<*}}}>< Fr. Corapi: Regarding Advent

[Sue Cifelli]

What's In This Newsletter

• ---Advent Is Coming: Preparation for "the Preparation"
• ---Special Pricing on Advent Materials
• --Now through Monday, November 16th Receive Father Corapi's latest book, "Letters" FREE with orders over $50!
• ---Listen to Father's Personal Testimony Online FREE!
• --The Month of November: Thoughts on "The Last Things"
• ---Father’s Buffalo, NY conference, Holy Spirit: Lord and Giver of Life, now on DVD & CD

Advent Is Coming: Preparation for "the Preparation:"

The liturgical season of Advent is four weeks dedicated to prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas. We should think about this now while we have time. We are publishing this message more than two weeks before the beginning of Advent this year to give you a head-start to enable you to prepare for the preparation. Advent is also the beginning of the Church's year. Just as we make resolutions at the beginning of the secular new year, how much more we should try to make some serious resolutions for a better life at the beginning of the Church's new year.

Preparation is of great importance in almost anything you do in life. Much of the chaos and incompetence we see in various spheres of influence today is due to lack of preparation. Everyone that takes any pride in their work, their sport, their profession, etc. has to be prepared. To go into battle unprepared is to invite disaster. To go into a football game, or any other sports contest, unprepared is to invite defeat.

One of the not so edifying facts that I've seen in my lifetime, the last 30 years of it anyhow, is that large numbers of people have lost the will for excellence, and that's why we have so little of it: in education, in politics, in service, in products, etc. The great American institution of the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts contributed very materially to the greatness of our nation by "preparing" our young people for life. "BE PREPARED!" was surely the Boy Scouts' motto that we learned and were schooled in.

Lower things can prepare us for higher things. The natural order is a good teacher of things more moral and spiritual. We can learn much from nature. This Advent we should make an effort to truly prepare for the coming of the Lord Jesus at Christmas. Prepare for the preparation, now. How will you spend Advent? How will you prepare for this Christmas? Now is the time to plan it out.

Certainly attend Mass on all of the Sundays of Advent, four of them, as we should attend holy Mass on all Sundays and holy days of obligation. Perhaps this year you can have an Advent wreath at home. Light the candles on the Sundays of Lent at the dinner table. Explain the meaning of the Advent wreath to your family. Do some easy research on the internet, or other reliable source to learn more about your faith.

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us in paragraph 524:

When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the Precursor's birth and martyrdom [St. John the Baptist], the Church unites herself to his desire: "He must increase, but I must decrease" (Jn 3:30).

Do something special this year during the season of Advent that will help you and your family to appreciate the great event of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem at Christmas. The name Bethlehem means House of Bread. Try to recall and consider that in a town named House of Bread Mary laid Jesus, the Bread of Life, in a manger—a place where higher beings set food for lower beings. There is a deep Eucharistic meaning in the depths of Christmas. Use this Advent, this time of preparation, to discover the connection between Jesus' coming at Christmas, and his coming to you and to me in the holy Eucharist.

Make a plan now for Advent. Prepare for the preparation now. Resolve to perhaps go to Mass an extra day during the week. Read the Bible and Catechism a half hour each day during Advent, pray the Rosary every day of Advent. Do something special this year to make your Advent truly a preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus at Christmas.
God bless you,

Fr. John Corapi

Advent Retreat with Fr. John Corapi

 

Five of the six sermons in this series were archived for several years, and never produced after they were first preached during Advent of 1996. The first presentation, which we have previously released, is regarding the season of Advent itself and what it really means: Preparation for the Lord's coming at Christmas.

The real question is how do we prepare for the Lord's coming. The preparation is spiritual and moral. It takes place one person at a time, and what is prepared is a fit dwelling place for the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. This fitting dwelling place for Jesus is a soul in a state of grace. The next five presentations concern ways of accomplishing this preparation. Humility is the most fundamental and essential way the soul is prepared for the Lord's coming. Humility is the acknowledgment of Truth; the truth of who God is and who the creature is. God is everything. We are very small, but God loves the littleness of His children.

By forming the conscience to the objective and eternal Truth who is Jesus, the soul is set free. In other words, only in truth is there true freedom. Thus liberated by Truth the human person becomes who he was created to be: the Body of Christ, the Church.

This preparation does not come without a fight. As the Church teaches, "The whole history of mankind is revealed as dour combat with the forces of evil." We are called to be spiritual warriors in God's army. Without a fight there can be no victory.

The fifth presentation is a slightly different version of Father's personal testimony, one wherein he reveals how God confirmed his vocation through the voice of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.

The end of the retreat is a sermon on the holy Eucharist. The coming of Jesus at Christmas, which we prepare for during the season of Advent, is truly, really, and substantially brought about in the Holy Eucharist, remembering that "Bethlehem" means "House of Bread." The soul prepared for the coming of the Lord is prepared to receive Jesus in holy Communion, the "Bread of Life." Such a soul when in a state of grace is a place ready for the coming of the Lord.

The titles of the Advent Retreat are:

1. Advent Means Preparation for the Lord's Coming 2. Humility Is Preparation for the Lord's Coming 3. Only in Truth Can We Be Free 4. Battle Cry! 5. "To Deliver Children in the Name of Truth"--A Testimony 6. The Holy Eucharist: The Lord's True Coming

Length:Approx. 5 Hours

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The Month of November: Thoughts on the "Last Things"

The Catholic Church dedicates each month of the year to a particular devotion or consideration. Traditionally, the month of November is dedicated to praying for the deceased that are undergoing the final purification, or Purgatory. One of the oldest and most essential doctrinal teachings of the Church concerns what we have called "the last things": judgment, heaven, hell, and purgatory. I always try to emphasize these essential and mandatory doctrinal teachings during this month of November. They are always relevant, but not always comfortable for people.

Every human being will be judged by God, both at the instant of death (the particular judgment), and when the Lord comes again in glory (the general judgment). Some very true, and very simple things to remember:

God is perfectly merciful. Jesus, the Son of God, suffered and died so that each and every one of us can be happy in Heaven forever. God wills our salvation more than we ever could. Mercy is for now, while we are still on this earth.

God is perfectly just. In the end, as Jesus says, "every penny will be paid." We must answer for all of our sins, sins of commission and sins of omission. This means the sins that we have not repented of, the guilt of which is still on our soul at the moment of death. Justice can begin in this life, to be sure, but the ultimate justice is extracted from the moment we pass from time into eternity.

The spiritually and morally intelligent way to live is in a state of grace. As Catholics that means we go to the sacrament of Confession or Reconciliation (Penance) frequently, confessing at least any and all serious or mortal sins we are conscious of. Live well so as to die well.

Purgatory is real. It is part of the sacred deposit of the doctrine of the faith. I think many people think it's inconvenient, however. Unless the soul is perfect, it cannot bear to stand in the immediate presence of God, the Light is simply too bright. Therefore both remission of guilt and purification of the temporal punishment due to sin is necessary—in this life, or the next. Purgatory is the final purification. It is truly the mercy of God. It is not a negative thing. It is incredibly positive. Without it there is only absolute spiritual and moral perfection which = Heaven; or not, which = hell. Purgatory is a great blessing and the mercy of God.

I strongly recommend that this November each of us read the Catechism of the Catholic Church #992-1050. This will help to give you a better understanding of the Church's teaching on "The Last Things": Judgment, purgatory, heaven, and hell. My series "Heaven and Hell", which is available on both DVD and CD, directly deals with these subjects.

Sometimes reality disturbs people. In fact “disturbed people†can be said to be out of touch with reality. The truth is not negative, so long as you accept it and embrace it, then live in accordance with it. It not, then it is extremely disturbing, upsetting, and unsettling. No amount of wishing, imagining, or denying will ever make the realities of judgment, purgatory, heaven, or hell go away. The truth is what it is, whether we believe it or not, like it or not, accept it or not. In the Catholic Church belief in the last things is a matter of faith. It isn’t optional. We don’t have to necessarily understand it, but we do have to believe it. “We walk by faith, not by sight.†Nonetheless, if you give the assent of faith, then you will begin to have some light to understand better too. Never perfectly in this life, but one day more beautifully and more perfectly than you could ever imagine.

For now let’s pray for the souls in Purgatory, and ask them to pray for us. It is a spiritual work of mercy and highly intelligent to do so.

God bless you,

Fr. John Corapi, SOLT, STD


 

In this series of four one hour sermons Father John Corapi speaks about the traditional "Last Things:" judgment, Purgatory, Heaven, and Hell. These realities are absolute Catholic doctrine and must be believed by those who believe what the Church believes. Father's simple yet doctrinally correct teaching helps the faithful grow, whatever their age or amount of education.

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The Lord and Giver of Life Conference!

 

The powerful conference Father Corapi just preached in Buffalo New York!

Part One is on the Person and Power of the Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life. In this presentation I’ll speak about the Holy Spirit as personified love, the Spirit of Truth, and the power of God that created the entire universe, and holds it in being.

Part Two is entitled “The Gift Who Contains All Gifts.†If the world lacks peace, prosperity, or anything else that is good, it is because it lacks the Holy Spirit. This happens one person at a time. The Holy Spirit is there, but individuals are not open and well disposed to receive the Spirit of Love and Truth, hence the world begins to sink into hell under the weight of its sins. The Holy Spirit is the remedy.
Part Three is based on the Scripture passage from Acts 5:27-32: “The Holy Spirit is given to those that obey Him.†Conversely, the Holy Spirit is not given to those that disobey Him. The gifts that are absolutely essential for peace, happiness, and prosperity come from the Holy Spirit. Without them there will be no peace, no happiness, and no prosperity. Leaders, whether of families or nations, that have no wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, etc. cannot lead well. Hence, the state of the nation, the world, and so many families today.
The final presentation will be based on 2 Timothy 1:7: “The Spirit we have been given is no cowardly (timid) Spirit, but rather a Spirit of power, love, and self control.†We have observed entirely too much cowardice operating in the world, and even in the Church in modern times. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is lacking in individuals—not thaat the Holy Spirit has gone away, but because individuals have shut Him out through sin and disobedience. It is time for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This happens one person at a time.

The four sermons are entitled:
1. Theology of the person and power of the Holy Spirit
2. The Gift who contains all Gifts
3. "The Holy Spirit is given to those that obey!"
4. "The Spirit we have is no cowardly spirit!"

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