Thursday, July 27, 2017
Saturday, July 22, 2017
St Mary Magdalen Feastday
Today is the feast of St Mary Magdalen, an icon of merciful love received and responded to! Below a beautiful homily by Pope St. Gregory the Great. ~Blessings, Fr Gary
We should reflect on Mary’s attitude and the great love she felt for Christ; for though the disciples had left the tomb, she remained. She was still seeking the one she had not found, and while she sought she wept; burning with the fire of love, she longed for him who she thought had been taken away. And so it happened that the woman who stayed behind to seek Christ was the only one to see him. For perseverance is essential to any good deed, as the voice of truth tells us: Whoever perseveres to the end will be saved.
At first she sought but did not find, but when she persevered it happened that she found what she was looking for. When our desires are not satisfied, they grow stronger, and becoming stronger they take hold of their object. Holy desires likewise grow with anticipation, and if they do not grow they are not really desires. Anyone who succeeds in attaining the truth has burned with such a great love. As David says: My soul has thirsted for the living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God? And so also in the Song of Songs the Church says: I was wounded by love; and again: My soul is melted with love.
Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek? She is asked why she is sorrowing so that her desire might be strengthened; for when she mentions whom she is seeking, her love is kindled all the more ardently.
Jesus says to her: Mary. Jesus is not recognized when he calls her “woman”; so he calls her by name, as though he were saying: Recognize me as I recognize you; for I do not know you as I know others; I know you as yourself. And so Mary, once addressed by name, recognizes who is speaking. She immediately calls him rabboni, that is to say, teacher, because the one whom she sought outwardly was the one who inwardly taught her to keep on searching."
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
Sympathy for the devil
“Never forget, when you hear the progress of the Enlightenment being praised, that the devil’s cleverest ploy is to persuade you that he doesn’t exist.” — Charles Baudelaire
 |
| Archbishop Chaput His book: Strangers in a Strange Land |
Exactly 30 years ago, Kolakowski gave a lecture at Harvard entitled “The Devil in History.” Early in the talk, the mood in the room became restless. Many of the listeners knew Kolakowski’s work. They knew he could be playful and that he had a wicked sense of irony. But they couldn’t figure out where he was going with his lecture.
Present that day were the historians Tony Judt and Timothy Garton Ash. About 10 minutes into the talk, Ash leaned over to Judt and whispered incredulously: “I’ve got it. He really is talking about the devil.” And in fact, he was.¹
It was a moment when the little bigotries of our intellectual class were laid bare. Apart from Judt and Ash, the audience was baffled that an urbane public intellectual, fluent in five languages, could really believe in “religious nonsense” like the devil and original sin. But that’s precisely what Kolakowski did believe. And he said so again and again in his various works:
An example: “The devil is part of our experience. Our generation has seen enough of it for the message to be taken extremely seriously.”²
And: “Evil is continuous throughout human experience. The point is not how to make one immune to it, but under what conditions one may identify and restrain the devil.”³
And: “When a culture loses its sacred sense, it loses all sense.”⁴
Kolakowski saw that we can’t fully understand our culture unless we take the devil seriously. The devil and evil are constants at work in human history and in the struggles of every human soul. And note that Kolakowski (unlike some of our own Catholic leaders who should know better) was not using the word “devil” as a symbol of the darkness in our own hearts, or a metaphor for the bad things that happen in the world.
He was talking about the spiritual being Jesus called “the evil one” and “the father of lies” — the fallen angel who works tirelessly to thwart God’s mission and Christ’s work of salvation.
This is why the evangelization of culture is always, in some sense, a call to spiritual warfare. We’re in a struggle for souls. Our adversary is the devil. And while Satan is not God’s equal and doomed to final defeat, he can do bitter harm in human affairs. The first Christians knew this. We find their awareness written on nearly every page of the New Testament.
The devil, more than anyone, appreciates this irony, i.e., that we can’t fully understand the mission of Jesus without him. And he exploits this to his full advantage. He knows that consigning him to myth inevitably sets in motion our same treatment of God.
So what’s the point of my column this week?
Jeffrey Russell, who wrote a remarkable four-volume history of the devil, noted that the Faust character is the most popular subject in Western paintings, poems, novels, operas, cantatas and films after the characters of Jesus, Mary and the devil himself.6 That should tell us something. Who is Faust? He’s the man of letters who sells his soul to the devil on the promise that the devil will show him the secrets of the universe.
Faust is the “type” of a certain species of modern man; a certain kind of artist, scientist and philosopher. Faust doesn’t come to God’s creation as a seeker after truth, beauty, and meaning. He comes impatient to know, the better to control and dominate, with a delusion of his own entitlement, as if such knowledge should be his birthright. A prisoner of his own vanity, Faust would rather barter away his soul than humble himself before God.
There’s a lesson in Faust for our lives and for our culture. Without faith there can be no understanding, no knowledge, no wisdom. We need both faith and reason to penetrate the mysteries of creation and the mysteries of our own lives.
That’s true for individuals, and it’s true for nations. A culture that has a command of reason and the byproducts of reason — science and technology — but lacks faith has made a Faustian bargain with the (very real) devil that can only lead to despair and self-destruction. Such a culture has gained the world with its wealth, power and material success. But it has forfeited its soul.
***
[1] Tony Judt, “Leszek Kolakowski (1927-2009),” New York Review of Books, September 24, 2009
[2] Leszek Kolakowski, My Correct Views on Everything (South Bend, IN, St. Augustine’s Press, 2005), 133
[3] Ibid., 128
[4] Ibid., 271
[5] Jeffrey Burton Russell, Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World (Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press, 1986), 33.
[6] Ibid., 58
Thursday, July 6, 2017
You Shall Believe Sunday July 9, 2017
Sunday July 9, 2017 – Fourteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time
Gospel - MT 11:25-30
At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“I give praise to You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although You have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
You have revealed them to little ones.
Yes, Father, such has been Your gracious Will.
All things have been handed over to Me by My Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
544 The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to “preach good news to the poor”; He declares them blessed, for “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” To them—the “little ones” — the Father is pleased to reveal what remains hidden from the wise and the learned. Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the cradle to the cross; he experiences hunger, thirst, and privation. Jesus identifies Himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward them the condition for entering His kingdom.
From “Great Crusade of Mercy” Testimony of Catalina Rivas (CM-75:6)
6) You know that I do not need anything that you have nor do I need for you to love Me, because I am happy in Myself and I cannot accept any addition to My happiness. If I beg you so much to allow Me to work in you, you must understand that it is solely for your good, and that I do not nurture any hopes in you as far as My happiness is concerned. Therefore, all My Words and all My loving care are for your benefit, for the benefit of your hard hearts and myopic minds. Yes! When you listen to Me, I am happy, but for you, not for Myself – you should understand that. Do not compel Me to seek other souls [e.g., for what is ordained for you]; do not draw away from Me, I beg you, because I want to be always near you. And thus you will experience how light is My yoke and how easy My burden. I do not deceive you; I do not know how to do so. I love you, I repeat, I love you…
From “In Adoration” Testimony of Catalina Rivas (Ch1V-30, ChXI-17)
30) “Because of all that, I ask you to follow Me obediently and without giving up; to come to Me in order to know the gentleness of this your Shepherd who has been made to shed His blood for the purpose of saving you from death…”
17) “Those words that I uttered: ‘Come to Me’ were and are directed to all souls without exception; to all those who suffer and carry burdens or traumas very difficult for them to shoulder. They are the words that promise them the most genuine consolation for their sufferings, and the most efficacious relief for their trials.
Gospel - MT 11:25-30
At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“I give praise to You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although You have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
You have revealed them to little ones.
Yes, Father, such has been Your gracious Will.
All things have been handed over to Me by My Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him.”
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For My yoke is easy, and My burden light.”
and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For My yoke is easy, and My burden light.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
544 The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to “preach good news to the poor”; He declares them blessed, for “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” To them—the “little ones” — the Father is pleased to reveal what remains hidden from the wise and the learned. Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the cradle to the cross; he experiences hunger, thirst, and privation. Jesus identifies Himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward them the condition for entering His kingdom.
From “Great Crusade of Mercy” Testimony of Catalina Rivas (CM-75:6)
6) You know that I do not need anything that you have nor do I need for you to love Me, because I am happy in Myself and I cannot accept any addition to My happiness. If I beg you so much to allow Me to work in you, you must understand that it is solely for your good, and that I do not nurture any hopes in you as far as My happiness is concerned. Therefore, all My Words and all My loving care are for your benefit, for the benefit of your hard hearts and myopic minds. Yes! When you listen to Me, I am happy, but for you, not for Myself – you should understand that. Do not compel Me to seek other souls [e.g., for what is ordained for you]; do not draw away from Me, I beg you, because I want to be always near you. And thus you will experience how light is My yoke and how easy My burden. I do not deceive you; I do not know how to do so. I love you, I repeat, I love you…
From “In Adoration” Testimony of Catalina Rivas (Ch1V-30, ChXI-17)
30) “Because of all that, I ask you to follow Me obediently and without giving up; to come to Me in order to know the gentleness of this your Shepherd who has been made to shed His blood for the purpose of saving you from death…”
17) “Those words that I uttered: ‘Come to Me’ were and are directed to all souls without exception; to all those who suffer and carry burdens or traumas very difficult for them to shoulder. They are the words that promise them the most genuine consolation for their sufferings, and the most efficacious relief for their trials.
Each week we will be presenting a portion of the following Sunday’s readings, and linking it to relevant parts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and messages from the Testimony of Catalina. Pay special attention to the italicized sections. This Sunday Jesus asks you to “come to Him.” Will you? We hope this is inspiring and educational. Any comments you have are certainly welcomed.
by: Thomas Cremona
You can access this Flocknote content weekly and review previous weeks, right here above on the bar links (You Shall Believe)↑
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
St. Maria Goretti Novena Day 9
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Sister Frances Margaret (Fanny Allen)
Fanny Allen was open to assent to truth when she found mysteries that could not be explained by the oracle of reason alone. Thus she found peace and love.
Sister Frances Margaret (Fanny) Allen of the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph died on September 10, 1819 in Montreal at the Hotel-Dieu, the hospital and convent founded by Venerable Jerome Le Royer, Venerable Marie de la Ferre, and Jeanne Mance.
She was a Vermonter in Canada, the first woman from New England to become a Catholic religious, and the daughter of deist, rationalist, and American Revolutionary hero, Ethan Allen.
Fanny Allen was born on November 13, 1784. Her father died when she was four years old and her mother, also named Fanny, remarried (to Dr. Jabez Penniman). Neither the Allen nor the Penniman household was particularly religious. In the midst of the great religious revivals in the British colonies and the post-revolutionary period, Ethan Allen had written and self-published Reason: The Only Oracle of Man (1785). So few copies sold that the printer demanded more money to cover his losses. Fanny laughed through her baptism ceremony when she was an adult. Her mother insisted she be baptized by an Episcopalian minister in 1805 before she went to Catholic Montreal to study French. The minister, Daniel Barber, did not appreciate her mirth.
But the rationalist Fanny had a mysterious event in her past, one that reason had failed to explain, as she recounted:
When I was twelve years old, I was walking one day on the banks of the river which flowed not very far from our house. The water, although very clear, rolled by in torrents. Suddenly I beheld emerging from the river an animal more resembling a monster than a fish, for it was of extraordinary size and horrid shape. It was coming directly toward me and sent a chill of terror through me. What aggravated my peril was that I could not turn away from this monster. I seemed paralyzed and rooted to the ground. While I was in this torturing situation, I saw advancing toward me a man with a venerable and striking countenance, wearing a brown cloak and carrying a staff in his hand. He took hold of my arm gently and gave me strength to move while he said most kindly to me: "My child, what are you doing here? Hasten away." I then ran as fast as I could. When I was some distance off, I turned to look at this venerable man, but I could see him nowhere.
Her mother sent a servant to find the man and thank him but he had vanished.
She had another mysterious experience in the boarding school of the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame in Montreal while studying French. One of the sisters asked her to place some flowers on the Altar and to make some recognition of the Real Presence in the tabernacle. Allen agreed to arrange the flowers but did not intend to acknowledge something she did not believe in. She then found herself physically unable to enter the chapel or approach the Altar until she suddenly believed in the Real Presence, fell on her knees, and adored Him.
So the daughter of a deist was on her way to becoming a Catholic and soon even to discern a religious vocation. She received instructions and was re-baptized by a parish priest in Montreal on the grounds that she had not assented to being baptized. Fanny went home to announce her conversion and her intention to become a religious sister.
But there were obstacles: her mother and stepfather threatened to cut her off financially and would not pay for her dowry. They asked her to wait a year before taking such a crucial decision. She was engaged to be married; Fanny and Jabez were upset that she was throwing away her chance for security and wealth. When she came home to Vermont they tried to distract her with parties and asked an Episcopalian friend to persuade her to join his High Church parish. Fanny resisted all these blandishments and wanted to back to Montreal to join a convent.
She had not decided which one, however, until she visited the chapel of the Hotel Dieu, where she saw a painting of the Holy Family above the altar. Fanny recognized the figure of St. Joseph as the man who saved her when she was 12 years old. Therefore, she decided her vocation was in an order named for St. Joseph. After a year of residence at the Hotel Dieu, she joined the novitiate on September 29, 1808 with the approval and assistance of her parents. She made her final vows on May 18, 1811, with many Vermont friends watching.
Fanny Allen, influenced by her family’s deist and rationalist views, had experienced two mysterious events that defied rational explanation. Inspired by those events, she had overcome the common prejudice, based partly on ignorance, against Catholics and Catholicism, to study Church doctrine and practice. As a Religious Hospitaller of St. Joseph, Sister Frances Margaret served the sick and tended to the wounded during the War of 1812, until her death at age 35 of consumption on September 10, 1819.
One of her biographers notes that after her death several family members and friends became Catholics, inspired by her witness. Her erstwhile fiancé, Archibald Hyde, helped build the first church in Burlington, Vermont (which was burned down by anti-Catholic arsonists). One of her brothers-in-law, William Brayton, and a longtime family friend, Cynthia Martin, who married Jabez Penniman after Fanny’s mother died, also followed Fanny into the Catholic Church. The Anglican minister who baptized the laughing Fanny, Daniel Barber, converted and lived near his son Victor after his conversion.
(Father Victor Barber, SJ’s life is worthy of another blog post: he was married, with children, when he left the Episcopal Church. His wife Jerusha became a Visitation nun, he joined the Society of Jesus, and eventually all their children joined religious orders.)
Sister Frances Margaret still has an influence and presence in Vermont. The Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph established a hospital named for Fanny Allen in 1894 near Burlington on land owned by her step-father Jabez Penniman. It’s now part of the University of Vermont Medical Center.
Like all converts, Fanny Allen had to overcome many obstacles, including the almost inbred fear and hatred of Catholicism of her family and her state. Her conversion surprised many friends at the time because they thought she was too intelligent to accept what they thought of as Catholic superstition. But she was open to assent to truth when she found mysteries that could not be explained by the oracle of reason alone. Thus she found peace and love.
Sister Frances Margaret (Fanny) Allen of the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph died on September 10, 1819 in Montreal at the Hotel-Dieu, the hospital and convent founded by Venerable Jerome Le Royer, Venerable Marie de la Ferre, and Jeanne Mance.
She was a Vermonter in Canada, the first woman from New England to become a Catholic religious, and the daughter of deist, rationalist, and American Revolutionary hero, Ethan Allen.
Fanny Allen was born on November 13, 1784. Her father died when she was four years old and her mother, also named Fanny, remarried (to Dr. Jabez Penniman). Neither the Allen nor the Penniman household was particularly religious. In the midst of the great religious revivals in the British colonies and the post-revolutionary period, Ethan Allen had written and self-published Reason: The Only Oracle of Man (1785). So few copies sold that the printer demanded more money to cover his losses. Fanny laughed through her baptism ceremony when she was an adult. Her mother insisted she be baptized by an Episcopalian minister in 1805 before she went to Catholic Montreal to study French. The minister, Daniel Barber, did not appreciate her mirth.
But the rationalist Fanny had a mysterious event in her past, one that reason had failed to explain, as she recounted:
When I was twelve years old, I was walking one day on the banks of the river which flowed not very far from our house. The water, although very clear, rolled by in torrents. Suddenly I beheld emerging from the river an animal more resembling a monster than a fish, for it was of extraordinary size and horrid shape. It was coming directly toward me and sent a chill of terror through me. What aggravated my peril was that I could not turn away from this monster. I seemed paralyzed and rooted to the ground. While I was in this torturing situation, I saw advancing toward me a man with a venerable and striking countenance, wearing a brown cloak and carrying a staff in his hand. He took hold of my arm gently and gave me strength to move while he said most kindly to me: "My child, what are you doing here? Hasten away." I then ran as fast as I could. When I was some distance off, I turned to look at this venerable man, but I could see him nowhere.
Her mother sent a servant to find the man and thank him but he had vanished.
She had another mysterious experience in the boarding school of the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame in Montreal while studying French. One of the sisters asked her to place some flowers on the Altar and to make some recognition of the Real Presence in the tabernacle. Allen agreed to arrange the flowers but did not intend to acknowledge something she did not believe in. She then found herself physically unable to enter the chapel or approach the Altar until she suddenly believed in the Real Presence, fell on her knees, and adored Him.
So the daughter of a deist was on her way to becoming a Catholic and soon even to discern a religious vocation. She received instructions and was re-baptized by a parish priest in Montreal on the grounds that she had not assented to being baptized. Fanny went home to announce her conversion and her intention to become a religious sister.
But there were obstacles: her mother and stepfather threatened to cut her off financially and would not pay for her dowry. They asked her to wait a year before taking such a crucial decision. She was engaged to be married; Fanny and Jabez were upset that she was throwing away her chance for security and wealth. When she came home to Vermont they tried to distract her with parties and asked an Episcopalian friend to persuade her to join his High Church parish. Fanny resisted all these blandishments and wanted to back to Montreal to join a convent.
She had not decided which one, however, until she visited the chapel of the Hotel Dieu, where she saw a painting of the Holy Family above the altar. Fanny recognized the figure of St. Joseph as the man who saved her when she was 12 years old. Therefore, she decided her vocation was in an order named for St. Joseph. After a year of residence at the Hotel Dieu, she joined the novitiate on September 29, 1808 with the approval and assistance of her parents. She made her final vows on May 18, 1811, with many Vermont friends watching.
Fanny Allen, influenced by her family’s deist and rationalist views, had experienced two mysterious events that defied rational explanation. Inspired by those events, she had overcome the common prejudice, based partly on ignorance, against Catholics and Catholicism, to study Church doctrine and practice. As a Religious Hospitaller of St. Joseph, Sister Frances Margaret served the sick and tended to the wounded during the War of 1812, until her death at age 35 of consumption on September 10, 1819.
One of her biographers notes that after her death several family members and friends became Catholics, inspired by her witness. Her erstwhile fiancé, Archibald Hyde, helped build the first church in Burlington, Vermont (which was burned down by anti-Catholic arsonists). One of her brothers-in-law, William Brayton, and a longtime family friend, Cynthia Martin, who married Jabez Penniman after Fanny’s mother died, also followed Fanny into the Catholic Church. The Anglican minister who baptized the laughing Fanny, Daniel Barber, converted and lived near his son Victor after his conversion.
(Father Victor Barber, SJ’s life is worthy of another blog post: he was married, with children, when he left the Episcopal Church. His wife Jerusha became a Visitation nun, he joined the Society of Jesus, and eventually all their children joined religious orders.)
Sister Frances Margaret still has an influence and presence in Vermont. The Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph established a hospital named for Fanny Allen in 1894 near Burlington on land owned by her step-father Jabez Penniman. It’s now part of the University of Vermont Medical Center.
Like all converts, Fanny Allen had to overcome many obstacles, including the almost inbred fear and hatred of Catholicism of her family and her state. Her conversion surprised many friends at the time because they thought she was too intelligent to accept what they thought of as Catholic superstition. But she was open to assent to truth when she found mysteries that could not be explained by the oracle of reason alone. Thus she found peace and love.
St. Maria Goretti Novena Day 8
Please pray that their faith may be as strong as yours was when you were 11 years old. Pray that I may do what I can to support children in their faith, and to encourage them to love our Lord, to put Him first in their lives, and to follow His commandments.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions). Amen.
Monday, July 3, 2017
July 2nd 2017 Medjugorje message
My children, I am teaching you how to be worthy of His love, to direct your thoughts to Him, to live my Son. Apostles of my love, I am covering you with my mantle, because as a mother I desire to protect you. I am imploring you to pray for the whole world.
My heart is suffering. Sins are multiplying, they are too numerous. But with the help of those of you who are humble, modest, filled with love, hidden and holy, my heart will triumph. Love my Son above all and the whole world through Him. Never forget that each of your brothers, within himself, carries something precious - the soul. Therefore, my children, love all those who do not know my Son, so that through prayer and the love which comes through prayer, they may become better; that the goodness in them could win; that souls could be saved and have eternal life.
My apostles, my children, my Son told you to love one another. May this be inscribed in your hearts and with prayer, try to live that love. Thank you."
St. Maria Goretti Novena Day 7
You carried your cross so courageously while you suffered through surgery without anesthesia. You thirsted and were not able to be given water, and you accepted that cross because you loved our Lord.
Pray for me, St. Maria Goretti, that I will become better at carrying my cross.
Pray that I will not complain about my cross, and that I will remember to offer it up to our Lord, for I know that He does not waste any ounce of suffering given to Him. Please pray also for (mention your intentions). Amen.
Sunday, July 2, 2017
Johnny Depp & other "Kill Trump" Celebrities
Johnny Depp and other “Kill Trump” celebrities by their words and actions have made implied threats upon the life of our duly elected President, Donald Trump. Regardless of his apparent character defects, the Catholic Catechism recognizes our duty to honor his authority and to treat him with respect. (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1900). He certainly has a natural right to life as recognized by our Founders.
On the eve of the celebration of our country’s Declaration of Independence, we must recognize and defend God’s natural law that our Founders recognized. Thomas Jefferson wrote the immortal words in the Declaration, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Last month, actor Johnny Depp alluded to the assassination of President Lincoln by actor John Wilkes Booth, with an apparent reference to President Trump, by asking a crowd, “When was the last time an actor killed a President?…It has been awhile and maybe it is time.” The crowd cheered.
Last May, celebrity Kathy Griffin posed for abhorrent photos holding a mask that looked like the bloodied head of President Trump. How do you think that would affect his innocent children? President Trump tweeted, “My children, especially my 11 year-old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!"
At January’s Women's March on Washington, celebrity Madonna mused in a speech that she'd "thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House."
A summer production of Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar in New York City had a President Trump look-alike actor dressed like our President who played the part of Julius Caesar. He was bloodily assassinated on stage with the implication that President Trump’s presidency should end in the same way.
We should recognize and honor our President’s legitimate authority and respect his dignity and his life and not make him an implied target for assassination. St. Paul said to pray “for all in authority, [such as our President] that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.” (1Timothy 2:1-4).
The Catholic Catechism teaches us:
Human society can be neither well-ordered nor prosperous unless it has some people invested with legitimate authority to preserve its institutions and to devote themselves as far as is necessary to work and care for the good of all….
Every human community needs an authority to govern it. The foundation of such authority lies in human nature. It is necessary for the unity of the state. Its role is to ensure as far as possible the common good of the society.
The authority required by the moral order derives from God: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” (Romans 13:1-2; cf. 1 Peter 2:13-17).
The duty of obedience requires all to give due honor to authority and to treat those who are charged to exercise it with respect, and, insofar as it is deserved, with gratitude and good-will. (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1897-1900).
Let us pray for President Trump, Pope St. Clement of Rome’s ancient prayer for political authorities: "Grant to them, Lord, health, peace, concord, and stability, so that they may exercise without offense the sovereignty that you have given them. Master, heavenly King of the ages, you give glory, honor, and power over the things of earth to the sons of men. Direct, Lord, their counsel, following what is pleasing and acceptable in your sight, so that by exercising with devotion and in peace and gentleness the power that you have given to them, they may find favor with you.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1900).
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in Indiana to the visionary Sister Mildred in 1956 and identified herself as “Our Lady of America, The Immaculate Virgin, Patroness of your land.” She promised peace and protection if we responded to her requests.
Change will come to America either through violence or conversions. Let us pray through Our Lady of America her Novena for conversions, true change and hope and for her promised peace and protection, especially for our President.
by: Dan Lynch
On the eve of the celebration of our country’s Declaration of Independence, we must recognize and defend God’s natural law that our Founders recognized. Thomas Jefferson wrote the immortal words in the Declaration, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Last month, actor Johnny Depp alluded to the assassination of President Lincoln by actor John Wilkes Booth, with an apparent reference to President Trump, by asking a crowd, “When was the last time an actor killed a President?…It has been awhile and maybe it is time.” The crowd cheered.
Last May, celebrity Kathy Griffin posed for abhorrent photos holding a mask that looked like the bloodied head of President Trump. How do you think that would affect his innocent children? President Trump tweeted, “My children, especially my 11 year-old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!"
At January’s Women's March on Washington, celebrity Madonna mused in a speech that she'd "thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House."
A summer production of Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar in New York City had a President Trump look-alike actor dressed like our President who played the part of Julius Caesar. He was bloodily assassinated on stage with the implication that President Trump’s presidency should end in the same way.
We should recognize and honor our President’s legitimate authority and respect his dignity and his life and not make him an implied target for assassination. St. Paul said to pray “for all in authority, [such as our President] that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.” (1Timothy 2:1-4).
The Catholic Catechism teaches us:
Human society can be neither well-ordered nor prosperous unless it has some people invested with legitimate authority to preserve its institutions and to devote themselves as far as is necessary to work and care for the good of all….
Every human community needs an authority to govern it. The foundation of such authority lies in human nature. It is necessary for the unity of the state. Its role is to ensure as far as possible the common good of the society.
The authority required by the moral order derives from God: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” (Romans 13:1-2; cf. 1 Peter 2:13-17).
The duty of obedience requires all to give due honor to authority and to treat those who are charged to exercise it with respect, and, insofar as it is deserved, with gratitude and good-will. (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1897-1900).
Let us pray for President Trump, Pope St. Clement of Rome’s ancient prayer for political authorities: "Grant to them, Lord, health, peace, concord, and stability, so that they may exercise without offense the sovereignty that you have given them. Master, heavenly King of the ages, you give glory, honor, and power over the things of earth to the sons of men. Direct, Lord, their counsel, following what is pleasing and acceptable in your sight, so that by exercising with devotion and in peace and gentleness the power that you have given to them, they may find favor with you.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1900).
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in Indiana to the visionary Sister Mildred in 1956 and identified herself as “Our Lady of America, The Immaculate Virgin, Patroness of your land.” She promised peace and protection if we responded to her requests.
Change will come to America either through violence or conversions. Let us pray through Our Lady of America her Novena for conversions, true change and hope and for her promised peace and protection, especially for our President.
by: Dan Lynch
St. Maria Goretti Novena Day 6
O St. Maria Goretti, beautiful model of living a holy, everyday life, pray for me. I often feel as though my life must be extraordinary if I am to be a saint, but you show me another way. You show me that I can be a saint if I love our Lord with all my heart, and if I serve my family and put them before me.
Please pray that I may be selfless as you were, and that I can learn to deny my own desires so that I can fulfill our Lord’s will. Please pray also for (mention your intentions). Amen.
Saturday, July 1, 2017
St. Maria Goretti Novena Day 5
God’s mercy is the only hope for mankind. I know we are called to imitate our Father’s mercy to those around us, but it is hard, and I often fail.
But you, even at the age of 11, were strong and courageous enough to offer mercy to your attacker, the one who hurt you the very most.
Please pray that I will be able to do the same to those who hurt me. Please pray that I will not consider their unworthiness, but that I may consider our Lord, as you did. Please pray also for (mention your intentions). Amen.
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