All posts by Teresa Linda, ocds

Father Robert Barcelos, OCD, Feast of Saint Elijah: July 20

July 20, 2017 Teresa Linda, ocds Leave a comment

elijahs-cave

The entrance to a cave on Mount Sinai

(1 Kings 19: 10-14 )

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

¹¹He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹²and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. ¹³When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

———–

Our faith is tested to really see the reality of who it is we believe in. In other words, we have to go before the mouth of the cave, as Saint Elijah did, when he was on Mount Sinai. The Lord told him to go out before the mouth of the cave because He would be passing by. The Lord did not pass by in the many ways Elijah expected, not in the same ways that the eternal Lord and God manifested to Moses in Sinai, those magnificent ways, through the power of the elements of creation. All that took place before Elijah, but God wasn’t present there. He was present in an unexpected manner, in a way that surprised him; in a way that was utterly simple and ordinary, and yet the fullness of His presence was there, concealed and hidden.

The Spirit told Elijah inside of his soul to go out before the mouth of the cave, and there it was — God’s silent breeze. The breath of God passed by, and Elijah recognized whose presence he stood, and he bowed down in worship and adoring silence.

When we come to Carmel, oftentimes, there are a series of steps and graces that God gives us to be able to experience His call and to be convinced of it. Definitely, certain blessings accompany the graces, to build up our confidence, and our faith, hope, and love, to be able to abandon ourselves to that extent.

And then, when we finally enter, we might expect God to manifest in certain ways. We might expect certain things to happen, but sometimes, it doesn’t. Part of the spiritual life, inevitably, is that we become entirely aware – we thought and expected ecstasy. Instead, we are immersed in our own poverty, and so aware of the reality of our need for healing, in respect to what it means to be whole and holy in the Lord. That can be such a scandal to ourselves because we thought we were so much better than that!

Yet, God knew exactly who you were, better than you knew yourself, when He called you. You’re just starting to figure it out now. He knew who you were from the beginning, but He loved you anyway. Our weaknesses don’t get in His way, and neither does our poverty. Quite the contrary. Our weaknesses are where He wants to be born. That’s the manger. That’s the Bethlehem.

He doesn’t want the palace. He didn’t come for the perfect. He came for those who were lost and in need of Him, and who recognized their need for Him. He wants to be born in the mess of the manger. When He is born there, that mess can gradually become immaculate, amidst the messiness of it all. We can become so changed that what makes our lives most radiant, is the way God has touched us in our wounds, in the way God has transfigured us in our weakness. St. Elijah, pray for us.

(SOURCE: “Transforming Union With God” Retreat, 2013)

Click here for the Office of Readings, Feast of Saint Elijah, (St. Louis OCDS)

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Father Robert Barcelos, OCD: Marian Devotion

July 19, 2017 Teresa Linda, ocds 1 Comment

In scripture, whenever Mary is exalted or honored, she doesn’t want to be the center because she wants God to be the center. Who honors her? Not just anybody – an archangel is the first to honor her at the Annunciation. If you were to examine in scripture of every time an angel appeared to humanity, it was always at a pivotal moment in salvation history, when God was allowing his covenant of love to unfold and deepen. To concretely establish this relationship, an angel would prepare the way and serve as agent of His will.

Whenever an angel appeared, the human person that he was appearing to would prostrate on the floor. That person would think he was in the presence of God because the angel was so much more beautiful, more magnificent, and more luminous than anything that he had ever seen before. He did not think he could look at God face to face in His presence, and felt that he was unworthy of beholding such beauty. Every time, a person prostrated on the floor, the angel would ask him to get up, and say ‘I’m not God. Don’t worship me. Get up.’ And the angel would give a message.

Here, in the fullness of time, when the Son of God was meant to go into the world through a woman’s womb, an angel appears to Mary, and he genuflects. The angel honors her with the highest salutation possible. He doesn’t even call her by her earthly birth name. He calls her by who she is in God’s eyes – the only one who is full of grace, full of the goodness of grace. He looks at her with awe and essentially says, ‘Wow!’ – ‘Hail full of grace.’

Mary doesn’t powder her nose and say ‘Oh I know,’ but she immediately asks, ‘Who are you? What do you want?’ The angel says, ‘Actually, God wants something, and you won’t believe what He wants from you. He wants you to be the mother of the Messiah that you have been waiting for and praying about. He has chosen you to be the mother of the Messiah.’

She responds, ‘You must have the wrong girl. God knows I made a vow to Him to be a virgin to God for the rest of my life. How could I possibly be a mother?’ I’m paraphrasing the Greek and putting it in contemporary terms. The angel responds, ‘You won’t have to break that vow. You won’t conceive by the seed of man, but the power of the Holy Spirit will be your spouse. Through this Word that you have just heard, through His seed, if you let it into your heart, it will bring about a harvest through your conception of the Christ. All you have to do is say Yes.’

And she says, ‘Behold, here I am, I am yours’ (to be continued)

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Brother Juan Torres, OCD: The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

July 16, 2017 Teresa Linda, ocds 2 Comments

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Father Robert Barcelos, OCD: Fatima – from love to Love

July 3, 2017 Teresa Linda, ocds Leave a comment

AUDIO: To listen, click on the triangle on the left. Father Robert’s talk refers to Lacrae’s ‘Blessings.’ (You Tube video above).

(Fatima Pilgrimage organized by sweet and spirit-filled Caroline of Syversen Touring.)

Gospel – Jn 6:51-58
Jesus said to the Jewish crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

Monument to the Fatima Seers. Photo credit: thespeakroom.org 2017

Reading 1 – Dt 8:2-3, 14b-16a
Moses said to the people:
“Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God, has directed all your journeying in the desert, so as to test you by affliction
and find out whether or not it was your intention to keep his commandments. He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger,
and then fed you with manna, a food unknown to you and your fathers,
in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live,
but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.

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Father Robert Barcelos, OCD: Fatima, Divine Mercy, and the Beatitudes

June 26, 2017 Teresa Linda, ocds 1 Comment

Basilica grounds, Cova de Iria, Fatima 2017. Photo credit: thespeakroom.org

AUDIO: To listen, click on the triangle on the left. (Set the volume to as loud as you can – the mike didn’t quite work on this talk).

FIRST READING – 2 Cor 1:1-7
Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the Church of God that is at Corinth, with all the holy ones throughout Achaia: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of compassion and the God of all encouragement,
who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God. For as Christ’s sufferings overflow to us, so through Christ does our encouragement also overflow.
If we are afflicted, it is for your encouragement and salvation;
if we are encouraged,it is for your encouragement, which enables you to endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is firm, for we know that as you share in the sufferings, you also share in the encouragement.

GOSPEL – Mt 5:1-12
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
He began to teach them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.
Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

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Father Robert Barcelos, OCD: The three shepherd children of Fatima

June 22, 2017 Teresa Linda, ocds 1 Comment

The Angel of Portugal prepares the Fatima seers for Our Lady’s visits – 1916 Apparition.

AUDIO: To listen, click on the triangle on the left.

(Fatima Pilgrimage organized by sweet and spirit-filled Caroline of Syversen Touring.)

Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco’s Parish church and baptismal font

Photo credit:thespeakroom.org. Fatima, Portugal 2017

This cross miraculously appeared 100 years before Blessed Alexandrina’s birth. She is considered the fourth Fatima seer. When it appeared, it foretold of a martyr who would one day offer all her sufferings for the conversion of unbelievers.

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Father Robert Barcelos, OCD: Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa

June 19, 2017 Teresa Linda, ocds 2 Comments

Photo Credit: thespeakroom.org. Balasar, Portugal 2017

AUDIO: To listen, click on the triangle on the left.

(Fatima Pilgrimage organized by sweet and spirit-filled Caroline of Syversen Touring.)

Photo credit: thespeakroom.org. Blessed Alexandrina, Balasar Portugal 2017

Click on the links below for more information on Blessed Alexandrina:

Mystics of the Church: Blessed Alexandrin da Costa – Mystic and Victim Soul

A Tribute to Blessed Alexandrina – a miracle of the Eucharist.

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Father Robert Barcelos, OCD: Fatima Pilgrimage 2017, Braga

June 9, 2017 Teresa Linda, ocds 6 Comments

Editor’s note: From June 8-15, 2017 Father Robert Barcelos leads a pilgrimage to Portugal for the 100th Anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima’s appearance to three shepherd children. I will try to post audios of some of his homilies, along with transcribed talks from previous homilies that are relevant to Fatima and Marian devotion, so you can walk along with the pilgrims during this special anniversary. I pray that you experience healing and peace. – TL

Our Lady of Fatima, Braga Portugal. Photo credit: thespeakroom.org

AUDIO: To play and listen, press the triangle on the left.

SOURCE: Braga, Portugal 2017. Shrine of Bom Jesus

Shrine of Bom Jesus, Braga Portugal. Photo credit, thespeakroom.org

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Father Robert Barcelos, OCD: the work of the holy spirit

June 5, 2017 Teresa Linda, ocds 2 Comments

“This is what we’re after, the heart of Christ, and allowing our hearts to be completely united to his, that we may let him take our breath away. I can’t do that for you. No, no. But the Holy Spirit sure can, and he can use me because he always uses poor instruments to bring forth an orchestra of grace to fall fresh upon the assembly. Amidst unexpected places, the Lord can work a masterpiece, and it’s among the littlest of people that God can do the greatest things.”