Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Michael Dubruiel's book on the Mass


When our Lord gave the disciples on the road to Emmaus the bread that He had blessed and broken, "he vanished out of their sight" (Luke 24:31). It was then that they recognized Him. We receive the Lord as they did in receiving the Eucharist. Now, at the moment that He is within us, we too should reflect, as they did, on the Scriptures that He has opened to us during this Mass, especially on what has made our "hearts burn."

In our consumer-minded society, we can miss the treasure that we receive if we treat it like one more thing to "get" and then go on to the next thing. Our Lord is not a "thing." He is God, who has deigned to come intimately into our lives. We should reflect on His Presence within us and ask what He would have us do.

More on The How to Book of the Mass here. 



"michael dubruiel"

Friday, September 26, 2014

On Following Christ

Steps to Take as You Follow Christ
Ask—Do I reverence God?
Seek—Find a way to adore God today, be it in the Eucharist or
in the secrecy of your room, or anywhere. When you see the
shape of the cross, say the prayer that St. Francis instructed his
brothers and sisters to say, “We adore you O Christ. . .”
Knock—Meditate on Hebrews 12:28–29. What does it mean to
offer acceptable worship to God? How is the kingdom we are
offered by Christ unshakeable?
Transform Your Life—Make you life one of reverence toward
God at all times. Let your focus be on remaining in God’s presence,
rather than judging and criticizing those around you.

"michael dubruiel"

Novena to St. Therese - Day 4- September 26

The Novena to St. Therese continues.  It's included in this pocket-sized book.




When Jesus ascended into heaven, he told his Apostles to stay where they were and to "wait for the gift" that the Father had promised: the Holy Spirit.  The Apostles did as the Lord commanded them. "They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers" (Acts 1:14). Nine days passed; then, they received the gift of the Holy spirit, as had been promised. May we stay together with the church, awaiting in faith with Our Blessed Mother, as we trust entirely in God, who loves us more than we can ever know. 

"michael Dubruiel"

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Novena to St. Therese - Day 2

The Novena to St. Therese continues.  It's included in this pocket-sized book.




When Jesus ascended into heaven, he told his Apostles to stay where they were and to "wait for the gift" that the Father had promised: the Holy Spirit.  The Apostles did as the Lord commanded them. "They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers" (Acts 1:14). Nine days passed; then, they received the gift of the Holy spirit, as had been promised. May we stay together with the church, awaiting in faith with Our Blessed Mother, as we trust entirely in God, who loves us more than we can ever know. 

"michael Dubruiel"

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Novena to St. Therese - begins September 23

The Novena to St. Therese begins today.  It's included in this pocket-sized book.




When Jesus ascended into heaven, he told his Apostles to stay where they were and to "wait for the gift" that the Father had promised: the Holy Spirit.  The Apostles did as the Lord commanded them. "They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers" (Acts 1:14). Nine days passed; then, they received the gift of the Holy spirit, as had been promised. May we stay together with the church, awaiting in faith with Our Blessed Mother, as we trust entirely in God, who loves us more than we can ever know. 

"michael Dubruiel"

Monday, September 22, 2014

All in God's Time by Michael Dubruiel


The Greeks had two words for time, chronos for chronological
time (clock and calendar time) and kairos for the “right” or
“opportune” time. Jesus often made the distinction to his disciples,
who thought more in terms of chronological time than of
God’s time. When Peter first declared his intent to the Lord, it
was not yet time; the kairos moment—God’s time—did not
come until Peter had witnessed to the truth of the gospel in
Rome.

When the Jews celebrate Passover, the celebration begins
with a question: “Why is this night different?” In this way they
enter into God’s time—when God intervened, did something to
change the very course of history. On the night before he died,
Jesus took bread and wine and declared it his body and blood.
“Do this in memory of me.” Once again it was kairos time, God’s
time, just as it is every time we interrupt the daily grind of
chronological time to enter God’s time in the Mass.

Everything happens when God wants it to happen. Following
Christ is a matter of surrendering to God’s time, of leaving
behind our own plans in order to be led by Christ. Our goals and
plans are always secondary to what God intends for us.
"michael dubruiel"

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Following Christ

Steps to Take as You Follow Christ
Ask—Do I reverence God?
Seek—Find a way to adore God today, be it in the Eucharist or
in the secrecy of your room, or anywhere. When you see the
shape of the cross, say the prayer that St. Francis instructed his
brothers and sisters to say, “We adore you O Christ. . .”
Knock—Meditate on Hebrews 12:28–29. What does it mean to
offer acceptable worship to God? How is the kingdom we are
offered by Christ unshakeable?
Transform Your Life—Make you life one of reverence toward
God at all times. Let your focus be on remaining in God’s presence,
rather than judging and criticizing those around you.
"michael dubruiel"

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Steps to Take as you follow Christ

Steps to Take as You Follow Christ
Ask— What do I do with God’s spirit?
Seek—From a prayer posture, concentrate on your breathing. As
you inhale, ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit, to animate
your every action to do his will. As you exhale, breathe the name
from the core of your being: Jesus. Continue to meditate on him.
Knock—Meditate on Galatians 6:7–9. Reflect on the difference
between a living person and a corpse. Are most of your actions,
actions of sowing in the flesh or sowing to the spirit? Ask God
for patience that you might endure in all things by sowing to the
spirit.
Transform Your Life—Make it a habit to pray the prayer of
Jesus from the cross whenever you find yourself tempted to do
something that you know is not of God: “Father, into your hands
I commend my Spirit.” This prayer that Jesus has given us is the
key to moving from sowing in the flesh to sowing to the spirit.

"michael dubruiel"

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Christian Meditation

When St. Peter heard that Jesus was going somewhere, he wanted
to follow the Lord. Jesus refused, and told the apostle that he
would follow later. Peter protested: He was willing to lay down
his life for Jesus (again something that he ultimately would do
later). Then Jesus dropped a bombshell: That very night, Peter
would deny him three times.

The final battle to following Jesus is the battle of self. No matter
how pure our motives may seem, until we trust in God more
than we trust in ourselves, we are doomed to fail. To truly follow
Jesus, we must unite ourselves with him and trust him totally.
"michael dubruiel"

Monday, September 15, 2014

The Rosary for Our Lady of Sorrows

Today is another Marian feast - Our Lady of Sorrows - a good day to pray the Rosary.  Michael Dubruiel conceived and put together the small hardbound book, Praying the Rosary.  Click on the cover for more information.

Our Lady of Sorrows by Michael Dubruiel

In northern Ohio there is a church dedicated to Our Lady
of Sorrows; in the basement is a room containing signs of
weakness that have been left behind by those who have experienced
the power of God at that shrine. Among whiskey bottles,
cigarettes, crutches, and leg braces is a mat that once
carried a paralyzed man there—who left empowered by God
to walk again.

I suspect that the most powerful stories of healing, however,
come from those who were unable to leave anything behind.
Their weakness, whatever it was, remained with them; however,
they had been empowered to carry their weakness in the power
of God. This type of healing often goes unnoticed. Even so, it is
the greater healing, because it enables us to share in the cross of
Christ, to embrace our weakness in the power of God. For the
follower of Christ, weakness need not mean defeat!




"michael dubruiel"

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Exaltation of the Holy Cross September 14

Michael Dubruiel
St. Francis of Assisi taught his followers to reverence Christ and
his cross wherever they might find themselves. The prayer attributed
to St. Francis that begins, “Lord, make me a channel of your
peace,” was in fact not composed by St. Francis; it was misapplied
to him in a prayer book. The true prayer of St. Francis was one
he taught his friars to pray whenever they would pass a Church
or the sign of the cross made by two branches in a tree. They were
to prostrate themselves toward the church or the cross and pray,
“We adore you Christ and we praise you present here and in all
the Churches throughout the world, because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.”
The cross reminds us of the true Christ, the one in the
Gospels who was constantly misjudged by the religious figures
of his day. If we are not careful, he will be misjudged by us as well.
We need to worship him alone.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Fulton Sheen Canonization

Related to recent news about the controversy between Peoria and New York:


Several years ago, Michael Dubruiel edited a prayer book centered on Fulton Sheen's writings.  It is out of print, but there are a few used copies available at reasonable prices here:



"michael dubruiel" "fulton sheen"

Saturday, September 06, 2014

Birth of Mary - Pray the Rosary

Michael Dubruiel conceived and put together the small hardbound book, Praying the Rosary.  Click on the cover for more information.

Thursday, September 04, 2014

How to Pray by Michael Dubruiel


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"

Monday, September 01, 2014

Michael Dubruiel on Following Christ

When St. Peter heard that Jesus was going somewhere, he wanted
to follow the Lord. Jesus refused, and told the apostle that he
would follow later. Peter protested: He was willing to lay down
his life for Jesus (again something that he ultimately would do
later). Then Jesus dropped a bombshell: That very night, Peter
would deny him three times.
 No matter
how pure our motives may seem, until we trust in God more
than we trust in ourselves, we are doomed to fail. To truly follow
Jesus, we must unite ourselves with him and trust him totally.
"michael dubruiel"

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Following Christ

When St. Peter heard that Jesus was going somewhere, he wanted
to follow the Lord. Jesus refused, and told the apostle that he
would follow later. Peter protested: He was willing to lay down
his life for Jesus (again something that he ultimately would do
later). Then Jesus dropped a bombshell: That very night, Peter
would deny him three times.

The final battle to following Jesus is the battle of self. No matter
how pure our motives may seem, until we trust in God more
than we trust in ourselves, we are doomed to fail. To truly follow
Jesus, we must unite ourselves with him and trust him totally.
"michael dubruiel"

Thursday, August 28, 2014

All about Novenas

The Church's Most Powerful Novenas is a book of novenas connected with particular shrines.  Michael Dubruiel wrote in the introduction to this book he compiled:

When Jesus ascended into heaven, he told his Apostles to stay where they were and to "wait for the gift" that the Father had promised: the Holy Spirit.  The Apostles did as the Lord commanded them. "They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers" (Acts 1:14). Nine days passed; then, they received the gift of the Holy spirit, as had been promised. May we stay together with the church, awaiting in faith with Our Blessed Mother, as we trust entirely in God, who loves us more than we can ever know. 

Dying to Self

Christians are to be forgiving and merciful; we are to live out the
unity Christ died to restore. In the early church, outsiders marveled
at the followers of Christ because of their love for one another.
Sadly, the unity that was the hallmark of the early Church
has been damaged, in some cases seemingly beyond repair. We
who are called to be “merciful” stand idly by while our brothers
and sisters in other parts of the world are offered up as scapegoats.
We who are to share the Good News huddle among our own,
contented to preach to the choir. The problem is this: Jesus died
for all, so that all might be saved. We who follow Our Lord must
live to accomplish his will.

As St. Peter points out, Jesus himself is our example. The
treatment that Jesus received on the cross was worse than most
of us can even imagine but his message of forgiveness did not
change. When Jesus rose from the dead, he did not declare a holy
war against those who had put him to death. Instead he proclaimed,
“Peace,” and sent his followers to the ends of the earth
to preach the gospel, teaching all to believe and trust in him.



"michael dubruiel"

Monday, August 25, 2014

How to Pray

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"