Author: Jeff Cassman

Outside the Box Ideas for Lent

Posted on by Jeff Cassman
  1.  Pray and fast for someone every day of Lent.
  2. When you shop, only buy those things you really need.
  3. Pray a rosary every day for someone who has hurt you.
  4. Say something nice to someone each day.
  5. Write a short letter to someone each day of lent.  Express thanks for their friendship.
  6. Call someone you having’t talked to in a long time.
  7. Raise money for a worthy Catholic charity.
  8. Pray for your priests and Bishop each day.
  9. Take flowers, a meal or dessert to a neighbor in your neighborhood.
  10. Make a bag of snacks to keep in your car and give them to people who are begging for help.
  11. Cut salt from your food.
  12. Cut cream or sugar from your coffee.
  13. Pray in front of an abortion clinic for an hour a week.
  14. Visit a cemetary once a week and pray a rosary.
  15. Find something in your house you do not need or use and donate it to charity.
… Read the rest

Recommended Reading for Lent

Posted on by Jeff Cassman
  1.  Searching for and Maintaining Peace, Phillipe
  2. This Tremendous Lover, Bouyer
  3. Preparing for Easter, howell
  4. The Ascent of Mount Carmel, by St. John of the Cross
  5. The Introduction to a Devout Life, by St. Francis de Sales
  6. The Story of a Soul, by St. Thérèse of Lisieux
  7. The Spiritual Castle, by St. Teresa of Avila
  8. The Soul of the Apostolate, by Abbot Chautard
  9. Christ: The Ideal of the Monk, by Abbot Marmion
  10. Preparation for Death, by St. Alphonsus de Liguori
  11. The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis
  12. Transformation in Christ by Dr. Dietrich von Hildebrand
  13. The Mystery of the Crown of Thorns by a Passionist
  14. What Jesus Saw from the Cross by Fr. A.G. Sertillanges
  15. Meditations for Lent by St. Thomas Aquinas
  16. Lenten Sermons by Fr. Augustine Wirth
  17. A Lent in Earnest by Lucy Ellen Guernsey
  18. The Lenten Gospels for Daily Meditation During the Holy Season of Lent
  19. Pope St. Leo the Great’s Sermons on Lent
… Read the rest

The 40 Day Formula to Conquer any Vice or Addiction

Posted on by Jeff Cassman

If you’re really struggling with a vice or an addiction, this formula has worked to free people from lifetime addictions.  I’ve shared it with thousands and I’ve never known it to fail.

Morning Prayer

Begin each morning with prayer.  Start with the simple Guardian Angel prayer.  Then give thanks to God for keeping you safe throughout the night, for giving you another opportunity to serve Him, to do penance, to serve others, to make reparation for your sins, to grow in holiness.  There are many good Morning Prayers in the 1962 Missal from Angelus Press.  If you’re working on a particular vice or habit, make sure you ask Our Lord and your Guardian Angel for specific help throughout the day to avoid the near occasion of sin and to grow in the opposing virtue.

Daily holy hour with particular emphasis on mental prayer

The daily holy hour is the centerpiece of this strategy for victory over sin.  It’s best done first thing in the morning, after the bathroom and after coffee, but before anything else.

Your goal here is to enter into an intimate conversation with God.  A good starting point is mediation on the readings for the day, or the breviary, and then quietly turn your thoughts and quiet internal conversation towards Our Lord.  Share the things that are on your mind.  Tell him about your hopes, dreams, fears.  Then stop talking.  Direct your imagination towards the readings of the day or a mystery of the rosary.  Stay silent … Read the rest

Prayer to St. Joseph When You Need a Miracle

Posted on by Jeff Cassman

Pray this daily for thirty days:

Oh, St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so prompt, so strong,
before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.
Oh, St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession,
and obtain for me from your Divine Son
all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
So that, having engaged here below your heavenly power,
I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of fathers.

Oh, St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms;
I dare not approach while he reposes near your heart.
Press him in my name and kiss his fine head for me and
ask him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath.

St. Joseph, patron of departing souls – pray for me.
Amen.

… Read the rest

How Late Is “Too Late” When You’re Late for Mass?

Posted on by Jeff Cassman
Someone asked a question about ‘how late is too late to arrive at Mass and still receive communion’.
 
There is no law governing this, but there are theologians who have given direction on this and related questions. Father Herbert Jone is one. He was also a canonist. In “Moral Theology” he wrote:
 
“In order that the grave obligation of hearing Mass on Sundays
and Holydays be fulfilled certain conditions are required on the
part of the Mass and on the part of the attendants. – One may be
excused from assisting at Mass for a proportionately good reason.
 
I. On the part of the Mass of obligation the following
is required:
 
1. It must be a complete Mass, i.e., assistance at it
must extend from the beginning of the Mass to the
last blessing.
 
A venial sin is committed by voluntarily omitting an unimportant
part of the Mass, e.g., from the beginning of the Mass to the
Offertory exclusive, or the part that follows the Communion, or
even the part which precedes the Epistle together with that which
follows the Comm union.
 
A mortal sin is committed by missing an important part voluntarily,
e.g., that which precedes the Gospel together with what
follows Holy Communion, the part extending from the beginning
of the Mass to the Offertory inclusive, the part of the Canon that
precedes the Consecration, or the part between the Consecration
and the “Pater Noster,” or the Consecration alone; but probably
not the Communion alone. It is held
… Read the rest