THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost 2 October 2011

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

There are a few things for us to consider in today’s Gospel. What are we allowed to do on Sundays? Are we humble? How our actions should speak of our humility. Last, but not least we should consider the reward awaiting the humble. 

What is lawful for us to do on Sundays? We must keep Sunday holy because it is the Lord’s Day. It is principally a day of rest and prayer – a day dedicated to God and our souls. We are busy six other days of the week concerned for our bodies and our physical well being. On Sunday we are asked to give attention to our souls and our spiritual well being. We are asked to give special attention to God on this day because we were unable to do so on the other days. With the Sabbath obligations moved to the first day of the week – Sunday – since the times of the Apostles, we now find ourselves not so much ending the week with God as we are beginning the week with God. Putting God first is the best way to start everything including our week. 

Of course there arises as we see in today’s Gospel times when it becomes necessary for us to allow the cares and duties of the rest of the week to encroach upon Sunday, but on such occasions we should remember that it is for the love of God that we do so, and if possible we should do our best to restore what was taken from Sunday some other time. Loving God and thanking, petitioning, honoring and worshiping Him are never out of season or unwelcomed. 

Our Lord also admonishes us today to be humble. We are reminded not to seek the first place but rather to seek the last place. We can do this simply and naturally once we realize our own unworthiness. 

Our worthiness is not to be measured by a comparison with our neighbor, but rather with God. Jesus tells us that it is He that we are to imitate and follow. All too often we compare ourselves with our neighbor and end up like the Pharisees despising our neighbor and filling our own hearts and heads with a very dangerous and harmful pride and vanity. If we would on the other hand look at ourselves and then look at Jesus we would find that we have rather much to be humbled by and ashamed of. We are told by Jesus to learn of Him and to be meek and humble of heart. Realizing our own faults and failings in this area is a profound humiliation which should lead us as St. Francis and many of the saints to consider ourselves the worst of sinners. We are the worst of sinners not by comparison with our fellow men but rather in comparison with God. We are His children and He is to be our role model by which we measure ourselves. “Be ye perfect because your heavenly Father is perfect.” 

If we will seek this last place in all humility, our lives will be in agreement with Jesus who humbled Himself to become man. He became not the greatest of men but the least of men. Not the first but rather the last. He humbled Himself even to the death on the cross. After this terrible death He arose from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. From the least and the lowest He is now in the Highest.

This is what He is suggesting to us when He tells us that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. He who exalts himself shall be humbled and he who humbles himself shall be exalted. We are to follow Him in dying to ourselves at least by denying ourselves day by day. We pick up our cross and follow Him each day when we patiently endure the burdens and cares of this life, and when we seek our proper place in all truth and humility. If Jesus who is God did this for us who are we to think that this is somehow beneath us? In all truth we deserve to suffer what Jesus innocently suffered for us so whatever evil comes our way in this life, is just payment for our sins. It should be considered not an evil but rather a good because it is for our salvation that it is given to us. 

If we accept this advice and willingly take the last and the least position we will find a greater reward in Heaven because we have more faithfully imitated our role model Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

 

 

 S AISLE E. WINDOW (detail)
Christ in Majesty is holding an orb in his left hand depicting three continents, all that was known to the medieval world. The lower figure inscribed on the left is St Denys of France, protector of cattle, and St Blosius, protector of sheep, is  on the right. The Woodman window was restored in December 2000.

"A sinner cannot outrage the Deity more than by despairing of divine mercy on account of the number and enormity of his crimes; for God's clemency is far greater than the iniquity and guilt of an entire world...Of God's mercy never despair."

Blosius

 

Planned Parenthood’s Preborn Child Development Timeline Lacks Major Milestones and Details By Jennie Stone -- September 28th, 2011, 4:29 am -- Filed in Analysis, Planned Parenthood inShare2

Unborn child 12 weeks after conception

The following excerpts are from the Q&A section of Planned Parenthood’s website about fetal development, called “Pregnancy Week by Week.”  It conveniently neglects some big milestones during prenatal life.  If a pregnant girl were to look for facts about her unborn baby’s development on Planned Parenthood’s page, she would receive only a small fraction of the information she desires.

Planned Parenthood describes gestational age by LMP (last menstrual period); certain milestones appear as though they occur later after conception than they actually do.  For example, when Planned Parenthood says “Weeks 5-6,” this simply defines when the woman’s last menstruation was, and her unborn baby is actually only 3-4 weeks old:

“The ball of cells develops into an embryo at the start of the sixth week. The embryonic stage of pregnancy will last about five weeks. During this time all major internal organs begin developing.
Weeks 5–6

• The embryo is less than 1/5 inch (4–5 mm) long.
• A very basic beating heart and circulatory system develop.
• Buds for arms and legs develop.
• The neural tube begins forming. The neural tube will later form the brain, spinal cord, and major nerves.
• The bud of a tail develops.
• The umbilical cord begins developing.”

That “ball of cells” is scientifically and biologically a newly conceived human being, but don’t expect Planned Parenthood to ever admit such a thing.  The “very basic beating heart,” which isn’t basic in any sense of the word, is pumping blood throughout the baby’s body just 21 days after conception—before the vast majority of women even realize they’re pregnant.  By 28 days after conception, an unborn child’s heart is beating about 121 beats per minute.

Planned Parenthood claims that “the neural tube will later form the brain,” at 5-6 weeks of pregnancy when, in fact, the brain is the first organ to begin developing.  By 3 weeks after conception, the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain can be identified.

“Weeks 7–8

• The embryo is 1/4 to 1/2 inch (7–14 mm) long.
• The heart has formed.
• Webbed fingers and toes develop.
• The arms bend at elbows.
• External ears, eyes, eyelids, liver, and upper lip have begun forming.
• The sex organs are the same — neither female nor male — in all embryos until the seventh or eighth week. If a gene triggers the development of testes, the embryo develops as a male. If there is no trigger, the embryo develops ovaries and becomes female.”

It’s interesting that Planned Parenthood’s website states that an unborn child’s heart has formed 7-8 weeks into pregnancy when their medical staff claims that there is “nothing there” at this age.  Other staff members claim that the baby’s heart doesn’t begin to beat until 17-18 weeks into pregnancy.  Fact is, both Planned Parenthood’s website and workers mislead on the development of the unborn, especially on their heart development.

This timeline conveniently neglects to mention the fact that an unborn baby’s brainwave activity can be recorded as early as 6 weeks, 2 days after conception via EEG, and by 7 weeks, he or she demonstrates reflexive movements if touched.

“Weeks 9–10

• The embryo develops into a fetus after 10 weeks. It is 1–1.5 inches (21–40 mm) long.
• The tail disappears.
• Fingers and toes are longer.
• The umbilical cord connects the abdomen of the fetus to the placenta.  The placenta is attached to the wall of the uterus. It absorbs nutrients from the woman’s bloodstream. The cord carries nutrients and oxygen to the fetus and takes wastes away from the fetus.”

Around 8-10 weeks after conception, the preborn child has a very complex brain, practice his/her breathing motions, can grasp an object placed in the hand and respond to light touch, and begin thumb-sucking, and many demonstrate left- or right- hand dominance.
Why aren’t these fascinating details on Planned Parenthood’s fetal growth timeline?  Where are the videos of unborn children in the womb on Planned Parenthood’s fetal development section?  Where are the photographs?  There are absolutely no detailed descriptions or images of preborn babies on Planned Parenthood’s website.  If a pregnant girl were to look for facts about her unborn baby’s development on Planned Parenthood’s page, she would receive only a small fraction of the information and facts that she needs and deserves to know.

TAGS: Planned Parenthood

Among the Holy Archangels, three are particularly distinguished in holy writ--SS. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. St. Michael, whom the Church honors this day, was the prince of the faithful angels who opposed Lucifer and his associates in their revolt against God. Michael, in Hebrew, signifies, "Who is like God?" this was as it were, his motto, whom by humility he repressed the pride of that apostate angel, and set up the standard against him. He continues to protect the saints from his assaults.

This Holy Archangel has ever been honored in the Catholic Church, under the same title as her guardian under God, and as the protector of the faithful; for God is pleased to employ the zeal and charity of the good angels and their leader against the malice of the devil.

It is mentioned in particular of this special guardian and protector of the Church, that, in the persecution of Antichrist, he will powerfully stand up in her defense: "At that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people." He is not only the protector of the Church, but of every faithful soul. He defeated the devil by humility; we are enlisted in the same warfare. His arms were humility and ardent love of God; the same must be our weapons. We ought to regard this Archangel as our leader under God; and courageously resisting the devil in all his assaults, cry out, "Who can be compared to God?" His feast day is the 29th of September.

It is fairly easy to accept a cross that we know will be of short duration.  It is easy, in the moment of indiscreet fervor, to desire, to demand, a greater share of Calvary.  But when, in the midst of the most awful sufferings, God, at our prayer, inspires the strength and the constancy necessary for us not to desire the end of a long affliction, this is Christian heroism.

St. Louis, Bishop of Toulouse, for instance, spent seven years in captivity and only once in those long years did he pray for his release and then with these reservations:  that his liberty would not compromise his salvation nor diminish the glory that it might give to God.

 

In Pursuit of Perfection

It appears that many of you are having a lot of problems posting comments on this blog.  If you want to comment on a post and the blog is acting up, please email me at either   sisterbridgettosf@yahoo.com   or lstrandt@yahoo.com and I will post your comment and sign your name to it.  It is very frustrating that you cannot speak your mind but I guess we will just have to go to plan B!  Thanks for your patience!

 

"I give Thee thanks, O Lord God, for these pains of mine and I beg you, my Lord, add a hundredfold to them if it please You.  It will be most agreeable to me that in afflicting me with pain you do not spare me.  Fulfilling your holy will is more than ample comfort to me"

St. Francis of Assisi

 

 As a young child in Catholic school, the nuns spent much time on these martyrs probably because America has so few real saints to boast about!  If you read the story carefully and think about their sufferings you realize that these men suffered tortures that are really unimaginable!  Let us pray to them for courage and strength to carry on...

 
Sts. John de Brebeuf, Isaac Jogues, and Companions - Pray for us
Feast day: September 26.

Jesuit missionary, born at Conde-sur-Vire in Normandy, 25 March,
1593; died in Canada, near Georgian Bay, 16 March, 1649. His desire
was to become a lay brother, but he finally entered the Society of
Jesus as a scholastic, 8 November, 1617. According to Ragueneau it
was 5 October. Though of unusual physical strength, his health gave
way completely when he was twenty-eight, which interfered with his
studies and permitted only what was strictly necessary, so that he
never acquired any extensive theological knowledge. On 19 June, 1625,
he arrived in Quebec, with the Recollect, Joseph de la Roche d'
Aillon, and in spite of the threat which the Calvinist captain of the
ship made to carry him back to France, he remained in the colony. He
overcame the dislike of the colonists for Jesuits and secured a site
for a residence on the St. Charles, the exact location of a former
landing of Jacques Cartier. He immediately took up his abode in the
Indian wigwams, and has left us an account of his five months'
experience there in the dead of winter. In the spring he set out with
the Indians on a journey to Lake Huron in a canoe, during the course
of which his life was in constant danger. With him was Father de
Noue, and they established their first mission near Georgian Bay, at
Ihonatiria, but after a short time his companion was recalled, and he
was left alone.

Brebeuf met with no success. He was summoned to Quebec because of the
danger of extinction to which the entire colony was then exposed, and
arrived there after an absence of two years, 17 July, 1628. On 19
July, 1629, Champlain surrendered to the English, and the
missionaries returned to France. Four years afterwards the colony was
restored to France, and on 23 March, 1633, Brebeuf again set out for
Canada. While in France he had pronounced his solemn vows as
spiritual coadjutor. As soon as he arrived, viz., May, 1633, he
attempted to return to Lake Huron. The Indians refused to take him,
but during the following year he succeeded in reaching his old
mission along with Father Daniel. It meant a journey of thirty days
and constant danger of death. The next sixteen years of uninterrupted
labours among these savages were a continual series of privations and
sufferings which he used to say were only roses in comparison with
what the end was to be. The details may be found in the "Jesuit
Relations".

In 1640 he set out with Father Chaumonot to evangelize the Neutres, a
tribe that lived north of Lake Erie, but after a winter of incredible
hardship the missionaries returned unsuccessful. In 1642 he was sent
down to Quebec, where he was given the care of the Indians in the
Reservation at Sillery. About the time the war was at its height
between the Hurons and the Iroquois, Jogues and Bressani had been
captured in an effort to reach the Huron country, and Brebeuf was
appointed to make a third attempt. He succeeded. With him on this
journey were Chabanel and Garreau, both of whom were afterwards
murdered. They reached St. Mary's on the Wye, which was the central
station of the Huron Mission. By 1647 the Iroquois had made peace
with the French, but kept up their war with the Hurons, and in 1648
fresh disasters befell the work of the missionaries -- their
establishments were burned and the missionaries slaughtered. On 16
March, 1649, the enemy attacked St. Louis and seized Brebeuf and
Lallemant, who could have escaped but rejected the offer made to themand remained with their flock. The two priests were dragged to St.
Ignace, which the Iroquois had already captured.

On entering the village, they were met with a shower of stones,
cruelly beaten with clubs, and then tied to posts to be burned to
death. Brebeuf is said to have kissed the stake to which he was
bound. The fire was lighted under them, and their bodies slashed with
knives. Brebeuf had scalding water poured on his head in mockery of
baptism, a collar of red-hot tomahawk-heads placed around his neck, a
red-hot iron thrust down his throat, and when he expired his heart was
cut out and eaten. Through all the torture he never uttered a groan.
The Iroquois withdrew when they had finished their work. The remains
of the victims were gathered up subsequently, and the head of Brebeuf
is still kept as a relic at the Hôtel-Dieu, Quebec.
His memory is cherished in Canada more than that of all the other
early missionaries. Although their names appear with his in letters
of gold on the grand staircase of the public buildings, there is a
vacant niche on the façade, with his name under it, awaiting his
statue. His heroic virtues, manifested in such a remarkable degree at
every stage of his missionary career, his almost incomprehensible
endurance of privations and suffering, and the conviction that the
reason of his death was not his association with the Hurons, but
hatred of Christianity, has set on foot a movement for his
canonization as a saint and martyr. An ecclesiastical court sat in
1904 for an entire year to examine his life and virtues and the cause
of his death, and the result of the inquiry was forwarded to Rome. [He
was canonized in 1930.
Taken from "Catholic Encyclopedia"

Hail Holy Queen, Our Life, Our Sweetness, and Our Hope

The Word of God was preached on the 15th Sunday After Pentecost. Here are the audio links for Fr. Bonaventure's sermons.

Queen of Angels Friary Rochester, NY 9AM 

St. Anthony Friary Chapel Waterloo, NY 2PM 

+ Pax Domini Sit Semper Vobiscum +

 

Father Bonaventure youtube sermon-15th Sunday after Pentecost

Bishop Giles' audio sermon for 15th Sunday after Pentecost

Father Joseph's sermon for 15th Sunday after Pentecost 

"Faith Hope & Charity" by Louis Comfort Tiffany

I'm reading an excellent book called "In Pursuit of Perfection" written by Charles Hugo Doyle.  This book was written in 1954 for religious to be used during retreats.  It wasn't released to the public until 1955 and was only available to priests and other clergy through the publisher for the first year.

It covers topics such as living the "common life", sharp tongues and lack of charity.  It is written in a very readable form and I'm learning many things from it some of which I'm going to share with you.

The chapter I'm in now is called "In All Things - Charity".  He expounds on St. Paul's Scripture  verses on charity line by line. (Charity is patient, kind etc.....)  Under the phrase "Charity beareth all things" he lists 5 causes of sufferings common to all men, independent of their will, but highly meritorious if accepted properly.  We probably all know these but it was so good to see them in an outline form.  Here they are:

1.  The first consists in the assaults of the weather:  extreme cold, excessive heat, violent storms, humidity, dryness, floods, earthquakes, etc.  Such trials very often strengthen faith in recalling to mind the sovereign dominion of God.  One day Maria Diaz complained to Our Lord about the rigors of the weather at Avila, and He replied: "It is I who made it and you complain!"

2.  Many sufferings arise from the necessities of our weak nature, such as hunger, thirst, fatigue, sickness, etc.  which God makes use of, to punish our sins and to increase our virtue.

3.  Many pains arise from the clash of personalities in those called to live together in the common life:  the quarrelsome, the bad-humored, the gloomy, the phlegmatic, etc.  God makes use of the weaknesses of others to try the virtue of the saintly.

4.  Not the least in the list of sufferings are those that come to us by way of insults, contempt, false accusations, misunderstandings, etc.

5.  Finally, we have the spiritual sufferings that one meets in the service of God, such as aridity, scruples, distractions, temptations, and persecutions from the devil.

After having enumerated the five general causes of sufferings, Father Balthazar Alvarez encouraged Maria Diaz to make the best possible use of the trials and sufferings God sent her.  How well she absorbed the lesson may be seen from the fact that at the age of eighty, and after a life of intense suffering, she replied to St. Teresa, who had just expressed an ardent desire to die:  "And I," said Maria, "prefer to remain here on earth and suffer as much as God wills, for while we are here on this earth we can, by accepting suffering, give something to God while in heaven we can do nothing but receive the recompense for our sufferings."

Ironically, this book ended on the "discarded" pile of whatever library it was in.  Thankfully, it's been rescued and hopefully will be a little help in our struggle to attain happiness in heaven!

Feast of Our Lady of Ransom

 24 September, a double major, commemorates the foundation of the Mercedarians.

On 10 August, 1223, the Mercedarian Order was legally constituted at Barcelona by King James of Aragon and was approved by Gregory IX on 17 January, 1235. The Mercedarians celebrated their institution on the Sunday nearest to 1 Aug. (on which date in the year 1233 the Blessed Virgin was believed to have shown St. Peter Nolasco the white habit of the order), and this custom was approved by the Congregation of Rites on 4 April, 1615 (Anal. Juris Pont., VII, 136). But the calendar of the Spanish Mercedarians of 1644 has it on 1 Aug., double. Proper lessons were approved on 30 April, 1616. The feast was granted to Spain (Sunday nearest to 1 Aug.) on 15 Feb., 1680; to France, 4 Dec., 1690. On 22 Feb., 1696, it was extended to the entire Latin Church, and the date changed to 24 September. The Mercedarians keep this feast as a double of the first class, with a vigil, privileged octave, and proper Office under the title: "Solemnitas Descensionis B. Mariæ V.de Mercede". Our Lady of Ransom is the principal patron of Barcelona; the proper Office was extended to Barcelona (1868) and to all Spain (second class, 1883). Sicily, which had suffered so much from the Saracens, took up the old date of the feast (Sunday nearest to 1 Aug.) by permission of the Congregation of Rites, 31 Aug., 1805 (double major), Apparition of Our Lady to St. Peter Nolasco in the choir of Barcelona, on the Sunday after 24 Sept. In England the devotion to Our Lady of Ransom was revived in modern times to obtain the rescue of England as Our Lady's Dowry.

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost 25 September 2011

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

Today we witness a wondrous miracle. Jesus has raised the widow’s son to life. He restored him to his mother to alleviate her pain and suffering. He did this out of love and compassion for human suffering but perhaps even more importantly to prove His divinity. As God there is nothing that He cannot do. Jesus can do all things, because He is God.

While this resurrection of the dead is something wondrous for us all to consider and remind ourselves that we too will one day be brought back from this physical death, there is a greater and more magnificent resurrection for us to consider – a spiritual one. Scripture speaks of two deaths the one physical (the death of our bodies) the other spiritual the death of our souls. The first one we are all subject to. It is one of the things that is unavoidable in this life. The second death though, is completely avoidable, if we will only cooperate with the grace of God.

Each and every mortal sin destroys the life of grace in the soul and therefore sadly leads to a spiritual death. Jesus restored supernatural life many times and has even empowered His priests to do the same thing in His Name in the Sacrament of Penance. This is an even more wondrous miracle than restoring physical life.

As much as we fear the physical death we should fear the spiritual death even more. We cannot avoid the first death – it is inevitable. If we are in the state of grace this first death becomes a good thing and is even a blessing as it delivers us from this world and into the next which is incomparably better. Many of the saints with St. Paul longed to be freed from this life so that they could enter the next one. To them this first death was a release from the prison of this world and freedom to enter into heaven. Far from death being a curse for them, it actually was a blessing.

Rather than fear the physical death of our bodies, we must learn to fear even more so the death of our souls. There is nothing that we should fear more than committing a mortal sin and destroying the life of God in our souls. The death of our souls is an eternal death in Hell. The death of our bodies is only a temporary circumstance, because on the last day all the bodies that ever were or ever will be will be brought back to life to die this physical death no more. The just will enter (body and soul) into eternal happiness in heaven, while the evil will enter (body and soul) into the eternal punishments of Hell.

If we would only consider how long “eternity” is we would see just how foolish it is to exchange a brief passing pleasure in this life for an eternal misery in the next.

In restoring physical life to this young man, Jesus also gave him the opportunity of a second chance to merit eternal happiness in heaven or to at least attempt to increase his merits in heaven. It is only in this life that we can merit or increase our merits in eternity. Once we die the physical death then we can merit nothing more. Our lot will be forever sealed. Even those in Purgatory suffer not to gain or increase merit, but rather to purge themselves of the less serious accretions of sin that weigh their souls down. Those in Purgatory will enter into Heaven without a doubt as soon as their imperfections have been purified.

We too are given many second chances in this life just as the young man in today’s gospel. We may not have physical life restored to us, but we have been given the sacraments. It is advantageous to our soul that we especially partake in the sacrament of Penance if we have the misfortune of falling into mortal sin. It is through this sacrament that our soul can be easily restored so that we may begin anew.

Let us take up the frequent use of this sacrament whether we have known mortal sins or not as the cleansing from even small sins is of great help to us both now and in eternity.

Dear Friends,

First, I wish to apologize to those who attempted to listen online last week. I failed to check one of the lines which transmits the program to the web. As a result we did not stream last week. The program, though, was uploaded to www.catholichour.org where some of you have taken advantage and listened to it this past week. What a wonderful program!

 

We will be blessed to have Fr. Bernard, OFM on again this week to finish his thoughts on Martin Luther and Lutheranism.  If you liked last weeks's program, then you know what to expect this week.

 

The Catholic Faith Radio Program is broadcast each Friday from 2 - 4 p.m. (Central Time) on KRFE AM580, Lubbock, TX. You may hear the program anywhere in the world through our website, www.catholichour.org  (assuming I don't make anymore mistakes!). Simply link to Radio Program Live and choose your player.

 

I look forward to your phone calls and questions.

 

Thank you for your continued prayers and support,

Fr. Joseph, OFM

The Practice of Charity towards our Neighbor

Taken from "Preparation for Death" by St Alphonsus de Liguori,

Bishop and Doctor of the Church

He who loves God, loves his neighbor also; but he who loves not his

neighbor, neither does he love God; for the divine precept says,

"That he who loveth God, loves also his brother." (John, iv.) We must

also love our neighbor in heart as well as in deed. And how much are

we to love him? Here is the rule: "Love the Lord thy God with thy

whole soul, . . . And thy neighbor as thyself." (Luke, x.27) We must,

then, love God above all things, and more than ourselves; and our

neighbor as ourselves. So that, as we desire our own good, and take

delight in it when we have it, and, on the contrary, are sorry for

any evil that may happen to us, so also we must desire our neighbor's

good, and rejoice when he obtains it; and, on the other hand, we must

be sorry for his misfortunes. So, again, we must neither judge nor

suspect evil of our neighbor, without good grounds. And this is what

constitutes interior charity.

External charity consists in our words and actions towards our

neighbor. As to words, first we must abstain from the least shadow of

detraction. A detractor is hateful to God and man. On the contrary, he

who speaks well of every one is beloved by God and men; and when the

fault cannot be excused, we must at least excuse the intention.

Secondly, let us be careful not to repeat to any one the evil that

has been said of him by another; because sometimes long enmities and

revenge arise from such things. The Scripture says, he who sows

discord is hated by God. Thirdly, we must take care not to wound our

neighbor, by saying anything that may hurt him; even were it only in

jest. Would you like to be laughed at in the same way as you laugh at

your neighbor? Fourthly, let us avoid disputes; sometimes on account

of a mere trifle quarrels are begun, which end in abuse and rancor.

We have also to guard against the spirit of contradiction, which some

indulge when they gratuitously set themselves to contradict

everything. On such occasions give your opinion, and then be quiet.

Fifthly, let us speak gently to all, even to our inferiors; therefore

let us not make use of imprecations or abuse. And when our neighbor is

angry with us, and is somewhat abusive, let us answer meekly, and the

quarrel will be at an end: "A mild answer breaketh wrath." (Prov.

xv). And when we are annoyed by our neighbor, we must be careful not

to say anything; because our passion will then make us go too far; it

will make us exaggerate; but afterwards we shall certainly be sorry

for it. St. Francis de Sales says, "I was never angry in my life,

that I did not repent of it shortly afterwards." The rule is to be

silent as long as we feel ourselves disturbed. And when our neighbor

continues to be irritated, let us reserve the correction till another

time, even though it should be necessary; because for the moment our

words would not convince, and would do no good.

With regard also to the charity of our actions towards our neighbor:

first, it is practiced by aiding him as we best may. Let us remember

what the Scripture says: "For alms deliver from all sin and from

death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness." (Tob. iv.

II). Almsgiving, then, saves us from sin and from hell. By alms is

understood any assistance which it is in our power to render to our

neighbor. The kind of almsgiving which is the most meritorious is to

help the soul of our neighbor, by correcting him gently and

opportunely, whenever we can. And let not us say with some, "What

doth it signify to me?" It does signify to one who is a Christian. He

who loves God, wishes to see him loved by all.

Secondly, we must show charity towards the sick, who are in greater

need of help. Let us make them some little present, if they are poor.

At least let us go and wait on them and comfort them, even though they

should not thank us for doing so; the Lord will reward us.

Thirdly, we must above all show charity to our enemies. Some are all

kindness with their friends; but Jesus Christ says, "Do good to those

that hate you." (Matt. v. 44) By this you may know that a man is a

true Christian, if he seeks to do good to those who wish him evil..

And if we can do nothing else for those who persecute us, let us at

least pray that God will prosper them, according as Jesus commands

us: "Pray for them that persecute you." (Matt, v. 44) This is the way

the saints revenged themselves. He who pardons anyone who has offended

him, is sure of being pardoned by God; since God has given us the

promise: "Forgive, and you shall be forgiven." (Luke, vi. 37) Our

Lord said one day to the Blessed Angela of Foligno, that the surest

sign of a soul being loved by God, is when it loves a person who has

offended it.

Fourthly, let us also be charitable to our neighbors who are dead,

that is, to the holy souls in purgatory. St.. Thomas says, that if we

are bound to help our neighbors who are alive, we are also bound to

remember them when dead. Those holy prisoners are suffering pains

which exceed all the sufferings of this life; and nevertheless are in

the greatest necessity, since they cannot possibly help themselves. A

Cistercian monk once said to the sacristan of his monastery: "Help

me, brother, by your prayers, when I can no longer help myself." Let

us then endeavor to succor these holy souls either by having Masses

said for them, or by hearing Masses for them, by giving alms, or at

least by praying and applying indulgences in their behalf; they will

show themselves grateful by obtaining great graces for us, not only

when they reach heaven, if they arrive there sooner through our

prayers, but also in purgatory.

Many people travel far to honor the relics of the saints, marveling at their wonderful deeds and at the building of magnificent shrines. They gaze upon and kiss the sacred relics encased in silk and gold; and behold, You are here present before me on the altar, my God, Saint of saints, Creator of men, and Lord of angels!

Often in looking at such things, men are moved by curiosity, by the novelty of the unseen, and they bear away little fruit for the amendment of their lives, especially when they go from place to place lightly and without true contrition. But here in the Sacrament of the altar You are wholly present, my God, the man Christ Jesus, whence is obtained the full realization of eternal salvation, as often as You are worthily and devoutly received. To this, indeed, we are not drawn by levity, or curiosity, or sensuality, but by firm faith, devout hope, and sincere love.

O God, hidden Creator of the world, how wonderfully You deal with us! How sweetly and graciously You dispose of things with Your elect to whom You offer Yourself to be received in this Sacrament! This, indeed, surpasses all understanding. This in a special manner attracts the hearts of the devout and inflames their love. Your truly faithful servants, who give their whole life to amendment, often receive in Holy Communion the great grace of devotion and love of virtue.

Oh, the wonderful and hidden grace of this Sacrament which only the faithful of Christ understand, which unbelievers and slaves of sin cannot experience! In it spiritual grace is conferred, lost virtue restored, and the beauty, marred by sin, repaired. At times, indeed, its grace is so great that, from the fullness of the devotion, not only the mind but also the frail body feels filled with greater strength.

Nevertheless, our neglect and coldness is much to be deplored and pitied, when we are not moved to receive with greater fervor Christ in Whom is the hope and merit of all who will be saved. He is our sanctification and redemption. He is our consolation in this life and the eternal joy of the blessed in heaven. This being true, it is lamentable that many pay so little heed to the salutary Mystery which fills the heavens with joy and maintains the whole universe in being.

Oh, the blindness and the hardness of the heart of man that does not show more regard for so wonderful a gift, but rather falls into carelessness from its daily use! If this most holy Sacrament were celebrated in only one place and consecrated by only one priest in the whole world, with what great desire, do you think, would men be attracted to that place, to that priest of God, in order to witness the celebration of the divine Mysteries! But now there are many priests and Mass is offered in many places, that God's grace and love for men may appear the more clearly as the Sacred Communion is spread more widely through the world.

Thanks be to You, Jesus, everlasting Good Shepherd, Who have seen fit to feed us poor exiled people with Your precious Body and Blood, and to invite us with words from Your own lips to partake of these sacred Mysteries: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you."

 Here is a very interesting quote from the book "Victories of the Martyrs" dealing with how the early Christians treated their family members that would not convert to the true faith in the midst of all of the persecution.  Just something to think about........

"James, overcome by the fear of losing his property and the honors he enjoyed at court obeyed the iniquitous decree [of the Persian persecutors]. But his mother and his wife, most exemplary Christians, who were then absent, having heard of his fall, wrote to him a letter, in which, after exhorting him to repair his grievous error, they said: "If thou wilt not return to the good path from which thou hast departed, we shall treat thee as a stranger, and separate from thee; it behooveth us not to have any communication with one who has abandoned his God to please men, and to secure to himself the perishable things of this life, which will cause him to perish everlastingly." Victories of the Martyrs, page 80.

17. From what has just been said it is possible that a tormenting doubt might arise in the mind of some one who might say: If I must judge myself to be wanting in humility, I must conclude that I am lost, and such a judgment would lead me to despair. But do you not perceive the error? To speak wisely you ought to say: I know I am wanting in humility; therefore I must try and obtain it; for without humility I am a reprobate, and it is necessary to be humble in order to be among the elect.

There would indeed be cause for despair if on the one hand humility were necessary for salvation and on the other it were unattainable. But nothing is more natural to us than humility, because we are drawn towards it by our own misery; and nothing is easier, since it is enough for us to open our eyes and to know ourselves; this is not a virtue we need go far to seek, as we can always find it within ourselves, and we have an infinity of good reasons in ourselves for doing so. Nevertheless we must labor as long as life lasts to acquire humility, nor must we ever imagine that we have acquired it; and even should we have obtained it in some degree, we must still continue to strive after it as though we did not possess it, in order that we may be able to keep it. Let us have a true desire to be humble; let us not cease to implore God that He may give us the grace to be humble; and let us often study the motives that may help to make us humble of heart; and let us not doubt the Divine Goodness, but conform to the advice given us in Holy Writ: "Think of the Lord in goodness." [Wisd. i, 1]

Virgin Mary Statue 'Guards' House From Texas Wildfire

By Anugrah Kumar | Christian Post Contributor

Huge smoke from a raging wildfire was still filling the sky when one evacuee in Texas returned home Friday. But he found his home still standing thanks to a statue of the Virgin Mary that he believes “stopped” the fire.

• 
  (Reuters/Mike Stone)
  Flames roar near Bastrop State Park as a wildfire burns out of control near Bastrop, Texas September 5, 2011. An estimated 1,000 homes are being threatened in Bastrop County, just east of Austin, as a 14,000-acre (5700-hectare) wildfire rages out of control, causing evacuations.

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The Texas wildfire has been burning for days across Central Texas and has incinerated about 1,400 homes and tens of thousands of acres of land. It has burned every yard and everything on them in the Ranch Crest Subdivision of Montgomery County, Texas, CNN reported. “But miraculously all the homes here are still standing.”
The fire line came right up to a barely two-foot tall statue of the Virgin Mary placed on two stones and resting against a tree in the Garcia’s garden, and then stopped suddenly.
Garcia discovered this after he returned home for the first time after four days, and thanked the Virgin Mary. “She protected our home, everybody’s homes. We prayed to it before we left to protect everybody’s homes,” he told CNN, pointing toward the statue outside his house.
A firefighter described the fire in the area, saying, “When you get in there, it starts running. You got to try to run out, you got to try to get out before the fire does.”
However, firefighters reported some progress Friday. The fire in and around Bastrop, about 25 miles east of Austin, officially remained 30 percent contained, but crews had surrounded and closed in on the flames and no new homes were reported destroyed overnight, according to The Associated Press.

The authorities were prepared to deploy a converted DC-10 jetliner capable of dropping 12,000 gallons of fire retardant on the blaze, but the plane was not immediately needed in Bastrop, a Texas Forest Service spokeswoman told the newswire. “We believe the [fire’s] forward progress has been stopped; thank God for that,” Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst was quoted as saying.
Thousands of evacuees still couldn’t return to their homes for a sixth day as trees were burning underground and loose power lines were hanging from scorched poles, the newswire added.
Texas is battling the worst wildfire season in state history. In the past seven days alone, Texas Forest Service has responded to 140 fires that have scorched more than 154,300 acres.

Bishop Giles, OFM Audio Sermon for 14th Sunday After Pentecost

Father Joseph,OFM Sermon for 13th Sunday after Pentecost 

Father Bonaventure, OFM 14th Sunday After Pentecost Sermon 9-18-11

Saint Joseph of Cupertino (Italian: San Giuseppe da Copertino) (June 17, 1603 – September 18, 1663) is an Italian saint. He was said to have been remarkably unclever, but prone to miraculous levitation and intense ecstatic visions that left him gaping.^[1] In turn, he is recognized as the patron saint of air travelers, aviators, astronauts, people with a mental handicap, test takers, and weak students. He was canonized in 1767.
Read this rest of our patron's story here: