One Mistake We Make When We Want to Make a Difference as Catholics by Shaun McAfee

Church, Converts, Holy Spirit, Spirituality, Vocation

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Do you have Catholic heroes?

When I converted to the Catholic faith I was on fire to make a mark. Having been into blogging before I converted, my conversion gave me a deep zeal and the new information I had learned was quickly converted into content. But it ran out quickly. The more I wanted to be like my heroes, the more impossible that became, and the more frustrated I ended up.

Perhaps you didn’t notice, but there are many Catholics who are just crazy about Catholics. I mean it. I mean it like I mean I absolutely love thick cut, applewood smoked, crisp and greasy bacon. There’s a serious error many commit and I’m guilty of it, too. And I’m not talking about the bacon.

It all began when…

No, it didn’t ever really begin. It’s sort of ingrained into us. We have a problem with being innovators sometimes. We see something that entertains us, and we want to replicate it. We grow to look up to someone, and we want to be just like them. We create this picture in our mind of what a successful Catholic looks like, and we convince ourselves that we cannot be good Catholics or fulfil our purpose until we achieve X, Y, Z.

Imagine the pressure!

Imagine the pressure of the ambitious seeker who read Tim Staples just once, had to convert, converted and the whole nine yards, then felt the call to convert other souls—cause after all that’s what the Bible says we’re called to do—and got started. This person read every book, listened to Catholic Answers Live every day, and was determined to make their mark. Then, just a few months later, the blog this person started wasn’t getting traffic. There was an initial spike, but the ideas were running out, too. The zeal was not converting to numbers as quickly as his/her conscience had. Suddenly, it all seemed like a waste of time. How was this person ever going to replace Scott Hahn?

For real, that’s the idea some people create in their mind. Especially bloggers; but it happens to so many Catholics. The zeal sometimes creates tunnel vision for us, and we create one single lane that we must follow in order to feel like we’re making a difference.

It makes sense, really. But don’t fall into this trap! It’s terribly attractive to look at our Catholic heroes and want to be just like them. While it’s healthy to follow their example, it’s not healthy to narrow our vision on God’s will. Doing that only suffocates our openness to the Holy Spirit and deafens His voice.

I think the pressure people put on themselves when they gain their newfound zeal caused tunnel vision in many people. To avoid this, here’s a couple things to keep in mind:

First, you must focus on personal holiness before you step out and attempt to education and evangelize others. I’m not talking about being a hypocrite, because removing the log in your own eye is much more about clear vision than about hypocrisy. There are nine fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Interestingly, God chose the dove to represent the Holy Spirit, whose wings are made up of nine main feather stems. You must develop the fruits of the spirit in order to truly take fight.

Second, after developing your personal holiness and taking flight, you’re able to use the corresponding gifts of the Holy Spirit. But be conscious of the temptation of that tunnel vision. God has a unique plan for you. What would the world look like if we were all Scott Hahn? There would be a lot of Bible knowledge and handsome beards. No, seriously: remember that Martha’s revelation was understanding that there is something more important that impressing ourselves (and others) with our works. What really matters is how we spend our time with God. Mother Angelica didn’t get into the art of media until her later years. She was able to be so effective because she made priority of the Mary duties, then the Martha.

Third, be yourself. The world will tell you that you need to go out into the world and find yourself. But what you really need to do is find the One who already knows who you are. When you get to know God, whose depth of closeness and relationship is endless, you’ll really get to know who you are.

Hero worship can create a false sense of duty and achievement, contentment and virtue. There’s so many ways to be Catholic. It might not be apologetics or writing. It might be having a certain amount of children. It might be a degree you have to get or a teaching job you have to have. It could even be the priesthood or cloistered life. Whatever it is, don’t be over-eager. The only thing you need to be eager about is knowing and developing your relationship with the One who is eager about you. The rest falls into place.

Check out this article and others at Shaun’s home at the National Catholic Register – http://www.ncregister.com/blog/smcafee/

The Lazy Priest by Dan Gonzalez

Church, Diaconate, Holy Orders, Liturgy

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Throughout my childhood, I never attended a Mass that was assisted by a deacon. I grew up assuming that it was the role of the priest to read the Gospel.

A closer parish eventually opened which was blessed to have a deacon. I noticed that it was he who read the Gospel week after week. My thought was “Man, that priest is LAZY! He has his helper doing all the work!” Little did I know that it is the deacon who is supposed to read the Gospel—this is what the Church envisions.

The Deacon and the Gospel

In the proclamation of the Gospel, Jesus is speaking to us—Christ himself is addressing his bride, the Church. For that reason, only a deacon, priest or bishop may read the Gospel at Mass—but the Church is quite clear that the preference is for the Gospel to be proclaimed by the deacon:

“The function of proclaiming the readings is by tradition not presidential but ministerial. Therefore the readings are to be read by a reader, but the Gospel by the Deacon or, in his absence, by another Priest. If, however, a Deacon or another Priest is not present, the Priest Celebrant himself should read the Gospel, and moreover, if no other suitable reader is present, the Priest Celebrant should also proclaim the other readings as well.” —The General Instruction of the Roman Missal #59

At least by the 600s, it was the function of the deacon to read the Gospel in the liturgy:

“To the deacons it belongs to assist the priests and to serve in all that is done in the Sacraments of Christ, in baptism, to wit, in the holy chrism, in the paten and chalice, to bring the oblation to the altar and to arrange them…to carry the cross, to declaim the Gospel and Epistle, for as the charge is given to lectors to declaim the Old Testament, so it is given to deacons to declaim the New. To him also pertains the office of prayers and the recital of the names. It is he who gives warning to open our ears to the Lord, it is he who exhorts with his cry, it is he also who announces peace.” —Letter of St. Isidore of Seville to Leudefredus

The ordination of a deacon underscores his ministerial function to proclaim the Gospel. During the ceremony, a newly ordained deacon kneels before the bishop, who places in his hands the Book of the Gospels and says:

“Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you now are. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.” —Ordination of a Deacon

However, one must also keep in mind that all priests are deacons—a man cannot receive the Order of Priest without having first received the Order of Deacon. In addition, his priestly ordination does not invalidate or supplant his diaconate.

When celebrating the Eucharist, the priest is performing the function of his ministry. That is why it is preferred, in the absence of a deacon, that a concelebrating priest read the Gospel. But, if the celebrating priest does proclaim the Gospel, he does so by virtue of his deaconate, not as a function of his priesthood.

Instruct the Faithful

The deacon has also been set apart by the Church to instruct the faithful throughout the Mass—it is he who will direct the actions of the people:

  • Let us kneel.
  • Let us stand.
  • Let us offer each other the sign of peace.
  • Bow your heads and pray for God’s blessing.
  • Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.

The voice that guides the assembly is also the one that proclaims the Gospel—a subtle reminder that the Gospel message is indeed a call to action.

What about you? Who proclaims that Gospel at your Mass? Did your childhood parish have a deacon? Share and let’s learn together!

Check out Dan’s webpage at http://www.massexplained.com/

 

Miracles from Heaven by Deacon Marty McIndoe

Evangelism, Family, Healing, Marriage, Miracles, Movie Reviews, Prayer

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“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”   Albert Einstein

 

My wife and I just saw the movie, “Miracles from Heaven” starring Jennifer Garner, Kylie Rogers, Martin Henderson and Queen Latifah.  It was certainly a movie that I would recommend to anyone.  It is based on a true story about an initially happy Christian family living in Texas.  When the movie opens, everything seems as it should be.  There is good family communication, a beautiful farm that they live on, and every Sunday they attend an active Evangelical Church with good music and worship.  The father even says to the mother, “this is the good life”.  Then, the ten year old daughter, Anna, becomes ill.  She has a rare, incurable, digestive disorder where her body cannot handle food.  This disorder causes her severe pain, and there doesn’t seem any hope from the medical world.

The girl’s mother, played extremely well by Jennifer Garner, will do anything to help her daughter.  She struggles with doctors until she finally forces herself upon a specialist in this field at Boston Children’s Hospital.  Even this specialist doesn’t give her much hope.  The mother never gives up on her daughter, but does give up on her faith in God.  The family exhausts all of their financial resources trying to bring comfort to their daughter.  The scenes where she is suffering so badly, while the family cannot do anything to help her, are quite intense and you certainly feel the mother’s anguish.

Then, something happens.  The daughter is climbing a tall dead tree in their yard in Texas.  A branch breaks and Anna plummets thirty feet in to the hollow tree.  It takes rescuers many hours to get her out.  When they do, she is brought unconscious to the hospital.  When Anna awakens, the symptoms of the incurable disease are gone.  Anna shares with her mom how God spoke to her in heaven about how he was healing her.  I don’t want to get in to too much detail because I don’t want to spoil the story for you, but her healing is seen as a real miracle by all involved, including the doctors.  This miracle brings back the faith of her mom as well as the faith of many involved.

At the very end, the mother speaks to their church and says some things that are very important.  She recognizes the miraculous healing of her daughter, but also shows how she saw miracles happen throughout the whole journey involving many different people in what would be seen as doing ordinary things.  There is a lot of power there, especially when they flash back on these things.  After the movie ends, they have pictures and videos of the real family.  Make sure you stay for those.

As Catholics, we believe strongly in miracles.  Our history is full of them.  We also know that miracles don’t always happen in the way we want them.  To me, the strength of this movie is not just the actual miraculous healing, but in the family and friends and what they did during the difficult times.  God works miracles in so many ways.  More often than not, he works them through every day, ordinary actions of love.  I would really suggest you take the time to see this movie.  It is so much better than so many movies we are exposed to.  The faith, love, and gift of family and friendship that this movie offers is so refreshing.  God bless.

Door A or Door B by A.J. Avila

Church, Divine Mercy, Morality, Penance and Reconciliation, Uncategorized

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When I was growing up, there was a game show on television called Let’s Make a Deal. The host, Monty Hall, would give members of the studio audience the opportunity to swap one prize for a different, unknown prize inside a box or behind a curtain. Sometimes the recipient got a better deal by making the trade. Sometimes not.

Of course, if you could see beforehand what was in the box or behind the curtain, you would know whether or not making the trade was a good idea.

I was reminded of this when considering something St. Faustina said in her Diary. She describes being led by an angel into Hell itself. The images she paints of the torments there are staggering. (Diary, 741)

I was more shocked, though, by what she said at the end of it all.

She said she would rather undergo incredible agonies and the greatest sufferings until the end of the world than offend God by the least sin.

So let me get this straight. You have two doors, and you have to choose one of them. Behind Door A is incredible pain and suffering until the Second Coming. Behind Door B is stealing a cookie.

And she’s saying she would choose Door A. Because, apparently, that’s the better deal.

What’s difficult to accept is that she’s right.

We all have a tendency to downplay sin, especially venial sin. Well, yeah, I told a lie, but it’s not like it was a big lie. Not like lying on the witness stand or something. It was just fudging a bit on my taxes. It was just claiming the light was green instead of red when I entered the intersection. No big deal, right? Sheesh, it’s not like I’m Hitler or something!

When we start comparing ourselves to Hitler instead of the Person we should be comparing ourselves to (namely, Jesus), we’ve lost sight of just how diabolical sin is. God is infinitely greater than the universe, and I, little mote of dust that I am, sinned against That? Against Utter Perfection? Against Grace?

That’s exactly what I’ve done. And that’s exactly what Jesus went to the Cross for.

See how much my sins cost? How can sins paid for by such a great price be considered “little”?

That’s why, despite what I’ve heard out of the mouths of a couple of priests, there’s no such thing as a “little sin.” Yes, some are incredibly bigger than others, so big, in fact, that they destroy God’s grace in our souls. But none of them are small.

And that’s also why God wiping them out is such an incredible act of mercy.

 

Visit author, A.J. Avila at her blog at https://reflections911.wordpress.com/

Conversion to the Bread of Life by Deacon Marty

Apologetics, Church, Early Church Fathers, Eucharist, Life in the Spirit, Liturgy, Spirituality

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The Jewish Synagogue in Capernaum where Jesus gave his sermon on eating His Body and Drinking His Blood (John 6:52-59) in today’s Gospel.

I was sitting in mass this morning listening to the fascinating account of Paul’s conversion (Act 9: 1-20) and I thought of my own conversion story that happened about 44 years ago.  I then proclaimed the Gospel where Jesus tells us that we MUST eat His flesh and drink His blood (John 6:52-59) to have LIFE within us.  As I read that Gospel, thoughts of my own conversion became so very vivid.  I would like to share some of those thoughts with you now.  This is certainly a brief testimony; there are so many other details to it.   Those are for another time.

I was raised as a Methodist and we celebrated “Communion Sunday” one time per month.  We all received cut up squares of white bread and drank small, shot sized, glasses of grape juice.  We were taught that we did this because Jesus wanted us to remember what He did at the last supper.  I really didn’t think much about this, but liked “Communion Sunday” because the sermon was always shorter.  I did drift away from that church, and from God, during my college years.  I married a Catholic girl and would occasionally attend mass with her, but without much thought about the mass, I thought more about going out to breakfast afterwards.  Many things happened that caused me to be in somewhat of a “funk”, and through a series of interesting events (miracles) my wife and I were invited to go to a Life in the Spirit Seminar.  At the time, I wasn’t sure what made me say yes to going.  Today I know that it was God’s Spirit that led me there.  We attended the Seminar and things began changing, for the good, in my life and in my relationship to my wife.  On the fifth week of the Seminar, we were prayed over for the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit”.  My life hasn’t been the same since.  Everything seemed to take on new meaning.  I was especially moved by the Bible and began reading it and praying with it at every possible chance.  This new found relationship with Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit brought new life to the scriptures for me.  I was especially drawn to the Gospel of John.  So many times in that Gospel, Jesus talks about being the Bread of Life.  I read the Gospel mentioned above and thought that it was VERY clear that Jesus wanted us to do more than just remember the Last Supper.  He very clearly told us that we must eat His Flesh and Drink His Blood.  I found the same thoughts in other Gospels and in Paul’s letters.  The only church that I knew that taught this was the Catholic Church.  I am a person who has to research everything, so I began getting out Church documents such as Vatican II documents.  As a person who also loves history, I also began reading early Church history and began to devour information on the early Church fathers.  It was very clear to me that the Catholic Church in its beginnings and today followed Jesus in teaching what He taught.  It was also very clear that what the Church taught today was essentially identical to what it lived out in its very beginning, from the time of the Apostles in to the later centuries.  There was no doubt that Jesus instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper and wanted us to continue that, through the Church that He had established.  I had found the source for my being able to do what Jesus taught, to eat His Body and drink His Blood.  I went to my local pastor and He brought me in to an RCIA program and then brought me in to His Church.  I am a daily communicant, and I fully believe that each day I eat His Body and drink His blood and have LIFE because of Jesus.  God is so good.

Do Catholics Believe Jesus had no Earthly Brothers and Sisters? by David Rummelhoff

Apologetics, Blessed Virgin Mary, Scripture, Uncategorized

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Let’s begin by asking, does anyone believe that Jesus had biological siblings — brothers or sisters born of the same biological mother? Yes. (And that’s probably no revelation to you.) The follow-up question is, why does anyone believe that Jesus had biological siblings? The most prominent answer to that question will be, “Well, the Bible says Jesus had siblings.” And if that’s why you believe that Jesus had biological siblings, born of the womb of Mary, then I understand where you’re coming from. I believed the same thing for a long time.

The task then is to read the Scriptures that lead people to believe that Christ had biological siblings, and to examine them closely enough to determine whether or not that is the most tenable or probable case. And where do we begin? Perhaps the best place would be Matthew 13:55-56 (which has a close parallel in Mark 6:3). In this passage, the people of Nazareth are responding to Jesus’ teaching in the synagogue:

Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”

Again, that seems straight-forward enough, so nobody is jumping to any conclusions here by thinking these are biological siblings. That said, we must note that in the language of the New Testament, the terms here are not absolutely indicative of siblings. The Greek term, which is adelphoi, is also indicative of other familial relations. Fine, but that’s merely a possibility, that doesn’t demonstrate that these four men named are other than Mary’s children. So, let’s see if the NT can clarify for us who these men are in relation to Jesus and Mary.

Jump to Matthew 27:55-56 :

There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

Here we find another mention of “James and Joseph”, and here their mother is named Mary. However, it is fairly clear that this Mary who was looking on from a distance is not the Mary who bore Jesus. Why? Well, the central character is Jesus, and quite frankly, being the mother of Jesus is a far more important and distinguishing piece of information than being the mother of anyone else. And that this is a different Mary than Jesus’ mother is reinforced a few verses later (v.61) when Matthew writes:

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

“The other Mary”? Yes. Once again, the Mary who was paired with Mary Magdalene just a moment ago is now called “the other Mary”. It’s not easy to justify the idea that Matthew would refer to the mother of Jesus Christ as “the other Mary”, which is probably why there’s almost no Scripture scholar on earth who believes this other Mary is the mother of our Lord.

Maybe you’re not totally convinced; I get it. So, let’s look at another account of the crucifixion to see how another Gospel writer recorded the presence of these people. John 19:25 :

but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

Alright, John has given us three Marys. One he identifies by her being the mother of Jesus. Another is the famed Mary Magdalene, and the last is, we’re fairly certain, the “other Mary”, the wife of Clopas and the sister of Jesus’ mother. So, Jesus’ mother is named Mary, and his mother’s “sister” is named Mary. Of course, that Jesus’ maternal grandparents gave two daughters the same name is extremely improbable. So, this is probably another one of those instances where that Greek term adelphoi is used to indicate a non-sibling relation. In other words, it’s quite likely that Clopas’ wife is the cousin of Jesus’ mother.

  1. So, that gives us good reason to conclude that the first two “brothers”, James and Joseph, named in Matthew 13 are of some other familial relation to Jesus. In fact, the evidence strongly indicates that they are Jesus’ second cousins. And if the first two adelphoi named are only second cousins of Jesus, it is certainly improbable that the men and sisters mentioned after are of closer relation, certainly not the children of Mary and Joseph.

Does this “prove” that Jesus had no siblings? No, but it tells us that it’s highly improbable. When the people of Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth thought of Jesus’ family members, the first people they named are second cousins

Visit David’s website at www.sperolaus.com

 

David Rummelhoff is a stay-at-home dad whose three little girls have him on a short leash since he finished his MA in theology. He pretends to have time to read and write, but he really spends his days incessantly preparing food for children with insatiable appetites and dangerous minds. He is the founder of Peter’s Mark.

Divine Mercy Too by Deacon Marty

Uncategorized

20160403_112933Corpus Christi Parish in Lexington, SC on Divine Mercy Sunday

20150923_111200Unschooled orphan children in Lufwanyama, Zambia

Last Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday, I was down in Lexington, South Carolina for my father’s funeral.  I attended Corpus Christi Parish.  I went by myself as my wife was still in New York and could not be there, and my brothers and sisters living near there were not Catholic.  Even though I went by myself, the parishioners were very warm and welcoming and I felt at home.  The priest who said the mass gathered all of the children around him on the altar steps.  He asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Each child responded and there were things like, Teacher, Astronaut (what I would have answered at that age), Police man or woman, Fire man or woman, etc.  The children were all excited at the personal attention the priest gave them and at his interest in their ideas.  After hearing from all of the children, he said that all of them could probably become what they wanted to be with a little bit of work.  Then he said, “what if your parents told you that age eight you had to leave school and help with the farm; or what if there was no school at all near you; or what if the school consisted of a metal shed with no books or blackboards or other learning tools.”  He told them that for a very large number of children in the world, that was what they faced.

When he said this it reminded me of my own mission trip down to Zambia in Africa last fall.  I went with a charity (HALO Missions) that helps bring medical and educational help to orphans throughout that area.  I remember the wonderful, happy children who could not attend school because they did not have the money to buy the government required school uniforms.  I remember visiting the local school that was definitely under sized and quite primitive compared to what we have.  I remember helping bring medical assistance to these orphans, sometimes saving their lives with less than $4.00 worth of medicine.  I remember the school headmaster’s smile when we told him we were giving him enough money to complete the school extension that the government had stopped due to lack of funds.  I also remember the joy on the faces of the 109 orphans that we dealt with telling them that we would purchase their school uniforms so they could attend school.  Helping others brings such joy, and there are so many who need help.  That was the message that the priest gave the children.  They were having a special fund raiser for a charity that helped children around the world.  I hope that the parents of these children heard that message and contributed generously.

So what does this have to do with Divine Mercy?  It has plenty do to with it.  John Paul II told us that Divine Mercy was twofold.  The emphasis we have most of the time is the first part:  God is Merciful; he is filled with unending Mercy.  We do need to hear that and take it in to our heart.  But we also have to live out the second part.  The second part is that we too are called to be like God and be filled with Mercy.  That means not only being forgiving, but also being generous in our dealings with others, especially the poor.  We need to touch the people around us by showing God’s Mercy in our everyday lives.  But we also have to be Merciful to those who do not have what we do.  We need to shower them with generous, merciful actions.  This Sunday, as we continue our Easter celebration and hear Jesus tell St. Peter that he must feed and tend the sheep, we too must think about how we can feed and tend God’s children who are in need.  This should be a time when we think about the other part of Divine Mercy, Divine Mercy Too, our response to God’s Mercy and our call to bring Mercy to others.  God bless.

To check out the the HALO missions website go to http://www.halomissions.org

Light the Fire by Patrick Sullivan

Evangelism, Spirituality

FB_IMG_1459080671146The picture is from lighting the Easter Vigil Fire at St. Francis de Sales in Patchogue, NY

 

Well it is Monday…and it is cold in my house.

 

I assumed that with the winter almost over I would not need to maintain the wood furnace so much but waking up this morning it is now obvious that I was wrong.

So here I am sitting by the fire hopeful as I look at the coals and yet consistently disappointed that any flame that seems to appear is blown out the moment I turn my eye from it.

I have stuff to get the fire started, and I have been relying on it heavily, but now I am awake to the possibility that it might not be the right kind of kindle at all.

And the thought has struck me…

Isn’t this precisely what has been happening in the world of evangelization?

There are some who really do think that we are beyond the need to evangelize; that it had its place in something like the winter of the Church perhaps, but since Vatican II it has come and gone, and it is time to move on.

There are others who are constantly amazed that the fire is not ablaze already.

After all, they had already tended to that need; answered that person’s question; provided the parish program that would really knock them off their feet.

And some of us have learned the hard way that every soul is like a single coal just waiting for the right kindle.

Knowing that when you first see the flame that it was called to be, you cannot take your eyes from it assuming that it will break forth into some self sustaining heat.

No, you must constantly feed it, encouraging where you can; providing it with all the oxygen of God that you can convey.

So today, while you tend to the soul our God has called you to, remember that soul will ‘light’ if you find the right fuel; and it will burst into flame over time IF you don’t forget about it.

Have a great day, friends.

in Christ,

Patrick

 

Patrick Sullivan is a lay Catholic Evangelist, Author and Speaker.

So far, this has meant YouTube videos on various topics from a Christian perspective, speaking at many parish, conference, school and other events, as well as the completion of two books.

The first book was written to meet the needs and challenges of teachers and their students who want to clearly distinguish the Christian Faith from any other (Four Monks Walk into a Pub). And the second book was written to assist all of the faithful Christians out there who want a real plan of action for how to evangelize (Dare to Be an Evangelist).

check out his web page at: http://www.evango.net

 

The Annunciation by Deacon Marty

Blessed Virgin Mary, Church, Early Church Fathers, Prayer
The lower church of the Basilica looking in to the house of Mary where the angel appeared for the Annunciation
The lower church of the Basilica looking in to the house of Mary where the angel appeared for the Annunciation
The house of Mary in the lower church
The house of Mary in the lower church

This special Solemnity is usually celebrated on March 25th, exactly nine months before the birth of Jesus.  This date, and its importance, comes down to us from the apostolic age.   St. Irenaeus, a second century Bishop, received the tradition from disciples of the Apostles themselves.    This year we celebrate the Solemnity on April 4th because March 25th of this year was Good Friday.  Think about that, this year March 25th was the date of the conception of Jesus, as well as the date of His death.  Since both of these events show the great Mercy of God, it is quite appropriate that this falls during the Year of Mercy as declared by Pope Francis.  The Church moves celebrating this Solemnity whenever it falls during Holy Week.  It is moved to the Monday following the Octave of Easter.  While this is not a Holy Day of Obligation, it is an important Feast that needs to receive special attention.  At the end of this article, I will look at several ways we can do that.

I had the privilege, of visiting the actual place where our tradition holds that the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary.  This is in the child hood home that Mary occupied in Nazareth.  Today there is a beautiful large Basilica built over the spot that has within it two previous churches built around the house.  The first church is from the Byzantine era (4th Century) and the second church is from the Crusaders era (12th Century).  The pictures that I took above show ruins from both churches.  The free standing pillars were brought from Rome by St. Helene, the mother of the Emperor Constantine in the early 300’s.  If you look inside the two churches you will see the actual home itself.  Behind the altar are stairs that led up to the street.  Outside of the Basilica you can see excavations down to the street level of Mary’s time.  You can see the entrance to her home.  The Basilica itself was built in 1964 and is quite large with several areas for Mass and prayer.  Around the inside of the Basilica you see mosaics and pictures from all over the world that depict the Annunciation and other Marian devotions.  There are more pictures outside that go around the courtyard.  It is a most beautiful, and holy, place to visit.  It is quite interesting to see how so many various cultures of the world depict Mary.

St. Luke, in his Gospel account (Luke 1: 26-38), tells us that the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a virgin, name Mary, in Nazareth of Galilee.   Gabriel tells Mary of God’s plan and that she was being asked to become the Mother of Jesus.  She certainly had questions about this mind blowing revelation, but she quickly said YES to God.  You cannot help but to think back to the Garden of Eden account where Eve said No to what God had asked.  This new Eve, Mary, now says a big resounding “be it done to me according to thy will”.  Oh how the Devil must have cringed at Mary’s consent!  What a gift this young  woman was to God’s plan of salvation.  The incarnation of the Savior could now happen because of Mary’s yes.  Satan saw the beginning of his defeat by the words of Mary.  The Word became flesh because the word of a young, female human consented.  No wonder the Church has always given Mary such a special place.  No wonder that Satan seems to flee when Mary is brought present.

So how do we celebrate this great Solemnity?  Going to mass is certainly a great start.  Praying the Rosary is another great thing.  Praying the Divine Mercy prayers is another.  Try praying the Angelus prayers and making a habit of it, especially at noon time.  I would certainly recommend that every family read the Gospel account, as listed above, together as a family, and then discuss what God has done through Mary and through the gift of the Incarnation.  Also, you can prepare (or purchase) an Angel food cake for dessert or snack and talk about the gift that God has given us in Angels.  Think about a friend or family member that is pregnant and give them a call.  Lend support to a Pro-Life group by giving prayers, actions or donations.  All of these are great ways to celebrate the YES of Mary.

The Angelus:  The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, And she conceived of the Holy Spirit. (say the Hail Mary).  Behold the handmaid of the Lord, Be it done to me according to Your Word. (say the Hail Mary).  And the Word was made flesh, And dwelt among us. (say the Hail Mary).  Pray for us O Holy Mother of God.  That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.  LET US PRAY – Pour forth, we beseech Thee O Lord, Thy Grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection.  Through the same Christ Our Lord.   Amen

Divine Mercy by Deacon Marty

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DIVINE-MERCY-IMAGE1This Sunday, the first Sunday after Easter, is Divine Mercy Sunday.  This is such an important day for us, especially during this YEAR OF MERCY.  We are called to see how the love of God is poured out upon us in His Mercy.  Now we especially see Divine Mercy in relationship to our death, but I think we should also see it in our day to day walk with Jesus.   We should experience all of life with a sense of gratitude for the Mercy God shows us.  The gift of life itself calls us to be filled with gratitude for what God has given us.

This last week I have personally seen God’s love and Mercy at work.  On Monday I received a call from my brother that my 90 year old dad had become seriously ill.  He lived in an assisted living home in Columbia, SC.  I live in Long Island, NY.  His care workers saw that he did not come out of his room for breakfast.  They knew that he never missed a meal, so they thought something was wrong.   They went in to find him unconscious on his bed and immediately called an ambulance.   He was rushed to the hospital and my brother was called.  After some testing they found that he had a bad infection caused by his divitriculitus.  It was severe enough that they believed he would not recover.  My brother told me I should come down as soon as possible.   Since the airfare was extremely expensive,  I planned to drive down, which would have taken me two days.  Fortunately,  God has given me a wife who had the wisdom to tell me that I should fly down.  I did that and came to dad Tuesday afternoon.

As soon as I got to the hospital, I  talked to my brother.   Dad was getting worse.  I went in to see him and dad was fairly awake because the nurses had just washed him.  He lit up as soon as I walked in and tried to talk, but could only mouth “Marty”.  His look on his face when he saw me is one I will never forget.   God, in His Mercy, allowed me to get there just in time.  Right after that,  he never fully awoke.  All four of his children,  and several of his grandchildren were gathered around him.  We stayed with him until finally,  on Wednesday morning, he breathed his last.  I see God’s Mercy in allowing all four of his children to be there for his last few days.

I also see God’s Mercy in his death.  Although the doctors told us that he could have a prolonged and difficult death, he didn’t.   On Wednesday  morning his blood pressure kept failing and the hospital allowed all four of us gather around him in his ICU bed.  We told him how much we loved him and we first prayed the Numbers 6 prayer and then prayed the Our Father.  As we prayed the last words of the Our Father, he breathed his last breath.  He died peacefully,  with his children and grandchildren around him.  I certainly saw God’s Mercy in this.

My dad was originally baptized a Methodist and when I was about 20 he became a Jehovah Witness.   This conversion of his has caused a great deal of difficulty within our family.  However,  the last few years have brought a lot of healing to us all and I see God’s Mercy at work in this.   I really believe the Jehovah Witnesses are very misled in their beliefs and I would certainly consider them to be in apostasy.   I have worried about my dad (and Mom’s) salvation , but I know that dad loved God and served Him in the way he thought was correct.   Because I know of God’s Mercy, I feel better about my Mom and Dad’s salvation.   I do believe that we all have to face God in judgment for our lives.  However,  it is good to know that we have a good and Merciful  judge.

The Second Greatest Act of Mercy by A.J. Avila

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The Second Greatest Act of Mercy

Posted on March 31, 2016 by

 

The second greatest act of mercy I’ve ever known was performed by somebody whose name you have probably never heard.

She was Assunta Goretti, mother of St. Maria Goretti.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the story of Maria Goretti, at the tender age of eleven she was threatened by a neighbor, Allesandro Serenelli, to give in to his sexual advances. When she refused, Allesandro stabbed her 14 times. She survived the attack long enough to make it to the hospital but later died of her injuries.

Allesandro was of course arrested and sent to prison. While there, he had a conversion experience in which Maria appeared to him in a dream with 14 white lilies, one for each time he had stabbed her.

Maria did forgive her murderer, which was a great act of mercy, but one even more incredible was to come.

Allesandro was released from prison 27 years after the attack. He sought out Maria’s mother, Assunta Goretti, to beg her forgiveness.

Amazingly, she not only forgave him but (get this!) adopted him as her own son.

If your initial reaction is “How could she do that?” you and I are a lot alike. To tell you the truth, if a man murdered one of my daughters, I don’t think I’d have it in me to adopt him as my son, no matter how repentant he was. He would always be there, as a reminder. I would every day see the hands that had snuffed out my daughter’s life.

Forgive . . . yes.

Adopt . . . are you crazy?

Then it occurred to me that there is another act of mercy similar to this one, in fact, the Number One Act of Mercy.

You see, someone did for me what Assunta did for Allesandro.

Those were my sins that scourged Jesus. Those were my sins that crowned His head with thorns. Those were my sins that nailed Him to the cross, that shed His Precious Blood, that caused His excruciatingly painful death.

That’s what I did to a certain Someone’s Son, and yet . . .

And yet He not only forgave me but adopted me as His daughter.

I’d always known about God’s great mercy in dying for my sins. But I had not stopped to consider the second part of the story: God making me His own child.

When I came to this realization, for the first time it hit me like a bullet between the eyes what it actually means that God’s Love and Mercy goes to such great lengths.

And I will be eternally grateful.

EASTER SUNDAY by Deacon Marty

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This is a picture that I took while we were out on the Sea of Galilee in a boat.  It was early in the morning and there was a low fog on the waters.  We started singing the song, “How Great Thou Art” and all of a sudden rays of sun came through the clouds.  It was a real Holy Moment.  God is good.

CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN TODAY, ALLELUIA – What a day of Joy for the Church, for the world.  Today the victory over death has occurred.   Because of Jesus’s  resurrection we now have Hope and Joy and Peace and Love and Life.  God is so good!  For the next forty days the Church will CELEBRATE the resurrection of the Lord.  This echoes the forty days that Jesus spent with His disciples in His Resurrected Body.  He spent those days teaching them and getting them ready to form the Church and spread the GOOD NEWS throughout the world.  He prepared them for His own leaving (Ascension in to Heaven) and for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  Today the Church begins the Easter season where we too will be learning so much from the Lord through the scripture readings of mass.  It is a very Holy time for us.  We too need to learn about the gift that God will give us at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit.  In Romans, Paul tells us that the Spirit that lives within us is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.  Now that is true power.  We need to learn more about what God can do through us when we are open to His Spirit.  The Easter Season will help us do that.  Remember that Easter is a forty day process.  Make the best of it.  May our good Lord continue to bless you and yours and may you have the very best Easter season ever.

A reading from the first apology of Justin Martyr in defense of the Christians, c. 100-165

Apologetics, Church, Early Church Fathers, Eucharist, Liturgy, Sacraments

No one may share in the Eucharist except those who believe in the truth of our teachings and have been washed in the bath which confers forgiveness of sins and rebirth, and who live according to Christ’s commands.

For we do not receive this food as ordinary bread and as ordinary drink; but just as Jesus Christ our Savior became flesh through the word of God, and assumed flesh and blood for our salvation, so too we are taught that the food
over which the prayer of thanksgiving, the word received from Christ, has been said, the food which nourishes our flesh and blood by assimilation, is the flesh and blood of this Jesus who became flesh.

The apostles in their memoirs, which are called gospels, recorded that Jesus left them these instructions: he took bread, pronounced the prayer of thanksgiving, and said: “Do this in memorial of me.  This is my body”.  In the same way he took the cup, pronounced the prayer of thanksgiving, and said; “This is my blood”, and shared it among them and no one else.  From that time on we have always continued to remind one another of this.  Those of us who are well provided help out any who are in need, and we meet together continually.  Over all our offerings we give thanks to the Creator of all through his Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

On Sundays there is an assembly of all who live in towns or in the country, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read for as long as time allows.

Then the reading is brought to an end, and the president delivers an address in which he admonishes and encourages us to imitate in our own lives the beautiful lessons we have heard read.

Then we all stand up together and pray.  When we have finished the prayer, as I have said, bread and wine and water are brought up; the president offers prayers and thanksgiving as best he can, and the people say “Amen” as an
expression of their agreement.  Then follows the distribution of the food over which the prayer of thanksgiving has been recited; all present receive some of it, and the deacons carry some to those who are absent.

Those who are well provided for, if they wish to do so, contribute what each thinks fit; this is collected and left with the president, so that he can help the orphans and the widows and the sick, and all who are in need for any other
reason, such as prisoners and visitors from abroad; in short he provides for all who are in want.

So on Sunday we all come together.  This is the first day, on which God transformed darkness and matter and made the world; the day on which Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead.  For on the day before Saturday he was crucified, and on the day after Saturday, that is the Sunday, he appeared to his apostles and disciples and taught them the truths which we have put before you for your consideration.

 

Justin Martyr – Christian apologist, born at Flavia Neapolis (northern west bank of Israel), about A.D. 100, converted to Christianity about A.D. 130, taught and defended the Christian religion in Asia Minor and at Rome, where he suffered martyrdom about the year 165. Two “Apologies” bearing his name and his “Dialogue with the Jew Tryphon” have come down to us. Leo XIII had a Mass and an Office composed in his honor and set his feast for 14 April.

HOLY SATURDAY by Deacon Marty

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The church built around the empty tomb.  The church door is closed while the monks change their shift.  On Holy Saturday the rock closed the tomb.

During the day, the Church waits at the Lord’s tomb.  We think about how Jesus suffered and died just for us.  We do not celebrate any sacraments today until we come to the Easter Vigil this evening.  When the Vigil comes, we will finally be able to celebrate; and celebrate we do.  I would like to go over what happens during this most beautiful service.  I do not think that reading about it is enough; I really suggest that you attend one in your own parish.

The Vigil is divided in to four parts:  A service of LIGHT; The liturgy of the WORD; The liturgy of BAPTISM; and the Liturgy of the EUCHARIST.  Here is a breakdown of the major happenings within each part.

A service of LIGHT – The vigil begins in darkness. All of the members in the church receive their own small candle.  Outside of the Church (or in the vestibule) a fire is prepared and blessed.  The deacon holds the Easter candle near the fire.  The priest lights the Easter candle from the fire and places five grains of incense in to the candle on a sign of the cross calling to mind the five wounds of Jesus.  This Easter candle represents the Risen Jesus, the light of the world, but even in His resurrected body He shows the wounds of His crucifixion.  The deacon carries the Easter candle in procession in to the Church and up to the altar.  He stops at the door and sings, Christ our Light, and then again at the middle of the church and then again at the altar.  Everyone’s candle is lit from the Easter candle by people sharing the light given to them.  By the time the candle is at the altar, the whole church is lit by candle light.  It is very beautiful to see.  We can’t help to better understand how Jesus is the light that dispels all darkness and we are the ones who spread that light to each other.  The Easter Proclamation EXSULTET is then sung by the deacon (or singer).  This is a most beautiful ancient poetic song.  The church lights are put on, but the altar candle as left unlit.

The liturgy of the WORD – The Church provides us with nine readings for the Vigil (pastoral necessity allows it to be shortened slightly).  Seven are from the Hebrew scriptures and two from the New testament (one is a Gospel).   The readings are followed by a responsorial psalm and a prayer.  This evening we hear of the history of salvation as it leads to Jesus.  The readings are very important and a homily must be given.   The church candles are lit when the first new testament reading is read.

The liturgy of BAPTISM – The Easter Vigil has traditionally been the time when new people come in to the Church.   Our RCIA programs prepare converts and new people for this evening.  Very often Baptisms are necessary (converts from other Christian faiths do not need a baptism if the first is done with the Trinitarian formula).  The waters to be used for Baptism, and the sprinkling of the people, are blessed using the Easter candle.  The very beautiful singing of the Litany of the Saints is something everyone should experience.  The new people are baptized and confirmation is also done when it is indicated.  Not only do the new people state their baptismal promises, but all the faithful renew their baptismal promises and are sprinkled with water recalling their own baptism.

The liturgy of the EUCHARIST – The Vigil continues with the Eucharist prayers and all the faithful receive.  The mass is ended with a real sense of Joy of the Resurrection.

NOTE:  The Easter Candle is let at all liturgies during the Easter season.  It is also lit at all baptisms and funerals during the Church year.

What Does Easter Mean in Deadly Practical Terms? By Ken Hensley

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In Catholic parishes throughout the world this coming Sunday, the words “He is risen, alleluia!” will be proclaimed.

But what will most Catholics have in their minds when they mutter, or speak, or even shout with joy, those words? Probably something along these lines: “Jesus Christ rose from the dead and now in him we have the forgiveness of sins. Thank you, Lord!” Or maybe, “Jesus Christ rose from the dead. This is a fact of history. Christianity isn’t a cleverly devised story but really true!”

These are both good and appropriate responses. But I want to add something here. When we look at the teaching of the New Testament, the resurrection isn’t only about the forgiveness of sins or evidence that Jesus was who he claimed to be and who the earliest believers claimed him to be. In the New Testament, the resurrection is about power to become holy.

Let me explain by taking you on a brief tour of Scripture.

Way, way back in the book of Deuteronomy, before the Israelites had even crossed into the Promised Land, speaking to a people who had shown themselves incapable of living in trusting obedience to God, Moses looked to a future day when

The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live (Deuteronomy 30:6).

One day, Moses said, God will act to change his people so that they will love him and walk in his ways.

Some seven or eight centuries later, the Lord spoke through the prophet Jeremiah of a New Covenant he would at some point in the future make with his people. When that time comes, the Lord said, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). God’s law will not be something merely etched on stone tablets. Instead it will be etched on human souls.

A little later the prophet Ezekiel, speaking in God’s name, described this same mysterious distant event in some of the most beautiful words in all of Scripture:

I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean . . . and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and given you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statues and be careful to observe my ordinances. Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God (Ezekiel 36:25-28).

Scroll forward another five hundred years.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night, and our Lord speaks words that seem to him incomprehensible: “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (John 3:5). Now, this poor Jewish scholar was completely bewildered. But he shouldn’t have been. If only he had read Deuteronomy 30 and Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36, he would have understood what the Lord was saying to him. Jesus asks Nicodemus, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?”

So when was this New Covenant put into effect? And how does it come to be effective in each of our lives?

Well, the New Covenant the prophets were pointing toward is the covenant Jesus established at the Last Supper when Jesus broke the bread and shared the cup saying, “This is my blood of the covenant . . .” (Matthew 26:28).

After this, he died, was buried and was raised from the dead on the third day. He ascended to sit at the right hand of power and on the Day of Pentecost he poured forth into his Church the promised Holy Spirit. St Peter stood and preached the first sermon of the Christian era and when the crowds were cut to the heart by his words and cried out, “What must we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized . . . and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” What’s Peter saying? He’s saying, “Repent and be baptized and you will receive what Moses talked about, and Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and our Lord as well! What Ezekiel described in detail will happen to you!”

We know this is what Peter had in mind because in the first letter he wrote to the early Christians, he says in chapter 1, verse 3 that the “new birth” Jesus told Nicodemus about takes place “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (in other words, through the power unleashed by the resurrection) and in chapter 3, verses 21-22 he intimates that this takes place through our baptism.

And baptism . . . now saves you . . . through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities and powers made subject to him (1 Peter 3:21-22)”

Notice how Peter repeats those words “through the resurrection” when speaking of both the new birth and baptism. Peter is telling us that it is through the power of the resurrection that we are born again in our baptism.

One final witness. In Romans 6, St Paul says that in our baptism we were united with Christ in his death and in his resurrection in order that we “might walk in newness of life.” He says that in our baptism our bondage to sin was broken and that we no longer need to be slaves to sin. He’s saying that something actually happened to us in our baptism. He’s saying that God was acting and that he changed us! Two chapters later Paul says that in Christ the Holy Spirit has been given to us “in order that the just requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4).

Ah, sounds just like Moses and Jeremiah and Ezekiel!

Connect the dots. Do the numbers. And this coming Sunday, when you shout out, “He is risen, alleluia!” here’s what I want you to be thinking: “Lord, it is the power of your resurrection that became active in me through baptism, granting me the new birth you told Nicodemus about, removing my heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh, giving me your Holy Spirit in order that I might love the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and walk in faithful obedience to your word. To this I commit myself this Easter Sunday. God, help me!”

Now there’s  a way to celebrate Easter.

About the Author

Ken Hensley is a former Protestant minister and convert to the Catholic faith. He’s an author, speaker and teacher.

“Having worked in the field of Catholic apologetics for nearly 30 years, I’ve been privileged to know and collaborate with many talented, inspirational, and effective teachers of the Faith. It’s no exaggeration to say that my friend Ken Hensley is among the very best of the best of the Catholic apologists serving Christ and His Church today.” Patrick Madrid

“Ken Hensley is a truly remarkable apologist, especially when it comes to Sacred Scripture, Reformation history, and taking complex theological issues and making them accessible to the average Catholic in the pew.” Tim Staples

“As an apologist, Ken Hensley has three secret qualities that, thankfully, aren’t so secret anymore: he’s an exceptionally engaging teacher who brings to the craft his own curiosity and love of the subject; he knows how to distill deep content for the average person; and he’s evangelically Catholic. And did I mention his relentlessly off-beat sense of humor?” Patrick Coffin

“I want to recommend my good friend, Ken Hensley, who is a very effective speaker on a wide variety of subjects, ranging from Scripture and Apologetics to Church History and the New Atheism… Ken is an expert pastor, with a pastor’s heart, who can make the Bible come alive. I’m looking forward to more of his teaching in the future.” Scott Hahn

Ken Hensley – http://www.callingallconverts.com

 

 

Good Friday by Deacon Marty

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Today we recognize that Jesus, after being arrested and detained overnight, went to the officials and, by the demands of the people, was sentenced to crucifixion.  This is a most horrible form of death and torture.  Our word excruciating, as used in describing pain, comes from the same Latin root.  Today, because it is such a solemn day, I am posting only one short post, with pictures, to help you meditate on what Jesus did for us.  Remember that on Holy Thursday, after celebrating the Last Supper, Jesus and His disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane where He was betrayed and arrested and taken in to custody.  That evening was spent in the holding pit in Jerusalem, with other criminals.  I visited that pit and it is deep, hollowed out from rock, and has only one hole that Jesus had to be let down in by ropes.  Here is a picture that I took of it:

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While we were there, we read Psalm 88 which says:

LORD, the God of my salvation, I call out by day;

at night I cry aloud in your presence.

Let my prayer come before you;

incline your ear to my cry.

For my soul is filled with troubles;

my life draws near to Sheol.

I am reckoned with those who go down to the pit;

I am like a warrior without strength.

My couch is among the dead,

like the slain who lie in the grave.

You remember them no more;

they are cut off from your influence.

You plunge me into the bottom of the pit,

into the darkness of the abyss.

In the morning, Jesus was led to the officials traveling over these steps:

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Before His crucifixion, He was scourged while tied to this pillar:

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He was forced to carry His cross to Golgotha, and the stone it was placed in can be seen through the plexiglass at this altar in the Church of the  Holy Sepulcher:

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His Mother, Mary, was present for the crucifixion and truly her heart was pierced by a sword as predicted.  Here is a statue showing this.  This statue is right next to the place of crucifixion:

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When Jesus was taken off the cross, his body was anointed for burial.  Here is a picture of the anointing stone:

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Jesus was then laid in the empty tomb.  Here is a picture of where He was laid.  The marble was placed on top of the actual place to protect it.

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Mary and the disciples were devastated.  The church today waits anxiously for the Easter Vigil mass when we celebrate His resurrection.  The altars are bare and the tabernacles are empty until then.  We too are in sorrow.

Holy Thursday by Deacon Marty

Church, Liturgy

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The Upper Room where Jesus had the Last Supper. 

 

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The Garden of Gethsemane where the disciples slept while Jesus had his Agony.  Some of the Olive trees here today are over 2000 years old (proved by Scientific testing), thus present when Jesus was here.

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Inside the Church of All Nations; this is the stone which Jesus laid upon during His agony.  The altar is built right next to the stone.  We sat around the stone during mass.

This is such a special day for the Church.  Today we celebrate how Jesus gives us the Eucharist and the Priesthood, as well as the call to service.  We do not have our normal mass schedule in Church today.  Rather we celebrate two masses; The Chrism mass and the Mass of the Lord’s Last Supper.  The Chrism mass is held in the morning at the local Cathedral where the Bishop blesses all of the oils that will be used for this year by each of the Parishes in the diocese.  He blesses the Oil of the Sick, the Oil of the Catechumen and the Oil of Chrism.  Each parish in the diocese sends representatives and they take back to their own parishes the blessed oils.  This shows the link between the Bishop and his parishes.  The priests and deacons of the diocese gather together for this mass along with the faithful.  The priests renew their commitment to priestly service.  Remember that today is the day that Jesus gave us the ministerial priesthood.  If you see your priest today, tell him “thank you” for answering God’s call.  In the evening the local parish celebrates the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.  This reminds us that Jesus gave us the gift of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday.  The priests and deacons and faithful gather together in their parish.  It is at this mass that we have the Washing of Feet.  The pastor, or his representative, usually washes twelve people’s feet.  This reminds us of how Jesus washed the feet of His disciples at the Last supper.  It is a call both to humility and to service.  We then celebrate the Eucharist and consecrate enough hosts to be used until the Easter Vigil.  Mass is not celebrated on Good Friday or during the day on Holy Saturday.  There is a procession, after we receive the Blessed Sacrament, where the consecrated hosts are brought to a side chapel for reposition.  The main tabernacle in the church is left empty and the doors open.  It is desirable for the people to gather around the consecrated hosts in the side chapel for adoration and prayer.  This reminds us of how Jesus asked his disciples to remain with him in the Garden of Gethsemane while He had His agony.

During Holy Thursday Jesus had the disciples prepare for His Last Supper.  When they gathered in the Upper Room for this, Jesus taught them the breaking of the bread, the Eucharist.  He washed their feet and He told Judas to go and do what he had planned.  After the Last Supper, Jesus and the disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus had his Agony and the disciples slept through their watch.  Judas comes there with the authorities and picks out Jesus with a kiss.  Jesus is arrested and the disciples all become fearful.

Have you thought about how special our Bishops and Priests are?  Do you see the link between the local Church and the Bishop?  Do your see the link between the Bishop and the Pope and the world wide Church?  How special is the Eucharist to you?  Do you receive often?  Do you spend much time in adoration and prayer?  The Church gives us so much to help us grow in our faith.  Do we make use of what the Church gives us?

The Mouth as a Lethal Weapon by Patti Maguire Armstrong

Church, Communication, Marriage

Words can hurt in more ways than one. The tongue can be a lethal weapon of mass destruction, inflicting damage on others, on relationships, and on the soul of the one who uses them in a harmful manner.
In theory, it would seem easy to control our tongue. It’s small and even can be kept locked up simply by shutting our mouths. Yet, for something that weighs so little, it so often weighs us down in sin and destruction.
Fr. Gary Benz, Pastor, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary in Stanley pointed out that it is often the misuse of speech that destroys relationships, particularly the marriage relationship.
“In our time, a staple of advice given to married couples is the need to communicate,” he said. “You have to talk to each other; you have to communicate daily.” However, he noted that often, the problem is not so much a lack of communication, but too much negative communication.
“Married couples, I find, do talk to each other, but they are saying the wrong things,” he said. “They put one another down; they constantly point out one another’s faults; they make selfish demands; they tell their spouse to be quiet; or they bombard their spouse with words of anger or disdain. Yes, technically, these are forms of communication, but they do little good within married life.”
According to Fr. Benz, communication in marriage should be rooted in love. “Saint Paul reminds Christians, including married couples, in his First Letter to the Corinthians that love is kind; it is not arrogant; it is not rude; it is not irritable; it is not resentful; etc.” He said that true communication in marriage is to communicate like Christ, who is love.
“Jesus’ words to us are always kind, loving, merciful, good, and gentle,” Fr. Benz said. “Couples must imitate this Christ-like way of communication. In doing so, they will have great peace and love within marriage and some day when their spouse passes from this life, they will live with no regrets.”
Another way he said that we let our tongue cause damage is when we have a responsibility to use it and do not. “The mouth can be dangerous when it says nothing,” he said. “When we refrain from fraternal correction and allow people to engage in grave sins which destroy the life of grace in the soul and threaten their salvation, we are hurting them by not using our mouth to speak in the name of Jesus Christ, who uses us daily as His instruments of salvation.”
Fr. Joshua Ehli, who has been serving at Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bismarck while on break from studies at the North American College in Vatican City, also noted that words have the power to seriously fracture a marriage.

“Through the exchange of consent using simple words (“I do”) God unites a man and a woman in a sacramental bond so strong that only death can fracture it,” he said. “We know the power of simple words like ‘I love you’ or ‘You are beautiful’ to uplift the soul and fill our hearts with love.” Unfortunately, he explained, spoken words can also be seriously detrimental to the spiritual bonds of love and communion. “It is for this reason that St. Paul declares that, ‘No foul language should come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace to those who hear.’ (Eph. 4:29).”
Therefore, he said that this is the reason that the Church takes very seriously the sins of detraction and calumny. Both “destroy the reputation and honor of one’s neighbor” (CCC 2479). Detraction harms the bonds of love between people by disclosing “another’s faults and failing to persons who did not now them”, while calumny, “by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others…” (CCC 2477).
“When we engage in gossip, or idle and fruitless talk about others,” Fr. Ehli said, “we very easily move into the realm of either detraction or calumny, or even both. The extent of damage can be so severe that the Church even makes provision for significant canonical sanctions (penalties) to be applied to one who ‘injures the good reputation of another.’” (CIC 1390).
“It is clear how seriously Mother Church considers the spiritual damage that can occur through sins of the spoken word, as well as the written word,” he said. “Through His Church, Jesus asks us to be ever vigilant to the power of the tongue and exhorts us to use it to build up bonds of communion and love, avoiding at all costs, no matter how difficult, the spiritual destruction that comes by way of gossip giving way to detraction and calumny”.
In the Church’s Tradition and in basic human experience, it is evident that spoken words can have tremendous effect in building and maintaining bonds of love, according to Fr. Ehli. “Jesus, Himself– the ‘Logos’ or Word–restores the life of Grace in the sinner through a priest’s words of absolution. He also strengthens and nourishes the life of Grace in the faithful who approach Him is the Great Sacrament of the Altar.”

Patti Maguire Armstrong and her husband Mark are the parents of ten children–two AIDS orphans from Kenya.  She is a speaker and author of 10 books, was managing editor and co-author of Ascension Press’s “Amazing Grace” series, published around 1,000 articles, appeared on Fox & Friends, EWTN Bookmark program, EWTN LIve, and Catholic TV as well as radio stations across the country. She also won the About.com 2011 Reader’s Choice award.

Patti has a B.A. in social work and an M.A. in public administration. Writing began as a hobby while raising children. After giving her gift of writing back to God, Patti went from writing for gossip tabloids and secular magazines to authoring Catholic books and articles.

For more information and inspiration, check out Big Hearted: Inspiring Stories From Everyday Families. Your children will laugh while learning spiritual lessons with Dear God, I Don’t Get It! and Dear God, You Can’t Be Serious.

Follow Patti at Twitter and like her Facebook pages at Dear God Books,  Big Hearted Families and  Catholic News & Inspiration on Facebook.

http://PattiMaguireArmstrong.com

The Magic Piano by A.J. Avila

Prayer, Spirituality

There’s an old black-and-white sitcom on television called Make Room for Daddy, sometimes entitled The Danny Thomas Show. It’s one program I actually encouraged my children to watch. No violence. No sexual situations. Definitely family fare.

[SIDENOTE: If you’re unfamiliar with Danny Thomas, he’s the guy who founded St. Jude’s Hospital for Children. He wasn’t making it as an entertainer and one day upon entering a Catholic church saw a statue of St. Jude, the patron of lost causes. He prayed to St. Jude and promised that if he ever made it as a performer, he’d build a shrine to the saint. The hospital is the promised shrine.]

On the show, Mr. Thomas portrays a nightclub singer. In his living room at home, he’s got a baby grand he often uses for rehearsal.

I call it a Magic Piano. That’s because when Mr. Thomas plays it, all of a sudden we hear an invisible violin. Then some woodwinds and percussions join in. Next thing you know, you’re hearing an entire orchestra.

Boy, he sure gets a lot of music out of that piano!

I need something kind of like a magic piano when I’m praying. Now, I don’t mean there’s any magic involved in praying. No, no. Praying is supernatural, not magical.

What I mean is that my praying is so poor that in order for it to be worth something, it needs some accompaniment.  A lot of accompaniment, in fact.

Fortunately, such help does exist. It’s called the Holy Spirit.

As St. Paul tells us, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)

So, to use an analogy, when my praying is as bad as “Chopsticks” on a piano that’s horribly out of tune, the Holy Spirit intercedes and turns my pathetic music into a beautiful concerto.

Now, I’m sure this doesn’t mean I’m supposed to slack off and not put any effort into praying. I’m sure it doesn’t mean I’m supposed to just kick back and let the Holy Spirit do it all.

But it’s gratifying to know that no matter how poor my praying is, if I’m making the effort to do as well as I can, what starts out as a tinny, tuneless prayer becomes majestic when it reaches the throne of God.

Find A.J. Avila at Reflections on My Catholic Journey – https://reflections911.wordpress.com/author/ajavilanovels/

A.J. Avila lives in San Bernardino with her husband. She is the author of three Christian novels: Rain from Heaven, Nearer the Dawn, and Amaranth, which are available on Amazon Kindle with all net profits going to charity. (You can learn a bit about those by reading the synopses on Amazon.)

Faith versus Reason – Fight by Devin Rose

Apologetics, Church
Protestants often fall back to “faith” when challenged with Catholic arguments.

“Well, I just believe that it is true,” they will say.

Whether it is their belief in the shorter selection of books they’ve chosen to be in their Bibles, or in their interpretation of Scripture, they rely on faith and not reason, which they see as another corrupted human faculty.

But truth is one, and truth is found through faith, and through reason.

The Catholic Church teaches that faith and reason complement each other and work together, like two wings on a bird giving it flight.

From Bumper Sticker Catholicism’s Faith and Reason chapter:

1. Faith is not unquestioning belief in something that has no evidence to support it. That is fideism. The dogmas of the Catholic Faith, it is true, cannot be proven by reason alone, or they would not be truths that God needed to reveal, but every dogma has historical and biblical evidence supporting it, which give motives of credibility to believe it is true.

2. God gave us a great gift in His Church by making it both beautifully faithful as well as eminently reasonable. If either piece were missing, it would be immeasurably more difficult to discover her. But God in His wisdom has shown us that just as grace builds upon nature, so faith builds upon reason and does not eradicate it or make it unnecessary.

3. Because Protestants reject the Catholic belief that Christ founded a visible Church and has protected His Church from error in her teachings, they are forced to fill in the holes, inconsistencies, and discontinuities in their beliefs with ‘faith,’ yet doing so is really (unintentionally) being fideistic and not the true use of faith.

Faith and reason don’t have to fight. They were meant to be a matched pair, like two horses harnessed together, pulling a carriage in perfect harmony.

To read about how faith and reason played a key role in my conversion, check out this guest post I wrote for Called to Communion, which garnered over 100 comments and lots of good debate with Protestants.

Devin Rose is a Catholic apologist and a computer programmer.   His book, The Protestant’s Dilemma tells of his journey from Atheist to Baptist to Catholic.

http://devinrose.heroicvirtuecreations.com