Newsletter #97 – Our Lady of Mount Carmel USA

Dear Friends and Benefactors,
ZEAL OF GOD MIRRORED IN THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
Everything in nature, grace and glory, all the effects of power, wisdom, goodness, mercy and justice of God, all the mysteries, actions and sufferings of the Son of God, all the sacrifices, sacraments and functions of the Catholic Church, in a word, all things in heaven, on earth and even in hell, are like so many voices proclaiming God’s ardent zeal for His own glory and for the salvation of souls.

In the first place, God does everything for Himself and for the glory of His divine Majesty: “The Lord hath made all things for himself.” (Prov. 16,4.) Being the first principle and the last end of all things, it were impossible for Him to act otherwise. This zeal for His own glory fills Him with an infinite hatred of everything that is contrary to it, that is, every kind of sin, especially vanity, presumption and pride.

In the second place, the zeal of the Son of God for His Father’s honor induced Him to assume human nature, to be born in a stable, to live thirty-four years on earth amidst tribulations and sufferings, and to die on the Cross, that He might atone for the insults offered by sinners to God the Father and to glorify Him in a manner worthy of His infinite Majesty.

In the third place, this divine zeal likewise inflames the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of God in a wonderful manner. The Immaculate Heart of Mary was ever on fire with such zeal for the glory of God and the Salvation of souls that she never allowed anything contrary to the honor of the divine majesty to come near her. Not only were her actions performed with sovereign perfection for God’s glory alone, not only did she employ all the powers of her soul and body to serve and honor Him, but she was ever ready to sacrifice to this end her life and her very being, and to suffer all conceivable torments.

What is more, she sacrificed her well-beloved Son. Why did she offer Him up to God? For His glory and the salvation of souls. She immolated Christ Her Son to destroy everything contrary to the honor of the divine Majesty and the eternal salvation of men, to render to God a glory worthy of His infinite grandeur, to repair the offence given to God by the sins of the children of Adam, to deliver all souls from the tyranny of hell and to enable them to glorify God eternally in heaven.

Divine zeal is only the ardor of divine love, or divine love in its greatest ardor, therefore it follows that the measure of this holy love is likewise the measure of the zeal, and that a heart is filled with zeal in proportion to its love of God. Now it is certain that the Heart of Mary, the Mother of God, was always filled with greater love of God and men than the hearts of all the prophets, patriarchs, apostles, martyrs and other saints whence it follows that her Heart was inflamed with a zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of souls far greater than the hearts of all the saints put together.

Hence, Our Lady can well say with the Prophet David and several other saints: “The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up,” (Ps. 68, 1o.) that is, zeal for the salvation of souls, the zeal of the Immaculate Heart created by God for His eternal indwelling. So it is that the Mother of Fair Love accomplished more for the salvation of souls and the glory of God by sacrificing her Beloved Son to His Heavenly Father when she stood at the foot of the cross, than was done or could have been done by all the saints together, even if each had suffered all the torments of hell for that end.

We can now judge of our obligation to honor the Immaculate Heart of our Mother most admirable so filled with affection and zeal for our interests. But do not say that we have a true devotion to this heavenly Virgin, if our hearts do not share the holy inclination of her Immaculate Heart, if we do not love what she loves and hate what she hates. Our Lady’s love is the greatest of all things that contribute to the honor of God and the salvation of souls, and her hatred deepest for everything opposed to God.

Let us enter into these sentiments, and employ our mind, heart, thoughts, affections, words and actions to glorify the divine Majesty in every way, and to procure the salvation of souls, above all, our own. Consider that salvation as the great and only business of God, of the Godman, of the Mother of God, of all the angels, of all the saints and of the entire Catholic Church.

Fr. Pancras Raja
Spiritual Director
March 15, 2023

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Consecration of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to Immaculate Heart of Mary
http://ourladyofmountcarmelusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Consecration-to-Immaculate-Heart-by-Our-Lady-of-Mt.-Carmel-SSPX-Marian-Corps.pdf

Featured Sermon
Given By His Excellency Bishop Pfeiffer

Posted in Newsletters and tagged 2023, Father Pancras Raja, March Newsletter