Thought of the Day
Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
A commentary on Genesis 12
Abraham is told by God to offer Isaac in sacrifice. This anticipates how God offers his only son Jesus in the New Testament as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. God tests mankind. The usual context for this in the Old Testament is Israel in the wilderness. Abraham is the founding father of Israel. He must entrust his entire life and future to God. Like the book of Job, the reader know what the protagonist does not: God is trying him. Abraham also has other sons so it is inaccurate to say that Isaac is his only son. The Angel in the story mediates God’s word and action. Abraham truly fears God: he gives up control of his own life that he might receive it as a grace. At the end of the chapter the Angel repeats for the 7th time the promises in their most generous form.
Prayer to St. Joseph for a Difficult Problem
Prayer to Saint Joseph for a Difficult Problem
O Glorious St. Joseph, thou who hast power to render possible even things which are considered impossible, come to our aid in our present trouble and distress.St. Joseph, friend of the Sacred Heart, pray for us.
Take this important and difficult affair under thy particular protection, that it may end happily. (MENTION YOUR REQUEST)
O dear St. Joseph, all our confidence is in thee. Let it not be said that we would invoke thee in vain; and since thou art so powerful with Jesus and Mary, show that thy goodness equals thy power. Amen.
F.Y.I. "Christ is the Answer"
MARRIAGE: THE GOOD WINE (a wedding homily), Part 3 By Cormac Burke
Continued from Part 2...
I would suggest three conditions which, if you fulfill them, will make your marriage happy.
* Prayer: The first condition is that you pray a lot ? "The family that prays together, stays together", so the saying goes. I feel certain that the couple married at Cana were a praying couple. Lay that sure foundation of prayer in your married life from the very start. The thought that your marriage is a sacrament, and therefore a source of grace, must be your mainstay. Not only do you want your marriage to be happy, but God wants it to be happy. If you learn to look to Him and pray to Him, your marriage will work out. But marriages do not work out without prayer.
* Unconditional Love: The second condition is that you try to love each other always as God loves you. He loves each of you with your defects. This is the marvel of God's love. He doesn't love our defects, or love us because of our defects. He loves us because of our virtues, or at least because of our possibilities of virtues. But He loves us with our defects. If the moment were to come in which one of you were to begin to see ? to think you see ? more defects than virtues in the other, then you would have to go hurrying to take a refresher course in that school of love where God is always prepared.
If many marriages today go "on the rocks" perhaps it's because the spouses expected too much of one another. Do not expect too much. Try to give without limit, even though you know you will never perfectly succeed in doing so. Therefore do not expect without limit. Only God can give without limit, and only God can satisfy unlimited expectations. He will do that, but only in heaven. Marriage is not heaven; though, if lived in a holy fashion it can be a foretaste and a preparation for heaven. When your partner fails to give what you expected, forgive. And when you fail to give what you thought you would always give, ask for forgiveness.
* Fidelity: The third condition is that you always try to live your marriage in accordance with God's will. In a few moments you will exchange marriage vows, your mutual promises of life-long love and fidelity. These promises are not of your making, though you have freely chosen to make them. They are of God's making, for they express the nature of the marriage bond as He has made it. It is important to remember ? for it is so often forgotten today ? that marriage was God's idea before it was ever man's. The nature of marriage is given by God, just as the promise of happiness marriage contains has been placed there by God. That is why the final condition for achieving that promised happiness is to live marriage according to its God-given nature.
MARRIAGE: THE GOOD WINE (a wedding homily), Part 2 By Cormac Burke
Continued from Part 1
Water to wine is an evident miracle. God's deeper miracles are not always so evident. Wine to Blood is a miracle seen only by the eyes of faith. The appearance has not changed. But the reality has. The reality is divine. It is the Mystery of the Sacraments: God's hidden presence and action through human signs.
The real miracle of Cana is our Lord's endowing human love with a new power: the power to be a sign and a cause of divine love.
He wanted this couple, and all Christian couples, to be happy in loving one another. He wanted them to love him in loving one another. He wanted them to be saints, in loving one another. And so he raised their marriage to be a Sacrament.
Christian teaching on marriage as a Sacrament means not only that husband and wife have God's help, to love each other more, and to love their children more. It also means that in loving each other and their children more, they are loving God more. Marriage is both a means and a challenge to growth in love. And growth in human love, in Christian marriage, effects (i.e. causes) growth in divine love. This is the sacramentality of marriage.
Everyone marries in expectation of happiness. But you must have often reflected on the fact that many marriages do not work out as happy marriages. Will yours? Will you be faithful to one another ? for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, in happiness, to the very end? That is what you hope and pray for today...
John Paul II – “The Pilgrim Pope”
Revered by many as the most prominent man of the 20th century, Pope John Paul II was loved and respected by many millions of people. Active in the Church and world affairs, he was also the first non-Italian Pope in over 450 years, and the first Polish Pope in the history of the Papacy.
Born on May 18, 1920, in the town of Wadowice, near Krakow, Pope John Paul entered the world as Karol Józef Wojtyła, one of three children born to Emilia Kaczorowska and Karol Wojtyła. His older brother, Edmund, was 14 years his senior, but as his sister, Olga, died in infancy, Karol grew very close to his only remaining sibling. Karol’s mother died in 1929, on April 13th, when the boy was only 8 years old.
Karol turned to athletics as a method of keeping his mind and body entertained, and developed kinship with the thriving, vibrant community of Jews in his hometown. Often times, school games would be organized between Catholic and Jewish children. Karol was the first to volunteer to play against his own team if the Jewish players needed an additional player.
In 1938 Karol and his father moved to Krakow, where the young man was enrolled at Jagiellonian University, with studies in various languages and philology. He also volunteered to work in the library, and while the Academic Legion required participation in military training, Karol strictly refused to fire a weapon. Showing his creative side, Karol worked as a playwright and was active in a number of theatrical troupes. Not only was he a talented writer and performer, but he was gifted in languages, which he employed regularly while in Papal office. Highly adept, he spoke Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Russian, Croatian, Esperanto, Ancient Greek, Latin in addition to his native Polish.
Tragically in 1938 Karol lost his brother Edmund, a physician, to scarlet fever. Then In 1939, Karol’s university was forced to close due to the Nazi occupation. To avoid being deported to Germany, the young man worked in a quarry and the Solvay chemical factory from 1940- 1944. In 1941 his father, a non-commissioned officer, died, leaving Karol without immediate family for support.
Karol received his calling to serve the Lord in 1942, and embarked in clandestine seminary courses run by the archbishop of Krakow. After the Second World War ended, the seminary was allowed to re-open and Karol formally enrolled. His university also reopened, and he undertook studies in theology there. On November 1st, 1946, Karol took a step forward and was ordained as a priest by the Archbishop Sapieha.
Not long after, he was relocated to Rome and continued to study and work under the guidance of Garrigou-Lagrange, a French Dominican. His doctorate in theology was completed in 1948, and during breaks or vacations, Karol practiced his ministry among other Polish immigrants in Belgium, Holland, and France. Eventually, he returned to Krakow as vicar and chaplain, then again took up studies in philosophy and theology in 1951.
1958 saw him appointed as titular bishop, and in 1964, he was formally inducted as archbishop of Krakow. Pope Paul IV, who anointed him as archbishop, would also make him a Cardinal in 1967, eventually promoted to por illa vice to the order of priests. Karol, now Cardinal Wojtyla, took part in Vatican Council II, where he contributed to the drafting of the Constitution Gaudium et spes, alongside engaging fully in the Synod of Bishops.
It was on October 16, 1978, that the Cardinals elected him Pope, and he took the name of John Paul II. This election made him the 263rd successor to the Apostle Peter, who founded the Papacy. John Paul II would enjoy the second longest pontificate, or time in Papal office, in the history of the Church.
On May 13th, 1981, a foiled assignation attempt left Pope John Paul II critically wounded, with two bullets lodged in his lower intestine, while bystanders were also hit. After five grueling hours of emergency surgery and many blood transfusions, the Pope survived and even forgave his attacker, who had been apprehended by security and help from those gathered.
Pope John Paul II has gained the moniker “pilgrim pope” for all the traveling outside the Vatican that he had done, and this title was taken from Pope Paul VI, who traveled only 9 times outside the country in his 15 year reign, as opposed to John Paul II’s 129 trips logging more than 725,000 miles. Many of his trips were to countries that previous Pope’s had never visited before.
Pope John Paul II was a man of great charity, learning, wisdom, and faith. His love for his fellow human was evident and unbounded by any external indicators. He prolifically wrote and left behind a large body of literature in his documents and five books.
Pope John Paul II is remembered for his influential presence, opinions, morality, and significantly improving relations with other religions, such as Judaism and Islam. He is also often credited as being responsible for bringing about the fall of communism in his native Poland and eventually all of Europe.
He entered into life eternal on April 2nd, 2005, and the usual five year waiting period from canonization was waived for him, a clear indication that he touched the lives of so many, he was already considered a saint.
Born on May 18, 1920, in the town of Wadowice, near Krakow, Pope John Paul entered the world as Karol Józef Wojtyła, one of three children born to Emilia Kaczorowska and Karol Wojtyła. His older brother, Edmund, was 14 years his senior, but as his sister, Olga, died in infancy, Karol grew very close to his only remaining sibling. Karol’s mother died in 1929, on April 13th, when the boy was only 8 years old.
Karol turned to athletics as a method of keeping his mind and body entertained, and developed kinship with the thriving, vibrant community of Jews in his hometown. Often times, school games would be organized between Catholic and Jewish children. Karol was the first to volunteer to play against his own team if the Jewish players needed an additional player.
In 1938 Karol and his father moved to Krakow, where the young man was enrolled at Jagiellonian University, with studies in various languages and philology. He also volunteered to work in the library, and while the Academic Legion required participation in military training, Karol strictly refused to fire a weapon. Showing his creative side, Karol worked as a playwright and was active in a number of theatrical troupes. Not only was he a talented writer and performer, but he was gifted in languages, which he employed regularly while in Papal office. Highly adept, he spoke Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Russian, Croatian, Esperanto, Ancient Greek, Latin in addition to his native Polish.
Tragically in 1938 Karol lost his brother Edmund, a physician, to scarlet fever. Then In 1939, Karol’s university was forced to close due to the Nazi occupation. To avoid being deported to Germany, the young man worked in a quarry and the Solvay chemical factory from 1940- 1944. In 1941 his father, a non-commissioned officer, died, leaving Karol without immediate family for support.
Pope John Paul II, during his first U.S. visit in 1979, at Yankee Stadium, New York City
Karol received his calling to serve the Lord in 1942, and embarked in clandestine seminary courses run by the archbishop of Krakow. After the Second World War ended, the seminary was allowed to re-open and Karol formally enrolled. His university also reopened, and he undertook studies in theology there. On November 1st, 1946, Karol took a step forward and was ordained as a priest by the Archbishop Sapieha.
Not long after, he was relocated to Rome and continued to study and work under the guidance of Garrigou-Lagrange, a French Dominican. His doctorate in theology was completed in 1948, and during breaks or vacations, Karol practiced his ministry among other Polish immigrants in Belgium, Holland, and France. Eventually, he returned to Krakow as vicar and chaplain, then again took up studies in philosophy and theology in 1951.
1958 saw him appointed as titular bishop, and in 1964, he was formally inducted as archbishop of Krakow. Pope Paul IV, who anointed him as archbishop, would also make him a Cardinal in 1967, eventually promoted to por illa vice to the order of priests. Karol, now Cardinal Wojtyla, took part in Vatican Council II, where he contributed to the drafting of the Constitution Gaudium et spes, alongside engaging fully in the Synod of Bishops.
It was on October 16, 1978, that the Cardinals elected him Pope, and he took the name of John Paul II. This election made him the 263rd successor to the Apostle Peter, who founded the Papacy. John Paul II would enjoy the second longest pontificate, or time in Papal office, in the history of the Church.
On May 13th, 1981, a foiled assignation attempt left Pope John Paul II critically wounded, with two bullets lodged in his lower intestine, while bystanders were also hit. After five grueling hours of emergency surgery and many blood transfusions, the Pope survived and even forgave his attacker, who had been apprehended by security and help from those gathered.
Pope John Paul II has gained the moniker “pilgrim pope” for all the traveling outside the Vatican that he had done, and this title was taken from Pope Paul VI, who traveled only 9 times outside the country in his 15 year reign, as opposed to John Paul II’s 129 trips logging more than 725,000 miles. Many of his trips were to countries that previous Pope’s had never visited before.
Pastoral Visits of Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II was a man of great charity, learning, wisdom, and faith. His love for his fellow human was evident and unbounded by any external indicators. He prolifically wrote and left behind a large body of literature in his documents and five books.
Pope John Paul II is remembered for his influential presence, opinions, morality, and significantly improving relations with other religions, such as Judaism and Islam. He is also often credited as being responsible for bringing about the fall of communism in his native Poland and eventually all of Europe.
He entered into life eternal on April 2nd, 2005, and the usual five year waiting period from canonization was waived for him, a clear indication that he touched the lives of so many, he was already considered a saint.
Card Dolan exposes Obama's devious tactics against Church
Cardinal Dolan: I don't want to judge people, but I think there would be a drift in the administration that this is a good issue. And if we can divide the Catholic community because it's already divided and if one can caricature the bishops as being hopelessly out of touch, these bullies who are trying to achieve judiciously and legislatively what they've been unable to achieve because their moral integrity has been compromised recently. There's that force out there trying to caricature us."
Pray to St. Thomas More for Conversion of Pro-Abortion Politicians
Wilmington, Delaware, October 19, 2004. The bishop of Wilmington Del. has asked
Catholics to pray to St. Thomas More for the conversion of pro-abortion
"Catholic" politicians. Bishop Michael Saltarelli has composed a litany to St.
Thomas More for his intercession to make politicians "courageous and effective
in their defense and promotion of the sanctity of human life."
Thomas More, a layman and lawyer, was the Chancellor of England to King Henry VIII. When he refused to ratify the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and the king's establishment as head of a new religion, More was beheaded. He was canonized by the Catholic Church for his defense of his faith and in 2000 was declared patron of statesmen and politicians by Pope John Paul II.
The practice of asking for the saints' intercession with God is central to Catholic spiritual practice. "Our hope is to lead our people back to prayer and to the basic tenets of this great nation 'In God We Trust,' 'One Nation Under God,' 'God who is the author of all life,'" Bishop Saltarelli said in the diocesan newspaper. "We will storm heaven with our prayers..."
Click here for Bishop Saltarelli's Litany of St. Thomas More, Martyr and
Patron Saint of Statesmen, Politicians and Lawyers (PDF file)
Thomas More, a layman and lawyer, was the Chancellor of England to King Henry VIII. When he refused to ratify the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and the king's establishment as head of a new religion, More was beheaded. He was canonized by the Catholic Church for his defense of his faith and in 2000 was declared patron of statesmen and politicians by Pope John Paul II.
The practice of asking for the saints' intercession with God is central to Catholic spiritual practice. "Our hope is to lead our people back to prayer and to the basic tenets of this great nation 'In God We Trust,' 'One Nation Under God,' 'God who is the author of all life,'" Bishop Saltarelli said in the diocesan newspaper. "We will storm heaven with our prayers..."
Click here for Bishop Saltarelli's Litany of St. Thomas More, Martyr and
Patron Saint of Statesmen, Politicians and Lawyers (PDF file)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)