The Revelation of the Father - Week 19

1. S E S S I O N 19
Purity and the
Presence of Our Lady

2. Lent has just begun!
We have a goal: Transform our hearts into the
fertile soil that God can use to make fruitful.

3. The Daily Lenten Program
1. Begin the day with a consecration of the
day and ourselves to God.
2. Practice Lectio Divina using the
Scriptural passages and starter
meditations provided.
3. Recitation of the Most Holy Rosary of the
Blessed Virgin Mary.
4. Brief examination of conscience at the
end of the day.

4. The Weekly Lenten Program
1. Seven Steps:
• Honor your wedding vows.
2. Don Bosco:
• The Presence of Our Lady.
3. Formation:
• Moral Formation
4. Sacrifice:
• Food and/or Alcohol: Give up your favorite food
and/or alcoholic drink.

5. • “Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that
is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if
love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter
love, if he does not experience it and make it his own,
if he does not participate intimately in it” (St. John Paul
II, Redemptor Hominis, #10).
• “Self-mastery … is a training in human freedom. The
alternative is clear: either man governs his passions
and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by
them and becomes unhappy” (Catechism #2339).
Moral Formation: The Freedom to
Love

6. How can we speak of “Honor your wedding vows”
when our children aren’t married?
It’s simple: the choices they make today
profoundly impact their future marriage!

7. Doesn’t
Pray
40
80
100
No
Degree
BaseCohabitStrayAttend
<1/yr
20
PercentageEverDivorced
No
Cohabit
Source: General Social Survey, 1972-2012.
Attend
Almost
Wkly
60
0
No
Stray
Bachelor
Degree
Pray
Daily
Seven Steps to a Superabundant
Marriage
9.0
3.1
11.012.1
28.5
38.4
59.3 57.8
100.0100.0
0.0

8. 0.5
2.
0
Attend
>1/wk
Base
0
CohabitationOddsRatio
Attend
<1/yr
Never
Pray
1.0
1.5
Source: General Social Survey, 1972-2012.
Pray
<1/day
• Approximately two-thirds of youth
will cohabitate before they get
married.
• Weekly church attendance
reduces the probability of
cohabitation by one-half.
• Daily prayer combined with
weekly church attendance
reduces the probability of
cohabitation by two-thirds.
1.50 1.47
1.00
0.48
Cohabitation and Prayer
0.33
Source: “The Social Organization of
Sexuality,” University of Chicago Press,
1994.

9. 15
45
60
Never WeeklyOnce/moSeveral/yrOnce/yr
0
PersonalAttendanceDaughters
Percent>AlmostWeekly
>Weekly
Source: General Social Survey, 1972-2010
30
Father Attendance at Church
Church Attendance for Daughters
30.1
32.5
35.6
45.7
51.5
62.32.07 Times

10. 15
45
60
Never WeeklyOnce/moSeveral/yrOnce/yr
0
PersonalAttendanceSons
Percent>AlmostWeekly
>Weekly
Source: General Social Survey, 1972-2010
30
Father Attendance at Church
Church Attendance for Sons
22.4
20.2
22.4
28.5
40.7
52.62.35 Times

11. Your personal thoughts are very important to your
children. However, your actions must be in
harmony with your words.

12. 10
40
CombinedSafe Sex
0
FirstSexualIntercourse
(Percent)
AbstinenceControl
20
30
Source: Jemmott, J., et al., “Efficacy of a Theory-Based
Abstinence-Only Intervention Over 24 Months,” Archives of
Pediatrics and Adolescence Medicine, v. 164, no. 2, February
2010, pp. 152-159.
The Power of a Message
• The clear communication of
beliefs and standards impacts
teen behavior.
• Study of alternative education
programs designed to delay the
onset of sexual intercourse.
• Abstinence only message
reduced by twenty percent the
number of teens initiating
sexual intercourse.
• “Safer sex” based message
increased the percentage of`
teens initiating intercourse.
37.5
29.5
40.0
32.8

13. 10
40
DailyWeekly
0
ConsumptionofPornography
(Percent)
MonthlyNone
20
30
Source: Carroll, J., et al., “Generation XXX: Pornography
Acceptance and Use Among Emerging Adults,” Journal of
Adolescent Research, 2008: 23: 6.
General Social Survey, 1972-2012.
50
The Need for Consistency
• Actions speak louder than words
– literally! Children are more
formed by your actions than your
words.
• Approximately eighty-six percent
of college men view
pornography at least monthly.
• Approximately half of college
men view pornography at least
weekly.
• Approximately one-fifth of men
have cheated on their wives.
13.9
37.8
43.2
5.2

14. An Image of Virtue
• Ted Donaldson and twin brother Frank are born
prematurely in 1922 (3 pounds each).
• Engaging personality: everyone anticipated a career in
politics (governor or senator) or business.
• Captured with brother in the Battle of Bulge.
• Sent to concentration camp in 1944.
• Frank becomes very ill.
• Ted prays to God: “Let me and my brother go back to
Adamsville alive, and I will never ask for anything again
and accept whatever you give me.”
• Survived. Accepted first job offered him – worker in a
garment factory for minimum wage the rest of his life.
• “I respect your dad more than any man I’ve ever met,
because … he kept his word forever.”
Source: Russert, T., “Wisdom of Our
Fathers,” Random House Trade
Paperbacks, New York, 2007, pp. 42-43.

15. If you wish to develop the virtue of purity, develop
a devotion to Our Lady. Don Bosco was one of
her most devoted sons.

16. The Guidance of Our Lady
“‘By listening to the woman I shall send to
you, you will do everything with ease’ … he
turned to find a beautiful and gracious Lady
at his side. ‘Don’t be afraid … What I shall do
for these animals, you must do for all my
children. But if you are to succeed in
changing them into lambs, you must be
humble and strong … You will understand
everything in good time.”
Dream of Don Bosco
Source: Lappin, P., “Give Me Souls: Life
of Don Bosco,” Salesiana Publishers,
New York, 1986, “The Lady and the
Dream, prior to Chapter 1.

17. Devotion to Our Lady
• Resolution to recount each day some story about
Our Lady.
• “I would love to describe to you her Immaculate
holiness, her beauty, her great merits and mercy,
her dignity as the Mother of God.”
• Strong devotion to the Immaculate Conception of
Our Lady.
• “The most dangerous [traps leading to hell] were
those of impurity, disobedience and pride.”
• Handed out Miraculous Medals.
Source: Lemoyne, G., “The Biographical
Memoirs of St. John Bosco,” v. 2,
Salesiana Publishers, Inc., New York,
1966, pp. 86-92.
Brown, E., “Dreams, Visions and
Prophecies of Don Bosco,” Don Bosco
Publications, New York, 1986, p. 214.

18. The Reflection of Our Lady’s Purity
• “He imbues his boys with such a spirit of piety
that he almost inebriates them. The very
atmosphere which surrounds them, the air
they breathe is impregnated with religion
…[The boys] would have to move directly
against the current to become bad.”
• “Sanctity was in the air you breathed. You did
not notice its presence so much as its
absence the moment you left.”
Source: Lappin, P., “Give Me Souls: Life of
Don Bosco,” Salesiana Publishers, New
York, 1986, p.p. 149-151.

19. Trust in Our Lady
• Mary Stardero approximately 10 years old.
• Blind for two years with no hope of recovery.
• Don Bosco: “Will you use your eyes for the good
of your soul, and not to offend God?”
• Don Bosco: “Say the Hail Mary and Hail, Holy
Queen.”
• Don Bosco: “For the glory of God and the Most
Blessed Virgin, tell me what have I in my hand.”
• Girl: “A medal of the Madonna.”Source: Lappin, P., “Give Me Souls: Life of
Don Bosco,” Salesiana Publishers, New
York, 1986, pp. 296-298.

20. Developing Devotion to Our Lady
1. Ask Jesus to help you love his mother as he
loves her.
2. Wear the Miraculous Medal around your neck.
3. Recite the Rosary daily.
4. Select a Marian solemnity to celebrate with
great joy. The Annunciation typically falls
during Lent. When it falls on a day OTHER
THAN SUNDAY, it takes precedence over the
Lenten celebration. It is a “get out of jail free”
day!
5. Celebrate one Marian Feast day each month.

21. Don Bosco had a profound love for Our Lady and
saw the difference she made in the lives of
thousands of boys. We should develop a devotion
to her too.

22. Practical Advice
• Develop the virtue of chastity within yourself that
you hope your children will live.
• Strengthen your will against temptations by doing
voluntary mortifications or penance – sacrifice a
favorite food, take a cold shower, etc.
• Know your limitations. Do not place yourself in
the path of temptations.
• Wear the Miraculous Medal around your neck
and have an image of Our Lady in a visible place
in your home.
• Go to confession once each month.
• Do voluntary mortifications or penances for your
children to help strengthen them.

23. Next Week
Money and Trust in Divine
Providence
Small Group Discussion
Starter Questions
1. How can you develop the virtue of chastity in
yourself as an example to your children?
2. What practical steps can you take to develop
a greater devotion to Our Lady?