“All Saints” and “All Souls” surrounding the Most Holy Trinity

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Catholic Good News


Receiving the Gospel, Serving God and Neighbor

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Solemnity of All Saints, Commemoration of All Souls


“I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and

tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm

branches in their hands.”  Revelation 7:9

585. With what spirit of communion and mission do we pray to God as “our” Father? (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC 2791-2793, 2801)
a) a spirit that prays with all people and for all people
b) one that acknowledges that it is a common blessing for the baptized
c) a mission that joins in Jesus’ prayer for the unity of His disciples
d) all of the above


586. What does the phrase “Who art in heaven” mean? (CCC 2794-2796, 2802)
a) it is a place in the sky only
b) it is the place where God creates artwork
c) with Christ we already live there
d) none of the above


587. What is the structure of the Lord’s Prayer? (CCC 2803-2806, 2857)
a) there is no particular structure to the Our Father
b) it is has nearly 100 petitions
c) it goes from least important to most important
d) God-centered petitions with our poverty and expectations


(Answers below)

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Catholic Term
 
“A saint is simply a sinner who perfectly accepts the Mercy of God.”


 protodulia (from the Latin word proto”first”)
-first veneration or honor given to St. Joseph after Blessed Mary but before any other saints or angels
 
 term review
latria (from the Greek latreia “service, worship”)
- Latin word used in English meaning worship due to God alone
 
 dulia (Latin word used in English)
-veneration or honor given to saints as servants of God
 
 hyperdulia (Latin word used in English)
-higher veneration or honor given to Mary as the most exalted of all creatures
 
 purgatory (from Late Latin purgatorius “purging”)
- A temporary state in which the souls of those who have died in grace must be made perfect by being fully conformed to Christ Jesus.  (All souls in purgatory will eventually go to heaven.)  [Read more in the Website section.]
 
SAINT Angela Merici (1474-1540)
“Disorder in society is the result of disorder in the family.”

October 15 : The Catholic News Service featured a review of CATHOLICISM on their website.  Read the review below. 

A visually splendid and intellectually satisfying introduction to Catholic Christianity is provided by the 10-part video series “Catholicism.” Written and hosted by Father Robert E. Barron, the complete documentary is available for purchase on DVD at Word on Fire.

A priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Father Barron is certainly not lacking in academic credentials. He holds a doctorate in sacred theology from France’s Institut Catholique de Paris and serves as the Francis Cardinal George professor of faith and culture at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. He’s also been a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame and Rome’s Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, colloquially known as the Angelicum. 

Like his august – and equally well educated — forerunner Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, however, Father Barron displays a knack for conveying complex ideas in easily grasped, television-friendly terms. His enthusiasm as a narrator also serves to keep the pace pleasingly rapid.

As he explores the identity of Jesus, the main topic of “Amazed and Afraid: The Revelation of God Become Man,” the first episode screened, the globetrotting Father Barron visits lushly photographed holy sites in Bethlehem, Galilee and Jerusalem before traveling on to various sacred locales around Rome. Classical religious artwork – smoothly panned and zoomed in the style justly known among broadcasters as the Ken Burns effect — provides further engaging imagery.

The substantive discussion carried on behind these visuals introduces viewers to the messianic expectations laid down in the prophecies of the Old Testament and to the surprising, sometimes paradoxical, manner in which Jesus — by his life, death and resurrection — fulfilled them.

A first-rate DVD resource for teen and adult religious education, whether in a parish setting or at home – and must-watch public television programming for all old enough to profit from it – “Catholicism” enlists sophisticated production values
and an elegantly crafted script in the service of explaining — and celebrating — the faith.
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Catholic Websites of the Week
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All Saints’ Day

This Tells of the Day:
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2015-11-01
 
Here is a History of All Saints’ Day in the Catholic Church:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315a.htm

All Souls’ Day
 
This Tells of the Day:
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2015-11-02
 
Here is a History of All Souls' Day in the Catholic Church:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315b.htm

 
Catholic Biblical Apologetics for Purgatory
 http://www.catholicapologetics.org/ap090400.htm
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Best Parish Practices
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​SAINT Francis of Assisi
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“Man should tremble, the world should vibrate,
all Heaven should be deeply moved
when the Son of God appears on the alter
in the hands of the priest.”

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Diocesan News AND BEYOND
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+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
The Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 27th, 2019


The First Reading- Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18
The LORD is a God of justice, who knows no favorites. Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed. The Lord is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint. The one who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens. The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right, and the Lord will not delay.
Reflection
The theme of our reading, Sir 35:12-18, continues the theme of perseverance in prayer that we witnessed in last week’s Lord’s Day readings. Sirach mentions that God is “not unduly partial toward the weak,” meaning that God does not consider the weak to be in the right merely for the fact that they are weak. Weakness, poverty, or other disadvantages do not justify any and every action of the disadvantaged person, nor do they automatically confer the mantle of righteousness on him. Nonetheless, God is particularly attentive to the cries of the poor for justice and salvation. God is sensitive to the vulnerability of those without the resources to defend and support themselves. God is especially solicitous for those whose only hope is in Him. When we read the entire chapter Sir 35, we realize that one of the major themes is the inter-relatedness of proper worship and charity towards the poor. Sirach 25:2 says, “He who offers alms sacrifices a thank-offering.” The thank offering was the Old Covenant precursor of the Eucharist. This verse emphasizes a mystical connection between proper liturgical worship and acts of charity. This was well-understood in medieval Christianity. Observe the painting on the left of a medieval saint. The saint is portrayed distributing food to the poor on the left, but his food distribution intentionally resembles the distribution of the Eucharist. Furthermore, the looks and posture of the saint mimic in every particular the appearance of the bishop on the right, who is dressed in liturgical garments as he blesses what appears to be a sack of flour and jug of wine, offered by the laity to be made into the Eucharistic species. Charity is liturgical and the liturgy is charitable.
Adults - Have you ever considered the connection between liturgy and charity?
Teens - How does assisting at the Holy Mass affect the way you live through the week?
Kids - Be sure to say a special prayer for the poor each day this week.


Responsorial- Psalm 34: 2-3, 17-18, 19, 23
R.The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the Lord hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Reflection -Much of Book I of the Psalter (pss 1-41) is dominated by the image of David the suffering servant, at the mercy of his enemies and the forces of evil in the world. Psalm 34 is pure consolation for the righteous oppressed of this world, who find themselves victims of the powerful, the wealthy, and the unscrupulous.
What is one small thing you can do each day to make a difference?


The Second Reading- 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Beloved: I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance. At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Reflection - In this second reading we see St. Paul in a similar situation to David in the Psalm. Both were in positions of vulnerability, under the power of an evil monarch. David was delivered; St. Paul has faith that he will be, too. Some believe St. Paul wrote 2 Timothy while being tried before the imperial court of Nero before ultimately being put to death. We hear a note of sadness and loneliness in Paul’s remark that no one came to assist him at this defense. As Christians, we can often feel abandoned. Sometimes we are persecuted for the faith, and even our brothers and sisters in faith distance themselves from us, not wishing to be entangled in the persecution we are experiencing. Through it all, St. Paul finds consolation in Jesus alone, Jesus who himself was completely abandoned by his companions when he suffered his Passion.
Do you know anyone who feels abandoned because of their faith? How can you help them?


The Holy Gospel according to Luke 18:9-14
Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. "Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity -- greedy, dishonest, adulterous -- or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.' But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.' I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
Reflection - The proud Pharisee “speaks his prayer to himself.” He mostly talks about himself in his prayer; in fact, he is praising himself and even praying to himself! The Pharisee has gotten himself confused with God. That’s the essence of pride. The tax collector simply cries to God for mercy, and receives it. Take note that this does not mean the tax collector was a “good man.” Many tax collectors were unjust, abusive persons who took advantage of others in society, even and including the poor. Jesus’ point is that pride can overshadow all other sins, and that if we have attained all other human virtues but retained pride in ourselves, we are like someone who has not even begun the spiritual life. The spiritual life begins with the acknowledgement of our sinfulness and our need.
Adults - Is there an area where you struggle with pride? Take it to prayer and ask God’s help.
Teens - What is the difference between healthy and unhealthy pride?
Kids - Try to compliment or help someone each day this week.


LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK!
We must all be on our guard against this insidious and destructive vice. It is insidious because it can grow in us almost without our knowing it, and once it has taken root it is difficult to eradicate. It is destructive because it spoils every other virtue we practice and every good work we do. Charity, or brotherly love, cannot flourish in a proud heart, for a proud heart is so full of self that it has no room for others. No true love of God can exist in a proud heart, for even the very acts of religion which a proud man performs, are done for the motive of self-glory and not for the glory of God. The Pharisee in this parable proves that fact. He boasted of his good works. A few simple straight questions can tell us whether or not we are proud. Do we like others to see and hear of our good works, or do we prefer to do them in secret? Do we give as generously to charitable causes when no list of benefactors is published? Do we willingly take part among the rank and file in parish activities or do we feel offended if we are not the leaders? Do we criticize offhand those who are not all they should be, or do we thank God that we were saved from similar temptations? Do we always try to find an excuse for the failings of others or have we excuses for our own faults only? God forbid that any one in this congregation should be suffering from this, the worst of all vices. If anyone recognizes that he is, let him pray to God from the bottom of his heart for the opposite virtue, the true Christian virtue of humility, and look for every possible occasion to practice it. Let us all remember the two men praying in the Temple. One was full of himself and boasted to God and to all present, of his many good works. The Other just humbly beat his breast and asked for mercy-he had nothing to boast of. Yet, he left the Temple forgiven, the other returned home a worse sinner than when he had entered the Temple. — Excerpted from The Sunday Readings Cycle C, Fr. Kevin O' Sullivan, O.F.M.


585. With what spirit of communion and mission do we pray to God as “our” Father? d) all of the above
Since praying to “our” Father is a common blessing for the baptized, we feel an urgent summons to join in Jesus’ prayer for the unity of his disciples. To pray the “Our Father” is to pray with all people and for all people that they may know the one true God and be gathered into unity.


586. What does the phrase “Who art in heaven” mean? c) with Christ we already live there
This biblical expression does not indicate a place but a way of being: God transcends everything. The expression refers to the majesty, the holiness of God, and also to his presence in the hearts of the just. Heaven, or the Father’s house, constitutes our true homeland toward which we are moving in hope while we are still on earth. “Hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3), we live already in this homeland.


587. What is the structure of the Lord’s Prayer? d) God-centered petitions with our poverty and expectations
It contains seven petitions made to God the Father. The first three, more God-centered, draw us toward him for his glory; it is characteristic of love to think first of the beloved. These petitions suggest in particular what we ought to ask of him: the sanctification of his Name, the coming of his Kingdom, and the fulfillment of his will. The last four petitions present to the Father of mercies our wretchedness and our expectations. They ask him to feed us, to forgive us, to sustain us in temptations, and to free us from the Evil One.

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Jesus Kneeling in Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane
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582. Why can we dare to draw near to God in full confidence? (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC 2777-2778, 2797)
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a) because Jesus brings us to the Father
b) because of the beauty of our prayer
c) we cannot because the distance between God and us, the creature, is infinite
d) we cannot because we do not have the power or authority to do so
 
583. How is it possible to address God as “Father”? (CCC 2779-2785, 2789, 2798-2800)
a) because Jesus reveals the Father to us
b) because the Holy Spirit makes Him known to us
c) because it awakens in us the desire to act as His children
d) all of the above
 
584. Why do we say “our” Father? (CCC 2786-2790, 2801)
a) because He is our own possession
b) because it expresses a totally new relationship with God
c) because we can have God any way we want Him
d) none of the above

“Helpful Hints of Life”
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Best Parish Practices
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WORLD |  OCT. 21, 2019​

The powerful family faith story continues in today’s generation.
Victor GaetanEditor’s note: The reorganization of Europe following World War I had a profound impact on many Catholic communities and on one pillar of European Catholicism in particular: the Habsburg family. Victor Gaetan’s interview with His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Rudolf of Austria is the first in a series of articles exploring the legacy of this legendary dynasty, which was founded in the 11th century.


Archduke Rudolf of Austria, 69, is a very busy man. Having worked in the financial sector for decades, he now concentrates on holiness: promoting the cause for beatification of his grandmother, Servant of God Zita, the last empress of Austria; monitoring progress toward sainthood of his grandfather, Blessed Charles I (or Karl), the last emperor of Austria and the last king of Hungary (who reigned from Nov. 21, 1916-Nov. 11, 1918); being a father to eight children, including four in religious life; and supporting favorite charities, including sitting on the board of directors of the U.S. Magnificat Foundation and co-founding the Zermatt Summit, dedicated to “humanizing globalization” and projecting the Catholic Church’s social teaching as an antidote to the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.
In a rare interview, senior international correspondent Victor Gaetan spoke to the humble paterfamilias to learn more about the enduring devotion of this legendary Catholic family, a pillar of European civilization, the Habsburgs. For the first time, the archduke, the son of Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria (1918-2007), also reminisces about the relationship between Emperor Charles and Miklos Horthy (the Hungarian statesman who sent Blessed Charles into forced exile following World War I); the lost chance of Hungary’s return to constitutional monarchy in 1990; and the meeting of Empress Zita and Cardinal József Mindszenty in Switzerland in 1972.




Your grandfather, Emperor Charles I of Austria and king of Hungary, who reigned from 1916 to 1918, was well-known for his devotion to God, to the Church and to his family. As a condition of ending World War I, President Woodrow Wilson demanded the empire be dissolved and your grandparents were exiled. Yet they bore this pain with dignity. Charles is the only 20th-century ruler to be beatified — by Pope St. John Paul II in 2004. How is Blessed Charles’ cause for sainthood progressing?
The greatest work to establish sainthood is done before beatification. The positio is compiled, a whole 2,000-page history proving his life was heroic, and a miracle is identified. In 1960, a Polish nun living in Brazil was completely healed — she was bedridden, but after praying for my grandfather’s intercession one night, she woke up and could walk. This was the first miracle.
The next step is canonization, and what is needed is a second miracle; only two or three are analyzed by the postulator, Andrea Ambrosi, who is in Rome. He is hopeful regarding one potential miracle in particular, but it takes some time to make sure everything is absolutely correct before you close the file. The Church, of course, has time, so everything goes quite slowly, but it is better not to make a mistake.
We had another miracle, but, sadly enough, it was a case of terminal cancer; and although the person healed totally, the individual died four years later from another cause. The Vatican wants the person to survive five years, so it could not count in the end.
It is interesting: One of the potential miracles is a breast-cancer survivor, and that person is not a believer, does not have the faith. People around that person prayed for the healing and obtained it. So a question is: Will that person find the faith or not?
No one is born a saint. It is a work in progress, your whole life. My grandfather for sure, he was always, always deeply Christian. Even as a child, he gave away things to the poor. He was already involved in his faith and in the action linked to faith.


Blessed Charles and his wife, your grandmother, Empress Zita, were a very close, loving couple. His feast day is Oct. 21, the anniversary date of their marriage in 1911. What is the status of her cause?
For the last 10 years, on behalf of my family, I’ve been working on the process of beatification for my grandmother. It is moving quite nicely. One miracle is being analyzed, and the lifetime research is finished. A total of 36 people testified about her. I was one. I was sworn in and had to answer 276 questions — 18 hours of interrogation. It is a very serious process.


At your talk at University of Notre Dame six years ago, you told a fascinating story about Pope Pius X’s prophesy that your grandfather would become the emperor when he was not a direct successor at the time. Did Empress Zita tell you that story herself, or did you read it?
Both. I knew her very well because she was not only my grandmother but also my godmother. We had a close relationship.
Between the two wars, she testified for the beatification of Pius X, and one of the accounts she shared was this: In 1911, she visited the Pope to receive a blessing for her upcoming marriage.
The Holy Father said, “When you and Charles become emperor and empress, you will have to do whatever you can to make peace in Europe.” He added, “Charles is the present from God to Austria and your family for being faithful to the Church and the faith.”


Yet in 1911, Emperor Franz Josef was on the throne and his nephew Franz Ferdinand, the heir, was still alive. His assassination in 1914, which triggered World War I, put your grandfather in the line of succession. So the Pope gave your grandmother a mission, an assignment that was puzzling to her.
Absolutely, and devotion to peace was their way of life, so it was not a problem.
But at the time, when she walked out of the Vatican with her mother, the duchess of Bourbon-Palma, she turned to her mother, and said, “Thank God he is not infallible in matters of politics,” because she didn’t quite believe his message. It was only after the assassination of Prince Ferdinand that she realized the truth of the whole thing, you see.


Your grandfather died tragically at the age of 35 of pneumonia in 1922, leaving your grandmother to raise eight children in exile, with few resources. Yet she never lost faith and lived a long life. She died in 1989, at age 96. How did she explain why God allowed the evil that invaded Europe in the 20th century, such as communism?
She followed very closely what happened with the Church, and she knew very well about Fatima since 1917 [which occurred while her husband was emperor].
One of the mysteries of Fatima was that if the world did not convert, the communists would spread their bad ideology throughout the world, until Russia was consecrated to the Holy Virgin Mary. Finally, it was Pope John Paul II who did that. And then, obviously, communism fell.
Please don’t quote her because she did not say this specifically, but knowing her, she knew very well: If you obey what God tells you, even through children [as in Fatima], you are on the right way; but if you don’t, the consequences are the ones you chose because you did not follow the will of God.


Empress Zita died in spring 1989, at age 96, in Vienna, Austria, before the fall of the Berlin Wall. With tens of thousands of Soviet troops in Hungary, the country’s communist government allowed about 50,000 Hungarians to cross the border into Austria for Zita’s funeral in Vienna. Some 250,000 people participated in the funeral. What did her funeral say about the way your family is perceived in Hungary? 
They absolutely realized that our family tried to stop the war [World War I] to help them and to do what we could as king and queen, because [being] queen and king is a holy service to a country. It’s not ruling only; it is a service to a country and its people. So I think people realized that, but it did not translate into a movement either religious or political. The family is still very respected.

After the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, Hungarian parliamentarian elections were held for the first time in May 1990. I understand that your uncle, Archduke Otto von Habsburg, the eldest son of Karl and Zita, the last crown prince (1916-1918), was asked by the new parliament, which elects the president, to stand as a candidate for the presidency. Is that so?
Yes. A majority of the parliamentarians who wanted him were from the Smallholders Party, I think, and some conservative groups. They asked my uncle Otto if he would accept to be elected president. And he said No, not unless he is called back because he should be king. And that ended that. I know many people were a little bit sad that he didn’t say Yes, because probably the next step would have been to change the constitution to a kingdom again. This was in 1990.


Yet his devotion to Hungary was so strong, he asked that his heart be interred at the Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma, outside Budapest, while his body is buried in the Habsburg family crypt in Vienna.
Yes, and the hearts of Emperor Karl and Empress Zita are enshrined together in the Loreto Chapel at Muri Abbey, Switzerland.


I read that Cardinal József Mindszenty met with your grandmother, Empress Zita, after his departure from Hungary in 1971. Did you ever meet Cardinal Mindszenty?
I met Cardinal Mindszenty once at the 80th birthday of my grandmother in 1972, in Switzerland. We celebrated on the Monday after Pentecost and always had a bishop or a priest attending her birthday celebrations. That year Cardinal Mindszenty came. I remember my grandmother speaking with him in fluent Hungarian. She was happy, and he was happy. He was a very young chaplain and participated in the crowning in 1916, so they had a lot of common memories.

Did your grandmother and Cardinal Mindszenty talk about the regency? 
I don’t know because my grandmother was always very discreet. I think if she spoke to the cardinal — both of them, without even making a deal, knew that they would not tell other people what was said, so they could talk freely. What I know is that the regent, Miklos Horthy, who had betrayed his king [my grandparents], came to Brussels to ask my grandmother to pardon him, and she did it.
 
When was that, approximately?
I don’t know when exactly. All I know is my father told me that story because he was living in Brussels at the time. I suppose it was after he [Horthy] was overthrown by the Nazi regime in 1944.
Had Emperor Karl stayed in power, it was his intention to implement the following reforms: Develop the ministries of social affairs and of health; develop his monarchy into a federal state; implement agrarian reform for Bohemia and Hungary; create social-assistance programs and medical insurance; protect youth from vulgar literature; and grant autonomy to the different nationalities. My grandfather discussed autonomy with Archduke Franz-Ferdinand [the heir to the Habsburg throne whose assassination in Serbia led to World War], and they both agreed to implement this reform after the death of Emperor Franz Joseph.
 
 
In the second part, the modest former banker talks about marriage, family and raising children in the faith. Four of his eight children are members of a religious order, the Eucharistein Fraternity, founded in 1996 in the French Alps by a Swiss priest, Father Nicolas Buttet.
 
Did you pray for a vocation in your family?
My grandmother, Empress Zita [currently considered for beatification], always prayed that one of her children would join the Church. Then she prayed for her 33 grandchildren, that one be with the Church, and it did not happen. Yet prayers always last …
My wife and I also prayed for such a gift. We never thought that we would have four children asked by Jesus to follow him, but they said Yes, and so it happened.
 
Where are they now?
All four are in this new order, devoted to the Blessed Sacrament and Franciscan in its spirituality. Eucharistein reflects that the Eucharist is at the center of their life.   
Our son Johannes made his perpetual vows on June 22, the same day his younger brother, Thomas, “received the clothing,” as we say in French, prendre la vie, at the main house in Epinassey, Switzerland.
Johannes has been based at a house in St.-Jeoire, France, not far from Geneva, in the Haute-Savoie region. Our daughter, Marie-des-Neiges, took her perpetual vows last year. She is in St. Jeoire, as well.
And Joseph, our youngest child, who is 28 years old, lives in a Eucharistein house in Chêatau Rima, north of Grasse, lost in the mountains.
It is a beautiful place. They rebuilt an old convent, and now there are people buying land, building houses nearby, to be close to the monks like in the Middle Ages. It is truly fantastic.
 
Tell me a bit about the charism of the order. What occupies the community?
They are very poor. For example, they never buy food, so if they don’t get food, from neighbors or their own labor on the land, they don’t eat. Although, it always comes.
They allow the poor people of our times — meaning those who live in the streets, those who drink or take drugs, things like that — they can come whenever they want. They only have to agree to work with their hands with the monks and the sisters, and they are fed and have a roof, then. They go to the Holy Mass every day, and they can leave when they want.
The community has the formal prayers which monks have: early in the morning. Of course, the Holy Mass, the Rosary, adoration, then in the evening again. The practice is ora et labora, prayer and work, so they also have handwork and agriculture at the monastery.
Everything has been built over the last 20 years. Now, the Definitive Rules have been recognized by the Vatican, so that is very good news.
 
How did you and your wife raise your children in the faith to receive such a bounty of vocations? First, how did you approach the task?
It’s an important question! We gave a talk in Montreal on the transmission of faith two years ago. As we explained, my family has been Catholic for as long as we go back in history: 1,400 years. From one generation to the next, we transmitted more or less successfully the most precious of these presents, which is faith.
The principle vector or instrument for transmitting the faith is obviously the family.
My wife and I were engaged for two years. This long period allowed us to prepare our marriage.
To what can we compare a marriage? A priest once told me, we can compare a marriage to a ladder. There are two vertical pillars, the man and the woman, who look at each other, and they love each other. There are also the steps, which serve to climb and turn toward a third person, God, of course, and the children who come.
From the beginning, my wife and I made a decision to try to live our life in accordance with what we believe. So as the children grew, we took a lot of time to explain the faith and the liturgy to them.
 
Please give our readers some examples of how you and your wife bolstered the children in faith.   
We took them to Mass often, even during the week. We made sure they went to holy confession. In our days, you can’t say, “Children: Go to church!” You have to say, “Come with us to church.” It is not the way it was 50 or 60 years ago.
We made pilgrimages with them, for example, to Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina and to Częstochowa in Poland. A present given to a child is often quickly forgotten, but having common activity, the good influence lasts much longer. So we did several pilgrimages together, because pilgrimages within a family last for your whole life.
We gave them the right books to read. When they were smaller especially, we took care to introduce them to good books that would elevate their souls and their spirits and keep their consciences straight. In the evening, it was important to review these readings at home.
We were also very attentive to how our children were choosing their friends.
And we tried to avoid the internet, explaining how it could destroy them. Things like that. This is very big work.
 
Absolutely, right! With your wisdom, knowledge of history and faith, 100 years after the Austro-Hungarian Empire and a century marked by destruction: What are the dangers facing us today?
Today? This is my own feeling. I read a lot. I pray a lot. I discuss a lot. Basically, we must be close to the years of the anti-Christ, because everything is in a horrible state. Look at how the population and the people live: The materialism, which is one of the main dangers, has become the master of most of the souls of the world. This is a terrible thing!
Basically, I have the feeling that the devil is working now, if I can say it, like hell on the world, to destroy the Church.  And, obviously, he is helped by some people in the Church, also, which is very sad. We have to pray a lot and help the priests and the Church to change now and to become really Christian, in a way.
And I think this Pope is doing his best to move the whole thing in the right direction, but I would hate to be in his place because it must be so tough.


The Saint and the Synod – Pope St. John Paul II’s Legacy Still Seen in Church TeachingBy Angela AmbrogettiVatican City, Oct 22 / 04:55 pm (EWTN News/CNA)  -  Though it has been more than 10 years since the death of Pope John Paul II, the saint’s impact can still be seen in those working to uphold Church teaching at the Synod on the Family, said his former secretary.

“The teaching of the magisterium of the Church and of John Paul II is always current,” said Archbishop Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki of Lviv.

He told CNA that the words and writings of St. John Paul II are being frequently invoked by bishops at the synod who are defending the Church’s teachings on marriage.

Responding to calls for the Church to permit the divorced-and-remarried to receive Communion, he said, “many bishops have recalled the great teaching of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI which they expressed clearly, that it would be against the doctrine of the Church, against the sacrament of the Eucharist, the sacrament of Penance, against grace.”

Archbishop Mokrzycki, who is the president of the Ukrainian Bishops Conference, is among the synod fathers gathered in Rome for the Oct. 4-25 Synod on the Family, which gathers bishops from around the world to discuss issues relating to families in the Church today.

But many remember Archbishop Mokrzycki for another role – one of John Paul II’s two personal secretaries during the last nine years of his life.

Archbishop Mokrzycki spoke to CNA’s sister agency, ACI Stampa Oct. 22, the feast day of St. John Paul II. He discussed the Pope’s legacy, relevance to the synod, and what it was like to live beside a saint. The full transcript of the interview is below:


Q: Your Excellency, today – Oct. 22, the feast of St. John Paul II – is a special day for you personally and for the universal Church. It might be difficult for you to explain how you feel, but maybe we can try?

It is a great joy for us, and I don't only mean the Polish people, but for the entire Church, to think about the day of the election of John Paul II, who after his election won over the whole world, particularly the Italians, because he said those beautiful and famous words: “I don't know if I can explain myself well in your – in our – Italian language. If I make a mistake, correct me.” And from then on, all the children of Italy when they met him said: you asked us to correct you, so say it right!

It was a special day for the entire Church, and we saw it for the entirety of his long pontificate, he was an extraordinary man.

Q: What was it like to live with a saint? Was it more joy, or work?

Both – joy and fatigue, because John Paul II was a very strong man with himself and with others. We worked a lot and made others work a lot. And this is also why we saw that his pontificate was very interesting and very rich. 

Q: What has he taught you as a bishop and as a pastor that is useful for your mission today?

The Holy Father was not only the head of the universal Church, not only the head of the Vatican State, but was above all a pastor, the bishop of the diocese of Rome, and he underlined this a lot during his pontificate. He wanted to visit all the parishes of the diocese. And at the end when we saw that he had so much fatigue and couldn’t visit the parishes anymore, about 20 parishes remained and he wanted to meet them just them same, and so he invited all the parishes that he still hadn’t visited to the Paul VI Hall. And we saw that the Romans were very grateful for this great gesture of love, because they saw that the Pope didn’t neglect them, he didn’t forget them, and even if he couldn’t go, he invited them to his house. And so also for me.

He was a great pastor. I was able to learn from him a vision of pastoral life, of concern for all levels, of love for one’s neighbor, of charity and of bringing people to salvation. The great ones, the poor, the little ones; I saw how with great love he embraced each and every one.

Q: Of the magisterium of John Paul II, a large part was dedicated to the family. Right now you are busy with the synod on the family. How does this magisterium enter into the synodal debate?

During the pontificate of John Paul II, above all in the years in which I was with him, the Pope didn’t speak a lot about his family. He sometimes spoke about his father, sometimes about his sister that he lost as a child and his brother who was a doctor that died young. But he made it visible that around him was a great family of friends, a great family of the Church. And then I saw that in the years I was with him many families came to find him from different parts of the world: from Poland, from Italy, from the United States. He had the capacity of maintaining contact with many people, with many families and not only Christians. Also and above all with many Jewish families. And in this I saw the importance of contact with the family, and as the Pope he underlined the role of the family in the life of the Church and in the life of society.

From the beginning of his pontificate, he placed a lot of focus on the great role of the family. He dedicated a cycle of catechesis in the Wednesday audiences to the passage in Genesis which says: male and female I created them. And then there is the apostolic letter to the family, Familiaris Consortio. He was very committed in the development of this theme and was close to the family, to emphasize the great importance of the family in daily life, and the necessity of being close to the family in order to live better the vocation of each one. Because every person has a vocation, to be a religious sister, a priest, a doctor. But to be a family is a great beauty, but also a committed vocation that requires responsibility, and is also difficult to live. Because of this, John Paul II wanted to help this vocation to grow. 

Q: Now 10 years after John Paul II’s death, what is his legacy today?

The teaching of the magisterium of the Church and of John Paul II is always current. Of course society has changed a bit, because culture changes, circumstances change. Also during this synod the bishops have brought different problems and family difficulties. Some wanted to be a little bit “progressive” and offer Communion to the divorced-and-remarried, but many bishops have recalled the great teaching of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI which they expressed clearly, that it would be against the doctrine of the Church, against the sacrament of the Eucharist, the sacrament of Penance, against grace. Certainly the teaching of John Paul II was perhaps very demanding, but real. If we want our faith to have value, we must bear some sort of difficulty, because only then are we faithful to the teaching of Jesus Christ.

Q: What does your diocese bring to the synod?

For me, it was a great experience, because I was able to hear testimonies and the vision of life and of the Church throughout the world on the different continents. But I want to say above all that we bishops are very close to families, we want to help people grow in the vocation of being in a marriage, a family. And we know that this vocation is very beautiful, very important, but we also want to help families realize their vocation and their commitment. 

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Elderly Priests, Sisters are 'true shrines of holiness,' Pope Says
 
VATICAN CITY, October 18 (CNA/EWTN News) .- During his daily Mass homily Pope Francis reflected on various biblical figures who experienced difficulty in their old age, and encouraged those present not to forget the elderly. 
The Pope directed his reflections to those gathered in the Santa Marta guesthouse of the Vatican on Oct. 18 for his daily Mass, centering his thoughts upon the latter lives of Moses, John the Baptist and Saint Paul. 
These three figures, he noted, remind him of "the shrines of holiness which are the nursing homes of elderly priests and religious sisters."
 
Pope Francis recalled the excitement and enthusiasm displayed by all three men in their youth, and contrasted it to isolation and pain they suffered at the end of their lives, stressing that although none of them were spared suffering in their old age, the Lord never abandoned them.
 
Noting that the apostle Paul "has a joyful and enthusiastic beginning," the Pope recalled that he experienced a decline in the latter years of his life, and both Moses and John the Baptist shared a similar experience.
 
"Moses, when young," stressed the pontiff, was "the courageous leader of the People of God who fought against his enemies" in order to save his people, however at the end of his life "he is alone on Mount Nebo, looking at the promised land" but is unable to enter it.
 
Saint John the Baptist, noted the Pope, in his later life was tormented by anguish, and "finished under the power of a weak, corrupt and drunken ruler who in turn was under the power of an adulteress' jealousy and the capricious wishes of a dancer."
 
Turning his thoughts back to Saint Paul, Pope Francis stressed that the apostle endured a similar experience, speaking in his letters of those who abandoned him and rejected his teachings.
 
However, the Pope clarified that although Paul wrote about his great sufferings, he also wrote that "the Lord was close to him and gave him the strength to complete his mission of announcing the Gospel."
 
Pope Francis concluded his reflections by stressing that the situations of the three biblical characters in their old age reminded him of those elderly priests and religious sisters in nursing homes.

 
Referring to them as a "shrine of holiness," he urged the guests present not to forget the elderly, and to visit them, because "bearing the burden of solitude, these priests and sisters are waiting for the Lord to knock at the door of their hearts." 
 
In the liturgy of the New Covenant every liturgical action, especially the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments, is an encounter between Christ and the Church. The liturgical assembly derives its unity from the "communion of the Holy Spirit" who gathers the children of God into the one Body of Christ. This assembly transcends racial, cultural, social - indeed, all human affinities. -Catechism of the Catholic Church #1097

A bit of humor…
Teacher: "Why are you praying in class little Johnny?” Little Johnny: “My mom taught me to always pray before going to sleep."  


Little Johnny, why does your little sister cry?  Because I helped her.  But that is a good thing! What did you help her with?  I helped her eat her gummy bears.  


Pronunciation
Wife: “Oh the weather is lovely today. Shall we go out for a quick jog?“ - Husband: “Hahaha, I love the way you pronounce ‘Shall we go out and have a cake’!”
Optimist: The glass is half full.  Pessimist: The glass is half empty.  Mother: Why didn’t you use a coaster!

Friendly Competition…
My girlfriend and I often laugh about how competitive we are. But I laugh more.
Dating a Hoarder
I used to date a hoarder, and she broke up with me. That stings extra hard—I’m like the one thing she can get rid of.

A Teacher Tries
 
There was a teacher who was helping one of her kindergarten students put his boots on.  He asked for help and she could see why.  With her pulling and him pushing, the boots still didn't want to go on. 

When the second boot was finally on, she had worked up a sweat.  She almost whimpered when the little boy said, "Teacher, they're on the wrong feet."  She looked, and sure enough, they were.  It wasn't any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on.  She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on -- this time on the right feet. 

He then announced, "These aren't my boots."  She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream, "Why didn't you say so?" like she wanted to. Once again, she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off. 

He then said, "They're my brother's boots.  My Mom made me wear them."  The teacher didn't know if she should laugh or cry.  She mustered up the grace to wrestle the boots on his feet again. 

She said, "Now, where are your mittens?"  He said, "I stuffed them in the toes of my boots." 

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Jesus and Satan were having an argument as to who was the better programmer. This went on for a few hours until they agreed to hold a contest with God the Father as the judge. They sat at their computers and began. They typed furiously for several hours, lines of code streaming up on the screen. Seconds before the end of the competition, a bolt of lightning struck, taking out the electricity. Moments later, the power was restored, and God the Father announced that the contest was over. He asked Satan to show what he had come up with. Satan was visibly upset and cried, "I have nothing. I lost it all when the power went out." "Very well, then," God the Father said, "Let us see if Jesus did any better." Jesus entered a command and the screen came to life in vivid display, the voice of an angelic choir poured forth from the speakers. Satan was astonished. "But how? I lost everything, yet Jesus' program was intact. How did he do it?" God chuckled, "Jesus saves!"
 
________________________________
TIME TO PRAY
 A pastor asked a little boy if he said his prayers every night.  'Yes, sir.' the boy replied.
 
'And, do you always say them in the morning, too?' the pastor asked..
'No sir,' the boy replied. 'I ain't scared in the daytime.'
________________________________


WHY GO TO CHURCH? 
One Sunday morning, a mother went in to wake her son and tell him it was time to get ready for church,
to which he replied, "I'm not going." 
"Why not?" she asked.  
I'll give you two good reasons," he said. "(1), I'm tired, and (2), I don't fell like it."  
His mother replied, "I'll give you two good reasons why you SHOULD go to church: 
(1) You're 59 years old, and (2) you're the pastor!" ​

Act of Contrition


O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You.  I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of hell.  But most of all because they offend You, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love.  I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin.  Amen.




The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ.
-Catechism of the Catholic Church #1377

+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion


29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 20th, 2019


The First Reading- Exodus 17:8-13
In those days, Amalek came and waged war against Israel. Moses, therefore, said to Joshua, "Pick out certain men, and tomorrow go out and engage Amalek in battle. I will be standing on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand." So Joshua did as Moses told him: he engaged Amalek in battle after Moses had climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and Hur. As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. Moses' hands, however, grew tired; so they put a rock in place for him to sit on. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset. And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
Reflection
We should recall the context here. After the ten plagues and the Passover, Israel has left Egypt a few weeks ago, crossed the Red Sea, and now entered into the Sinai Peninsula, a vast, rocky, mountainous desert. Amalek was a nation of nomads that controlled the northeastern part of the Sinai Peninsula. The Amalekites are not happy to have the Israelites moving through the outskirts of the their territory, and they sent bands of scouts to trail them. Now on their way to Mount Sinai, the Israelites are attacked outright by the bulk of the Amalekite forces, and they are forced to respond, despite the fact that they are not military men but former slaves, and have few if any proper weapons. The young man Joshua goes out to lead those forces the Israelites could muster, while Moses goes to the mountain top to beseech God in prayer. The moral sense of this text is a good example of the complementarity of prayer and action, of ora et labora (pray and work). The people fight and pray: both are necessary, for the same reason that faith and works operate together. How curious that Moses’ prayers are necessary! Why doesn’t God just send victory without them? Surely he could! Yet this is the mystery of God’s will: that he chooses to incorporate our participation in the fulfillment of his plans (See Thomas, Summa Q. 83). He ordains to grant victory to Israel through Moses’ intercession. Prayer is a cooperation with God’s will for us.

Adults - Do you offer your work up as a prayer?
Teens - Do you make time for both work and prayer in your life?
Kids - Think of one chore you don’t enjoy doing. Offer that chore up as a prayer while you are doing it!


Responsorial- Psalm 121: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8


R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
I lift up my eyes toward the mountains;
whence shall help come to me?
My help is from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
May he not suffer your foot to slip;
may he slumber not who guards you:
indeed he neither slumbers nor sleeps,
the guardian of Israel.
R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The LORD is your guardian; the LORD is your shade;
he is beside you at your right hand.
The sun shall not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The LORD will guard you from all evil;
he will guard your life.
The LORD will guard your coming and your going,
both now and forever.
R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Reflection
-Appropriately, the Lectionary follows the account of the life-or-death spiritual battle against Amalek with a spiritual warfare psalm, an ancient prayer that the people of Israel once took on their lips to invoke the protection of their God, the LORD, against the curses and evils of a violent pagan world. Do you ask God’s protection throughout the day?


The Second Reading- 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2


Beloved: Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.
Reflection
We could always do a better job of meditation on Scripture. To do so requires us not necessarily to add more things to our schedule, but just to pay more attention to the rhythm of prayer handed to us in the Church’s liturgy. There is plenty of Scripture in the Liturgy of the Hours and the Lectionary. Let’s be more attentive when we read it or hear it proclaimed. Do you take time to read Scripture every day? Try to start that habit this week!


The Holy Gospel according to Luke 18:1-8


Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, "There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, 'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.' For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, 'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'" The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
Reflection
As is his custom, Jesus uses an earthy, every-day-life example to teach spiritual lessons. Israelites were well-familiar with government corruption and local officials who looked out only for themselves. They could probably think of examples of civic judges, appointed by the Romans or some other authority, who had cared nothing for the widows, orphans, poor, and sick in their cities. Yet this persistent widow prevails over the unjust judge in Jesus parable. The judge concedes, lest “she finally come and strike me.” This last line is probably a mistranslation: the Greek verb rendered “strike me” is better translated “wear me out.” The judge is not worried about the old woman coming and hitting him with her cane, but just in become exhausted by her constant asking. The message is simple: if evil authorities concede to persistence, how much more a loving Father! So let us not give up persevering in prayer.

Adults - Is it easy for you to persevere in prayer? Do you get discouraged? How can you fight that discouragement?
Teens - What are you struggling with in your life that you can consistently take to God in prayer?
Kids - Think of something your struggling with, or that someone that you love is struggling with. Pray about that every day this week!


LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! - Our divine Lord teaches us, in this parable, the need for perseverance in prayer. This perseverance develops our trust and confidence in God. It helps us to become humble and to realize how weak we are when left to ourselves. It keeps us close to God, as we learn how dependent we are on His generosity. If we only would realize that God is perhaps never closer to us than when we think He is forgetting us! The trials of life, spiritual or temporal, which He allows us to suffer are not obstacles to our spiritual progress but rather stepping-stones without which we could not cross the rivers of life at all. — Excerpted from The Sunday Readings Cycle C, Fr. Kevin O' Sullivan, O.F.M.
 

582. Why can we dare to draw near to God in full confidence? a) because Jesus brings us to the Father: Because Jesus, our Redeemer, brings us into the Father’s presence and his Spirit makes us his children. We are thus able to pray the Our Father with simple and filial trust, with joyful assurance and humble boldness, with the certainty of being loved and heard.
583. How is it possible to address God as “Father”? d) all of the above:We can invoke the “Father” because the Son of God made man has revealed him to us and because his Spirit makes him known to us. The invocation, Father, lets us enter into his mystery with an ever new sense of wonder and awakens in us the desire to act as his children. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are therefore aware of our being sons of the Father in the Son.
584. Why do we say “our” Father? b) because it expresses a totally new relationship with God: “Our” expresses a totally new relationship with God. When we pray to the Father, we adore and glorify him with the Son and the Holy Spirit. In Christ we are “his” people and he is “our” God now and for eternity. In fact, we also say “our” Father because the Church of Christ is the communion of a multitude of brothers and sisters who have but “one heart and mind” (Acts 4:32).

Quote of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta set to a telling background.

​

578. What is the origin of the Our Father? (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC 2759-2760, 2773)
a) Jesus taught it to us
b) it dropped out of the sky from heaven
c) an angel taught it to the apostles
d) its organ’s ultimately come from a prophet of the Old Testament


579. What is the place of the Our Father in the Scriptures? (CCC 2761-2764, 2774)
a) it is found in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount
b) it is the perfect prayer
c) it is the summary of the whole Gospel
d) all of the above


580. Why is it called the “Lord’s Prayer”? (CCC 2765-2766, 2775)
a) it is the shortest title we could give it
b) it is a prayer Jesus said
c) it is a prayer Jesus taught us
d) all of the above


581. What place does the Our Father have in the prayer of the Church? (CCC 2767-2772, 2776)
a) it is optional, and not that important
b) it is secondary behind many other prayers
c) it is very important and is required to be said everyday
d) it is integral and the prayer of the Church par excellence
(Answers below)
​

Diocesan News AND BEYOND

​

Chicago, Ill., Oct 12, 2019 / 04:01 am (CNA).- Melissa Villalobos spoke to CNA Newsroom for the Cardinal Newman episode, which can be found here. This article is an adaptation of that conversation.
When Melissa Villalobos first heard about Cardinal John Henry Newman, she had no idea the pivotal role he would play in her life, nor the pivotal role she would play in his cause for sainthood. The Catholic wife and mother from Chicago stumbled into a show about Newman on EWTN “just by accident” in 2000, while she was getting ready for work and ironing her clothes. She was struck by what the show had to say about him.
“These priests and scholars were talking about him and his life and what a holy man he was, and what a tremendous influence he had on the church and on other people in his life,” Villalobos told CNA.
“I was really taken by it and I thought, ‘This man is so amazing,’” she said. But it wasn’t until a year later, when her husband brought home two holy cards of Cardinal Newman, that Villalobos’ devotion to him really began.


She displayed one of the cards in the living room, the other in her bedroom, and “I would pass by his image every day, and I would look into his eyes and I would pray to him and I would just talk to him as a mother,” she said. “And I felt like his expression was matching my emotions at the time. If I felt sad for some reason he looked sympathetic, if I felt joy, he looked pleased, and I just felt like we were really living life together,” Villalobos recalled. She invoked Cardinal Newman often, and considered him one of her closes spiritual friends. Eventually she started looking up his writings online, and described the experience like “finding gold in the backyard.”
“He was every bit as holy and loving as I had suspected he was by looking at his face. He had such a tremendous affection for ordinary people, which I discovered by reading his letters, and I felt like I could be one of those ordinary people in his life.”
Born in 1801 in London, John Henry Newman was originally an Anglican priest before his conversion to Catholicism in 1845 at the age of 44. He would soon become a renowned Catholic priest, theologian, poet, homilist, and, in 1879, a cardinal. His works are considered among the most important contributions to the thought of the Church in recent centuries.
His conversion to Catholicism was controversial in the birthplace of Anglicanism, and he lost many friends as a result, including his own sister, who refused to speak to him again. Newman was also a devoted educator and founded the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in England in two locations. He died in Birmingham in 1890 at the age of 89. The Vatican announced his Oct. 13 canonization date in July. The more Villalobos learned about Newman, the closer she felt to him, and she would eventually come to rely on his intercession in a major way. In 2013, more than a decade after first hearing about Newman on EWTN, Villalobos was pregnant with her fifth child and was experiencing serious complications. In her first trimester, Villalobos started bleeding continuously, and she learned she had a condition called subchorionic hematoma, a blood clot between the placenta and the uterine wall that causes the placenta to be “partially ripped and detached from the uterine wall.” “It was a life-threatening problem because I could hemorrhage to death,” Villalobos recalled. 
The prognosis was grim. There was no cure to be found in medicine or surgery. Villalobos was ordered to be on strict bed rest to give her baby the best possible chance. She did the best she could, but Villalobos was still caring for her other four young children in the meantime. On the morning of May 15, less than a week after being diagnosed with the condition, Villalobos woke up in a pool of her own blood.
With her husband away on a work trip, Villalobos debated when she should call 9-1-1. She decided to give her kids some breakfast first, and then she locked herself in the bathroom to figure out what to do. But by then, Villalobos had lost so much blood that she collapsed on the floor.
“Unfortunately though, somehow I did not have my cellphone with me,” she recalled. “I couldn’t believe it.”
She considered shouting for one of her kids to bring her phone, but worried that the shouting would cause more bleeding or a miscarriage. Desperate, she called out to her old friend, Cardinal Newman. “I said, ‘Please Cardinal Newman, make the bleeding stop.’ And just then, immediately it stopped. And I stood up and I smelled roses that filled the bathroom air.”
The smell of roses is often considered the “scent of holiness”, with many stories of saints leaving a rosy scent in places where they have intervened in prayer. “And I said, ‘Oh Cardinal Newman, did you just make the bleeding stop? Thank you!’ And then there was this second burst of roses. And I knew I was cured, and I knew Gemma my daughter was ok,” Villalobos said. Villalobos had an ultrasound scheduled for that afternoon, and the doctor found what Villalobos attributes to Cardinal Newman’s intercession: the bleeding had completely stopped.
“The doctor saw that there was no more bleeding and he was amazed, and he said, ‘the baby looks perfect.’”
It was vastly different than Villalobos’ previous experience in the pregnancy. 


“The doctors (had) said you will probably miscarry if you’re lucky, the placenta could barely hold up to the third trimester, and she’ll be born but she’ll be really small and she’ll have medical problems,” Villalobos recalled. “Thanks be to Cardinal Newman and to God that I was cured and Gemma was born completely healthy.”
Villalobos said she waited until after Gemma was born to report the miracle to Fr. Ignatius Harrison, the postulator for Newman’s cause for canonization. After receiving her letter, Fr. Harrison came to Chicago to meet with Villalobos, her husband, Gemma, and the doctors. He examined medical records and conducted interviews, and told Villalobos to keep the potential miracle a secret until it could be investigated by the Vatican. She got brief updates about twice a year, she said, but for the most part, she did not really know how the cause was advancing, she just prayed with her family that Newman would soon be canonized.
“There was really no one to ask to say, ‘Well how does this usually work?’ You know sometimes if you’re going through something in your life you say ‘Oh, well how did it work for you?’ But there was no one to ask to say ‘Well, when you were miraculously cured, how long did it take to hear from the postulator?’” she said.
Then in February 2019, Villalobos received the news that Pope Francis signed the degree recognizing the miracle.
“I’m surprised at how many people tell me that they’re happy to know that God still performs miracles,” Villalobos said, “I’m glad they know that. I feel like I’ve known that, and I want other people to know that God has never abandoned us. I know it’s hard to believe in miracles because we don’t always get what we want, but we know that God the Father in his love always gives us what’s best for us.” Villalobos, Gemma, and the rest of the family traveled to Rome to be there for Newman’s canonization, which will take place this Sunday.
“I just love him dearly and I hope that anybody who needs help, whether you’re a mother, or a student...or a convert, he can really touch the lives of so many people. I just hope they’ll reach out to him and see a friend in him. He’s so loving and amazing.”
Kate Veik contributed to this report.



​

On “the day the sun danced,” thousands of people bore witness to a miracle that not only proved the validity of the Fatima Marian apparitions, but also shattered the prevalent belief at the time that God was no longer relevant, according to one theologian.


What crowds witnessed the day of the miracle was “the news that God, in the end, contrary to what was said in the philosophy books at that time, was alive and acting in the midst of men,” Dr. Marco Daniel Duarte told EWTN News.


If one were to open philosophy books during that period, they would likely read something akin to the concept conceived by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who boldly asserted in the late 1800s that “God is dead.”


Yet as this and other philosophies like it were gaining steam in the life and thought of society, the Virgin Mary appears and tells three small shepherds that “God is alive and still attentive to humanity, even though humanity is waging war with one another.”


Duarte, a theologian and director of the Fatima shrine museums, spoke about the cultural significance of the Miracle of the Sun given the atheistic thought prevalent in Portuguese society at the time.


In 1917, Portugal, like the majority of the world, was embroiled in war. As World War I raged throughout Europe, Portugal found itself unable to maintain its initial neutrality and joined forces with the Allies, in order to protect colonies in Africa and to defend their trade with Britain. About 220,000 Portuguese civilians died during the war; thousands due to food shortages, thousands more from the Spanish flu.


Compounding the problem, government stability in the country had been rocky at best following the revolution and coup d’état that led to the overthrow of the monarchy and subsequent establishment of the First Portuguese Republic in 1910.


A new liberal constitution separating Church and state was drafted under the influence of Freemasonry, which sought to omit the faith – which for many was the backbone of Portuguese culture and society – from public life.


Anti-Catholicism in Portugal had initially begun in the 18th century during the term of statesman Marquês de Pombal, and flared up again after the drafting of the new constitution.


Catholic churches and schools were seized by the government, and the wearing of clerics in public, the ringing of church bells, and the celebrating of popular religious festivals were banned. Between 1911-1916, nearly 2,000 priests, monks and nuns were killed by anti-Christian groups.


This was the backdrop against which Mary, in 1917, appeared to three shepherd children – Lucia dos Santos, 10, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, 9 and 7 – in a field in Fatima, Portugal, bringing with her requests for the recitation of the rosary, for sacrifices on behalf of sinners, and a secret regarding the fate of the world.


To prove that the apparitions were true, Mary promised the children that during the last of her six appearances she would provide a “sign” so people would believe in the apparitions and in her message.


What happened on that day – Oct. 13, 1917 – has come to be known as the “Miracle of the Sun,” or “the day the sun danced.”


According to various accounts, a crowd of some 70,000 people – believers and skeptics alike – gathered to see the miracle that Mary had promised. After appearing and speaking to the children for some time, Mary then “cast her own light upon the sun.”


The previously rainy sky cleared up, the clouds dispersed and the ground, which had been wet and muddy from the rain, was dried. A transparent veil came over the sun, making it easy to look at, and multi-colored lights were strewn across the landscape.


The sun then began to spin, twirling in the sky, and at one point appeared to veer toward earth before jumping back to its place in the sky.


Duarte said the miracle was a direct, and very convincing contradiction to the atheistic regimes at the time, which is evidenced by the fact that the first newspaper to report on the miracle was an anti-Catholic, Masonic newspaper in Lisbon called O Seculo.


The Miracle of the Sun, he said, was understood by the people to be “the seal, the guarantee that in fact those three children were telling the truth.”


Even today, “Fatima makes people change their perception of God,” he said, explaining that for him, one of the most important messages of the apparitions is that “even if man has separated God from his existence, God is present in human history and doesn’t abandon humanity.”


With World War I raging, a war the likes of which the world had never seen, Mary appeared to tell the children that “that story can have another ending, when the power of prayer is stronger than the power of bullets.”


The Miracle of the Sun is also the heart of a special exhibition called “The Colors of the Sun” the shrine is offering for the duration of the centenary year of the apparitions, which focuses on the symbolic nature of the miracle and its cultural significance.


Displayed are “various objects, some older, others more contemporary, some more modern, some made of textile, others of organic materials, paintings, sculptures,” but which are all “placed with a narrative,” he said.


Beginning with a set of black umbrellas used by people who had gathered at the Cova de Iria (Cave of Iria) where Mary appeared Oct. 13, the exhibit aims to build a narrative of what people saw that day, and is supplemented with different works that express the various elements of Mary’s message to the children.


It also shows developments of how the shrine developed over the years, showing the transformation of what used to be a small, simple chapel into what is now two basilicas: the Basilica of Nossa Senhora do Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary) and Basilica da Santissima Trindade (Basilica of the Holy Trinity), with an open chapel in between where the statue of Our Lady of Fatima resides.
Pieces come from all over the world – some from the Fatima shrine, some from the State of Portugal, and some even hail from Germany and France.


One of the highlight pieces is a giant heart made by Joana Vasconcelos, a well-known Portuguese artist who crafted the piece entirely out of red plastic ware, such as spoons and forks.
“It’s material that isn’t important for anyone, but which after everything is united, forms the image of a heart and can be the image of reparation,” Duarte said.


The exhibit closes with white parasols, rather than umbrellas, in order to show the fruit of the miracle, Duarte said, adding that it can also signify “the presence of God, the Eucharistic Christ.”
In this sense, the parasols “can be for us a symbol that also we can be God’s tabernacles and can be the place where God dwells,” he said. “This is the true shrine that God wants. The shrine of Fatima is precisely the image of what God wants: to dwell among men.”

Prayer to St. Theresa of Avila
Lord, grant that I may always allow myself 
to be guided by You, 
always follow Your plans, 
and perfectly accomplish Your Holy Will. 
Grant that in all things, 
great and small, 
today and all the days of my life, 
I may do whatever You require of me. 
Help me respond to the slightest prompting of Your Grace,
so that I may be Your trustworthy instrument for Your honour.
May Your Will be done in time 
and in eternity by me, in me, and through me.  Amen.
 ​

The liturgy is also a participation in Christ's own prayer addressed to the Father in the Holy Spirit. In the liturgy, all Christian prayer finds its source and goal. Through the liturgy the inner man is rooted and grounded in "the great love with which [the Father] loved us" in his beloved Son. It is the same "marvelous work of God" that is lived and internalized by all prayer, "at all times in the Spirit."
Catechism of the Catholic Church #1073 


+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 13th, 2019


The First Reading- 2 Kings 5:14-17
Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times at the word of Elisha, the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean of his leprosy. Naaman returned with his whole retinue to the man of God. On his arrival he stood before Elisha and said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel. Please accept a gift from your servant." Elisha replied, "As the LORD lives whom I serve, I will not take it;" and despite Naaman's urging, he still refused. Naaman said: "If you will not accept, please let me, your servant, have two mule-loads of earth, for I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except to the LORD."
Reflection
A foreign leper is cleansed and in thanksgiving returns to offer homage to the God of Israel. We hear this same story in both the First Reading and Gospel today. There were many lepers in Israel in Elisha’s time, but only Naaman the Syrian trusted in God’s Word and was cleansed (see Luke 5:12–14). Today’s Gospel likewise implies that most of the ten lepers healed by Jesus were Israelites—but only a foreigner, the Samaritan, returned.
In a dramatic way, we’re being shown today how faith has been made the way to salvation, the road by which all nations will join themselves to the Lord, becoming His servants, gathered with the Israelites into one chosen people of God, the Church (see Isaiah 56:3–8).
Adults - Is there an area in your life where you are highly blessed, but have not thanked God for?
Teens - Sometimes we can really take God for granted. Are you doing this in any area of your life? How can you begin to change those habits?
Kids - Make a list of blessings and thank God for them!


Responsorial- Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
R.The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
his right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands:
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
Reflection
-Today’s Psalm also looks forward to the day when all peoples will see what Naaman sees—that there is no God in all the earth except the God of Israel. We see this day arriving in today’s Gospel.
How do you share the Gospel in your daily life?


The Second Reading- 2 Timothy 2:8-13
Beloved: Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David: such is my gospel, for which I am suffering, even to the point of chains, like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, together with eternal glory. This saying is trustworthy: If we have died with him we shall also live with him; if we persevere we shall also reign with him. But if we deny him he will deny us. If we are unfaithful he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.
Reflection
Paul teaches us in today’s Epistle, to persevere in this faith—that we too may live and reign with Him in eternal glory. What does the phrase “trust in God” mean to you?”


The Holy Gospel according to Luke 17:11-19
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" And when he saw them, he said, "Go show yourselves to the priests." As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?" Then he said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you."
Reflection
The Samaritan leper is the only person in the New Testament who personally thanks Jesus. The Greek word used to describe his “giving thanks” is the word we translate as “Eucharist.” And these lepers today reveal to us the inner dimensions of the Eucharist and sacramental life. We, too have been healed by our faith in Jesus. As Naaman’s flesh is made again like that of a little child, our souls have been cleansed of sin in the waters of Baptism. We experience this cleansing again and again in the Sacrament of Penance—as we repent our sins, beg and receive mercy from our Master, Jesus. We return to glorify God in each Mass, to offer ourselves in sacrifice—falling on our knees before our Lord, giving thanks for our salvation. In this Eucharist, we remember “Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David,” Israel’s covenant king, and our eternal King.
Adults - How long has it been since you have been to the Sacrament of Confession? Get an examination of conscience sheet from your parish and consider whether it’s time to go and experience the mercy of the Lord.
Teens - Doing a nightly examen prayer can help you know when it’s time to visit the confessional. Look up how to do this fruitful and quick nightly review, and try it out!
Kids - Every night this week before you go to sleep, thank God for the blessings of your day, look back over your day with God, pray about what happened that day, and make plans for tomorrow.


LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! - Think for a moment. If those nine ungrateful lepers were struck again with disease some months later and returned to implore Christ for a cure, would you blame Him if He refused? Most of us would refuse. Yet we expect Him to listen to our urgent pleas the minute we make them, while we have not given Him a thought and never said one "thank you, Lord; while things were going well with us. We all need to be more grateful to God every day of our lives—more grateful than we have been. He has not only given us life on this earth with its joys and its sorrows, but He has prepared for us a future life where there will be no admixture of sorrows. It is for that life that we are working. It is because there is a heaven after death that we are Christians. God has already done His part in preparing this heaven for us. He is assisting us daily to get there. We need a lot of that assistance and one of the surest ways of getting further benefits from God (as well as from men) is to show true gratitude for the benefits already received. — Excerpted from The Sunday Readings Cycle C, Fr. Kevin O' Sullivan, O.F.M.
 



 

578. What is the origin of the Our Father? a) Jesus taught it to us;  Jesus taught us this Christian prayer for which there is no substitute, the Our Father, on the day on which one of his disciples saw him praying and asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). The Church’s liturgical tradition has always used the text of Saint Matthew (6:9-13).


579. What is the place of the Our Father in the Scriptures? d) all of the above;  The Our Father is the “summary of the whole Gospel” (Tertullian), “the perfect prayer” (Saint Thomas Aquinas). Found in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), it presents in the form of prayer the essential content of the Gospel.  
580. Why is it called the “Lord’s Prayer”? c) it is a prayer Jesus taught us;  The Our Father is called the “Oratio Dominica”, that is, the Lord’s Prayer because it was taught to us by the Lord Jesus himself.  
581. What place does the Our Father have in the prayer of the Church? d) it is integral and the prayer of the Church par excellence; The Lord’s Prayer is the prayer of the Church par excellence. It is “handed on” in Baptism to signify the new birth of the children of God into the divine life. The full meaning of the Our Father is revealed in the eucharist since its petitions are based on the mystery of salvation already accomplished, petitions that will be fully heard at the coming of the Lord. The Our Father is an integral part of the Liturgy of the Hours.

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A crucifix surrounded by statues of the saints

​

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
 
      The above quote of the Sacred Scriptures is sometimes misunderstood to accuse Roman Catholics of idol worshiping when our Christian brothers and sisters come into a Catholic church and see statues on the walls and on the altars.
 
      But we must remember that God Himself commanded Moses to make graven cherubim to be placed above the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:18-20).  God does not contradict Himself.  The cherubim represented God and help to make Him present to the people of Israel and are not gods themselves like other religions believed in the time of Moses.  So statues remind us and make visible those faithful followers of Jesus who intercede for us and show us how to live during ordinary and difficult times.
       Further, we have statues in our city parks and along our highways.  We have pictures of our loved ones in our homes and places of work.  These are not idols nor do we worship them.  They keep near to our hearts and our minds those who love us and whom we love.  Do you have statues in your parish or home of those in heaven who love you and long to help you?
 
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
 
P.S.  This coming Sunday is the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time.  >>> Readings

Catholic Term
 
statue (from Latin statuere; “to set up”)
- a likeness of a holy person that leads one to honor and/or imitate them to the glory of God
[A likeness of Christ, the Blessed Virgin, or one of the saints, or a symbolic form of an angel, sculptured, carved, or cast in a solid material, and venerated by the faithful.  Its purpose is to recall the person whom the statue represents in order to inspire greater piety.  Christians do not worship statues as idols.]

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says God has given everybody a Guardian Angel to accompany us and offer advice and protection, an Angel to whom we should listen with meekness and respect. He was speaking during his homily at Mass on Friday (2nd October) celebrated in the Santa Marta Residence. 
   
Taking his cue from Friday’s feast of the Guardian Angels, the Pope’s homily reflected on this divine presence in our lives, describing the Angel as God’s ambassador who accompanies each one of us. He noted how the proof of this was illustrated when God chased Adam out of Paradise: He didn’t leave Adam on his own or say to him: “fend for yourself as best as you can.” The Pope stressed that every person has been given a Guardian Angel by God who stays by our side. 
    
God's Ambassador by our side
“He is always with us! And this is a reality. It’s like having God’s ambassador with us. And the Lord advises us: ‘Respect his presence!’ And when we, for example, commit a sin and believe that we’re on our own: No, he is there. Show respect for his presence. Listen to his voice because he gives us advice. When we hear that inspiration: ‘But do this … this is better … we should not do that.’ Listen! Do not go against him.”
 
Pope Francis explained how the Guardian Angel always protects us, especially from evil. Sometimes, he noted, “we believe that we can hide so many things,” “bad things” that in the end will always come to light. The Angel, he continued, is there to advise us and “cover for us” just a friend would do. “A friend who we don’t see but we hear.” “A friend who one day will be with us in the everlasting joy of Heaven.”
 
Respect him and listen to him
“All he asks is that we listen to him and respect him. That’s all: respect and listening (to him). And this respect and listening to this companion on our journey is called meekness. The Christian must be meek when it comes to the Holy Spirit. Meekness towards the Holy Spirit begins with this yielding to the advice given by this companion on our journey.”
 
The Pope went on to explain that in order to be meek, we need to become small like children and our Guardian Angel is a companion who teaches us this humility and just like children we should listen to him. 
 
“May we ask the Lord for the grace of this meekness, to listen to the voice of this companion, to this ambassador from God who accompanies us in His name and may we be supported by his help. (We must) always journey forward. And in this Mass where we praise the Lord, let us remember how good our Lord is, who straight after we lost His friendship, did not leave us alone, did not abandon us.”

 
 
 
 “By keeping the memorials of the saints - first of all the holy Mother of God, then the apostles, the martyrs, and other saints - on fixed days of the liturgical year, the Church on earth shows that she is united with the liturgy of heaven. She gives glory to Christ for having accomplished his salvation in his glorified members; their example encourages her on her way to the Father.
Catechism of the Catholic Church #1195

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Best Parish Practices
​

USE RECYCLED AND/OR RECYCLABLE TABLE SERVICE AT PARISH FUNCTIONS

The last 3 Popes have been asking us to be more conscience of the world God created and in which we live and to do what we can to keep it the place God created it to be.  Any parish efforts in Reduce, Recycle, and Reuse is encouraged to be attempted.  Concretely, using washable table service (plates, silverware, cups, etc.) can go a long way, especially with Parish Gatherings and fundraisers.  If this is not practical, please consider using paper products instead of styrofoam or plastic, since paper biodegrades and the others do not, if you will not be able to recycle.
BENEFITS:
Recycling is the first options, but if it is not a go, then try to do something.  Paper may also actually be cheaper than the others at certain times of buying.  If recycling, plastic is the one to go with.


HOW:
Bring this request to your Pastor and/or Pastoral Council and ask if they will see what is doable.  If able, offer to be the one who does the recycling.  We cannot do all, but we can all do something.

​

LEONVILLE, La. — The water of the Bayou Teche was drawn to the Lord. That is what Pat Pourciau, a Knights of Columbus member of Breaux Bridge Council 2398, thought on that quiet August morning.
Pourciau felt his boat rock while he was waiting to participate in a boat procession down the bayou. He watched the waves cutting across the water, heading toward the shore as if the Blessed Sacrament carried by Father Michael Champagne were drawing them.
Father Champagne was joining a 50-boat fleet taking part in the “Fête-Dieu Du Teche Eucharistic Boat Procession” — a 38-mile journey from St. Leo the Great Church in Leonville to Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel in Baton Rouge. The procession stops five times along the shore at makeshift altars and several churches for recitation of the rosary and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
The procession is held on Aug. 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Its path is culturally significant for many of the residents as it re-enacts the Acadians’ flight from religious persecution by the British government in Canada before fleeing to Louisiana around 1765. Christians still face persecution for publicly living their faith today with ISIS committing genocide against them and other religious minorities in the Middle East.
(Learn more about the Knights of Columbus’ aid for Middle East Christians here)

Father Champagne, a priest in the Community of Jesus Crucified who helped begin the event five years ago, credits the Knights for making the procession a possibility.
“They sponsor the event in their councils throughout the Diocese of Lafayette and they organize into groups to help with the preparation and implementation,” he said. “The Knights have been, and continue to be, an essential component in putting on this unique and complex annual procession.”
Pourciau is one of the 40 Knights on the procession’s planning committee. There are even more Knights among the 125-plus volunteers and the thousands who participate in the event. Knights prepare the benediction sites along the bayou and the churches, moor and launch the 50 boats at each stop and provide tents among other tasks.
The Knights involved said they see it as part of their evangelization efforts.

“We have to show our Catholic faith,” Pourciau said about the Knights’ lead role in the procession. “Faith is not just inside of a church.”
Dr. Kim Hardey, a member of St. Pius X Council 8901 in Lafayette, is one of those volunteers. He has driven boats in past years, but he is now part of the mooring crew, driving to each stop along the bayou to anchor boats in the procession. He also led an extensive door-to-door advertising effort.
“We picked up every house in a 37-mile radius on the bayou and divided them up into little groups,” Hardey said. “We had great volunteers who went door-to-door about the fête and invited them to participate in any way that they could.”
It’s a family affair for Father Champagne. His dad, Howard, has lent a hand in past years. In 2015, during the first Eucharistic Boat Procession, Howard — a member of St. Leo the Great Council 12115 in New Orleans — cleared the bayou bank of trees and brush behind St. Joseph Church in Cecilia so that the boats would have a landing.
Catholics have rallied around the event, which is seen as a sign a hope especially during this past year of crisis in the Church. Last year, the procession was held the day after the Pennsylvania grand jury released a report that at least 300 priests sexual abused more than 1,000 victims. This year, the procession was held just days after Pew Research Center released a survey that found that only one-third of U.S. Catholics believe in the transubstantiation — that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist, a fundamental teaching of the Catholic faith.
“Having Jesus carried through the streets — in our case, on the bayous — is like a language of faith and belief being spoken,” Father Champagne said. “We need to rebuild a culture of faith and belief so that we can become marinated in it and learn the faith.”
The Knights of Columbus’ mission is not only focused on serving the needy, but also on strengthening faith. As part of its “Faith In Action” program, the Knights has several programs dedicated to encouraging prayer and spiritual formation. Pope Francis acknowledged in a recent letter to Supreme Knight Carl Anderson about the “privileged role” Knights have in mending the “torn fabric of ecclesial life.”
The Knights see their role in the Eucharistic Boat Procession as evangelizers. They serve to strengthen the faith of others, especially during this time in the Church’s history. In turn, their own faith is strengthened.
To learn more about the Knights, go to www.KofC.org.

“The Church is a "communion of saints": this expression refers first to the "holy things" (sancta), above all the Eucharist, by which "the unity of believers, who form one body in Christ, is both represented and brought about" (LG 3).
Catechism of the Catholic Church #960

+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion


27th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 6th, 2019


The First Reading- Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4
How long, O LORD? I cry for help but you do not listen! I cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not intervene. Why do you let me see ruin; why must I look at misery? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and clamorous discord. Then the LORD answered me and said: Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late. The rash one has no integrity; but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.
Reflection
Habakkuk begins his book by complaining to the LORD: why does God seem to do nothing about the violence and injustice the prophet sees around him (1:2-4)? God replies that He is preparing the Babylonians to come and destroy the evildoers (1:5-11) and Habakkuk acknowledges this divine judgment (1:12). However, sending the Babylonians as executors of justice raises another theological problem: how can God judge wicked persons by others who are yet more wicked (1:13)? First, the LORD counsels the prophet and all the righteous to have patience, even if it seems like the oracles of God are slow in fulfillment (2:2-4). Secondly, the LORD pronounces five woes (vv. 6-8; 9-11; 12-14; 15-17; 18-20) on the “arrogant man” whose “greed is as wide as Sheol” and “gathers for himself all nations.” This may be simultaneously (1) a hyperbolic description of any wealthy oppressor, and (2) a specific description of the King of Babylon (or Assyria). The message of these woes is that the wickedness of the wicked man will come back on his head: those he oppresses will one day suddenly turn on him (2:7) and he will experience the destruction to which he subjugated others (vv. 8, 10, 17).
Adults - Can you think of a time in your life that the Lord seemed to be absent, but in hindsight you can see that He was working in your life?
Teens - Can you think of a situation where God clearly brought good out of a bad situation?
Kids - Pray for those who feel like God has abandoned them.

Responsorial- Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
R.If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works."
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Reflection
-Psalm 95 is a very common responsorial, and also appears frequently in the Divine Office. The Psalm recalls the trials of faith that Israel underwent in the desert, while wandering forty years under Moses. Massah (“trial”) and Meribah (“contention”) are names of the location in Exod 17 where the people ran out of water, and lost their faith in God and his prophet Moses. The grumbled and complained, accusing God of intending evil for them. We can say that those two events became iconic examples of the loss of faith by God’s people, and they resulted in plagues in both instances. They become ensconced in Israel’s memory as counterexamples to the faith we should embrace and demonstrate toward God.
Is there an area of your life where you have hardened your heart toward God?


The Second Reading- 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14
Beloved: I remind you, to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for his sake; but bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God. Take as your norm the sound words that you heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard this rich trust with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.
Reflection
Unlike the Israelites in the desert, we have the tremendous “help of the Holy Spirit” in order to maintain the “faith and love” of Christ Jesus in our lives. Faith is contrary to a “spirit of cowardice,” but leads us to an attitude of “power, love, and self-control.”
Say a special prayer to the Holy Spirit this week and ask for His guidance.


The Holy Gospel according to Luke 17:5-10
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. "Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here immediately and take your place at table'? Would he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'"
Reflection
Often hearing that faith the size of a mustard seed would be sufficient to perform miracles, people can think: “I can’t work miracles; therefore, my faith must not even be the size of a mustard seed! I must try real hard to muster up some faith the size of a mustard seed, because my faith is microscopic!” However, our Lord was not trying to discourage us and tell us that our faith was insignificant. Rather, the purpose of our Lord’s words are consolation, not rebuke. The point he is making to the disciples is this: You don’t need much faith to be effective! Just give me a little bit of faith and I can do great things for you! Just as I took five loaves and two fish and fed 5,000, I can take a mustard seed of your faith and transplant a tree into the ocean.” Our Lord’s words are meant to be an encouragement. You may only have a tiny amount of faith, but go ahead and step out on that faith anyway. You do not need huge faith already in order to begin serving the Lord. He will take what you have and do great things with it.
Adults - Pray to the Lord each morning this week for the grace of increased faith. Take special notice of how God shows up in your regular days.
Teens - Try keeping a journal of “God-moments” you encounter each day.
Kids - Pick out one big blessing each day you are thankful for this week, and thank God for it.


LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! - The sincere Christian can find many ways to help to make Christ known to his neighbor without going on the foreign missions. There are pagans and unbelievers, often such through no fault of their own, and there are many lax Christians all around us. We should, and we can, have an effective influence on them and on their eternal future, if we ourselves live our Christian lives as Christ expects us to do. A quiet word, a charitable gesture, a truly unselfish interest in a neighbor's troubles, coming from a sincere layman can do more good than a series of sermons given by a renowned theologian in the parish church.
Look around you today. Think of your fellow-workers and those living in your own street. Many of them need help and need it badly. You can help them, God expects you to help them. It is His plan for getting you to help yourself to get to heaven. If you fail to cooperate with God by helping to bring His stray children back to Him, you may find that you will be a straying child on your day of reckoning. God forbid. — Excerpted from The Sunday Readings Cycle C, Fr. Kevin O' Sullivan, O.F.M.
 
575. As children of God, how may we strengthen our trust in Him? d) all of the above
Filial trust is tested when we think we are not heard. We must therefore ask ourselves if we think God is truly a Father whose will we seek to fulfill, or simply a means to obtain what we want. If our prayer is united to that of Jesus, we know that he gives us much more than this or that gift. We receive the Holy Spirit who transforms our heart.


576. Is it possible to pray always? (CCC 2742-2745, 2757) c) Yes, for the time of the Christian is the time of the risen Christ who remains with us always
Praying is always possible because the time of the Christian is the time of the risen Christ who remains “with us always” (Matthew 28:20). Prayer and Christian life are therefore inseparable:  “It is possible to offer frequent and fervent prayer even at the market place or strolling alone. It is possible also in your place of business, while buying or selling, or even while cooking.” (Saint John Chrysostom)


577. What is the prayer of the Hour of Jesus? b) the priestly prayer of Jesus at the Last Supper
It is called the priestly prayer of Jesus at the Last Supper. Jesus, the High Priest of the New Covenant, addresses it to his Father when the hour of his sacrifice, the hour of his “passing over” to him is approaching.