CHRISTMAS NOVENA
Prayer to Obtain Favors

Hail and blessed be the hour
And moment in which the Son of God
Was born of the most pure Virgin Mary,
At midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold.
In that hour vouchsafe, O my God,
To hear my prayer and grant my desires,
Through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ,
And of His Blessed Mother. Amen

(To be recited from the Feast
of St. Andrew (Nov. 30) until Christmas)

Audio Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent given by Bishop Giles, OFM

Bishop Louis, OFM First Sunday in Advent

After listening to Fr. Joseph's Friday radio program from Friday  about the bogus ordo changes in their service,I was interested in what the people were going to say about it.  Here are two of the most ignorant but typical comments:

Kathleen McCormack, a church volunteer and former school teacher, said she didn't like the new translation and didn't understand why the church needed a translation closer to Latin.

"Consubstantial? What is that word?" McCormack said, referring to a term in the retranslated Nicene Creed that replaces language calling Jesus "one in being with the Father."

Here is my favorite:

Maribeth Lynch, 51, a publisher from the Milwaukee suburb of Elm Grove, said she was "distraught" over the changes and would refuse to "learn the damn prayers."

"It's ridiculous. I've been a Catholic for 50 years, and why would they make such stupid changes? They're word changes. They're semantics," she said. The priest "spent 40 minutes today on the changes instead of on the important stuff, like changing water into wine."

http://news.yahoo.com/mass-translation-launches-american-parishes-190101485.html#ugccmt-container

Maribeth, are you sure they change water into wine?........

Relic of St. Leonard of Port Maurice

"Now, tell me whether, when you enter church to hear Mass, you thoroughly well consider that you are going up as it were to Calvary, to be present at the death of the Redeemer... Wickedness is hideous at any time, and in any place; but sins committed during the time of Mass, and before the altar, draw down after them the curse of God."
St. Leonard-Port Maurice

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals First Sunday of Advent 27 November 2011

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

We read last week about a very frightening event: the end of the world as we know it. Today, we look rather to the renewal of the earth. After the death and destruction we look forth to birth and renewal. Christ will return and make all things new; as Saint Paul says in today’s Epistle: “The night is passed, and the day is at hand.”

There is reason for fear as we see God pushed aside and evil spirits reigning almost universally, but with that fear comes hope for those who love God. For all things work for the good of those who love Him. Christ will return and put all things back in order. The evil men who once boasted and walked with their heads high and looked mighty and powerful, will then cower in fear and trembling wishing for the mountains to fall upon them and hide them. The humble who persevered in the Faith, and in Hope of God’s reward, but most of all in Charity, will then be able to rise up and claim their rightful place alongside God. He who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Let us never forget that Christ is coming again. We do not know the day or the hour, but we do know He is coming. We have been warned to persevere to the end; to wait and watch and pray. We are all slaves or prisoners here on earth for we must all suffer and die. If we will accept this humiliating position for the love of God we will understand the need to be ever vigilant. It is very tempting for the servant to doze off or to become careless, and we have been warned many times against this. If we will only remember and keep focused upon the fact that God is returning and He will only be pleased with us if He finds us faithful and vigilant. He must find us with a loving heart busy about the business that He has given us to do, even if it seems to be the most trivial or insignificant task.

It is not what we are given to do that is important to Him, but rather how we do it. Our disposition is much more important than what we are doing. That which is done unwillingly and begrudgingly gains no merit. It must be done willingly for the love of God, if it is to be of any value.

We see that the end is drawing near and more and more souls are going the way of the world and the devils. The temptation grows ever stronger to follow in this path. The longer we associate with the world or entertain ourselves with it, the greater a hold it gains over us. The devils use the world to incite our passions and further cripple and break down our fallen natures.

Our only hope is to turn away from the devils, the world, and our evil passions. They are darkness and we must leave the darkness and strive to reach the light. These things deceive us into thinking that we are building up and becoming secure or that we are drawing closer to complete fulfillment of our worldly pleasures; but it is all an illusion. They actually only bring us pain and suffering; both now and in eternity. So many deceived by these walk proudly and boast of themselves and their evil ways. When Christ comes they will see their mistake and will be crushed by their humiliations and shame, but there will be no place to hide.

The children of the Light on the other hand, who are derided and put down by the world (and devils), live as prisoners and slaves; they will, when Christ returns, be lifted up. They are told by Christ in today’s Gospel to “look up and lift up your heads: because your redemption is at hand.”

Their tears will be turned to joy. Even now their tears become joyful tears, because they shed them with love for God. Their tears are shed willingly knowing through faith that God will reward the least effort that is done for the love of Him. With hearts filled with love our state as slaves or prisoners is not a miserable or burdensome one, but rather it is a joyful and pleasant one because it done with Charity. Charity not only covers a multitude of sins, but it also sustains and builds us up and keeps the weight of this world and all its burdens from beating us down or crushing us under its weight.

As we begin our preparation for Christmas in prayer and penance, let us not become downcast or gloomy, but rather with cheerful hearts embrace our cross for the love of Him and keep at least the eye of our soul constantly searching and waiting for His glorious coming.

Dear Friends,

Most Rev. Giles Butler, OFM will discuss the changes in the New Mass on Friday, November 25, 2011. These changes take affect in the Modern Church on Sunday, November 27, 2011. I find it necessary to discuss these things as a means of keeping up-to-date on the changes in the once Catholic Church. One can only hope some of these people will come to understand what has been taking place since 1958. This situation not simply a matter of a choice between Latin and the vernacular, but truth vs. error.

 

The Catholic Faith Radio Program is broadcast each Friday from 2 - 4 p.m. , Central Time, on KRFE AM580, Lubbock, TX. It is streamed LIVE via www.catholichour.org . Link to Radio Program Live and choose your player.

 

Please continue to spread the word. More people are learning about us in Lubbock. I pray through this program and the commercial now playing (see the home page) many souls will learn of the truth and find their way to Corpus Christi Catholic Church, or to one of our other churches.

 

May God bless you, and I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Fr. Joseph, OFM

 

THIS IS PERFECT FOR THANKSGIVING-FROM "MY CHANGELESS FRIEND":

"He saith to the disciple: "Behold thy Mother"    John14:27

To tell of her at whose side our infant days were passed is one of life's keenest joys, and Christ our Lord is like us in this sweet trait.  Like us, He wants His Mother to be known and loved by all, and as we kneel before Him, He speaks to us as we would tell a friend of all the loveliness of her who guided our youngest ways.  He tells us of how He planned from unbeginning ages to enrich His Mother with the countless treasures of His grace, of her wondrous virtues from her earliest years, of her growth in age and grace and holiness before the eyes of God and men.

  He brings us to Nazareth when the Angel stood and saluted her, to Zachary's home when the Magnificat first trembled jubilant upon her  lips, and then across the hills to Bethlehem, what time the Virgin Mother first bent in adoration to her blessed Babe.  He will whisper of all her love in darkened Egypt and then in the years in far off Galilee, tell of her kindly care for her infant God and of her gentle guiding hand as she taught the Child of eternal years to walk upon the earth He had long since made.

He will show us a Mother's valiant love as she stands beneath the Cross beyond the walls.  Then with swiftest change, He brings us up to Heaven itself, on through the choiring Angel bands, on beyond Cherubim and Seraphim until we kneel before the throne of Heaven's Queen.  That Son could not await the coming of the end of all to have His Mother with Him and so He brought her quickly home to reign with Him.

Then as we kneel in breathless awe, Christ Jesus will pause awhile and we shall find Him gazing full upon us, and we shall wonder at His gaze.  For His eyes are all aglow with love and His voice is rich with the deep affection of His strong Heart.  How that look speeds us back two thousand years until we stand beside the Cross and gaze up into the dimming eyes and watch the quivering of the bruised form!  The thorn-crowned head is bent down low and across the parched and burning lips comes the wondrous voice asking that we love His blessed Mother.  "Son, behold thy Mother. Mine, yes, but yours too now.  Oh! love that Mother whom I give you as My dying gift.  Love her because she is Mine, love her because she is thine."  The voice is stilled, the weary head droops lower yet, expectant of our answer.

O Jesus, my God, I have loved the earthly mother You have given me, loved her in all her goodness, loved her because of all her love for me.  And now I shall love my other Mother too, love her with all my  heart, with a child's own simple love.  She is Yours, but she is mine too.  Like John of old, I shall take her to my own and hold her for my Mother.  Thanks, dear Lord Jesus, thanks for Mother Mary.  Thanks for all her love these years that are no more.  Oh, make me know and love my Mother!!

"Nor Bethlehem nor Nazareth

Apart from Mary's care,

Nor Heaven itself a home for Him

Were not His Mother there."

VIDEO SERMON GIVEN BY FATHER BONAVENTURE FOR LAST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

AUDIO SERMON FOR LAST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST GIVEN BY BISHOP GILES, OFM

From the book "Purgatory Explained"
Part II, Chapter III
Consolation of the Souls -- St. Stanislaus of Cracow and the
Resuscitated Peter Miles

This contentment in the midst of the most intense suffering cannot be
explained otherwise than by the Divine consolations which the Holy
Ghost infuses into the souls in Purgatory. This Divine Spirit, by
means of faith, hope, and charity, puts them in the disposition of a
sick person who has to submit to very painful treatment, but the
effect of which is to restore him to perfect health. This sick person
suffers, but he loves his salutary suffering. The Holy Ghost, the
Comforter, gives a similar contentment to the holy souls. Of this we
have a striking example in Peter Miles raised from the dead by St.
Stanislaus of Cracow, who preferred to return to Purgatory rather
than to live again upon earth.

The celebrated miracle of this resurrection happened in 1070. It is
thus related in the Acta Sanctorum on May 7. St. Stanislaus was
Bishop of Cracow when the Duke Boleslas II governed Poland. He did
not neglect to remind this prince of his duties, who scandalously
violated them before all his people.

Boleslas was irritated by the holy liberty of the Prelate, and to
revenge himself he excited against him the heirs of a certain Peter
Miles, who had died three years previously after having sold a piece
of ground to the church of Cracow. The heirs accused the saint of
having usurped the ground, without having paid the owner. Stanislaus
declared that he had paid for the land, but as the witnesses who
should have defended him had been either bribed or intimidated, he
was denounced as a usurper of the property of another, and condemned
to make restitution. Then, seeing that he had nothing to expect from
human justice, he raised his heart to God, and received a sudden
inspiration. He asked for a delay of three days, promising to make
Peter Miles appear in person, that he might testify to the legal
purchase and payment of the lot.

They were granted to him in scorn. The saint fasted, watched, and
prayed God to take up the defense of his cause. The third day, after
having celebrated Holy Mass, he went out accompanied by his clergy
and many of the faithful, to the place where Peter had been interred.
By his orders the grave was opened; it contained nothing but bones. He
touched them with his crosier, and in the name of Him who is the
Resurrection and the Life, he commanded the dead man to arise.

Suddenly the bones became reunited, were covered with flesh, and, in
the sight of the stupefied people, the dead man was seen to take the
Bishop by the hand and walk towards the tribunal. Boleslas, with his
court and an immense crowd of people, were awaiting the result with
the most lively expectation. "Behold Peter," said the saint to
Boleslas; "he comes, prince, to give testimony before you.
Interrogate him; he will answer you."

It is impossible to depict the stupefaction of the Duke, of his
councilors, and of the whole concourse of people. Peter affirmed that
he had been paid for the ground; then turning towards his heirs, he
reproached them for having accused the pious prelate against all
rights of justice; then he exhorted them to do penance for so
grievous a sin.

It was thus that iniquity, which believed itself already sure of
success, was confounded. Now comes the circumstance which concerns
our subject, and to which we wished to refer. Wishing to complete
this great miracle for the glory of God, Stanislaus proposed to the
deceased that, if he desired to live a few years longer, he would
obtain for him this favor from God. Peter replied that he had no such
desire. He was in Purgatory, but he would rather return thither
immediately and endure its pains, than expose himself to damnation in
this terrestrial life. He then entreated the saint only to beg of God
to shorten the time of his sufferings, that he might the sooner enter
the abode of the blessed. After that, accompanied by the Bishop and a
vast multitude, Peter returned to his grave, laid himself down, his
body fell to pieces, and his bones resumed the same state in which
they had first been found. We have reason to believe that the saint
soon obtained the deliverance of his soul.

That which is the most remarkable in his example, and which should
most attract out attention, is that a soul from Purgatory, after
having experienced the most excruciating torments, prefers that state
of suffering to the life of this world; and the reason which he gives
for this preference is, that in this mortal life we are exposed to
the danger of being lost and incurring eternal damnation.

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Twenty-Third (Last) Sunday after Pentecost 20 November 2011

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

Our Holy Mother the Church wants us (on this last Sunday of the Liturgical year) to reflect upon the end of this world as we know it. In today’s Gospel we are told what signs to look for. One of the most frightening signs must be that which was foretold by Daniel the Prophet: The abomination of desolation standing in the holy place.

We have asked, and considered, many times before, what this means. We are drawn over and over again to the same conclusion: it is the destruction of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We find in the footnotes of the Douay Rheims Haydock Bible commentary the following:

“The abomination of desolation … will be more completely fulfilled by Antichrist and his precursors, when they shall attempt to abolish the holy sacrifice of the mass. Saint Hyppolitus, in his treatise de Anti-Christo, mentioned by Eusebius, Saint Jerome, and Photius, thus writeth: ‘The churches shall lament with great lamentations, because there shall neither be made oblations, nor incense, nor worship grateful to God. … In those days the liturgy (or mass) shall be neglected, the psalmody shall cease, the reciting of Scripture shall not be heard.’ – The prophet Daniel (12:11) calculates the reign of Antichrist, from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away; which, by able commentators, is understood of the sacrifice of the mass, which Antichrist will endeavor to suppress.”

The holiest place upon earth must be there where Jesus Christ is made present and resides – upon the altars of the true Catholic Church. The holy of holies is not in just one place but is every tabernacle in the sanctuaries of the true Church throughout the world. The Mass is the daily and continual unbloody Sacrifice of Calvary, and is offered in these holy of holies. Jesus Christ truly resides in these tabernacles both Body and Soul.

We have witnessed in our own days the gradual but methodical replacement of Jesus on the altars and in the tabernacles with a true abomination. The tabernacles were removed; a table was put in place of an altar; a meal was put in place of a sacrifice; humanism was put in place of divine worship; “ministers,” “moderators,” “presiders,” or “leaders” have replaced sacrificing priests. Along with the women and laity that have invaded the sanctuaries, have come evil spirits. That which was once sacred has now been made common and profane. They have taken over many of these places that were once only for God.

There is almost a complete abomination. The destruction is not complete because God – in His mercy – has seen fit to provide us with a few true bishops and priests and they have set up humbler sanctuaries than we had in the past, but ones that are none-the-less true and holy sanctuaries where Jesus Christ is truly made present upon our altars in the Sacrifice of the Mass and where God resides hidden under the appearance of bread in our tabernacles.

Even though these remnant priests and sanctuaries continue, and temporarily hold back the impending end, the time is truly drawing nearer day by day because the world turns further and further away from God and His remnant clergy and sanctuaries.

We are given the opportunity today to reflect upon this impending end, not to lead us to hopelessness and despair, but rather to wake us up to the need to shake off the lethargy and filth of this world and to strive with all our being to obtain and increase our love for God day by day. It is our love for God that inspires us with the love of His Church, the sacraments, and His Word, but most importantly His real presence and sacrifice in the true Mass. Let us do all that we can to encourage and support this effort by our prayers, sacrifices and offerings always striving never to lose the Holy of Holies or allow it to be completely taken over by anti-christs. Let us guard not only the physical (brick and mortar) sanctuaries but especially the spiritual and bodily ones (our own souls and bodies), for we are truly temples of God. If all else is lost, let us never lose our faith and trust and especially our love for God. In this way as long as we are here on earth Jesus will find sanctuary at least in us.

VIDEO SERMON GIVEN BY FATHER BONAVENTURE OFM

St. Agnes of Assisi

 

 

Agnes of Assisi was only fourteen years old when God called her to His service.  She made her way to the convent which her sister Clare had entered only sixteen days before.  Throwing herself into her sister’s arms, the good child begged her to accept her as a companion in her life of penance.  But, as might be expected, her father flew into a great rage, gathered all his brothers and other relatives, told them of his grief, and asked for their assistance in tearing Agnes from her convent.  Sixteen of them appeared one day before the young virgin, appealed to her filial devotion, affection for her parents and great youth, but she remained inflexible in her resolve.  Her father’s envoys then laid their hands on her, kicked her, and attempted to drag her towards her father’s home.  They had already dragged her to the foot of the mountain, when they were suddenly stopped by an invisible hand.  They attempted to lift their light burden, but all in vain.  God performed a miracle in favor of little Agnes, who in her heart had begged Him to come to her aid.  Her parents were obliged to accept the will of God.  Thus they let their child follow the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

When Francis heard of the victory of this young virgin, he gave great thanks to God.  He then led the two sisters to St. Damian’s, where he dressed the humble postulant in a very simple habit, and immediately consecrated her to God.  From that time on, Agnes applied herself to practicing all the virtues.  She seemed, in the cloister, like an angel of innocence.  She had a wonderful devotion towards the Child Jesus, who often visited her.  She was also favored with frequent ecstasies.  After having been Superior in several convents of her Order, she died in Assisi a short time after her sister, on November 16, 1253.

Audio Sermon for the 22 Sunday after Pentecost Given by Father Bonaventure OFM

Audio Sermon for 22nd Sunday after Pentecost given by Bishop Giles, OFM

“Wheresoever the body shall be, thither will the eagles also be gathered together” Luke 17:37

 

But a few short days with the Saints of God show us whence they draw their strength.  They, the great eagles of the Church militant, are ever gathered wheresoever the saving Body of their God is.  In the days when the memory of the swift, visible visit of our Lord was still fresh in all men’s minds and the world’s anger against His followers was still young, the hunted Roman folk, hid deep beneath the shielding earth, knelt about the Body of their murdered King and nerved their hearts to run the race through death to glory.  The stalwart missionaries of old journeyed a far into the twilight lands of heathendom to the peoples that sat in darkness, and single-handed led the captives of Satan back to Christ.  And their strength?  It was won at the altar of God whereat they stood and drank the Blood that inebriated their souls with the unconquerable love of the living Christ. 

But we need not go to former days.  Look around us upon those saintly men and women who are fighting shoulder to shoulder the great fight of life.  In the dim light of morning when the east is scarce fringed with the dawn, their footfalls ring upon the vacant pavement as they hurry to greet their sacramental God in Holy Communion.  While the world is yet asleep they keep the “watches of the saints” and feast upon the Bread that sinews their arms and strengthens their hearts to battle on in this sin-stained world.  Look at those silent forms:  a father, whose fingers are gnarled and bent with toil but in whose eyes shines the light of another world; a mother, strong in the strength of her saintly will to teach her little ones to love the Lord she loves so well.  Young men and women too are there, whose grace-lit faces tell of souls kept clean and pure amid the world’s foul atmosphere.

Where too does that great host of priests and religious, our brethren in our Lord, staunch pillars of their God’s own Church, gain courage and might to win Heaven, not for themselves alone, but for myriads of weak, fainting souls?  Ask the young teacher whose patience is strained to the breaking at the persistent ignorance of giddy youth; ask the aged porter whose hands have grown hard and whose steps have tottered unto weariness answering those who knock at the door of God’s servants; ask the many silent forms that flit about upon noiseless errands of study or household work, ask them one and all what makes their life worth living.  And for answer?  Go to the chapel at break of day, at the high noon, at the closing hours of even-tide and see the eagles gathered about the Body of their God.  Life without the sacramental presence of our God would be life without light, life without joy, life without meaning

O dear Lord Jesus, what an unworthy companion of the Saints am I!  How hard do I not find it to make Your home my home!  I grow weary of Your Sacred Presence and tire of Your gentle company.  Oh, I cannot hide it from Your eyes!  But weary not of my childish restlessness.  For I love You, Lord, even as fretful child loves gentlest mother.  And did ever mother bear with childish whims as You?

“Give me, O priest, my daily bread

And fill for my lips the cup;

For famished my soul till I seem as dead!

Good priest, let me eat and sup.

 

Give me, O priest, my Heavenly Food

And the journey I will not dread;

What if tomorrow He bring my rood,

When tonight He hath broke me Bread?

No comment necessary........

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost 13 November 2011

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.

We easily see the image and inscription on the coin but not so readily the image and inscription that is placed upon our bodies and souls. Our catechism informs us that we are all made to the image and likeness of God. Based upon this alone we must see the necessity of returning ourselves to God. Added to this are the graces that we received in Baptism and the other sacraments. Our souls have been washed and purified and the indelible image of God has been emblazoned upon them.

We are temples of the Holy Ghost and marked with the image of God. It cannot become any clearer that it is we ourselves that belong to God and we must return ourselves to Him.

The tithing of money, flocks, grain, herbs, etc. is only a substitution for the gift of ourselves that God demands from us. God commanded an offering of the first fruits of our labors from the beginning. The tithe or ten percent takes the place of ourselves; that is why the offering must be of the first fruits, it must be the best that we have to offer.

When the Israelites left their bondage in Egypt, we see among the many plagues, one that struck the first born male that opened the womb. The Israelites learned that the first fruits of their labors and their offspring belong to God. Rather than demanding the first male from every family, God accepted a dedicated family to take the place of all the others; the tribe of Levi. God accepted this family of priests as an offering for everyone else.

Today we do not have a hereditary priesthood, but rather a more perfect one where God calls men to willingly offer themselves for His honor and glory and for the benefit of their fellow men. Added to this is the sacrifice of all the religious, both men and women. These chosen souls offer themselves on behalf of all men. They pray the psalms every day, offering the prayers that the world owes to God. These are the ones that give themselves completely over to the original plan of God – offering themselves and all that they have to Him. They bear within and without their bodies and souls the image of God; and their entire life is spent in rendering themselves to God.

The priests and religious also have become the offering for the rest of the world. They represent the tithe of the rest of men – the first and best fruits that we have to offer. It is a sad state of affairs that we find ourselves in today. There are very few true priests and religious and so likewise the offering to God is much less than the original plan of offering God the first fruits or the tithe of ten percent.

We owe this debt to God and unless this debt is paid we will find that we are unacceptable to Him. Our offerings (if we even make an offering) are not the best that we have. We have taken the best for ourselves and the world and will give whatever is left over to God. How often do we hear that religious have wasted their talents in the convent or cloister when they could have done so much in the world? The real question we should be wondering about is, how so many can waste their talents in the world when they could have done so much for God and man in the convent or cloister.

Too many religious and priests have forgotten that their first duty is to God and their offering is first to Him. They rather think of serving their fellow men and have become great “humanitarians” rather than holy and acceptable offerings to God on behalf of their fellow men.

Let us pray for true vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. Let us pray that those who have been called will make themselves holy, pleasing, and acceptable to God. Let us offer these priests and religious both our material and spiritual support because they have freely chosen to offer themselves on our behalf to God.

Let us encourage the best of our young to give themselves to God, rather than to the world. Only in this way will our offerings be acceptable.

We still must completely belong to God but the priests and religious offer us an opportunity to pay a tithe of what we have. This tithe on our behalf is acceptable to God as we pray for and support them and they cooperate and fulfill their obligations.

23. Examine those virtues which you imagine that you possess. Have you prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice, modesty, humility, chastity, humbleness of spirit, charity, obedience, and many other virtues that may be necessary or suitable to your condition? If you have a few of these, in what degree do you possess them?

But I will say more: and that is, examine yourself first, and see whether you really have this virtue that you think you possess. What I mean to say is: is it a real virtue, or perhaps only a disposition of your natural temperament, be it melancholy, sanguine or phlegmatic? And even should this virtue be real, is it a Christian virtue or purely a human one? Every act of virtue which does not proceed from a supernatural motive, in order to bring us to everlasting bliss, is of no value. And in the practice of virtue, do you join to your external actions the inward and spiritual acts of the heart? O true Christian virtues, I fear that in me you are nothing but beautiful outward appearances! I deserve the reproach of God's word: "Because thou sayest: I am rich, and made wealthy, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable, and poor and blind and naked." [Apoc. iii, 17] And in the same manner the counsel of St. Augustine is good for me, that it is better to think of those virtues in which we are lacking rather than of those which we possess. "I will humble myself more for those virtues which I lack than pride myself on those I possess." [In Ps. xxxviii]

II Maccabees 12:43-46: "And making a gathering, he (Judas) sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection, (For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,) And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them.
It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins."

Dear Friends in Christ,

Here are the audio sermon links for the 21st Sunday After Pentecost. 

Pax Vobis +

21st Sunday After Pentecost 11-6-11 
Waterloo 2PM Mass 11-6-11

--
AUDIO SERMON FOR 21ST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST GIVEN BY BISHOP GILES,OFM

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost 6 November 2011

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

The parable that Jesus gives us today reminds us of Hell. The servant that was without compassion for his fellow servant (after he had received so much from his master) was delivered to the torturers until he paid all the debt. As long as the man is in prison and being tortured he has no means of making any money so he therefore will never be released because the debt will never be paid. Those who are condemned to Hell likewise are given over to torturers and they too will never be released from their prison or torture because they can merit nothing from all their suffering in Hell.

It is a frightening thing to be cast into prison here on earth, but this is nothing compared to the eternal prison in Hell. The temporal prisons must end sometime – either with our release or with our death. In Hell there is no release or death to escape its horrors.

Every sinner is an indebted servant. We are all servants if we consider our catechism that teaches that we were made to: “know love and SERVE God in this world.” If we succeed in doing this then we will be admitted into the Kingdom of Heaven. The sinner though is an unworthy servant. The sinner takes the things of God and abuses them in such a way that amounts to stealing from God. For example pride, which is at the root of all sins, takes from God the honor and glory that belongs only to Him and attributes it to ourselves. We as sinners have become thieves – stealing that which only belongs to God. Our position as servants does not excuse our actions or condone them in any way – on the contrary because we are servants and have been entrusted with so much we become all the more guilty. To whom much has been given much will be required.

If we could begin to tally our sins and offenses against God we would soon discover that we have become far more indebted than the unfaithful servant in today’s parable. All hope is not lost though. If we will only humbly confess our crimes to God’s minister; resolved with the help of God’s grace to do better; He is always ready to forgive us everything. It is a most wonderful and beautiful experience to receive this forgiveness and consolation. Words fall short in trying to express this consolation. Only those who have experienced it can understand it.

We are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves. As we have been indebted to God, likewise our neighbor often becomes indebted to us. As God has been merciful to us and is ready and eager always to pardon us, so we must do likewise towards our fellow man. We must give as we have been given to. Whatever our neighbor might owe to us, it is always miniscule compared to what God has forgiven us. So when our neighbor asks our forgiveness we must be eager to give it just as God is eager to forgive us.

It is truly in giving that we receive. When we are in a position to give to someone else we become like God. We become more closely conformable to Him. We must be very cautious though because with every step closer to God and perfection there is an equal danger in becoming unjust and prideful and/or vain in stealing that which belongs to God. We are called to draw nearer to God and to become like Him, but at the same time we must never forget our position and remember that we are not gods.

While always remaining humble and having a loving heart for God and true charity for our fellow man we draw closer to God and receive greater graces. God has an infinite treasure of gifts and He is eager to give them to us as long as we persevere as good and faithful servants. The more that we are able to give and do for our fellow man, so much the more God will reward us with greater gifts. Far from depleting what we have when we forgive our debtors, we actually increase our treasures as God rewards us many times over for whatever we do for our neighbor for the Love of Him.

Young teen forced into Wisconsin abortion clinic: witnesses

by Kathleen Gilbert

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin, November 3, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-life sidewalk counselors outside a Milwaukee abortion clinic Thursday morning say that a preteen girl asking pro-lifers for help was forced into the clinic by escorts and a guardian, and that police have responded saying that they could do nothing.
Tobey Neuberger, a sidewalk counselor from Cedarburg, said the incident occurred just before 10 a.m. outside Affiliated Medical Services, where she and two other female pro-life counselors gave a “very young” African-American girl literature as she entered the clinic, and told her that she could get more information at a pro-life center across the street. Witnesses said the girl looked anywhere between 11 and 14 years old.

The exterior of Affiliated Medical Services

Neuberger says she and her companions were “just incredulous” as they watched the girl come back out and ask for help from the counselors, only to be physically blocked by the escort staff.

“Once she said she wanted to go across the street, she [the escort] held up her arm and blocked her, then she put her hand on the kid’s shoulder to stop her,” said Dan Miller, another pro-life sidewalk counselor and witness present at the scene. “The whole group of vigilers were pleading for her to let her go across the street to get free help, and they wouldn’t let her.”
“We could hear her say, ‘please take your hands off me,’” Neuberger, 42, told LifeSiteNews.com. “You could see it in her eyes.” The counselor said that the guardian, who appeared to be her mother, eventually came out of the clinic appearing “very irritated” and “literally pulled her back into the clinic.”
Neuberger said that while they have often seen girls appearing to be forced into the clinic, this situation was different, as the girl had actually asked the counselors to take her across the street. “We’ve seen it before, with the girls going in with red eyes ... you get the eyes glazed over, you can tell. She vocally asked for help,” she said. “It was heartbreaking.”
During the conflict, the group of sidewalk counselors nearest the clinic asked for help from Miller, who was across the street, and who then called the police. But, he says, the operator responded by saying there was nothing to be done, and no officers were dispatched.
“I told her what the situation was, they said, well, there’s nothing we can do, she’s with her parents, so there’s nothing going on here,” Miller told LifeSiteNews.com.
Witnesses said the girl re-emerged after about 90 minutes total in the clinic, but it didn’t appear she had undergone an abortion and she seemed in “good spirits.” Yet they feared she might return after fulfilling Wisconsin’s 24-hour waiting period: Miller said pro-life vigilers, who have been at the clinic around the clock as part of the Fall 40 Days for Life campaign, had apparently not seen the girl enter before.
Miller also noted that the girl’s guardian responded angrily to the pro-life group as the pair left, calling out, “free help my a**.”
A public relations officer at the Milwaukee Police Department was not available to speak with LifeSiteNews.com Thursday afternoon.
Virginia Zignego of Pro-Life Wisconsin noted that pro-lifers’ relationship with police in the area has been strained, and recalled one recent incident in which workers at Affiliated Women’s Heath Center called police to arrest pro-life witness James Marcou for videotaping outside the clinic. The charges were dropped last March.
Miller said that the clinic staff often used police to intimidate pro-lifers, often effectively.
“They [the police] would be used as a show of force by the abortion mill to scatter the pro-lifers, usually they call them when we have large numbers down here,” he said. “We’ve never been given a ticket, but the numbers would diminish afterwards.”