O my Jesus and my Love, take all that I have and all that I am and possess me to the full extent of Thy good pleasure, since all I have is Thine without reserve. Transform me entirely into Thyself, so that I may no longer be able to separate myself from Thee for a single moment, and that I may no longer act but by the impulse of Thy pure love.
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
Life and Writings, II
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Personal Consecration to the Heart of Jesus
Lord Jesus, You who came to light a fire on the earth, I abandon myself today to the will of the Father in the breath of the Holy Spirit. Purify my heart, set it aflame with love and charity. Increase in me the desire to the holy. By the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I, …, consecrate myself to Your Heart to love and to serve You. Amen.
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Please take time to view a beautiful video about Paray-le-Monial, France, the City of the Sacred Heart: http://vimeo.com/1045868
It is indeed a holy place where you can feel the “spirit” of Marguerite-Marie (Margaret Mary), the depth of her devotion to the Sacred Heart, and the infinite love and mercy of Jesus.
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Good News about Women and the Church
Faithful Catholic women who joyfully work each day in service to the Church and the world rarely make headlines. Headlines seem to be reserved for women who publicly dissent from Church teaching or express antagonism toward members of the hierarchy.
A month ago our local newspaper published an opinion-editorial article regarding the Catholic Church. I was taken aback by the sweeping generalizations, misrepresentations, and fallacies which were printed particularly relating to women and bishops of the Catholic Church. My experience as a woman who has met and worked with two (2) Popes, numerous Cardinals, Archbishops, and Bishops at the Vatican and in countries around the world, is vastly different than what was represented by this publication.
This is the article which I submitted in response but which has not been published.
From June 2006 through October 2010 I served as President General of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations (WUCWO), a public international association of the faithful with a membership of almost 100 organizations, active in more than 60 countries, which represents more than five (5) million Catholic women of every walk of life. I have served the Church in voluntary roles at the parish, diocesan, national and international levels for more than 25 years, including as a Member of the Holy See Delegation to the United Nations 55th Commission on the Status of Women. For more than 21 years I served as Pastoral Associate of Saint Margaret Mary Parish in Harrisburg, PA.
Countless Catholic women around the world strive each day to lead a morally good life and to give the very best in whatever they undertake. They prayerfully discern God’s will and listen to a well-formed conscience as they endeavour to do what is right and true, despite the negative influences or sinful temptations which abound in the world. God calls us to offer the gift of self and to be present for others in ways which contradict the prevailing individualistic mentality that seeks self-gratification at the expense of others.
Faith, hope and charity animate the lives of Catholic women who usually go unnoticed by the news media. Many wise, understanding women serve in leadership roles on staff at the Vatican, particularly at the Secretariat of State and the various congregations and dicasteries. Knowledgeable women lead and serve on Pontifical Academies and Councils, while others are regularly contacted for their counsel by the Pope, Cardinals, and Bishops. Available newsprint would limit any list of the innumerable roles capably and charitably filled by faithful women at national Bishops’ Conferences, in Diocesan offices, seminaries, or parishes. We are women who love our Holy Father and feel his affection for us, who respect our bishops and experience their mutual respect for us, and who are “spiritual mothers” for priests and know their appreciation for our life-giving, prayerful support.
Women who live in accordance with God’s will, who uphold the teachings of the Church, find true freedom and peace. They aren’t trying to make headlines for themselves; however, their actions do proclaim good news.
For just a glimpse of the reality of women in the Church this excerpt is offered from Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter, On the Dignity and the Vocation of Women:
Therefore the Church gives thanks for each and every woman: for mothers, for sisters, for wives; for women consecrated to God in virginity; for women dedicated to the many human beings who await the gratuitous love of another person; for women who watch over the human persons in the family, which is the fundamental sign of the human community; for women who work professionally, and who at times are burdened by a great social responsibility; for all women as they have come forth from the heart of God in all the beauty and richness of their femininity; as they have been embraced by his eternal love; as, together with men, they are pilgrims on this earth, which is the temporal "homeland" of all people and is transformed sometimes into a "valley of tears"; as they assume, together with men, a common responsibility for the destiny of humanity according to daily necessities and according to that definitive destiny which the human family has in God ….
The Church gives thanks for all the manifestations of the feminine "genius" which have appeared in the course of history, in the midst of all peoples and nations; …she gives thanks for all the fruits of feminine holiness.
The above affirmation of Pope John Paul II continues today by Pope Benedict XVI. From both of these Holy Fathers I have personally heard their gratitude for the generous witness and good work of faithful Catholic women throughout the world.
There is a lot of good news about women and the Church and now is the time to start reporting these stories!
Will your local newspaper publish the good news?
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