Author: hermitageofpeace

The Hermit of Peace following the Rule of St. Benedict.

We find peace when we follow Peace!

Take up your cross and follow Me!

Whoever wishes to come after Me must deny himself, take up his cross , and follow Me.
Matthew 16:24

It seems amazing that to follow Jesus, we must lose ourselves to find ourselves. We must deny who we think we are and in Jesus become the people that we were meant to be.

St. Peter’s error in words he made to Jesus helps us to understand a possible error that we can all easily make. Peter said:”God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to You.” (Matthew 16:22) Peter is not taking up his cross in life. Simply put, Peter’s cross is to follow Jesus to the Cross! This is not what the Peter of the World wanted. But without denying his Earthly self, his Earthliness, he would never experience the Divine Peace that can only be found in following the Lord. Without this surrender, Peter would lose Jesus and His Resurrection.

Thank God that Peter became his real self!

To find our real selves, we must look beyond the world and follow the Creator of the World. We do this by following Jesus!

Let us pray and help each other deny our false selves and be real in Jesus!

We are with you in the struggle and in prayer!

Pax.

Be persistent in prayer!

Happy Second Day of the Octave of Prayer. The 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Please note that you can join us in prayer in whatever religious tradition that you are part of. Prayer is powerful and the Almighty hears and answers our prayers according to the Almighty’s Will.

Today we look at St. Matthew 15: 21-28. This selection provides a powerful teaching for us to apply to our lives. The Canaanite Woman would not take a no from Jesus. In her beseeching Our Lord, she teaches us that we must be determined in faith. Because in her faith that Jesus was her only hope, even though she was an outsider, her daughter was healed.

As we continue our Octave of Prayer, let us pray with the determination of the Canaanite Woman, knowing that Jesus wants to heal us and those whom we love.

Be persistent in faith! Be persistent in prayer!

We are with you in prayer!

Pax.

The Lord of the Storm

Jesus, the Lord of the Storm!

Matthew 14: 22-33

Our Lord, after teaching and healing and feeding the multitude, needed to commune with the Father. He sent His Disciples ahead of Him to the other side by boat. The Disciples were in a storm at sea and Jesus walked on the sea to join them. This was extraordinary and Jesus’ Disciples were in fear. Jesus explained that it was He. Peter, one of the Disciples, call out to Him, and asked to join Him on the sea. And Peter lost faith and started to sink.

Peter is so human! He tries to be good but he fails. He is such a normal human being and gives us normal people a powerful example of what to do when life overwhelms us. Peter give us a small prayer with great power: Lord, save me! Peter was grasped by Jesus and brought to safety.

This time we are in, the Pandemic of 2020, can get overwhelming at times. We, like Peter, may start to sink, but we have a Savior that is mighty to save! Jesus walks above all the tempests in life and will lift us to safety! Our power is found in prayer: Lord, save me! And He will!

We, the Community of Our Lady of Mount Caritas, are with you in prayer!

Pax.

Give what you have and change the World!

Give the people some food yourselves!

Matthew 14:13-21

Jesus wants to feed all of us! In our Gospel reading we see Jesus feeding the 5,000. He is concerned if people go home, they would be too weak and may collapse during their journey from lack of nutrition. His love is practical and He expects those who are His disciples to be practical too.

In this scene we see that the Disciples were at a loss about feeding the multitude. They realized that their resources were insufficient for the task. They were depending on their own abilities and they knew they would fail. However, Jesus asked them to give what they have and to trust in Him. We know the result of this trust.

We are Jesus’ disciples today! He asks us to give Him what we have and He will do the rest. Total Trust in Jesus.

Our Ministry at Our Lady of Mount Caritas is based on Total Trust in Jesus. We know that if it is His Holy Will, He will provide for our needs to do the Ministry of feeding the poor and praying for all of your intentions.

You are with us in prayer!

Pax.

Where is your treasure?

The Pearl of Great Price

Jesus give us, through the literary form of the parable, a teaching that, if used, will transform our lives. One parable, that of the Pearl of Great Price, is a wonderful example of this teaching.

In the world we have many distractions that can take our focus away from that which truly matters. It can distract us from love. Especially in this extraordinary year of 2020, we may get caught up in things that can take us away from the Lord Jesus. In losing focus, we will lose the peace that the Lord has for us. The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price reminds us to concentrate on The Lord Jesus and His Word and put His Word into practice in everything we do and everyone we deal with. In doing so, though life gets rough, with the Spirit of the Father and Jesus, we can handle all things. We may even prosper!

Jesus is the Pearl that, if we hold on to it, we will find and remain in peace, even though our world may be in chaos.

Hold on to Jesus!

We are with you in prayer!

Pax.

Weed or Wheat

We can be wheat or weeds, it i our choice!

God understands our world better than we can. God’s understanding is perfect! The Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat helps us to understand the presence of evil in our world and why God allows it. The Mercy of the Almighty is perfect and in this Mercy everyone has an opportunity to become the Wheat of God. God is patient and kind and became on of us to reveal the road to be wheat.

It is possible for us to be weed (evil) at one point of our lives, and wheat (good) another point. It is also normal to vacílate between the good and evil at the same time.

Evil has destroyed so much in our world, but God loves the one who does evil; God love is all consuming. If we choose to change our ways from evil and surrender to God, then God can make us good. It is our choice and the Divine Desire!

When our time on this side of eternity has come to an end, may God finds us to be God’s Wheat.

You are in remembered at the Altar and in our prayers!

Pax.