Convicitons_21_2010.pdf

issue number 21 - January 2010

Prayer : a mission we all have

Convictions, issue number 21 - January 2010

issue number 21 - January 2010

Dear readers,

The year 2009 has taken leave of us to leave room for 2010: as always, it is a time for resolutions and good wishes. A

great many of you have sent yours to us. We return ours to you with all our hearts.

What is to be thought of good resolutions for the New Year? Are they useful? Are they followed by results? There are

some who say that good resolutions don’t work – or not for long. Too remote from our former habits, extreme, con-

strained, founded on the will, perhaps punitive, they quickly become forgotten. They only revive our culpability and our

low esteem. Others claim that good wishes are praiseworthy, perhaps unwarranted for those whom you are not particu-

larly fond of, and whom you feel yourself obliged to honor through courtesy, social status… and therefore not honest.

But in reality, even those who do not like to make resolutions for the new year, nevertheless

cannot resist in making one or two: this year, I will no longer work on Sundays, I will say the ro-

sary every day, I will visit my sick mother two times a week, I will lose two kg., I will eat less sweets,

I will get back into sports, I will stop smoking…

To take resolutions responds to a need for actualization of self and a desire to perfect oneself as a person. The begin-

ning of the year seems an opportune moment to do this because it is a beginning, the moment for a renewal, an occasion

for changing. We set down objectives to better motivate ourselves. It’s a question of self-regulation.

In 2002, a study was made. Since then, no other study has been taken on this subject, the evidence most likely be-

ing sufﬁ cient… Some 280 persons having precise objectives and globally compared had been initially questioned about

their plans, then contacted again by telephone 6 months later. The telephone interview aided in evaluating the outcome,

the success or the changes achieved that would attain the hoped for objectives. It turns out that amongst the persons

who had set down their wishes at the time of the new year, 46% drew nearer to their goals, in proportion to 4% of those

persons who had not taken the trouble to really plan their goals for the future. In other words, to be decided increases 11

times the chances of success! And this is true of every resolution and of every engagement.

There are three rules to observe in order to arrive at keeping one’s resolutions and at maintaining the motivation alive

all throughout the year.

The ﬁ rst: the resolution must come from yourself, it must correspond to convictions and values which are your own,

and not imposed from the exterior through social pressure. It is the same as in the case of those who undertake therapy

or a diet for reducing; the results are better when the person does it because she considers it to be important for herself

rather than in order to please someone else.

The second condition of success is that one needs to have a certain competence in that which one is to undertake, that

is to say, to feel that one is capable of reaching the goal without being forcibly prevented. If not, there arises the risk of

discouragement. It is necessary to avoid resolutions which are out of our reach, such as to want to run the marathon if

we have never run before or to learn to play the piano if we have no talent for music. If I have not the competence, there

is more risk for me to become discouraged and to abandon it. The reverse is also true. If the goal to reach is too easy, the

motivation will dwindle. One must choose one’s challenges in relation to one’s competence.

Lastly, the third and ﬁ nal condition of success for all who travel on the pathway of resolutions: we must receive help

form those around us. We must feel united, afﬁ liated and understood by noteworthy people of our circle. If these three

conditions are not respected, you risk joining the majority of the people who have difﬁ culty keeping their New Year’s

resolutions!

So, do not be afraid of commitments, the initial energy which you place in your wishes is a determining factor in

their realization. The tradition of good resolutions for the New Year is therefore an excellent thing, of which it would be

a pity to deprive oneself…

With my best wishes for the New Year,

Father Jürgen Wegner

2 E ditorial

issue number 21 - January 2010

480 McKenzie Street, Winnipeg, MB, R2W 5B9

Tel / Fax: 204-589-4524, convictions@shaw.ca

“Forming

Catholic

Minds”

Editorial _________________________________________________________ 2

What is to be thought of good resolutions? Are

they useful? Are they followed by results? There

are some who say that good resolutions don’t work

– or not for long. But in reality, even those who do

not like to make resolutions, nevertheless cannot

resist in making one or two.

Rev. Fr. Jürgen Wegner, SSPX

Publisher:

Rev. Fr. Jürgen Wegner

District Superior

Editor:

Rev. Fr. Patrick Girouard

Chroniclers

Rev. Fr. Emanuel Herkel

Translations:

Rev. Fr. Patrick Girouard

Printer:

Dave’s Quick Print, Winnipeg

Prayer: a mission we all have _________________________ 4

Whatever the need, people are sure to ask for

prayers of petition because they are convinced of

their power. This is especially true of the power of

intercessory prayer.

Fr. Bernhard Schwoerer

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Testimony of a priest in difﬁ cult times.

Rev. Fr. Paul Greuter

The Altar _____________________________________________________ 13

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The Oblates of Mary Immaculate ________________ 15

A look at the “Little History” of this venerable reli-

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The authors of the articles presented here are solely

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What’s happening in the Church? ________________ 19

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Coast to Coast __________________________________________ 23

Activities of the SSPX in Canada

Convictions, issue number 21 - January 2010

S ummary

480 McKenzie Street, Winnipeg, MB, R2W 5B9

Prayer:

a mission we all have

“Father, say a prayer for me!” “Sister, please pray for me!”

Probably every Catholic priest and religious has heard these words countless times.

Sometimes people just make a general prayer request: “Please pray for me!” At other

times, they have very speciﬁc intentions. Whatever the need, people are sure to ask for

prayers of petition because they are convinced of their power. After all, Our Lord assures

us: “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will ﬁnd; knock and the door will be opened

to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, ﬁnds; and to the one

who knocks, the door will be opened” (Luke 11:9-10).

This is especially true of the power of intercessory prayer.

Fr. Bernhard

Schwoerer

Our Lord Jesus Christ

prayed for others

In His humanity, Jesus is our High Priest be-

fore the Father. This means that He is a media-

tor between the Father and all of mankind. Part

of His role is to intercede for us in prayer. He

presents our needs to the Father and pleads for

mercy for our sins. No doubt the most outstand-

ing example of Jesus interceding for the Father’s

mercy came when He prayed upon the cross,

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what

they do” (Luke 23:34). He pleaded for mercy,

not only for those who were actually

carrying out His cruciﬁxion, but also for all of

us because He was dying to take away all of our

sins. They were the real cause of His death. We

must imitate this example of Our Lord and be

ready to pray for those who cause us difﬁcul-

ties or who may even harm us in some way. This

would fulﬁll what Our Lord Himself taught us

not only by His example here, but also by His

words. In the Sermon on the Mount He told us:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love

your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to

P rayer: a mission we all have

you, love your enemies, and pray for those who

persecute you, that you may be children of your

Heavenly Father, for He makes His sun rise on

the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on

the just and the unjust” (Matt. 5:43-45).

2:11). The marvel of Jesus’ ﬁrst miracle was the

result of a humble but trusting plea of interces-

sion by His mother. In our own lives, let us imi-

tate Mary’s spirit of spontaneously interceding

for those who are in genuine need.

We have another powerful example of Jesus’

intercessory prayer found during the Last Sup-

per account. Jesus turned to Peter whom He had

made the leader among the Apostles, and said to

him, “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demand-

ed to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed

that your own faith may not fail; and once you

have turned back, you must strengthen your

brothers” (Luke 22:31-32). The Lord prayed for

strength for Peter both for himself and as an in-

strument of strength for the other Apostles. Do

we ever imitate this prayer by praying for others

in their special needs? We may learn of someone

going through a trial; it is then that our prayers

can support them to have courage and go on. We

may learn of another person who is tempted to

give up their faith or to fall into a sinful situa-

tion. In the face of the weakness of the ﬂesh our

prayers can be a great source of moral strength

for others. If our love is to grow, it is necessary

to expand the focus of our prayers to include the

concerns we have for those who are in trial and

tribulation.

We see Our Lady again in an intercessory role

springing from her spiritual motherhood of the

Church. For nine days prior to the great feast of

Pentecost, she was surrounded by the apostles

and that ﬁrst band of Jesus’ disciples gathered

together in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. They

were prayerfully awaiting the promised gift of

the Holy Spirit: “All these devoted themselves

with one accord to prayer, together with some

women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and His

brothers” (Acts 1:14). Mary is joining her prayers

to that of the ﬁrst members of the Church, pray-

ing for the gift of the Holy Spirit to come. And,

how powerful her intercession must have been

to move the Holy Spirit to come! After all, He

had already come upon her at Nazareth. At the

precise moment she was overshadowed by the

Holy Spirit, the Second Divine Person of the

Blessed Trinity became Man in her womb. At

Pentecost another great event would take place,

namely, the Church was born when the Spirit

came. Our prayers of intercession imitate the ex-

ample Mary gives us in praying for the needs of

our brothers and sisters in Christ. In a special

way we should pray often for the many needs of

the Church in our times. Do we pray for voca-

tions? For our brothers and sisters in Christ who

are persecuted? For the message of the Gospel to

be spread by zealous missionaries in our time?

Our Blessed Lady intercedes as well

Our Lady was no doubt the closest imitator of

Jesus. As He prayed for others, we ﬁnd evidence

of Mary bringing the needs of others to her Di-

vine Son as well. For example, at the wedding

feast of Cana, Our Lady makes known to Jesus

the needs of the young couple whose wedding

celebration they were attending. Her prayer of

concern was simple yet powerful, “They have no

wine” (John 2:3). Our Lady’s concern was for the

young couple not to be embarrassed by a lack of

wine for their guests. This would probably have

forced them to cut short their weeklong wedding

celebration. She was not asked to do something;

she spontaneously saw the need and offered her

words of intercession. They must have been very

powerful because they moved Jesus to work His

ﬁrst miracle. And this happened despite the fact

that He had indicated that it was not the time

for Him to reveal Himself: “My hour has not yet

come” (John 2:4). Because of this miracle Jesus

worked at her request, He “revealed His glory,

and His disciples began to believe in Him” (John

Other examples of intercession in

the Sacred Scriptures

In the Old Testament Book of Exodus we

have a powerful example of Moses intervening

to save the Jewish people from God’s wrath. The

people had worshipped a pagan image of the

golden calf and even sacriﬁced to it. It is then

that we read, “’I see how stiff-necked this people

is,’ continued the Lord to Moses. ‘Let me alone,

then, that My wrath may blaze up against them

to consume them. Then I will make of you a

great nation.’ But Moses implored the Lord, his

God, saying, ‘Why, oh Lord, should Your wrath

blaze up against Your own people, whom You

brought out of the land of Egypt with such great

power and with so strong a hand?’... So the Lord

relented in the punishment He had threatened

Convictions, issue number 21 - January 2010

P rayer: a mission we all have

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