Keep
your eyes open!...
October 30, 2020
(Rev 3:3) Have in mind therefore in what manner thou hast received and
heard: and observe and do penance: If then thou shalt not watch, I will
come to thee as a thief: and thou shalt not know at what hour I will
come to thee.
FR. MARK GORING, CC: The Day of Divine Wrath
TRAILER: The Coming Triumph
This eight-part series explores:
- The nature of the coming triumph,
- Satan’s tactics to destroy the Church and humanity
- Why certain events occurring at the time of Moses are about to unfold
Join Fr. David Gunter, Dr. Scott
Hahn, Dr. Mark Miravalle, Mother Miriam, Dr. John Bergsma and Ted
Flynn, as we discuss these events and look to the future with hope and
trust in Our Lord Jesus Christ.
EXCERPT THE CATHOLIC THING: End Times
Revelation is not an easy text to read and unless someone knowledgeable
is taking you through it, I’d recommend a commentary. My own favorite
is Joseph L. Mangina’s in the Brazos series of theological
commentaries, overseen by our friend R. R. Reno, editor of First Things.
But St. John, author of the Apocalypse, says it is to be read aloud in
all the churches. And in some of the very last verses of the Bible he
warns, “if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the
holy city, which are described in this book.” I’ve learned two large
things wrestling with the text:
- The progressive idea that we can “build the Kingdom of God” here
on earth is false, and will be shown to be false, by the disasters
human and superhuman that will intervene between now and the end;
- And some of the political dreams of peace and brotherhood are
delusions that ignore the “war in heaven,” the clash of spiritual
powers, “principalities and powers,” of which earthly disorders are
secondary effects.
We still have to seek and to work
for the good in this life, of course. But it’s only the Lamb who can
conquer such evil spirits and will show Himself to have conquered them
in a fully open way someday.
OPINION: Are we living in the end times?
If the greatest foe of the darkness is the light…how do you extinguish the light?
You turn it off.
Likewise, if the greatest foe of the light is the darkness…how to do
get rid of the darkness…. YOU SHINE THE LIGHT ON THE DARKNESS.
It is time for all churches to stand up and shine the light of truth on the darkness.
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: The Holy Eucharist
9. The Sacred Heart is a hiden and infinite treasure
desiring to manifest Itself, to be poured out and distributed, so as to
alleviate our distress.
October 28, 2020
(1Ti 2:1-4) I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications,
prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men: For kings
and for all that are in high station: that we may lead a quiet and a
peaceable life in all piety and chastity. For this is good and
acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, Who will have all men to be
saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Bishop Earl Boyea:
Forming Consciences 22: "intrinsically evil" actions..must always be
rejected & must never be supported or condoned. A prime example is
the intentional taking of human life, as in abortion & euthanasia.
BISHOP RICHARD F. STIKA: Before you vote, answer these questions
FR. PETER M. STRAVINSKAS: For Catholics, There’s Only One Choice
EXCERPT: Rendering Unto Caesar: The Catholic Political Vocation (2009) by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Every new election cycle I hear from unhappy, self-described Catholics
who complain that abortion is too much of a litmus test. But isn’t that
exactly what it should be? One of the defining things that set early
Christians apart from the pagan culture around them was their respect
for human life; and specifically their rejection of abortion and
infanticide. We can’t be Catholic and be evasive or indulgent about the
killing of unborn life. We can’t claim to be “Catholic” and
“pro-choice” at the same time without owning the responsibility for
where the choice leads – to a dead unborn child. We can’t talk piously
about programs to reduce the abortion body count without also working
vigorously to change the laws that make the killing possible. If we’re
Catholic, then we believe in the sanctity of developing human life. And
if we don’t really believe in the humanity of the unborn child from the
moment life begins, then we should stop lying to ourselves and others,
and even to God, by claiming we’re something we’re not.
Catholic social teaching goes well beyond abortion. In America we have
many urgent issues that beg for our attention, from immigration reform
to health care to poverty to homelessness. The Church in Denver and
throughout the United States is committed to all these issues. We need
to do a much better job of helping women who face problem pregnancies,
and American bishops have been pressing our public leaders for that for
more than 30 years. But we don’t “help” anyone by allowing or funding
an intimate, lethal act of violence. We can’t build a just society with
the blood of unborn children. The right to life is the foundation of
every other human right – and if we ignore it, sooner or later every
other right becomes politically contingent.
NCR: Voting for a Vision, Not a Person
CRISIS MAGAZINE: Never Say Never: Why I’m Voting for Trump
RELATED COMMENTARIES
Bill O'Reilly: What Biden Believes
Paul Craig Roberts: November’s Choice: Trump or the Establishment
Father Frank Pavone: Ten Reasons Americans Should Vote for President Donald Trump
EWTN: Election Prayer by Servant of God, Father John Anthony Hardon, S.J.
Lord Jesus Christ, You told us to give to Caesar what belongs to
Caesar, and to God what belongs to God. Enlighten the minds of our
people in America. May we choose a President of the United States, and
other government officials, according to Your Divine Will. Give our
citizens the courage to choose leaders of our nation who respect the
sanctity of unborn human life, the sanctity of marriage, the sanctity
of marital relations, the sanctity of the family, and the sanctity of
the aging. Grant us the wisdom to give You, what belongs to You, our
God. If we do this, as a nation, we are confident You will give us an
abundance of Your blessings through our elected leaders. Amen.
Composed by Father John Anthony Hardon, S.J.
Imprimatur: +Rene H. Gracida, Bishop of Corpus Christi, July 7, 1992 Published by Eternal Life in 1992
OUR LADY OF PRAYER, L’ILE BOUCHARD, FRANCE, 1947: Pray for us!
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: The Holy Eucharist
8. God is so good that He allows us to appropriate
this treasure of the really poor- the Sacred Heart of Jesus- the heavenly
plenitude of Which can most fully supply for what is lacking to us.
October 26, 2020
(Heb 3:12-14) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil
heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one
another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened
through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ,
if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
CATECHISM OF CATHOLIC CHURCH (677):
The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final
Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection.
The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the
Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over
the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down
from heaven. God's triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form
of the Last Judgment after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing
world.
THE SHIELD OF FAITH: Invoking the Holy Wounds of Christ for the triumph of the Church
TED FLYNN: The Strategy to Destroy the Church and State: The Gates of Hell Will Not Prevail Against It
MARK MALLET COMMENTARY: The Body, Breaking
A MOMENT WITH MARY: Prophetic Marian apparitions for our times
Mother Mariana de Jesús Torres, a 16th-century Spanish nun living in
Quito, Ecuador, received apparitions of "Our Lady of Good Success" (or
"of the Good Event") between 1594 and 1634.
The apparitions in Quito have become famous in recent decades because
of a large number of prophecies concerning a crisis in the Church
occurring in the 20th century. Here are the themes developed in these
prophecies:
- The light of faith will be almost extinguished in the 20th century.
- The sacrament of marriage will be attacked; the era will be
characterized by unbridled lust, an almost total corruption of morals.
- The devil will also attack the innocence of children.
- There will be a crisis in religious communities and depraved priests will scandalize the Christian people.
- Profanations of the Blessed Sacrament will happen regularly.
- After Satan's apparent triumph, the Blessed Virgin will destroy the pride of the Evil One, who will be chained.
The position of the Church:
During Mother Mariana's lifetime, Bishop Salvador de Ribera de Quito
consecrated the statue of the Madonna in the Church of the Immaculate
Conception on February 2, 1611. Devotion to Our Lady of Good Success
and the apparitions were also supported by his successor, Pedro de
Oviedo, bishop from 1630 to 1646. In 1906, Mother Mariana's body was
exhumed and found intact, 271 years after her death. Her beatification
process was opened in 1986, and the Convent of the Immaculate
Conception in Quito was turned into a Marian shrine.
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: The Holy Eucharist
7. What increases my sufferings is that I cannot
avenge upon myself the insults that are offered to my divine Saviour in
the most holy Sacrament of the Altar.
October 22, 2020 (St. John Paul II, Pope Feast Day)
(Jud 1:17-21) But you, my dearly
beloved, be mindful of the words which have been spoken before by the
apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who told you that in the last time
there should come mockers, walking according to their own desires in
ungodlinesses. These are they who separate themselves, sensual men,
having not the Spirit. But you, my beloved, building yourselves upon
your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the
love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto life
everlasting.
INSIDE THE VATICAN: Letter #30, Wednesday, October 21, 2020: Redemption
The Pope’s apparent new support
today for “civil union laws” has, in the past 24 hours, aroused a
firestorm of comment worldwide, ranging across the spectrum from
“right” to “left,” from “conservative” to “liberal”… from outrage to
appreciation.
YOUTUBE HOMILY: Civil Unions for Homosexuals? (10/21)
CRISIS MAGAZINE: Where Francis Leads, We Can’t Follow
EXCERPT: Daniel O'Connor's Blog: Rome Will be Destroyed
VATICAN ARCHIVES (2003): CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING PROPOSALS TO GIVE LEGAL RECOGNITION TO UNIONS BETWEEN HOMOSEXUAL PERSONS
CONCLUSION
11. The Church teaches that respect for homosexual persons cannot lead
in any way to approval of homosexual behaviour or to legal recognition
of homosexual unions. The common good requires that laws recognize,
promote and protect marriage as the basis of the family, the primary
unit of society. Legal recognition of homosexual unions or placing them
on the same level as marriage would mean not only the approval of
deviant behaviour, with the consequence of making it a model in
present-day society, but would also obscure basic values which belong
to the common inheritance of humanity. The Church cannot fail to defend
these values, for the good of men and women and for the good of society
itself.
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: The Holy Eucharist
5. I will unite all my prayers with those that
the Sacred Heart of Jesus makes for us in the Blessed Sacrament.
October 21, 2020
(Luk 6:22-23) Blessed shall you be when men shall hate you, and when
they shall separate you and shall reproach you and cast out your name
as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Be glad in that day and rejoice:
for behold, your reward is great in heaven, For according to these
things did their fathers to the prophets.
UCANEWS REPORT: Why are Christians persecuted?
CNA: New calls for US sanctions on Turkey for Christian persecution
AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED: Syria: Friars are caring for Christians living under Sharia law
The villages of Knayeh and
Yacoubieh, in Idlib province, close to the Turkish border in western
Syria, are still under the control of jihadist groups. Here fearsome
Islamic rule still holds sway; Sharia, Islamic religious law, is in
force; women are forced to wear veils, Christian properties have been
confiscated and Christian symbols such as crosses have been torn down.
Among the local inhabitants who
have remained despite the terrible situation there are an estimated 300
Christian families of different denominations and ethnic groups. Two
Franciscan friars, Luai Bsharat, aged 40, and 67-year-old Hanna
Jallouf, have also stayed on to minister to them.
The Christians remaining in these
areas are facing persecution, violence and danger, and even death. “In
spite of the difficulties, Father Luai and Father Hanna have stayed on
there because they believe that this region should not be abandoned.
For it is close to Antioch, where Saint Paul began his travels,
spreading the Word of God,” explains Father Firas Lutfi OFM, who is
Custodian of the Province of Saint Paul for the Franciscans of Syria,
Lebanon and Jordan. He spoke with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
He continues: “Their sufferings
began a decade ago. When the militant groups took control of the region
and proclaimed the Islamic State, they confiscated Christian
properties, imposed Islamic Sharia law on all non-Muslims and
suppressed their right to move around freely within their own
villages.”
Father Firas said that “those extremists have often persecuted,
attacked, beaten, tortured and even murdered some of our brothers and
sisters as for example in the notorious case of Father François Murad,
who was “beheaded in 2013,” and more recently the case of “a female
schoolteacher who was raped and then murdered in Yacoubieh.”
In his recent message, Father Firas stresses that the friars are there
to help everyone in need of support and guidance, regardless of their
religion, race, nationality or political opinions. “On many occasions,”
he explains “the monasteries of Knayeh and Yacoubieh welcomed and gave
shelter to dozens of Muslim families who were seeking refuge in the
churches,” when the region became a battleground.
“The presence of the Franciscans is
a sign of hope in the midst of the darkness and despair”, Father Firas
said. But they also depend heavily on whatever outside support they can
obtain, especially financial support, since the local people can no
longer harvest their own crops, which have been confiscated, or sell
their own produce, and so they are in constant need of outside
humanitarian aid.
ACN is currently supporting over 50
different projects to assist Christians in Syria. In addition to the
emergency aid projects for vulnerable families in Aleppo and Damascus,
the charity is also sponsoring several projects through Father Firas
Lufti.
APPEAL: For ‘Tormented’ Syria, Hit by Bombs & Poverty, ‘Time Is Running Out’ — Cardinal Zenari Appeals to Diplomats in Vatican
MORE: Turkey violates Syrian ceasefire more than 800 times
Since a truce was agreed in October
2019, Turkey’s military and allied militias have attacked Syrian (and
Iraqi) territory hundreds of times, an average of 2.3 violations per
day, including battles, bombings, looting and drone strikes. Tel Tamer,
a largely Christian area, is one of the affected areas. The goal is
demographic change.
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: The Holy Eucharist
4. Jesus was obedient even to the death of the
Cross, therefore I wish to obey even to my last sigh, so as to pay homage
to the obedience of Jesus in the Sacred Host; and the whiteness of the
Host teaches me that I must be a pure victim, in order to be sacrificed
to Him.
October 19, 2020
(Mat 5:14-16) You are the light of the world. A city seated on a
mountain cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under
a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in
the house. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your
good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
MUST WATCH AND SHARE: Trump 2020: A Man vs A Movement
Why this is the most important election in the US since 1860.
THE CATHOLIC THING: Privilege and Christianity
FR. MARK GORING, CC: Shining in the Darkness
LIFESITENEWS: List of cardinals, bishops, priests who are warning Catholics about pro-abortion Biden-Harris ticket
EXCERPT MIAMIARCH.ORG: Politics, voting and Catholic teaching
Our Church rightly does not tell
the faithful to vote for any candidate or party. The Catholic Church is
not — nor does she want to be — a political agency or a special
interest group. However, she does have a profound interest — and
rightly so — in the good of the political community, the soul of which
is justice. For this reason, the Church engages in a wide variety of
public policy issues including the defense of unborn life, of religious
liberty and of marriage as a union of one man and one woman, as well as
advocacy on issues concerning immigration, education, poverty and
racism, along with many others.
The United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops and, on the state level, our Florida Catholic
Conference, seek to educate Catholics and others of good will so that
our choices, made with an informed conscience, will be coherent with
our faith. In doing so, the Church offers a specific moral framework
that should guide the voter in making prudential decisions as to who
are the “best” candidates — or, as sadly happens too often, who are the
least “worse” candidates. This moral framework anchored in the
Scriptures and expressed in the teaching of the Church — more than mere
party affiliation or self-interest —should guide the serious Catholic
to examine the candidates on a full range of issues as well as on their
personal integrity, philosophy, and performance. In this way, our vote
will be an exercise of both responsible as well as faithful citizenship.
For Catholics, the defense of human
life and dignity is not a “narrow cause” but a way of life. As Pope
Francis says, "Human life is sacred and inviolable. Every civil right
is based on the recognition of the first, fundamental right, the right
to life, which is not subject to any condition, of a qualitative,
economic and certainly not of an ideological nature."
For this reason, no Catholic should
vote for a political program or law with the intent of contradicting
the fundamental principles of our faith. A voter who would vote for a
candidate precisely because he or she was pro-abortion would certainly
be guilty of sin — objectively speaking. Someone may arrive at a
prudential decision to vote for a candidate for other reasons even
though his or her record is one of supporting the killing of unborn
infants or legalized euthanasia. But such a decision would have to be
weighed very carefully given the candidate’s manifest cooperation in
evil (the enablement of abortion).
The stridency and polarization of
politics in America today can be discouraging. We need a new kind of
politics — one focused on moral principles, not on polls; on the needs
of the vulnerable, not the contributions of the powerful; and on the
pursuit of the common good, not the demands of special interests.
Too few candidates share a
consistent concern for human life and dignity. And too few citizens
hold elected officials accountable by exercising their right to vote.
All this shows that, as Catholics, we should be more — and not less
—engaged in political life. All of us are called to become informed,
active and responsible participants in the political process — and to
do so by bringing together, coherently and consistently, our faith, our
moral convictions and our responsibilities in the public square.
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: The Holy Eucharist
3. As I was about to receive Holy Communion, our
Lord told me that He would come Himself to imprint on my heart the mystical
life which He leads in the holy Eucharist, a life entirely hidden and annihilated
in the eyes of men, a life of sacrifice and seeming inactivity. He added
that He would Himself give me the strength to do what He required of me.
October 15, 2020
(1Pe 5:8-9) Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a
roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist ye,
strong in faith: knowing that the same affliction befalls, your
brethren who are in the world.
COURAGEOUS PRIESTS
CHURCHPOP: When St. Teresa of Avila Saw a Priest Attacked by Demons During Mass
St. Teresa of
Avila was a 16th century Spanish mystic and is honored today as a
Doctor of the Church for her incredible insight into the spiritual
life. And in her prayers and meditations, she regularly came in contact
with the demonic.
“An abominable form,” she writes of
how the devil appeared to her, “his mouth was horrible. Out of his body
there seemed to be coming a great flame, which cast no shadow.”
Most incredibly, she once saw a priest attacked by demons while he was
saying Mass: “with the eyes of the soul [she saw] two devils of hideous
aspect who seemed to have their horns around a priest’s throat while he
celebrated Mass.”
Yet, even for her, these visual manifestations were relatively rare. “I
have seldom seen him in bodily shape,” she writes, “but I have often
seen him without any form, as in the kind of vision I have described,
in which no form is seen but the object is known to be there.”
Her weapons against these evil forces? Prayer, humility, and –
interestingly enough – holy water, which she claimed from experience
was a particularly effective spiritual weapon.
Pray for our priests!
QUOTES VIA: What You Can Do to Help Our Priests by Fr. Peter M. Stravinskas
- Cardinal Suhard of Paris once asserted: “The priesthood is not… something. It is someone: Christ.”
- Saint Francis of Assisi said: “If I saw an angel of light and a
drunken priest, I would bend my knee first to the priest and then to
the angel.”
- Saint John Vianney, patron of parish priests, declared from
experience: “After God, the priest is everything. Leave a parish twenty
years without priests; they will worship beasts.” He went on to say:
“The priest will not understand the greatness of his office till he is
in Heaven. If he understood it on earth, he would die, not of fear, but
of love.”
- The French spiritual writer Père Gatry said : “If people could
realize what the priesthood is, there would be too many priests.”
- Saint Vincent Ferrer: “The Blessed Virgin opened heaven only once; the priest does so at every Mass.”
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: The Holy Eucharist
2. Jesus makes Himself poor in the Blessed Sacrament.
He gives us all He has, reserving nothing for Himself, so as to possess
our hearts and enrich them with Himself. I must forsake and despise myself,
if I wish to imitate Him and to win His most lovable Heart.
October 13, 2020
(Rev 11:19-12:1) And the temple of God was opened in heaven: and the
ark of his testament was seen in his temple. And there were lightnings
and voices and an earthquake and great hail. And a great sign
appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under
her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
VIDEO: The Miracle of the Sun in Fatima October 13, 1917
IGNATIUS PRESS DVD PREORDER: Fatima The 1917 Miracle that Made History
NCR: So That All May Believe: The ‘Miracle of the Sun’
REVIEW: 'Miracle of the Sun' Fatima apparition on Oct 13, 1917 remembered
The “Miracle of the Sun” that
occurred during the 6th Apparition of Fatima on Oct. 13, 1917, and was
witnessed by over 70,000 people in Portugal, was a manifestation of
God’s almighty power and humility to save mankind from eternal
damnation.
Filipino Catholics join fellow
Catholics around the world to commemorate the 101st anniversary of the
“Miracle of the Sun” that swirled and danced in a circle in broken
clouds, as reported by a Lisbon newspaper in Portugal a day after the
historic spectacle happened.
As its consequence, many believed
God’s existence through the apparition of the Blessed Mother to the
three shepherd children at Fatima.
Church records show that the
apparition of the Blessed Mother before the three shepherds--Lucia,
Jacinta, and Francisco--on Oct. 13, 1917 was her sixth, fulfilling her
promise earlier to show to the world that a miracle would happen so
mankind would believe in God.
In the Philippines, the only Catholic country in Asia, there are many churches named after the Fatima.
It was during these apparitions
that the Blessed Mother also called the world to repent for its sin and
pray the Holy Rosary daily. So, on Oct. 13, 1917, or 101 years ago, the
“Miracle of the Sun” occurred. The apparition at Fatima was also seen
by people living in adjoining areas as far as 25 kilometers away.
“The sun painted the world in
different colors, (as it) moved and danced in the sky,” a witness, Ti
Marto, the father of Jacinta and Francisco, said.
“The miracle told the world of
God’s huge humility. The strange nature of the Miracle of the Sun--a
spectacular public miracle that was announced ahead of time--is hard to
exaggerate,” said Tom Hoopes, a famous American writer.
“God almost never works that way.
God is all-powerful, with all of reality in his grasp. He is the artist
of every sunset, the inventor of every wonder of nature and the author
of history. He doesn’t need to give a big display to prove himself: The
cosmos is big enough, thank you. But sometimes he does anyway,” Hoopes
pointed out, adding that “the miracle also makes clear that God is also
the ‘hound of heaven,’ the humble God, who will stop at nothing to win
our love,” Hoopes wrote.
During the Miracle of the Sun, people who witnessed the spectacle wept.
The spectacle also showed the role
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as pointed out in the Gospel, such as John,
Chapter 2, when Mary asked Jesus to perform his first miracle, changing
water into wine at the wedding in Cana.
In the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1,
the start of God’s redemption of man hangs on a word from Mary. Also in
Act, Chapter 1, Mary is there when the Church was formed, and in
Revelation, Chapter 12, it tells about the Woman and the dragon, to
name a few of these Bible verses.
God made it clear that we can trust Mary, says Hoopes.
Also during the apparition, the
throng of people saw the Miracle of Sun, dancing, but the three
children saw more, they saw St. Joseph in the sky holding the Child
Jesus, with Christ blessing the whole world.
The Fatima apparitions continually
remind mankind to pray, especially the Rosary and repent for the world
to attain a genuine and lasting peace.
During the sixth apparition, the seers first saw a bright light, and then saw the Blessed Mother over the holm oak.
Then Mary told Lucia that she
(Blessed Mother) wants a chapel to be built at Fatima and revealed that
“I am the Lady of the Rosary” and urged mankind to pray it daily.
Then she also revealed that World War 1 was going to end soon, and it did, as the Blessed Mother said.
Lucia then asked the Blessed Virgin
Mary to cure the sick, to which Mary replied: “Some yes, others no.
They must amend their lives and ask forgiveness for their sins.” She
also asked Lucia to tell the world for man to stop offending God.
“Then, opening her hands, Our Lady
shone the light issuing from them onto the sun, and as she rose, her
own radiance continued to be cast onto the sun,” Lucia said in her
memoir.
The sun, though shining at its brightest, did not blind the people who saw it.
After the Miracle of the Sun, many unbelievers were converted to the Catholic faith.
MORE
Pius XII Saw "Miracle of the Sun"
A Lawyer, a Journalist, and a Scientist Describe the Miracle of Fatima
'Miracle of the sun' broke darkness of Portugal's atheist regimes
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: The Holy Eucharist
1. Let every knee bend before Thee, O greatness
of my God, so supremely humbled in the Sacred Host. May every heart love
Thee, every spirit adore Thee and every will be subject to Thee!
October 12, 2020
(Jas 5:16) Confess therefore your sins one to another: and pray one for
another, that you may be saved. For the continual prayer of a just man
availeth much.
EWTN VIDEO: From Assisi | Holy Mass and Beatification of the young apostle of the 21st Century
FR. MARK GORING, CC: Major Eucharistic Miracle Days After Carlo Acutis' Death
SLIDESHOW: Tomb of Carlo Acutis opened for veneration before beatification
NCR: 17 Things Every Catholic Should Know About Carlo Acutis
CNA: The miracle attributed to Carlo Acutis' prayers
The beatification of Carlo Acutis
took place Oct. 10 after a miracle attributed to his prayers and the
grace of God. In Brazil, a boy named Mattheus was healed from a serious
birth defect called an annular pancreas after he and his mother asked
Acutis to pray for his healing.
Mattheus was born in 2009 with a
serious condition that caused him difficulty eating and serious
abdominal pain. He was unable to keep any food in his stomach, and
vomited constantly.
By the time Mattheus was nearly
four years old, he weighed only 20 pounds, and lived on a vitamin and
protein shake, one of the few things his body could tolerate. He was
not expected to live long.
His mother, Luciana Vianna, had spent years praying for his healing.
At the same time, a priest friend
of the family, Fr. Marcelo Tenorio, learned online about the life of
Carlo Acutis, and began praying for his beatification. In 2013 he
obtained a relic from Carlo’s mother, and he invited Catholics to a
Mass and prayer service in his parish, encouraging them to ask Acutis’
intercession for whatever healing they might need.
Mattheus’ mother heard about the
prayer service. She decided she would ask Acutis to intercede for her
son. In fact, in the days before the prayer service, Vianna made a
novena for Acutis’ intercession, and explained to her son that they
could ask Acutis to pray for his healing.
On the day of the prayer service, she took Mattheus and other family members to the parish.
Fr. Nicola Gori, the priest responsible for promoting Acutis’ sainthood cause, told Italian media what happened next:
“On October 12, 2013, seven years
after Carlo's death, a child, affected by a congenital malformation
(annular pancreas), when it was his turn to touch the picture of the
future blessed, expressed a singular wish, like a prayer: 'I wish I
could stop vomiting so much.' Healing began immediately, to the point
that the physiology of the organ in question changed,” Fr. Gori said.
On the way home from the Mass,
Mattheus told his mother that he was already cured. At home, he asked
for French fries, rice, beans, and steak - the favorite foods of his
brothers.
He ate everything on his plate. He
didn’t vomit. He ate normally the next day, and the next. Vianna took
Mattheus to physicians, who were mystified by Mattheus' healing.
Mattheus’ mother told Brazilian media she sees in the miracle an opportunity to evangelize.
“Before, I didn't even use my cell
phone, I was averse to technology. Carlo changed my way of thinking, he
was known for talking about Jesus on the Internet, and I realized that
my testimony would be a way to evangelize and give hope to other
families. Today I understand that everything new can be good, if we use
it for good, " she told reporters.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: "To the Shepherd"
5. A genuine teacher is he who has received from
God the tablet of spiritual knowledge, inscribed by His Divine finger,
that is, by the in-working of illumination, and who has no need of other
books. It is as unseemly for teachers to give instruction from notes taken
from other men's writings, as it is for painters to take inspiration from
other men's compositions.
October 9, 2020
(Deu 30:15-19)
Consider that I have set before thee this day life and good, and on the
other hand death and evil: That thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and
walk in his ways, and keep his commandments and ceremonies and
judgments, and bless thee in the land, which thou shalt go in to
possess. But if thy heart be turned away, so that thou wilt not hear,
and being deceived with error thou adore strange gods, and serve them:
I foretell thee this day that thou shalt perish, and shalt remain but a
short time in the land, to which thou shalt pass over the Jordan, and
shalt go in to possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness this day,
that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Choose
therefore life, that both thou and thy seed may live.
Saint Gianna Molla:
"The doctor should not meddle. The right of the child to live is equal
to the right of the mother's life. The doctor cannot decide; it is a
sin to kill in the womb."
VICTIMS
OF ABORTION NEWSLETTER: Broken Branches Issue 139
INSIDE THE VATICAN: America’s “Abortion King” (Dr. Bernard Nathanson) and the “Catholic Strategy”
VIDEO HOMILY: TRUMP & the ABORTION PANDEMIC: Just One More, Lord
USCCB: 'Live the Gospel of Life' is theme for Respect Life Month this October
October is Respect Life Month, and
Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas and chairman of
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life
Activities has issued a statement encouraging Catholics to allow “the
Gospel of Christ to touch and transform our own hearts and the
decisions we make.”
Archbishop Naumann’s full statement follows:
“As Catholics in the United States,
we will soon mark our annual observance of October as Respect Life
Month. It is a time to focus on God’s precious gift of human life and
our responsibility to care for, protect, and defend the lives of our
brothers and sisters.
“This year’s theme, ‘Live the
Gospel of Life,’ was inspired by the commemoration of the 25th
anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s encyclical, The Gospel of Life. Pope
John Paul’s masterfully articulated defense of the right to life for
children in their mothers’ wombs, the elderly, persons with
disabilities, and the marginalized is more relevant today than ever
before.
“Last November, the U.S. bishops
reaffirmed that ‘the threat of abortion remains our preeminent priority
because it directly attacks life itself, because it takes place within
the sanctuary of the family, and because of the number of lives
destroyed.’ While we noted not to ‘dismiss or ignore other serious
threats to human life and dignity such as racism, the environmental
crisis, poverty, and the death penalty,’ we renewed our commitment to
protect the most fundamental of all human rights – the right to live.
“This past January, I shared with
Pope Francis that the bishops of the United States had been criticized
by some for identifying the protection of the unborn as a preeminent
priority. The Holy Father expressed his support for our efforts
observing that if we fail to protect life, no other rights matter. Pope
Francis also said that abortion is not primarily a Catholic or even a
religious issue, it is first and foremost a human rights issue.
“The Gospel of Life provides a
blueprint for building a culture of life and civilization of love. The
important work of transforming our culture begins by allowing the
Gospel of Christ to touch and transform our own hearts and the
decisions we make. May we strive to imitate Christ and follow in his
footsteps, caring for the most vulnerable among us. Through the
intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, may Our Lord grant us the grace
to live courageously and faithfully his Gospel of life.”
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James V. Johnston, Jr. Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph: Preparing to Vote
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: "To the Shepherd"
4. A physician is he who suffers from no carnal
or spiritual malady, and has no need of any remedy from other men.
October 7, 2020
(Luk 2:17-19) And seeing, they understood of the word that had been
spoken to them concerning this child. And all that heard wondered: and
at those things that were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all
these words, pondering them in her heart.
ANALYSIS: The Rosary: path to perfection
CSF: Virtual rosary Oct. 7 aims to unite Catholics in 'moment of prayer' for nation
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will host a virtual rosary
event Oct. 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The event will
premiere on the USCCB's YouTube channel and its Facebook page at 3 p.m.
Eastern time (12 p.m. Pacific time).
BLOG: Sermon for the Solemnity of Our Lady of the Rosary Fr. Richard G. Cipolla
Today we celebrate the external solemnity of the feast of our Lady of
the Rosary, whose actual feast day is October 7. We celebrate this
feast with joy in honor of that prayer that lies at the very heart of
Catholic piety. But this feast has a history, and for Catholics history
is very important because of the Incarnation, that God entered human
history at a certain time in the person of Jesus Christ. The original
title of this feast was Our Lady of Victory. This feast commemorated
the victory of the Catholic fleet over the Ottoman Empire at the naval
battle of Lepanto in 1571. The goal of the Ottoman Empire, the powerful
Muslim Empire, was to conquer Europe and destroy Christianity.
The Pope at that time was the severe and deeply faithful Dominican Pope
Pius V. It was he who organized the Catholic opposition to the Ottoman
attack. Remember that the Protestant Reformation had already occurred,
and the nations which had become Protestant were not interested in
supporting an offensive against the Muslim aggression. So the Pope
cobbled up a naval fleet made up of Catholic countries and cities who
had remained faithful to the Catholic Church.
This was not an easy task, because the members of this coalition,
including Venice, were interested in protecting their own interests
quite apart from their allegiance to the Pope. But the armada was
formed and set sail to do battle with the Ottoman Turks. The Pope asked
that the Rosary be prayed by all in support of this cause. Despite
being outmanned, the Catholic coalition destroyed the Ottoman fleet off
the coast of Greece at Lepanto and saved the Christian West. A
significant event in history, especially for Catholics. Dare we ask how
many Catholics today would recognize in a historical context the battle
of Lepanto?
That was not the end of the Muslim threat. For they were at the gates
of Vienna in 1683 threatening once again the Christian West with
extinction. One of my avocations has been to be a tour guide in Italy,
taking small groups, almost all Catholic, to experience the many
delights of that country in the context of its history. I would take
the groups of course to the Vatican Museums. How could one not? There
is a section before one enters the Stanze di Rafaello that almost all
tourists pay little attention to. But there is a large portrait of a
man on a horse, obviously a soldier, before which I always paused and
asked if anyone had ever heard of Jon Sobieski. No one in the many
years I did these tours ever could tell me who Sobieski was or what the
painting was depicting. What the painting was celebrating was this
Polish king’s bravery in leading the European forces against the Muslim
forces laying siege to Vienna and the ultimate defeat of the Ottoman
Empire.
The forgetting of history is a very dangerous thing. And that
forgetting is the mark of contemporary American society. Forgetting
history is indeed dangerous, for to not know where you came from makes
understanding who you are today difficult. To not know history is to
put oneself at the mercy of those who will invent history in order to
impose their understanding of reality on everyone to advance their
cause that they claim is supra-historical. This is clearly seen in the
Communist regimes from the Soviet Union to contemporary China. But it
is also seen in the contemporary Western culture, certainly including
American culture, in which the foundations of what we have known as
Western culture are not merely questioned but denied. The foundation of
Western culture for nearly 2000 years has been the Christian faith with
includes its roots in Judaism. That culture has never been perfect, for
it has denied in selfish ways its foundation in Christianity. But there
is no doubt that its foundation is Christian, and from that foundation
the vitality of Western culture has been the basis of a truly great
civilization, despite glaring imperfections that the Christian would
understand as the result of the reality of original sin.
The role of the Catholic Church has been central in the evolution of this culture.
Even the tragedy of the Protestant Reformation has not and could not
negate the central role of the Catholic Church in the Western world.
But something very bad has happened in the past 75 years. That
liberalism against which St John Henry Newman warned against, which
denies that truth can be known in the absolute sense and that that
truth is the person of Jesus Christ who informs his Church with that
truth, has won the day. If the truth be known, Catholics today are
mostly indistinguishable from those of other faiths or those with no
faith at all. What can one say in the face of objective data that less
than 20% of Catholics go to Mass on Sunda?. And this is before the
pandemic. What can one say when the Speaker of the House and the
Democratic nominee for President of the United States support abortion
absolutely? What can one say when Catholics think they are fulfilling
their obligation to worship God on Sunday by watching ghosts going
through Mass on a TV or computer screen? What can one say when large
dioceses are filing for bankruptcy to get out of paying millions of
dollars in legal settlements in cases of gross sexual abuse by priests,
the majority of which involve young men? What can one say when the
successors of the Apostles are mostly silent or mouthing pious phrases
during a world wide pandemic? Have they ever heard of St Charles
Borromeo and his witness in the plague in Milano in the seventeenth
century?
Where is the alliance today to fight the battle at Lepanto, or the
battle at the gates of Vienna? Nowhere. Because despite the cynicism
and infighting of the factions in the 16th century or the 17thcentury,
they had one important thing that we do not have. They had a deep
commonality in the worship of God in the Mass that transcended the
deepest cultural and political divides. The destruction of that
commonality and the destruction of the historical link to the worship
of the Apostolic and Patristic Church has left us in this parlous
situation. And the real hope we have for the future lies in what we do
here together on this feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. To worship God
in spirit and in truth, to worship God within history informed by the
Incarnation, to worship God in truth, and goodness and, yes, in beauty.
UNIVERSALIS: From a sermon of St Bernard of Clairvaux We should meditate on the mysteries of salvation
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: "To the Shepherd"
3. A pilot is the man who, once having received
spiritual strength from God and from his own toils, is able to draw up
his ship, not merely from out of the billows, but also from out of the
abyss itself.
October 5, 2020
(Heb 4:14-16) Having therefore a great high priest that hath passed
into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God: let us hold fast our
confession. For we have not a high priest who cannot have compassion on
our infirmities: but one tempted in all things like as we are, without
sin. Let us go therefore with confidence to the throne of grace: that
we may obtain mercy and find grace in seasonable aid.
VIA DIVINE MERCY NEWSLETTER: The compassion I have for them in My Heart ( Jesus speaks to Saint Maria Faustina )
“Tell My priests that hardened sinners
will repent on hearing their words when they speak about My
unfathomable mercy, about the compassion I have for them in My Heart.
To priests who proclaim and extol My mercy, I will give wondrous power;
I will anoint their words and touch the hearts of those to whom they
will speak” . (Diary 1521)
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER: MASS IN ST PETER'S SQUARE FOR THE CANONIZATION OF SR MARY FAUSTINA KOWALSKA Sunday, 30 April 2000
TheDivineMercy.org: Saint Faustina’s Feast (October 5) Added to General Roman Calendar
NCR: 17 Things Jesus Revealed to St. Faustina About Divine Mercy
UNIVERSALIS: The mission of proclaiming and begging divine mercy for the world
O my God, I am conscious of my mission in the Holy Church. It is my
constant endeavour to plead for mercy for the world. I unite myself
closely with Jesus and stand before him as an atoning sacrifice on
behalf of the world. God will refuse me nothing when I entreat him with
the voice of his Son. My sacrifice is nothing in itself, but when I
join it to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, it becomes all-powerful and
has the power to appease divine wrath. God loves us in his Son; the
painful Passion of the Son of God constantly turns aside the wrath of
God.
O God, how I desire that souls come
to know you and to see that you have created them because of your
unfathomable love. O my Creator and Lord, I feel that I am going to
remove the veil of heaven so that earth will not doubt your goodness.
Make of me, Jesus, a pure and
agreeable offering before the face of your Father. Jesus, transform me,
miserable and sinful as I am, into your own self (for you can do all
things), and give me to your eternal Father. I want to become a
sacrificial host before you, but an ordinary wafer to people. I want
the fragrance of my sacrifice to be known to you alone. O eternal God,
an unquenchable fire of supplication for your mercy burns within me. I
know and understand that this is my task, here and in eternity. You
yourself have told me to speak about this great mercy and about your
goodness.
-From the diary of St Faustina
DIVINEMERCY.ORG: Divine Mercy Explained
The Resurrection of Jesus was the
most important event in the history of the world. When the Lord
appeared in the 'Upper Room' to the apostles pointing out His wounds,
it was to demonstrate He was the Crucified Christ, and to show He had
resurrected from the dead. The final proof that He was God. He then
bestowed on the apostles the power to forgive sins, which was in effect
Divine Mercy coming into the world.
It was the beginning of the Church
on earth. In 1931 He appeared as the same image in another room, this
time the room of a young nun, again showing His wounds, emphasising the
power of those wounds as rays from a font of reconciliation and
renewal, rays of love and mercy. This was Divine Mercy, His victory on
the Cross, His resurrection, coming into to a very sinful world once
again. A world that was about to plunge man into the depths of
depravity in a horrific world war.
He asked her to teach the world
again of why he died on the Cross to give sinners another chance of
obtaining God's Divine Mercy, and pardon their sins if they returned to
living by God’s commandments. He was also reminding man that His death
on the Cross, Divine Mercy was for all mankind (And there are other
sheep I have that are not of this fold, these I have to lead as well.
They too will hear My voice, and then there will be one flock and one
Shepherd. John 10:11 – 18)
The commandments of God are built
into every human born, in the form of a conscience that was given them
at birth, it is the spirit of God within them, if you deny your
conscience, you deny God.
The image that appeared to the
apostles was the resurrected Christ. The Resurrection was the start of
the Christian Church. The image that appeared to Saint Faustina was the
same image that started the Christian Church. His appearance to Saint
Faustina as the same image was to renew the Church, to renew belief in
the Cross, in the Resurrection, in mans salvation.
In the beginning he said “I have
not come to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance”.
(Luke 5:32) For the same reason He appeared again on earth to Saint
Faustina, to save sinners from eternal damnation. His message of Divine
Mercy is a warning to mankind to exercise their conscience, come back
to God and live by the Commandments.
Who are the sinners? – sinners are those who offend human nature, God’s creation, and the dignity of man.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: "To the Shepherd"
2. A shepherd is pre-eminently he that is able
to seek out and set aright his lost, rational sheep by means of guilelessness,
zeal, and prayer.
October 2, 2020
(Mat 18:10)
See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you,
that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in
heaven.
The Guardian Angel Prayer: Angel
of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here. Ever this
(day or night), be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide.
NEWS REPORT: With no sense of smell post-COVID-19, this woman believes a ‘guardian angel’ alerted her to a gas leak in her home
NCR: Renowned Angel Expert Explains Amazing Facts Every Catholic Should Know About Angels
CATHOLIC EXCHANGE: Peter Kreeft on Angels
ANGELS: The Twelve Most Important Things to Know About Them
- They really exist. Not just in our minds, or our myths, or our
symbols, or our culture. They are as real as your dog, or your sister,
or electricity.
- They’re present, right here, right now, right next to you, reading these words with you.
- They’re not cute, cuddly, comfortable, chummy, or “cool”. They are fearsome and formidable. They are huge. They are warriors.
- They are the real “extra-terrestrials”, the real “Super-men”, the
ultimate aliens. Their powers are far beyond those of all fictional
creatures.
- They are more brilliant minds than Einstein.
- They can literally move the heavens and the earth if God permits them.
- There are also evil angels, fallen angels, demons, or devils.
These too are not myths. Demon possessions, and exorcisms, are real.
- Angels are aware of you, even though you can’t usually see or
hear them. But you can communicate with them. You can talk to them
without even speaking.
- You really do have your very own “guardian angel”. Everybody does.
- Angels often come disguised. “Do not neglect hospitality, for
some have entertained angels unawares”—that’s a warning from life’s
oldest and best instruction manual.
- We are on a protected part of a great battlefield between angels and devils, extending to eternity.
- Angels are sentinels standing at the crossroads where life meets
death. They work especially at moments of crisis, at the brink of
disaster—for bodies, for souls, and for nations.
UNIVERSALIS: From a Sermon of St Bernard of Clairvaux
That they might guard you in all your ways He has given his angels
charge over you to guard you in all your ways. Let them thank the Lord
for his mercy; his wonderful works are for the children of men. Let
them give thanks and say among the nations, the Lord has done great
things for them. O Lord, what is man that you have made yourself known
to him, or why do you incline your heart to him? And you do incline
your heart to him; you show him your care and your concern. Finally,
you send your only Son and the grace of your Spirit, and promise him a
vision of your countenance. And so, that nothing in heaven should be
wanting in your concern for us, you send those blessed spirits to serve
us, assigning them as our guardians and our teachers.
He has given his angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways.
These words should fill you with respect, inspire devotion and instil
confidence; respect for the presence of angels, devotion because of
their loving service, and confidence because of their protection. And
so the angels are here; they are at your side, they are with you,
present on your behalf. They are here to protect you and to serve you.
But even if it is God who has given them this charge, we must
nonetheless be grateful to them for the great love with which they obey
and come to help us in our great need.
So let us be devoted and grateful to such great protectors; let us
return their love and honour them as much as we can and should. Yet all
our love and honour must go to him, for it is from him that they
receive all that makes them worthy of our love and respect.
We should then, my brothers, show our affection for the angels, for one
day they will be our co-heirs just as here below they are our guardians
and trustees appointed and set over us by the Father. We are God’s
children although it does not seem so, because we are still but small
children under guardians and trustees, and for the present little
better than slaves.
Even though we are children and have a long, a very long and dangerous
way to go, with such protectors what have we to fear? They who keep us
in all our ways cannot be overpowered or led astray, much less lead us
astray. They are loyal, prudent, powerful. Why then are we afraid? We
have only to follow them, stay close to them, and we shall dwell under
the protection of God’s heaven.
PADRE PIO:
O delightful intimacy, O blessed companionship! Oh, if only all men
knew how to understand and appreciate this very great gift that God, in
the excess of His love for men, has assigned to us this celestial
spirit! Recall frequently his presence: you ought to fix your mind's
eye upon him. Thank him, pray to him. He is so finely mannered, so
discreet: respect him. Have continual fear lest you offend the purity
of his gaze.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: "To the Shepherd"
1. In this terrestial book, O divine father, I
have given you the last place, but I am certain that you are inscribed
in the celestial book before us all, if indeed He is truthful who said,
"The last manner of thought shall be first in dignity." (Mat 20:16).
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