Michael Dubruiel: How-To Book of the Mass (3)

   The How-to Book of the Mass by Michael Dubruiel not only provides the who, what, where, when, and why of the most time-honored traditions of the Catholic Church, but also the how. All in an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand format.

From the introduction:

 The Road to Emmaus:

As we look at the various parts of the Mass, we will pause to meditate on this story from Luke's Gospel. I expect that you will come to finnd in this Gospel story an excellent tool to help you refocus yourself on Christ at the various moments of every Mass you attend. I have written this book with all Catholics in mind. Whether young or old, male or female, liberal or conservative — In Christ we are one, at Mass we are one, one Body: Jesus'. 

I hope to help you rediscover the Mass as a vehicle for letting go of all that can seem to separate you in life, and to replace what seem like distractions with the deep, meaning-filled events of your daily life. Rediscover the Mass as a way to open the wounds, the scars, the needs that Jesus can heal, and to encounter the very Lord Himself, so you might leave every Mass with His peace and a deep sense of unity with God and your fellow man. 

A sample page:

Michael Dubruiel: How-to Book of the Mass (2)

   

 The How-to Book of the Mass by Michael Dubruiel not only provides the who, what, where, when, and why of the most time-honored traditions of the Catholic Church, but also the how. All in an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand format.

From the introduction:

When the apostles spied Jesus walking on the water, they were overcome with fear. 

Peter asked our Lord if it were really Him or a ghost. Our Lord told the apostles not to fear. Peter, now having regained his composure, asked if he might join Jesus for His evening walk on the water. Jesus told him to come out of the boat. And Peter did. And Peter walked on the water, too. For a few moments. Then he took account of how strong the winds were, and he sank like a rock. 

This morning when I went to Mass It was thundering outside. I wondered whether I had remembered to shut the windows at home and in my car. I thought about all the electrical appliances, the trees in our yard, and I wondered whether lightening had struck anywhere near our home. All the while, the priest was preaching his homily. Do you think I encountered the living Jesus at that moment?

 Other times It is my one-year-old son, Michael Jacob. or five-year-old son, Joseph. who are vying for my attention. They can make listening and praying difficult. But on the other hand, they often help me to notice everything in a new light. Their pointing out everything they see and asking "What is it?" has been a great aid in the formation of this book. Whatever the distractions of the day, I know that too often I am caught up with the winds and not with Jesus. If you are like me, then this book will help you. The Mass is our opportunity to meet Jesus, to listen to Him and to receive Him. There is a story in the Gospel of Luke that provides a summary of the Mass. It is the account of how the Risen Lord Jesus made Himself known to several of His disciples as they were making their way to a town called Emmaus.

A sample page:

St. Rita of Cascia - May 22

   

 

From The Church's Most Powerful Novenas by Michael Dubruiel:


Rita Lotti was born near Cascia in Italy in the fourteenth century, the only child of her parents, Antonio and Amata. Her parents were official peacemakers in a turbulent environment of feuding families.
At an early age Rita felt called to religious life; however, her parents arranged for her to be married to Paolo Mancini. Rita accepted this as God’s will for her, and the newlyweds were soon blessed with two sons.
One day while on his way home, Paolo was killed. Rita’s grief was compounded with the fear that her two sons would seek to avenge their father’s death, as was the custom of the time. She began praying and fasting that God would not allow this to happen. Both sons soon fell ill and died, which Rita saw as an answer to her prayers.
Now alone in the world, Rita sought to enter religious life, feeling that God had cleared the path for her to fulfill the vocation that she had felt was hers from childhood. Yet she found that the convent she so desired to enter was reluctant to accept her due to fears that the political rivals that had killed her husband would bring violence on them.
She finally brought peace between the rivals and was able to enter the Convent of St. Mary Magdalene of the Augustinian Nuns. In religious life, Rita was noted for her holiness. She spent her days not only in prayer and contemplation but also in service to the sick and the poor.
One day while kneeling in prayer and contemplating the passion of Jesus, she received the wound of one thorn from the crown of thorns that she bore until her death some fifteen years later.
Devotion to St. Rita was almost nonexistent for five hundred years, but with her canonization in 1900, all of that has changed. She is truly a saint for every state in life, having spent her life as a married woman, a mother, a widow, and a religious.

Michael Dubruiel: How-to Book of the Mass (1)

  The How-to Book of the Mass by Michael Dubruiel not only provides the who, what, where, when, and why of the most time-honored traditions of the Catholic Church, but also the how. All in an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand format.

From the introduction:

There is more contained within these pages than just the mechanics of the celebration of the Mass; also described is how to attend Mass in a way that makes it truly an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ every time. 

Lifelong Catholics may have grown so used to the ritual that they aimlessly go through the motions and find that their minds often wander. Novices, on the other hand. may feel so overwhelmed by all that is unknown to them that they fail to recognize Christ in the process.

 Every encounter with Jesus is unique.

A sample page:

Free Catholic Book

  The Fourth Rule: St. Benedict's Guide to Life by Michael Dubruiel, is free today.  

How can I be at peace? What's the meaning of my life? You're not the first to ask these questions. They're the fundamental questions of human life. Over a thousand years ago, an Italian monk offered answers and put them into practice. Come discover their lasting truth of St. Benedict of Nursia's Rule.

(14) To relieve the poor.

A few of these poor souls, I recognized from my visits to the local pub in town. I did not judge them or deny them the tickets even though I knew that they had some money (at least some to buy drinks). One reason for my lack of judgment, was due to the fact that giving the monks food away, did not cost me anything. I wonder though, if the money had been coming out of my pocket, if I would have been as understanding.



Others came to the door looking for food of a different sort.



Thomas Merton in Bread in the Wilderness speaks of the psalms as God’s manna, given to feed the soul in the desert of life. The monk’s prayer, made up almost entirely of praying the psalms, provided that nourishment for many who had suffered loss or hurt from great struggles of faith.



All of us are poor. It is arrogant to think that I am somehow better than anyone else. If there is anything that I have hated throughout my life, it is those who look down on others. Sadly, it is also the part of myself that I hate the most—and the part that I know could ultimately condemn me if I do not let go of it.



Saint Benedict did not leave counsel to “help” the poor, even though we could interpret this counsel as concretely doing this. He told them to breathe life into them.



I could feed the poor with food, but if I made them feel like I was doing them a great service, I could leave them with their bellies full but still feeling very poor. If on the other hand, I fed them in the way I might some friend who I hoped to impress and win favor from, how might that leave them?



The famous, the wealthy and those in power often find that doors are opened for them and everything provided for them, although they usually have done nothing to deserve it. We may not have a “royal” family in this land of ours, but some are treated that way nonetheless. Why should some be treated that way and while others are neglected?

Free Christian Inspirational Book

  The Fourth Rule: St. Benedict's Guide to Life by Michael Dubruiel, is free today. 

How can I be at peace? What's the meaning of my life? You're not the first to ask these questions. They're the fundamental questions of human life. Over a thousand years ago, an Italian monk offered answers and put them into practice. Come discover their lasting truth of St. Benedict of Nursia's Rule.

(13) To love fasting.


Most of us are not familiar with fasting, but we are with dieting. They are not the same thing. Dieting has to do with vanity, fasting has to do with a higher good. We all feel so many needs that are not real but remain unaware. Fasting is a traditional means of gaining the wisdom of what we truly need.



Notice that St. Benedict’s counsel is not simply to “fast” but rather to “love” fasting. He wishes that the monk’s desire be-- to do without.



I am reminded of an old distinction made by Archbishop Fulton Sheen on his Life is Worth Living series. We have little choice over what we like, but love is an act of the will. We can choose to love something and we usually do learn to love both things and people that initially we may not have liked. We can also learn and choose to hate.



In a society such as ours fasting happens often enough but not for it’s own sake. People traveling or involved in work regularly skip meals for the sake of whatever has their focus. The problem is that in the long run we tend to be like camels and when we do sit down to eat, we gorge ourselves in case it might be awhile before we set down again.

Eucharistic Revival Books

    

From How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist by Michael Dubruiel

About Michael Dubruiel

From a positive standpoint, then, what can we do to adore God in the Eucharist?

First we must foster a sense of reverence for God.  The actions in the Mass of kneeling, bowing, and beating our breasts all have meaning. They cause us to consciously call to mind that God is present and to focus all of our attention on what God wants of us at the present moment.

Second, we need to worship the Eucharist outside of Mass in order to foster a deeper communion with our Eucharistic Lord when we receive his awesome gift at Mass. When we actively worship Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament we grow in awareness of what it means to receive him at Communion. Pope John Paul II has written about this as a necessary element to restoring an awe of the precious gift of the Eucharist. A Franciscan friend recently told me that when preaching about the Eucharist to young people, he begins by telling them to “Be amazed,” paraphrasing the Holy Father’s injunction.

Coming aside to reverence Christ in the Eucharist, realizing that he is before us, has the same power to change us as he did to those who came into his earthly presence.

LIVING THE E UCHARIST

Try to find time to make a visit to a chapel or church to adore the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Give Christ whatever time you have, whether a little or a lot. Make acts of worship in his presence.

Consciously call to mind God’s presence throughout the day, no matter where you are.

Eucharistic Revival

    

 

From How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist by Michael Dubruiel

About Michael Dubruiel

Living in thanksgiving literally means always having gratitude on your lips.

The late great Orthodox liturgist Alexander Schmemann felt that the meaning of “thanksgiving”— the literal translation of the Greek word Eucharist — had been lost on modern people. We tend to limit giving thanks to only those things that we receive that we perceive as good.Yet Schmemann argues that for the early church “giving thanks” was something the Christian did because the Kingdom of God had been restored in Jesus Christ.

Our very inclusion in Christ is reason enough to give thanks; the fact that God has spoken to us in the Word is another reason to give thanks; the fact that Christ has saved us and shares his Body and Blood with us is another reason to give thanks; and the fact that Christ has given us a mission is yet another reason to give him thanks! In fact,you will recognize that at the point in the celebration of the Eucharist that each of these things is mentioned, we express our thanks, either as a congregation, when we say, “Thanks be to God,” or through the presider, when he says to God, “We give you thanks.”

Because of what Christ has done for us we now have a vantage point in life that those who do not know Christ do not have.The liturgy is a mystery of light, and we are on the mountaintop of the Transfiguration and know that Jesus rises from the dead — that he is victorious over our enemies. Therefore, as St. Paul tells the Thessalonians, we can “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

LIVING THE EUCHARIST

Practice giving thanks to God at all times. Make it a habit to step back when you judge something negatively and to ask God to help you to see it in his will.

Michael Dubruiel: Pocket Guide to the Mass

  Michael Dubruiel's Pocket Guide to the Mass - a sample page. 

Walks you through the Mass, explaining the biblical basis of prayers, the meaning behind gestures, and a brief overview of the spirituality that brings Catholics together for Eucharist each week.

Published in 2007, still in print. 

An excellent resource for your parish for the Eucharistic Revival year. 

More books by Michael Dubruiel

Michael Dubruiel: The Pocket Guide to the Mass

  A Pocket Guide to the Mass by Michael Dubruiel: introduction

Get the most out of the Mass...

A Pocket Guide to the Mass walks you through the biblical basis of prayers, the meaning behind gestures, and a brief overview of the spirituality that brings Catholics together for Eucharist each week.

Reenergize your time at Mass or help those who are new or returning to the Church with this quick and insightful overview. Rediscover the fullness of the Mass today!

Michael Dubruiel's Pocket Guide to the Mass

   

The Gospel readings at Mass during this time are focusing on the Eucharist via John, chapter 6.  Why not follow the Church's lead and learn more about the Mass during this time?

From Michael Dubruiel, in 2007:

I have written a lot about the Mass--without ever really intending to do so. First, I wrote about the Mass in The How-To Book of the Mass: Everything You Need to Know but No One Ever Taught You--this book has done so well that I was asked to write a follow-up to it. That book How To Get The Most Out Of The Eucharist, probably should have been titled "How to Offer Your Sacrifice at Every Mass." Then this year, A Pocket Guide to the Mass, which is part of the "A Pocket Guide" series. Each book is different and offers a slightly different way to open oneself up to the riches that are being bestowed upon us by fulfilling the Lord's command to "Do this." Thanks to everyone who has read any of the three and offered very positive reviews of them.

Free Catholic Book

   Free today:

From How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist by Michael Dubruiel

About Michael Dubruiel

From Chapter 3 - Adore. Part 8

ADORING GOD WITH PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

One of my favorite quotes is from the journals of Father Alexander Schmemann: “God, when creating the world, did not solve problems or pose them.He created what He could call ‘very good.’ God created the world, but the devil transformed the world and man and life into a ‘problem.’ ”

If we want to adore God with praise and thanksgiving we are going to have to learn to stop seeing everything as a “problem” or “interruption” and begin to be open to seeing God’s goodness and interventions even in the most unlikely of places.

Many of the most horrific sins ever committed by human beings happen because people see problems where they should see blessings. If we do not adore God above all, we risk doing horrible things as we serve whatever else we have put in God’s place.

H ELP FROM THE FATHERS OF THE C HURCH

Human beings are created for the purpose of praising God.The Lord demands nothing else in the same manner that he requires praise and thanksgiving of us.For that reason he made rational beings and distinguished us from animals by our power of speech so that we might praise and glorify him continually.

— S T. J OHN C HRYSOSTOM

Free Catholic Book

 

Michael Dubruiel wrote a book to help people deepen their experience of the Mass.  He titled it, How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist.  You can read about it here. It is available free today .

The following is an excerpt from the introduction:

Problems…            I had the opportunity to speak about the Eucharist to various groups of people in almost every part of the United States since the release of The How To Book of the Mass, a book I wrote several years ago. No matter where I happened to be, I received the same response. A dissatisfaction of sorts often rooted in how things were being done at their home parish.

 

            Some of these same people longed for the “old” days of the Tridentine liturgy (and an alarming number of young Catholics). Yet I know from conversations that I've had with older priests that the old liturgy was subject to many of the same problems as today's Mass.

 

What was different forty years ago is the attitude that Catholics brought to the Eucharist back then was more sacrificial. A term that one often heard older Catholics use was "to offer it up" when things didn't go the way you expected or wished. This sacrificial attitude made a previous generation of Catholics focus not on themselves but on what God wanted of them.

 

By the time I attended a Catholic College in the early 1980’s people were being made fun of if they still had this attitude. I remember a very pious student one day suggesting to another student who was complaining about the difficulty of an upcoming test that he “offer-up” the suffering he was undergoing for the poor souls in Purgatory. His fellow student replied, “Are you nuts?” Everyone at the table laughed. It was symbolic of a change in the Catholic psyche.

 

The Eucharist was viewed almost entirely as a banquet; a picnic table replaced the stone altar in the chapel, it was moved from the front of the chapel to the center.  The emphasis was more horizontal. The pendulum was swinging in the other direction, after many years where it would have been difficult to think of the Mass as a meal, now it was nearly impossible to encounter the Eucharist as a sacrifice.

 

Some twenty years later the pendulum is returning to the middle. My college chapel has been renovated yet again. The table is gone replaced by a very ornate altar that is located in the middle of the congregation. Images once removed have returned and there is more of a flow of the feeling that both God and humans occupy this worship space.
Pope John Paul in his Encyclical on the Eucharist Ecclesia de Eucharistia has mentioned as one of the modern “shadows” or problems with the way Catholics understand the Eucharist is that "Stripped of its sacrificial meaning, it is celebrated as if it were simply a fraternal banquet[i]."

 

            It is my belief that this downplaying the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist is the main reason that many of us are not getting the most out of the Eucharist. Over time we lose sight of why we even go or worst the Eucharist gets relegated to one more social obligation that one can easily decide not to attend.

---

[i] Ecclesia De Eucharistia (10)

How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist gives you nine concrete steps to help you join your own sacrifice to the sacrifice of Christ as you:

• Serve: Obey the command that Jesus gave to his disciples at the first Eucharist.
• Adore: Put aside anything that seems to rival God in importance.
• Confess: Believe in God’s power to make up for your weaknesses.
• Respond" Answer in gesture, word, and song in unity with the Body of Christ.
• Incline: Listen with your whole being to the Word of God.
• Fast: Bring your appetites and desires to the Eucharist.
• Invite: Open yourself to an encounter with Jesus.
• Commune: Accept the gift of Christ in the Eucharist.
• Evangelize :Take him and share the Lord with others.

Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI

   by Michael Dubruiel...from 2007

I think with the release of this book (which I got yesterday and read straight through) the pope is positioning himself to be the St. Thomas Aquinas of our age. How or why do I say this? Because like St. Thomas who answered the objections to the Faith in his day, this pope is doing the same.

A few months ago someone asked me what book I would recommend that they give to their adult children who no longer practiced the faith, without hesitation I named this book as the one. At the time I had only read some excerpts available online from Germany and Italy. It was an act of faith then, now that I have the book I know that my recommendation was justified.

This is a great book, magisterial (even though the pope doesn't want it thought of in that way). It is not just another book about Jesus, it a revolutionary book about Jesus...in that it recaptures why people have had their lives changed by their belief in Jesus for over 2,000 years.
What makes this book so special? It is like a modern Summa (those who know St. Thomas Aquinas will understand me here) in that it answers modern questions of doubt, skepticism and even inquiry on not only who Jesus is, but why Jesus is the most important person anyone has ever or can ever know.
The pope's methodology is to take a scene from the Bible, like the Lord's baptism and then to draw on that scene from the entire Bible, to show what modern scholarship has done to help us to understand the historical context of the scene, tell us how the early Church fathers interpreted the scene, how would it have been viewed in Judaism (he uses the reflections of a Rabbi when discussing the Sermon on the Mount) and then to give the reader the meaning of this event for them. Along the way he answers questions to the many objections modern people bring to their encounter with Jesus.

As someone who has studied theology for a number of years and been exposed to every screwball theology out there, I found this book to be a corrective lens to refocus and correct my vision of who Jesus is and what following him means. What impresses me (and I'm not easily impressed) is that the Pope takes on the "screwball (my term, not his)" theologies in such a way as to making them seem silly (although he is incredibly charitable in his approach).

This book will have a great effect on renewing the Church and centering it on an image of Christ that is Biblical and credible, erasing years of poor and faulty preaching and teaching.

If you are not Catholic, but a Christian you will love this book too. In fact I predict you will be come a big fan of Joseph Ratzinger and will want to read his many published works to encounter someone rooted in Scripture and conversant with modern attacks on it. If you are a non Christian I think you will find in the book an excellent introduction to what Christians believe about the God-man from Nazareth. To all you parents out there who sent your kids to Catholic schools and now wish they would practice their faith, give them this book and reintroduce them to Jesus of Nazareth.

Michael Dubruiel: Graduation Gift for Catholics

   

  You can purchase Michael Dubruiel's books here - 

Books like The How to Book of the Mass and How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist. 

How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist gives you nine concrete steps to help you join your own sacrifice to the sacrifice of Christ as you:

Serve: Obey the command that Jesus gave to his disciples at the first Eucharist.
Adore: Put aside anything that seems to rival God in importance.
Confess: Believe in God’s power to make up for your weaknesses.
Respond" Answer in gesture, word, and song in unity with the Body of Christ.
Incline: Listen with your whole being to the Word of God.
Fast: Bring your appetites and desires to the Eucharist.
Invite: Open yourself to an encounter with Jesus.
Commune: Accept the gift of Christ in the Eucharist.
Evangelize :Take him and share the Lord with others.

Mother's Day is May 11, 2025

   

The Church's Most Powerful Novenas is a book of novenas connected with particular shrines. It includes the novena to St. Ann.   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. 

May 8 Fulton Sheen Birthday

  

 Today, May 8, is Fulton Sheen's  birthday.

From Praying in the Presence of the Lord with Fulton Sheen by Michael Dubruiel. 

Bishop Sheen’s “Now-moment” corresponds to the thinking of the great spiritual writer Jean Pierre de Caussade. In Abandonment to Divine Providence, Fr. Caussade gives the reader a sure way of knowing the will of God at any moment—by simply confronting the present moment with all its reality. It seems simple, but if we reflect for a second most of us will find that we spend most of our lives avoiding the present moment.
A few years ago an English translation of the Father Caussade’s work appeared in the United States changing the original title to read “The Sacrament of the Present Moment.” This captures the essence of Father Caussade’s work and Bishop Sheen’s meditation that in the present time we are presented with an opportunity that is truly unique. Each moment is sacramental.
Most of us are capable of presenting ourselves with some amount of reflection as we celebrate the sacraments. If we celebrated the sacrament of Baptism as an adult certainly we came expecting to be changed by God. Each time we enter a confessional surely we have examined our conscience beforehand and are penitent expecting to be forgiven by God. Undoubtedly every time we approach the altar to receive the Eucharist we expect to encounter God. But what about the other moments of our lives?
As we awake in the morning, is our first thought of God? As we greet our brothers and sisters throughout the day do we expect that God might be present? Every moment of our lives is an opportunity to encounter God who is always present.
Spend some time reflecting on the following:
1. Go over the events of the present day and ask yourself where God might have been in each of them. Is there a consistent pattern to your day?
2. Reflect on the life of your favorite saint, and meditate on how he or she dealt with the people they met in their daily journeys. How could you imitate this saint? What enabled the saint to act in the way he or she did toward others?
3. Imagine as you leave from this time of prayer that God wishes to continue to be present to you as you go forth. How will you react to his presence in others?
Prayer    Lord, help me to search for you in the garden of life in the same way that St. Mary Magdalene did when she found your tomb empty. May my search be rewarded as hers was by knowledge of your abiding presence. Amen.

Free Catholic Book

    The Fourth Rule: St. Benedict's Guide to Life by Michael Dubruiel, is free today. 

How can I be at peace? What's the meaning of my life? You're not the first to ask these qfew days. uestions. They're the fundamental questions of human life. Over a thousand years ago, an Italian monk offered answers and put them into practice. Come discover their lasting truth of St. Benedict of Nursia's Rule.

An excerpt:

(56) To listen willingly to holy reading.



Another translation of this counsel has "to listen intently," both are correct but for a culture where "will" is a weak term, "intent" probably communicates the sense of the counsel better. St. Benedict was referring to the daily table reading that would be done and the fact that one has to be counseled to "listen intently" shows that even a monk's mind isn't freed from the clutter that we all find our minds filled with.



We all listen to holy reading every time that we attend Mass and there perhaps is no better counsel then to listen intently to the reading of the Holy Scriptures. The Scriptures are "living word" unlike much of what we read which consists of words that communicate a truth and usually little more. The Scriptures have the power to transcend their original purpose and to speak to us directly--if (and this is a big IF) we listen.

Books by Michael Dubruiel

Free Catholic Book

   The Fourth Rule: St. Benedict's Guide to Life by Michael Dubruiel, is free for the next few days. 

How can I be at peace? What's the meaning of my life? You're not the first to ask these questions. They're the fundamental questions of human life. Over a thousand years ago, an Italian monk offered answers and put them into practice. Come discover their lasting truth of St. Benedict of Nursia's Rule.

An excerpt:

(55) Not to love much boisterous laughter.

Written in the context of rules for monastic living this one is easily understood by anyone who has ever visited a good monastery. There is an atmosphere of silence that permeates the monastic environment and loud boisterous laughter would destroy such an atmosphere.
The maxim is not to "love much" explosive laughter. Again there is no prohibition against humor here but rather there is a caution of making a show of it. If one has ever been around someone who regularly explodes with loud laughter there is something rather unsettling about it--making one wonder about the sanity of the individual displaying it.
Loudness of any sort displays an excessive ego, "look at me I'm laughing." A good laugh is good for everyone, but the one who explodes in laughter is someone who is overdoing it. Parents often have to caution their children against this, it is even more embarrassing in an adult.
The obvious fault with this type of loudness is that it intrudes upon the space of those outside our immediate circle. The joy that we feel and those we are speaking to may share may not be shared by those who are loud laughter will inflict itself upon at a distance.
To not love explosive laughter can save us from much embarrassment and also preserve the decorum of respect of the people we live with.
There are those who will think that this injunction is not in keeping with the New Testament but read what the Letter of James says: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you men of double mind. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you," (James 4:7-10).
The genius of the maxims of St. Benedict is that they embrace all of Scripture, while most of us choose to only exchange a handshake with the word of God.

Books by Michael Dubruiel

Michael Dubruiel: May is Rosary Month - Part 4

    

  This reflection is from the early 2000's. By Michael Dubruiel.

Rosary Walks


....


At the end of the trail I emerge upon the road lined with trees that leads back to the convent. I notice the deer's head staring at me from across the road, his ears flicking. I imagine the deer thinking that I'm following him. I walk closer to him and he doesn't move this time. Perhaps they feed him too, I think. I am now only five feet from the deer and I talk to him. He only cocks his head this way and that but doesn't flee until I turn to continue my journey. The fourth luminous mystery--the Transfiguration, an invitation to encounter Jesus in the Old Testament I think meditating on the significance of Moses and Elijah the prophet.


The sun beats down mercilessly and the tar is soft under my feet. I look back and see the deer still peering at me watching to see if I really am going in a different direction. I am, my lunch time nears its end. The maintenance worker is mowing the grass. His plumb body hangs over the sides of the seat and his beard covers his chest. As I make my way to the parking lot I notice his license plate "Rode Kill" misspelled I reason because someone must have already had "road kill" in this state of connoisseurs of varmint meat. On the side of his truck he has a bumper sticker, "I love animals...they taste real good." The fifth sorrowful mystery--the Crucifixion. In the way a sinner is attracted to the cross of salvation, I reason, perhaps this man with his desires was attracted to the environmental sisters.


So be it! Amen.