Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
        We are currently in Ordinary Time, that is ORDERED time.  It is not 'ordinary' in that there is nothing special about it; it is 'ordered' so that we can grow in love of God and neighbor, and true love of self.
        We are going through the big green section of the Church's Liturgical calendar.  You hear and will hear, read and will read, Sunday after Sunday, "30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time, 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time," etc.  This in a sense is asking you the same questions each week: Are you loving God and your neighbor more?  Are you working on those faults and sins in your life?  Do you truly desire Heaven, your true home?  Green is for growing and that is what we are meant to do in this season. 
         Put God first this Sunday, put everyone else second, and then you will love yourself, not because you put yourself last, but because it is in the right place ORDERED to true love and happiness.
 
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
P.S.  This coming Sunday is All Saints Day.  >> Readings


 
Homilies (second one contains the Gospel) from Sacred Heart of Jesus and 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time is found below, click with your mouse pointeron the blue lines below (5, 7 minutes length respectively): 
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Sacred Heart of Jesus and 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time

With Gospel

​588. What does “Hallowed be thy Name” mean? (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC 2807-2812, 2858) 
a) a desire for hallowedness to be over all the earth 
b) a petition that our name may be holy as God’s name is holy 
c) a prayer of praise that acknowledges God as holy 
d) none of the above 


589. How is the Name of God made holy in us and in the world? (CCC 2813-2815) 
a) in that we want all men to bless the Name of the Lord 
b) that the Name of God may be known to all 
c) in our Baptism touching every part of our life 
d) all of the above 


590. What does the Church ask for when she prays “Thy Kingdom come”? (CCC 2816-2821, 2859) 
a) the Church prays for the final coming of the Kingdom of the God 
b) the Church is asking for earthly perfection 
c) the Church acknowledges that she does fine on her own, but even better with God 
d) the Church is praying for Jesus to set up an kingdom on earth only 


591. Why pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”? (CCC 2822-2827,
2860) 
a) to help unite our will to that of Jesus 
b) the will of the Father is that all be saved 
c) that God’s loving plan is realized here on earth 
d) all of the above 
 
(Answers below) 

Catholic Term

Ordinary Time 
(Middle English ordinarie "regular",  Latin ordinarius "ordered" + from Middle English timen "to arrange a time")
- liturgical time ordered to practice the Christian Life
[Ordinary Time is represented by green in the liturgical Church year.  It is the largest part of the Churches calendar broken up in two sections between the end of the Christmas Season and the start of Lent, and the end of the Easter Season and the start of Advent.]

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For Your Marriage
http://www.foryourmarriage.org/


The site is not only a source for custom designed ceremony programs, but also a place to find information on relevant topics. To this end, there is an excellent section devoted to helping users understand what the Catholic Church teaches about the Mass, prayer, engagements and weddings. As our culture respects the dignity of the marital vocation less and less, this site recalls the true solemnity of a wedding and the fact that marriage is something worth celebrating. 
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[For those traveling and needing to get to the Holy Mass.]
MASS TIMES AND CATHOLIC CHURCHES throughout the US
http://www.MassTimes.org/dotNet/default.aspx
Simply type in the town you will be in.
 

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Pope Francis spoke about the beauty of marriage as a reflection of the Trinity, saying that marriage itself is a “silent homily.”  He accented the virtue of patience in marriage and encouraged couples who might be struggling: "It’s true that there are difficulties, there are problems of the children or with the couple themselves, arguments and fights… but the important thing is that the flesh remains one, and you can overcome, you can overcome, you can overcome." 
  

Choose one thing both you and your spouse identify that you both are struggling with, and then commit and invite your spouse to commit to overcome it together through prayer, a plan, and other means.
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Fr. McGivney was formally beatified through an apostolic letter from Pope Francis that was read on Saturday by Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, the appointed representative of Pope Francis. Tobin was the principal celebrant of the beatification Mass at Hartford’s cathedral.
“Fr. McGivney’s life is an illustration of how a holy priest can provide the necessary and intimate connection, so crucial in the life and mission of a parish,” Tobin said. He described McGivney as a priest who loved his flock, and was happy to see them work together as a community.
“The signature accomplishment for which he is remembered, founding the Knights of Columbus, grew out of his ministry as a parish priest,” Tobin added.
“This great brotherhood of 2 million now spanning the globe was born from the pastoral ingenuity of a parish priest to respond to the twin challenges faced by the people he served. Because he knew his people well, so well.”


“We accept that like him, God calls each one of us in our own day and our own way, to be vessels of mercy, and so, enter into our heavenly inheritance.”
Cardinals Sean O’Malley of Boston and Timothy Dolan of New York were cardinal concelebrators of the Mass. Several other archbishops and bishops, including representatives from the Ukrainian Catholic Church, were also present.
Pope Francis said that McGivney’s “zeal for the proclamation of the Gospel and generous concern for his brothers and sisters,” that “made him an outstanding witness of Christian solidarity and fraternal assistance.”
The pope concluded that the Connecticut priest “henceforth be given the title blessed.”  The letter was dated September 13, 2020.
The date selected for McGivney’s feast, August 13, is the day between his birth, which was August 12, 1852, and his death, which was August 14, 1890.
Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore read an English translation of the letter. McGivney was ordained a priest in the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s cathedral in 1877.
A tapestry of Father McGivney’s portrait was unveiled in the cathedral’s sanctuary immediately after the letter was read.
Before the letter was read, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson read a biographical letter of McGivney’s life, and detailed his earthly ministry.
After the portrait was unveiled, Michael “Mikey” McGivney Schachle, accompanied by his parents and many of his siblings, presented a monstrance containing a relic of McGivney to Cardinal Tobin. Mikey Schaecle’s live birth after a prenatal diagnosis of fetal hydrops, a rare, typically fatal, condition, was confirmed by the Vatican to be a miracle attributed to the intercession of Bl. McGivney.
Archbishop Leonard Blair of Hartford read a letter of thanks to Tobin for presiding over the beatification Mass, and requested that Tobin relay his thanks to Pope Francis.


“I believe that Fr. McGivney is truly Pope Francis’ kind of priest,” said Blair. “A model of his time of closeness to Christ Jesus on the peripheries of life and society.”
In his homily, Tobin said that early Christians, weary due to the demands of a Christian life, were consoled that there was a “cloud of witnesses who would give them courage to go on” and reminding them that their fidelity would be rewarded in heaven.  
 
“In his beautiful reflection on holiness Pope Francis dares to name some of those witnesses. Abraham, Sarah, Moses, gideon, and others,” said Tobin.
“Today, in the name of the Church, Pope Francis recognizes one more face among those witnesses: the serene and youthful countenance of Fr. Michael Joseph McGivney.”
Today, explained Tobin, is a celebration of the faithfulness of God to the body of His Son, the Church. He said that the beatification of McGivney coincided with “timely signs of God’s providential care that can speak in a personal way to each one of us, especially in this moment of our history.”
McGivney, said Tobin, was someone who “worked to keep families united in dignity, and security,” and took special care for members of his flock who were immigrants to the United States.
“We are in the presence of an apostle, who cared for victims of an epidemic, before he himself would die of the disease,” said Tobin. “We acknowledge gratefully the providence of God by confirming in the holiness of this witness by the miraculous cure of an unborn child, healed in utero of a fatal, multi-organ failure, after prayer by his family to Fr. McGivney.”
“We praise God for the timeliness of the celebration, because 130 years after his death, the brief life of this holy man speaks eloquently to our own path to holiness. We should listen to his testimony,” said Tobin.
While August 13 is the date of McGivney’s feast in the Archdiocese of Hartford, priests outside the archdiocese will be permitted to celebrate votive Masses for Knights of Columbus gatherings on this date with permission of their bishops.
 
Blair closed the Mass by thanking those who had assisted with the beatification process and the logistics of planning and broadcasting the Mass amid a pandemic. He requested that people pray daily for McGivney’s continued intercession in the world.
 
“First, that with Bl. Michael McGivney as our model, and with his intercession, that many more men will heed God’s call to serve as priests,” said Blair.
 
“And second, that at Bl.Michael McGivney’s intercession, we may be blessed with a further miracle leading to his canonization as a saint for the whole Church.”

From 22 countries around Europe, the men and women came at the invitation of Pope Francis, who has called the poor the “treasures of the Church,” to participate in the European Festival of Joy and Mercy held in Rome Nov. 11-13.

From the UK, Josephine Kandeba said meeting Pope Francis was like “a daughter talking with her father.”

“He is very humble,” she told EWTN News. “He listened to me. When I stopped him, I said, 'Holy Father, if you don’t mind, I want to say something'. He stopped, while I was holding his hand and while he was holding mine, and I said what I wanted to say to him.”

Having been on the streets for years, Josephine now lives at a shelter in London. She said she never thought that one day she “could see the Pope.”

Other pilgrims attending the event said they were struck by Francis’ great love for the poor, and the attention he showed to all of them. 

“Do you know why we’re here?” asked Terence, another pilgrim from the UK. We’ve come “from all over the world at the Holy Father’s invitation; that’s why we’re here.”

Terence also pointed out that Pope Francis said “he’s the Pope of the poor, and that has really stuck in my mind. Never before has a Pope said he’s the pope of the poor. He’s an exceptional man.”

Organized by the French organization Fratello, the event brought in groups of pilgrims from around Europe and the UK, including a large number from France and Poland, and Rome itself. It was organized as a way to help the homeless participate more fully in the Church and in the Jubilee of Mercy.

Organizations from five cities in the UK – Father Hudson’s Care, Cornerstone, the Church of Scotland and The Passage – together brought a group of around 50 pilgrims. The Passage, located in London, does street outreach in addition to having two hostels and a resource center for homeless.

The weekend’s schedule for pilgrims included an audience and catechesis with Pope Francis on Friday, a vigil of Mercy at the basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls on Saturday evening, and concluded with Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday.

In between these, the schedule included Morning Prayer, faith sharing, and of course, some free time to tour Rome and to walk through the Holy Doors for the Jubilee.

Charlie Egan, another pilgrim, told EWTN News he found it very moving when an older homeless man from France spoke to the Pope on Friday, with “tears in his eyes.”

“And the Pope, he showed so much love,” even giving the Frenchman a hug, Charlie said. “And then the Pope didn’t go away, he had a chat as if they were in a restaurant.”

“The Pope talked about every person, homeless or not, looking for that dream and that goal, talking about peace and love and charity.”

Charlie said that before going on the pilgrimage, he had four days to “look back” at his life. He said that he had “messed up” his life by drinking and had practiced no religion for years, only coming back to the faith a few years ago.

But at the vigil at St. Paul Outside the Walls, Charlie said he had the chance to speak with a priest “about everything,” and he came out afterward “with a bit of emotion.” 

One of the messages he said he received that weekend was that even if you’ve lived a “bad life,” there is still the sacrament of confession.

“Everything that Pope Francis said was brilliant,” said Jacob Mensah, a young man, also from London. What struck him was what Pope Francis said about dreams being for everyone, and that they all “have dignity.” 

Fr. Padraig Regan, a chaplain at The Passage, said the weekend was a huge “sign of respect” for everyone who participated. It was incredibly important for each of them to be “taken seriously” by the Church.

One of the organizers of the group from the UK, Bénédicte Miolane, is a member of Fratello who now lives in London. She said that Fratello is already talking about how they can include even more people from around the world in the future.

The goal, she said, would be to make it like a World Youth Day, but a version specifically for the poor and homeless.

Terence said that another major thing that struck him “and changed his view” was the love he witnessed between “rough sleepers” (what they call those who sleep on the street) and the “ordinary” people also participating in the event.

“It was the love between them that I noticed,” he said. “They have something about them, they show each other affection.”

Speaking to pilgrims at the event’s concluding Mass Nov. 13, Pope Francis said: “Let us look with trust to the God of mercy, with the certainty that ‘love never ends.’”

“And let us open our eyes to our neighbor, especially to our brothers and sisters who are forgotten and excluded. That is where the Church’s magnifying glass is pointed.”  

"From the time of the Mosaic law, the People of God have observed fixed feasts, beginning with Passover, to commemorate the astonishing actions of the Savior God, to give him thanks for them, to perpetuate their remembrance, and to teach new generations to conform their conduct to them. In the age of the Church, between the Passover of Christ already accomplished once for all, and its consummation in the kingdom of God, the liturgy celebrated on fixed days bears the imprint of the newness of the mystery of Christ."   -Catechism of the Catholic Church #1164

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A bit of humor…


Some Thoughts:
-I intend to live forever… or die trying.
-At what age is it appropriate to tell my dog that he’s adopted?
-I used to be in a band, we were called ‘lost dog’. You probably saw our posters.

Unique Gift
Every year on my birthday, I looked forward to my aunt’s gift—a scarf, hat, or sweater knitted by hand. One year, she must have had better things to do because I received a ball of yarn, knitting needles, and a how-to-knit book. Her card read "Scarf, some assembly required."

From the Mouths of Infants and Babes:

Little Angel!
Little Johnny's new baby brother was screaming up a storm.
Johnny asked his mom, "Where'd he come from?"
 "He came from heaven, Johnny."
Johnny responded: "Wow! I can see why they threw him out!"

On the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a note from his mother. The note read, 'The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents.'

A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup out of the jar. During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answer the phone. 'Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to you right now. She's hitting the bottle.'
 
While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, 'Are you a cop? Yes,' I answered and continued writing the report. My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?' 'Yes, that's right,' I told her. 'Well, then,' she said as she extended her foot toward me, 'would you please tie my shoe?'

A little girl had just finished her first week of school. 'I'm just wasting my time,' she said to her mother. 'I can't read, I can't write, and they won't let me talk!'
 ​

MOTHER'S PRAYER TO THE GUARDIAN ANGEL OF HER CHILDREN
I humbly salute you, O you faithful, heavenly Friends of my children!  I give you heartfelt thanks for all the love and goodness you show them.  At some future day I shall, with thanks more worthy than I can now give, repay your care for them, and before the whole heavenly court acknowledge their indebtedness to your guidance and protection.  Continue to watch over them.  Provide for all their needs of body and soul.  Pray, likewise, for me, for my husband, and my whole family, that we may all one day rejoice in your blessed company. Amen.

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+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
Solemnity of All Saints – November 1, 2020

The First Reading - Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
I, John, saw another angel come up from the East, holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked from every tribe of the children of Israel. After this 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. They cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.” All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: “Amen.  Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever.  Amen." Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.”
Reflection
This protecting angel appears from the direction of the rising sun, the source of light and the place of paradise (Genesis 2:8). God’s actions in history traditionally came from the East (see Isaiah 41:1-4, 25; 46:11; Ezekiel 43:1-3). It was also from the east that the messiah was expected. This angel comes as the representative of Christ, the sun of righteousness who has risen with healing in His wings [Malachi 4:2]. The imagery which Saint John draws upon here is taken from Ezekiel 9:1-7. The seal of the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30) is applied to the righteous before the seals of wrath are applied to the wicked; Pentecost precedes Holocaust. The protective mark in Ezekiel 9 is literally tav, the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The ancient Hebrew form of the tav was a cross – a fact which was not lost on the early Church which saw it as a prophetic reference to the sign of the cross used by Christians. It is possible that the use of the sign of 3 the cross in baptism may have originated in this passage.
Adults - Is there a crucifix in your home? If not find a place and put one in the main room.
Teens - Why do you think the east is the traditional direction of God’s actions?
Kids - Take special time when making the Sign of the Cross - it is a prayer in itself.  

Responsorial- Psalm 24:1BC-2, 3-4AB, 5-6
R.Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Reflection
This Psalm reminds us that God should be the center of our worldview.  How do you put God at the center of your life?

The Second Reading- 1 John 3:1-3
Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure.
Reflection -    “see what love” In the truest and most absolute sense, God’s gift of love has been the gift of His only Son as savior of the world (John 3:16). It is this gift that has 1) Opened heaven for us; 2) Given us the sacrificial meal so we can eat of it and join in His family covenant.
 -Do you think of the Eucharist as a family meal?
The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 5:1-12A
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.  He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”
Reflection  The teaching was not just to the twelve but in reaction to Jesus’ seeing the crowds. Commentators have postulated that the crowd formed concentric rings around Jesus with the twelve making up the innermost ring. To understand the meaning of blessing we must look to the Old Testament where it is conceived as a communication of life from God. With life comes vigor, strength, and success, which brings one peace of mind and peace with the world.  
Adults - Meekness is not weakness, but it is gentleness. How do you practice this virtue in your life?
Teens - How do you work as a peacemaker in your daily life?
Kids - What does it mean to be poor in spirit?
LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK!
During the year the Church celebrates one by one the feasts of the saints. Today she joins them all in one festival. In addition to those whose names she knows, she recalls in a magnificent vision all the others "of all nations and tribes standing before the throne and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, proclaiming Him who redeemed them in His Blood."
The feast of All Saints should inspire us with tremendous hope. Among the saints in heaven are some whom we have known. All lived on earth lives like our own. They were baptized, marked with the sign of faith, they were faithful to Christ's teaching and they have gone before us to the heavenly home whence they call on us to follow them. The Gospel of the Beatitudes, read today, while it shows their happiness, shows, too, the road that they followed; there is no other that will lead us whither they have gone.




588. What does “Hallowed be thy Name” mean? c) a prayer of praise that acknowledges God as holy 
To hallow or make holy the Name of God is above all a prayer of praise that acknowledges God as holy. In fact, God revealed his holy Name to Moses and wanted his people to be consecrated for him as a holy nation in which he would dwell. 


589. How is the Name of God made holy in us and in the world?d) all of the above 
To make holy the Name of God, who calls us “to holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:7) is to desire that our baptismal consecration animate our whole life. In addition, it is to ask –with our lives and our prayers – that the Name of God be known and blessed by every man. 


590. What does the Church ask for when she prays “Thy Kingdom come”?a) the Church prays for the final coming of the Kingdom of the God 
The Church prays for the final coming of the Kingdom of God through Christ’s return in glory. The Church prays also that the Kingdom of God increase from now on through people’s sanctification in the Spirit and through their commitment to the service of justice and peace in keeping with the Beatitudes. This petition is the cry of the Spirit and the Bride: “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20). 


591. Why pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”?d) all of the above 
The will of the Father is that “all men be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4). For this Jesus came: to perfectly fulfill the saving will of his Father. We pray God our Father to unite our will to that of his Son after the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints. We ask that this loving plan be fully realized on earth as it is already in heaven. It is through prayer that we can discern “what is the will of God” (Romans 12:2) and have the “steadfastness to do it” (Hebrews 10:36).

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

All Saints Day Readings:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110120.cfm



All Soul's Day Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110220.cfm

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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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“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.”

TV Series, Catholicism
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"Shook me to the core..."-Mike Leonard, NBC Today Show Correspondent and Executive Producer of CATHOLICISM
 
"This is the most important media project in the history of the Catholic Church in America. A stimulating and compelling exploration of the spiritual, moral, and intellectual riches of the Catholic world. " -George Weigel, Biographer of Blessed John Paul II

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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.

Catholic Websites of the Week
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Best Parish Practices

PARISH CAN HAVE 'HELP DESK' IN GATHERING PLACE OUTSIDE OF CHURCH 

Have a desk with someone at it to help people questions about your parish and some material from the Parish Office (after pandemic).
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BENEFITS:
It usually takes a lot for someone to talk to the Parish Priest or even come by the Parish Office, or the hours never fit some schedules.  Many have questions when they come to Mass, but forget to ask later.  Having a 'Help Desk' with someone at it can do all this and more, and the desk can have items from Kleenexes and hand sanitizer to schedules, Mass Intentions, to parish ministries, etc.


HOW:
Talk to your Parish Priest and ask if he is open to it.  Then get a desk of some type (standing desks work best) for a person to be at with all the things that might be helpful for visitors and regular Mass goers along with someone who is eager to help others.

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When Matt and Elizabeth Doucette were students at Franciscan University of Steubenville and first dating, she wanted to get him a rosary for a Christmas gift. Shopping for one, she couldn’t locate “the” rosary she wanted, so she ended up gathering beads for a rosary and other parts, including the crucifix and medal, and making the special rosary she really had in mind but couldn’t find.

“That was the little seed all the way back,” Matt said, because at that time neither realized that six years after they would marry in 2006, they would launch Design My Rosary (DesignMyRosary.com), their family business run from home. Elizabeth already had experience making rosaries with her mother for the Fathers of Mercy in Kentucky. “My mom was making rosaries for them. That’s how I learned,” she said. Then Matt presented the inspiration to start Design My Rosary. With his experience, Matt designed their website and worked with his wife to make rosaries. 

The family is always happy to hear the stories behind the unique rosary creations. As Matt shared, “We find we often make them for children being baptized.” The Doucettes share this family tradition, he said: “We make a rosary for each of the children and have it blessed at their baptism.”

“And lots of people tell us about one for a convert entering the Church,” he added. The Doucettes feel honored and privileged “to be included in those stories and those moments. We feel we’re part of it when they ask us to make that rosary.”

There are the sad stories, too, whether for funerals or the loss of a child. These stories stick out for Elizabeth. “As a mother we’ve done several memorial rosaries for infants that have passed away. I’ve always been touched by that. We had a close friend who we did that for as well.” 

Many happy occasions include making rosaries for weddings. Often people buy rosaries to go in the bride’s bouquet. “One of the most fun things is when we have made rosaries for the entire wedding party,” Elizabeth said.

In fact, it might be said the Rosary led to the Doucettes’ marriage. The time-honored devotion brought Matt and Elizabeth together in 2002, when they were students at Franciscan University. “We met because of the Rosary,” Matt explained. “We happened to be in a similar random collection of students that began praying the Rosary at the grotto,” Elizabeth added, referring to a popular devotional site on campus. 

“Over time we’d hang around talking, then developed a friendship and started dating.”
Naturally, the Rosary has always continued to be a big part of their lives, including as Matt transitioned to working full time with Elizabeth.

“One of the first things I did when I left teaching and Elizabeth was making the rosaries was to produce a Rosary DVD,” he said. “Our children inspired us to create ‘Pray the Rosary,’ a DVD that has helped us as a family pray the Rosary together, which can be a challenge with children.”

An animated Rosary is seen below each decade, each illustrated with beautiful artwork through all four mysteries, helping even the youngest pray-ers to keep their place.

The Rosary anchors their family life with eight children — Maximilian, 14; Isabella Clare, 12; Olivia Irene, 10; Benjamin Joseph, 8; Dominic, 7; Samuel, 5; Gabriel, 3; and Violet, who is going on 2 months — amid home schooling. As Elizabeth explained, “We’ve had times where we’ve really struggled to sit together and pray the Rosary as a family. We make a recommitment to pray it each day. I feel like the grace that comes from God and knowing I’m helping my children develop this prayer life and carry it into adulthood is wonderful. We struggle like any family. The baby will throw things across the room, and that gets giggles. That’s all part of the beauty of it.”

As she also shared, “I enjoy how as the kids have gotten older they can help lead each one of the decades, and it feels more like praying it as a family.”

In terms of the family business, the children assist with packing the rosaries into the gift boxes in which they’re shipped, labeling packages and mailing them. The two older girls learned how to make rosaries from their mother. Of the scores of different beads, Bella said, “There’s Cats Eye I really like working with.” Another favorite is a Christmas-themed one “that’s really pretty.” Livy has her favorites, too. “My favorite kind of bead is called tree agate.”
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They may make rosaries as a family, but praying the Rosary is the most important legacy. As Elizabeth said, “We make a recommitment to pray it each day.”  

Twenty-year-old Gonzáles has watched her story go viral over the last week on social media over a post on the “Miss Mexico” Facebook page.


Gonzáles was born April 12, 1997, in Valle de Guadalupe, Jalisco State, to a Catholic family. She currently resides at the convent of the Poor Clare Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament of Cuernavaca in Morelos State, after leaving her career as a nutritionist.


“You really don’t know what religious life is until you’re within it. So far, I have been able to see from another perspective what the world is and what it offers you,” the young novice told CNA.


“I was very happy with everything I had, but it does not compare with the happiness that God now places in my heart.”


The young postulant met the Poor Clare Missionaries five years ago, at the age of 14, when her concern for a religious vocation “was awakening” through “vocational days, missions and camps.”


In addition, she pointed out how it was hardly a month after this process of discernment concluded, when on March 2017, she gave her first Yes to her vocation on the Solemnity of the Annunciation.


“God’s timing is perfect. During this time [of discernment] he allowed me to have some experiences, such as being a beauty queen and other experiences, which forever left their mark and which allowed me to learn a lot for what was to come later.”


The discovery of the vocation to which she had been called was always present in her life like a “little thorn,” she said.


“I realized that I had to make room in my life to know what it was that God had planned for me. In the process of discerning my vocation, there was also fear and doubts, but the love that Our Lord was showing every day made me overcome any feeling of discouragement,” she said.


She said she had discovered that God was calling her “to serve him in a radical way,” that is, changing her “life to embrace the cross of Christ and live it more closely.”
“I have been in religious life very little time, but I truly have been very happy,” she said.


In order to discover her vocation, she spent a lot of time in prayer and charity, “knowing from the outside or from the world” what this change would involve.
“Change is hard for the family because it involves detachment, but I have always had the support of my parents, siblings and true friends. Even though I could have developed myself in some other setting, I feel that if the Lord needs me, then I can bear fruit in a different way,” she told CNA.


Offering advice for young people, she said that in any vocation there will be difficulties, “but if you go and take God’s hand, you'll always be able to take the next step.”
“In religious life every new day is a new beginning and a new opportunity to extend the Kingdom of God. This involves making a lot of sacrifices, but they are always rewarded with happiness,” she said.


The young novice also said that it is true that “the reality and the supposed happiness that the world sells is very attractive,” but “it is necessary to fix your eyes on what lasts.”
The Poor Clare Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament are a Religious Institute of Pontifical Right founded by Blessed María Inés Teresa Arias in 1945 in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
The spirit of the order is Eucharistic, Marian, priestly and missionary and is centered on Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.


The missionaries work in clinics, youth groups, preschools and schools, university dorms, centers for the spiritual exercises and missions, among others. They are present in Mexico, Costa Rica, Argentina, the United States, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Russia, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Vietnam and India.


“You mustn’t be afraid,” the young novice encouraged her peers. “If God is calling you, he’ll take care of everything. All you need to do is receive him with a lot of peace, joy and confidence. I believe fear is a big excuse that is responsible for truncating the true happiness that only God can offer.”

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A bit of humor…
​

-“So what have you been doing at school today, Johnny?”-“I don’t really want to talk about it mom. You’ll see it later on the news, anyways.”
-Little Johnny asks the teacher, “Mrs. Roberts, can I be punished for something I haven’t done?”-Mrs. Roberts is shocked, “Of course not, Johnny, that would be very unfair!”-Little Johnny is relieved, “OK Mrs. Roberts, sorry, I haven’t done my homework.”







-The sole purpose of a child’s middle name, is so he can tell when he’s really in trouble.
-I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
-The shinbone is a device for finding furniture in a dark room.
-You know you’re texting too much when……you try to text, but you’re on a landline.
-I can't believe I got fired from the calendar factory.  All I did was take a day off.
-I asked my daughter if she’d seen my newspaper. She told me that newspapers are old school. She said that people use tablets nowadays and handed me her iPad. The fly didn’t stand a chance. 


THE NEW LAWYER




Joe grew up in a small town, then moved away to attend college and law school. He decided to come back to the small town because he could be a big man in this small town. He really wanted to impress everyone.


He opened his new law office, but business was very slow at first. One day, he saw a man coming up the sidewalk. He decided to make a big impression on this new client when he arrived. 


As the man came to the door, Joe picked up the phone. He motioned the man in, all the while talking...


"No. Absolutely not. You tell those clowns in New York that I won't settle this case for less than one million..."


"Yes. The Appeals Court has agreed to hear that case next week. I'll be handling the primary argument and the other members of my team will provide support..."


"Okay. Tell the DA that I'll meet with him next week to discuss the details..."


This sort of thing went on for almost 5 minutes. All the while the man sat patiently as Joe rattled instructions.


Finally, Joe put down the phone and turned to the man.


"I'm sorry for the delay, but as you can see, I'm very busy. What can I do for you?"


The man replied "I'm from the phone company...I came to hook up your phone."


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
A Sunday School teacher asked her class why Joseph and Mary took Jesus

with them to Jerusalem. A small child replied: "They couldn't get a babysitter."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An elderly woman died last month. Having never married, she requested no

male pallbearers. In her handwritten instructions for her memorial

service, she wrote, "They wouldn't take me out while I was alive, I

don't want them to take me out when I'm dead!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A police recruit was asked during the exam, "What would you do if you

had to arrest your own mother?" He said, "Call for backup."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How to Install a Cheap Home Security System
1. Go to a second-hand store and buy a pair of men's used size 14-16 work
boots.

2. Place them on your front porch, along with several empty beer cans, a
copy of Guns & Ammo magazine and several NRA magazines.

3. Put a few giant dog dishes next to the boots and magazine.

4. Leave a note on your door that reads: 
Hey Bubba, Big Jim, Duke and Slim,
I went to the gun shop for more ammunition. Back in an hour. Don't mess
with the pit bulls -- they attacked the mailman this morning and messed him
up real bad. I don't think Killer took part in it but it was hard to tell
from all the blood. PS - I locked all four of 'em in the house. Better
wait outside.  -Cooter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


SAINT Thérèse of Lisieux
“Oh, how well I know that happiness is not found in the things around us. 
It is found in the secrecy of the soul.”

​

Prayer for All the Faithfully Departed


V. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
R. and let perpetual light shine upon them.
V. May they rest in peace.
R. Amen.
V. May all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
R. Amen


 ​

+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
30th Sunday of Ordinary Time - October 25, 2020


The First Reading - Exodus 22:20-26
Thus says the LORD: "You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans. "If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him. If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. What else has he to sleep in? If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate."
Reflection
The alien is one who, because of war, plague, famine, or bloodguilt, was forced to leave his home. In his new abode, his civil rights are, understandably, less than those of his neighbors. As assurance that the Israelites would be hospitable to these unfortunates, the code reminds them of their former status as aliens in Egypt. Any wrong done to the unprotected widow and orphan would also incur the just wrath of the Lord. Extortion of interest on a loan to a fellow Israelite, particularly if he were needy, was sharply prohibited. However, the Old Testament does not proscribe all interest. From both Leviticus 25:35-38 and Deuteronomy 23:20-21, the injunction clearly regarded only a loan to one’s countryman. The deuteronomic code clearly allows interest to be demanded from foreigners. The loans addressed here are not for commercial purposes but to alleviate distress: to take interest on them would be to profit from another’s misfortune. The poor are specifically protected; their cloak, which also served as their blanket at night, had to be returned to them by evening. The compassionate God watches over the weak. Amos 2:8 accuses the wealthy of sleeping upon garments taken in pledge.
Adults - Do you consider the moral aspects of the purchases you make?
Teens - How can we as a society profit from others misfortune without even realizing it, and how can we prevent it?
Kids - What are some of the ways your family and your parish help the poor?


Responsorial- Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
The LORD lives and blessed be my rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
Reflection
Psalm 18 reminds us that God is our protector and has power over life, death, and all things. What does it mean for your life that God is the Lord of all?


The Second Reading- 1 Thessalonians 1:5C-10
Brothers and sisters: You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves openly declare about us what sort of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.
Reflection - The reading for last week closed with a proclamation about how evangelization (preaching the gospel) was carried out. This week’s reading completes that verse by stressing that the apostle’s lifestyle is an important witness to the authenticity of their message.
-Does your way of life show others Christ?


The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law tested him by asking, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
Reflection The Pharisees had enumerated 613 commandments but there was no agreement as to what the ranking was. After all, one of them must be the most important, the first from which all the others descended. Jesus cites Deuteronomy 6:5. Love is not primarily a feeling but covenant fidelity – a matter of willing and doing. Although this is part of the schema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:13-21, Numbers 15:37-41), a prayer recited daily by faithful Jews and the principal Jewish confession of faith, it was not numbered among the commandments. Jesus now cites Leviticus 19:18, another one not numbered among the commandments. The rabbis said that the world hangs on Torah, temple service, and deeds of loving kindness – or on truth, judgment and peace. Jesus makes the Law itself depend upon deeds of love.
Adults - Who is your neighbor?
Teens - What does it mean to really love your neighbor as God loves?
Kids - How does God show you that He loves you?


LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! - Where Christians can, and too often do fail, is in their true love of neighbor. Yet Christ says that this commandment is like the first. Love of neighbor is an essential part of our obligations toward God. If we fail in this we fail in our love for God, for we refuse to carry out this sacred duty. If we do not recognize our neighbor as our brother, we do not recognize God as our Father and we do not love him. As St. John puts it: "Anyone who says 'I love God' and hates (does not love) his neighbor is a liar" (1 Jn.3: 20).
Let each one of us ask himself today how seriously he takes this law of fraternal charity and how faithfully he carries it out. Not all of us may be able to give material help to a neighbor in need but the poorest of us can spare a kindly word, an encouraging word, for a neighbor weighed down with cares and troubles. All of us can pray for a neighbor who needs spiritual and temporal help. Most of us can deny ourselves some unnecessary luxuries in order to give a needed loaf of bread to a hungry fellowman, while those who have an abundance of this world's goods need not look far afield to find cases and causes worthy of their Christian charity.
Remember that whatever spiritual or material help is given out of true charity to a neighbor in need, is given to God, and whatever is given to God is soundly invested in heaven, and heaven pays handsome dividends.
-Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by 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.

​

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
 
         When one is at the Holy Mass, they kneel from the conclusion of the Holy, Holy, Holy to the conclusion of the Great Amen and after the Lamb of God.  This has been given by the Pope and received by the U.S. Bishops in the 2007 directives for the Mass (IGRM [GIRM] #43).
 
         Why do we do this and why do we sometimes kneel when we privately pray?  Let Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI explain it:
“Kneeling does not come from any culture — it comes from the Bible and its knowledge of God. The central importance of kneeling in the Bible can be seen in a very concrete way. The word proskynein alone occurs fifty-nine times in the New Testament, twenty-four of which are in the Apocalypse, the book of the heavenly Liturgy, which is presented to the Church as the standard for her own Liturgy.”  - The Spirit of the Liturgy
 
So kneeling comes to us from God by way of revelation in the Sacred Scripures (Holy Bible).  But why is it so important?  The Pope Emeritus continues:
“The two aspects are united in the one word, because in a very profound way they belong together. When kneeling becomes merely external, a merely physical act, it becomes meaningless. On the other hand, when someone tries to take worship back into the purely spiritual realm and refuses to give it embodied form, the act of worship evaporates, for what is purely spiritual is inappropriate to the nature of man. Worship is one of those fundamental acts that affect the whole man. That is why bending the knee before the presence of the living God is something we cannot abandon.”  - The Spirit of the Liturgy
 
So he highlights that for worship to be real it must be on our hearts spiritually AND reflected in our bodies physically, in this case, by kneeling.
         Jesus Himself prayed kneeling before His Father:
 
After withdrawing about a stone's throw from them and kneeling, he prayed, saying, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me;still, not my will but yours be done."   -Luke 22:41-42
 
          May these truths and realities make our next time of prayer on our knees more real and more life-changing!
 
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
 
P.S.  This Sunday is the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time.  >> Readings
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​Pope Francis beatified 15-year-old Carlo Acutis on Sat., Oct. 10, 2020 in Assisi, Italy.
Born on May 3, 1991, Bl. Carlo is best known for his incredible computer programming skills and his website dedicated to Eucharistic miracles. The Italian teen also deeply loved the Eucharist and Our Lady. He prayed the Rosary and went to Mass every day.
Bl. Carlo died of leukemia on Oct. 12, 2006. He offered his sufferings for “the pains of the Pope and the Church.” His tomb remains on display in Assisi, due to the vast number of pilgrims visiting before and following his beatification.
He is also the first millennial to be named “blessed.”
Here’s 15 quotes from this new blessed to inspire you in your daily living:
1) “The Eucharist is the highway to heaven.”
2) “Our soul is like a hot air balloon. If by chance there is a mortal sin, the soul falls to the ground. Confession is like the fire underneath the balloon enabling the soul to rise again. . . It is important to go to confession often.”
3) “Continuously ask your guardian angel for help. Your guardian angel has to become your best friend.”
4)  “All people are born as originals but many die as photocopies.”
5) “I am happy to die because I lived my life without wasting even a minute of it on anything unpleasing to God.”
6) “The Virgin Mary is the only woman in my life.”
7) “I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for the Pope, and the Church.”
8) “Do not be afraid because with the Incarnation of Jesus, death becomes life, and there’s no need to escape: in eternal life, something extraordinary awaits us.”
9) “The more Eucharist we receive, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of heaven”.
10) “When we face the sun we get a tan… but when we stand before Jesus in the Eucharist we become saints.”
11)  “By standing before the Eucharistic Christ, we become holy.”
12) “Our goal must be infinite, not the finite. The infinite is our homeland. Heaven has been waiting for us forever.”
13) “Sadness is looking at ourselves, happiness is looking towards God.”
14) “The only thing we have to ask God for, in prayer, is the desire to be holy.”
15) “What does it matter if you can win a thousand battles if you cannot win against your own corrupt passions? It doesn’t matter. The real battle is with ourselves.”
Bl. Carlo Acutis, pray for us!

The Saint and the Synod – Pope St. John Paul II’s Legacy Still Seen in Church Teaching

By Angela Ambrogetti
​Vatican 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

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!" ​

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 of Ordinary Time – October 18, 2020


The First Reading - Isaiah 45:1, 4-6
Thus says the LORD to his anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I grasp, subduing nations before him, and making kings run in his service, opening doors before him and leaving the gates unbarred: For the sake of Jacob, my servant, of Israel, my chosen one, I have called you by your name, giving you a title, though you knew me not. I am the LORD and there is no other, there is no God besides me. It is I who arm you, though you know me not, so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun people may know that there is none besides me. I am the LORD, there is no other.
Reflection
Cyrus was the founder of the Persian empire and as King of Persia he led the overthrow of the occupation by the Babylonians of Syria and Palestine in 539 B.C. Cyrus is mentioned by name in our reading today even though Isaiah wrote at least 162 years earlier. He was known as a liberator who had a policy of restoring the images of captured gods to their original temples, which he often rebuilt. It is said that Cyrus was so impressed at seeing his name in the Jewish Holy Scriptures that he released the people in 538 B.C. to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. Since the Jews had no divine image to place in their temple, he returned the sacred vessels of the temple which was looted by Nebuchadnezzar. Cyrus is the chosen and anointed one to bring about the restoration of God’s people. God is directing Cyrus’ steps. He is making sure that world history converges on His designs for a tiny captured group of people, Israel. He hasn’t violated Cyrus’ free will, but He has guided Cyrus’ actions.
Adults - Do you ask the Lord to make clear the direction He wants for your life?
Teens - Do you talk with the Lord throughout the day, asking Him to direct your steps?
Kids - How do you listen for God to guide you?


Responsorial- Psalm 96:1,3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10
R.Give the Lord glory and honor.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
For great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
awesome is he, beyond all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are things of nought,
but the LORD made the heavens.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and praise;
give to the LORD the glory due his name!
Bring gifts, and enter his courts.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
Worship the LORD, in holy attire;
tremble before him, all the earth;
say among the nations: The LORD is king,
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
Reflection
Adoration and praise are the proper response to the goodness of the Lord. How can you adore and praise the Lord this week?


The Second Reading- 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5B
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace. We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, knowing, brothers and sisters loved by God, how you were chosen. For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.
Reflection - St. Paul sent Timothy to confirm the converts in Thessalonica. Upon his return to St. Paul, Timothy reported that the Thessalonians were persevering in faith and charity despite still being harassed. Timothy also reported that certain questions were troubling the Thessalonians – things to do with life after death, and the second coming (or parousia). These questions prompted St. Paul to write this first letter. It reassures the Thessalonians about the fate of those who had already died in the Lord. Today we hear the opening greeting of this letter.The beginning of this letter is in typical fashion of a Hellenistic letter: it mentions the writer(s) , the recipient(s), and a greeting. “Sylvanus” is believed to be the Silas of Acts 15 3 through 17, the one who accompanied Paul on his second missionary journey after Paul’s quarrel with Barnabas and John Mark on the first journey. The letter is addressed to a group, not an individual, a gathering of Christians. As is typical of Paul’s letters, there is a prayer of thanksgiving. The thanksgiving is occasioned by the faith, hope and charity of the Thessalonians in their service of God. This is the earliest mention in Christian writing of the three theological virtues. The Thessalonians' acceptance of the faith is a consequence of election by God. This divine election was evident in the manner in which the gospel was preached and received among them. They have not just heard the message, but have acted upon it. St. Paul emphasizes that the power of the gospel lies not in the force of his own rhetoric but in the power of the Spirit of God. To give thanks to God for them is the act of one testifying to how they have advanced in the faith. Not only are the Thessalonians praised by Paul, but Paul thanks God for them, as though God Himself had accomplished everything. Paul also teaches them to be moderate in their self-estimation, all but saying that all their growth is from the power of God.
-How do you act upon the message of the Gospel?


The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 22:15-21
The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech. They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion, for you do not regard a person's status. Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?" Knowing their malice, Jesus said, "Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin that pays the census tax." Then they handed him the Roman coin. He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?" They replied, "Caesar's." At that he said to them, "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."
Reflection Recall that in this reading Jesus is in Jerusalem for His passion, death, and resurrection. As we heard last week, Jesus has been showing the chief priests and elders how God has been extending invitations to His people but they have been ignoring Him. Jesus’ enemies are now convinced that they will have to arrest Him. Supporters of the Herodian dynasty which was represented at that time by Herod Antiapas, 4 tetrarch of Galilee are mentioned. The Herodian fortunes were founded on unswerving loyalty to Rome; Herod the Great had proved this by magnificent political dexterity during the civil wars that followed the assassination of Julius Caesar. The Herodians and the Pharisees make an interesting combination – united only by the cause of bringing down Jesus. Their compliment conceals their deception. The position of the Herodians on the matter of taxes was quite clear. The party of the Zealots refused to admit the subjection of the people of God to a foreign power; the theoretical position of the Pharisees was identical with the Zealots, but they did not believe in the use of force to achieve independence. Either of the two proposed answers is going to offend one of the groups. The flattering words in which Jesus is addressed suggest that He was expected to take the Zealot position, which would subject Him to arrest. Jesus recognizes that both groups are trying to get Him to endorse a position which will offend one of them. He asks for a coin and they handed him the Roman coin - a denarius. The right to mint coinage is an act of sovereignty, and was jealously guarded by the Roman government. Satellite kings and free cities were permitted to issue coins, but it was clearly understood that this was done with Roman authorization. Unauthorized minting of coins was an act of rebellion. Since his image and inscription are on it, the coin must belong to Caesar. At that he said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” Jesus’ answer effectively evades the question rather than solves it. He does not appeal to the right but simply to the de facto existence of Caesar’s power, symbolized by Caesar’s 5 coinage. Whether Caesar has a right to rule is not touched by the answer. Jesus doesn’t say what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God; this determination Jesus is left to the personal decision of each man, who must solve the opposing claims of God and Caesar. Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:24 is valid here “No man can serve two masters.”
Adults - Humans are made in the image of God - do we show this by our loyalty to Him?
Teens - How do your moral beliefs affect the other parts of your life?
Kids - What helps you to follow God in all areas of life?


LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! - We have duties to God and duties to our country and the fulfillment of the latter is part of the fulfillment of the former. We Christians have no doubts as to our obligations under these two headings. We fulfill our duties to God by being faithful, loyal, active members of the spiritual kingdom, the Church, which Christ established on earth in order to lead us to our eternal kingdom. We fulfill our duties to our country by loyally obeying the just laws of the State, by paying all lawful taxes, and by contributing our share, whenever called on, toward the common good. Both St. Peter (1 Pet. 2: 13-14) and St. Paul (Rom. 13: 1-7), stressed the obligation on the early Christians of being an example to all in their loyalty as citizens of the state. The same necessity obliges us too. We who know the divine, positive and natural law so much better than many others, must help to enlighten those others by our faithful observance of these laws. And our loyalty, too, will give the lie to those enemies of the faith who, in their ignorance and foolish opposition to things spiritual, are only too ready to think that loyalty to our Church and our God must of necessity make us disloyal to our country. History already has given the lie to such calumnies, for the loyal Christian has ever been the loyal citizen, but we must keep on writing such history in glaring lights of daily deeds, for there are, and there always will be, those enemies who cannot read history books. -Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by 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.

​

"Helpful Hints of Life"


A Small White Cross in the Front Yard
(Truth of story is unknown, but idea for action is sound.)


 
 
 When driving to, from, and through Frankenmuth, Michigan, my family was always intrigued with the many small simple crosses in the front yards of the homes we passed by. Then one day we learned that those crosses are a statement of support for Frankenmuth's Christian foundation. The men from St. Lorenze Lutheran Church were making the crosses for those who wanted one. As fast as they could make them, they flew out of the church! 
 
Two years ago an atheist living there complained about two crosses on a bridge in town. He requested that they be removed and the town removed them. He then decided that, since he was so successful with that, the city shield should also be changed since it had on it, along with other symbols, a heart with a cross inside signifying the city's Lutheran beginnings.
 
At that point, the residents decided they had had enough. Hundreds of residents made their opinions known by placing small crosses in their front yards. Seeing this quiet but powerful statement from the community, the man removed his complaint. Those simple crosses remain in those front yards today.
 
After passing those crosses for two years, it finally hit me that a small cross in millions of front yards across our country could provide a powerful and inspiring message for all Americans passing them every day. I think it might be time to take this idea across America.
 
We have those who say, even high up, that "we are not a Christian nation" and everywhere you look others are trying to remove from our history and current lives any reference to God, prayer, or the fact that our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. The majority of Americans are Christians, why are we letting this happen to us?  It's time to stand up and make a statement...a small, quiet, but powerful statement.
 
If you agree, place a small wooden cross in your front yard or garden for all to see that they are not alone. It would be a beautiful thing to see crosses all across America.
 
God has richly blessed America but America is falling short of returning thanks for it, and this is only one way that we can help to change that. Do not be afraid to unobtrusively let others know where you stand and what you believe.
 
P.S. It's not a bad idea to make this a worldwide effort.
 
"Just as Jesus prays to the Father and gives thanks before receiving his gifts, so he teaches usfilial boldness: "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will." Such is the power of prayer and of faith that does not doubt: "all things are possible to him who believes." Jesus is as saddened by the "lack of faith" of his own neighbors and the "little faith" of his own disciples as he is struck with admiration at the great faith of the Roman centurion and the Canaanite woman."
 Catechism of the Catholic Church #2610

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With the beatification of Carlo Acutis in Assisi Saturday, the Catholic Church now has its first “Blessed” who loved Super Mario and Pokémon, but not as much as he loved the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
“To be always united with Jesus, this is my life program,” Carlo Acutis wrote at the age of seven.
The young Italian computer whiz, who died of leukemia at 15 offering his suffering for the pope and the Church, was beatified Oct. 10 in a Mass at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.
Born in 1991, Acutis is the first millennial to be beatified by the Catholic Church. The teen who had an aptitude for computer programming is now one step away from canonization. 
“Since he was a child … he had his gaze turned to Jesus. Love for the Eucharist was the foundation that kept alive his relationship with God. He often said ‘The Eucharist is my highway to heaven,” Cardinal Agostino Vallini said in his homily for the beatification.
“Carlo felt a strong need to help people discover that God is close to us and that it is beautiful to be with him to enjoy his friendship and his grace,” Vallini said.


During the beatification Mass, Acutis’ parents processed behind a relic of their son's heart which was placed near the altar. An apostolic letter from Pope Francis was read aloud in which the pope declared that Carlo Acutis’ feast will take place each year on Oct. 12, the anniversary of his death in Milan in 2006.
Masked pilgrims spread out in front of the Basilica of St. Francis and throughout the different piazzas in Assisi to watch the Mass on large screens as only a limited number of people were allowed inside.

Acutis’ beatification drew an estimated 3,000 people to Assisi, including people who personally knew Acutis and many other young people inspired by his witness.
Mattia Pastorelli, 28, was a childhood friend of Acutis, who first met him when they were both around the age of five. He remembers playing video games, including Halo, with Carlo. (Acutis’ mother also told CNA that Super Mario and Pokémon were Carlo’s favorites.)
“Having a friend who is about to become a saint is a very strange emotion,” Pastorelli told CNA Oct. 10. “I knew he was different from others, but now I realize just how special he was.”
“I watched him while he was programming websites … He was truly an incredible talent,” he added.
In his homily, Cardinal Vallini, the pontifical legate for the Basilica of St. Francis, hailed Acutis as a model of how young people can use technology at the service of the Gospel to “reach as many people as possible and help them know the beauty of friendship with the Lord.”
For Carlo, Jesus was “the strength of his life and the purpose of everything he did,” the cardinal said.
“He was convinced that to love people and do them good you need to draw energy from the Lord. In this spirit he was very devoted to Our Lady,” he added.
“His ardent desire was also that of attracting as many people to Jesus, making himself herald of the Gospel above all with the example of life.”
At a young age, Acutis taught himself how to program and went on to create websites cataloguing the world’s Eucharistic miracles and Marian apparitions.


“The Church rejoices, because in this very young Blessed the Lord's words are fulfilled: ‘I have chosen you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit.’ And Carlo ‘went’ and brought the fruit of holiness, showing it as a goal reachable by all and not as something abstract and reserved for a few,” the cardinal said.
“He was an ordinary boy, simple, spontaneous, likeable … he loved nature and animals, he played football, he had many friends of his age, he was attracted by modern means of social communication, passionate about computer science and, self-taught, he built websites to transmit the Gospel, to communicate values and beauty,” he said.
Assisi is celebrating the beatification of Carlo Acutis with more than two weeks of liturgies and events Oct. 1-17. During this time images of a young Acutis standing with a giant monstrance containing the Eucharist can be seen in front of churches all around the city of St. Francis and St. Clare.
People stood in line to pray before the tomb of Carlo Acutis, located in Assisi’s Sanctuary of the Spoliation in the Church of St. Mary Major. The church extended its hours until midnight throughout the beatification weekend to allow as many people as possible to venerate Acutis, with the social distancing measures in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Fr. Boniface Lopez, a Franciscan Capuchin based at the church, told CNA that he noted that many people who visited Acutis’ tomb also took advantage of the opportunity to go to confession, which is being offered in many languages throughout the 17 days when Acutis’ body is visible for venation.
“Many people are coming to see Carlo to ask for his blessing … also many young people; they come for confessions, they come because they want to change their lives and they want to come near God and really experience God,” Fr. Lopez said.
At a youth vigil the evening before the beatification, pilgrims gathered outside of the Assisi’s Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels while priests heard confessions inside.
Churches throughout Assisi also offered additional hours of Eucharistic Adoration to mark Acutis’ beatification.
Lopez said that he had also encountered many religious sisters and priests coming on pilgrimage to see Actutis. “Religious come here to ask his blessing to help them to cultivate a greater love for the Eucharist.”
As Acutis once said: “When we face the sun we get a tan ... but when we stand before Jesus in the Eucharist we become saints.”

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Chicago, Ill., Oct 12, (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.

Chicago, Ill., Oct 12, (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.

+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
28th Sunday of Ordinary Time – October 11th, 2020


The First Reading - Isaiah 25:6-10A
On this mountain the LORD of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines. On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations; he will destroy death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face; the reproach of his people he will remove from the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken. On that day it will be said: "Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us! This is the LORD for whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!" For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain.
Reflection
The prophet Isaiah wrote words of encouragement in a time of threat. Jerusalem, the holy mount of the Lord, would be a place of peace and equality. The city would be a space for mutual respect and mutual worship.
Adults - How do you encourage mutual respect in your daily life?
Teens - How do you treat those that disagree with you?
Kids - How can you show others your love for God?

Responsorial- Psalm 23:1-3A, 3B-4, 5, 6
R.I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Reflection
Reading this Psalm (Ps 23:6) in the context of today’s readings gives it new meaning - we can see it referring to Jesus. Jesus invites us to a banquet, the Eucharist, and goodness and love will pursue us all the days of our life and we look forward to dwelling in the house of the Lord for eternity. (Ps 23:6) Thank the Lord for the gift of the Eucharist in prayer this week.


The Second Reading- Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20
Brothers and sisters: I know how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance.
In every circumstance and in all things I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need. I can do all things in him who strengthens me. Still, it was kind of you to share in my distress. My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father, glory forever and ever. Amen.
Reflection - In his letter to the Philippians, St. Paul held himself to the community as an example of Christian living. He pointed to God's constant care in his experience of the ups and downs of life.
-How can Saint Paul be an example in your life?


The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 22:1-14
Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’ Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.’ The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests, he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. The king said to him, 'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?' But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’Many are invited, but few are chosen."
Reflection Jesus continues to use parables to challenge the chief priests and elders to see what is happening before their eyes and to change. Last week, He used the traditional image of Israel as the beloved vineyard of God - this week, He draws on the symbol of the Wedding Feast. As is customary, those invited to the wedding are those closest to families of those getting married. As is not so customary, Jesus says that those who were invited thought that they had better things to do - working on the farm or going about their business. Some were so incensed about being disturbed that they attacked those bringing the invitations. Understandably, the king who issued the invitation is furious and deals harshly with those who have murdered his servants. The feast is to go ahead - but now, he offers his invitation to the crowds in the streets - an open invitation to anyone who wants to come. Again, what was offered to - and rejected by - one group of people, is now passed on to another. The wedding hall, we are told, was full of guests - bad and good alike. Among the crowds, though, the king spots one who has not dressed for the occasion - and who cannot explain why. Here is someone who has responded to the invitation - but who still does not belong.The guest refuses to explain why not - and so suffers the same fate as those who rejected the first invitation - to be left outside - realising what they were missing. The invitation into the Kingdom is now open to everyone. We accept the invitation - but also need to make ourselves ready to attend the feast. We do this by putting on our “wedding garment” - in St Paul’s words, we put on Christ - we clothe ourselves in love - in gentleness - in all that is worthy of the Kingdom.
Adults - Pray about and choose a virtue that you need to work on in your life, commit to one month of working on it.
Teens - How can you be more gentle in your daily life?
Kids - Why is it important for us to be gentle with others?


LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! - We have the invitation to the wedding feast; in fact, we are already in the banquet hall, since our baptism; but are we wearing the wedding garment of virtue and grace? If not, we are no better off than those who rejected the invitation. The king may come in at any moment and cast out those who are not properly dressed. Being a member of the Church on earth is a wonderful privilege, and a sure guarantee that we will reach heaven, if we receive the gift of Jesus. But the same obstacles which prevented the Pharisees from entering the kingdom—love of this world, its wealth and its pleasures—can impede us too, unless we are on our guard. The world with its allurements is very close to us; heaven seems very far away. This implies a daily carrying of the cross, a daily struggle against our evil inclinations, a daily endeavor to acquire true love of God and neighbor. This may sound superhuman, but Christ did not ask anyone to do the impossible. He led the way, and millions have followed him to eternal glory. He has called us too and has placed within our easy reach in his Church all the grace we need. We have been called with the many. We can be among the "chosen."
 





 

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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