33 Days, and more

​Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd with a Sheep by Jacek Polakiewicz

"With desire I have desired to share this Pasch with you . . . "

I can echo our Savior's words and say, "With desire I have desired to share this post with you," and I mean it with all my heart. It has been more than a month since . . . habit nearly compels me to say, "since my last confession," but wait! My angel comes to assist me and what I mean to say is that it's been more than a month since my last musings here, but oh, what a month it has been . . . 

The most momentous thing to have occurred since I last wrote is that Jesus, our Good Shepherd, has made off with two of his favorite sheep. They were sheep dressed in young men's clothing, and their loss is so deeply felt in my community. . . 

The first lived a public life as the middle child in a large Catholic family near us. I could say a lot, but it has been said much more perfectly in an obituary by his parents HERE and in a eulogy given after his funeral Mass by his older brother HERE (you can hear the eulogy at about 22 minutes into the video).

I will add that since Joe's entrance into eternal life, I've been asking for a lot of things through his intercession, and I know I'm not the only one. So far I'm up to three huge miracles through Joe's intercession, and counting, and these answers to longstanding difficult situations have come quickly upon "asking Joe," after years of asking other favorite intercessors for heavenly aid (they mostly ignored me, no doubt waiting for Joe to save the day when he showed up where they are).

When I told his dad that I've been advising others to ask Joe too, he laughed and told me that a few years ago one of Joe's brothers had a family newspaper, and in every issue there was an advice column written by Joe. Only the title wasn't "Ask Joe," but rather "Don't ask Joe"! The warning was apt because Joe would give hilariously bad advice, but for the record, he's making up for it now with the favors he's obtaining.

The second dear sheep clutched close to our Savior's Heart was a more private soul named Max M. He is also dearly missed, and I ask you to pray for Joe and Max to be where I am confident they are, with Our Lord, and also to ask them both, Joe and Max, for their good words in Jesus' ear so that you too may obtain the graces for which you long, the miracles for which you have been praying.

And now Lent is upon us. My battle cry is, "Be not afraid! Lent is simply More Jesus!" He has been longing for us, longing to share this Lenten time with us, and His graces have been abundant.

I would like to share two that are easy to obtain and brilliant in their effects:

1. You can gain a plenary indulgence on the Fridays of Lent by saying the Prayer before a Crucifix (before a crucifix!) after Communion. If you have received Communion today already, it is "after Communion," and if you have yet to go to Mass, perhaps this will inspire you to free a soul after Communion, liberating one of those beloved ones in purgatory to join Jesus and the Saints and Angels in Heaven! How powerful Jesus makes us by giving us the ability to work with Him, to enter into His passion and join our own with it . . . to save souls! Here is a crucifix, and here is the prayer:

Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus,
while before Thy face I humbly kneel,
and with burning soul I pray and beseech Thee
to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity,
true contrition for my sins, and a firm purpose of amendment;
while I contemplate with great love and tender pity Thy five wounds,
pondering over them within me,
having in mind the words which David Thy prophet said of Thee, my Jesus:
"They have pierced my hands and my feet; they have numbered all my bones."
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be for the Holy Father's intentions

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The other "usual conditions" (besides prayers for the Holy Father's intentions) for gaining a plenary indulgence are Holy Communion and Confession. The Confession can be within 20 days before or after the Act gaining the indulgence, and one Confession suffices for every plenary indulgence gained within the 20 days (though you can only gain one a day). One Eucharistic Communion is needed per plenary indulgence. Finally, you need to be detached from sin, and you can ask the Holy Spirit to so detach you if you are afraid you aren't there yet. He will do so, if only for the time needed to gain this great grace!

So what does a plenary indulgence do? It wipes out all temporal punishment due to sin for you or for a soul in purgatory. That is, even after our sins are forgiven, we owe a debt and pay it and get purified from the effects of the sin by suffering in this life or the next (in purgatory). But a plenary indulgence makes your soul like that of a newly baptized babe or convert - entirely purified and ready to see God! How awesome is that? Very awesome indeed. You can apply this very indulgent purification to your own soul, or - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - a soul in purgatory. What a great act of love and "alms" to give in Lent! This is even more amazing than saving a soul from suffering in this life, though we highly recommend that too. (And we cannot offer a plenary indulgence for another living person, but we can offer for the deceased.)

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2. At last, though, I come to what I have most desired to share with you today, and this brings us to the 33 days and more. Isn't Lent usually 40 days? Yes, but within Lent there are 33 days, and if you start counting today, the next 33 will bring us to the great Feast of the Incarnation, commonly known too as the Annunciation on March 25, when Mary conceived Jesus in her womb nine months before Christmas!

Have you ever consecrated yourself to Jesus through Mary?

St. Louis Marie de Montfort teaches that this is the shortest, easiest, most direct way to happiness and Heaven. I agree! St. Therese, our patroness, has stolen his words (perhaps and likely unknowingly) when she was looking for an easier way to Heaven and Sainthood than we see in the lives of the great saints.

Speaking of which, yesterday was the 41st anniversary of the birth into eternal life of our teacher and friend, Fr. Thomas Aquinas McGovern, S.J. He wrote sermons that I got to edit for publication, and one of my favorites is about the spectacular St. Francis Xavier. You can find this sermon - short and easy and direct! - HERE, and it will show you what I mean about the Great Saints!

Sure enough, St. Therese's Little Way to sanctity and Heaven worked well - so well that she is now co-patroness of the Missions on a par with St. Francis Xavier!

But getting back to St. Louis de Montfort's easy way, it is nothing other than giving ourselves into the maternal care of our Heavenly Mother Mary so that she can bring us to Jesus, Who is also in her loving arms. And talk about easy - I absolutely love Fr. Michael Gaitley's 33 Days to Morning Glory book which leads us through a preparation "retreat" (short and sweet readings each day with a one line prayer to ponder on our way to total consecration) and adds to St. Louis' wisdom the insights of St. Max Kolbe, St. Mother Teresa, and Pope St. John Paul II on Mary and how to give ourselves to Jesus through her. 

Would you like to consecrate or renew your consecration with me this Lent? I'm giving you the link to the kindle edition of the book so you can get it for only $6.89 on whatever device you're using to read this post, in case you don't have the book already and want to start with me today. 

I'll post my musings as we go and as I'm able, and I'll start today with this line that struck me in the introduction:

"One of the greatest aspects of being consecrated to Mary is that she's such a gentle mother. She makes the lessons of the Cross into something sweet, and she pours her motherly love and solace into our every wound."

I hope you'll join me!

​Draw me; we will run!!!