second and everything after that…

easier said than done some days I know…

Anyway,

Here is my plan… Each day

Morning

Holy Mass

Adoration

Scripture — Book of Romans – one chapter a day -

One # of St. Faustina’s Diary

Rosary — Hoping for all mysteries during advent – at least one

(walking with rosary in cold) doubles as sacrifice

3:00 pm Divine Mercy Chaplet

Evening

Spiritual Reading – The Life of St. Francis – One Chapter per day

                                      The 30 days with St. Francis Meditations book

Devotion — Blessed by the Hour Prayer…

If you want… share your plan – we can learn and grow from each other… or if you would like assistance with a plan send me an email!

God bless you!

Continue reading »]]> Today is Day 1 and Chapter 1 in Romans!

What a way to start Advent – a time to prepare for the Lord!

St. Paul when he speaks to the Romans is speaking to all of us!

I like to think we all as Catholics have a little Roma in our hearts!  For Rome is Home!

And so what hit me today were three things as I read and prayed this letter…

First in his greeting when St. Paul writes

5″Through Him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of His name, among all the nations (words here differ depending on which bible you are reading- this is the New American), among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy.”

What strikes me are the words “obedience of faith”!

Do we think often of being obedient to faith?

I know I talk alot about the GIFT of Faith!  But somehow I miss that I am to be obedient to this gift — because faith is to be active and living!

Faith is a response to God — so how we LIVE our faith matters — not what we SAY about it!

When we are obedient life really changes — we are on the path to holiness.

Second, St. Paul speaks of longing to see the people… let’s put ourselves as the ones he is writing to… picture him saying these words to YOU!

and he longs to …

11″share with you some spiritual gift so that you may be strengthened… that is that you and I may be mutually encouraged by one another’s faith, yours and mine.”

OH MY GOOOOOODNESS!!!

This is so beautiful!

I never read this before like this… but this is what we are doing together for each other and we are to continually stay in community… at our parishes… with our families… and with our friends in Christ.

St. Paul through these writings by the Power of the Holy Spirit and in Jesus Christ will no doubt strengthen us and encourage us and we will do that for others as we share our faith and strengthen each other.

For that is what is needed… STRENGTH!  We receive strength in the Sacraments and here in sharing and encouraging in faith!

It is not one sided… even St. Paul wrote here how it is mutual… he knew his faith was strengthened as well when he shared the Gospel with others… which is why we are all called to be evangelists.

Lastly, this is why St. Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel and starts right away here in Chapter 1 to exclaim and testify to the POWER of the Gospel…

17″For in it is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous by faith will live”

OH WOW – St. Paul is taking us back to Abraham and how it was his act of faith that was credited to him as righteousness -

- total gift but required an act of the heart!

The Gospel – the WORD of God — is JESUS and it is faith in HIM that gives us LIFE — through faith!

St. Paul continues on to say that there are those who have surpressed the truth – basically buried it – even though, he says God has made it clear He exists through nature etc…

and so we read that

24″God handed them over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts for the mutual degradation of their bodies…”

This last part is incredible to read and really sheds light as to where our world is right now…

I must admit it is hard to read and I’ll take tomorrow to meditate on it some more but it really answers why people seem cut off by grace…

Well it explains to me where I was… completely living for myself and cut off from any life in Christ!

This is why my brothers and sisters, it is so important that we become as lights in the darkness and live holy lives in mind,body and spirit.

God’s Mercy abounds in the light and life and power of the GOSPEL!

We must be His hands and feet!

What do you think and feel in your spirit when you pray and read this chapter today!

Spend these two days really letting this word speak to your heart!

Please share! God bless!

Continue reading »]]> This Advent St. Paul’s letter to the Romans will be the focus of prayer, study and sharing.

You might be thinking Romans?  To prepare for Christmas?

Well join us and you might be surprised how St. Paul’s letter correlates beautifully to the preparation we are in need of to receive Our Lord.

The New American Bible states that St. Paul’s letter to the Romans …

“finds its center in salvation and justification through faith in Christ…

…Romans presents a plan of salvation stretching from Adam through Abraham and Moses to Christ and on to the future revelation at Christ’s parousia.”

We know that Romans arose out of a specific situation, when the apostle wrote from Greece, likely Corinth, between 56-58 AD.

Paul at that time was about to leave for Jerusalem with a collection of funds for the impoverished Jewish Christian believers there, he planned to travel on to Rome and enlist support there for a mission to Spain.

Paul was arrested in Jerusalem and came to Rome only in chains, as a prisoner. 

This letter refers to those “weak in faith” and those “who are strong”…

St. Paul’s letter to the Romans is a powerful exposition of the doctrine of the supremacy of Christ and of faith in Christ as the source of salvation.”

This makes it perfect for us to meditate and dive into this Advent!

Here is what we will do…

There are 16 chapters in the letter to the Romans,

We will pray, read, study and share one chapter every two days, except for the last three days where we will share one chapter per day.

(follow the schedule below!)

We will read the chapter and then share a word or verse/verses that really meant something to you. 

You don’t have to share but you have no idea who will be blessed by your sharing.

Here is the schedule:

12/1     Chapter 1

12/2     Chapter 1

12/3     Chapter 2

12/4     Chapter 2

12/5     Chapter 3

12/6     Chapter 3

12/7     Chapter 4

12/8     Chapter 4

12/9     Chapter 5

12/10   Chapter 5

12/11    Chapter 6

12/12    Chapter 6

12/13    Chapter 7

12/14    Chapter 7

12/15    Chapter 8

12/16    Chapter 8

12/17    Chapter 9

12/18    Chapter 9

12/19    Chapter 10

12/20    Chapter 10

12/21    Chapter 11

12/22    Chapter 11

12/23    Chapter 12

12/24    Chapter 12

12/25    Chapter 12 * third day for Christmas

12/26    Chapter 13

12/27    Chapter 13

12/28    Chapter 14 * one day

12/29    Chapter 15 * one day

12/30    Chapter 16 * one day

This going to be very exciting to see how the days flow with the scripture!

MOST EXCITING IS THAT WE END ON THE FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH!

Praise God and hope you can join us!

Any questions let me know!

Marie Joseph

Continue reading »]]> Today is the last day in 11/11!  The 11th month in the 11th year of the 21st century!  WOW!  Could Jesus really come now?  Am I ready?

Well while this is an urgent matter … it is not a reason to stress… rather focus on the fact that He really is coming closer to us this Christmas as He does every year!

This is such a grace filled time of year that Holy Mother Church purposely takes time to get us ready to receive such graces…

This must be the reason that the enemy tries to make so much noise at this time and cause so much distraction!

We have to work against all the noise because we know that Our Lord comes silently… in the middle of the night… as a newborn baby!

So beautiful… and so here we are in day three and final day of preparation before starting our 30 Day Spiritual Cleanse.

We started with reflection of where we are in our spirit. 

Then we prayed about what to focus on for these 30 days.

Today we put it all together and offer it up to Our Lord… we offer this “work” this time this sacrifice of praise and prayer that we are about to embark on….

for who?  for what?

Ask God… maybe there is someone you really need to pray for,

maybe there is someone you really need to forgive,

maybe there is a need in your church, your family, your community, your work,

maybe someone is sick?

I would like to offer my 30 days for all priests!  Especially those struggling in their vocation, those who feel hopeless, alone, those who are sick,

in a special way because of what they have gone through during the last years, and also because of any struggles they may find with adapting to new changes in the Mass –

The Mass changes are beautiful but as I heard from one priest… it’s like being married to a woman and then she changes…

any change can be difficult to get used to… even the ones that are good for us!

I would also like to offer myself this advent for all men struggling with morality…

for men struggling with addictions to alcohol, drugs, pornography, homosexuality,

especially for Jim Joseph, Christopher Warns, all the men from the King’s Men and all those who work in men’s ministry… and anyone you are praying for…

for holy men, for holy fathers!

The last thing to reflect and pray about today is who you would like to pray with you the Advent — ask God who He has appointed for you to spend time with…

Someone in the Community of Saints…

Since I am praying and meditating on humility I will be spending time with Saint Francis… and also trust… so Saint Faustina.

And of course the Queen of humility and faith and trust… Our Blessed Mother.

Who will you pray to and with this Advent to take this journey with you growing closer to Jesus?

Finally spend time putting it all together and come up with a 30 day spiritual plan.

We start tomorrow… choose at least three things to do spiritually daily for 30 days…

If you have the book Faith on Fire we are on page 119 – 122 — fill in the pages for when you will pray and what you will do.

I’ll post my plan later today along with the scripture study and sharing!

God bless you with a faith on fire!

Marie Joseph

Continue reading »]]> Advent is here and we are in our second day of preparing a beautiful 30 days in deeper communion with Jesus!

What does God have planned for you?  Well you know it is a lot more than Egg Nog and lots of chocolate!  Or the gifts you can’t wait to buy for others and to receive!

No good Catholic you and I both know that God has beautiful gifts and riches of grace that He would love to bestow on us if we would just spend some time in joyful hope… waiting for Him!

Jesus said over and over in the Gospel to wait, to be vigilant in preparation for Him and to WATCH!

Today is our second day of preparing and so we ask our Lord what He would like us to focus on.

Yesterday we reflected on were we felt we are spiritually right now.

Based on what I shared yesterday – especially about turning to things and people instead of Our Lord — for short term feel goods instead of waiting for grace…

So I feel led to pray for more faith, hope and love… I’ll expand on this tomorrow…

Also to pray for humility and trust!

Today is the day to pray about where God wants to fill your mind… with what riches…

If I am going to pray for more trust then of course I will spend some time meditating on Divine Mercy and St. Faustina’s Diary!  A total treasure!

Pray today and ask God what Scriptures He wants you to focus on… what spiritual readings…

Maybe you have not been as devoted to Our Blessed Mother this year? 

How about a daily Rosary… or a consecration to Our Lady –

I’m definitely going to spend much of Advent with Mary — queen of humility and faith!

Also take today to pray about the times you will pray… morning, noon evening?

For me morning is the best time… but I am also going to focus on creating an evening ritual of prayer that has been lacking for… basically always!

So pray pray pray today and be at peace and so much joy!

Knowing that whoever you are and however you have sinned this year… God wants you back and closer than ever to His Sacred Heart –

Actually He never left you!

Here is the reading that I meditated on in adoration today — I hope you are blessed and please share!

Divine Mercy Diary of St. Faustina # 133

St. Faustina says to Jesus:

“Jesus, it seems that You do not associate intimately with such wretched people as I”

Jesus says to St. Faustina

“Be at peace, My daughter, it is precisely through such misery that I want to show the power of My Mercy”

Continue reading »]]> Today is day one of the three days we spend in prayer before beginning the 30 Day Spiritual Cleanse!

This is a great day to reflect on the past year and how you are feeling in your spirit!

We are encouraged by the scriptures and from what we know of the Saints to spend some time reflecting on where we are…

“Like an open city with no defenses is the man with no check on his feelings.” Proverbs 25:28

As I reflect on this year for myself I know that the year started and so many huge blessings from the Lord were present…

But they did not come without huge temptations…

As the year unfolded I can see how the stress and anxiety grew…

with my father ill and all the demands on family and work… I can see how I turned to sensible pleasures and where I did not turn to Jesus.

I can see how fear crept in and I didn’t even realize it!

WOW – after praying and reflecting it is so clear… too much of so many things that slowly turned my spirit away from the fullness and peace that in in Christ and blocked me from receiving the grace to fight -

- and yet so deceiving…

because I really didn’t see it… it is the cumulative effect!

Relationships, food, drink, leisure time, finding pleasure – short term to get a  break from the sufferings that have long term grace associated with them…

You may have a totally different experience this year and I encourage you to pray, reflect, write it down if you need to!

For me, I know that I want to empty myself of me — ask the Lord for humility and more trust in Him.

The scripture verse I received during Holy Communion today is Matthew 5 -

“Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs”

Come Lord Jesus come — may we be prepared to meet you this Christmas and may

YOUR KINGDOM COME!

Please comment here with any of your experiences or thoughts!

God bless you!

Continue reading »]]> Hi Everyone!

It’s been a while… it’s been an interesting year!  So much has happened in my life this year…and I’m sure yours too!

I don’t know about you but I know that I really need this Advent to be a spiritual time of preparation and not a time to get even further sucked into what the world is doing during this holy time!

This year like many of you, I lost a parent, my father… it was really challenging to stay focused on Christ but God’s grace was and continues to be sufficient.

I’m sure so many of you have lost a loved one, experienced illness, the loss of a job, divorce, and so many more pains and sufferings that I wouldn’t even begin to list…

My job/ministry as the director of a crisis pregnancy grew and we are in the process of opening a new center in the city of Philadelphia…

This has brought on more challenges — spiritual struggles– temptations than I’ve ever experienced before…

This is why no matter how busy I think I am… Jesus and spending time with Him has to be number one… and of course it is… but I get so busy sometimes…

Do you know what I mean?

SO BUSY!!! — it is even so crazy to read this as I write it!

How can I be SO BUSY? Doing God’s will?  That’s not Him!

Something has got to give!  Some things have got to go!

Well this is the time of year that we get to stop!  Slow down!  Really spend time in prayer to be reminded of what is most important in life!

To be silent… to turn away from all that is pulling us away from God…

To turn from our lusts and longings — from our pleasures…

To become poor!

WOW this can seem like swimming upstream when people were out at midnight charging into stores to buy gifts for Christmas — which is not even here yet!

Without a plan to fight against the temptation to think it is already Christmas…

it is impossible for us… but with God all things are possible!

It didn’t even feel like Thanksgiving because the stores already had the Christmas decorations up!

OK well enough of what the world is doing…

here is what I’m going to do, and you can join me…

Starting on December 1st… join me for a 30 Day Spiritual Cleanse!

If you have the book Faith on Fire, dust it off and follow me through making a 30 day spiritual plan that will keep you focused on Jesus this Advent.

Go to the home page of this website… and register to receive emails during Advent that will keep you motivated to continually ask for the grace to follow your prayer plan.

If you’ve noticed we have reconstructed the website for a few reasons… and now  you don’t need to log in… you can post your thoughts right here!  It’s easy.

On Monday I’ll start with three days of prayer to find out how God might want you to pray this Advent.

If you don’t have the book Faith on Fire you can order it on this website… www.firedupcatholics.com and by the way it makes a great Advent gift for those you love!

Either way — follow with us for the next 30 days… and let Our Lord make this Christmas a spiritual experience for you — one that keeps you hungry for more of Him… not full of you and material goods.

We will also have a bible blog and I pray that everyone joins here for it… I’m still praying about it and will post here what the readings will be!

God bless you with a faith on fire this Holy Advent Season!

Marie Joseph

Continue reading »]]> My most recent teaching experience taught ME how important it is to be a GOOD STUDENT!

We are all called to be “STUDENT’S OF LIFE” and our Master Teacher is Jesus Christ Himself!

He’s called us to be disciples — student’s of …

As St. Mary Magdalene recognized Him after the Resurrection… “RABONI”

Sometimes we forget that we are supposed to be life long learners… in the school of LIFE!  Or the LIFE!

Preparing for graduation… death… into eternal life.

This might be a problem for those of us who hated school!

But our school is experience… we can’t avoid life… but we can be learning… we MUST BE ALWAYS LEARNING!

In my class at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary I have the most wonderful group of students… and they are teaching me why it is so important

to be a good student… and the good is GOD…. so being a good student is really being a GOD STUDENT!

Here are some of the things important to being a good GOD student…

Smile-Laugh

Listen

Ask questions

Contribute

Connect

Study – Ponder – Reflect

Share

We will be discussing this and more in our weekly Thursday night chat tonight — 8:30pm right here on Fired Up Catholics!