I decided it’s time to take the Teresa Challenge.  You ask, “What is the Teresa Challenge?”  You can discover it as I did when reading the voluminous materials coming out on St. Joseph in this wonderful Year of St. Joseph.  St. Teresa of Avila in her frank and direct manner tells us what we can expect to receive from St. Joseph, and if we don’t believe her, then to put it to the test.  When I read the following excerpt from her autobiography, I was convinced that I needed St. Joseph in my life, and that I would take the Teresa Challenge.  What will you do?  St. Teresa writes:

“I took for my advocate and lord the glorious Saint Joseph and commended myself earnestly to him; and I found that this my father and lord delivered me both from this trouble and also from other and greater troubles concerning my honor and the loss of my soul, and that he gave me greater blessings than I could ask of him. I do not remember even now that I have ever asked anything of him which he has failed to grant. I am astonished at the great favors which God has bestowed on me through this blessed saint, and at the perils from which He has freed me, both in body and in soul. To other saints the Lord seems to have given grace to succor us in some of our necessities but of this glorious saint my experience is that he succors us in them all and that the Lord wishes to teach us that as He was Himself subject to him on earth (for, being His guardian and being called His father, he could command Him) just so in Heaven He still does all that he asks. This has also been the experience of other persons whom I have advised to commend themselves to him; and even to-day there are many who have great devotion to him through having newly experienced this truth.” “I wish I could persuade everyone to be devoted to this glorious saint, for I have great experience of the blessings which he can obtain from God. I have never known anyone to be truly devoted to him and render him particular services who did not notably advance in virtue, for he gives very real help to souls who commend themselves to him. For some years now, I think, I have made some request of him every year on his festival and I have always had it granted. If my petition is in any way ill directed, he directs it aright for my greater good.

 “I only beg, for the love of God, that anyone who does not believe me will put what I say to the test, and he will see by experience what great advantages come from his commending himself to this glorious patriarch and having devotion to him. Those who practice prayer should have a special affection for him always. I do not know how anyone can think of the Queen of the Angels, during the time that she suffered so much with the Child Jesus, without giving thanks to Saint Joseph for the way he helped them. If anyone cannot find a master to teach him how to pray, let him take this glorious saint as his master and he will not go astray.” (Autobiography Chapter 6).

Also, the Encyclical on St. Joseph by Pope Leo XIII is exquisite.  May your devotion, trust and reliance upon so great a provider bear much fruit in your life.

Please join us in praying to St. Joseph the Provider for IHM Vocations! There are many strong, holy and dedicated young women who are called to our community.  Please help them by your prayers to answer their call to follow the Lord as a Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

In the words of St. Thomas More, “The times are never so bad that a good man cannot live in them.”   In fact, bad times can even make the man better, when he rejects the evil and chooses the good.  St. Thomas More lived in a very challenging time, not too unlike our own.  Put to the test, he withstood the pressure to give in to the King leading to the loss of his head, but not his freedom.  He freely acted upon what he knew to be true and good and, in this way, chose martyrdom, rather than lose his soul.  His life is a perfect illustration of the Church’s teaching on Freedom.  In The Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1731, we read:  Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility.  By free will one shapes one’s own life.  The saints shaped their lives by choosing the good, living virtuously, and responding to God’s gift of grace in their lives.  The saints can show us how to navigate through the toughest of times.  

Another great saint who lived in the midst of persecution, Pope St. John Paul II learned the meaning of freedom and the importance of choosing wisely.  He wrote in his short memoir, “If I am free, I can make good or bad use of my freedom.  If I use it well, I in my turn become more “good” as a result, and the good I have accomplished has a positive influence on those around me.  If on the other hand I use it wrongly, evil will take root and begin to spread both in me and around me” (Memory and Identity).

 The practice of virtue enables us to know and judge what is good, and to do it.  Choosing the good is not always easy, convenient or comfortable but with practice and persistence it will assist in making us good and remove the obstacles that hinder grace from working in us.

The question we may ask ourselves is, “Which virtue do I need to practice and acquire so I may be more available and receptive to do God’s will in my life?”   There are many virtues to oppose the many vices which beset most of us.  In making a Reform of Life, which is an ancient practice in the spiritual life, we need to consider our primary fault, the sin I confess most often, and then focus on its opposing virtue.  For example, if my primary fault is laziness, then its’ opposing virtue that I need to practice is diligence.

Inside this issue you will find a Vice Chart (the seven capital sins) and a Virtue Chart to assist you in making a Reform of Life.  Begin by identifying your fault and locating the virtue or virtues that oppose this fault.  By working on one virtue you will find you are acquiring other virtues as well.  This practice of virtue is quite rewarding and in time will be a source of spiritual joy. There is no better time than now to be getting stronger in our moral and spiritual life, as life continues to be very challenging, and the need to be wise, charitable and courageous all the more necessary.  For our own sake, and the sake of Faith, Family and Country, let us put on the armor of virtue and stand ready to do God’s will.

Is Jesus teaching us a lesson?  Some of us may be tempted to ask that question in light of the recent crisis which has caused an upheaval in so much of our lives.  Can anything good come out of such chaos?   The answer is Yes!  The good that comes from chaos is order, and no one can deny that our lives need reordering.  God, “in the beginning” put order into the chaos of creation, a formless wasteland where the mighty winds swept over the waters.  This is what God does…. from the beginning.   God’s plan for the whole created cosmos is an ordering of every created being to its proper end or goal.  We are all made for God, ordered to God, and by living according to God’s plan we flourish and are happy precisely because we are living according to God’s masterful design.   Living in chaos or disorder takes its toll on us.  Perhaps we even got used to living disorderly lives, until now.  Is Jesus teaching us a lesson on human nature and his plan for man’s happiness by showing us the essential components of man’s life ordered to God?  In other words, is Jesus reminding us that our purpose in life is to know, love and serve God, to live according to our nature, to live our vocation with purpose and trust in God, to deny ourselves, take up our Cross and follow Him, to do everything for God’s greater honor and glory, and to know the joy and peace that comes from living our life according to God’s plan for man?  The last few months have been difficult, even harrowing but who better to teach us the lesson of essential and nonessential, than Our Lord who knows man better than we know ourselves. 

Throughout the Christmas Season images abound of Mother and Child, that fill our minds and hearts with wonder and joy, comfort and gratitude. The Church has taught for centuries the role of our Blessed Mother as Model of Christian discipleship and Model of the Church. For many of us, however, we see Her more simply as Mother and Teacher of Jesus and all of humanity. Multiple artists depict Mary teaching the Child Jesus taking His first steps, memorizing the Psalms, teaching Him His first words, even as He grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52). Repeatedly, we see the Child Jesus in Mary’s lap, often crowned, sitting as though on a throne giving meaning to the Marian title, Seat of Wisdom. As Mother and Teacher, Mary cooperates in the birth and development of divine life in the souls of the redeemed. Like the Church she mirrors, she is “the Mother and Teacher of all nations. Her light illumines, enkindles and enflames. No age but hears her warning voice, vibrant with heavenly wisdom” (Mater et Magistra, Pope John XXIII).

Our Blessed Mother holds out for us the Christ Child, to love, cherish and adore, teaching us to “Do whatever He tells us.” Called the living “mold of God” by St. Augustine, in her alone was God made true man, without losing any of his divinity. In God’s plan, it is also true that in her alone, man is formed into God, insofar as that is possible for human nature by the grace of Jesus Christ (Secret of Mary, St. Louis De Montfort). She is the perfect mold if we only cast ourselves in Mary and be molded into Christ by the Holy Spirit. By entrusting ourselves to Mary, she always leads us to Jesus. “Would you like to hold Him?”, she asks the Wise Men who came to see Him. Only the Mother’s loving assurance could give one the courage to hold the Only-Begotten Son of God. The Wise Men and shepherds know, as do we, that all who go to Mary hear the words: “Would you like to hold Him, too? He came just for you.”
May your Christmas blessing be found in the joy of receiving the Baby Jesus from the hands of Our Blessed Mother, full of confidence that in drawing closer to Mary, we are drawn ever closer to her Son. Would you like to hold him, too?

Merry Christmas!

“Listen my people, and I will speak” (Psalm 50).

Isn’t it amazing that God made each of us capable of hearing him, in our thoughts and in our hearts, and in our prayer? Saints write about it, scholars seek to explain it, and we experience it. Our foundress, Mother Joanne, would often hold up the Bible and tell us, “God has a passion to speak to us, the pages and pages of Scripture testify to this.” Praying with Scripture or before the Blessed Sacrament, we find ourselves immersed in a reality that is more real, more filled, more in touch with our souls. God speaks to us in our understanding, in our desires to practice virtue, in our need to love Him more and more, and does not disappoint. “Come now, let us set things right….”. He calls us to prayer and speaks to our heart.
It is our experience that Our Lord speaks to our heart: “Cor ad Cor loquitor”. It is sometimes likened to a whispering sound, an insight, a conviction. But prayer also includes being heard by God. St. Edith Stein, in her autobiography writes of her experience which I believe resonates with our own. She explains:
I spoke with the Savior to tell him that I realized it was his Cross that was now being laid upon the Jewish people, that the few who understood this had the responsibility of carrying it in the name of all, and that I myself was willing to do this, if He would only show me how. I left the service with the inner conviction that I had been heard, but uncertain as ever as to what “carrying the Cross” would mean for me.
Often, we look to prayer to effect changes in the external circumstances of our lives. Yet, we have ample evidence that the power of prayer effects real changes in our souls. Our lives are vivified in prayer, not by taking away our crosses but simply supplying the grace to help us carry our cross.
We all have much for which to pray. Our families need our prayers, the conversion of sinners depend upon our prayers, the rebuilding of the Christian Catholic Culture demands a strength, determination and perseverance that comes from prayer.

"Glory to God in the highest; and on earth PEACE to men of good will."  Luke 2:14

With the hustle and bustle of Christmas preparations it may seem a little insensitive to be speaking of peace at one of the most hectic times of the year.  And yet, Peace is Christ’s gift to us, now during the Christmas Season, and always.  Scripture tells us that Christ is our peace, the origin of peace in all our relationships beginning with our Heavenly Father.  Peace, the fruit of prayer, overflows into our relationships with others, instilling in us Christ’s peace which in turn we can extend to others.

It must have been glorious to witness the heavenly host of angels singing “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will.”  But did the shepherds pause to consider the meaning of the angelic salutation, “peace to men of good will”?  Being of good will as a prerequisite for attaining peace should give us pause, if not provocation to ponder the meaning of “good will”.

Fr. Jacques Philippe writes, “A necessary condition for interior peace is goodwill.  It is the stable and constant disposition of a person who is determined more than anything to love God, who desires sincerely to prefer in all circumstances the will of God to his own, who does not wish to consciously refuse anything to God.”

Perhaps we need to look at our willingness to surrender everything to God, to allow God to do anything He wants with us: to hold nothing back and to trust Him with our life.  We could take the Blessed Virgin Mary, the humble handmaid of the Lord as our model.  Not knowing what the future entailed, she gave herself completely into the hands of God: “Let it be done to me”!  May our Christmas gift to the Infant Christ be one of self-gift:  I give you my life, it is entirely Yours!

May we all beg for the courage and the grace to make this great offering of love to the Father, holding nothing back in our gift of self as we abandon our lives to God.

Merry Christmas!               

On the ninth of June in two thousand and eighteen in the year of Our Lord, the Motherhouse Property of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Wichita was consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Because it is our ardent desire to usher in the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary we deeply hope that you will personally unite with us, joining us with your own individual and family consecration, and, in doing so, encouraging those you love to be united with Jesus and Mary.

Our family consecration proclaims that we belong to Christ and live under the protection of His Blessed Mother. Christ reigns in our family as we turn everything over to Him. By enthroning images of Jesus and Mary in our homes we are reminded that God dwells in our homes and is at the center of our lives. Our consecration enables us to welcome Christ into the midst of our families that He may live and share our lives in a special way from this day on.

As co-workers with Christ in His Redemptive work, we join Our Blessed Mother in collaborating with the Father in His plan of redemption. God chose Mary at the Annunciation, to be His Mother, and on Calvary, Jesus from the Cross, revealed that Mary is mother to all of us, her spiritual children. As our spiritual mother, Mary gives birth to Christ in us, she, in union with the Holy Spirit who makes us holy, forms us into saints. Through our consecration we give her the freedom to work in us and complete the work she has been given, namely to make us saints.

The Enthronement of the Sacred Heart and the Consecration to the Immaculate Heart very much fulfill Our Lord’s words spoken to Venerable Lucia when she asked him why the consecration of Russia was necessary. He replied: Because I want my whole Church to acknowledge this consecration as a triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in order to later extend its devotion and to place the devotion to the Immaculate Heart aside devotion to My Sacred Heart.

The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Wichita hope and pray that you begin, renew and grow in holiness through your devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

“Repent and believe in the Gospel!”

We know it well, we hear it often, proclaimed year after year in Advent, Lent and Ordinary Time. Jesus, on the Cross prayed for it, Our Sorrowful Mother never forgot it, often reminding us of it, and the Saints lived and died preaching it! Praying and sacrificing for sinners is the heart of the gospel message. “Da Mihi Anima!” (Give me souls) is in the heart of every good priest, like Saint John Bosco, and must be in our hearts as we heed Our Lady’s unending request: Pray for the conversion of sinners!

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen tells a story of praying and sacrificing for sinners which inspired me to increase my devotion for poor sinners. In his autobiography he recounts the story...

When I was hearing confessions in a church on the eve of the first Friday each month, a young woman entered and began: “I am not here to go to Confession; I am here to kill time.” I asked: “How much time would you like to kill?” She said: “About five minutes.” Again, I inquired about whom she was trying to fool besides God. “My mother, she said; “she thinks I am going to Confession. She is waiting outside for me.” I asked her if she were afraid to go to Confession and she said that she was. I said: “Well, if I could see you, I could probably make your confession for you. Will you let me take down this veil between us and turn on the light?” She agreed. I said to her: “You are a streetwalker.” “Yes,” she answered. “Well, that is your confession, is it not?” “No”, she said, “there is something else.” I begged and pleaded with her for twenty minutes or more to tell me- but to no avail. I then asked her to kneel at the Communion rail for a few minutes before leaving the church. She said that she would think it over.

On leaving the church, I met her on the steps. I pleaded with her again for a half hour to tell me why she would not go to the Sacraments. “I will tell you,” she said, “and then I will leave. Because I was arrested for streetwalking, I was put into the home of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. I promised the devil that I would make nine sacrilegious Communions if he would get me out of the home. On the ninth day I escaped.” With that she ran away.

When I went back that evening for confessions, I asked every penitent to recite the Rosary for the conversion of a sinner. All agreed except one. I finished hearing confessions about nine o’clock, went to the Communion rail and knelt there from nine until twelve-thirty praying for her. At twelve-thirty the front door opened. I was almost afraid to look, thinking it might be a policeman worried about lights in the church after midnight. It was the girl, who walked immediately into the confessional, to make her peace with God.

There is no mistaking it, prayer and sacrifice bring about conversion. Venerable Fulton Sheen, pray for us, that we may be blessed with an increased fervor in praying for the conversion of sinners, and zeal for souls!

Let us pray for one another!

Praying for sinners begins with Mary at the Foot of the Cross.

With every Hail Mary we pray, we implore Our Lady to pray for us who are sinners in need of conversion.  Our Lady not only hears and answers our prayers, but she asks that we join her in this work of redemption at the Foot of the Cross.  Our Blessed Mother’s prayers of intercession for her children are indisputably powerful and efficacious, however, we too, have a mission to pray and sacrifice for the conversion of sinners.  Mary never tires of pleading with her children to pray the Rosary for the conversion of sinners that we might begin to grasp the price of our salvation, namely the life, death and resurrection of Her Son.   It was the conviction of our Founder, Father Joaquin Masmitja, that Mary’s greatest suffering was the knowledge of souls who would refuse the graces wrought through Jesus’ Sacrifice on the Cross.  He wrote:  “This Institute of the Immaculate Heart meditates on the cruel sword of sorrow that pierces this Heart at the sight of sinners renewing the passion and death of her Son and despising the merits of the blood shed for them with so much love.  It seeks especially, through prayers and other pious practices to obtain from the Divine Mercy an interior grace for sinners, so that abandoning the state of sin, they will turn to God, the center of all happiness.”  This month we celebrate the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross, the great work of Christ’s redemption of mankind.  On the following day, we celebrate Our Lady of Sorrows who reminds us that we too, have a role in Christ’s redemptive act by praying for souls, first my own and then for everyone else’s.

Praying for the conversion of sinners begins with my own ongoing conversion. Countless saints and scholars, including St. Teresa of Avila, St. Ignatius of Loyola, Adolph Tanquery, Garrigou-Lagrange, to mention only a few, have written in great detail on the stages of the spiritual life.  I think in our present situation we could begin with the basic question posed by our beloved St. John Paul the Great:  Am I living as a practical atheist, one who says he believes in God, but lives as if God did not exist?  This is basic, but how often do I remember to pray, to seek God’s help, His will, His counsel, His grace, or to thank Him for His steadfast love and mercy?  Conversion is the work of everyday life, every day.  In the spiritual life, if I’m not progressing, I’m regressing.  An excellent spiritual tool to keep us attentive to the Lord throughout the day and honest with ourselves with regards to our progress, is the Ignatian Rules for Discernment of Spirits and the Examen Prayer.  Father Timothy Gallagher, OMV has masterfully written on these subjects, and has made these time-tested tools easy to practice in our busy everyday lives.  With all my heart, I encourage you to look into purchasing these books for your spiritual growth.

As a teaser, or perhaps a vehicle to spur you on, the following is an outline of the Examen prayer which you will find in Fr. Gallagher‘s book on the Examen.  However, this does not take the place of reading Discernment of Spirits, which I believe can change your life.

An Outline of the Examen Prayer:  This is a prayer, not merely an exercise or examination of conscience.

Transition:  As I begin this Examen, I place myself in God’s presence as I become aware of the love with which God looks upon me.

Step One:  Gratitude. I note the gifts that God’s love has given me this day and I give thanks to God for them.  I call to mind the large and small blessings received.  I let the Lord tell me the concrete story of his love in the hours of this day.

Step Two:  Petition.  I ask God for an insight and a strength that will make this examen a work of grace, fruitful beyond my human capacity alone.

Step Three:  Review.  I look concretely at my activity, my work, my prayer, my service, as the day unfolded, hour by hour.  Again, what was stirring in my heart?  Spiritual consolation?  Spiritual desolation?  What can I recall of my thoughts?  What was God showing me in these events?  What decisions did I make, in response to this person whom God placed in my life this day, in handling this task, in my life of prayer this day?

Step Four: Forgiveness.  I ask for the healing touch of the forgiving God who, with love and respect for me, removes my heart’s burdens.

Step Five: Renewal.  In the light of all that I have seen looking over my day, I now look to tomorrow, and seek God’ s light on how he is calling me to grow spiritually in the specific circumstances of the day that awaits me.

Transition:  I prayerfully conclude the examen with an Our Father or another prayer.

As we live out each day with more attentiveness to God, the Examen Prayer will be the tool which will help us recognize God’s action in us.  May you be as surprised as I was when you become aware of God’s presence within you and His loving attentiveness throughout your day.   Praying for the conversion of sinners begins by looking intensely at our own spiritual life and asking Our Blessed to pray for us.  With every rosary we pray, let us remember Our Lady’s request and know that our own conversion, and the conversion of all sinners, is included in every “Hail Mary”.

For years, since my first pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal in 1981, I have had many occasions to tell the story of Our Lady of Fatima and her apparitions to the three shepherd children in 1917.  Upon my return from Fatima, my friends and family were naturally curious to hear the story and learn its message.  At first, what fascinates and attracts many to the Fatima story is the supernatural phenomena of visions, particularly the vision of hell, the three secrets and the miracle of the sun.  Also inspiring is the courage, conviction and heroic virtue of the three shepherd children only 7, 9, and 10 years old, who were entrusted by Our Lady with a mission to spread the message of peace and salvation of God throughout the world.  Five Popes have made pilgrimage to Fatima to pray to Our Lady for peace and the conversion of the world.  This past month, on May 13, Pope Francis traveled to Fatima bringing worldwide attention to the Message of Fatima, and canonized Jacinta and Francisco, who heroically fulfilled Our Lady’s requests to pray and make sacrifices for the conversion of sinners.  Shortly before he passed away, Saint Pope John Paul the Great said, “Fatima is more relevant today than it was in 1917”.   

Throughout the 20^th century we saw fulfilled Our Lady’s warnings of war, persecution of the Church and the Holy Father. Today, especially we see the errors of Russia, specifically atheism and the rejection of God throughout the world.    She asked the children: “Are you willing to sacrifice yourselves and bear all the sufferings He wills to send you, as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and for the conversion of sinners?”   Some marvel, that 100 years have passed and we have yet to fulfill all the requests of Our Lady of Fatima.  For many of us, perhaps the message got lost in the marvelous details of the story.  I learned the story, the prayers taught to the children, the details of each month’s apparition, and the sufferings of the children who remained faithful even when threatened to be boiled in oil.  But there is more to the story, in fact we are all part of the story, and it is up to us to determine how it will end.  Our Lady exhorts all her children to work for the salvation of souls.  By offering up every day the sacrifices demanded by our daily duty, praying the daily rosary for the conversion of sinners, and making the Five First Saturdays we will have world peace.   Mary promised at Fatima, “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”  By cooperating with her requests, including the Five First Saturdays, we will hasten her triumph.

The message of Fatima today is one of great hope.  The sons and daughters of Mary are on the march.  In fact, a virtual army of Marian saints, well over 1000 people,  came to our Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima here at our motherhouse property on May 7, to pray before the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue.  A week later, for the semi-annual procession on the 13^th of May, well over 500 people came to gain their plenary indulgence and place their prayer intentions at the feet of Our Lady.  In this Centennial year of Our Lady of Fatima, there is great cause for hope as we heed the message of Fatima and live a life of personal conversion, Marian consecration, sacrifice and prayer for the conversion of sinners and world peace.  May Mary’s Heart Immaculate be forever praised!

Each day for 88 years, Sister Lucia lived the Fatima Message.  This year as the Church commemorates the 100^th Anniversary of the apparitions at Fatima, we, too are called to seriously consider heeding Our Lady’s requests, the consequences if we don’t, and engaging in the very means by which to heed her warnings, and the decision to pray and sacrifice for the salvation of souls.