April 13, 2025

MessagesFromHeaven

8 Easy Steps to be a Good Catholic

Mother & Refuge08 mins

1. Be a Catholic of prayer We should be Catholics of prayer. St. Augustine affirmed that prayer is the key that opens the gates of heaven and offers us all of God’s treasures. Just as bread is beneficial for the body, so also prayer is beneficial for the soul. If we do not dedicate ourselves to God and the Queen of Heaven through prayer, we will never be able to keep the Ten Commandments faithfully. 2. Always go to Mass The Holy Mass is the queen of prayers and the highest form of praise, for in it God offers himself on the Cross. When our body is weak and debilitated by some sickness, we find time to go to a doctor to be cured, don’t we? We seek adequate treatment. Well, we find at Mass He who is the doctor and remedy for souls waiting to cure our weaknesses. At Mass, the Passion of Jesus Christ is renewed upon the altar, just as at Calvary. Would we dare leave Jesus alone and suffering, and go have fun at the shopping center on a Sunday or a holy day of obligation? 3. Flee from sin: confession and Easter communion every year Queen Blanche, the mother of St. Louis IX, said, “My son, I prefer to see you dead rather than having stained yourself with mortal sin.” The pious queen’s desire so pleased God that it is said that St. Louis IX never committed a mortal sin in his life. We should pray like this and ask to avoid not only mortal sins, but to flee even from venial, sins so often committed during our lives. However, if we fall, we can go to confession, just as the prodigal son returned to his father’s house. In the Catechism, we learn that one of the commandments of the Church is the obligation of Catholics to go to confession and receive communion at least once a year at Easter. 4. Attend daily mass, when possible As Catholics, we should go to Mass on Sundays. Nevertheless, it is very profitable to visit God in His house every day if possible. Besides ordinary everyday meals for the body, we also have feasts and banquets. In a similar way for the spirit, it is beneficial to have spiritual feasts and banquets during the week besides Sunday Mass. Thus, attending daily Mass is a joyful nourishment and a powerful remedy for us. 5. Pray the Rosary daily with your family St. John Paul II tells us: “The family that prays together stays together. The Rosary is my favorite prayer. A marvelous prayer! Marvelous in its simplicity and its depth. In this prayer we repeat many times the words that the Virgin Mary heard from the Archangel, and from her kinswoman Elizabeth.” Our Lady is ready to grant our petitions! The Rosary is the means to obtain everything we need, including union in our families, the solution to our problems and even our material necessities. 6. Read a pious book and meditate frequently Pious reading is the sister of prayer and a great help for us. St. Paul recommended Timothy to do so regularly. Reading spiritual literature is so important, that when we wish to help someone who is distant from religion, we normally counsel him or her to read a religious book. Many saints affirmed that spiritual reading is a special nourishment for the soul. It produces good thoughts and desires for heaven, and frees our understanding. Pious literature inflames and enlightens our will, soothing our sadness, and causes true spiritual happiness. Now, let me ask you something: What book are you currently reading to progress spiritually? 7. You are the average of the 5 people closest to you Certainly, you have heard the saying: “You are the average of the five people closest to you.” There is another saying with a similar lesson: “Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are.” If you wish to be a good Catholic, examine your companions and evaluate your five best friends… Are they the measure of what you wish to be as a good Catholic? If they are, congratulations! You will have great allies to reach your goal. If they are not, your journey on the path to sanctity may be much more difficult. 8. Have a designated confessor and spiritual director We should have a confessor and spiritual director, to whom we give an account of our conscience, our inclinations, our passions, our affections and bad habits, without hiding anything. Actually, a confessor and spiritual director are like gardeners. If we cut the roots of a bad plant or tear out a weed, they soon wither away. But, if we tear them out leaving the roots in the earth, the harmful plant soon starts growing again. So, we should have confidence in our confessor that he can help us definitively to weed out our vices and bad habits. Read more…

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THE IMITATION OF CHRIST | PRUDENCE IN ACTION

Mother & Refuge12 mins

DO NOT yield to every impulse and suggestion but consider things carefully and patiently in the light of God’s will. For very often, sad to say, we are so weak that we believe and speak evil of others rather than good. Perfect men, however, do not readily believe every talebearer, because they know that human frailty is prone to evil and is likely to appear in speech. Not to act rashly or to cling obstinately to one’s opinion, not to believe everything people say or to spread abroad the gossip one has heard, is great wisdom. Take counsel with a wise and conscientious man. Seek the advice of your betters in preference to following your own inclinations. A good life makes a man wise according to God and gives him experience in many things, for the more humble he is and the more subject to God, the wiser and the more at peace he will be in all things.

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The 24 Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ | First Hour

Mother & Refuge114 mins

From 5 to 6 PM Jesus takes leave of His Most Holy Mother O Celestial Mama, the hour of the separation is approaching, and I come to You. O Mother, give me your love and your reparations; give me your sorrow, because together with You I want to follow, step by step, adored Jesus. And now Jesus comes to You, and You, with heart overflowing with love, run toward Him and in seeing Him so pale and sad, your Heart aches with pain, your strengths leave You and You are about to fall at His feet. O my sweet Mama, do You know why adorable Jesus has come to You? Ah, He has come to say the last good-bye, to tell You the last word, to receive the last embrace! O Mother, I cling to You with all the tenderness of which my poor heart is capable, so that clinging and bound to You, I too may receive the embraces of adored Jesus. Will You perhaps disdain me? Isn’t it rather a comfort for your Heart to have a soul near You, who would share its pains, affections and reparations?O Jesus, in such a harrowing hour for your most tender Heart, what a lesson of filial and loving obedience to your Mama You give us! What a sweet harmony passes between You and Mary! What a sweet enchantment of love rises up to the throne of the Eternal One and extends for the salvation of all creatures of the earth! O my Celestial Mama, do You know what adored Jesus wants from You? Nothing but your last blessing. It is true that from every particle of your being nothing but blessings and praises come out for your Creator; but Jesus, in taking leave of You, wants to hear the sweet word: “I bless You, O Son”. And that “I bless You” removes all the blasphemies from His hearing, and descends, sweet andgentle, into His Heart. Jesus wants your “I bless You”, almost to place it as a shelter from all the offenses of creatures. I too unite myself to You, O sweet Mama. Upon the wings of the winds I want to go around the heavens to ask the Father, the Holy Spirit and all the Angels, for an “I bless You” for Jesus, so that, as I go to Him, I may bring Him their blessings. And here on earth, I want to go to all creatures and ask, from every lip, from every heartbeat, from every step, from every breath, from every gaze, fromevery thought – blessings and praises for Jesus. And if no one wants to give them to me, I intend to give them for them. O sweet Mama, after going round and round, to ask the Sacrosanct Trinity, the Angels, all creatures, the light of the sun, the fragrance of the flowers, the waves of the sea, every breath of wind, every spark of fire, every moving leaf, the twinkling of the stars, every movement of nature, for an “I bless You”, I come to You and I place all my blessings together with yours. My sweet Mama, I see that You receive comfort and relief, and that You offer Jesus all my blessings in reparation for the blasphemies and the maledictions which He receives from creatures. But as I offer You everything, I hear your trembling voice saying: “Son, bless me too!” O my sweet Love, Jesus, bless me also, together with your Mama; bless my thoughts, my heart, my hands, my works, my steps, and with your Mother, all creatures.  O my Mother, in looking at the face of sorrowful Jesus, pale, sad, harrowing, the memory of the pains which He is about to suffer awakens in You. You foresee His face covered with spit and You bless it, His head pierced by the thorns, His eyes blinded, His body tortured by the scourges, His hands and feet pierced by the nails; and wherever He is about to go, You follow Him with your blessings. AndI too will follow Him together with You. When Jesus is struck by the scourges, crowned with thorns, slapped, pierced by the nails, everywhere He will find my “I bless You” together with yours. O Jesus, O Mother, I compassionate You. Immense is your pain in these last moments. The Heart of one seems to tear the Heart of the other.O Mother, snatch my heart from the earth and bind it tightly to Jesus, so that, clinging to Him, I may share in His pains, and as You cling to each other, as You embrace, as You exchange the last glances, the last kisses, being in-between your two Hearts, may I receive your last kisses, your last embraces. Don’t You see that I cannot be without You, in spite of my misery and my coldness? Jesus, Mama, keep me close to You; give me your love, your Will. Dart through my poor heart, hold me tightly in your arms; and together with You, O sweet Mother, I want to follow, step by step, adored Jesus, with the intention of giving Him comfort, relief, love and reparation for all. O Jesus, together with your Mama, I kiss your left foot, asking You to forgive me and all creatures, for all the times we have not walked toward God.I kiss your right foot: forgive me and all for all the times we have not followed the perfection You wanted from us.I kiss your left hand: communicate to us your purity.I kiss your right hand: bless all of my heartbeats, thoughts, affections, so that, given value by your blessing, they all may be sanctified. And with me, bless all creatures, and seal the salvation of their souls with your blessing. O Jesus, I embrace You together with your Mama, and kissing your Heart, I pray You to place my heart between your two Hearts, that it may be nourished continuously by your love, by your sorrows, by your very affections…

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Mother & Refuge First Newsletter Released! Check Your Mail If Already Subscribed!

Mother & Refuge01 mins

We are excited to announce you that we have issued our very first monthly Newsletter on this Ash Wednesday. If you have already registered, please check your Inbox/promotion/SPAM folders. If you forgot to register, you can register to receive our monthly newsletter which is going to be your spiritual companion throughout the month. Below are some of highlights of our first newsletter just released. 

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Prayer to Saint Rita | Patroness of Impossible Cases

Mother & Refuge11 mins

O glorious St. Rita, your pleadings before the divine crucifix have been known to grant favors that many would call the impossible. Lovely St. Rita, so humble, so pure, so devoted in your love for thy crucified Jesus, speak on my behalf for my petition which seems so impossible from my humbled position. (Here mention your request ). Be propitious, O glorious St. Rita, to my petition, showing thy power with God on behalf of thy supplicant. Be lavish to me, as thou has been in so many wonderful cases for the greater glory of God. I promise, dear St. Rita, if my petition is granted, to glorify thee, by making known thy favor, to bless and sing thy praises forever. Relying then upon thy merits and power before the Sacred Heart of Jesus I pray.  Amen.

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How to Hear the Voice of God?

Mother & Refuge04 mins

By St Peter’s church, SC Quiet prayer time allows us to hear God. When two friends are together in a noisy place, it can be hard for each to hear what the other is saying. Once they move somewhere that is quiet, they finally hear each other clearly. In a similar way, God is always reaching out to us, but we can’t hear him because of all of the noise. When we set aside quiet time to be with God, we start to hear God more clearly. God usually doesn’t speak in a booming voice. In your daily prayer time, you won’t normally hear a loud voice from heaven or see a miraculous sign. It is more likely that he will speak to you by gentle tugs on your mind and heart. It is like the experience of the prophet Elijah in the Old Testament: instead of revealing himself in a big, noisy manner, God spoke in a “still, small voice.” (1 Kings 19:12) In silence, God gives you new insights. Perhaps you have been sharing with Jesus how a coworker has hurt you. As you sit quietly, lifting your mind and heart to the Lord, he brings to mind a forgotten experience from years earlier, when you hurt a friend in a similar way. You begin to feel more compassion and understanding toward the coworker. In silence, you see how God is at work. Perhaps you have been telling Jesus about a situation that is causing you a great deal of worry and anxiety. As you sit quietly, he helps you remember several other times in your life when you felt like you were in an impossible situation. Looking back, you see that he took care of you each time and opened unexpected doors. You experience deeper peace and calm, trusting that he will take care of you now, too. In silence, God guides you. Perhaps while quiet with Jesus, he brings the image of a friend to mind, seemingly out of nowhere. You haven’t spoken to the friend in quite a while, but you feel a tug at your heart that the Lord might be asking you to give her a call. When you call her after your prayer time, you discover that she was facing a very difficult decision and that she had been praying for someone to reach out to her! Read more…

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Jesus Appeared in the Sky of Mexico

Mother & Refuge04 mins

By CNA It’s a major miracle that you’ve probably never heard of. On Sunday, Oct. 3, 1847, more than 2,000 people in Ocotlán, Mexico saw a perfect image of Jesus Christ crucified that appeared in the sky for more than 30 minutes. Approved by the Archdiocese of Guadalajara in 1911, the phenomenon is known as the “Miracle of Ocotlán” and took place one day after an earthquake that killed 40 and left the town in Jalisco State in ruins. Before the start of Mass at the cemetery of the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception – presided over by the parochial vicar, Father Julián Navarro – two white clouds joined together in the northwest sky, where there appeared the image of Christ. Those present and in nearby towns were deeply moved, made acts of contrition, and cried out begging, “Lord, have mercy!” This apparition of Christ was called “the Lord of Mercy” and in his honor, in September 1875, a new parish church was blessed, consecrated and dedicated to him. Also among the faithful who witnessed the miracle were Father Julián Martín del Campo, pastor of the community, and  Antonio Jiménez, the town’s mayor. Both of them sent letters to their respective superiors telling what had happened. After the miracle, a record of the event was written down with 30 eye-witnesses attesting. Fifty years later, in 1897, by order of the then-Archbishop of Guadalajara, Pedro Loza y Pardavé, another record of the event was made, with 30 additional persons including five priests. On Sept. 29, 1911, the Archbishop of Guadalajara at that time, José de Jesús Ortiz y Rodríguez, signed a document validating the apparition of Jesus Christ at Ocotlán, and the devotion and veneration given by the people of that area to the venerated statue of our Lord of Mercy located in the shrine of the same name. “We must acknowledge as an historical fact, perfectly proven, the apparition of the blessed image of Jesus Christ Crucified…and that it could not have been the work of an hallucination or fraud, since it happened in broad daylight, in the sight of more than 2,000 people,” the cardinal said. He also stated so that the Lord of Mercy would never be forgotten, the faithful must “gather together in whatever manner possible, after purifying their consciences with the holy sacraments of Penance andHoly Communion and solemnly swear in the presence of God, for themselves and their descendants, that year after year they will celebrate the October 3 anniversary.” Read more…  

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