In this e-weekly:
First Ever Multi-Season Series of Life of Jesus Changing Lives (Church News and More)
Mobile (Cell) Phone Etiquette (Helpful Hints for Life)
Homily on Mental Prayer is at end of e-mail
-***NEW FEATURE***  CATHOLIC QUESTIONS AND CATHOLIC ANSWERS is a new section of the e-weekly (see below) ***NEW FEATURE***
- BEST PARISH PRACTICE is also Back! (see below) ​

Catholic Good News 
​
Receiving the Gospel, Serving God and Neighbor

What is Mental Prayer?

"May my meditation give Him pleasure, as much as God gives me!"
​
Psalm 104:34

​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 Terms
 
Term Review
prayer (from Latin precārius "obtained by entreaty")  [entreaty = earnest request, appeal, beg]
-the raising of one's mind and heart to God
 
Vocal Prayer (from Latin vocalis, from voc-, vox "voice" = "obtain by entreaty with voice")
-set prayer offered exteriorly (by mouth) by an individual
 [The use of some set formulas a person employs using verbal expressions that are not, at the time, the immediate product of communication with God.]
 
Mental Prayer (from Greek menos "spirit" = "obtain by entreaty with spirit")
(also from Late Latin  mentalis, from Latin  ment-, mens "mind,")
-one's own prayer offered interiorly with mind, heart, soul, and strength
 [In mental prayer the three powers of the soul are engaged: the memory, which offers the mind material for meditation; the intellect, which ponders or directly perceives the meaning of some religious truth and its implications for practice; and the will, which freely expresses its sentiments of faith, trust, and love, and (as needed) makes good resolutions based on what the memory and intellect have made known to the will. Mental Prayer is a form of meditation 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.]
 
Contemplative Prayer (Latin contemplatus, past participle of contemplari, from com- + templum space marked out for observation of signs from God = "awaiting a sign or gift from God after obtaining by entreaty")
-gift of 'prayer' from God given to the one who perseveres in prayer
 [Contemplative Prayer is a gift from God and cannot be acquired or forced.  It might be viewed as intimate communion with God.]


Helpful Hints For Life 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.
 ​

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.

+JMJ+
SUNDAY BIBLICAL MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
17th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Sunday, July 30th, 2023

The First Reading - 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12
The LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night.  God said, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.”  Solomon answered: “O LORD, my God, you have made me, your servant, king to succeed my father David; but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act.  I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted.  Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.  For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?”  The LORD was pleased that Solomon made this request.  So God said to him: “Because you have asked for this— not for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding so that you may know what is right— I do as you requested.  I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you.”
Reflection
Faced with the invitation to make any request of God, Solomon asks for the wisdom to rule well.  God is pleased with this request and grants it to him.  In a verse not used in Mass, God adds: “I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days” (1 Kings 3:13).  We are reminded here of Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount: “Seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well” (Matt 6:33).  Solomon’s first thought is for the welfare of God’s Kingdom: to rule it beneficially, he needs divine wisdom.  Since Solomon puts the interests of the Kingdom first, God honors him.
Adults - How often do you ask God for wisdom?
Teens - Ask God to give you wisdom every day this week.
Kids - In what ways does the Lord give you wisdom?  

Responsorial- Psalm 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130
R.Lord, I love your commands.
I have said, O LORD, that my part
is to keep your words.
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
Let your kindness comfort me
according to your promise to your servants.
Let your compassion come to me that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
For I love your command
more than gold, however fine.
For in all your precepts I go forward;
every false way I hate.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
Wonderful are your decrees;
therefore I observe them.
The revelation of your words sheds light,
giving understanding to the simple.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
Reflection
In this Psalm, the “Law” often refers not simply to the laws of the Pentateuch but to God’s revelation generally.  The Psalm celebrates the LORD as the source for all true wisdom. In today’s Readings, Solomon is remembered for his “good side,” that is, the zeal and devotion of his youth.  The sacred author describes his early years this way: “Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father” (1 Kings 3:3).  The Psalm encourages us to remember this side of Solomon, the Solomon who loved God and God’s revelation. Choose a teaching of the Church that challenges you and do some research on it (from solid Catholic sources.)

The Second Reading- Romans 8:28-30
Brothers and sisters: We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.  For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified.
Reflection -  Often people interpret the above verse to mean “all things work out good for those who love God.” and figure if they obey God’s laws, they will always be successful.  Of course, that’s not what the verse means. This is one verse that we want to for sure translate correctly. Translating woodenly, it reads: “We know that, for those who love God, all things work together unto good, for those being called according to his purpose.” Not all things are good or work out well, but for those who love God, he causes all things to contribute to our ultimate good—even when we cannot fathom how.  -What is a hard experience that you have been through that God has brought good out of?

The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 13:44-52
Jesus said to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the  righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. “Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”
Reflection  These three parables are obviously speaking of the Kingdom manifested on earth as the Church, not the Kingdom consummated in the world to come.  These parables are favorites of converts, because the experiences described in them seem so parallel to some of our own experiences of finding our way (or rather, God finding us and bringing us) into the Catholic Church. The third parable is one of the most important for Catholics to understand and embrace.  It tells us that the Kingdom, for all its value, is also going to be a “mixed bag” during this age.  Like the net thrown into the sea that catches fish of many kinds, so the Church is like a net thrown by Peter, his co-workers the Apostles, and their successors, which brings many—both saints and sinners—into God’s Kingdom.  Not all brought in during this age will persevere through the final judgment, however. “The Kingdom” in the Gospel of Matthew is, in one sense, nothing but Jesus himself: the King.  However, since the Church is the Body of Christ and united to him, what is said about the Kingdom applies also to the Church, both Triumphant (in heaven) and Militant (on earth).  The seven parables of the Kingdom in Matt 13 are clearly not speaking of the Church Triumphant, glorified in God’s presence; nor are they speaking (for the most part) of the Kingdom manifested in the person of Christ the Kingdom.  No, these parables of a Kingdom hidden, starting small, growing slowly, hard to find, mixed with weeds and bad fish, is a description of the Church Militant. Many self-appointed “reformers” in Church history have split the historic Church in order to establish a “pure” or “sifted” church.  Even today, many leave the Catholic Church for various sects, denominations, even cults, because of the scandal of sinners within the visible Body of Christ.  “How can this be the Kingdom of God when it has people like that in it!?”  Yet it is, and Jesus told us it was going to be like this. It takes wisdom to recognize that the Church Militant is, for all its rents and wounds, the Kingdom of Heaven come to earth.  This wisdom can only come from God, granted by him to those who love him.  If we are docile to the teachings of Jesus, the one who is greater than Solomon, he will teach us the wisdom of the Kingdom.
Adults - The Church is open to all - does that make you uncomfortable in some ways? Talk to God about why that is!  
Teens - How can you help new people feel welcome at your parish?  
Kids - What does it say about God that He wants all people to be a part of His Kingdom?

LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK!  - “The evil example of others will never justify our wrong-doing.  The commandments of God are still binding, even though they are openly and flagrantly violated by individuals and whole nations today.  Remember this: we shall not be asked at the judgment, "What did your neighbor do?", but "what did you do?"  If we lose the pearl of great price in the eternity of happiness God has offered to us-it will not be the fault of others.  The fault will be ours and ours only.  We refused to pay the price.  We did not think it worth the "paltry all" which we possessed in this life.”  -Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by 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

​

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.

​

A bit of humor…
Deep Thoughts
-5 out of 4 Americans are bad at Math.  
-If you got into a taxi and he started driving backwards, would the driver end up owing you money? 
-Why is it called a tv set if you only get one? 
-Why is abbreviation such a long word?
-Why is a carrot more orange than an orange?


A rushing tourist, out of breath, stops at a small country house where a grandpa is sitting on the porch and asks, “Excuse me, how can I get the fastest to the train station?” “No problem,” waves the grandpa, “let me just let the dog loose.”



I marked the spot
Two friends rented a boat and fished in a lake every day. One day they caught 30 fish. One guy said to his friend,
"Mark this spot so that we can come back here again tomorrow."
The next day, when they were driving to rent the boat, the same guy asked his friend, "Did you mark that spot?"
His friend replied, "Yeah, I put a big 'X' on the bottom of the boat."
The first one said, "Oh my goodness! What if we don't get that same boat today!?!?"




Grandparents and Grandchildren
  I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I
  decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what color
  it was.  She would tell me, and always she was correct. But it was
  fun for me, so I continued. At last she headed for the door, saying
  sagely, "Grandma, I think you should try to figure out some of these
  yourself!"
  --------------------------------------------------------------------
  When my grandson Billy and I entered our vacation cabin, we kept the
  lights off until we were inside to keep from attracting pesky
  insects. Still, a few fireflies followed us in. Noticing them before
  I did, Billy whispered, "It's no use, Grandpa. The mosquitoes are
  coming after us with flashlights."
  --------------------------------------------------------------------
  A nursery school teacher was delivering a mini-van full of kids
  home one day when a fire truck zoomed past. Sitting in the front
  seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian dog. The children started
  discussing the dog's duties. "They use him to keep crowds back,"
  said one youngster. "No," said another, "he's just for good luck." A
  third child brought the argument to a close: "No, they use the dogs
  to find the fire hydrant."
​

+JMJ+
SUNDAY BIBLICAL MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
16th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Sunday, July 23, 2023

The First Reading - Wisdom 12:13, 16-19
There is no god besides you who have the care of all, that you need show you have not unjustly condemned.  For your might is the source of justice; your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.  For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved; and in those who know you, you rebuke temerity.  But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency, and with much lenience you govern us; for power, whenever you will, attends you.  And you taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; and you gave your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.
Reflection
This passage from Wisdom affirms that God’s supreme power does not imply that God is a tyrant.  Our God is a God strong enough to be gentle; that is, challenges to his authority do not, so to speak, shake his self-confidence and provoke a violent response, as is the case with human dictators or “strongmen.”  Human rulers should follow the divine example: power is combined with justice and kindness.
Adults - Do you think of God as a tyrant, or as a loving and merciful Father?
Teens - Consider that God is all good, both just and merciful, and if people would know that by looking at your life as a follower of the Lord?
Kids - How does God show His love for you?

Responsorial- Psalm 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16
R.Lord, you are good and forgiving.
You, O LORD, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading.
R. Lord, you are good and forgiving.
All the nations you have made shall come
and worship you, O LORD,
and glorify your name.
For you are great, and you do wondrous deeds;
you alone are God.
R. Lord, you are good and forgiving.
You, O LORD, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in kindness and fidelity.
Turn toward me, and have pity on me;
give your strength to your servant.
R. Lord, you are good and forgiving.
Reflection
Psalm 86 is a plaintive cry of the righteous sufferer, a man undergoing persecution because “insolent men have risen up against me; a band of ruthless men seek my life, and they do not set thee before them” (v. 14).  In the cry of the psalmist, we see expressed the emotion of every person who has attempted to say what is true and right, although it is unpopular and “politically incorrect,” and as a result suffered misrepresentation, character assassination, public mockery, social media lynching, firing, social or physical abuse, even torture and death.  Despite all this, the psalmist’s hope is in God, because “great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol” (v. 13).  The literal sense of the text is a kind of resurrection from the dead, which may have been poetic hyperbole for David himself, the traditional author of the psalm, but takes on greater power in light of the resurrection of the Son of David.  The Psalm reminds us that God’s justice and mercy will be accomplished, whether in this life or at the end of time. Has anyone ever falsely accused you of something? How did the Lord help you through that situation?

The Second Reading- Romans 8:26-27
Brothers and sisters: The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.  And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.
Reflection -  Paul gives us hope for our present sufferings, reminding them that they are as nothing compared to the glory and love that await us in the presence of God in the next life.  We must truly believe this in order to persevere in a life of love in the present.  Sometimes the believer feels so beleaguered or overwhelmed by the apparent success of lies, falsehood, and evil in the present life, that he or she is not even certain how or for what to pray.  In this case, we have the assurance that the Holy Spirit, given to us in Baptism, prays to God on our behalf, in a way that transcends words!  What a powerful promise from the Apostle, and what little stock we usually put in his words and this truth!  If we really believed what St. Paul says—and it is true!—with what greater confidence we would pray, and what greater priority we would place upon spending time in God’s presence, interceding for ourselves, the Church, our loved ones, and the world.
  -Do you have a set daily prayer time? Work on scheduling one if you do not!

The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 13:24-33
Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field.  While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.  When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.  The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?  Where have the weeds come from?’  He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’  His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’  He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them.  Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.’’”  He proposed another parable to them.  “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field.  It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’”  He spoke to them another parable.  “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”  All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.  He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the  prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.  Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”  He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom.  The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil.  The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.  Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.  The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.  They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
Reflection  One of the reasons we may disbelieve that the Church is the manifestation of the Kingdom of Heaven is the presence of hypocrites and other willful sinners within the visible Church.  In the parable of the Weeds and the Wheat, Jesus addresses and explains why God permits this to be the case.  God permits sinners within the Church to allow them the opportunity of repentance.  Were he to execute judgment in this age, some destined for repentance would be judged prematurely.  The Church Fathers typically understood this parable as counseling against too quickly and rashly condemning the imperfect believer. We should also keep in mind that, although in this life we may complain about God’s tolerance of “weeds” in the Church, at the final judgment we may find that we ourselves were “weeds” for whose conversion to “wheat” the Son of Man was patiently waiting!  So often we are completely blind to our own sins and hypocrisy, but see clearly that of others.  So elsewhere Jesus urges us to remove the “beam” from our own eye before taking the “speck” out of the eye of our brother (Matt 7:5).
Adults - Are you prone to judging people in your heart? Do you believe all that you hear without going right to the source? Reflect on how you handle hear-say in light of this passage.  
Teens - Consider the fact that God loves all people and wants everyone to choose Him and be in heaven forever. The Church’s mission is the salvation of souls. How do you live it out?  
Kids - Do you know what the word “mercy” means? Ask someone you trust if you don’t!

LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK!  - “We must learn a double lesson of patience from this parable. First, to be patient with those who make our spiritual progress more difficult for us—they are actually helping us to be better Christians if we bear with patience the injuries they inflict on us.  Second, we must try to imitate the patience God shows in his dealings with sinners.  While we must not approve of their evil deeds, or their sins, we must still look on them as our brothers and sisters and do all in our power to put them back on the right road to heaven.” Let us at least pray for our brother and sister.  -Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.



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.

     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 14th 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.

 Lamb of God
- name given to Christ foreshadowed in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New Testament
[A symbol of Christ. Rendered in many forms as early as the fourth century. Various aspects show the animal balancing a staff by its right front leg, with a wound in its chest pouring blood into a chalice, representing Christ's Blood in the Passion; the staff bearing a flag signifying Christ's victory in the Resurrection; the lamb resting or standing on a closed book with its seven sealed streamers symbolizing Christ as the judge. The lamb is the emblem of docility; "harshly dealt with, he bore it humbly, he never opened his mouth like the lamb that is led to the slaughter house" (Isaiah 53:7).  But the lamb triumphant is portrayed symbolically in the song ascribed to St. Ambrose, "Now at the Lamb's high royal feast," and St. John speaks of the wrath of the Lamb when the sixth seal is broken. As an emblem of St. John the Baptist, it is found in Chartres Cathedral on a banner that reads "Behold the Lamb of God," referring to Christ, "Who takes away the sins of the world." St. Agnes, the child virgin and martyr, is also symbolized by the lamb.]

 
"Lord, I believe, help my unbelief ."
–prayer of Saint Augustine of Hippo

​"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.
 

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
 

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

Some things take time. Pedro Silva needed to reach the age of 50, celebrated in a high-security prison cell, to look back and understand the “signs” he received along the way. 
“I realized that God was always with me, He doesn't give up on us, so we can't lose hope,” he said, with the smile of someone who believes he is about to start a new life. 
A few days before being released, after six years in jail for drug trafficking, Silva put the finishing touches on the 50 confessionals that, together with four other prisoners, he built for World Youth Day (WYD) 2023, which will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, August 1-6, and will be attended by Pope Francis.
While still in prison, Silva told CNA about one of the first missions he will undertake post-incarceration — participating in WYD as a volunteer and helping to set up the confessionals in “Reconciliation Park,” which is being prepared in a Lisbon district called Belém (in English, “Bethlehem”), located alongside the Tagus River.

The benches of the confessionals ready and packed, in the atrium of the workshop at the Coimbra Prison. Photo courtesy of Clara RaimundoIn all, 150 confessionals were built in three Portuguese prisons (Coimbra, Paços de Ferreira, and Oporto), following an agreement between the WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation and the Directorate-General for Reinsertion and Prison Services, with the aim of valuing the professional skills of prisoners and contributing to their reintegration into society. 

Upon learning of Silva's intention, the WYD Local Organizing Committee was overjoyed. 
“We are very interested in complying with his wishes and we will do all the necessary steps so that he can participate in the setting up of the confessionals,” assured the spokeswoman for the WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation, Rosa Pedroso Lima.
The different pieces that make up the structure of each confessional, together with the benches that will be placed inside, are already packed and stacked, ready to go directly to Belém, where Reconciliation Park will be open from Aug. 1-4, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. 

During this time, distributed among the confessionals will be priests of different nationalities (and, on the morning of Aug. 4, the pope himself), available to listen to pilgrims from all over the world who wish to receive the sacrament of reconciliation.

Coincidence or not, it was precisely in Belém, in the church of the Jerónimos Monastery, that Silva received baptism at the age of 12. Neither he nor his 12 siblings had been baptized as babies and never attended catechesis. 
In the midst of a complicated childhood, with his parents absent and in the care of a grandmother, Silva remembers the day his religion teacher asked the classroom: “Who is still not baptized?” Silva was the only one to put his hand in the air and that day he came home asking for the sacrament. 

Silva’s grandmother had no idea who to invite to be his godparents. “I was a problematic child and she thought nobody would want it, but I suggested it could be my primary teacher and off we went to talk to her, who gladly accepted… I ended up keeping in touch with her throughout my life, until I came to prison,” he recalled.

Despite having been baptized, Silva did not remain connected to the Church. As an adult, he lived in Argentina for a few years and experienced another moment he will never forget. 
​
“I went to the cathedral with my sister, who lived in Buenos Aires, and with her husband’s family, and we attended Mass.” The celebrant was none other than the then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio. “In other words, I had the privilege of being with the pope! And from then on, I really liked him,” he said.

Late catechesis and the right opportunity

Years later, living with another sister in Alicante, Spain, Silva was going through “a particularly difficult phase” and, desperate, he decided to pray. 

“I was walking down the street and asked God to help me, to give me a sign. The next moment, I look down at the floor and see a folded magazine. I open it and it was an issue of Awake! by Jehovah's Witnesses. So I looked up at the sky and said to God, 'What? That fast?'" 

Pedro laughed as he shared his story, fondly recalling how he went out to the street where some members of Jehovah's Witnesses used to be and spoke to them. “From then on, every week they came to the house to teach me about the Bible. It was there that I deepened my relationship with God.”

But when he moved to Vigo, another Spanish city, to work in a restaurant, he “didn't have time for anything,” and his connection to religion was lost. 

A new complicated phase in life marked by some mistakes, eventually brought him back to Portugal, condemned to a six-year sentence at the Coimbra Prison. It was there that he learned that World Youth Day would take place in Lisbon, though he was still far from imagining he would ever see the pope he loved again. But when the challenge of the confessionals came and he was one of the five chosen to join the team that would build them, Silva felt that it was another sign from God, and a new opportunity that appeared when he needed it most.

“I was very happy and grateful, and it makes me proud to know that in those confessionals there is a part of me and of my companions,” he said. 

The fact that it was a better paid job than usual in prison was extra motivation. 

“When I found out that we were going to receive ten euros a day, I immediately thought that it would be a good help so that, when I was released, I wouldn't be so dependent on my family,” he said.
Made from recycled wood, supplied by the JMJ Lisboa 2023 Foundation, the confessionals have a simple structure, which Silva, already used to making more complex pieces in the prison's carpentry shop, found easy to execute. 
“And since we have a colleague on the team who is a real carpenter, we even improved what had been designed,” he points out with pride, while showing one of the confessionals already completed and assembled in the workshop, so that it can be photographed.

More prisoners at WYD?

Orlando Carvalho, who has been running the Coimbra Prison for ten years, is also proud. “It is part of the tradition of this establishment to operate the workshop sector, with 13 different areas, including joinery and carpentry, so we immediately said yes when asked if we would like to participate in the construction of the confessionals,” he points out.

Projects like this, he says, “can be transformative and make a difference in the lives of inmates, because in addition to the practical and operational component of the work, they have a dimension and projection that other works do not have.” In the case of this specific project, “in addition to being better paid than usual, it has great public visibility, which gives them an empowerment that can be very positive,” he explains. Silva's case is proof of that.

As the current director of the Coimbra Prison, Carvalho believes “more projects like this are sorely needed, which provide inmates with positive and structuring experiences and enhance their social reintegration.” Especially because "society still hasn't realized that, instead of pushing these people away or condemning them to oblivion, what it needs is to give them projects that add value both from a material point of view and from an emotional point of view."

“Unfortunately, Pope Francis' vision of prisons and inmates is not exactly the dominant one…,” laments Carvalho, who has followed Francis' efforts to approach this “existential periphery,” and goes further by saying that, not only Silva, but also other prisoners (who are still in jail) should be able to participate more directly in WYD.

“I think it would make perfect sense for prisoners to have an even more active participation, to be able to be present at some point in the World Youth Day and have contact with the pope,” he says. “Now, it is up to the Church and the General Directorate to find the ideal framework for this to happen... There are ways to do this. Not all 560 inmates of our establishment could go, but even if there were only a few it would be an important moment from a symbolic point of view.”
​
That, indeed, he says “would be a sign.” Not just for Pedro Silva, but “for everyone.”

​

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
 ​

​A bit of humor…

Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Officer asks a young engineer fresh out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "And what starting salary are you looking for?" The engineer replies, "In the region of $125,000 a year, depending on the benefits package." The interviewer inquires, "Well, what would you say to a package of five weeks vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical and dental, company matching retirement fund to 50% of salary, and a company car leased every two years, say, a red Corvette?" The engineer sits up straight and says, "Wow! Are you kidding?" The interviewer replies, "Yeah, but you started it."
------------------------------------
Teacher: "If I gave you 2 cats and another 2 cats and another 2, how many would you have?"Johnny: "Seven."Teacher: "No, listen carefully... If I gave you two cats, and another two cats and another two, how many would you have?"Johnny: "Seven."Teacher: "Let me put it to you differently. If I gave you two apples, and another two apples and another two, how many would you have?"Johnny: "Six."Teacher: "Good. Now if I gave you two cats, and another two cats and another two, how many would you have?"Johnny: "Seven!"Teacher: "Johnny, where in the heck do you get seven from?!"Johnny: "Because I've already have a cat!"


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42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
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A Joke for the Older  (and wiser?) Crowd 
 A distraught senior citizen phoned her doctor's office.

"Is it true," she wanted to know,

"that the medication you prescribed has

to be taken for the rest of my life?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so," the doctor told her.

There was a moment of silence before the senior lady replied,

"I'm wondering, then, just how serious is my condition

because this prescription is marked 'NO REFILLS'."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the Married on the topic of OFFSPRING
         • Ah, children.  A woman knows all about her children.  She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.
         • A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

That we may be one Father as You and your Son are one. Amen.


Christ's death is both the Paschal sacrifice that accomplishes the definitive redemption of men, through "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world", and the sacrifice of the New Covenant, which restores man to communion with God by reconciling him to God through the "blood of the covenant, which was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins".  –Catechism of the Catholic Church #613

+JMJ+
SUNDAY BIBLICAL MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sunday, July 9, 2023

The First Reading-Zachariah 9:9-10
Thus says the LORD: Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!  See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass.  He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; the warrior's bow shall be banished, and he shall proclaim peace to the nations.  His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Question for Reflection or Group Discussion
In Zechariah’s prophecy, then, there is a paradox: this coming king is triumphant—a conquering hero—and yet he conquers in a peaceful way, banishing “horse, chariot, and bow,” the weapons of war.  He banishes them from “Ephraim”—the northern kingdom of Israel composed of predominantly of the ten tribes—and “Jerusalem”—the southern kingdom of Judah composed (mostly) of the two tribes Judah and Benjamin (with others mixed in).  In other words, this king will reunite “all Israel.”
Adults - What are some ways we can use peace to conquer the issues in our life?
Teens - How do you think an attitude of peace can influence today’s culture?
Kids - Try to solve an argument peacefully this week.  

Responsorial- Psalm 145: 1-2, 8-11, 13-14
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
The LORD is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
For our Responsorial, Holy Mother Church gives us a very important Psalm, the last Davidic psalm in the whole Psalter, and one of only two psalms to mention “the kingdom of God”, the other being Ps 103.  But Psalm 145 has much more to say about the kingdom of God than 103.  It is the quintessential “kingdom of God” psalm.  In this poem, David, the great king who was promised a universal kingdom, praise God for God’s universal kingdom. David acknowledges that God is the true, eternal, universal king; the implication, then, is that David’s kingdom is just a reflection of the divine reality.  God’s kingdom is characterized by love, mercy, forgiveness, healing, and even resurrection: “lifting up the fallen” and “raising up” the “bowed down.”  
How can you live the values of love, mercy and forgiveness this week?

The Second Reading- Romans 8: 9, 11-13
 Brothers and sisters: You are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.  Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.  If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you.  Consequently, brothers and sisters, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.  For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Question for Reflection or Group Discussion  
This Sunday we find ourselves in Romans 8, the theological heart of the letter.  St. Paul reminds us that we have the Spirit of Christ living in us.  We have the Spirit through faith and the sacraments, especially baptism.  It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that assures us we have eternal life.  This present life has too much suffering and evil to be the object of our hope!  To live joyful lives here and now, we must have a very robust notion of how quick and temporary this life is, and how joyful the next in God’s presence!  The Holy Spirit enables us to live joyfully, with a peace that “transcends understanding”—i.e. doesn’t make sense from an earthly perspective!—because he lives in our hearts and consoles us by reminding us of heaven!  This is the kingdom of God marked by resurrection described above in Psalm 145.
Meditate this week on the fact that the Holy Spirit, the literal love of God, dwells within your soul

 The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 11:25-30
At that time Jesus exclaimed:  "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones.  Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.  All things have been handed over to me by my Father.  No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.  Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."
Question for Reflection or Group Discussion  
When he says, “all things have been handed over to me by my Father,” we see that Jesus is claiming to be the heir of the universal kingdom of David and the universal kingdom of God.  The two are ultimately one and the same.  Just as David handed all things over to Solomon, who then rode into Jerusalem to claim the throne on a donkey; so God has handed all things over to Jesus (Eph 1:22), who is also the Son of David. The humble mule of David on which Solomon rode was a public statement of the close relationship between father and son.  So here, Jesus emphasizes his intimacy with the Father: “no one knows the Father but the Son.”  Jesus alone, of all religious teachers who have ever lived, understands and experienced God as his Father, and can teach us how to have that relationship.
Adults - What does it mean to you to be an heir of the kingdom of God?
Teens - Do you have a relationship with all three Persons of the Trinity? How can you work on building those relationships up?
Kids - What does Jesus teach us about a relationship with God?
​

"Helpful Hints of Life"
The Twelve Promises of Jesus

to those who honor His Sacred Heart
given to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque


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 months the 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

​

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 19Today, 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.


Polish President Entrusts Poland to Our Lady at Marian Shrine After Re-Election, Prays Evening Prayer
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Polish President Andrzej Duda visited the Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa, Poland after winning the his second presidential term on July 13. The monastery contains a shrine and a miraculous image of Our Lady of Częstochowa.
The president participated in Evening Prayer and dedicated Poland to Our Lady.

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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!”​

"Christ is the light of humanity; and it is, accordingly, the heart-felt desire of this sacred Council, being gathered together in the Holy Spirit, that, by proclaiming his Gospel to every creature, it may bring to all men that light of Christ which shines out visibly from the Church." These words open the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. By choosing this starting point, the Council demonstrates that the article of faith about the Church depends entirely on the articles concerning Christ Jesus. The Church has no other light than Christ's; according to a favorite image of the Church Fathers, the Church is like the moon, all its light reflected from the sun."  -Catechism of the Catholic Church #748

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