[powerpress]

Msgr. Esseff reflects on the readings for the 5th Sunday of Lent.  He discusses the mercy of God and our need to seek out forgiveness for our sins and the healing of our brokenness   What is key is that we must trust in the love of the Father and unite ourselves with the heart of Jesus Christ.

From the NAB

Gospel   JN 8:1-11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area,
and all the people started coming to him,
and he sat down and taught them.
Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman
who had been caught in adultery
and made her stand in the middle.
They said to him,
“Teacher, this woman was caught
in the very act of committing adultery.
Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.
So what do you say?”
They said this to test him,
so that they could have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
But when they continued asking him,
he straightened up and said to them,
“Let the one among you who is without sin
be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
And in response, they went away one by one,
beginning with the elders.
So he was left alone with the woman before him.
Then Jesus straightened up and said to her,
“Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?”
She replied, “No one, sir.”
Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.
Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton.  He was ordained on May 30th 1953, by the late Bishop William J. Hafey, D.D. at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton, PA.  Msgr. Esseff served a retreat director and confessor to Blessed Mother Teresa.    He continues to offer direction and retreats for the sisters of the missionaries of charity around the world.  Msgr. Esseff encountered St.  Padre Pio,  who would become a spiritual father to him.  He has lived in areas around the world,  serving  in the Pontifical missions, a Catholic organization established by Bl. Pope John Paul II to bring the Good News to the world especially to the poor.  Msgr. Esseff assisted the founders of the Institute for Priestly Formation and continues to serve as a spiritual director for the Institute.  He continues to  serve as a retreat leader and director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians and other religious leaders around the world.   

To obtain a copy of Msgr. Esseff’s book by visiting here

Be sure to visit Msgr. Esseff’s website “Building a Kingdom of  Love”

“For with God nothing will be impossible”

[powerpress]

an excerpt from today’s reflection by Don Schwager:

What is the key that can unlock the power and grace of God’s kingdom in our personal lives? Faith and obedience for sure! When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they immediately experienced the consequence of their action – separation from the God who loved them. God in his mercy promised them a Redeemer who would pay the price for their sin and the sin of the world. We see the marvelous unfolding of God’s plan of redemption in the events leading up to the Incarnation, the birth of the Messiah. Mary’s prompt response of “yes” to the divine message is a model of faith for all believers. Mary believed God’s promises even when they seemed impossible. She was full of grace because she trusted that what God said was true and would be fulfilled. She was willing and eager to do God’s will, even if it seemed difficult or costly. God gives us grace and he expects us to respond with the same willingness, obedience, and heart-felt trust as Mary did. When God commands he also gives the grace, strength, and means to respond. We can either yield to his grace or resist and go our own way. Do you believe in God’s promises and do you yield to his grace?

“Heavenly Father, you offer us abundant grace, mercy, and forgiveness through your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Help me to live a grace-filled life as Mary did by believing in your promises and by giving you my unqualified “yes” to your will and to your plan for my life.”

for the full reflection visit : Daily Reading and Meditation

[powerpress]Msgr. Esseff shares a poignant reflection on rejection, loss, suffering, and aloneness.  We experience various forms of suffering, but as it is said “success has a hundred mothers, failure is an orphan”.  Why is the cross so important to those who are united with Him?  Its in the cross that we experience His presence.  He shares a very compelling story he was given permission to share, which concerns a Sister, Mother Teresa, anger, forgiveness and love…it’s a heartbreaking tale…one where ultimately love prevails.  ”You’ll always have the gift and you’ll always have the cross.” – Bl. Mother Teresa

To obtain a copy of Msgr. Esseff’s book byvisiting here

Be sure to visit Msgr. Esseff’s website “Building a Kingdom of  Love”

MESSAGE OF JOHN PAUL II TO THE BISHOP OF ALBANO FOR THE CENTENARY OF THE DEATH OF ST. MARIA GORETTI from Vatican.va

To my Venerable Brother Bishop Agostino Vallini of Albano

1. A hundred years ago, on 6 July 1902, Maria Goretti died in the hospital at Nettuno, brutally stabbed the day before in the little village of Le Ferriere, in the Pontine Marshes. Her spiritual life, the strength of her faith, her ability to forgive her murderer have placed her among the best-loved saints of the 20th century. Appropriately, therefore, the Congregation of the Passion (C.P.), entrusted with the care of the shrine where the saint’s remains repose, wanted to celebrate the anniversary with special solemnity.

St Maria Goretti was a girl whom God’s Spirit endowed with the courage to stay faithful to her Christian vocation even to the point of making the supreme sacrifice of her life. Her tender age, her lack of education and the poverty of the environment in which she lived did not prevent grace from working its miracles in her. Indeed, it was precisely in these conditions that God’s special love for the lowly appeared. We are reminded of the words with which Jesus blesses the heavenly Father for revealing himself to children and the simple, rather than to the wise and learned of the world (cf. Mt 11,25).

It was rightly observed that St Maria Goretti’s martyrdom heralded what was to be known as the century of martyrs. It was in this perspective that at the end of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, I stressed that “this lively sense of repentance … has not prevented us from giving glory to the Lord for what he has done in every century, and in particular during the century which we have just left behind, by granting his Church a great host of saints and martyrs” (Novo Millennio ineunte, n. 7).

2. Maria Goretti, born in Corinaldo in The Marches on 16 October 1890, was soon obliged to emigrate with her family, and after sometime they arrived at Le Ferriere di Conca in the Pontine Marshes. Despite the hardships of poverty which even prevented her from going to school, little Maria lived in a serene and united family atmosphere, enlivened by Christian faith, in which the children felt welcomed as a gift and were taught by their parents self-respect and respect for others, as well as a sense of duty based on love of God. This enabled the little girl to grow up peacefully, nourishing her simple but deep faith. The Church has always recognized the role of the family as the first and fundamental place for the sanctification of its members, starting with the children.

In this family environment Maria assimilated steadfast trust in God’s provident love, which she showed in particular at the death of her father, who died of malaria. “Mother, be brave, God will help us”, the little girl was in the habit of saying in those difficult times, bravely reacting to her deep feeling of loss at her father’s death.

3. In the homily for her canonization, Pope Pius XII of venerable memory pointed to Maria Goretti as “the sweet little martyr of purity” (cf. Discorsi e Radiomessaggi, XII [1950-1951], 121), because she did not break God’s commandment in spite of being threatened by death.

What a shining example for young people! The non-commital mindset of much of our society and culture today sometimes has a struggle to understand the beauty and value of chastity. A high and noble perception of dignity, her own and that of others emerges from the behaviour of this young saint, was mirrored in her daily choices, giving them the fullness of human meaning. Is not there a very timely lesson in this? In a culture that idolizes the physical aspect of the relations between a man and a woman, the Church continues to defend and to champion the value of sexuality as a factor that involves every aspect of the person and must therefore be lived with an interior attitude of freedom and reciprocal respect, in the light of God’s original plan. With this outlook, a person discovers he or she is being given a gift and is called, in turn, to be a gift to the other. (more…)

Show 9 ” Building a Kingdom of Love” – True Happiness and Joy

[powerpress] Msgr. Esseff discusses the freedom that comes from forgiveness. It can be very difficult to for us to forgive, but not for God.  How can we forgive those who have really hurt us…emotionally and physically.  How is this forgiveness a matter of justice…we forgive for we have been forgiven.  What is an unjust wound?  How does this all connect to the Divine Mercy?

Be sure to visit Msgr. Esseff’s website:  “Building a Kingdom of Love“

[powerpress] Msgr. Esseff discusses to be truly alive in joy and happiness we have to forgive. Forgiveness is always a choice and in that is joy. We shouldn’t put conditions on our forgiveness…that can be a challenge for some, but it is necessary. We need to take the person where they are…we don’t love them because they have changed, but we love them where they are at. We can become slaves to our resentments. Resentments, hatred, bitterness, retaliations harden our hearts and destroy us. Allowing the love of Jesus to penetrate our hearts we are freed. We can not perfectly forgive, it is grace from the Father that allows to enter into that forgiveness.

The transformation of resentments is a key:

For ourselves

1. To name them, the painful moment or event
2. To look inside as to why and to what it touched so deeply within me
3. To allow yourself to feel fully the depth of impact of the pain
4. Talk to yourself about the experience and then begin to journal or share it with another
5. Choose what will bring peace, joy, relief and tranquility
6. To cling to continuation of pain brings anxiety, anger, turmoil and desolation

For another

1. Listen to the painful experience
2. Don’t talk to them out of their pain, don’t try to fix the situation for them
3. Offer them a choice to continue in the pain or begin to move out of the pain; to continue in the pain gives the power over to the one they resent and diminishes your own power

Be sure to visit Msgr. Esseff’s website:  “Building a Kingdom of Love“

[powerpress]Msgr. Esseff reflects on the true meanings of happiness and joy.  What does it really look like?  How can we live a life of happiness and joy?  Msgr. Esseff discusses the beatitudes and forgiveness and the keys to a proper understanding.

Be sure to visit Msgr. Esseff’s website:  “Building A Kingdom Of Love“

[powerpress]

Msgr. Esseff reflects on Matthew chap 18 v 21-35.  He shares the stories of a woman named Immaculee from Rwanda and young girl named Maria from Lebanon and the damage done by the hatred which is manifested in the world.  We have a capacity for communion…24 hours every day, 7 days a week.  How does that look in the relationship found in marriage?  From childhood, there are deep wounds we carry from our parents…from siblings…or from others. What can cause those wounds?  The bitterness and resentment that we carry…the damage it does to us.  What is the remedy?  The joy of forgiveness…and forgetting.  Msgr. Esseff shares a poignant story of a man named John, and how he came to forgive what many would find “unforgivable”.

This is the prayer mentioned by Msgr. Esseff in the talk...click here

Be sure to visit Msgr. Esseff’s website….”Building A Kingdom of Love”

“For with God nothing will be impossible”
[powerpress]

an excerpt from today’s reflection by Don Schwager:

How does Mary respond to the word of God delivered by the angel Gabriel? She knows she is hearing something beyond human capability. It will surely take a miracle which surpasses all that God has done previously. Her question, “how shall this be, since I have no husband” is not prompted by doubt or skepticism, but by wonderment! She is a true hearer of the Word and she immediately responds with faith and trust. Mary’s prompt response of “yes” to the divine message is a model of faith for all believers. Mary believed God’s promises even when they seemed impossible. She was full of grace because she trusted that what God said was true and would be fulfilled. She was willing and eager to do God’s will, even if it seemed difficult or costly. Mary is the “mother of God” because God becomes i

“Heavenly Father, you offer us abundant grace, mercy, and forgiveness through your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Help me to live a grace-filled life as Mary did by believing in your promises and by giving you my unqualified ‘yes’ to your will and plan for my life.”

for the full reflection visit : Daily Reading and Meditation

[powerpress]Msgr. Esseff spoke at a recent conference which was held in PA. in November 2011. In the 3rd talk he speaks about sinfulness.   Our mistaken notions and what we should know. What are the traps, what will free us. How confession can bring us into right order.

Be sure to visit Msgr. Esseff’s website:  Building A Kingdom of Love