Monday, February 29, 2016

Daily Lent Meditation by Michael Dubruiel

The human race has been fighting the battle against pride
since the Fall. Discontent with the lofty position God had given
them, they wanted to be just like God—but independent of
him. This disordered desire continues to be at the heart of human
nature. Only when God’s spirit lives within us to the fullest are
we able to be most fully human. And the only way to be filled
with God’s spirit is to empty ourselves of any false sense of who
we are, or who we think we have to be. This is the way of humility,
what St. Paul calls having “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians
2:16).
In the gospels, Jesus warns his disciples against desiring titles
and lofty honors. If we achieve greatness in life, as Cardinal del
Val did, we must guard against becoming attached to the position
or to the glory attached to it. Cardinal del Val gave the following
spiritual advice often to those who came to him for
counsel:
Have a great devotion to the Passion of Our Lord.
With peace and resignation, put up with your daily
troubles and worries. Remember that you are not a disciple
of Christ unless you partake of His sufferings and
are associated with His Passion. The help of the grace
of silence was the only thing that enabled the saints to
carry their extremely heavy crosses. We can show our
love for Him by accepting with joy the cross He sends
our way.
The cross sheds light on the way of humility; it is the path
that Christ took and the surest path for us to receive all the blessings
that Christ wishes to bestow upon us.



"michael dubruiel"

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Lazarus and the Poor Man

Jesus tells a story about two dead men: one affluent, the other a
beggar. After living a life of luxury, the rich man finds himself suffering
in acute pain; he asks Abraham to send Lazarus (the poor
beggar) to get him a drink. Even in the afterlife, the rich man
thinks that Lazarus should be waiting on him!

Abraham points out the barrier that prevented Lazarus from
doing the rich man’s bidding in the afterlife. Of course, no such
barrier exists among the living. The justice of Lazarus’s reward in
the afterlife also points to the fact that it is no one’s lot to be a beggar
in this life; the surplus of some, as Pope John Paul II has often
preached, belongs to those in need. While he was alive, the rich
man had it within his means to relieve the suffering of Lazarus, but
he did nothing. In the mind of the rich man, Lazarus was exactly
what God wanted him to be—a beggar. In the next life, the tables
were turned: Lazarus was rewarded, and the rich man suffered.
It is a simple message, one that we have heard many times.
It also has a touch of irony: In the story, the rich man begs Abraham
to send Lazarus back from the dead to warn the rich man’s
brothers. Abraham predicts that they still wouldn’t believe.
Notice the reaction of the crowd when Jesus raises Lazarus from
the dead: “So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus also to
death, because on account of him many of the Jews were going
away and believing in Jesus,” (John 12:10–11).

Jesus sent his disciples out to heal, to liberate, and to invite
others into the kingdom of God. As a follower of Christ, what
am I doing for those Jesus sends to me?


"michael dubruiel"

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Lent Meditation by Michael Dubruiel

The cross cannot be avoided by any of us, and we shouldn’t seek
to flee from it. Rather, we should learn from it. Wherever we
encounter the cross, we discover the “good things” God wants us
to request from him. Our Lord promises us that the Father will
answer us and give us all that we truly need.
It may require great faith to see the “good” in the things that
come our way. The challenge of the cross is to perceive the good
even when it causes us discomfort or humiliation. The cross of
Jesus did not seem like a “good” thing to those who witnessed
the crucifixion. For the followers of Christ, however, the cross is
the sign of our salvation; we commemorate “Good Friday” every
year because of the great love it represents
"michael dubruiel"

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Daily Lent Reflection by Michael Dubruiel

How do we die to ourselves? The cross extends the invitation
again and again. We nail our failures and our successes, we make
no judgments—like Christ, we abandon ourselves in trust to the
Father. We keep “watch” with Christ and live in the expectation
of his coming at every moment. Our death on the cross with
Christ—something that our Baptism signified but we must daily
reclaim—gives us the power to love as Christ did because Christ
is within us, when we allow him to be all in all.



-The Power of the Cross  - Free book available at the link.



"michael dubruiel"

Friday, February 19, 2016

Daily Lent Reflection

Since the time of early Christianity, there have been forms
of prayer that use breathing as a cadence for prayer. The Jesus
Prayer and the Rosary, along with various forms of contemplative
prayer, are all variations of this type of prayer. The real prayer
behind all of these methods is the prayer of surrender: “Into
your hands I commend my spirit.” This was the prayer that Jesus
prayed to the Father from the cross.

Though confession alone does not remove the temporal penalty
of sin, healing still is possible by God’s grace. Prayer, reading the
Scripture, giving alms, doing good works all are acts that have
had indulgences attached to them by the Church. By obtaining
an indulgence, the Christian receives healing from the temporal
penalty of even the gravest sins, reducing or eliminating altogether
the time of purification needed in purgatory (CCC 1471).

Ideally, the Christian is motivated to perform these spiritual
exercises not from fear of punishment but out of love for God.
As we read in the preceding passage, St. Paul tells the Ephesians
to offer themselves as a spiritual sacrifice with Christ, who has
paid the debt of our sins. Seeing Christ on the cross and meditating
on his love for us should help us to understand how much
God loves


"michael dubruiel"

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Daily Lent Reflection by Michael Dubruiel

The procession of the cross that begins and ends each celebration
of the Eucharist should help us to redefine our lives whenever we
witness it. As the Mass begins we join all of our crosses to the
cross of Christ, asking the Lord to have mercy upon us for our
inability to see. We listen to the Scriptures to once again learn
about all the necessary events of our lives, proclaim the Church’s
belief as our own, and give thanks to God as we offer the sacri-


fice that he has provided for us. We then receive the Living God
before the cross leads us back into the world!

Having received the life of Christ in us, we are better able to

extend that love to others. I was reminded of this again a few
years ago, when I met another family who also had an unplanned
child. In the presence of the child they said what a gift they had
been given—like nothing they could have ever dreamed of asking
for, an incredible blessing. Their joy mirrored that of God the
Father, who could not contain himself in heaven when his Son
walked the earth. He opened up the heavens to exclaim, “This
is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew
3:17).

That same Son would experience horrible suffering at the
hands of cruel men. Assured of the love of the Father, he knew
that ultimately the Father would not let him down. When you
and I are finally convinced in the same way that God loves us,
we will welcome whatever comes our way in this life and see it
with a vision that others will marvel at. On that day we will say,
“Alleluia. Praised be God!”
"michael dubruiel"

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Free Lent Book

Jesus tells a story about two dead men: one affluent, the other a
beggar. After living a life of luxury, the rich man finds himself suffering
in acute pain; he asks Abraham to send Lazarus (the poor
beggar) to get him a drink. Even in the afterlife, the rich man
thinks that Lazarus should be waiting on him!

Abraham points out the barrier that prevented Lazarus from
doing the rich man’s bidding in the afterlife. Of course, no such
barrier exists among the living. The justice of Lazarus’s reward in
the afterlife also points to the fact that it is no one’s lot to be a beggar
in this life; the surplus of some, as Pope John Paul II has often
preached, belongs to those in need. While he was alive, the rich
man had it within his means to relieve the suffering of Lazarus, but
he did nothing. In the mind of the rich man, Lazarus was exactly
what God wanted him to be—a beggar. In the next life, the tables
were turned: Lazarus was rewarded, and the rich man suffered.
It is a simple message, one that we have heard many times.
It also has a touch of irony: In the story, the rich man begs Abraham
to send Lazarus back from the dead to warn the rich man’s
brothers. Abraham predicts that they still wouldn’t believe.
Notice the reaction of the crowd when Jesus raises Lazarus from
the dead: “So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus also to
death, because on account of him many of the Jews were going
away and believing in Jesus,” (John 12:10–11).

Jesus sent his disciples out to heal, to liberate, and to invite
others into the kingdom of God. As a follower of Christ, what
am I doing for those Jesus sends to me?


"michael dubruiel"

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Daily Lent Reflection by Michael Dubruiel

The procession of the cross that begins and ends each celebration
of the Eucharist should help us to redefine our lives whenever we
witness it. As the Mass begins we join all of our crosses to the
cross of Christ, asking the Lord to have mercy upon us for our
inability to see. We listen to the Scriptures to once again learn
about all the necessary events of our lives, proclaim the Church’s
belief as our own, and give thanks to God as we offer the sacri-


fice that he has provided for us. We then receive the Living God
before the cross leads us back into the world!

Having received the life of Christ in us, we are better able to

extend that love to others. I was reminded of this again a few
years ago, when I met another family who also had an unplanned
child. In the presence of the child they said what a gift they had
been given—like nothing they could have ever dreamed of asking
for, an incredible blessing. Their joy mirrored that of God the
Father, who could not contain himself in heaven when his Son
walked the earth. He opened up the heavens to exclaim, “This
is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew
3:17).

That same Son would experience horrible suffering at the
hands of cruel men. Assured of the love of the Father, he knew
that ultimately the Father would not let him down. When you
and I are finally convinced in the same way that God loves us,
we will welcome whatever comes our way in this life and see it
with a vision that others will marvel at. On that day we will say,
“Alleluia. Praised be God!”
"michael dubruiel"

Monday, February 15, 2016

When Did We See You Lord?


The genesis of this book was inspired by a set of talks that Father Benedict J. Groeschel C.F.R., gave several years ago in the Diocese of Manchester, NH. At the time while researching material for a project I was working on I came across an advertisement for the talks and found both the title and topic striking. The topic seemed to fit Father Benedict's lifetime of working among the poor and raising money to help their plight. I approached him, shortly after listening to the tapes and asked him to consider doing a book version. He liked the idea but was reluctant to pursue the project alone due to the shortage of time available to work on it.

"Michael Dubruiel"

Unwilling to let go of the project, I approached another friend of the poor, Bishop Robert J. Baker of the Diocese of Charleston. I knew that Bishop Baker's priestly ministry had been devoted to finding Christ in the poor and with a wealth of experience he had in this area that if I could join his thoughts with Fr. Groeschel' s we would have a book that would be of great benefit to the rest of us. After approaching Bishop Baker with my request he agreed and then Father Benedict agreed to collaborate on this book.


While the Bishop and Father Benedict were working on the written text of the book I came across a stunning work of iconography one day while visiting an Eastern Catholic church. On the back wall of the church was an icon of the Last Judgment taken from Matthew 25. I found that the great iconographer Mila Mina had written the icon. I immediately contacted Mila and asked if the icon might be used as an illustration for this book, her response was "anything to make the Gospel known!" Thanks to Mila and her son Father John Mina for allowing Joyce Duriga and David Renz to photograph the icon at Ascension of Our Lord Byzantine Catholic Church, Clairton, PA.

Fr. Groeschel has written the introductory text that begins each section as well as the final "What Should I Do?" at the end of the book, and Bishop Baker has written the individual meditations and prayers contained in each of the six sections.


While this book was being written, Father Benedict was involved in a horrific accident that nearly took his life. At the time of the accident the text he was working on was in his suitcase. He had just finished the introduction to "When I was a stranger..." as you read over the text for that section you might sense that he was having a premonition of what was about to happen in his life-where he would soon be in an emergency room under the care of doctors, nurses and as well as his family and religious community.


You will find that this book provides you with keys to finding Our Lord in the poor, and to overcoming the fears and obstacles (represented by the seven deadly sins in each section) that prevent you from responding to His call.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Rite of Election 2016

In many diocesan Cathedrals around the world, the Rite of Election will be celebrated.

If you or someone you know is the process of becoming Catholic, this book would be a helpful resource:



Michael Dubruiel
The How-To Book of the Mass not only provides the who, what, where, when, and why of the most time-honored tradition of the Catholic Church but also the how.
In this complete guide you get:
  • step-by-step guidelines to walk you through the Mass
  • the Biblical roots of the various parts of the Mass and the very prayers themselves
  • helpful hints and insights from the Tradition of the Church
  • aids in overcoming distractions at Mass
  • ways to make every Mass a way to grow in your relationship with Jesus
If you want to learn what the Mass means to a truly Catholic life—and share this practice with others—you can’t be without The How-To Book of the Mass. Discover how to:
  • Bless yourself
  • Make the Sign of the Cross
  • Genuflect
  • Pray before Mass
  • Join in Singing the Opening Hymn
  • Be penitential
  • Listen to the Scriptures
  • Hear a Great Homily Everytime
  • Intercede for others
  • Be a Good Steward
  • Give Thanks to God
  • Give the Sign of Peace
  • Receive the Eucharist
  • Receive a Blessing
  • Evangelize Others
  • Get something Out of Every Mass You Attend
"Is this not the same movement as the Paschal meal of the risen Jesus with his disciples? Walking with them he explained the Scriptures to them; sitting with them at table 'he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them."1347, Catechism of the Catholic Church