Today's Mass Reading-Coincidence? THE NEED IS GREAT! (read previous post)

Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 377

Reading 1 am 2:6-10, 13-16

 

Thus says the LORD:For three crimes of Israel, and for four,I will not revoke my word;Because they sell the just man for silver,and the poor man for a pair of sandals.They trample the heads of the weakinto the dust of the earth,and force the lowly out of the way.Son and father go to the same prostitute,profaning my holy name.Upon garments taken in pledgethey recline beside any altar;And the wine of those who have been finedthey drink in the house of their god.Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorites before them,who were as tall as the cedars,and as strong as the oak trees.I destroyed their fruit above,and their roots beneath.It was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt,and who led you through the desert for forty years,to occupy the land of the Amorites.Beware, I will crush you into the groundas a wagon crushes when laden with sheaves.Flight shall perish from the swift,and the strong man shall not retain his strength;The warrior shall not save his life,nor the bowman stand his ground;The swift of foot shall not escape,nor the horseman save his life.And the most stouthearted of warriorsshall flee naked on that day, says the LORD.

Responsorial Psalm ps 50:16bc-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23

R. (22a) Remember this, you who never think of God.“Why do you recite my statutes,and profess my covenant with your mouth,Though you hate disciplineand cast my words behind you?”R. Remember this, you who never think of God.“When you see a thief, you keep pace with him,and with adulterers you throw in your lot.To your mouth you give free rein for evil,you harness your tongue to deceit.”R. Remember this, you who never think of God.“You sit speaking against your brother;against your mother’s son you spread rumors.When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?Or do you think that I am like yourself?I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.”R. Remember this, you who never think of God.“Consider this, you who forget God,lest I rend you and there be no one to rescue you.He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”R. Remember this, you who never think of God.

What can we do?

You don't have to be up-to-date on news and current events to know things are getting scary. They have been continuously getting worse for some time, on many fronts. I see wars starting everywhere-around the world, around the country, within our communities, within our own families, within ourselves. I find myself constantly asking: "What can I do? What should I do?" Can I do anything but sit and watch it all happen?" I have been praying, but somehow that hasn't felt like enough. I found myself needing guidance, a plan of sorts. Anyone who knows me, knows my (many times annoying) need for a "plan" and lists... (don't get me started on lists!) That's when I saw it. Lying on the bookshelf in plain view, 'Our Lady Of Fatima's Peace Plan From Heaven'. It's been there all this time... the word "Plan" in the title!! I picked it up and started to read through, thinking...Yes, this is good that I am refreshing my memory about such an miraculous historical event. Yes, I believe in Hell, I pray the rosary, I wear my scapular...But as I continued to read, I realized, this isn't a church history lesson, this is a church present lesson! Mary is talking to ME! Through these small children, through these pages, she is giving me a plan for right now. In these pages she answers my questions, "what", "why" and "how" and she is very clear and specific. Now, I know as a convert, I am probably way behind on this, and many of you already know and follow this "plan". But I feel compelled to write this little epiphany of mine as a reminder to those who already know and as encouragement for those who may not. On pg. 15 it says:

While those on the side of Almighty God and His Blessed Mother try to spread her "peace plan from Heaven," the forces of evil are meeting with even greater success in their efforts to draw men into sin-  and Our Lady said at Fatima that "Wars are a punishment from God for sin."

Everywhere in this country there has been a tremendous increase in abortions, divorce, birth control, immorality, paganism, materialism and secularism. Pope Pius XII once said: "The greatest sin of our generation is that it has lost all sense of sin."

http://www.godsplanforlife.org/peace/peace.html

Please consider reading this Plan from Heaven. Whether it's for the first time or for the hundredth.
THE NEED IS GREAT! Let's do our part in spreading Our Lady's message:)

"Oh my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of poor sinners, and in reparation for all the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary."
Summer*

Wonderful article on "doubt"

The Shadow of Doubt Having questions about God and his role in our lives is normal, but Christ calls us to believe Michelle Martin OSV Newsweekly

6/25/2014

According to the catechism, “If deliberately cultivated, doubt can lead to spiritual blindness.” Shutterstock When Nikki Loomos and her husband, Bill, brought their son, Chase, home from the hospital in 2005, she was on top of the world.
She had gone through a normal pregnancy and delivery, and was embarking on the adventure of motherhood with a healthy baby, a strong support network of friends from her parish and tight ties with her family.

Poll
How do you overcome doubts about your faith? Answer in the comments below.

But the euphoria didn’t last. Within days, Chase was admitted to the hospital with jaundice. A doctor at the hospital heard a heart murmur when he examined the baby; by the time Chase was 12 days old, he was having heart surgery.
“We were all at the hospital, and I remember my mother saying, ‘These are the times when it’s so important we have our faith,’” Loomos said. “And I just looked at her, because I wasn’t really feeling it right then.”
What Loomos was feeling was betrayal and fear, forcing her to wonder what she had done wrong. How could God do this to her son? She was a good Catholic; she even taught religion in a Catholic school.
“I always thought I had pretty strong faith to begin with,” Loomos said.
For Loomos, the doubt and fear did not last long. Her mother prayed for her, and when their pastor, Father Jack Farry, came to visit at the hospital, her mother spoke to him as well, and the pastor took the time to reassure Loomos.
“He told me it was all right to be angry, and it was all right to have doubt and be afraid,” Loomos said. “I could take that to God and share it with him.”
As the days and weeks passed, Loomos often got word that people were praying for Chase and for her family — often people she didn’t even know. But all of those prayers helped support her and remind her that she was not alone.
Years later, Loomos shared the story of her faith — and her doubts — with her middle-school religion students at St. Andrew School in Chicago, where Chase recently finished second grade.

As old as time

Pope Francis on Doubt

"The way is often hard-going," says Pope Francis. Shutterstock On June 7, 2013, Pope Francis met with nearly 7,000 students from Jesuit-run schools in Italy and Albania. One boy asked the pontiff about overcoming doubt regarding his faith. Here is the pope’s response: “Walking is an art; if we are always in a hurry we tire and cannot reach our destination, the destination of our journey. Yet if we stop and do not move, we also fail to reach our destination. Walking is precisely the art of looking to the horizon, thinking about where I want to go, and also coping with the weariness that comes from walking. Moreover, the way is often hard-going, it is not easy. ‘I want to stay faithful to this journey, but it is not easy; listen: there is darkness, there are days of darkness, days of failure, and some days of falling ... someone falls, falls.’ Yet always keep this in your thoughts: do not be afraid of failure, do not be afraid of falling. In the art of walking it is not falling that matters, but not ‘staying fallen.’ Get up quickly, immediately, and continue to go on. And this is beautiful: it is working every day, it is walking humanly. But also: it is terrible to walk alone, terrible and tedious. Walking in community, with friends, with those who love us: this helps us, it helps us to arrive precisely at the destination where we must arrive. I don’t know if I have answered your question. Have you understood? You won’t be afraid of the journey? Thank you.”

There is so much in the world that is frightening and destructive and evil, from natural disasters to family tragedies to societal woes such as war and crime. People from the Old Testament on have struggled to reconcile faith in an all-knowing, all-powerful, good God with the evil they see in the world.
“Even in the Psalms, the psalmist often asks God ‘Why?’” said Legionaries of Christ Father John Bartunek, a moral theologian who teaches theology as an adjunct professor at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum and at Mater Ecclesia College. “But underneath the difficulties, we can maintain our faith in God’s goodness, wisdom and power.”
Many — even most, if not all — people of faith have doubts from time to time, said Father Stephen Bevans, SVD, a professor of mission and culture at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
“Sometimes we have a picture of God who can fix anything, who can do anything, and we say, ‘Why did God take my child?’” Father Bevans said. “But faith in God is about God being with us, being at our side through it all.”
For Father Bevans, some kinds of doubt are intrinsic to faith.
“Doubt goes along with faith,” he said. “In some ways, if you don’t doubt, you’re taking faith too lightly. It’s like the humility in an act of faith. If I really look at what’s at stake here, the whole direction of my life, I could see having some doubt. I think it’s kind of natural. I certainly have doubt in my own faith.”
In any leap of faith, doubt exists, Father Bevans said, whether the doubts of a bridegroom the night before his wedding — will he be a good husband? Can he give his wife what she needs? — or a pregnant mother before giving birth — how will she protect and guide and care for this little one who will need her so much? Such doubts do not indicate that the person involved has no faith; rather, they demonstrate the seriousness of the endeavor.
“The great 20th-century theologian Paul Tillich wrote powerfully on the presence of doubt in faith and insists that the element of certainty in the act of faith cannot be removed,” said Father Bevans, who noted that Tillich said it “must be accepted.”
“Tillich explains that the doubt connected with every act of faith is an existential doubt,” Father Bevans said. “It ‘is the doubt that accompanies every risk. It is not the permanent doubt of the scientist, and it is not the transitory doubt of the skeptic, but it is the doubt of (one) who is ultimately concerned.’”

Defining doubt

Part of the question might be in understanding what people mean when they talk about doubt.
Is it an acknowledgement that they simply do not understand the ways of God, or even sometimes why the Church teaches what it does?

Read about saints who understood doubt
Click image above to read more!

Is it a statement that they do not believe that God exists, or that there is no empirical certainty about a God that we say is ineffable?
In that way, doubt and faith are intertwined, Father Bevans said. If people could empirically demonstrate the existence and nature of God, that belief would take no more faith than knowing the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
“It’s something we can’t know for sure,” Father Bevans said. “There is a difference between faith and certainty.”
There is another level of doubt, a level that has blossomed in a society where more and more people profess a lack of belief in anything they cannot see or hear or touch.
That level of doubt — the refusal to believe without proof — is another thing entirely.
That may have been what Blessed John Henry Newman was getting at when he wrote in his Apologia, “10,000 difficulties do not make one doubt, as I understand the subject; difficulty and doubt are incommensurate. There of course may be difficulties in the evidence; but I am speaking of difficulties intrinsic to the doctrines themselves, or to their relations with each other. A man may be annoyed that he cannot work out a mathematical problem, of which the answer is or is not given to him, without doubting that it admits of an answer, or that a certain particular answer is the true one. Of all points of faith, the being of a God is, to my own apprehension, encompassed with most difficulty, and yet borne in upon our minds with most power.”
It’s also a distinction drawn in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which says:
“The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it. There are various ways of sinning against faith: Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated, doubt can lead to spiritual blindness” (CCC, No. 2088).

‘Not mathematics’

“We can have difficulties understanding why the Church teaches certain things, for example, or why God allows certain things to happen,” Father Bartunek said. “But underneath the difficulties, we can maintain our faith in God’s goodness, wisdom and power. We can exercise that faith by simply saying a small prayer, what is traditionally called an ‘act of faith.’”

Shutterstock

Father Bartunek and Bevans both cited the example of the man in Chapter 9 of Mark’s Gospel who asks Jesus to save his son, and Jesus asks if he believes in him. The man says, “I do believe, help my unbelief” (Mk 9:24).
Over and over again in the Gospels, Jesus tells the people he heals that their faith has saved them. In this case, in which the man admits to both faith and doubt, the boy is saved, and his father finds his faith strengthened.
But, Cardinal Newman’s example notwithstanding, Christians cannot expect God to provide them with a logical proof for his own existence or his nature.
“Ultimately, Christianity is not mathematics,” Father Bartunek said. “There is plenty of evidence for God’s love, goodness and wisdom, but that evidence will never take away our freedom to choose whether or not to trust God.”

Related Reading
Author: Amid doubt, live a life 'full of love'

“Faith is linked to our relationship with God, and relationships always involve trust,” he added. “So at some point, we need to acknowledge that God has shown that he is trustworthy and take the leap to trust in him.”
Choosing the opposite path — to walk away from God — is wrong, Father Bartunek said, adding that people who make that choice often do so because they can’t reconcile faith with their own behavior.
“Doubting God’s goodness, wisdom and love can indeed be sinful; it can be a sin against the virtue of faith, a rejection of that gift of faith,” he said. “This sin often stems from immoral behaviors that someone has freely chosen to engage in. In order to justify those behaviors, the person intentionally doubts what Jesus has revealed and his Church teaches.”

Michelle Martin writes from Illinois.

Sacred Heart of Jesus Novena starts today!

"Will you pray with me? If you would like to place any special intentions you may have in the comment box, I can help by adding them to mine:)" Summer* This version of the novena comes from Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. She is most commonly associated with the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Here are the prayers for today:

Day 1 - The Sacred Heart of Jesus Novena O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.” Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of… (Mention your Intention Here) Our Father, Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you. O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” Behold, in your name, I ask the Father for the grace of… (Mention your Intention Here) Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be to the Father… Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you. O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away.” Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of… (Mention your Intention Here) Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be to the Father… Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you. O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your tender Mother and ours. Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve: to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us. Amen.

Inspiring...wow

Beautiful Model Gives Up Flourishing Career To Become Nun

by Pat Archbold Wednesday, June 11, 2014 1:08 PM Comments (21)

At the top of her flourishing career, a beautiful Spanish model has given it all up to become a nun.

Olalla Oliveros, a beautiful and well known Spanish model who did advertisements, television commercials, and worked as an actress has given up her career and decided to become a nun. Last month, Oliveros entered the semi-cloistered Order of Saint Michael.

Oliveros during modeling career.

Oliveros is reluctant to talk about herself, but says she had an "earthquake" experience on a visit to Fatima and could not shake the image of herself dressed as a nun, which at the time she thought was absurd.
 

Olalla Oliveros -- Second from right.

Eventually, she realized that the image in her mind was a calling. "The Lord is never wrong. He asked if I will follow him, and I could not refuse," Oliveros said.

Now she just wants to be an ordinary nun.
 

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/pat-archbold/beautiful-model-gives-up-flourishing-career-to-become-nun#ixzz350coKwrC

Awesome Website!!

http://www.marriageuniqueforareason.org/

Dads Can't - Cute Father's Day Clip

  Happy Father's Day!!:)

A Breath of Fresh Air! Thank You Minister Joe Wright:)

Thought you might enjoy this interesting prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their Senate. It seems prayer still upsets some people... When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:

 

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.

 

We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

 

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

 

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

 

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

 

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

 

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem..

 

We have abused power and called it politics.

 

We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

 

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

 

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

 

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

 

 

Amen!

 

 

The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest.  In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where he is pastor, logged more than

5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively.  The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa and Korea .

 

 

With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called 'one nation under God.'

 

If possible, please pass this prayer on to your friends. "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything."

 

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

-- Thomas Jefferson

 

 

 

A great article as we prepare for The Feast of Corpus Christi

Eucharistic adoration: A treasure of the Faith Spending time with Jesus in the Eucharist is a practice encouraged by many saints and popes F. Douglas Kneibert OSV Newsweekly

6/11/2014

Pope Francis leads the Benediction following Eucharistic adoration in St. Peter’s Basilica for a global Holy Hour on June 2, 2013. CNS photo by Paul Haring Suppose you were told that Jesus wanted to meet with you personally for an hour at your parish. Who would say no to such an invitation?
Me, for one. When Eucharistic adoration was inaugurated at our church several years ago, I politely declined to be an adorer, as I didn’t feel the devotion suited me. I had come into the Catholic Church late in life and with a lot to learn in a short time, including the finer points of Eucharistic theology. While I believed in the Real Presence, it was mainly an intellectual assent. Its profound implications had yet to settle in my soul.
As an evangelical Protestant, I had been quick to quote John 3:7 — “You must be born again” — yet skipped right over the astounding things Jesus said to his disciples only three chapters later about eating his body and drinking his blood. But Jesus made the blind see, and that included spiritual blindness, as I was about to learn.
Mainly to get some very persistent women off my back, I finally consented to put in my hour every Thursday in the chapel that had been set aside for Eucharistic devotion. At first it was just another hour in the day for me, with wandering thoughts and frequent checks of my watch. But as the weeks went by, I gradually began to use my Holy Hour more productively. I prayed. I read the Bible. I meditated. And, in time, I began to adore.

The heart of the Faith

The list of notable Catholics devoted to Eucharistic adoration is a long one. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen saw it as essentially an act of obedience:

Initiating Eucharistic Adoration in Your Parish

Following are some suggestions for beginning a devotion to the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist: 1. Along with one or two supporters, speak to your pastor about your intentions. His support is essential, so make no further plans until you find out where he stands. 2. If the pastor gives the OK, form a committee to handle the various tasks involved. As much as possible, try not to add to your pastor’s workload. 3. Use the parish bulletin and short talks at Masses to solicit adorers, at least two for each time slot. Consider bringing in an outside speaker to encourage interest in Eucharistic adoration. 4. Determine how many adorers you will have and then set the number of hours you can cover each day. Expand the hours as new adorers sign up. 5. Two good sources for further information and assistance are The Real Presence Association (therealpresence.org) and the Fathers of Mercy (fathersofmercy.com).

“The only time our Lord asked the Apostles for anything was the night He went into agony. Not for activity did he plead but for an Hour of companionship.”
Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist with his disciples in the upper room. I had often thought of the privilege enjoyed by those who were there that night. Then, while I was praying in the chapel one Thursday, it struck me: There is no difference. The Jesus who was in the upper room is the same Jesus who is in the chapel with me. The Church makes no distinction. He is fully present — body, blood, soul and divinity — in the monstrance. Yes, he is in his Eucharistic disguise, but he is one and the same Jesus nevertheless.
As Pope Pius XII put it, “A Holy Hour of adoration testifies to the fact that the Jesus who died on the cross, is present in the Eucharist and reigns in heaven, are identical.”
This understanding constitutes the very heart of the Catholic Faith, the distinctive dogma that sets us apart. It should be the treasure of every Catholic. Sadly, it is not. According to opinion surveys, which can vary widely, Catholic belief in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is on the decline, with an average of only around half or fewer holding it to be true.
Much has been written about “cafeteria Catholics” who go down the Church line and pick and choose what to believe and what to pass up. But not believing in the Real Presence isn’t the spiritual equivalent of choosing the apple pie over the cherry. The late Jesuit Father John Hardon, writing on the centrality of the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, stated: “If we believe this, we are Catholic. If we do not, we are not, no matter what people may think we are.”

A deepened prayer life

If we lack physical strength or stamina, we can join a gym and begin working out. For those Catholics whose faith is weak in this area, I would recommend spending some time with Jesus in Eucharistic adoration, even if you are among the doubters. Look upon it as a spiritual gym. I discovered that you can be theologically challenged and still reap great spiritual benefits from simply being in his presence one hour a week. Jesus meets us where we are. If we persist, he will deepen our understanding.

For more information, read our Eucharistic Adoration pamphlet.

Two virtues that are especially needed by those beginning Eucharistic adoration are humility and patience. Set aside all pride and preconceived notions. You are in the presence of the living Lord; conduct yourself accordingly.
The blessings I have received from Eucharistic adoration are many and varied. Some I can define, and others remain more elusive, such as the growing sense that I am changing for the better in some important respects. I began to perceive this change only after I became involved in adoration.
Pope Benedict XV called Eucharistic adoration “the queen of all devotions,” a view shared by numerous popes and saints. However, the practice largely fell into disuse following Vatican II. No one is more closely identified with its revival than Pope St. John Paul II. Here is just a sampling of his observations on the subject:
— “Jesus himself is calling you to spend one special, specific hour with him each week.”
— “The love of God and neighbor, the greatest commandment, is expressed in, and the fruit of, Eucharistic worship.”
— “Priestly, religious and missionary vocations will stem from your Holy Hour.”
The personal spiritual blessings that proceed from Eucharistic adoration are rich and abundant.
Do you wish to deepen your prayer life? The same Jesus who taught his disciples how to pray is there to help you as well, and what better place to contemplate Jesus — the highest form of prayer — than in his presence?

A changed person

The same holds true for Scripture reading. Jesus is the living word, and a finer tutor could not be imagined, as the two men who walked the Road to Emmaus with him testified.

Kneilbert

Praying the Rosary, meditating or simply resting in the quiet of his presence, Eucharistic adoration enhances them all. Jesus also is there to hear your petitions, but we should guard against making it all about ourselves. Keep the focus on him and you can’t go wrong.
Father Hardon saw this practice as the centerpiece of devotion, saying that we “should build the whole edifice of our spiritual life around adoration.”
Of course, one does not need to be engaged in sacramental adoration to have access to Jesus. He is always available to those who come to him in faith. But the Church teaches that the manifestation of Jesus in the Eucharist is “unique” and “in the fullest sense,” and therefore worthy of special devotion (CCC, No. 1374).
Just as his disciples were transformed by being in Jesus’ presence, it’s impossible to spend an hour with him in Eucharistic adoration and leave the same person we were when we walked in.
So consider giving it a try. If your parish has adoration, sign up to take a time slot. If the devotion is not in place, look into what can be done to obtain it (see sidebar). You have absolutely nothing to lose and a treasure trove of spiritual riches to gain.
I will give Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata, a daily recipient of the Eucharist, the final word:
“Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is the best time you will spend on earth.”

F. Douglas Kneibert writes from Missouri.

The Light Turned Yellow...

The light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

 

The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration, as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.

 

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up..

 

He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.

 

After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door.  She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

 

He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'Follow Me to Sunday-School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, so naturally....I assumed you had stolen the car."

 

Priceless!!

 

Amazing Numbers of The Bible - FASCINATING - Must See!

   Very Cool!

I wish I knew how to explain the "Big Picture" to a same-sex "legaly married" couple... Holy Spirit, Give us Stength & Wisdom!

Marriage losing ground since DOMA ruling Federal courts follow lead in striking down laws defining marriage as between one man, one woman Russell Shaw OSV Newsweekly

6/11/2014

People demonstrate outside the Supreme Court building in Washington in March 2013 as the court heard arguments in two same-sex marriage cases. CNS photo What a difference a year can make. When the Supreme Court on June 26, 2013, struck down the key section of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which barred giving federal marriage-related benefits to same-sex couples, the action correctly was seen as a huge victory for homosexual interests. But few people imagined that things would move as swiftly in the direction of same-sex marriage as they have.
As of June 10, supporters of legalized gay marriage have scored 15 victories in lower courts in the past year. While a number of these cases are being appealed, 19 states plus Washington, D.C., now allow same-sex marriage, compared with 13 at the time of the Supreme Court decision last June. It seems likely that one or more of the current cases will reach the Supreme Court in its next term.

Related Reading
Find more OSV articles on marriage here.

In overturning DOMA, the court divided 5-4, with the four liberal justices plus Justice Anthony Kennedy making up the majority. In a separate case decided at the same time, a different five-justice majority declined to consider a lower court ruling overturning a ban on same-sex marriage in California. The justices didn’t rule on the merits but said they couldn’t decide the case because state officials refused to defend the ban and its supporters lacked legal standing to do so.
In his majority opinion in the DOMA case, Kennedy stressed that the ruling applied only to same-sex unions from states that recognize them as marriages. Thus the situation in states that do not recognize gay marriage was left untouched, he said.
But Justice Antonin Scalia in a scathing dissent said Kennedy’s reasoning could apply just as well to state bans on same-sex marriage as to DOMA itself.
In what defenders of traditional marriage took to be a particularly offensive passage, Kennedy asserted that the “purpose and effect” of the federal law was to “disparage and injure” gay and lesbian married couples. To that Scalia replied: “By formally declaring anyone opposed to same-sex marriage an enemy of human decency, the majority arms well every challenger to a state law restricting marriage to its traditional definition.”
Although DOMA was enacted by Congress in 1996 and signed into law by President Bill Clinton, the Obama administration refused to defend the law when it came before the Supreme Court. And last February, speaking for the administration, Attorney General Eric Holder announced a policy of “full and equal recognition” for same-sex marriage. Presumably, then, it will take the gay marriage side next time the issue comes before the court.

Against natural law

Bishop Defends Marriage

In the course of the last several weeks, four states have seen their voter-approved ban on same-sex marriages overturned by federal judges. Idaho (May 14), Oregon (May 19), Penn- sylvania (May 20) and Wisconsin (June 6) are just the latest in a long line since the Supreme Court over- turned the Defense of Marriage Act on June 26, 2013. The decision of Judge Barbara Crabb, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, was met strongly by Bishop Robert C. Morlino of the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin. “Marriage is, and can only ever be, a unique relationship solely between one man and one woman, regardless of the decision of a judge or any vote,” Bishop Morlino said in a statement. “This is not based on any private sectarian viewpoint, but on the natural moral law that is universally binding on all peoples, at all times, and inscribed into our human nature, as man and woman from the beginning of creation. It behooves us to safeguard the sacred ecology of all nature, especially of our human nature. “In striking down the constitutional amendment in our state which protects marriage, the court has, once again, shaken one of the most precious and essential building blocks of our civilization."

In decisions last year, other judges in lower federal courts have echoed Kennedy’s critique of laws upholding the unique status of man-woman marriage. One theme commonly heard has been that there is no rational basis for limiting marriage to heterosexual couples.
Defenders of traditional marriage say this is clearly not so. The case for the uniqueness of man-woman marriage rests on its grounding in two linked values necessarily absent from same-sex unions — male-female complementarity and openness to the begetting and raising of children by two parents of different sexes. From this perspective, recognizing same-sex unions as marriages undermines authentic marriage by muddying the waters on what marriage really means.

Religious freedom

Another issue of growing concern for traditional marriage defenders is how to protect people who reject gay marriage on conscience grounds from suffering legal penalties.
In April, the Supreme Court turned down an appeal by a husband-wife wedding photography team in Albuquerque, New Mexico, whom the state human rights commission found guilty of violating New Mexico’s anti-discrimination law for refusing to photograph a lesbian couple’s wedding ceremony. The state Supreme Court upheld the commission.
Other business owners lately have found themselves in the same situation. In early June the Colorado Civil Rights Commission ruled against a bakery shop owner who refused to provide a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage.

Court of public opinion

Predictably, in view of the continuing drumbeat of gay-friendly coverage in media, public opinion on gay marriage has shifted dramatically in recent years. In a recent report, the Pew Research Center said approval of same-sex marriage had risen from 32 to 43 percent among black Protestants between 2013 and 2014. Among white mainline Protestants, the approval figure rose from 55 to 62 percent. But support remained about the same: 59 percent among people identifying themselves as Catholics, while the rate of approval among white evangelical Protestants stayed at 23 percent.

An unlikely solution

Last February, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco pronounced amending the Constitution to be “the only remedy in law against this judicial activism” propelling the rush to same-sex marriage.
He made his remark in a letter to Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., whose federal Marriage Protection Amendment is pending in the House of Representatives. When and if the Supreme Court strikes down the remaining state bans on gay marriage, Huelskamp’s amendment — or something like it — will be virtually the only way of changing the legal situation.
With the law on same-sex marriage in flux, attention increasingly is focused on the Supreme Court. Some fear it might deliver a ruling resembling its 1973 decision abruptly legalizing abortion nationwide.
“Just as Roe v. Wade mandated a constitutional right to abortion throughout the country, we now have the possibility of another bad decision mandating a constitutional change in the meaning of marriage,” said Archbishop Cordileone.
He could be right.

Russell Shaw is an OSV contributing editor.

 

Summer*

One of my favorites from Albert:

"It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense. It would be a description without meaning — as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure." - Albert Einstein


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Pray More Novenas

Sign up to have Novenas sent to your inbox! Others will be praying with you and you will never miss a day in your Novena again:)

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Prayer Request- (Forwarded from Holy Innocents)

I just received a phone call from a friend requesting prayers for a family from

Guasti parish.

A young man by the name of Thomas Chamberlain was fatally wounded in a motorcycle accident yesterday.

Thomas is an only child and as you can imagine, the family is devastated.

No other details, but all prayers are appreciated.

Stay Focused On God

Have nothing to do with anyone who would stand in your way and would seek to turn you aside from fulfilling the vows which you have made to the Most High and from living in that perfection to which the Spirit of the Lord has called you. -St. Clare of Assisi

— from Sisterhood of Saints

Ministering to Others

Feeding the poor and clothing the hungry are important ministries. But so is the ability to write a moving eulogy or devotion, compose a beautiful hymn, or paint a glorious sunset. The ways in which God gifts us with the talent to touch souls are as infinitesimal as he is. — from Sisterhood of Saints

New Book!

It's time to rediscover Catholic social teaching with the help of 14 saints who lived it! A message for you from author Brandon Vogt       Brandon Vogt One thing I learned after converting to Catholicism is that Catholic social teaching is not a vague abstraction. It's meant to be practiced and lived out in concrete ways. And the saints show us how. They've shaped the Church and revolutionized the world, and I wrote this book to help you follow in their footsteps.     You'll learn about themes like dignity, family, solidarity, and creation through evocative stories and powerful examples. By the end, you'll feel inspired and equipped to be exactly what God designed you to be: a world-changer.    -- Brandon   "One of the best presentations of the Church's social teaching."   -- Father Robert Barron   Connect with Brandon Visit Brandon's web site     Links on this page don't work. Sorry for the inconvenience.   Summer*

Order now!   Current Amazon price: $10.11   Buy a new print edition of this book and you can buy the Kindle edition for only $2.99 (Save 68%). Print edition purchase must be sold by Amazon. Use this link.

I found this prayer beautiful, thought I would pass it along:) - Summer*

Check Your Heart.

So, how is your heart?
What are the “gods” that hold your time, attention, affection, and energies?
Recently, Pope Francis invited us to a similar heart exam. He asked, “What does our heart care for? What treasure does our heart custody? Is my heart fixed upon creatures, the problems that we all have? Is my heart fixed upon everyday gods or is it a heart fixed on the Holy Spirit?”
If we find that our hearts have gone astray, we can give them back to the Lord each day.
I have a simple prayer with this intention. Let’s pray it today.

“Lord Jesus, come into my heart anew today. Soften it with your grace and mercy. Make my heart beat in unison with your Sacred Heart. May the things which bring your heart joy be my daily offering, and may the things that break your heart break mine. I ask this through the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Amen.”

 

Ascension Press Blog

I am going to do this! What an awsome idea:)

Why You Should Witness to God’s Power with Rock Piles

June 5, 2014

By Sarah Christmyer

If you look closely, the rock among the hosta in my garden is shaped like a heart.
Brought to me by a neighbor 18 years ago, it stands as a memorial to God’s healing power.
I never thought we could forget the months our son lay in the hospital, too young to know his heart wasn’t right or that breathing could be easy. But we do forget some days. Or at least we don’t think about it much, now that he is strong and healthy, graduating high school.
It’s easy to forget how good God is, how strong he is on our behalf.

12 Stones By the River

God knew this about us when he commanded Joshua to assemble 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan River, and set another 12 as a monument at Gilgal when they’d passed over (see Joshua 3-4). The children of Israel were 40 years beyond the Red Sea crossing and none but Joshua and Caleb could remember that great day.
Now, as they entered the Promised Land, the Jordan was at flood stage. But this time, instead of fleeing an enemy, they were crossing over to meet one.
God split the waters as though to say, See? I’m the same God today! Follow me and I will guide you, and I will drive out your enemies before you.
The people crossed over on dry land and from the spot where the priests stood in the riverbed, holding the Ark of the Covenant, they pulled stones representing each tribe. Twelve to stand in the river, an annual witness when the waters receded in the dry season; and twelve as a witness on land.
Years later, that pile of smooth river rock at Gilgal would excite curiosity among their children. “What do these stones mean?” they would ask.
And that was the purpose for the pile.
Not just to remind those who experienced the miracle, but to witness to God’s power in the future. To create an opportunity for later generations to say to their children and their neighbors: our God is great.

Where Is Your Rock Pile?

Whenever I weed my garden, the “heart rock” triggers my memory. But more importantly – when I show off the plants around it, I can’t help but tell the story: that for months we did not know our son would live; that one Sunday our priest called us to stand at mass and he prayed for him – and from that day, he began to heal.
“I remember that,” says my neighbor. “I always wondered how you could be so calm.”
“Without God, I could not,” I say.
The rock draws out my witness, gives me an occasion to speak of God’s power and strength, of his comfort.
When God acts powerfully in your life, set up a stone of remembrance. (Tweet this.)
It doesn’t need to be a literal stone, you can plant a tree or make a quilt, place a memento on a shelf. Put something that represents the occasion where others can see it.
Talk about it to your children. Let them know that the same God who carried Israel across the Red Sea and the Jordan is alive today and can be known and trusted and turned to in times of trouble.

Summer*

"Moralistic Therapeutic Deism" ??

A MUST read! Especially for the teenagers.

http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/facts/fm0177.htm


Summer*