"Helpful Hints of Life"

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Diocesan News AND BEYOND

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'Repairing God's House': Maryland Parishes Hold Days of Adoration
By Christine Rousselle

Two churches in Maryland have held days Eucharistic adoration with prayers for healing from the recent scandals that have plagued the Church. St. Andrew Apostle Church in Silver Spring, along with Sacred Heart Church in La Plata, hosted a 24-hour “Day of Prayer: Repair My House” October 4-5.

About six weeks before the event, the pastors of the two parishes were discussing how to respond to the recent sexual abuse crisis and it effects both on them as priests and on their parishioners. According to Fr. Dan Leary, pastor at St. Andrew’s, “we both kind of came to this conclusion: repair my Church, repair my Church.” 

Following that conversation, a program of events were held in the parishes centered around prayer, fasting, and adoration. 

Since the outbreak of the recent scandals over the summer, many bishops, including Pope Francis, have called for the Church to collectively practice penance and fasting.

In the wake of the Pennsylvania grand jury report, the pope issued his Letter to the People of God in which he said it was “essential” that the whole Church acknowledge and respond to the wounds inflicted by the abuse crisis. 

“May fasting and prayer open our ears to the hushed pain felt by children, young people and the disabled,” the Pope wrote. “A fasting that can make us hunger and thirst for justice and impel us to walk in the truth.”

Fr. Leary explained to CNA that many pastors have struggled in responding to the pain and confusion the recent scandals have caused their flocks.

“People are wounded, they don’t know who to turn to,” he told CNA. 

“The answer is, of course, to turn to the Lord. The Church has the best medicines for spiritual injuries - in the sacraments and in the disciplines of prayer; these have power, real healing power.”

Leary told CNA that when the news of the scandals first broke, he held a listening session shortly afterwards with his parishioners, which he described as “very positive.” But, he said, many priests were asking themselves and each other how to move past simple listening.

“As shepherds, we have to lead, always lead, towards Christ. Many of us in the Washington archdiocese have had listening sessions, and that is such an important part - hearing the needs of the parish. But there comes a time where people want answers, not just listening, and what answer can we give?”

The answer, Leary said, lies in leading by example.

“There is so much power in prayer, and in acts of penance and reparation. These unify us with Christ in his love for the suffering Church. But we have to be the first ones, as priests, to show the way and to ask for our parishioners help, their prayers for us, so that we can serve them as they deserve to be served.” 

Inspired by the tradition of St. Francis of Assisi, Fr. Leary and Fr. Lawrence Swink of Sacred Heart, hosted simultaneous days of prayer, reparation, and fasting at their two parishes on the saint’s feast day, Oct. 4. 

The parishes, in the northern and southern halves of the Archdiocese of Washington, offered to serve as “poles of prayer” for the archdiocese. Parishioners and other Catholics were free to attend a Holy Hour at either parish throughout the event. 

The day was focused on the Blessed Sacrament, Leary told CNA, because it is there Catholics  “will find the ultimate healing and the grace to respond to this time of pain and suffering in the Church.”

Each hour began with the Litany for Priests, composed by Cardinal Richard Cushing, to offer prayers for the ministry of priests.

Leary called the litany “very powerful” and believes it is particularly important to pray for priests during this time, and he said it has been a focus in his own parish since 2009. 

He told CNA that these prayers have “borne tremendous fruit, especially the Litany for Priests,” and have been “so effective in helping people to understand the beauty, the dignity of the priesthood.” 

Understanding the priesthood, Leary told CNA, is crucial for Catholics to gain a deeper understanding of the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. 

“Otherwise, it’s just a man sitting there listening to their sins,” he said. 

“But if they see it as a priest, who sits in persona Christi, and then the Mass is an act of sacrifice in persona Christi, their faith will elevate.” 
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Leary hopes that other churches in the area will be inspired by the event and host their own versions. St. Andrew Apostle plans on hosting a 40-hour Eucharistic Adoration around the feast of St. Andrew, which is celebrated on November 30. This event will also include prayer intentions for priests.

'Miracle of the sun' broke darkness of Portugal's atheist regimes
By Elise Harris

Fatima, Portugal, Oct 12 (EWTN News/CNA)
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.”

Irish Fisherman... 

It was raining hard and a big puddle had formed in front of an Irish pub. 
An old man stood beside the puddle holding a stick with a string on the end and jiggled it up and down in the water. 
A curious gentleman asked what he was doing. 
'Fishing,' replied the old man. 
'Poor old fool' thought the gentleman, so he invited the old man to have a drink in the pub. 
Feeling he should start some conversation while they were sipping their whisky, the gentleman asked, And how many have you caught?' 
'You're the eighth". 

Some Observations 
I hope the children will never find out why I say ‘oooops….” so often when I vacuum their rooms.
What an amazing, clever dog we have, darling. 
He brings in the newspaper every day, and we’ve never even subscribed to any!

+JMJ+

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


28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 14th, 2018


The First Reading- Wisdom 7:7-11
I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her, nor did I liken any priceless gem to her; because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand, and before her, silver is to be accounted mire. Beyond health and comeliness I loved her, and I chose to have her rather than the light, because the splendor of her never yields to sleep. Yet all good things together came to me in her company, and countless riches at her hands.
Reflection 
Our first two readings today set the stage for the story we hear in the Gospel. Wisdom, which is also often a name given to the Holy Spirit, is the most valuable gift God can give us. If we have wisdom — if we allow ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit — our lives will always be in union with God’s plan for us.
Adults - What are some concrete ways to grow in wisdom?
Teens -What qualities tell you that someone is wise?
Kids - Who is the wisest person you know? Why do you think they are wise?


Responsorial- Psalm 90: 12-13, 14-15, 16-17
R.Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
Make us glad, for the days when you afflicted us,
for the years when we saw evil.
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Let your work be seen by your servants
and your glory by their children;
and may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Reflection 
-Do an extra act of kindness this week in honor of God’s love.



The Second Reading- Hebrews 4:12-13
Brothers and sisters: Indeed the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.
Reflection
The letter to the Hebrews tells us that the word of God, also a title for Jesus, is “living and effective.” God’s word works its way into the tiniest places in our hearts and can fill the gaps in our lives. It knows us intimately and spurs us on to be whole.
How do you experience God’s word as living and effective?


The Holy Gospel according to Mark 10:17-30
As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother." He replied and said to him, "Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" The disciples were amazed at his words. So Jesus again said to them in reply, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God." Peter began to say to him, "We have given up everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."
Reflection
The Gospel warns us (as our second reading two weeks ago did) against the comfort of material wealth. Comfort makes us lazy, and like the young man in the story, we want an easy way to be “good enough” for God. We can get the sense that the young man was disingenuous in his question — it seems he was expecting to be told that he was doing just fine and to go about his business as usual. But, with Jesus, it’s never business as usual. God calls us to more. God calls us to make sacrifices, to be detached from material wealth. People who aren’t attached to material wealth have no trouble giving it up and won’t be burdened with it when it’s time to leave it behind. And, of course, we have the promise that whatever we give up, we’ll receive a hundredfold. It’s important to remember that, even if we’re doing everything right, and have the best attitude, bad stuff can still happen. We must have faith that God can do good, even when bad things happen.
Adults - In what ways can wealth have a negative effect in our lives? In what ways can it do good?
Teens -When Jesus talks about the “eye of the needle,” he’s referring to a gate in Jerusalem’s wall that was very narrow and only people could walk through it. When merchants came in with their goods on camels, they would have to go through other gates to enter. Jesus is saying that, if we want to get through the “gate” (to heaven), we need to be able to leave material things behind. They won’t fit through the gate with us. How hard is it for you to let go of material things? What are you willing to give up? What aren’t you willing to give up? 
Kids -Why do you think the young man was sad when he left?
 +JMJ+


SACRED SCRIPTURE CORNER
The Rich Young Man


"Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions." -Mark 10:21-22


If a person wanted to sum up this encounter in a concise way, it could be said that the rich young man was not able to say “yes” to Jesus Christ. This man could not follow Jesus Christ at this point in his life. If he could have said “yes” to Jesus Christ, his life would have been undoubtedly blessed by his surrender of himself. However, maybe the more important lesson about Jesus’ interaction with the young man is that he could not say “no” to other things in his life. He could not sever the attachments and relationships he had in his rich life. Perhaps this young man acknowledged that many of the things he had in his life were good, and he would have to say “no” to some good things in order to be able to say “yes” to the source of all goodness, Jesus Christ.


Contemporary society is challenging us to say “yes” all of the time. Our hectic lives point to this reality, and it's easy to say “yes” too much. What priorities can we rearrange in our lives in order to make sure that we do not miss the invitation from Jesus Christ to follow him more closely? This is a question that each of us must consider in our lives.


Further Reading: Matthew 19:16-30; Luke 18:18-30

The Marriage Minute
Courage I
It may not take courage to make a promise, but it can take a lot of courage to keep a promise. This is especially true for the promises we make on our wedding day. There are particular acts of courage that can help build up our marriages. The first one is: The courage to say what needs to be said -  most marriages aren’t harmed as much by what is said as by what is left unsaid. Withholding our truth from one another can kill a marriage. This can range from failing to express one’s love (in words, in deeds, in conscientious responses), to not standing up for oneself, to failing to speak up when something’s wrong in your marriage but you don’t want to rock the boat. We must have the courage to both speak and hear. 
 
Pray for the courage and wisdom to share or say something that needs to be said in your Marriage.
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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 


P.S.S.  Readings with meditations and questions with reflections are at the end of this e-mail.

Diocesan News AND BEYOND
There's Only One Abortion Clinic Left in Missouri
By Jonah McKeown

By Matt Hadro

​Washington D.C., Oct 6, 2017 / 05:38 pm (EWTN News/CNA) - 
After the Trump administration announced new exemptions to the contraceptive mandate and a religious freedom guidance, experts said both actions offered concrete protections of religious freedom.

“Today the Trump administration made two commendable decisions in support of the bedrock American principle of religious liberty,” Dr. Matthew Franck, director of the William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution at the Witherspoon Institute, told EWTN News, calling the actions “cause for much celebration.”

On Friday morning the administration followed through on two promises made in President Donald Trump’s May 4 executive order on religious liberty – relief from the HHS mandate for religious and conscientious objectors, and a Department of Justice guidance to federal agencies on implementing religious freedom protections found in existing federal law. 

The administration first announced on Friday an expansion of religious and moral exemptions to the HHS contraceptive mandate, over which many non-profit groups and some for-profit businesses had sued the federal government.

“Groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor, who dedicate their lives to the indigent elderly, can finally expect the restitution of their conscience-rights in court,” Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie, policy advisor with The Catholic Association, stated on Friday. 

The HHS had interpreted the Affordable Care Act to include a mandate on cost-free coverage for sterilizations, contraceptives, and drugs that can cause early abortions in health plans. 

Although many religious groups were opposed to contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortion-causing drugs, the religious exemptions from the mandate were so narrow that only churches and their integrated auxiliaries were safe from having to comply. 

This meant that many religious charities and universities had to comply with the mandate’s demands. The Obama administration offered an “accommodation” to objecting non-profits to comply with the mandate, but charities like the Little Sisters of the Poor said this still forced them to be complicit in the provision of objectionable coverage.

Under the interim final rules released Friday, non-profits, small businesses, and even some publicly-traded companies can apply for a religious exemption to the mandate, if they establish that complying with the mandate would violate their religious beliefs. 

The new rules “substantially expand the scope of that religious exemption,” Greg Baylor, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, said.

Large “publicly-traded” companies wouldn’t be eligible to claim a “moral” exemption from the mandate, but secular non-profits and small businesses would be – which benefits groups like the March for Life, which is a pro-life organization opposed to the mandate on conscience grounds, but a group that is “not inherently religious.” 

In establishing such broad new exemptions, the new rule “practically amounts to a revocation of the mandate,” Franck told EWTN News. 

And the “accommodation” offered to non-profits, where their insurer or third party administrator provided the objectionable coverage, is now voluntary, the Department of Health and Human Services announced. 

Prominent U.S. bishops praised the HHS announcement on Friday as a “return to common sense.”

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, chair of the U.S. bishops’ religious liberty committee, said in a statement that the new rule “recognizes that the full range of faith-based and mission-driven organizations, as well as the people who run them, have deeply held religious and moral beliefs that the law must respect.”

“We welcome the news that this particular threat to religious freedom has been lifted,” they stated.

The Becket Fund, a religious freedom law firm that defended the Little Sisters of the Poor in court against the mandate, praised the “common sense, balanced rule,” but added that the litigation is ongoing in mandate cases. 

In the case of the Little Sisters of the Poor against the mandate at the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court in a rare move in the middle of the case ordered both the plaintiffs and the government to submit briefs detailing if, and how a solution could be crafted that provided for cost-free coverage outlined in the HHS mandate, while at the same time maintaining the religious freedom of the non-profits that sued the government. 

In May of 2016, the Court vacated the federal circuit court decisions on the mandate, ordered the federal government not to fine the plaintiffs, and instructed all parties to come to a solution that provided the contraception coverage while respecting the religious freedom of the plaintiffs. The cases are currently still at the federal circuit court level. 

“14 or 15 months later” after the Supreme Court asked for a solution, “what we see today is really the resolution of that process,” Rienzi said. 

With the HHS announcement, the government now “admits the prior version of the mandate broke the law,” Rienzi said, referring to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. 

Under the 1993 law, the federal government must not substantially burden one’s deeply-held religious beliefs unless it establishes that to do so is in its “compelling interest” and is the “least-restrictive means” of fulfilling that interest. 

The government essentially admitted on Friday that there were indeed less-restrictive means of ensuring cost-free coverage for contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortion-causing drugs than forcing the non-profits to comply with the mandate through the “accommodation,” Rienzi said. 

“I assume those lawyers at DOJ will cooperate and go into the courtrooms and admit that the federal government broke the law, and that the Little Sisters and other groups are entitled to a final injunction to give them lasting protection against this kind of treatment,” he said. 

Also on Friday, the Department of Justice announced a religious freedom guidance that was ordered by President Trump in his May 4 executive order on religious freedom. 

The 25-page guidance outlines religious freedom protections in existing federal law that federal departments and agencies are to incorporate into their functions. It states that “Religious liberty is not merely a right to personal religious beliefs or even to worship in a sacred place. It also encompasses religious observance and practice.”

The guidance is significant and establishes solid protections for religious freedom at the federal level, Professor Robert Destro of the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law told EWTN News. 

“We’ve never had anything this far-reaching before,” he said, noting that the guidance puts religious freedom on the level of freedom of speech. 

It also takes principles of religious freedom and applies them to many federal levels, Destro said. 

For instance, U.S. attorneys at the Department of Justice in litigation must “conform all the arguments that the government is making across the country” to the religious freedom principles outlined in the guidance, he said. 

This would apply to ongoing court cases, including the DOJ’s position on the current religious freedom case before the Supreme Court of Masterpiece Cakeshop. It would also apply to “other cases where the arguments were already written,” Destro said.

The guidance also informs regulations, grants, contracts, and diversity training. Agencies like the State Department, where many employees have historically been reticent to talk about the role religion in international problems, could be affected by this, Destro said.

Regarding its application to federal contracts, the guidance could influence cases where religious charities are in danger of losing federal contracts due to their employment practices or their religious mission. 

“It really gives faith-based organizations and others with religious objections an argument to make when they’re in discussions with a federal agency about accepting a grant or a contract,” Baylor told EWTN News.

The guidance also reiterates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, in that it “does not permit the federal government to second-guess the reasonableness of religious beliefs,” Joshua Mercer, co-founder of CatholicVote.org, told EWTN News. 

This is significant because certain Catholic colleges did not receive religious exemptions from the contraceptive mandate, Mercer said, yet the government should have honored their religious objections. “It’s up to our bishops to decide a university is sufficiently Catholic or not, not our federal government,” he said. 

It could apply to conscience protections for health care professionals, Baylor noted. The Obama administration, under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act mandated that doctors had to provide gender-transition procedures even if they conscientiously objected to doing so. 

“There has been a nationwide injunction against that rule, and the federal government has indicated that it plans to reconsider the rule,” Baylor noted. 

However, he added, “this guidance strengthens the hand of those who would argue that this sort of thing violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment.”

Ultimately, the guidance is “pretty far-reaching, and it’s going to take a good deal of time for the agencies to conform their practice to what’s being required,” Destro said. 

“This may have an impact that we don’t see” in informing federal agencies how they should operate, Baylor said.

+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 7th, 2018


The First Reading- Genesis 2:18-24
The LORD God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him." So the LORD God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each of them would be its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all wild animals; but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man. So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said: "This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called 'woman, ' for out of 'her man' this one has been taken." That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh.
Reflection 
Today’s first reading picks up after God had given Adam all of creation. In particular, God gave the animals to be his companions. Pets are nice, and they can even be an important member of a family, but they’re not people. God knew that Adam needed a “suitable partner” for his life to feel fulfilled. So, what is a suitable partner? We’ve ruled out puppies and kittens. … A suitable partner is one who is capable of being “one flesh.” That is loving the other as themselves, treating them with the dignity, respect and honor that they would want for themselves. A suitable partner fills the other’s life with love, support, joy. They are a partner. Mutually supportive and working toward the same goals, true partners share in one another’s successes and comfort one another in their failures or challenges. And they do it all together.
Adults - If you are married, do you take care to be a suitable partner? What steps do you take to preserve your marriage and protect it? If you are single, in whom do you find a suitable partner? Who are the people in your life that offer you the support, love and comfort that keep you feeling fulfilled?
Teens -What qualities do you look for in a friend? What about a future marriage partner? What are the most important qualities to develop in a marriage?
Kids - With whom do you love spending time? Why do you like being with them?


Responsorial- Psalm 128: 1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
R. May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives.
May you see your children's children.
Peace be upon Israel!
R. May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives.
Reflection 
-What does it mean to fear the Lord?


The Second Reading- Hebrews 2:9-11
Brothers and sisters: He "for a little while" was made "lower than the angels, " that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering. He who consecrates and those who are being consecrated all have one origin. Therefore, he is not ashamed to call them “brothers.”
Reflection
The second reading is a reminder that Jesus became one of us to redeem us and to give us the chance to know God so personally that we could imitate him and become more like him.
What does it say about how much God loves us that He was willing to become man for our sake?


The Holy Gospel according to Mark 10:2-16
The Pharisees approached Jesus and asked, "Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?" They were testing him. He said to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?" They replied, "Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her." But Jesus told them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate." In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this. He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery." And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it." Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them.
Reflection
Our Gospel deals with a very sensitive issue: divorce. Like now, divorces in Jesus’ time were sometimes frivolous, and Jesus is warning us against seeing one another as disposable. In Jesus’ time, if a woman wasn’t attached to a man, she and her children were put in a very vulnerable position. Jesus takes the children to himself to show that, although the culture saw them as property with very few rights, all people — especially the vulnerable — are loved and protected by God. He also gives us that beautiful teaching about how we should approach God. We should approach him as children who are open, dependent, without cares and trusting with our security and support to Our Father.
Adults - What does it mean to approach God like a child? What can you do to work toward this?
Teens -Do you think of God as a loving parent? 
Kids -You are a beloved child of God. What does that mean to you?

Hannah Brockhaus

In a new apostolic constitution, Pope Francis has reformed the Synod of Bishops, creating a mechanism for the assembly’s final document to be included in official Church teaching.
Episcopalis Communio, promulgated by the pope on Sept. 15, establishes that the final document of a synod assembly, drafted and approved by a special commission, can to be considered part of the ordinary magisterium – that is, the official teaching of the Church – if it receives a particular level of papal approval.
The constitution does not require the publication of a post-synodal papal document to make its conclusions authoritative, though these have traditionally followed synodal sessions.
The most recent synod, which was held on the theme of the family, was followed by the 2015 post-synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia.
Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, General Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, presented the new constitution on Sept. 18.
Baldisseri told journalists Tuesday that the pope may wish to publish a document of his own following October’s synod on young people, but that the new norms allow him to forego it in favor of adopting the synod’s final document as his own.
Should Francis decide to adopt the final synodal document, it would be published with his signature and those of the members of the synod.
The norms provide for a process similar to that followed during the 2015 synod on the family – by which a commission creates the final synodal document, before it is put before the members of the synod for a vote.
This commission is composed of the relator general and general secretary of the particular session of the synod, the secretary general of the synod’s permanent secretariat - currently Cardinal Baldisseri -  and other members elected by the synod itself. To these, the pope may also add his own personal appointees
Regarding how the final document is to be approved by the membership, Episcopalis Communiorefers back to the current “particular law.” Accordingly, individual provisions to be adopted in the final document will still require the approval of two-thirds of the synod’s members, while a simple majority suffices to reject an item.
The new constitution does, however, urge the synod fathers to seek “moral unanimity” whenever possible.
Once the final document has been prepared and voted on, it is presented to the Holy Father for his approval and publication. At this point, the pope can choose to grant a particular kind of approval to the document, called “in forma specifica” in canon law, by which it would become an act of the pope and part of the ordinary papal magisterium.
Speaking at a press conference in Rome, Cardinal Baldisseri said that the process of receiving this specific papal approval does not require a strictly judicial standard, or depend upon a particular margin of approval by the synod fathers. 
Quoting St. John Paul II, the new constitution says that while the synod “normally has a merely consultative function,” this “does not diminish its importance.” Rather, the vote of the synod fathers "if morally unanimous, has an ecclesial quality that overcomes the merely formal aspect of the consultative vote.” This, Baldisseri explained, is more important that a specific margin of voting.
Other sections of the constitution substantially affirm recent synodal processes and regulations, including on the synod’s composition and structure, which members have voting rights, and the three distinct synodal phases of preparation, assembly, and implementation.
In the preparatory phase, information on the announced theme of the synod is gathered through study commissions, local consultations conducted through the diocesan bishops, and a pre-synod meeting - if one is convoked. The new norms also provide the option for such pre-synodal meetings to be held at a regional level.
The second phase is the actual assembly of the synodal fathers and other members, while the third phase is the implementation of the synod’s conclusions in the particular Churches.
Episcopalis Communio underlines the importance of bishops listening to the voice of lay Catholics, saying that “the Synod of Bishops must increasingly become a privileged instrument for listening to the People of God.”
“Although in its composition [the Synod] appears as an essentially episcopal organism, the Synod does not therefore live separate from the rest of the faithful. On the contrary, it is a suitable instrument to give voice to the whole People of God precisely through the Bishops, constituted by God as ‘authentic guardians, interpreters and witnesses of the faith of the whole Church,’” the document states.
This principle is recognized in the canonical norms of the constitution itself. Article 7 of Episcopalis Communio states that the right of the faithful to send their own contributions for the synod directly to the secretary general “remains integral” to the process.
The Synod of Bishops acts as a temporary and occasional advisory body to the pope on issues of pastoral importance to the Catholic Church. It was established by Bl. Pope Paul VI with the motu proprio Apostolica sollicitudo in 1965.
While the synod itself is a temporary body called into being by the pope, it has a permanent general secretariat in the Roman Curia.
There are three types of synod assemblies a pope can call: ordinary, extraordinary, and special. Next month’s meeting will be an extraordinary assembly, as was 2015’s synod on the family.
A special assembly is usually convoked to discuss an issue related to a particular geographical region, such as the upcoming special assembly on the Amazon, which will take place in October 2019.

​A bit of humor…

 -Want to hear a pizza joke…. nah, it’s too cheesy. What about a construction joke? Oh never mind, I’m still working on that one. Did you hear the one about the rope? Skip it.
-I childproofed the house… but they still get in!


-Whenever I find the key to success, someone changes the lock.
-I just let my mind wander, and it didn’t come back.
-A day without smiling is a day wasted.
 
Q. What’s the worst thing about being lonely?
A. Playing Frisbee.
------------------
-After many years of studying at a university, I’ve finally become a PhD… or Pizza Hut Deliveryman as people call it.

From the Mouths of Infants and Babes:
 
It was the end of the day when I parked my police van in front of the station. As I gathered my equipment, my K-9 partner, Jake, was barking, and I saw a little boy staring in at me. 'Is that a dog you got back there?' he asked.
'It sure is,' I replied.
Puzzled, the boy looked at me and then towards the back of the van. Finally he said, 'What'd he do?'
 
While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs.  One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass.  As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, 'The tooth fairy will never believe this!'
 

I Got a Big One
When the Pope visited Colorado he was anxious to get to an important meeting. The limousine assigned to pick him up did so and off they went. The Catholic chauffeur knew it was the "Holy Father" riding in the car and wouldn't consider going faster than 55 mph. However, the Pope, anxious to get to the meeting on time, told the driver to pull over, get in the back seat, and let him drive. The impatient pontiff put the pedal to the metal and quickly reached 85 mph on the Colorado interstate. Almost immediately a state trooper hiding off the side of the road turned on his siren and lights, and gave chase. Catching the speeding car, he ordered the driver to pull over. When he saw the driver, he couldn't believe it and immediately called his captain. He said, "I really got a big one today."

The captain said, "You mean the District Attorney?"

"No, sir, much bigger than that."

"You have a Senator?" came the puzzled reply.

"No, sir, you don't understand. This is the top of the line."

"Who do you have? The President?"

"No, sir, please understand me, this is really big."

"Well, for heaven's sake, who have you pulled over?"

"Well, Captain, I'm not sure, but the Pope is his chauffeur."

"The word "liturgy" originally meant a "public work" or a "service in the name of/on behalf of the people." In Christian tradition it means the participation of the People of God in "the work of God." Through the liturgy Christ, our redeemer and high priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through his Church."  -Catechism of the Catholic Church #1069




THE THIRD COMMANDMENT OF GOD


Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work. You shall not do any work, either you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your work animal, or the resident alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested.  That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. -Ex 20:8-11
 
The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath. Mk 2:27-28
 
1. Why are we commanded to keep Sunday as the Lord's Day?
The Church commands us to keep Sunday as the Lord's day, because on Sunday, the first day of the week, Christ rose from the dead, and on Sunday the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles.  (Saturday night is considered part of the Lord’s Day.)
Jesus rose from the dead "on the first day of the week." Because it is the "first day," the day of Christ's Resurrection recalls the first creation. Because it is the "eighth day" following the sabbath, it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ's Resurrection. For Christians it has become the first of all days, the first of all feasts, the Lord's Day (he kuriake hemera, dies dominica) Sunday.  (CCC 2174)
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. (Genesis 2:2)
 
2. Are the Sabbath day and the Sunday the same?
The Sabbath day and the Sunday are not the same. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week (Saturday), and is the day which was kept holy in the old law; the Sunday is the first day of the week, and is the day which is kept holy in the new law (because on it, Jesus rose from the dead).
Sunday is expressly distinguished from the sabbath which it follows chronologically every week; for Christians its ceremonial observance replaces that of the sabbath. In Christ's Passover, Sunday fulfills the spiritual truth of the Jewish sabbath and announces man's eternal rest in God. For worship under the Law prepared for the mystery of Christ, and what was done there prefigured some aspects of Christ:
Those who lived according to the old order of things have come to a new hope, no longer keeping the sabbath, but the Lord's Day, in which our life is blessed by him and by his death. –St. Ignatius of Antioch (CCC 2175)
 
3. What is meant by the Old and New Law?
A. The Old Law means the law or religion given to the Jews; the New Law means the law or religion given to Christians.
 
4. Why does the Church command us to keep the Sunday holy instead of the Sabbath?
The Church commands us to keep the Sunday holy instead of the Sabbath because on Sunday Christ rose from the dead, and on Sunday He sent the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles.
 
5. Do we keep Sunday instead of Saturday holy for any other reason?
We keep Sunday instead of Saturday holy also to teach that the Old Law is not now binding upon us, but that we must keep the New Law, which takes its place and fulfills the Old Law.
 
6. What are we commanded by the third commandment?
By the third commandment we are commanded to worship God in a special manner on Sunday (by the Jewish reckoning, which Catholics follow, Saturday night is considered part of Sunday), the Lord's Day.  We are commanded to keep holy the Lord's Day and the holydays of obligation, on which we are to give our time to the service and worship of God.
‘The Sunday Eucharist (Holy Mass) is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor.  Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin (mortal sin).’  (CCC 2181)     
Keep you my sabbath; for it is holy unto you. (Exodus 31:14)




7. What are holy days of obligation?
Holydays of obligation are special feasts of the Church on which we are bound, under pain of mortal sin, to assist at the Mass and to keep from servile or bodily labors when it can be done without great loss or inconvenience. Whoever, on account of their circumstances, cannot give up work on holydays of obligation should make every effort to assist at Mass and if appropriate should also explain in confession the necessity of working on holydays.


8. How are we to worship God on Sunday (or Saturday night) and holy days of obligation?
We are to worship God on Sundays and holydays of obligation by assisting at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, by prayer, and by other good works.  (Holy Mass on a Saturday night is considered a Sunday.)
Tradition preserves the memory of an ever-timely exhortation: Come to Church early, approach the Lord, and confess your sins, repent in prayer. . . . Be present at the sacred and divine liturgy, conclude its prayer and do not leave before the dismissal. . . . We have often said: "This day is given to you for prayer and rest. This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." –Sermon on the Lord’s Day from the Early Church
 
9. How serious is it to deliberately miss the Holy Mass on a Sunday (Saturday night) or holy day of obligation through our own fault?
If committed freely with full consent of the will and with full knowledge of God’s command, to deliberately miss the Holy Mass on a Sunday (Saturday night) or holy day of obligation is a mortal sin, which means through this sin, one’s relationship with God is severed.  Sacramental Confession (Reconciliation) would then be the step to confess this sin and restore our relationship with God.
Any deliberately less contact with God than once a week in the Holy Mass causes our relationship with God to die on its own accord from lack of union with God in the intimacy of the Holy Mass.  Thus, sickness, care for children or the infirm, work scheduled for us by employers during Sunday Mass, distance from the offering of a Holy Mass, or the equivalent are factors beyond our control and thus are mitigating circumstances which keep this from being a mortal sin in one’s life.
 
10. What is forbidden by the third commandment of God?
The third Commandment forbids all unnecessary servile work and whatever else may hinder the due observance of the Lord's Day.
On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord's Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body. (CCC 2185; CIC, can. 1247)
Six days shall you do work; in the seventh day is the sabbath, the rest holy to the Lord. (Exodus 31:15)


Six days you may labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the seasons of plowing and harvesting you must rest. Exodus 34:21
 
11. What is servile work?  Servile work is that which requires labor of body rather than of mind.
 
12. From what do servile works derive their name?
Servile works derive their name from the fact that such works were formerly done by slaves. Therefore, reading, writing, studying and, in general, all works that slaves did not perform are not considered servile works.  God set Israel free from slavery in Egypt, and God has set us free from slavery to sin.
 
13. When is servile work allowed on Sunday?
Servile work is allowed on Sunday when the honor of God, our own need, or the good of our neighbor requires it.
 
14. Give some examples of when the honor of God, our own need, or the good of our neighbor may require servile works on Sunday.
The honor of God, our own need, or the good of our neighbor may require servile works on Sunday, in such cases as the preparation of a place for Holy Mass, the saving of property in storms or accidents, the cooking of meals and similar works.
 
15. Name some of the good works recommended for Sunday.
Some of the good works recommended for Sunday are: The reading of religious books or papers, teaching Catechism, bringing relief to the poor or sick, visiting the Blessed Sacrament, attending Vespers (Evening Prayers offered by Priests or Nuns), Rosary or other devotions in the Church; also attending the meetings of religious sodalities or societies.  It is not necessary to spend the whole Sunday in such good works, but we should give some time to them, that for the love of God we may do a little more than what is strictly commanded.
 
16. Is it forbidden, then, to seek any pleasure or enjoyment on Sunday?
It is not forbidden to seek lawful pleasure or enjoyment on Sunday, especially to those who are occupied during the week, for God did not intend the keeping of the Sunday to be a punishment, but a benefit to us. Therefore, after assisting at Holy Mass we may take such recreation as is necessary or useful for us; but we should avoid any vulgar, noisy or disgraceful amusements that turn the day of rest and prayer into a day of scandal and sin.
Sanctifying Sundays and holy days requires a common effort. Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them from observing the Lord's Day. Traditional activities (sport, restaurants, etc.), and social necessities (public services, etc.), require some people to work on Sundays, but everyone should still take care to set aside sufficient time for leisure. With temperance and charity the faithful will see to it that they avoid the excesses and violence sometimes associated with popular leisure activities. In spite of economic constraints, public authorities should ensure citizens a time intended for rest and divine worship. Employers have a similar obligation toward their employees. (CCC 2187)

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
 
       On February 11, 1858, 14-year-old Bernadette was gathering firewood for her mother when she was drawn by a noise to the Grotto of Massabielle, a small cave-like structure.  There she saw a beautiful young woman holding a rosary.  Bernadette prayed the rosary after which the woman smiled and disappeared.
 
      After 17 more appearances over the next five months, Bernadette learned that the woman was the Blessed Virgin Mary and that she desired to have processions and a chapel built for the benefit of many.  When she asked her name by the request of the local clergy for some proof of the authenticity of the message, the woman said, "I am the Immaculate Conception."  A name total unknown to Bernadette, but one that had been declare of Blessed Mary, four years early by Pope Pius IX in Rome, Italy.
 
     During one of the apparitions, Our Lady asked Bernadette to drink water from a nearby stream.  Unable to see it, Bernadette scratched at the ground and water immediately started flowing.  She also put some on her face which was mud at first, and she was first thought crazy by those that gathered, but to this day, thousands, come to this stream daily, with many cures being reported.
 
     On the second apparition of Feb. 18, 1858, Our Lady said to Bernadette, "I do not promise to make you happy in this life but in the next."  Indeed, she had a sad life with many trials, but trusting the beautiful Lady and God who sent her, St. Bernadette is not only with them now and assisting us from heaven, but she has also brought the world the miraculous healing waters of Lourdes as well as devotion to Her who gives us Jesus!
 
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
 
Father Robert
 
P.S.  Look under Catholic Websites of the Week for more information on Our Lady of Lourdes and Bernadette.
 
P.S.S.  This coming Sunday is 24th Sunday of Ordinary Times.  >>> Readings

Catholic Websites of the Week
​

INCREASE ATTENDANCE OR ENHANCE FELLOWSHIP AT PARISH FUNCTIONS BY HAVING PARTICIPANTS BRING FOOD

If you have an adult education series, bible study, pastoral council mtg., or any such thing.  Invite participants to bring bring a food or drink item each, where all can partake.
BENEFITS:
Food usually draws well.  Jesus always shared a meal before, during, and after his Passion and Resurrection.  Food can also enhance fellowship by sharing a meal; it can even draw some who might be slow to attend.


HOW:
A parish or individual may not always be able to buy or have food and drink for people gathering due to cost or preparation.  But if each participant is invited to bring a food or drink item, all is covered with little to no cost and the event is enhanced, and people will usually visit and be more involved.

​

Diocesan News AND BEYOND
​

Pope Convokes World-wide Meeting of Bishops on Abuse Crisis
By Hannah Brockhaus

Pope Francis has called for all the presidents of the Catholic bishops' conferences of the world to meet at the Vatican in February to discuss the issue of sexual abuse of minors.
A statement from the pope’s cardinal advisory board Sept. 12 said, “The Holy Father Francis, hearing the Council of Cardinals, decided to convene a meeting with the Presidents of the Bishops Conferences of the Catholic Church on the theme of ‘protection of minors.’”
The summit will take place at the Vatican Feb. 21-24, 2019.
In a press briefing Wednesday, Holy See spokesperson Paloma García Ovejero, said the February meeting would be on the "prevention of abuse of minors and vulnerable adults."
According to the website GCatholic, there are 114 Conferences of Bishops and 21 eastern-rite Patriarchal Synods, Councils of Churches, and Assemblies of Ordinaries.
The announcement followed a three-day session of Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals, commonly called the “C9,” which he created in 2013 to advise him regarding the governance and reform of the Roman Curia.
A major task of the nine cardinals has been revising the 1988 apostolic constitution, Pastor bonus, which regulates the government of the Roman Curia. 
In their latest session Sept. 10-12, the Council made final adjustments to the draft of the new constitution, tentatively titled Praedicate evangelium, before turning it over to Pope Francis. It will still undergo a stylistic revision and review of the canonical elements before being published, the Vatican said.
Three members of the C9 were not present during the meetings: Cardinal George Pell, who has been in Australia since summer 2017 undergoing a trial; and Cardinals Francisco Javier Errázuriz and Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya.
This story was updated at 11:07 am Eastern Time to include the statement of the vice-director of the Holy See Press Office, Paloma García Ovejero.
​

Mexico City, Mexico, Sep 21, (EWTN News/CNA) - 
Sister Crucita has been a member of the Josephine Sisters in Mexico for 70 years. At nearly 100 years old, she says she is happy with her vocation and would not change her decision to give her life to God.

In an interview with EWTN News, Sister Crucita – whose full religious name is Sister Maria of the Royal Cross – said that the secret of her perseverance has always been her trust in the mercy of God and the support of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“I say to the Blessed Virgin Mary, 'Take care of me, you already know I'm yours. Deliver me from the snares of the devil.' The Blessed Virgin has taken great care of me,” she said.

Through the Holy Rosary she was able to persevere in face of the temptation to abandon the religious life on many occasions, she said.

“One of the strongest temptations was to want to leave the religious life, because there were a lot of difficulties at the hospital where I was. The doctors encouraged me to leave, but I trusted in God and the Blessed Virgin. And here I am, thanks to them,” she said.

Sister Crucita was born Nov. 23, 1917 in the El Oro municipality in Mexico State. From a very young age, she had a love for Christ and the Church, thanks to the devotion of her parents who took her to Mass.

“I always liked going to Mass. I had an uncle who was a sacristan and I liked to spend time with him. So I was always drawn to the things of the Lord,” she said.

She began thinking about a religious vocation after a group of religious sisters came to her home town. She even discerned with a cloistered convent, but was forced to return home after two years, due to an illness.  

Sister Crucita was introduced to the Josephine Sisters by a priest. She worked alongside the sisters at a local hospital for a few months, and then entered the novitiate.

On Aug. 15, 1947, Sister Crucita made her final vows as a Josephine sister, at 30 years of age. Currently she goes to confession about every two weeks, prays the Holy Rosary three or four times a day, and attends Mass daily.

She said her religious vocation was always tied to her profession as a nurse.

At the start of the 1950s, Sister Crucita was sent to her congregation's hospital in Cuba. Later, in 1952, she arrived in Guadalajara and was assigned as a nurse to the Civil Hospital. For many years she was the supervisor of the pediatrics department. 

“I see how the sick suffer and there are many who offer everything to God, they don't complain or anything. So then I think, if they who are sick and are always thinking about God, then what can I complain about. Anything on my part is something passing and I offer it to the Lord,” she emphasized.

Sister María de la Cruz said that one of her secrets to keep on going has always been to feel welcomed by the mercy of God: “I know that He loves me much more than I love him. I have always thought that He seeks me, he calls me, that he is always with me. If something happens to me, He watches over me.”

She encouraged young people to trust “completely in God, in the love that He has for us” because “He helps us and gives us peace.”

On Nov. 23, at Our Lady of Bethlehem and Saint Michael the Archangel church, a Mass of Thanksgiving will be celebrated for Sister Crucita’s 100th birthday.

Sister Beatriz Escamilla, a 44-year-old Josephine sister, said that at nearly 100 years old, Sister Crucita is still very independent.

“She begins her routine at 5:00 am, because she moves at a slower pace, and then she comes to the chapel at 7:00 am. She is one of the most punctual sisters, and sometimes she beats us all there. Sometimes she's the one who opens up the chapel,” Sister Beatriz said.  

She also highlighted Sister Crucita's fervent prayer for “vocations and for those of us still working in the apostolate.” 

“She has an hour dedicated to prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament to especially ask for these needs,” she said.

Whenever things at the hospital get difficult, Sister Beatriz said, she can always count on Sister Crucita for encouragement.

“She's a person you're drawn to, through the peace she conveys. She offers a lesson in joy, perseverance, dedication and sacrifice,” she concluded.
​

A bit of humor…
  
:  “I’d like to start with the chimney jokes – I’ve got a stack of them. The first one is on the house.” – Tim Vine   

"I love my rock-hard, honed six-pack so much I protect it with a good layer of lard."


The Parish Priest
 
A young lady comes to the priest asking for prayers for a boy she likes.  She explains that her mom will not let her date him until the boy becomes Catholic.  The priest assures her that he will pray for this boy.  So after a little while the boy expresses interest in the Catholic Church and starts to take classes at a nearby parish.  The young lady comes joyfully to the priest and tells him the update, and asks him to keep praying for the boy so that he will stay the course and become Catholic so that she can start to date him.  The priest assures her that he will.  A few months later, the young lady comes running to the priest yelling, "Stop praying, stop praying, Father!  He is going to become a priest!
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Hot Air Hand Dryers: 
My pastor friend put sanitary hot air hand dryers in the rest rooms at his church and after two weeks, took them out. I asked him why and he confessed that they worked fine, but when he went in there he saw a sign that read,"For a sample of this week's sermon, push the button."



GREAT TRUTHS THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED: 
1) Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree. 
2) Wrinkles don't hurt. 
3) Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts. 
4) Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground. 
5) Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside. 
6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy.

God of mercy, we celebrate the feast of Mary, the sinless mother of God.
May her prayers help us to rise above our human weakness.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.

​

The First Commandment of God
 
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me.  You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them." (Ex 20:2-4).
 
1. What does the commandment mean by "no other gods"?
By no other gods the commandment means idols or false gods, which the Israelites frequently worshipped when, through their sins, they had abandoned the true God.
 
2. How may a person, in a sense, worship other gods?
We, in a sense, may worship other gods by giving up the salvation of our souls for wealth, honors, society, worldly pleasures, etc., so that we would offend God, renounce our faith or give up the practice of our religion for their sake.
 
3. What are we commanded by the first commandment?
By the first commandment we are commanded to offer to God alone the supreme worship that is due Him.
It is written, "The Lord your God shall you worship, and Him only shall you serve." (Luke 4:8)
 
4. How do we worship God? 
We worship God by acts of faith, hope, and charity, and by adoring Him and praying to Him most especially in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
 
How may the first Commandment be broken?
A. By giving to a creature the honor which belongs to God alone; by false worship; and by attributing to a creature a perfection which belongs to God alone.
 
What is the honor which belongs to God alone?  This is a divine honor, in which we offer Him sacrifice, incense or prayer, solely for His own sake and for His own glory. To give such honor to any creature, however holy, would be idolatry.
 
How do we offer God false worship?  We do this by rejecting the religion He has instituted and following one pleasing to ourselves, with a form of worship He has never authorized, approved or sanctioned.
 
Why must we serve God in the form of religion He has instituted and in no other?  We must do this because heaven is not a right, but a promised reward, a free gift of God, which we must receive in the manner He directs and pleases.
 
When do we attribute to a creature a perfection which belongs to God alone?  We do this when we believe it possesses knowledge or power independently of God, so that it may, without His aid, make known the future or perform miracles.
 
5. What does faith oblige us to do?
Faith obliges us: first, to make efforts to find out what God has revealed; second, to believe firmly what God has revealed; third, to profess our faith openly whenever necessary.
Therefore, everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. (Matt. 10:32)
 
6. What does hope oblige us to do?
Hope obliges us to trust firmly that God will give us eternal life and the means to obtain it.
Paul, a servant of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, in accordance with the faith of God's elect and the full knowledge of the truth which is according to piety, in the hope of life everlasting which God, who does not lie, promised before the ages began. (Titus 1:1-2)
 
7. What does charity oblige us to do?
Charity obliges us to love God above all things because He is infinitely good, and to love our neighbor as Jesus has loved us.
And one of them, a doctor of the Law, putting him to the test, asked him, "Master, which is the great commandment in the Law?" Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole mind.' This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:35-40)
 
8. How can a Catholic best safeguard his faith?
A Catholic can best safeguard his faith by making frequent acts of faith, by praying for a strong faith, by studying his religion very earnestly, by living a good life, by good reading, by refusing to associate with the enemies of the Church, and by not reading books and papers that distort the Church and her teaching.
I know that after my departure fierce wolves will get in among you, and will not spare the flock. And from among your own selves men will rise speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:29-30)
 
9. How does a Catholic sin against faith?
A Catholic sins against faith by: 
Voluntary doubt - Refusing to hold as true what God revealed and the Church teaches. Doubt is involuntary when the person hesitates to believe or cannot overcome objections to faith.
Incredulity - Neglect or outright refusal to assent to a revealed truth.
Heresy - Denial of a truth that must be believed with divine and catholic faith.
Apostasy - Total repudiation of the Catholic faith.
Schism - Refusal to submit to the Pope or to accept communion with the Church.
This is why I was born, and why I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. (John 18:37)
 
10. What are the sins against hope?
The sins against hope are presumption and despair. 
 
11. When does a person sin by presumption?
A person sins by presumption when he trusts that he can be saved by his own efforts without God's help, or by God's help without his own efforts.  A person may be guilty of presumption:
1.(1) By putting off confession when in a state of mortal sin; 2.(2) By delaying the amendment of our lives and repentance for past sins; 3.(3) By being indifferent about the number of times we yield to any temptation after we have once yielded and broken our resolution to resist it; 4.(4) By thinking we can avoid sin without avoiding its near occasion; 5.(5) By relying too much on ourselves and neglecting to follow the advice of our confessor in regard to the sins we confess.
Nay I do not even judge my own self. For I have nothing on my conscience, yet I am not thereby justified. (I Corinthians 4:4)
 
12. When does a person sin by despair?
A person sins by despair when he deliberately refuses to trust that God will give him the necessary help to save his soul.  A person may be guilty of despair by believing that we cannot resist certain temptations, overcome certain sins or amend our lives so as to be pleasing to God.
May no temptation take hold of you but such as man is equal to. God is faithful and will not permit you to be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also give you a way out that you may be able to bear it. (I Corinthians 10:13)
 
13. What are the chief sins against charity?
The chief sins against charity are hatred of God and of our neighbor, envy, sloth, and scandal.
Charity does not envy. (I Corinthians 13:4)
 
14. Besides the sins against faith, hope, and charity, what other sins does the first commandment forbid?
Besides the sins against faith, hope, and charity, the first commandment forbids also superstition and sacrilege.
 
15. When does a person sin by superstition?
A person sins by superstition when he attributes to a creature a power that belongs to God alone, as when he makes use of charms or spells, believes in dreams or fortune-telling, or goes to spiritualists.  It is sinful to consult mediums, spiritualists, fortune tellers and the like even when we do not believe in them, but through mere curiosity, to hear what they may say:
1.(1) Because it is wrong to expose ourselves to the danger of sinning even though we do not sin; 2.(2) Because we may give scandal to others who are not certain that we go through mere curiosity; 3.(3) Because by our pretended belief or interest we encourage those who do these things to continue their harmful practices.
 
All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to “unveil” the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone. (CCC 2116)
Neither let there be found among you any one that ... consults soothsayers, or observes dreams and omens. Neither let there be any wizard, nor charmer. (Deuteronomy 19:10-11)
 
16. When does a person sin by sacrilege?
A person sins by sacrilege when he mistreats sacred persons, places, or things (i.e. a priest, a church, a rosary).
They have set your sanctuary ablaze, they have profaned the dwelling of your name on the earth. (Psalm 73:7)

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Let us pray:
An Act of Faith-O my God I believe all You have said because You are the infallible truth.
 
An Act of Hope - O my God I hope for all You have promised because You are faithful.
 
An Act of Love - O my God I love You above all things because You are good.

+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion.
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time - September 16th, 2018


The First Reading- Isaiah 50:5-9A
The Lord GOD opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame. He is near who upholds my right; if anyone wishes to oppose me, let us appear together. Who disputes my right? Let that man confront me. See, the Lord GOD is my help; who will prove me wrong?
Reflection 
Suffering is a part of life that any of us gladly would avoid if we had the option. We don’t like to suffer ourselves, and our heart breaks when we see others suffer. Today’s readings speak to the reality of suffering, and the reality that we have the ability to alleviate it in others. The first reading from the Prophet Isaiah is a recounting of his own mistreatment as well as a foreshadowing of what would happen to Jesus. Isaiah and Jesus both spoke boldly the truth of God and were tortured for it.
Adults - Have you ever suffered for or been ridiculed for your faith? How did you react? 
Teens -Have you ever seen something good come out of an experience of suffering (like compassion, perspective, healing)? Do you see any value in suffering, or is it all for nothing?
Kids - How can you help someone who is suffering?


Responsorial- Psalm 116: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
I love the LORD because he has heard
my voice in supplication,
because he has inclined his ear to me
the day I called.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
The cords of death encompassed me;
the snares of the netherworld seized upon me;
I fell into distress and sorrow,
and I called upon the name of the LORD,
"O LORD, save my life!"
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
Gracious is the LORD and just;
yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD keeps the little ones;
I was brought low, and he saved me.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
For he has freed my soul from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
I shall walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
Reflection 
-What does the phrase “the mercy of God” mean to you?


The Second Reading- James 2:14-18
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well, " but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Indeed someone might say, "You have faith and I have works." Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.
Reflection
James’ famous “faith without works” reading is a challenge to us to challenge suffering when we see it. It is not enough, he says, to feel bad for people in need. We must respond to their need with action. He goes so far as to say that if we don’t address that suffering in a real, tangible way, our faith is dead. We’ll never be able to wipe it all out, but we are commanded to do what we can for those in front of us without judgment.
What are some examples of serving without judgment?


The Holy Gospel according to Mark 8: 27-35
Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" They said in reply, "John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets." And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said to him in reply, "You are the Christ." Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it."
Reflection
In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks who everybody says he is. Peter, in a rare moment, has the right answer: He is the Christ. But Peter rebukes him when Jesus explains what being the Christ means. He will suffer and die, like the the prophets. Peter wants Jesus to avoid his destiny. Jesus lashes out in a way that some might feel is overboard or a little harsh, but is really necessary. Peter is not thinking as God does. God knows that suffering is a temporary reality with the potential to save the world. Suffering can lead individuals to new awareness, reliance on God, reparation of relationships, faith. Suffering leads to all kinds of great things, because God never lets our suffering go unchallenged. A better response from Peter could have been to offer Jesus comfort in his suffering by staying awake when Jesus needed him, or not denying him or not running away. We’re all tempted to avoid those who are suffering, like Peter did, but God calls us to be with them (and let others be with us when we need help).
Adults - How can you be more present to people who are suffering in your life? Do you allow others to be present and helpful to you when you experience suffering?
Teens -Do you believe that God heals the sick? Do you believe in miracles? Have you ever seen/experienced one?
Kids -Have you ever helped cheer someone up, or helped them when they were sick or hurt? How did it make them feel? How did it make you feel?

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