Keep
your eyes open!...
July 30, 2022
(Joh
6:53-56) Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say unto you: except
you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you shall not
have life in you. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath
everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. For my
flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my
flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me: and I in him.
CATHOLIC JOURNAL: The Eucharist: The Very Foundation of the Church
FR. JOHN A. HARDON, S.J., S.T.D.: Christ the Miracle Worker in the Eucharist
YOUTUBE: Heart Beating Eucharist, Mexico! Further Analysis Reveals Amazing Similarity to Heart Ultrasound!
A video
making its rounds on social media appears to show a Eucharistic miracle
occurring in a small Mexican church. In the low quality footage, the
Holy Eucharist looks as though it is oscillating within its monstrance
during Adoration, keeping the rhythm of a beating heart. The
Archdiocese of Guadalajara has yet to issue a statement on the
recording.
CNA REPORT: A new Eucharistic miracle in Mexico?
A video circulating on social media shows what appears to be a
eucharistic miracle — a consecrated Host exposed for adoration by the
faithful seems to “beat” like a heart.
The video was recorded July 22 at Our Lady of the Rosary parish in the
town of Zapotlanejo, near Guadalajara, in the Mexican state of Jalisco.
Argentine priest Father Carlos Spahn, founder and superior of the
Religious Family of the Immaculate Heart and Divine Mercy, who is
currently ministering in Mexico, led the eucharistic adoration service.
In a statement to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language sister news
agency, Spahn said that the phenomenon occurred after Mass was over:
“We exposed the Blessed Sacrament; I said the prayers for the
exposition, and when I got up to go to the sacristy, this began to
happen.”
“Some people saw it,” he said, and “couldn’t believe what they were
seeing, and we have at least two pieces of footage.” These recordings,
he explained, were made by “people who quickly took out their cell
phones, filmed it,” and passed it on to him almost immediately, since
the priest asked them for that material “so they won’t alter it or
anything.” “So I attest that this is authentic, from the exact moment,”
he said.
The priest said that “it’s not that they said aloud ‘look,’” but that
the people who were adoring the Blessed Sacrament began to see what was
happening, something that lasted “20 seconds, 30 at most.” In
subsequent statements, the priest told ACI Prensa that the event was
repeated at various times between 9 p.m. and 11p.m., but "it was not
seen by everyone, but by some," which he said "shows divine origin,
because if it were a natural thing, everyone would see it at the same
time."
The Archdiocese of Guadalajara hasn’t issued a statement on the phenomenon.
Spahn said that, as “a personal interpretation,” he sees in what
happened “the heart of Christ, which beats with love for men.” This
heart, he lamented, “is so outraged, so abandoned, so despised … that
sometimes we don’t treat it as we should, with greater care, with more
faith, with more dedication.” For Spahn, “perhaps the Church will never
make an official judgment, because it doesn’t need one either.” “I’m
not saying it’s a miracle officially, because I don’t have the
authorization to do it,” he said.
“The archdiocese hasn’t been consulted about it because we were just
passing through; now I’m in another diocese preaching,” he said, and
explained that the local priest will be able to look for “people to
sign and give testimony of what they saw, and this documentation can be
sent to the appropriate person.”
VATICAN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION: Eucharistic Miracles of the World
SURVEY: 7 Amazing Eucharistic Miracles
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Various Subjects
1. I hope all from the Sacred Heart of our Lord
Jesus Christ Who is so filled with love for you that, cost what it may,
He will you should become a saint (To her brother, the priest).
July 27, 2022
(Rom 8:18) For I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed in us.
FR. MARK GORING, CC: Europe Experiencing Chastisement?
FIRST THINGS EXCLUSIVE: How Not to Lead by Charles J. Chaput
ANALYSIS: For the Church the daily news is the new Revelation
ICM: The Narrow Gate, Rescue for the World
“If the angels were capable of envy, they would envy us for two things;
one is the receiving of Holy Communion, and the other is suffering.”
(Diary 1804)
Today, millions of Catholics, religious and lay people, continue to
pray for the situation in Ukraine and Russia which does not seem to be
improving. These beautiful pleas undoubtedly come from sincere hearts
desperately praying for God to intervene. Why does God appear so
indifferent to the matter which so greatly concerns us? The answer may
be found in Fatima apparitions.
In 1916, the Angel of Peace appeared to the children: Francisco,
Jacinta and Lucia, three times, to prepare them for their meetings with
the Queen of Heaven.
Sister Lucia narrates what the angel said to them on coming the second time:
“‘What are you doing? Pray! Pray a great deal! The Sacred Hearts of
Jesus and Mary have merciful designs concerning you. Offer prayers and
sacrifices constantly to the Most High!'” ‘How must we sacrifice?’ I
asked. “‘Offer God a sacrifice of anything you can as an act of
reparation for the sins with which He is offended and as a supplication
for the conversion of sinners. Draw peace upon your country by doing
this. I am its guardian angel – the Angel of Portugal. Above all,
accept and endure with submission whatever suffering the Lord sends
you.’”
As mentioned above, prayer alone seems not to be enough to stop a war,
but something more is needed, namely what is the most difficult – to
take up our cross daily in order to obtain peace of the world, the
grace of repentance and conversion for poor sinners. God cannot forgive
us if we are not sorry. Nothing can save sinners, for there is no
contrition in their hearts. Adding insult to injury, they take pride in
their numerous transgressions. Thus God feels deeply insulted and
someone has to do it in their name. Hence, the paramount need for
atonement for the sins of humanity.
The eternal, wise and loving counsel by which God predestines men and
women “to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom 8:29). By all
means, not all of us are expected to die a martyr’s death, but we are
all called to the pursuit of Christian virtue. Our Lord lived the
ultimate example of a virtuous life. Therefore we know that to be
heroically virtuous is to be Christ-like. Out of love for Jesus, loyal
followers, regardless of whether they want to or not, have to face the
disappointments, misunderstandings, contradictions, and labours with
greater resignation and patience. In short, the only thing that is
left, seek to walk through narrow the gate, the way that leads to life!
Biblical Job can be a beacon of Christian resilience. Blow after blow
falls upon him. He is deprived of his possessions and children, becomes
gravely ill and disfigured. Notwithstanding, Job does not heap this
affliction on the shoulders of his wife or friends. Neither whines and
whinges thinking of no one but himself. He gives his consent to
physical evil which God sends him, just as he had previously accepted
the contentment he enjoyed. Certainly Job could complain before God
about the presence of unjustified suffering in the world, but had not
done so. One of the most inspiring sayings of the Old Testament says
“Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back
there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name
of the LORD!” (Job 1: 21) His case is no mere hyperbole. Christian
tradition looks upon the figure of Job as anticipating Jesus Christ.
The Apostle, Saint Paul, profoundly understands that suffering for
Christ’s sake purifies us of selfishness and has its redemptive power.
“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am
filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of
his body, which is the church.” (Col 1:24)
Saint John Vianney, one of the greatest pastors in the history of the
Church, had one all-consuming desire: to help his parishioners become
holy. “My God, grant me the conversion of my parish; I am willing to
suffer all my life whatsoever it may please thee to lay upon me; yes,
even for a hundred years I am prepared to endure the sharpest pains,
only let my people be converted.” Over the years of religious life,
Saint Faustina demonstrated her prowess in embracing adversity as a
chance of steady spiritual growth:
“When I came out into the corridor, a great suffering and humiliation,
at the hands of a certain person, was awaiting me. I accepted it with
submission to a higher will and snuggled closely to the Most Sacred
Heart of Jesus, letting Him know that I was ready for that for which I
had offered myself.”(Diary 138)
The redemptive value of suffering, accepted and offered to God with
love was greatly appreciated by Saint Maximilian Kolbe. The Franciscan
would often visit the hospital and say to his brethren: “You are in one
of the most important sections [of the Franciscan Friary]. You are in
such a favourable position, not seeing the fruits of your work, you
live off what others will earn you. Moreover, the results of your
suffering are hidden, therefore there is no place for self-love.”
Saint Pope John Paul II, like his Savior, was well acquainted with
suffering. He perceived the experience of suffering to be a mysterious
opportunity that is given to man by God, the unique chance to identify
ourselves with his saving work of redemption. His 1984 Apostolic Letter
“Salvifici Doloris” clearly expounds the dignity and the salvific power
of physical and mental pain. “Suffering as it were contains a special
call to the virtue which man must exercise on his own part. And this is
the virtue of perseverance in bearing whatever disturbs and causes
harm. In doing this, the individual unleashes hope, which maintains in
him the conviction that suffering will not get the better of him, that
it will not deprive him of his dignity as a human being, a dignity
linked to awareness of the meaning of life.”
Venerable Marthe Robin, French mystic and stigmatic, wrote in her
notebook in 1927 “I test how sweet it is to love, even in suffering,
and I shall say above all in suffering; for suffering is an unsurpassed
school of true love … It is the living language of Love, and the great
teacher of humankind. One learns to love, and one does not really love
except in and by suffering, for true suffering instructs us, not
through human delights, but through the stripping away and renouncing
of self on the Cross.”
On May 30, 1987, contemporary Polish mystic, Alicja Lenczewska,
recorded in her diary “Suffering is neither punishment nor evil. It is
the sign of my special love and of call to intimacy with Me. You should
rejoice in suffering because it purifies and enriches your soul.”
The Christian faith has a very rich history of sacrifice, including the
ultimate sacrifice. Indeed, in relationship with God in heaven we shall
truly know the value of redemptive suffering.
Fr. Dominik Chmielewski SDB strongly argues that “it is especially
important now, to accept daily suffering without mutiny against God, in
expiation for other sins as well as our own.“
The situation in the world is very serious and its stakes are the highest.
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Love of the Cross, Contempt and
Suffering
24. When you have anything to suffer, rejoice and
unite it to that which the Sacred Heart has suffered and still suffers
in the Blessed Sacrament.
July 25, 2022
(Luk 11:1) And it came to pass that
as he was in a certain place praying, when he ceased, one of his
disciples said to him: Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his
disciples.
THE CATHOLIC THING: Three Lessons on Prayer by Fr. Paul D. Scalia
CATHOLIC DAILY REFLECTIONS: Praying for the Will of God
“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Luke 11:9
If we were to take this statement of Jesus in a very literal way we
could easily conclude that Jesus will give us anything we ask for in a
prayerful way. But we know this is not what happens. Perhaps everyone
has prayed hard for this or that and the request was not answered in
the way we wanted. Why is that? Did we simply fail to pray with faith?
Will Jesus do whatever we ask of Him when we pray for it with all our
might? Certainly not.
This passage goes on to say, “If you then, who are wicked, know how to
give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in
heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Luke 11:13). Within
this context, and within the context of everything that Jesus has
taught us, it’s important to know that there is one thing and one thing
only for which we ought to pray. And when we pray for this one thing,
we can be assured of obtaining it when we pray for it in faith. What is
that one thing? It’s the will of God.
If we sincerely and wholeheartedly ask for and seek the will of God, we
can be certain that our Lord will give us the Holy Spirit and that the
Holy Spirit will, in turn, lead us into the will of God for our lives.
The problem is that too often we end up praying that “MY will be done”
rather than “THY will be done.” This is an important difference.
True prayer is ultimately about trust and surrender to God. We trust in
His perfect plan and surrender to that perfect plan in our lives. When
we do this, we can be assured that the Lord will hear and answer this
perfect prayer.
Reflect, today,
upon that simple prayer in the Lord’s Prayer: Thy will be done! Strive
to trust in God’s perfect plan for your life and do all you can to
surrender to it. With this form of prayer we can be assured that the
Holy Spirit will come to us, leading us into His holy will.
BISHOP BARRON:
Can you see how the Lord's Prayer rightly orders us? We must put God’s
holy name first; we must strive to do his will in all things and at all
times; we must be strengthened by spiritual food or we will fall; we
must be agents of forgiveness; we must be able to withstand the dark
powers.
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Love of the Cross, Contempt and
Suffering
21. Our Lord will delight in making you conformable
to Him, and will show you that He is not less worthy of being loved when
your soul is filled with the bitterness of Calvary, than when it is enjoying
the delights of Thabor.
July 22, 2022
(2Th 2:1-3)
We ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ and our assembling with him, not to be shaken out of your minds
suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral
statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day
of the Lord is at hand. Let no one deceive you in any way. For unless
the apostasy comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one
doomed to perdition,
REGINA PROPHETARUM: Sharing in the Perpetual Indefectibility of Holy Mother Church
THE PILLAR: German plan for permanent 'synodal council' sparks backlash
CNA: Vatican warning: Germany's 'Synodal Way' poses 'threat to the unity of the Church'
The Vatican has issued another warning of a new schism from Germany coming out of the “Synodal Way."
“The ‘Synodal Way’ in Germany does
not have the power to compel bishops and the faithful to adopt new
forms of governance and new orientations of doctrine and morals,” the
Vatican said in an official statement published in Italian and German
on Thursday.
The Holy See said it seemed
“necessary to clarify” this, in order to “safeguard the freedom of the
People of God and the exercise of the episcopal ministry."
The Vatican warned: “It would not be permissible to introduce new
official structures or doctrines in dioceses before an agreement had
been reached at the level of the universal Church, which would
constitute a violation of ecclesial communion and a threat to the unity
of the Church.”
The “Synodal Way” — Synodaler Weg in German, sometimes translated as
“Synodal Path” — is a controversial process initiated by Cardinal
Reinhard Marx. Organized by the German Bishops' Conference together
with the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), its aim is to
discuss four main topics: the way power is exercised in the Church; the
priesthood; the role of women, and sexual morality.
Writing about the process, Pope Francis warned of disunity in his letter to German Catholics in 2019.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, a German
theologian considered close to Pope Francis, in June 2022 warned that
the German process is at risk of “breaking its own neck” if it does not
heed the objections raised by a growing number of bishops around the
world.
In April, more than 100 cardinals
and bishops from around the world released a "fraternal open letter" to
Germany's bishops, warning that sweeping changes to Church teaching
advocated by the process may lead to schism.
In March, an open letter from the
Nordic bishops expressed alarm at the German process, and in February,
a strongly-worded letter from the president of Poland’s Catholic
bishops' conference raised serious concerns. The president of the
German bishops' conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, has
repeatedly rejected any and all concerns, instead expressing
disappointment in Pope Francis in May 2022. More recently, another
organizer of the German process said the “Synodal Way” wanted to change
the Church’s teaching on homosexuality by proposing “a conscious
statement against the current Catholic catechism."
He pointed to a text which not only
contained comments about changing views on homosexuality but also about
masturbation, marriage, sexual lust, and other related topics pertinent
to Catholic doctrine.
In the statement published
Thursday, the Vatican repeated a passage from the pope’s letter
published in 2019, wherein Francis had warned — in German — of
particular Churches being “separated from the entire ecclesial body,"
adding that in such instances “they would weaken, rot and die.”
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Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Love of the Cross, Contempt and
Suffering
20. Take up your abode in the lovable Heart of
Jesus, and you will find therein imperturbable peace and the strength to
carry out the good desires He gives you. Bring to this divine Heart
all your troubles and afflictions, for whatever emanates from the Sacred
Heart is sweet: It changes everything into love.
July 20, 2022
(1Jn 4:7-12)
Dearly beloved, let us love one another: for charity is of God. And
every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth
not knoweth not God: for God is charity. By this hath the charity of
God appeared towards us, because God hath sent his only begotten Son
into the world, that we may live by him. In this is charity: not as
though we had loved God, but because he hath first loved us, and sent
his Son to be a propitiation for our sins. My dearest, if God hath so
loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man hath seen God at
any time. If we love one another, God abideth in us: and his charity is
perfected in us.
REGINA PROPHETARUM: Catherine of Genoa -- Divine Love is Pure Love
MY CATHOLIC LIFE: Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist
John’s Gospel is
stylistically distinct from those of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. He likely
wrote it in his old age. Perhaps many calm years mellowed the Gospel’s
tone, allowing John to draw out God’s pure love more than His fight.
John’s Gospel, his letters, and his Book of Revelation soar. They offer
a high theology of Christ, a supernatural, often mystical vision of
Christ’s role in salvation. John is the Apostle who best conveys God’s
love. It is a commonplace to say that God is love. It is also
commonplace to say that any further description of God complicates His
simplicity and leads to arguments, division, and violence. Yet the
Christian attestation that “God is love” is like a flag snapping in the
wind at the summit of a mountain of thought—complicated and nuanced
theological and philosophical thought. The simplest thing we can say
about God is tied to the most complex thing we can say about God. It
took centuries of hard climbing to plant that flag of love at the
summit. To say God is love implies a wealth of supportive truths.
The harshness and apparent injustice of life does not naturally lead to
the conclusion that God is love, and no one said that God was love
before Christians said it. For many, God was, and is, a master, a
warrior, a hero, an oak, a waterfall, or a sunrise. God was a growling
earthquake, a mighty storm, a tidal wave that drowned the new colony.
God took vengeance for sins and flooded the earth when the people
disobeyed. He was like a hunter on the prowl, his bow arched with arrow
ready to fly. Reading the history of man and experiencing daily life,
it is in no way clear that God is love. We have to be told this. We
have to see this. We have to experience this. And the Church tells us
and shows us this constantly. That many people the world over
instinctively think that God is love is a triumph of the Church and of
Saint John the Evangelist. To say this and to think this is to break
one’s lance against the brick wall of daily life. But it is also to say
the truth, a received truth. God loves Himself in the Holy Trinity
first, and then that loves radiates outward to all of us. Without
knowing that, we cannot know the rest.
METROPOLITAN LUKE: On love
Christ is in our midst, dear readers!
What terrible and a rebuking words
we heard today [July 14, 2022] during the divine services. Just think
about them: And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and
though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth
me nothing (1 Cor. 13:3). It turns out that you can give away
everything you have, even consign yourself to the most torturous death,
and yet not receive any benefit at all for your soul from these deeds.
God is love. And this means that
eternal life can only be had by those who possess what God is in His
essence. We can perform the most exalted ascetic feats out of pride, we
can give away all our possessions out of the desire for praise, and go
to the most horrific death for the sake of glory. But without simple,
sacrificial love, all this will be like a “sounding brass”.
Precisely for this reason,
everything that the devil is doing today in this world is a war on
love—because he is absolute evil, and God is absolute love. Under the
guise of “democratic values”, “the struggle for human rights”, and
so-called “freedom and equality”, satan is cultivating first of all
egoism, selfishness, depravity, and the cult of enormous pride and
theomachy. Even the good deeds that people do for all to see are
manifestations of self-love. After all, when the antichrist comes to
the earth, he will perform “good deeds” so that people would glorify
him, praise him, honor him, and accept him as the “savior” of the world.
Apostle Paul teaches us to be
constant sources of love—always, everywhere, and under every
circumstance. This is the only way we can prove that we belong to God
and His Holy Church. By this shall all men know that ye are my
disciples, if ye have love one to another (Jn. 13:35). No words,
sermons, or even good deeds will bring us or anyone any benefit if they
are without pure love for God and every human being. Whoever loves for
Christ’s sake does not divide the world into “us” and “them”, “friends”
and “enemies”; into those who are worthy of love and those whom we need
to send off to hell lickety split. Love has mercy on all, pities all,
and desires for all salvation.
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Love of the Cross, Contempt and
Suffering
19. Suffer bravely, and be content that the divine
good pleasure be accomplished in you. You must ever be immolated and sacrificed
to it with unshaken trust that the Sacred Heart will not forsake you: It
is closer to you in suffering than in consolation.
July 18, 2022
(Eph 6:11-13)
Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the
deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood;
but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world
of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.
Therefore, take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to
resist in the evil day and to stand in all things perfect.
TWEET:
The blessed Virgin herself revealed this to St. Bridget, saying: “As a
mother who sees her son exposed to the sword of the enemy, makes every
effort to save him, thus do I, and will I ever do for my children,
sinful though they be, if they come to me for help.”
MARK MALLET BLOG: The Greatest Revolution
CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT: The Culture of Death is alive as Hell
THE CATHOLIC THING: We Are the Front Lines
If you had told me a year ago that police with automatic weapons would
be stationed at the intersections of our small town Fourth of July
parade, I would never have believed you.
If you had told me that the “Dancing Grannies” troupe would march this
year behind a “Remembering Our Fallen” banner, and that the fallen
would refer to the grannies themselves, I would have questioned your
sanity.
And if you had told me, even on the morning of July the Fourth, that a
rooftop shooter would target an Illinois parade, I would have been
stopped in my tracks.
And yet, all of this is true. And the fallen are regular, simple,
civilians. Young and old. Killed while exercising the very freedoms we
hold dear, celebrating life and the nation we love.
My younger sister recounts an incident from her college days a few
years back. At the start of a new term, she noticed a young man next to
her in French class who soon stopped attending. As the term progressed,
he was habitually absent and only returned for the final exam. “Nice of
you to show up,” my sister quipped. “Where have you been?”
“Saving your skin in Afghanistan.” This young man had been on the front
lines. He had been called up to active duty from his civilian life, and
he had answered the call.
And yet, now, it seems we are all on call. At any time, in any place,
for any reason, we are liable to take the incoming fire of those people
who hate life, hate all we hold dear, and who want to hurt others.
It can happen in a fourth-grade classroom in Uvalde, Texas. It can
happen at a Pentecost Sunday Mass in southwest Nigeria. It can happen
on a crisp winter day at a Christmas parade, or on a sunny July the
Fourth, in small town USA.
We are the front lines.
And why are we the front lines? How did we get to the front lines, and what battle are we fighting?
We are at the front lines of the battle between good and evil. Pure and
simple. The good takes different forms: people pursuing life, liberty,
and faith in their everyday actions. But the evil always takes the same
form: a desire to destroy innocent, defenseless life.
On a recent trip to visit family, I found myself frequently travelling
alone on public transportation. As a female, out of my usual
surroundings, I always looked for the safest place to sit. Where might
I be safe on this subway, in this train, on this bus? Is there anywhere
safe anymore?
Over and again, I found myself seeking out the nearest mother with a
child in a stroller in order to seat myself near them. Did that mother
have a special forcefield around her? Why did I gravitate to the mother
with the child as the safest haven? Because I realized that this mother
had made a conscious decision to stand on the front lines.
In the decision it takes to choose life, to have a family, to venture
out with a little one against the culture war, this mom was daily
fighting her battle bravely. Against the tech, and the transgender, and
the culture of death, our moms are on the front lines. Our dads are on
the front lines. Our children are on the front lines.
We have to know we are in a battle, and that it is real. Have you ever
seen the look of defeat and abandonment which flickers across a child’s
face when you pull out your phone or device? Watch for it. They know
how easy it is to lose you into the distracted blue-light world. They
are battle-tested, street-wise little souls.
So, in this cultural, moral, and physical battle, this battle for the
soul of humanity in which we are now engaged, can we turn to anyone in
Scripture, or in the Lives of the Saints, for guidance?
Yes. Matthew tells us in his Gospel: “An angel of the Lord appeared to
Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother
and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to
search for the child to kill him.’” (Matthew 2:13)
King Herod, in his many modern forms, is seeking the Christ-child yet
today. And Mary and Joseph were told to flee into Egypt. Into a pagan
land! How out of place Mary and Joseph must have felt as they walked
past the temples of the gods in that dominating, demonic culture.
St. Anne Catherine Emmerich tells us in her memoirs that as the Holy
Family walked past the temples on their entrance into Egypt, the pagan
idols crashed to the ground. The presence of Christ has the final say,
and His power crushes the darkness.
To the families of those slain in so many senseless acts of violence
all around us, on so many recent occasions, what can we say? Words
cannot begin to heal the loss, the wounds, the anguish. We can, and
must, pray for the victims and their families, and entrust these holy
souls to Our Lord’s loving embrace.
He knows the Holy Innocents who died for Him when He was a child on
this earth. He knows the new Holy Innocents, dying again today at the
hands of Herod in his many life-hating forms. Their mute witness cries
out to Heaven.
On the new front lines, we must stand firmly with Christ, walking with
the Holy Family, carrying Him with us. It may seem we are small, and
outnumbered. We may be in danger every moment. But in the Lord is
ultimate protection. His is the battle; His the justice; and His the
ultimate crown of victory in Heaven.
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Love of the Cross, Contempt and
Suffering
18. I know of no other happiness in life than to
remain ever hidden in our nothingess- to suffer and love in silence- to
embrace our crosses, praising and thanking Him Who gives them to us.
July 15, 2022
(Rev 6:9-11)
And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls
of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which
they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying: How long, O Lord
(Holy and True), dost thou not judge and revenge our blood on them that
dwell on the earth? And white robes were given to every one of them
one; And it was said to them that they should rest for a little time
till their fellow servants and their brethren, who are to be slain even
as they, should be filled up.
TWITTER: A newly ordained priest in Nigeria receives blessings from his mother
THE PILLAR: Amid priest abductions, Nigerian bishops insist Christian persecution has religious roots
NCR: We Must Not Forget Nigeria!
AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED: Priests are an ‘endangered species in Nigeria’
Facing a wave of kidnappings, murders and violence, Nigerian priests shun violence as an answer and call for prayer.
According to data compiled by Aid
to the Church in Need (ACN), at least 18 priests have been kidnapped in
Nigeria since the beginning of 2022, five in the first week of July
alone. Although most were released unharmed, three were killed.
Faced with this situation, the
Nigerian Diocesan Catholic Priests Association (NDCPA) has issued a
statement, sent to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), declaring that “it
is really sad that in the course of their normal pastoral activities,
priests have become an endangered species. Attempts have been made at
various levels to cry to the government,” say the priests, “but as
already observed by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, ‘it is
clear to the nation that [the Government] has failed in [its] primary
duty of protecting the lives of the Nigerian citizens.’” The priests
explicitly reject any response which involves force or violence on
their part, saying “we are not terrorists or a war troupe” and they
also question the usefulness of priests taking part in street protests,
but call instead on what they say should be the first weapon of a man
of God.
“Our ministerial journey consists
in the proclamation of the word of God, and the celebration of the Holy
Eucharist as a memorial of Christ and His mission on earth. This
implies that we carry along with us the Holy Books and not weapons.
Christ never encouraged us to raise arms against anybody nor take up
any action in vengeance. We do not take arms, and we will not.”
The statement highlights the fundamental work that priests carry out,
despite the lack of security: “Our duty is to lay before the altar of
God the gratitude, cares, worries and petitions of the faithful and
ours. We are advocates of pro-life and peace. We were called and sent
to preach the good news to the poor, give liberty to captives, free the
oppressed, heal the broken-hearted, bind up wounds, and the likes. We
have been fulfilling this call and we shall continue.”
For this reason, and beginning Monday, July 11, the priests call on all
their brothers in the ministry to join in a week of special prayer and
fasting, Eucharistic adoration and recitation of the Rosary. According
to the NDCPA, these activities are not meant to replace, but to
complement other programs dioceses have in place to curb the problem of
insecurity in Nigeria. “We humbly appeal to all priests to take it very
seriously without neglecting other regulations and related
recommendations in their various dioceses,” concludes the NDCPA
statement.
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Love of the Cross, Contempt and
Suffering
15. Trust to the goodness of our Lord in the crosses
which He sends you; He will never abandon you, for He knows how to draw
good from our ills and His glory from our trials.
July 13, 2022
(Amo 3:6-8) Shall
the trumpet sound in a city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there
be evil in a city, which the Lord hath not done? For the Lord God doth
nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The
lion shall roar, who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken, who shall
not prophesy?
ST. MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA:
“If you ever feel distressed during your day, call upon our Lady, just
say this simple prayer: ‘Mary, Mother of Jesus, please be a mother to
me now.’ I must admit, this prayer has never failed me.”
VIDEO: Garabandal: "The Nigh of the Screams" | God's Final Warning
CERVANTES: Prophetic prelude to the Warning: Pope’s possible visit to Moscow shaping up
MYSTIC POST: Garabandal: The forgotten prophecy
ELEISON COMMENTS: Worldwide Warning
Almighty God is good, and plans to tell,
Once more, how to avoid our self-made Hell.
At the risk of laying before a number of readers a matter of which they
are already well aware, let these “Comments” present the Warning of
Garabandal, because of the high probability that that Warning is
authentic, and that it is therefore going to affect every human being
alive, whether they know it or not, whether they like it or not, with a
decisive effect upon their eternal salvation or damnation. Firstly, a
brief account of the events of Garabandal. Secondly, the reason why the
Church authorities have not yet given to those events their official
approval. And thirdly, why those events fit our present situation like
a key fits a lock. The Warning is of such a nature that when it
happens, readers could be complaining, “If you knew about this, how in
Heaven’s name could you never have told us about it?” So here it is –
Garabandal is a small village in the mountains of Northern Spain about
one hour in a car south of the city of Santander, halfway across Spain
from East to West. In this village between 1961 and 1965 Our Lady
appeared some 2000 times to four mountain girls, who had little to no
knowledge or experience of anything going on in world or Church outside
their own village. This unprecedented number of apparitions alone
suggests that they were of a special importance. They included two
solemn Messages, from 1961 and 1965, and three major prophecies, of a
great Warning, a great Miracle and a great Chastisement. One of the
four original girls knows the exact date of the Miracle, and will make
it public one week beforehand, otherwise the dates of these three
events are unknown.
As described by the leader of the four girls, Conchita, from what Our
Lady told her, The Warning will be an entirely supernatural event,
coming directly from God, to fill consciences of all people alive with
light to show them how their souls stand before God, with all their
sins. Given the godless state of the world, the experience will be
“felt like fire” for most people, but it will not last long. Some
people will die of it, but not many, and everybody will be prepared by
it to take notice of the great Miracle to follow. In fact the Warning
will be a great mercy of God, because when normally souls learn of
their standing before God at their Particular Judgment, following
immediately on death, they have no further chance of changing that
Judgment. On the contrary, after the Garabandal Warning, few will die
and everyone else will be free to change their lives. This Warning
makes sense in our world overwhelmed by confusion and lies, because it
will be pure truth from God, consoling good people, and taking away all
ignorance.
However, the Church authorities have still to give to the Garabandal
apparitions of Our Lady their official approval because of the events’
timing and their content. Vatican II (1962–1965) was a gigantic
betrayal of Truth, of the Faith, of the Catholic Church. Garabandal
(1961–1965) was a gigantic affirmation of Catholic Truth, of the Faith,
of the Church. In Her first solemn Message, of 1961, Our Lady warned
that “the cup is filling up.” In Her longer solemn Message of 1965, She
said amongst other things that “the cup is flowing over,” and that
“Many cardinals, bishops and priests are on the road to perdition, and
they are taking many souls with them.” Could there be a more accurate
summary of what was happening at Vatican II? But one can understand
that the clergy did not like what She was saying! She was taking 2000
apparitions to warn Church and world that the clergy’s Vatican II was a
huge mistake.
Finally, Garabandal fits our modern world like a key fits a lock.
Respecting the churchmen’s free-will, Almighty God allows them to go
horribly wrong as the end of the world approaches. But the shepherds’
going astray generates huge confusion among the sheep, Catholic and
non-catholic alike. To all of them He offers an extraordinary event,
freeing them from all confusion, before they have to answer at death
for how they will have spent their lives. What a grace! And it will be
confirmed by the great Miracle, due to take place in Garabandal itself,
and exceeding the miracle of the sun spinning, in 1917, at Fatima.
Kyrie eleison.
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Love of the Cross, Contempt and
Suffering
13. Nothing unites us so closely to the Sacred
Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ as the cross which is the most precious
pledge of his love.
July 10, 2022
(Psa
139:13-14) You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works!
My very self you know.
ARCHBISHOP JOSEPH F. NAUMANN:
From a Catholic perspective, abortion is not primarily a religious
issue but a fundamental human rights issue. Our faith helps us
understand the dignity of every human life created in the divine image
as taught in the Hebrew scriptures, but reason alone is sufficient to
know that it is wrong to destroy an innocent human life.
VICTIMS OF ABORTION: Broken Branches Newsletter Issue 149, June/July 2022
LIFENEWS.COM: Joe Biden Tells Congress to Pass Bill Legalizing Abortions Up to Birth Nationwide
THE CATHOLIC TELEGRAPH: Pro-abortion Protesters Disrupted Mass at Catholic Church in Chicago
BISHOP BARRON GOSPEL REFLECTION:
Friends, Jesus instructs his disciples in today’s Gospel, “Do not be
afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be
afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.”
What is the greatest fear we have? Undoubtedly, the fear of losing our
own lives; we fear the death of the body. But Jesus is telling us not
to worry about those paper tigers that can only affect the body and its
goods.
When I am in love with God, when I am “fearing” him above all things, I
am rooted in a power that transcends space and time, a power that
governs the universe in its entirety, a power that is greater than life
and death.
More to it, this power knows me intimately and guides me according to
his purposes: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of
them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. And even the
hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid.” Because of
this we have nothing to fear from anything or anybody here below.
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Love of the Cross, Contempt and
Suffering
12. This is the thought He wishes me to dwell upon:
"The cross do I glory to bear,
And love to it leadeth me e'er;
Love divine my entire being doth own,
And for me, love sufficeth alone".
July 5, 2022
(1Co 12:7-11) And the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man
unto profit. To one indeed, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom:
and to another, the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit: To
another, faith in the same spirit: to another, the grace of healing in
one Spirit: To another the working of miracles: to another, prophecy:
to another, the discerning of spirits: to another, diverse kinds of
tongues: to another, interpretation of speeches. But all these things,
one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to every one according as he
will.
FR. MARK GORING, CC: Don’t Wait for the Media to Report Kingdom Breakthroughs
REVIEW: The Miracles of St Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419) – Angel of the Apocalypse
THE OKLAHOMAN: Failing Latin and being on a death list: Here are a few facts about Blessed Stanley Rother
CATHOLIC NEWS HOME: Novena to Saint Antony Maria Zaccaria - Powerful Prayer to the Founder of the Barnabites and Patron of Physicians
Saint Antonio Maria Zaccaria, Feast July 5, and Founder of the Clerks
Regular of St. Paul, commonly known as the Barnabites. He was born in
Cremona, Italy, 1502; and died on the 5th of July, 1539. St. Anthony
Maria is the patron of Physicians.
Novena prayers every day for 9 days:
Saint Anthony Zaccaria, helper of the poor and the sick, you who
devoted your life to our spiritual welfare, listen to my humble and
hopeful prayer. Continue your work as doctor and priest by obtaining
from God healing from my physical and moral sickness, so that free from
all evil and sin, I may love the LORD with joy, fulfill with fidelity
my duties, work generously for the good of my brothers and sisters, and
for my sanctification. Amen. Collect Prayer Grant, O Lord, that in the
spirit of the Apostle Paul we may pursue the surpassing knowledge of
Jesus Christ, for, having learned it, Saint Anthony Zaccaria constantly
preached Your saving word in the Church. Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. St Anthony Mary Zaccaria,
Pray for us that we will seize the opportunities available to us to
help the outcasts and the poor.
[Mention your intention(s) here...] Say 1 Our Father... Say 1 Hail Mary...
Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria, Pray for us.
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Love of the Cross, Contempt and
Suffering
11. What should I do, had I not a cross to bear?
...It is my whole treasure in the adorable Heart of Jesus Christ, and there
it is the cause of all my happiness, my delight and my joy.
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