Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
 
        Pray, Pray, PRAY.  Ok, so we know that we must pray, but how do we do it.  Is one way more effective than another?  How did the saints pray?  What gave them their 'power'?  "Mental prayer is the blessed furnace in which souls are inflamed with the love of God. All the saints have become saints by mental prayer" (St. Alphonsus de Liguori).


        Mental Prayer/Meditation (see term below) is the difference.  Mental Prayer/Meditation is interior prayer engaging the mind, heart, soul, and strength.  Vocal Prayer (see term below) is more exterior.  One can offer Vocal Prayer and perhaps remain in sin.  One who constantly offers Mental Prayer will either give up sin or give up Mental Prayer. 


        Next week, I will give you the steps to offer mental prayer.


Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
 
P.S.  A former Sunday's homily is in written form at the end of the e-weekly. 
​P.S.S.  This coming Sunday is the 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time.  The readings can be found at:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/073122.cfm
​
P.S.S.S.  Readings with questions for self or family reflection found at the end of e-weekly.

​538. In the Old Testament, what relationship do the king and the temple have to prayer?  (Catechism of the Catholic Church-CCC 2578-2580, 2594)
a. God came to be with the people through the temple
b. The king only prayed for himself
c. God directed everyone to just pray in the temple
d. The king was the only one who prayed for his people


539. What is the role of prayer in the mission of the prophets? (CCC 2581-2584)
a. After prayer the prophets led the people
b. The primary job of the prophets was to continually offer sacrifice to God
c. By prayer they brought God’s message to the people and the people to God
d. The prophets were the ones who lived the exact life God wanted His people to live


540. What is the importance of the Psalms in prayer?(CCC 2579, 2585-2589, 2596-2597)
a. They are the crowning moment of prayer in the Old Testament
b. They are where the Word of God become the prayer of man
c. Christ prayed the Psalms and brought them to fulfillment
d. all of the above


PRAYER IS FULLY REVEALED AND REALIZED IN JESUS


541. From whom did Jesus learn how to pray?(CCC 2599, 2620)
a. He taught Himself
b. His mother and the Jewish Tradition 
c. the created world around Him
d. none of the above



(Answers at end.)

Catholic Website of the Week

A Beginners Guide to Catholic Mental Prayer
http://www.beginningcatholic.com/christian-meditation.html
 
This is a practical guide to explain and assist you through the steps to this powerful means of union with God.
 
[For those traveling this summer and needing to get to the Holy Mass.]
MASS TIMES AND CATHOLIC CHURCHES throughout the US

http://www.masstimes.org/
​
When traveling this Summer maybe add some religion to your trip.  
Perhaps stop at a monastery or Cathedral you come across. 
There are many Catholic historical sites.
Or visit http://www.catholicshrines.net/  for a shrine near your vacation destination.

​

Best Parish Practices


DONUT (FRESH FRUIT) FELLOWSHIP SUNDAY WITH PARISH GROUPS HOSTING


After Sunday Mass, host a time of fellowship (once a month or every week) that is run by the parish organizations that includes, donuts, fruit, breakfast bars or other food.  For Saturday night, maybe a soup supper can be hosted by 5-6 people supplying the soup, sandwiches.


BENEFITS:
People join in fellowship and get to know each other and grow from the food of the Eucharist (Holy Mass), by then sharing a meal together.  Parish organizations can get their name, their work, who they are and recruit members by speaking with those who come through the line.  Banners or information can be available on tables where people sit for people to take or pass on.


HOW?
Consult and ask if it is okay with your Parish Priest.  The Pastoral Council or a staff member might be able to schedule and coordinate groups to rotate doing the setup, serving and clean up.  The coordinating person can give written instructions and remind the organization's leader each time or hand them a schedule.  Organization leader then gets people at a monthly meeting.  Parish can pay for the donuts, fruit, food, or the organization can.  Cups, napkins, etc. can be supplied by the parish possibly bought in bulk and used each time Donut Fellowship Sunday is had.

​

The Chosen, YouTube / The Chosen, Official Website
​This is such a beautiful series!
The Chosen is the first-ever multi-season television show depicting the lives of Jesus and His apostles.
After the first episode launched, the series become the #1 media and film crowdfunding project of all time. More than 15,000 people invested over $10 million to fund this project.
​
Here’s the trailer below:
https://youtu.be/K1-FoFj8Jbo

Click here if you cannot see the video above.
Director Dallas Jenkins told ChurchPOP that the idea stemmed from a short film he created about Jesus’ birth from the shepherds’ perspective. While filming this project for his church, the idea of a multi-season show came to mind.
“I think really digging into the characters, spending time with them, and getting to know them in a show, as opposed to a quick movie, is an interesting idea,” Jenkins told ChurchPOP.
“People started catching onto the vision, and that’s when they came up with the crowdfunding idea, and here we are.”
Jenkins worked in Hollywood for about 20 years. He presented the idea to some of his contacts, but could not receive the proper funding needed for the project.
However, the streaming video company VidAngel expressed interest, and moved forward with the show. It is now available through their website.
Jenkins said show’s response has been “overwhelming.” He said both kids and parents say they “watched each episode multiple times,” and he “didn’t necessarily think kids would get into the show.”
“Every day we get dozens of people saying it changed their lives or relationship with God—that they’re seeing Jesus in a whole new way,” Jenkins said.
“It’s really powerful seeing how the show’s impacted people’s relationship with God. And especially seeing that from kids is an incredible thing.”
Jenkins hopes the show will run for at least six seasons, with eight episodes each. The first four episodes are now available, and episode one is available for free on YouTube.
The complete Second Season has been released, all free.  The Third Season will be out this year, 2022.

​

19th-Century Italian Teen to be Canonized During Youth SynodBy Hannah Brockhaus
Vatican City, Jul 19  (EWTN News/CNA)
Bl. Nunzio Sulprizio, who died at the age of 19 from bone cancer, will be declared a saint Oct. 14 during the Synod of Bishops on young people, faith, and vocational discernment, Pope Francis announced Thursday.

The pope announced the date of the young Italian’s canonization during an ordinary public consistory at the Vatican July 19. The canonization will take place alongside six others, including that of Bl. Oscar Romero and Bl. Pope Paul VI, who presided over Sulprizio’s beatification.

At the beatification Dec. 1, 1963, Paul VI said that Bl. Nunzio Sulprizio teaches us that “the period of youth should not be considered the age of free passions, of inevitable falls, of invincible crises, of decadent pessimism, of harmful selfishness. Rather, he will tell you how being young is a grace…”

“He will tell you that no other age than yours, young people, is as suitable for great ideals, for generous heroism, for the coherent demands of thought and action,” the pope continued. “He will teach you how you, young people, can regenerate the world in which Providence has called you to live, and how it is up to you first to consecrate yourselves for the salvation of a society that needs strong and fearless souls.”

Sulprizio said it was “God’s Providence” that cared for him during his short life, and would say, “Jesus endured so much for us and by his merits eternal life awaits us. If we suffer a little bit, we will taste the joy of paradise” and “Jesus suffered a lot for me. Why should I not suffer for him?”

Born in the Italian region of Abruzzo in 1817, Sulprizio learned the faith from a priest at the local school he attended and from his maternal grandmother.

He was orphaned before the age of six, and after the death of his grandmother three years later, went to live with an uncle, who took him on as an apprentice blacksmith, not permitting him to attend school anymore. 

His uncle also mistreated him, sending him on long errands, beating him, and withholding meals if he thought things were not done correctly or the boy needed discipline. The young Sulprizio would take consolation in Eucharistic adoration and in praying the rosary.

While still very young, he contracted an infection in one of his legs, causing intense and constant pain, with a puss-oozing sore. Due to a lack of proper medical care, the boy developed gangrene, and was sent to a hospital in Naples. There he would unite his pain with Christ’s suffering on the cross, also helping his fellow patients.

During this time, Sulprizio was introduced to a colonel who treated him like a son and helped pay for his medical treatments. While in the hospital, the young man was visited by a priest who prepared him for his first confession and Holy Communion. 

He also met St. Gaetano Errico, an Italian priest and founder of the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, who promised him he could enter the religious order when he was old enough.

Though he experienced periods of increasing health, Sulprizio contracted bone cancer. His leg was amputated, but it did not help, and he died from the illness shortly after his 19th birthday in 1836. One of the last things he told his friend, the colonel, was, “be cheerful. From heaven I will always be helping you.”

Besides Bl. Pope Paul VI and Bl. Oscar Romero, the other canonizations to take place Oct. 14 are Bl. Francesco Spinelli, a diocesan priest and founder of the Institute of the Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament; Bl. Vincenzo Romano, a diocesan priest from Torre de Greco in Italy; Bl. Maria Caterina Kasper, a German nun and founder of the Institute of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ; and Nazaria Ignazia of Saint Teresa of Jesus, founder of the Congregation of the Misioneras Cruzadas de la Iglesia Sisters.

Jesus Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!



+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sunday, July 31st, 2022
The First Reading- Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23
Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities!   All things are vanity!  Here is one who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, and yet to another who has not labored over it, he must leave property.  This also is vanity and a great misfortune.  For what profit comes to man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun?  All his days sorrow and grief are his occupation; even at night his mind is not at rest.  This also is vanity.
Reflection
We must take care to guard against the folly that befell the Israelites, that led them to quarrel and test God’s goodness at Meribah and Massah.  We can harden our hearts in ways more subtle but no less ruinous.  We can put our trust in possessions, squabble over earthly inheritances, kid ourselves that what we have we deserve, store up treasures and think they’ll afford us security and rest.  All this is “vanity of vanities,” a false and deadly way of living, as this week’s First Reading tells us.
Adults - What do you think the writer means by “vanity?”
Teens - Is it hard for you to let your mind rest, even at night? Do you take those things to God in prayer?
Kids - What do you do when you are worried, anxious, or restless?
Responsorial- Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14&17
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
You turn man back to dust,
saying, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in your sight
 are as yesterday, now that it is past,
 or as a watch of the night.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
You make an end of them in their sleep;
 the next morning they are like the changing grass,
Which at dawn springs up anew,
but by evening wilts and fades.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Teach us to number our days aright,
 that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
 Have pity on your servants!
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
 that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
 prosper the work of our hands for us!
 Prosper the work of our hands!
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Reflection
-Psalm 90 is the only Psalm attributed to Moses. Moses teaches Israel that all the efforts of this life are so brief from the perspective of eternity.  Only in God is anything found that is lasting.  Knowing that we can do nothing of lasting value in our own power, we turn to the Eternal God and ask him to “establish the works of our hands for us,” that is, to empower us to accomplish something of lasting value in this life. What gifts and talents has God blessed you with? How can you use them to bring Christ to the world?
The Second Reading- Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11
Brothers and sisters: If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.  Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.  Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator.  Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all.
Reflection
St. Paul calls us to “seek what is above,” not “what is on earth.”  The seeking of “what is on earth”—namely, wealth, physical pleasure, and pride—is at the root of all the sins that St. Paul describes as “earthly”: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed, lying. The Christian life requires a transcendent vision that sees beyond and above all these temporal goals.  What does it mean to “store up treasures in Heaven?” How do you do this?
The Holy Gospel according to Luke 12:13-21
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”  He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”  Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”  Then he told them a parable.  “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.  He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’  And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.  There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’  But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’  Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”
Reflection
Jesus gives us a warning in this week’s Gospel.  The rich man’s anxiety and toil expose his lack of faith in God’s care and provision.  That’s why Paul calls greed “idolatry” in the Epistle this week.  Mistaking having for being, possession for existence, we forget that God is the giver of all that we have.  We exalt the things we can make or buy over our Maker (see Romans 1:25).  Jesus calls the rich man a “fool”—a word used in the Old Testament for someone who rebels against God or has forgotten Him (see Psalm 14:1).  We should treasure most the new life we have been given in Christ and seek what is above, the promised inheritance of heaven.
Adults - How, in our culture, is money viewed as an idol? How is the way we view money similar to the Israelites worshiping the golden calf? How can we fight against this part of our culture?
Teens  - Research and choose a charity to support, or tithe a little to your local Church to help others and as a reminder that we are blessed with good gifts in order to both care or ourselves and others. 
Kids - How do you help those in need?
LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! –“No man will be excluded from heaven because he lawfully possessed some of this world's wealth. But a man will exclude himself from eternal happiness if he lets this world's wealth possess him to the exclusion of God.  The fate of the rich man in the parable need not, and should not, be mine. I still have time to stop building larger grain-bins and barns, and to turn my attention instead to collecting some treasure for heaven.”  —Fr. Kevin O' Sullivan, O.F.M.







Homily Introducting to Mental Prayer
 
First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers,
petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone,
for kings and for all in authority,
that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life
in all devotion and dignity. -Second Reading
 
Where is the quiet and tranquil life?  Are we offer prayer and supplications?
 
It is my wish, then, that in every place the men should pray,
lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument. -Second Reading
 
Men, MEN, you are the ones in the family that are to say, 'its time to pray,' or 'let's get ready for Mass.'  Men, it is your job, not your wife or children to say.  Men are to be the leaders of prayer in the family!
 
Pray together, stay together
Couples, do you pray together.  If not, why not
 
God at the center  Who is at the center of your life?
 
Pray simply and humbly
 
My dad recently said to me, "Only strong families are going to make it today."  You know there might have been a time when we could go through the motions of life, do the minimum be Catholic in name only and get by, but those times are past.  Only strong families, and only strong prayer is going to make it today.
"The Eucharist . . . is the greatest gift in the order of grace and of sacrament that the divine Spouse has offered and unceasingly offers to His spouse" (John Paul II, Dominicae Cenae 121. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the source and summit of the whole Christian life and contains the entire wealth of the Church (cf. Lumen Gentium, 11, Presbyterorum Ordinis, 5). Yet it is possible for one to attend Mass and 'get nothing out of it.' Why is this?  
I don't get anything out of Mass.  Why do I have to go to Church?
People pray Rosary, attend Mass often, do good works, but still struggle with vice, addiction, habitual sin, no change.  Prayer does not seem to be enough.  What is needed?  MENTAL PRAYER
 
The reason: people do not know how to meditate; they do not know how to engage in mental prayer.
 
"Mental prayer is the blessed furnace in which souls are inflamed with the love of God. All the saints have become saints by mental prayer" (St. Alphonsus de Liguori).
 
Vocal Prayer - External intention and direction to God
Mental Prayer - What we give to God
Contemplative Prayer - What God gives us
 
The Church's Canon Law says that "Priests . . . are to be conscientious in devoting time regularly to mental prayer" (Canon 276, §2). Holy Mother Church also teaches lay people to travel the way of mental prayer in the Second Vatican Council's decree on the laity: "Only by the light of faith and by meditation on the Word of God can one always and everywhere recognize God in Whom 'we live, and move, and have our being' (Acts 17:28), seek His will in every event, see Christ in everyone" (Apostolicam Actuositatem, 4).
 
What is Mental Prayer?
-Keep attention on God
-Heart, mind, soul, and strength on God
-Engage mind in imagination to paint more real picture
-Attention is kept
-Meditation
 
[Meditation is a form of mental prayer consisting in the application of the various faculties of the soul, memory, imagination, intellect, and will, to the consideration of some mystery, principle, truth, or fact, with a view to exciting proper spiritual emotions and resolving on some act or course of action regarded as God's will and as a means of union with Him.]
 
The function of mental prayer then, is to study the features of the life of Jesus and to beg the Holy Spirit to fashion our lives according to this resplendent pattern. 
 
Keeping constantly in mind who you are and whom you are addressing.
 
Prayer Mental Prayer everyday
10 Minutes in the classroom of silence.
Either your will give up vice or sin, or you will give up Mental Prayer






CATHOLIC QUESTIONS AND CATHOLIC ANSWERS

538. In the Old Testament, what relationship do the king and the temple have to prayer?  a. God came to be with the people through the temple
-The prayer of the People of God developed in the shadow of the dwelling place of God – the Ark of the Covenant, then the Temple – under the guidance of their shepherds. Among them there was David, the King “after God’s own heart,” the shepherd who prayed for his people. His prayer was a model for the prayer of the people because it involved clinging to the divine promise and a trust filled with love for the One who is the only King and Lord.




539. What is the role of prayer in the mission of the prophets?  c. By prayer they brought God’s message to the people and the people to God
-The prophets drew from prayer the light and strength to exhort the people to faith and to conversion of heart. They entered into great intimacy with God and interceded for their brothers and sisters to whom they proclaimed what they had seen and heard from the Lord. Elijah was the father of the prophets, of those who sought the face of God. On Mount Carmel he achieved the return of the people to the faith, thanks to the intervention of God to whom he prayed: “Answer me, O Lord, answer me!” (1 Kings 18:37).




540. What is the importance of the Psalms in prayer?  d. all of the above
The Psalms are the summit of prayer in the Old Testament: the Word of God become the prayer of man. Inseparably both personal and communal, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, this prayer sings of God’s marvelous deeds in creation and in the history of salvation. Christ prayed the Psalms and brought them to fulfillment. Thus they remain an essential and permanent element of the prayer of the Church suited to people of every condition and time.




PRAYER IS FULLY REVEALED AND REALIZED IN JESUS


541. From whom did Jesus learn how to pray?  b. His mother and the Jewish Tradition
Jesus, with his human heart, learned how to pray from his mother and from the Jewish tradition. But his prayer sprang from a more secret source because he is the eternal Son of God who in his holy humanity offers his perfect filial prayer to his Father.

534. What is prayer?  (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC, 2558-2565, 2590)
a) the raising of one’s mind and heart to God
b) the petition of good things from him in accord with his will
c) the personal and living relationship of the children of God with their Father who is infinitely good
d) All of the above.


535. Why is there a universal call to prayer? (CCC 2566-2567)
a) only because every one needs prayer
b) prayer changes God
c) God draws every person to the mysterious encounter known as prayer
d) prayer is magic and by it I get what I want


THE REVELATION OF PRAYER IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
536. How is Abraham a model of prayer? (CCC 2570-2573, 2592)
a) his prayer was spoken the loudest
b) he walked in the presence of God, heard and obeyed him
c) he gave 1/10 of everything to the king-priest Melchizedek
d) he is the father of many nations


537. How did Moses pray? (CCC 2574-2577, 2593)
a) in a way like Jesus would pray
b) he lingered in conversation with him often and at length
c) face to face, like a man with his friend
d) all of the above

​

“Helpful Hints of Life”
 
Recycle
Even the Pope talks about preserving this beautiful creation that God has given us, by being prudent stewards of it.  This includes reducing, reusing, and recycling.  Very likely a local school or group is collecting papers, cans, and more where they get money and you do not have to pay for the trash to take it.  Recycling saves money, resources, and more.​

"Leaving an inhabitable planet to future generations is, first and foremost, up to us." (n. 160)  -Pope Francis, Laudato Si

Communication

True communication starts inside.  We can all look at the same thing and see/hear something different.  Perceptions vary among people, and we often assume that other people perceive things exactly the way we do, which is often not the case. 

START A HOSPITALITY GROUP FOR YOUR RCIA PROGRAM


[RCIA-Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is the process by which non-Catholics join the Church, which usually begins in the Fall]  Get to know people wanting to get to know the Church before they officially join and witness to them with your kindness and your faith story by being a part of group that brings food and drink to the RCIA class and then shares how you became Catholic or grew up Catholic.


BENEFITS:
People joining RCIA may not be sure about joining the Church or even know much about the Church, but everyone wants and needs to be received and treated kindly ("love is patient, love is kind" -St. Paul).  So being part of a group that brings refreshments or food and drink to RCIA class can touch them by 'breaking bread' with them and affirming that you are glad they are there and want them to be a part of your parish.  And if some of your committee, one by one, can share their faith journey, that can confirm the RCIA candidates in theirs, and they get to know members of the Church with whom they will worship and serve one day if they ultimately join the Church.  ALSO, small groups that people know and can grow with are central to helping us walk 'two-by-two' toward heaven.


HOW?
Consult and ask if it is okay with your Parish Priest and the person in charge of RCIA.  Look for another person or group of people who would be willing on occasion to make or purchase food and drink and bring them to the RCIA meeting (perhaps once a month or every two weeks).  And then hopefully one of your group, or perhaps the head of different ministries of your parish, can share a brief version of their faith journey as a cradle Catholic or as a convert themselves.  The sharing does not have to be spectacular or stunning, it just has to be real and heart-felt.  This can go a long way to helping RCIA candidates into the Church, and making them a part of your parish family for years to come.

​

‘The Joy of Knowing Jesus’: The Holy Witness of Michelle Duppong
As her cause for canonization gets underway, family and friends recall her evangelization efforts and acceptance of God’s will.

‘We Never Leave the Lord Alone’: 135 Years of Eucharistic Adoration at Sacré-Coeur
Since Aug. 1, 1885, the chain of perpetual adoration of the Holy Sacrament at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Montmartre in Paris has continued uninterrupted, including during the 1944 bombing and the coronavirus crisis.
Solène TadiéPARIS — As the health crisis caused by the coronavirus epidemic immersed the whole country into a long period of lockdown March 17, Sacré-Cœur Basilica in Paris, which had to close its doors for the first time in its history, nonetheless remained an unflappable beacon of prayer in France.
Enthroned at the top of the emblematic butte Montmartre, the highest point of the city, the basilica is particularly prized by tourists and art lovers for the purity of its Roman-Byzantine architecture and its rounded shapes.
It is, after the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the second-most-visited monument of the City of Light.
But this high place of world tourism, as a “Sanctuary of Eucharistic Adoration and Divine Mercy,” is also one of the most important religious sites of France.
Day and night since Aug. 1, 1885, the Body of Christ in the Holy Sacrament has been exposed and adored inside the basilica (except for Good Friday), whatever the external conditions, even the most extreme. This is remarkable, as the history of France hasn’t exactly been calm since that time, including for the Catholic Church, which is also facing an unprecedented wave of secularization at every level of society.  
“The adoration hasn’t stopped even for a minute, including during the two world wars,” Sister Cécile-Marie, member of the Benedictine Sisters of the Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre and responsible for the nights of adoration at the basilica, told the Register. “Even during the 1944 bombing, when some fragments fell right next to the basilica, the adorers never left.”






Adoration in the Time of COVID-19
And the recent quarantine period was, of course, no exception. While, usually, many lay or religious people come from outside and take turns in perpetual adoration, this unprecedented situation necessitated the 14 nuns of the community to reorganize their daily life in order to keep honoring the special tradition of the sanctuary, which stayed closed to the public for more than two months, until May 31.  
“It was obvious to us that since we were not touched by the coronavirus, as long as we were still on our feet, we had to act and adapt quickly to this new situation,” Sister Cécile-Marie continued.
Each nun had to pray in adoration one hour twice a day to ensure a 24/7 presence, including during meals. “We never leave the Lord alone, and one cannot leave before the next person arrives, which could be pretty difficult at night when one of us didn’t wake up on time!” she said, adding that this has also been an opportunity for them to focus more on prayer and thus reconnect with the very essence of their rule of life.
However, she confessed, the lockdown also created a totally unusual sense of emptiness within the church, usually crowded with pilgrims and visitors. In her view, the most difficult thing to handle when the basilica suddenly emptied was the sight of all the candles slowly going out.
“It was a very sad vision, but, miraculously, we immediately started receiving requests of intentions of prayer from people via email; so, eventually, there were always at least one or two candles burning, and when they were about to extinguish, we would suddenly receive another request, which was so comforting.”
And the Benedictine community was quickly joined in prayer by a multitude of adorers who prayed with them remotely, following an online table for intentions of prayers.
“It was a beautiful experience: We were alone in the basilica, but we felt we were always connected with the adorers that were in spiritual communion from where they were,” Sister Cécile-Marie recalled. “We couldn’t help people by wearing white coats, but we fought the epidemic our own way: through prayer.”


A Place of Reparation
The construction of the basilica wasn’t even completed when perpetual adoration was initiated. The historical context in which the building project was born was particularly sensitive and painful for the French nation.
Indeed, the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War following the Siege of Paris in 1871 left a strong sense of hopelessness among the population and was often associated in the collective mind with a weakening of the faith as a consequence of the French Revolution.
It was then, as an act of reparation designed to instill hope in the nation’s heart, that two laymen, Alexandre Legentil and Hubert Rohault de Fleury, initiated and developed the ambitious project to build a church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with the support of a large network of friendships.




And the place chosen by the then-archbishop of Paris, Joseph-Hippolyte Guibert, for the construction owes nothing to chance: It was in Montmartre, which literally means “Mount of Martyrs,” that the first Christians of Paris, including St. Denis, were killed in hatred of the faith in the third century.
“The foundress of our community, Mother Adèle Garnier, heard about the project and received soon after a divine call to establish perpetual adoration in this new church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and she submitted this idea to the archbishop of Paris,” Sister Cécile-Marie said.
But the building process, started in 1875 and completed in 1914, was particularly arduous because of the sand sub-base, which made the site unstable. Therefore, divine assistance was sought through the creation of a provisory chapel so that people could pray and meditate even during the work. “Times of adoration of the Holy Sacrament were already organized there, and the first pilgrims came, giving the first financial contributions for the building site,” Sister Cécile-Marie continued.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux herself was among the first contributors to the basilica, which could only augur a glorious future for the site. During a visit to Paris on her way to Rome with her family and a group of pilgrims, on Nov. 6, 1887, young Thérèse attended Mass at Sacré-Cœur and decided to offer her gold bracelet for the basilica’s monstrance.
It wasn’t until 1919 that the building was finally consecrated by Archbishop Guibert, five years after the completion of the work, as ravages of the Great War forced him to postpone the ceremony.
One century later, as the basilica’s first jubilee coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit chose this emblematic place to conduct an extraordinary blessing ceremony of the French capital with the Holy Sacrament, on Holy Thursday, to seek God’s  protection for the city and its inhabitants.
“Sacred Heart of Jesus … from this basilica, day and night, your mercy shines on this city, France and on the world, in the sacrament of the Eucharist,” Archbishop Aupetit said in his prayer raised from the basilica’s portico. “Assist all those who are suffering the consequences of the pandemic and support those who, in so many ways, put themselves at the service of their brothers and sisters. Give health to the sick, strength to the medical staff, comfort to the families and salvation to all those who have died.”
Solène Tadié is the Register’s Rome-based Europe correspondent.

​

+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time -Sunday, July 24th, 2022

The First Reading- Genesis 18:20-32
In those days, the LORD said: "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave, that I must go down and see whether or not their actions fully correspond to the cry against them that comes to me. I mean to find out." While Abraham's visitors walked on farther toward Sodom, the LORD remained standing before Abraham.  Then Abraham drew nearer and said: "Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty? Suppose there were fifty innocent people in the city; would you wipe out the place, rather than spare it for the sake of the fifty innocent people within it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to make the innocent die with the guilty so that the innocent and the guilty would be treated alike! Should not the judge of all the world act with justice?" The LORD replied, "If I find fifty innocent people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake." Abraham spoke up again: "See how I am presuming to speak to my Lord, though I am but dust and ashes! What if there are five less than fifty innocent people? Will you destroy the whole city because of those five?" He answered, "I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there." But Abraham persisted, saying "What if only forty are found there?" He replied, "I will forbear doing it for the sake of the forty." Then Abraham said, "Let not my Lord grow impatient if I go on. What if only thirty are found there?" He replied, "I will forbear doing it if I can find but thirty there." Still Abraham went on, "Since I have thus dared to speak to my Lord, what if there are no more than twenty?" The LORD answered, "I will not destroy it, for the sake of the twenty." But he still persisted: "Please, let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time. What if there are at least ten there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it."
Reflection
This Reading makes several presumptions about the nature of God and our relationship with him:
a.  It is possible for the righteous to intercede with God and influence the Divine will.
b.  God is fundamentally just, and justice includes not only mercy for the innocent but punishment for the wicked.
c.  If there is a conflict of the claims of justice and mercy, God prefers mercy.
d.  God is slow to punish the wicked, and does so only when fully justified.
These theological convictions, embedded in the narrative, have shaped both Jewish and Christian understandings of the nature of God, prayer, justice, and mercy throughout history.
Adults - Have you experienced God’s mercy in your life in a big way? In small ways?
Teens - What does it mean to you to be merciful as the Father is merciful?
Kids - Has anyone in your life been merciful to you?

Responsorial- Psalm 138: 1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8
R.Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
The LORD is exalted, yet the lowly he sees,
and the proud he knows from afar.
Though I walk amid distress, you preserve me;
against the anger of my enemies you raise your hand.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Reflection
-We pray always a prayer of thanksgiving, which is the literal meaning of Eucharist. We have realized the promise of this week’s Psalm: We worship in His holy temple, in the presence of angels, hallowing His name. Try to list three things each night this week that you are grateful for as you reflect on your day.

The Second Reading- Colossians 2:12-14
Brothers and sisters: You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And even when you were dead in transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he brought you to life along with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions;  obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims,which was opposed to us, he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross.
Reflection
In this Reading, we see the mercy of God at work, even as it was in the First Reading.  God “errs” on the side of mercy (so to speak), when mercy and justice oppose.
 Do you err on the side of mercy in your dealings with others?

The Holy Gospel according to Luke 11:1-13
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test." And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,' and he says in reply from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.' I tell you, if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"
Reflection
The two paragraphs that follow the Lord’s prayer are meant to encourage us (1) to be persistent in prayer and (2) to trust in God’s generosity. One may ask, if God is so generous a Father, why does he insist on our persistence in prayer.  Why not give everything immediately?  Or better, why make us ask at all?  Why not give us everything we want and need without our asking?  God is a good parent, however, and the dialogue of prayer actually fosters relationship between God and his children, in which God permits the participation his children into his providential guidance of the universe.  God is a Father who encourages us to make our needs and desires known, always trusting in his goodness.
Adults - Do you dialogue with God throughout the day?
Teens  - Pray the Lord’s prayer slowly and intentionally each day this week, meditating on the meaning.
Kids - Do you talk to God the same way you talk to your parents and friends? Remember to tell Him all about your days!

LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! –“The Our Father is certainly the most sublime formula possible and contains the whole essence of the most elevated mental prayer. However, Jesus gave it as a formula for vocal prayer: " When you pray, say. . . " (ibid. 11:2).  This is enough to make us understand the value and importance of vocal prayer, which is within the reach of everyone even children, the uneducated, the sick, the weary.... But we must realize that vocal prayer does not consist only in the repetition of a certain formula.  If this were true, we should have a recitation but not a prayer, for prayer always requires a movement, an elevation of the soul toward God. In this sense, Jesus instructed His disciples: "When thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret.... And when you are praying, speak not much as the heathens" (Mt 6:6-7).  It is interesting to note that in St. Matthew these prescriptions concerning the exterior and interior dispositions necessary for well-made prayer immediately precede the teaching of the Our Father.  Therefore, in order that our vocal prayer be real prayer, we must first recollect ourselves in the presence of God, approach Him, and make contact with Him.  Only when we have such dispositions will the words we pronounce with our lips express our interior devotion and be able to sustain and nourish it.  Unfortunately, inclined as we are to grasp the material part of things instead of the spiritual, it is only too easy in our vocal prayer to content ourselves with a mechanical recitation, without taking care to direct our heart to God; hence we should always be vigilant and alert. Vocal prayer made only by the lips dissipates and wearies the soul instead of recollecting it in God; it cannot be said that this is a means of uniting us more closely to Him.”  —Divine Intimacy Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D










 

CATHOLIC QUESTIONS AND CATHOLIC ANSWERS


534. What is prayer?  d. All of the above.
Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God, or the petition of good things from him in accord with his will. It is always the gift of God who comes to encounter man. Christian prayer is the personal and living relationship of the children of God with their Father who is infinitely good, with his Son Jesus Christ, and with the Holy Spirit who dwells in their hearts.




535. Universal call to prayer  c. God draws every person to the mysterious encounter known as prayer
Because through creation God first calls every being from nothingness. Even after the Fall man continues to be capable of recognizing his Creator and retains a desire for the One who has called him into existence. All religions, and the whole history of salvation in particular, bear witness to this human desire for God. It is God first of all, however, who ceaselessly draws every person to the mysterious encounter known as prayer.




536. How is Abraham a model of prayer? b. he walked in the presence of God, heard and obeyed him
Abraham is a model of prayer because he walked in the presence of God, heard and obeyed him. His prayer was a battle of faith because he continued to believe in the fidelity of God even in times of trial. Besides, after having received in his own tent the visit of the Lord who confided his plan to him, Abraham dared to intercede for sinners with bold confidence.




537. How did Moses pray?  d. all of the above
The prayer of Moses was typical of contemplative prayer. God, who called to Moses from the burning bush, lingered in conversation with him often and at length, “face to face, like a man with his friend” (Exodus 33:11). In this intimacy with God, Moses attained the strength to intercede tenaciously for his people: his prayer thus prefigured the intercession of the one mediator, Christ Jesus.



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     Do you and I ever consider that in his flesh, Jesus Christ ended sin and death by being slain and dying on the Cross, and then became food for our very body and soul that we might be transformed so that we might populate Heaven? 


Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
 
P.S. To learn more of why a Lamb, read the piece in Catholic Term. 
 

P.S.  This coming Sunday is the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time .  The readings can be found at:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071722.cfm

P.S.S.  At the end of E-weekly is this week's readings with reflections and questions for self or family.

​"Helpful Hints of Life"

Pray for Christian Unity

There is more that unites Christians than divides them.  Yet at times this is easy to forget.   Jesus prayed in John 17:

Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are. -John 17:11 
A Pentecostal, a Pope and an iPhone for Christian UnityPosted by Cindy Wooden 
VATICAN CITY — The search for Christian unity is an enterprise that has taken the time and energy of scholars and popes. Recently it got a helping hand from an iPhone and YouTube.
 
Those involved in ecumenism insist on the power of prayer to heal Christian divisions and on the importance of involving not only high-powered theologians, but Christians of every community and every walk of life. They need to meet each other, get to know each other, help each other and pray with and for each other.
 
Putting those sentiments into practice, Pope Francis agreed to record a message to a group of Pentecostals in the United States. His guest, a bishop from a Pentecostal Christian community, did the camera work with an iPhone.

Screen grab of Pope Francis interview shown to a group of Pentecostals in the United States. (CNS photo)

 
The pope’s message can be seen here, it begins at about 31:35 after Bishop Tony Palmer delivers a speech to a Kenneth Copeland Ministries about the importance of Christian unity for preaching salvation in Christ to the world. The bishop, who also serves as international ecumenical officer for the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, a group that is not affiliated with the Anglican Communion, takes a much simpler view of the path full Christian unity than the pope and the mainline Christian churches do.
 
The translation used for the English subtitles on the video are not precise, but the pope’s sincerity is clear.
 
The video can be found at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ9Ssvs5cgY
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John the Baptist is "more than a prophet." In him, the Holy Spirit concludes his speaking through the prophets. John completes the cycle of prophets begun by Elijah. He proclaims the imminence of the consolation of Israel; he is the "voice" of the Consoler who is coming. As the Spirit of truth will also do, John "came to bear witness to the light." In John's sight, the Spirit thus brings to completion the careful search of the prophets and fulfills the longing of the angels. "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God. . . . Behold, the Lamb of God."  -Catechism of the Catholic Church #719
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By CNA Staff
Denver Newsroom, Jul 15, 2022 / 20:00 pm
Pope Pius XII said, “The devotion to the Carmelite scapular has brought down on the world a copious rain of spiritual and temporal graces.”
On the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, July 16, here are 12 keys to explaining the Brown Scapular and its use:
1. It’s not an amulet.
It’s not a charm or an automatic guarantee of salvation, nor is it a dispensation from living the demands of the Christian life.
St. Claude de la Colombière said: “You ask, what if I would want to die with my sins? I answer you, then you will die in sin, but you will not die with your scapular.”
2. It was an article of clothing.
The word “scapular” comes from the Latin “scapulae,” which means “shoulders” and was originally an overlapping article of clothing worn over the shoulders by monks at work.
The Carmelites adopted it as a sign of special dedication to Our Lady, seeking to imitate her dedication to Christ and neighbor.
3. It’s a gift from the Virgin Mary.
According to tradition, the scapular, as it is now known, was given by the Virgin Mary herself to St. Simon Stock on July 16, 1251.
Mary told him: “It must be a sign and a privilege for you and for all Carmelites: Whoever dies wearing the scapular will not suffer eternal fire.” Later, the Church extended the use of the scapular to the laity.
4. It’s a mini habit.
The scapular is like a miniature Carmelite habit that all devotees can wear as a sign of their consecration to the Virgin Mary.
It consists of a string that is worn around the neck with two small pieces of brown cloth attached. One is placed on the chest and the other on the back, and it is usually worn underneath clothing.
5. It’s a service uniform.
St. Alphonsus Liguori, a doctor of the Church, said: “Just as men are proud that others wear their uniform, so Our Lady, Mother Mary, is pleased when her servants wear their scapular as proof that they have dedicated themselves to her service, and they are members of the family of the Mother of God.”
6. It has three meanings.
The scapular stands for the maternal love and protection of Mary, for belonging to Mary, and for the gentle yoke of Christ that she helps us to bear.
7. It is a sacramental.
The Brown Scapular is recognized by the Church as a sacramental — that is, a sign that helps us to live a holy life and to increase our devotion.
The scapular does not impart grace as the sacraments do, but it disposes the person wearing it to the love of the Lord and to repentance if it is received with devotion.
8. It can be given to a non-Catholic.
One day a dying old man was brought to St. Simon Stock Hospital in New York City. A nurse noticed he was wearing the Brown Scapular and called a priest. As prayers were said over him, the man regained consciousness and told the priest that he wasn’t Catholic but wore the scapular as a promise to his friends. The priest asked the man if he wanted to become Catholic, and before he died the man received Baptism and Anointing of the Sick.
9. It was seen in one of the Fatima apparitions.
Lucia, the visionary of Our Lady of Fatima, reported that in her last apparition (October 1917), Mary appeared with the Carmelite habit, the scapular in her hand, and said that her true children wear it with reverence.
Mary also asked that those who consecrate themselves to her wear it as a sign of that consecration.
10. The scapular has been discovered undamaged after burial.
Blessed Pope Gregory X was buried with his scapular and, 600 years later when his tomb was opened, the object was intact. Something similar happened with St. Alphonsus Liguori.
St. John Bosco and St. John Paul II also wore the scapular, and St. Peter Claver vested the scapular with those he converted.
11. There’s a preferred way to receive the scapular.
The imposition of the scapular should preferably be done in community, and in the ceremony the spiritual meaning and commitment to the Blessed Virgin should be clearly expressed.
The first scapular must be blessed by a priest and placed on the devotee while reciting the following prayer:
“Receive this blessed scapular and ask the Most Holy Virgin Mary, on her merits, that you may wear it without any stain of sin and that she guard you from all adversity and bring you unto everlasting life.”
12. Only the first scapular you receive needs to be blessed.
When the first scapular one receives is blessed, the devotee does not need to ask subsequent scapulars to be blessed. Those that are worn out, if they were blessed, should not be thrown away but should be burned or buried, as is suitable for sacramentals.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA

​

Vatican Media / EWTN, YouTubeFifty years ago, Pope St. Paul VI watched Neil Armstrong become the first man to walk on the moon.
The pope looked at the moon from a telescope and watched the landing on television from the Vatican Astronomical Observatory.
He dedicated Psalm 8 to the astronauts, giving them a handwritten letter to leave on the moon. He also blessed them once they landed. He then congratulated President Richard Nixon via telegram for the successful landing.
Pope St. Paul VI sent this message to Apollo 11 astronauts:“Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to men of good will!
Christ, when coming among us from the abysses of the divinity, made this blessed voice resound in the firmament.
Today, we, His humble representative, echo and repeat it as a festive hymn on the part of our whole terrestrial globe, no longer the insurmountable boundary of human existence but the open threshold to the wide expanse of boundless space and new destinies.
Glory to God!
And honor to you, the architects of this great space undertaking! Honor to the men responsible to the scientists, the planners, the organizers, and the technicians who made it a reality!
Honor to all those who have made possible this most daring flight. Honor to all of you who in any way played a part.
Honor to you who, seated at your marvelous instruments, control the flight; to you whom inform the world of the enterprise and its time-table, which extends to the depths of the heavens the wise and bold dominion of man.
Honor, greetings and blessings!
Here, from His Observatory at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, Pope Paul the Sixth is speaking to you astronauts.
Honor, greetings and blessing to you, conquerors of the Moon, pale lamp of our nights and our dreams! Bring to her, with your living presence, the voice of the spirit, a hymn to God, our Creator and our Father.
We are close to you, with our good wishes and with our prayers. Together with the whole Catholic Church, Paul the Sixth salutes you.”


INSPIRED BY POPE FRANCES, CALIFORNIA LEGAL COUNSEL CLINIC OFFERS FREE SERVICES
Oakland, Calif., Jul 19 (EWTN News/CNA) - Free legal counsel and advice may sound too good to be true, but in the Diocese of Oakland, it’s a reality.


On June 7, the Pope Francis Legal Clinic opened in Oakland, California, on the property of the Cathedral of Christ the Light.
“So many people have legal problems because law is everywhere,” Tom Greerty, director and co-founder of the clinic, told EWTN News.


“What we try and do is relieve the hardships of people.”


Experienced lawyers volunteer their time to offer free legal consulting, reconciliation, and resolution services to any adult in the community. 


Greerty, who recently retired from his legal practice in Martinez, California, said the idea started while he was earning his master’s degree in theological studies from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley.
“My professor, Sister Marianne Farina, asked me to do a project which would be consistent with my job,” Greerty said.
That project became the Pope Francis Legal Clinic, and in less than two years, others helped to make his idea a reality.
Nico Herrera, another attorney in the diocese, helped co-found the clinic. The Order of Malta, which runs a health clinic on the cathedral grounds, made space available for the new endeavor with the help of Tony Sanchez Corea, a member of the board. Bishop Michael C. Barber embraced the idea and had the clinic’s name in mind.
“I want this to be called the Pope Francis Legal Clinic,” the bishop told Greerty.
“We agreed to that naturally,” Greerty said.
Bishop Barber had a desire for the clinic to be about mercy, not just the law.
“Mercy is ordinarily not about the law,” Greerty explained. “The law doesn’t think in terms of mercy. The law thinks in terms of justice.”
But Greerty said the bishop wanted him and other faithful lawyers to bring mercy and reconciliation to legal problems that Greerty said are “almost always a breakdown in human relations.”
The lawyers spend an hour with each client. They listen to the client’s story, go over the history of the client’s problem, and try to understand the “nature of the problem.”
“We try to honor the memory of Pope Francis, and what he is trying to do with the Year of Mercy, to try and help people in a merciful way with the law,” Greerty said.
He also noted that the idea could likely be replicated in other dioceses across the country. Many Catholic lawyers are retired or far enough along in their practices to have the time and resources to establish similar clinics, he said.
Bishop Barber blessed the clinic on June 4, the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the clinic was consecrated to the Immaculate Heart as well.
Right now, the clinic is open from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Appointments are required.
According to Greerty, 10 lawyers have signed up to volunteer their services and more than 20 clients have already made appointments.
“I think we may be onto something,” he said.

 
POPE'S GENERAL AUDIENCE: 
"BE COURAGEOUS AND GO TO CONFESSION"

Vatican City, 19 February (VIS) – The Holy Father dedicated his catechesis at this Wednesday's general audience to the Sacrament of penance. After touring St. Peter's Square in an open car, greeting the thousands of faithful who applauded as he passed, the Pope explained that “the forgiveness of our sins is not something we can offer to ourselves; it is not the result of our efforts, but rather a gift from the Holy Spirit, which fills us from the wellspring of mercy and grace that surges endlessly from the open heart of Christ, crucified and risen again. … It reminds us that it is only by allowing ourselves to be reconciled through the Lord Jesus with the Father and with our brothers that we may truly be at peace”.

Pope Francis explained that the celebration of this Sacrament has transformed from its previously public nature to the private and reserved form of Confession. However, “this should not lead to the loss of the ecclesiastical matrix, which constitutes its living context. Indeed, the Christian community is the place in which the presence of the Spirit is felt, which renews hearts in God's love and brings all brothers together as one, in Jesus Christ”. He continued, “For this reason, it is not enough to ask for the Lord's forgiveness in our own minds and hearts, but rather it is also necessary to humbly and trustfully confess our sins to a minister of the Church”.

The Bishop of Rome emphasised that the priest does not only represent God, but rather the community as a whole, and that anyone who seeks to confess only to God should remember that our sins are also committed against our brothers and against the Church, which is why it is necessary to ask forgiveness from them too, and to be ashamed for what we have done. “Shame can be good”, he affirmed; “It is good for us to have a certain amount of shame, because to be ashamed can be healthy. When someone has no shame, in my country we describe them as “sin verguenza”, shameless. Shame can be good as it can make us humble, and the priest receives this confession with love and tenderness, and forgives in the name of God. Also from a human point of view, to unburden oneself, it is good to speak with a brother and to tell the priest those things which lie so heavily upon our hearts. And one feels unburdened before God, with the Church, and with a brother. Do not be afraid of Confession!”

The Pontiff went on to ask those present when they last confessed, and strongly urged them not to overlook Confession. “If a long time has passed, do not waste another day, go, the priest will be good. It is Jesus who is there, and Jesus is better than a priest, Jesus will receive you, he will receive you with love. Be courageous and go to Confession! … Every time we confess, God embraces us, God celebrates! Let us go ahead on this path. May God bless you!”
 
After agreeing to baptize him along with the sinners, John the Baptist looked at Jesus and pointed him out as the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". By doing so, he reveals that Jesus is at the same time the suffering Servant who silently allows himself to be led to the slaughter and who bears the sin of the multitudes, and also the Paschal Lamb, the symbol of Israel's redemption at the first Passover. Christ's whole life expresses his mission: "to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  -Catechism of the Catholic Church #608
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"Helpful Hints of Life"

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1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state in life.

2. I will give peace in their families.

3. I will console them in all their troubles.

4. They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of death.

5. I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.

6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.

7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.

8. Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.

9. I will bless the homes in which the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honored.

10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.

11. Those who propagate this devotion shall have their name written in My Heart, and it shall never be effaced.

12. The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive monthsthe grace of final repentance; they shall not die under My displeasure, nor without receiving their Sacraments; My Heart shall be their assured refuge at the last hour. 
"Jesus knew and loved us each and all during his life, his agony and his Passion, and gave himself up for each one of us: "The Son of God. . . loved me and gave himself for me." He has loved us all with a human heart. For this reason, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation, "is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that. . . love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings" without exception. -Catechism of the Catholic Church #478

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For those traveling this summer and needing to get to the Holy Mass.
MASS TIMES AND CATHOLIC CHURCHES throughout the US

http://www.masstimes.org/


Simply type in the town you will be in.  It also gives you the nearest church to you with the closest Mass Time.


https://thecatholictravelguide.com/
Great advice for Catholic travelers

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Students take part in a Eucharistic procession led by St. John XXIII Catholic Parish across Colorado State University. (photo: Rachel Moore / Unsplash)Jonathan Liedl InterviewsJune 19, 2022Today, on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Catholic Church in the United States begins a three-year Eucharistic Revival. The Revival will culminate with a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in July 2024, but so much of it will take place in the years before, in dioceses and parishes across the country.
The Revival comes at a time of particular fragmentation in the life of the Church and when multiple indicators suggest that Eucharistic belief and practice have been greatly diminished. Despite these factors, the Eucharistic Revival has been met with skepticism from some corners of the Church, with some expressing concern about the associated cost, while others question whether renewal around Eucharistic belief and practice is even needed.
Tim O’Malley is a sacramental theologian and the director of education at Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life. O’Malley, the author of Real Presence: What Does It Mean and Why Does It Matter and Becoming a Eucharistic People, serves on the Eucharistic Revival’s executive team. He spoke to the Register about why the Revival matters and what he hopes it can accomplish.
 
You were involved in the very early stages of envisioning the Eucharistic Revival. What were some key principles that shaped its development?
Our initial sense was, if you’re going to do something that’s renewing faith in the Eucharist, you don’t just want it to just be an online course in the “Doctrine of the Real Presence.” You need something more intense than that, and you really need something closely linked to a reclamation of the Church’s identity primarily as Eucharistic rather than bureaucratic, which, I think, is the great American heresy and temptation relative to the Church.
If the Revival is to be effective, it won’t just be like a program that the USCCB sends out for local units to use or develop. It has to be received at a local level. So, for instance, our Institute  [for Church Life] has focused on how to form what we’re calling a “Eucharistic culture” in the parish, which isn’t simply reducible to teaching the doctrine of the Real Presence, even if it involves that. 
 
There’s a conception out there that the Eucharistic Revival is in some way a response to political dynamics, namely a pro-abortion Catholic president being elected in November 2019, and that it’s politically motivated. When did the process actually begin?
The discussions started with Bishop Robert Barron, then the head of the USCCB’s committee for evangelization, and his own concern over how an August 2019 Pew report indicated that only 30% of U.S. Catholics believe in the Real Presence. That was the impetus toward revival. And then when Bishop Andrew Cozzens succeeded him as the committee head, he inherited and carried forward the project. So I must say, in my own conversations leading up to it, I don’t think we talked about politics, or at least politicians, even once. There’s no sense that that’s the origin of it.
 
You brought up the Pew study. Some have criticized its language as imprecise, and therefore what it says about Eucharistic belief among U.S. Catholics as not accurate. I know the Church Life Institute is working with the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate to conduct a more in-depth and accurate survey on Americans' Eucharistic beliefs and practices, and we’re looking forward to the results of that. But polls aside, in your work as a theologian, very much focused on the life and practice of the Church in America, does the reality on the ground support the need for a Eucharistic Revival?
I have no doubt that a renewal of the Church is needed. Whether the Pew report is accurate or not? I think that’s more of an intellectual question than a pastoral question. And bishops know that a renewal of the Church to Eucharistic devotion and worship is needed.
This is especially the case after COVID, where we have had a massive drop in attendance at the Eucharist. There’s a lot of people who left. There’s the weirdness of the online Mass that continues. So, yes, there’s a sense that we don’t really know what we’re doing at Mass.
I think the Church is in a sort of Eucharistic crisis. There is a fundamental fragmentation of communion in the Church. We see it among the bishops. We see it in how dioceses and parishes are responding to questions linked to the Latin Mass; or in responses to COVID, where people stood, and the kind of “fights” that happened. There’s a lot of fragmentation in the Church. There’s a lot of suspicion within the Church. There are problems, and we’re looking for people to scapegoat. 
And all we have are “pastoral strategies,” which tend to be reduced to strategic planning and business plans. And I’m not against any of those things, but it easily reduces the Church to a bureaucracy. What’s lost in all of this is the Church as communion — a communion that the Church doesn’t assemble according to herself. She didn’t make it. It comes as a gift from the side of Christ. And remembering the reason for the Church, this sort of Eucharistic mystery, the self-giving love of Christ poured out on the cross, the Blood of the Lamb, is probably not a bad thing right now, at a moment when we need healing. And so this is a moment for a missionary Eucharistic renewal of the Church.
 
You’re speaking of the Eucharist as something far more fundamental to the identity and reality of the Church than, say, a devotion to the Blessed Sacrament in the adoration chapel.
By describing the Eucharist as the “source and summit of our faith,” the Second Vatican Council was really reclaiming the Eucharist as the enactment of the deepest identity of the Church. And “People of God” isn’t some democratic credo, it’s a Eucharistic image. It’s the people convoked in the desert and fed with manna from above. They’ve become a people not through their own ingenuity, but through the sacrificial love of God poured out.
And, of course, when the Church is called the new People of God, this is what it means. It’s the convoking of all members of the world, not around an ideology or not around even a strategic plan, but around the Eucharistic love of Christ. 
The Eucharist is not just an isolated doctrine. It’s a doctrine really connected to the very existence of what the Church is in the first place.
 
Relatedly, some have seen the Eucharistic Revival as disconnected from our duty to address injustices in our society. Along the lines of what you were just talking about, how do you see being a Eucharistic people as actually connected to those kinds of social concerns?
Benedict XVI’s Sacrament of Charity was very clear that the Eucharist is not just an event where the pious faithful gathered together to prove themselves as pious and then depart and leave. He is so clear throughout his magisterium that the Eucharist transforms the concrete mode of human life so that it becomes an offering to the neighbor. Or, as he said in, God Is Love: a Eucharist that does not result in the concrete practice of charity is intrinsically fragmented.
Justice is linked much more closely to solidarity and the common good, but where do we, as Christians, learn solidarity? What does Jesus reveal about it? Well, it’s communion. God’s total communion with men and women is the first act of solidarity. This is celebrated in the Eucharistic mystery of the Church. 
And so the virtue we need to learn most of all is solidarity, as John Paul II noted, which isn’t like a big “I feel you, bro,” but a profound commitment to the flourishing of the neighbor out of the common good. And the Eucharist, of course, is the heart. We learn this profound act of solidarity in the Church through this Eucharistic rite, where we learn that our neighbor is, in fact, as St. Thomas notes, a member of this body of believers, this mixed bag in which we are united to one another. And your good is my good, and my good is your good. This is the foretaste of the Eucharistic life, and that’s the Eucharistic theology of the Church. That’s the res tantum or “final reality” that Eucharistic reality points towards.
And so the Church has to live out this mystery concretely in the parish. For example, if a parish says, we love adoration, but we don’t care about racism, then you’ve already misunderstood the Eucharistic mystery.
 
 So in that kind of case, we might be objectively receiving the Eucharist, but it’s not fully received.
It’s not received fruitfully, so it doesn’t bear fruit. So I think a Eucharistic Revival isn’t going to lead to a bunch of people just going to their parish and adoring Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and ending it there. The retreat the “Eucharistic Preachers” already had in urban Chicago, that’s a great example of being in communion with others. That’s my hope for the Revival.
 
In your book Becoming a Eucharistic People, you talk about four facets of Eucharistic parish culture: celebrating the liturgy with joyful reverence; formation that engages the mind, will and imagination; a rich life of popular piety and the vibrancy of the domestic Church; and the commitment to solidarity with our neighbor. How do you see the Eucharistic Revival as contributing to building up those different dimensions?
First of all, the Eucharistic Revival has to begin with the celebration of the liturgy itself. If people have a lack of Eucharistic faith, one of the reasons is because it’s not very clear that the Eucharist is very important to what we’re doing in the parish. It’s done poorly; it’s not well prayed. The music isn’t always very good; the architecture is kind of junky. Silence has been removed. There’s just not the sort of sense that this is real.
So part of the Revival’s focus is on the ars celebrandi, or the art of celebration. How does the priest actually experience renewal so that he can pray the Eucharistic Prayer well? It’s not just a question of having the right postures or gestures, but, actually, how do you have a spiritual disposition where you’re praying these words instead of announcing them like you’re at a baseball game? You have to have a profoundly deep life of prayer. 
For integral Eucharistic formation, our catechesis can’t just be giving information about the doctrine of Real Presence and what that means. It has to involve your memory and imagination. So what images are we initiating people into from Scripture? From the Tradition of the Church? Eucharistic catechesis has to involve a deeper understanding. People have to ask really big questions out of this mystery, and it has to change the way they live.
The Revival is creating resources to aid in this kind of deeper, imaginative formation, not just imparting a bunch of information. Our institute is developing a resource to help people do the same kind of spiritual reflection they’re doing with the Bible, but to do it with the Eucharistic Prayer. We’re setting it up so it engages as often as possible with imagery from Scripture, along with images of beautiful, famous altar pieces and Eucharistic sacred music. This forms the imagination and gives us new images by which to approach the Eucharistic mystery.
We also need to develop a popular Eucharistic Catholicism, so that the Mass isn’t the only Eucharistic experience we have. This is especially important in America, where it’s very easy to privatize our faith. Once Sunday is over, what do I do the rest of the week?
So, for example, we’re thinking a lot through processions. What does it mean to do a Eucharistic procession in a rural community around harvest time? What does it mean to do a Eucharistic procession through Santa Monica in Los Angeles? Or through parishes in St. Louis that have been fractured by racism? The procession has always been a way to sort of extend the Eucharistic mystery out into the rest of life.
We also want to help families to not just celebrate the Mass, but to celebrate the entire liturgical year as a family. Linked to that is work. How do you think about your work in light of a vocation to sanctify the world? One of the early 20th-century liturgical reformers, Josef Jungmann, emphasized the way that the liturgy was supposed to transform the life of the worker and the worker movements, because you come to recognize the link between what you’re doing at Mass and the work you’re doing as a carpenter or laborer; between the Church and the entire social order. This is something Virgil Michel, the founder of liturgical renewal in the U.S., realized when he visited Europe, and he began to communicate with people like Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton about how liturgical life was needed to renew the social order. 
I think we severed this link. It seems like, after the Second Vatican Council, we’ve been so focused on “What direction is the priest facing?” that we’ve forgotten this other part. If we can reunite them, it creates spaces of evangelization and renewal outside of just Sunday Mass at the parish. For example, the Catholic Worker community in Portland, Oregon, is thinking about the relationship between liturgy and communion. And they’re working with Notre Dame Federal Credit Union to develop ways of doing sustainable banking and business practices that arise from this commitment to Catholic life. We’re offering a course on it called “Economy and Communion.” 
 
Again, it seems like the Eucharistic practice and belief that you and the Revival are trying to promote has a kind of depth and breadth to it that goes beyond what we normally think about when we think about the Eucharist.
There’s a lot more to draw out here that has to be drawn out so that we don’t think of the liturgy as just something to excite people so they go out on mission, but that it’s actually our regular attendance at the Eucharist that inspires our economic practices and our social practices — and that a liturgy that is very reverent, what we might call “smells and bells,” is very closely linked to this social renewal.
 
You’ve already mentioned this, but religious practice in the U.S. tends to be very individualistic and privatized, and this can even affect how we relate to Christ in the Eucharist. How do you help people get to this kind of communal perspective you’re talking about?
One of the problems after the Second Vatican Council is that devotions, which are very personal and even emotive, got collapsed into the liturgy, which is supposed to be more sober and available for everyone to participate in. So we just add and add to the liturgy, because we lost a meaningful place in our lives for devotions.
Eucharistic adoration was revived after the Council, but the task is to integrate the two, Eucharistic liturgy and devotion, which still has not been done in a variety of contexts. The sacrifice of the Mass is the Church’s offering. Christ becomes present at the Mass not as an object, but as a Person who comes to offer that sacrifice and enable us to receive him, and thus offer the sacrifice of our lives in common. And Eucharistic adoration is an extension of the original gift, and it’s needed to extend that gift in all sorts of ways, but we still don’t know how to deal with the relationship between devotion and the formal liturgy of the Church.
 
What are you most looking forward to about the Revival?
It’s an interesting moment to think about charism in the Church. Rather than a top-down approach, where the bishops are saying, “This is the Eucharistic Revival; this has to be exactly like this,” if the Church is smart, it’s going to say, “This is the Eucharistic Revival: Go.” I think we could see a lot of new creative charism that could pop up out of this nationally.
 
People talk similarly about John Paul II’s visit to Denver for World Youth Day in 1993, that it was an event that generated a lot of new life in the Church. 
I think the Revival can do that as long as we don’t think about the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis alone as the event. Events are different today because of things like YouTube and how they can close that distance. Instead, I think of the Revival as a process of helping people reclaim charism through the Eucharist: Are you participating in the consecration of the world back to the Father, and what are your particular ways of doing it?
Because I’m one of the only academics working on the Revival at the national level, I’ve been encouraging universities to think about what they’re going to do intellectually around the Eucharist. For instance, Benedictine College’s 2023 “Symposium on Transforming Culture” will focus on the Eucharist.
 
What’s your message to Catholics who aren’t onboard with the Eucharistic Revival or don’t know why they should participate in it?
I can understand why there are those who would be suspicious. If you spend enough time in the Church, then you know that these regular sort of “years of renewal” seem to pop up every year, and you’re looking at the price tag and you’re like, “Could we not be spending our money on something better than this?” I’m open to suspicion, and we have to be careful that when people are suspicious, we don’t just shut them down right away. So I would say, ask questions, to your bishop, to your pastor: “What is this? Why are we doing it? What’s happening?”
But in the long run, I think this is essential because we are still in this moment of receiving the Second Vatican Council. And the key to that reception is whether or not we understand the Eucharistic identity and mission of the Church. If the Church is going to be more than a bureaucracy or a cultural institution that once upon a time was important but is now losing its vigor, it’s going to be through the Eucharist. It’s not going to be through a six-day strategic planning retreat. It’s going to be through this. And so that’s why I’m excited about the Eucharistic Revival.​

THIS 95-YEAR-OLD CATHOLIC COUPLE DIED IN EACH OTHER'S ARMS...

San Diego, Calif. (EWTN News/CNA) - Few love stories can say that they began at the age of eight. But for Jeanette and Alexander Toczko, they couldn't have imagined life any other way. 
 
What began as a childhood crush later bloomed into a deep, committed love – a love that would last throughout a war, five children, and seventy-five years of marriage.
“Their hearts beat as one from as long as I can remember,” said Aimee Toczko-Cushman, one of the couple's five children, according to the Daily Mail.
 
After meeting his future wife at the age of eight, Alexander Toczko married Jeanette in 1940 while he was enrolled in the U.S. Navy as a telegraph operator. Alexander was a devoted husband to his wife Jeanette, and as Catholics, he fondly carried a snapshot of Jeanette's First Holy Communion in his wallet. 
 
The Toczko's settled in San Diego, California in 1971 where Alexander and Jeanette worked together, establishing their own fashion photography and advertising firm. Alexander had a passion for golf and sketching, and the couple loved to travel with each other. 
 
They raised their five children in the San Diego area, and over the years became the proud grandparents of ten grandchildren.
 
This past June, the couple celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary. Alexander, a WWII veteran, was 95 and Jeanette was 96. 
 
The couple's health had been declining over the months, especially after Alexander had taken a recent fall, breaking his hip. 
 
“He was going fast,” their son, Richard Toczko, remembered.
 
Hospice care was brought to Jeanette and Alexander's home, so that they could share their own bed and stay close to each other in their final moments.
 
Remarkably, the inseparable couple had a dying wish that they often told their children – they both wanted to pass away together, in each other's arms and in their own bed.
Alexander was the first to go on June 17. Once Jeanette had been informed that her husband had died, she said, “See this is what you wanted. You died in my arms and I love you. I love you, wait for me, I'll be there soon.”
 
Jeanette died only hours after her husband on June 18.
 
“Even the hospice nurse said it was the most incredible thing to see the two of them taking those last breaths together,” Aimee Toczko-Cushman said.
 
“They both entered the pearly gates holding hands,” reflected their son, Richard Toczko.
A funeral mass was held for Alexander and Jeanette on June 29, a ceremony which commemorated both their lives and their 75th wedding anniversary. They were buried at the Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego.

 

" 1. Be especially attentive "to the content and unity of the whole Scripture". Different as the books which compose it may be, Scripture is a unity by reason of the unity of God's plan, of which Christ Jesus is the center and heart, open since his Passover.
The phrase "heart of Christ" can refer to Sacred Scripture, which makes known his heart, closed before the Passion, as the Scripture was obscure. But the Scripture has been opened since the Passion; since those who from then on have understood it, consider and discern in what way the prophecies must be interpreted."   -Catechism of the Catholic Church #112
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50 Things You'll (probably) Never Hear Catholics Say

16)  Go ahead and ask me all your questions about Catholicism.  I feel pretty confident that I can answer all of them.


17)  There are too many people in the front pews at Mass.


18)  I had my conversion through Religious Ed.


19)  Birth Control or Natural Family Planning (NFP)?  I haven’t really heard any strong opinions one way or the other.


20)  Donuts after Mass AGAIN?!?!


21)  The Catechism of the Catholic Church, that 2600 page book? Yeah, it's a pretty quick read. Totally beach material.


22)  All that exorcism stuff doesn’t freak me out at all. 


23)  You're interested in celibacy, too?!!


24)  G.K. Chesterton… He was Anglican, right?


25)  I don't know who to pray to when I lose my stuff!


26)  I never really get distracted during the Rosary either.


27)  Latin Tridentine Mass and Novus Ordo are practically the same thing.


28)  I, too, have a devotion to St. Willibald.


29)  How ‘bout them Crusades?!


30)  Mary who?


31)  I just wish the Sisters of Life were more joyful.


32)  I’m not at all self-conscious after Ash Wednesday Mass.  Let’s go to the disco.


33)  What marriage controversy?


34)  I think St. Patrick would be proud of how we celebrate him.


35)  I miss Limbo.


 


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Several days ago as I left a meeting at our church, I desperately gave myself a personal TSA pat down. 
I was looking for my keys.  They were not in my pockets.  A quick search in the meeting room revealed nothing.


Suddenly I realized, I must have left them in the car.  

Frantically, I headed for the parking lot.  My wife, Diane, has scolded me many times for leaving the keys in the ignition.  My theory is the ignition is the best place not to lose them.  Her theory is that the car will be stolen.  

As I burst through the doors of the church, I came to a terrifying conclusion.  Her theory was right. The parking lot was empty.
 
I immediately called the police, gave them my location, confessed that I had left my keys in the car and that it had been stolen.  

Then I made the most difficult call of all, “Honey,” I stammered.  I always call her “honey”in times like these.  “I left my keys in the car, and it has been stolen.”
 
There was a period of silence.  I thought the call had been dropped, but then I heard Diane’s voice. “Ken” she barked, “I dropped you off!” 

Now it was my turn to be silent.  Embarrassed, I said, “Well, can you please come and get me.”  

Diane retorted, “I will, as soon as I can convince this policeman I have not stolen your car!”​