Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador

"Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador who served his people to the point of martyrdom during a long and bloody civil war, once wrote, “We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing this. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.”

There is freedom in these words. There is liberation in not judging all our efforts as futile before we even get started. There is peace in surrendering to what’s demanded and doing what’s possible. There is something salutary in contemplating our own mortality, as long as we don’t let it keep us from being fully alive. What we do matters, even if only for a little while.

Anyone can imagine a long stretch of time, whether it’s a thousand years from now or the few hours until the next bedtime, and use that as an excuse for procrastination or self-destructive behavior. That’s not hard to do, and it doesn’t make you a deep thinker. What’s hard is facing up to our limited existence and conscientiously fulfilling our daily obligations to God, others, and ourselves, whether we feel like it or not. The former leads to misery and despair, the latter to what the Bible calls “beatitude”—the joy experienced by the saints and angels who behold God in heaven face-to-face. How we act informs how we feel. Living an ordered life leads to having an ordered soul. And it all starts with making your bed in the morning.

This summer, make your bed every morning."

- Bishop Robert Barron

Marianist Monday

“Remember, brother, that the goal of your prayer is that God may be all in all. You do not pray simply because of your personal needs and wants, nor because of your finding comfort and consolation, nor to win the admiration of others, nor to appear wise in their eyes, nor for any other reason than to give yourself wholly and completely to God.”

- Blessed William Joseph Chaminade

Paray-le-Monial

 

Paray-le-Monial, France is a small town in the Bourgogne region of eastern France. It is the place where the Sacred Heart of Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary of Alacoque. The apparitions and subsequent devotion to the Sacred Heart took place in the late 17th century. 

St. Margaret Mary's spiritual director was St. Claude de la Colombiere S.J. Both consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart and promoted the devotion with much suffering. 

In 1856, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the Feast of the Sacred Heart for the entire Church and exhorted the faithful to consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart (1875). 

St. Margaret Mary was canonized on May 13th, 1920.

Sr. Margaret Mary - Sacred Heart

 

Lord Jesus,

let my heart never rest until it finds You,

who are its center, 

its love, and its happiness.

By the wound in Your heart

pardon the sins that I have committed

whether out of malice or out of evil desires.

Place my weak heart in your own divine heart,

continually under your protection and guidance,

so that I may persevere in doing good and in fleeing evil until my last breath. Amen.

Heart of Jesus

O most holy Heart of Jesus, 

fountain of every blessing, 

I adore You, I love You, 

and with a lively sorrow for my sins, 

I offer You this poor heart of mine. 

Make me humble, patient, pure, and wholly obedient to Your will.

Graduation moments

 Both of our Marianist high schools celebrated their annual Commencement Exercises on Pentecost Sunday. Families and friends gathered to watch the events at the Hofstra Arena and Tilles Center.