+JMJ+
In this e-weekly:
- Real Catholic TV! Catholic news, history, saints in video daily (Catholic Website of the Week)
- NFL’s Harrison Butker, Notre Dame Give $10,000 to Group Creating ‘monastic village’ for Ex-prisoners (Diocesan News and BEYOND)
- PRAYER FOR DECEASED LOVED ONES (under the Praying Hands at end)
In this e-weekly:
- Real Catholic TV! Catholic news, history, saints in video daily (Catholic Website of the Week)
- NFL’s Harrison Butker, Notre Dame Give $10,000 to Group Creating ‘monastic village’ for Ex-prisoners (Diocesan News and BEYOND)
- PRAYER FOR DECEASED LOVED ONES (under the Praying Hands at end)
Anointing of Walls of a Church with Sacred Chrism
Catholic Good News
Receiving the Gospel, Serving God and Neighbor
Dedication of a Church
"Can it indeed be that God dwells among men on earth?"... "May your eyes watch night and day over this temple, the place where you have decreed you shall be honored;"… "Listen to the petitions of your servant and of your people Israel which they offer in this place." (I Kings 8:27,29,30)
Receiving the Gospel, Serving God and Neighbor
Dedication of a Church
"Can it indeed be that God dwells among men on earth?"... "May your eyes watch night and day over this temple, the place where you have decreed you shall be honored;"… "Listen to the petitions of your servant and of your people Israel which they offer in this place." (I Kings 8:27,29,30)
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Why is a church dedicated, set apart, made holy through sacred rites? For whom and for what purpose is a church anointed, consecrated, washed, and clothed as if it were a living being? For GOD that He may live there, and for the purpose of saving and the making holy of human persons! Why? So that they can become living temples carrying God to family, work, indeed the whole world that God may do there what He does in His Temple, His church!
The Church has some great Feasts of Dedication, namely, the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Latern, the Pope's Cathedral (this past Nov. 9th), (no, the Pope's Cathedral is not St. Peter's Basilica) and the Feast of the Dedication of the Churches of St. Peter and St. Paul (coming this Nov. 18th). These days mark the moment when these buildings were set apart for the service of God. So important that a day on the Roman Calendar is taken just to commemorate this event!
Every Catholic Church is either Blessed or Dedicated for sacred use, which means that it is set aside for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the celebration of the Sacraments. If consecrated with sacred chrism, the church can only be used for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And as I said above, if God does this for mere stone, wood, and steel; how much more holy, sacred, and precious is your body & soul and mine made a Temple of the Holy Spirit by our yes and the power of the Church's Sacraments.
When the tempter knocks at the door of your soul, or you are tempted to use your body for something other than the glory of God, think of these things and then pray and strive like crazy to keep holy the place that God dwells in you so that you may continue to be the Temple which brings Him to your family, your school, your work, indeed to all the world who needs Him so desperately now!
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
P.S. This coming Sunday is 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time. The readings can be found at: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111223.cfm
P.S.S. Also, at the end of this e-weekly are the readings with reflections and questions for further reflection.
Why is a church dedicated, set apart, made holy through sacred rites? For whom and for what purpose is a church anointed, consecrated, washed, and clothed as if it were a living being? For GOD that He may live there, and for the purpose of saving and the making holy of human persons! Why? So that they can become living temples carrying God to family, work, indeed the whole world that God may do there what He does in His Temple, His church!
The Church has some great Feasts of Dedication, namely, the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Latern, the Pope's Cathedral (this past Nov. 9th), (no, the Pope's Cathedral is not St. Peter's Basilica) and the Feast of the Dedication of the Churches of St. Peter and St. Paul (coming this Nov. 18th). These days mark the moment when these buildings were set apart for the service of God. So important that a day on the Roman Calendar is taken just to commemorate this event!
Every Catholic Church is either Blessed or Dedicated for sacred use, which means that it is set aside for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the celebration of the Sacraments. If consecrated with sacred chrism, the church can only be used for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And as I said above, if God does this for mere stone, wood, and steel; how much more holy, sacred, and precious is your body & soul and mine made a Temple of the Holy Spirit by our yes and the power of the Church's Sacraments.
When the tempter knocks at the door of your soul, or you are tempted to use your body for something other than the glory of God, think of these things and then pray and strive like crazy to keep holy the place that God dwells in you so that you may continue to be the Temple which brings Him to your family, your school, your work, indeed to all the world who needs Him so desperately now!
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
P.S. This coming Sunday is 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time. The readings can be found at: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111223.cfm
P.S.S. Also, at the end of this e-weekly are the readings with reflections and questions for further reflection.
595. How is forgiveness possible? (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC 2840-2845, 2862)
a) it is impossible
b) it is not possible, so we do not do anything, God does everything
c) it is only possible if we ourselves learn how to forgive
d) it is only possible when the Holy Spirit is extra active
596. What does “Lead us not into temptation” mean? (CCC 2846-2849, 2863)
a) we ask God our Father not to leave us alone and in the power of temptation
b) we ask the Holy Spirit to help us know how to discern between a trial and consenting to temptation
c) this petition unites us to Jesus who overcame temptation by his prayer
d) all of the above
597. Why do we conclude by asking “But deliver us from evil”? (CCC 2850-2854, 2864)
a) evil is not real, thus cannot hurt us
b) evil does not exist, but is just people’s bad choices
c) we are asking God to take away all suffering which is seen as only bad
d) “evil” indicates the person of Satan who opposes God and is “the deceiver of the whole world.”
598. What is the meaning of the final Amen? (CCC 2855-2856, 2865)
a) ‘so be it’
b) ‘thank goodness we are done’
c) ‘wow, awesome’
d) none of the above
(Answers below)
a) it is impossible
b) it is not possible, so we do not do anything, God does everything
c) it is only possible if we ourselves learn how to forgive
d) it is only possible when the Holy Spirit is extra active
596. What does “Lead us not into temptation” mean? (CCC 2846-2849, 2863)
a) we ask God our Father not to leave us alone and in the power of temptation
b) we ask the Holy Spirit to help us know how to discern between a trial and consenting to temptation
c) this petition unites us to Jesus who overcame temptation by his prayer
d) all of the above
597. Why do we conclude by asking “But deliver us from evil”? (CCC 2850-2854, 2864)
a) evil is not real, thus cannot hurt us
b) evil does not exist, but is just people’s bad choices
c) we are asking God to take away all suffering which is seen as only bad
d) “evil” indicates the person of Satan who opposes God and is “the deceiver of the whole world.”
598. What is the meaning of the final Amen? (CCC 2855-2856, 2865)
a) ‘so be it’
b) ‘thank goodness we are done’
c) ‘wow, awesome’
d) none of the above
(Answers below)
Catholic Term
Dedication
(Latin de + dicare "to indicate, to consecrate, to proclaim")
- set aside for sacred use
Dedication
(Latin de + dicare "to indicate, to consecrate, to proclaim")
- set aside for sacred use
"Helpful Hints of Life"
Ways to Save Energy During Winter
*Decide on a setting for your thermostat and leave it there. Adjust your clothing by wearing layers. This will stop your heating unit from constantly turning on and off which will run up your bill.
*If your appliances are over ten years old, you can bet on a savings by replacing them with newer energy saving products such as those with high Energy Star ratings.
*Double paned windows are a win, win purchase. These windows have two panes with a layer of gas sandwiched in-between, which acts as insulation to slow the transfer of heat or cold through the window.
*Installing a heat pump might be your best bet depending on the mean temperature where you live. Check out the advantages as well as the disadvantages of owning one and always find out how long it will take to get your investment back in savings before buying.
*Have your furnace checked out the duct-work cleaned on a regular basis. Change the filters when the manufacturer recommends and don't place furniture to block air vents.
"Certain blessings have a lasting importance because they consecrate persons to God, or reserve objects and places for liturgical use. Among those blessings which are intended for persons - not to be confused with sacramental ordination - are the blessing of the abbot or abbess of a monastery, the consecration of virgins and widows, the rite of religious profession and the blessing of certain ministries of the Church (readers, acolytes, catechists, etc.). The dedication or blessing of a church or an altar, the blessing of holy oils, vessels, and vestments, bells, etc., can be mentioned as examples of blessings that concern objects."
Catechism of the Catholic Church #1672
Ways to Save Energy During Winter
*Decide on a setting for your thermostat and leave it there. Adjust your clothing by wearing layers. This will stop your heating unit from constantly turning on and off which will run up your bill.
*If your appliances are over ten years old, you can bet on a savings by replacing them with newer energy saving products such as those with high Energy Star ratings.
*Double paned windows are a win, win purchase. These windows have two panes with a layer of gas sandwiched in-between, which acts as insulation to slow the transfer of heat or cold through the window.
*Installing a heat pump might be your best bet depending on the mean temperature where you live. Check out the advantages as well as the disadvantages of owning one and always find out how long it will take to get your investment back in savings before buying.
*Have your furnace checked out the duct-work cleaned on a regular basis. Change the filters when the manufacturer recommends and don't place furniture to block air vents.
"Certain blessings have a lasting importance because they consecrate persons to God, or reserve objects and places for liturgical use. Among those blessings which are intended for persons - not to be confused with sacramental ordination - are the blessing of the abbot or abbess of a monastery, the consecration of virgins and widows, the rite of religious profession and the blessing of certain ministries of the Church (readers, acolytes, catechists, etc.). The dedication or blessing of a church or an altar, the blessing of holy oils, vessels, and vestments, bells, etc., can be mentioned as examples of blessings that concern objects."
Catechism of the Catholic Church #1672
This is the answer for one who wants bite size news, Church history, lives of the saints, and more in simple video format. RealCatholic TV was formed in early 2008 by lay Catholics faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church with extensive experience in commercial broadcast television.
RealCatholic TV offers solid Catholic programming including, daily news, daily political commentary, daily features on saints and history as well as regular episodes on morality, movie reviews, entertainment, apologetics, and much more.
The site provides content through a video player that allows users to view, send, and download content regardless of their computing platform with no plug-ins required. All viewers have free access to home page content – daily news and commentary (current events and politics) from the Catholic perspective, messages directly from Catholic bishops to the faithful, program previews, and more.
RealCatholic TV offers solid Catholic programming including, daily news, daily political commentary, daily features on saints and history as well as regular episodes on morality, movie reviews, entertainment, apologetics, and much more.
The site provides content through a video player that allows users to view, send, and download content regardless of their computing platform with no plug-ins required. All viewers have free access to home page content – daily news and commentary (current events and politics) from the Catholic perspective, messages directly from Catholic bishops to the faithful, program previews, and more.
Best Parish Practices
THANKSGIVING BLESSING TABLE
If your parish has a Mass for Thanksgiving Day or Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving Day, ask your Pastor to consider having a Thanksgiving Blessing Table.
BENEFITS:
Let the blessings of the Holy Mass share and bless food from your own table and bless those who partake of the food.
HOW:
A table can be set up near the front of the sanctuary for people to put food on it they bring at the beginning of Mass. Priest can bless food during Mass, and then it can be picked up after Mass to be taken to their homes and shared with their loved ones having been blessed and come from the Holy Mass.
THANKSGIVING BLESSING TABLE
If your parish has a Mass for Thanksgiving Day or Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving Day, ask your Pastor to consider having a Thanksgiving Blessing Table.
BENEFITS:
Let the blessings of the Holy Mass share and bless food from your own table and bless those who partake of the food.
HOW:
A table can be set up near the front of the sanctuary for people to put food on it they bring at the beginning of Mass. Priest can bless food during Mass, and then it can be picked up after Mass to be taken to their homes and shared with their loved ones having been blessed and come from the Holy Mass.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, which was closed in 1989 and sold, which the Serenelli Project is hoping to purchase (left), and a home for ex-inmates reentering society owned by the Serenelli Project (right). | Credit: Serenelli Project
An initiative to help former inmates reenter society and grow in their Catholic faith is the winner of a $10,000 award sponsored by the University of Notre Dame and MDKeller, the holding company of two-time NFL champion Harrison Butker.
The award recognizes and supports individuals or organizations with bold ideas to best use underutilized Church property.
The winning initiative, called the Serenelli Project, is a nonprofit organization in Cincinnati that has a goal of creating a “monastic village” for former inmates who wish to live in an intentional Catholic community as they readjust to life outside prison, the website says.
Additionally, those community members will work together to refurbish an abandoned and decommissioned Catholic church to hone labor and trade skills and to restore the historic building in order to enrich the local neighborhood.
The award recognizes and supports individuals or organizations with bold ideas to best use underutilized Church property.
The winning initiative, called the Serenelli Project, is a nonprofit organization in Cincinnati that has a goal of creating a “monastic village” for former inmates who wish to live in an intentional Catholic community as they readjust to life outside prison, the website says.
Additionally, those community members will work together to refurbish an abandoned and decommissioned Catholic church to hone labor and trade skills and to restore the historic building in order to enrich the local neighborhood.
“We’re simply trying to help people stay in their faith when they get out of prison,” Marty Arlinghaus, founder and volunteer CEO of the project, told CNA on Thursday, after winning the award on Oct. 31.
The Serenelli Project was chosen among more than 130 applications at Notre Dame’s Church Property Conference run by the school’s Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate in October.
Austin Wright, MDKeller’s co-founder, said that “we could not be more excited for Marty and everyone at the Serenelli Project for being the first recipient of the MDKeller To the Heights Award.”
“Organizations like this are going to create positive shifts in the culture for generations to come,” he added.
David Murphy, the program director for the Church Properties Initiative at the Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate, said: “How better to use a closed church than to meet the needs of prisoners who feel marginalized that can serve as a beacon of hope for both the community in Cincinnati and indeed the world?”
“The Serenelli Project embodies the highest and best social, fiscal, and spiritual use of property,” he said.
The Serenelli Project was chosen among more than 130 applications at Notre Dame’s Church Property Conference run by the school’s Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate in October.
Austin Wright, MDKeller’s co-founder, said that “we could not be more excited for Marty and everyone at the Serenelli Project for being the first recipient of the MDKeller To the Heights Award.”
“Organizations like this are going to create positive shifts in the culture for generations to come,” he added.
David Murphy, the program director for the Church Properties Initiative at the Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate, said: “How better to use a closed church than to meet the needs of prisoners who feel marginalized that can serve as a beacon of hope for both the community in Cincinnati and indeed the world?”
“The Serenelli Project embodies the highest and best social, fiscal, and spiritual use of property,” he said.
A faith community
Arlinghaus, 31, said that the project will first focus on men who were former inmates and hopes to have individuals living in the community as early as May 2024.
The plan is for the men to live in houses, owned by the Serenelli Project, surrounding Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, in Sedamsville, a neighborhood of Cincinnati. Currently, the project owns and is renovating one house with a chapel inside near the church.
The 19th-century Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church was closed in 1989 by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and was sold to a developer years later but is now owned by the The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority.
Arlinghaus is hoping to buy the church and its rectory from the port authority with the intention of refurbishing the historic establishment to be used once more.
The ex-inmates living in the community will play a large role in the renovation of the church, he said.
The Serinelli Project will partner with tradesmen and construction companies and offer their members as laborers. Through this work, the former inmates will begin to develop a craft in the trades and use these skills to develop a career, as well as to refurbish the church.
Eventually, Arlinghaus hopes to have trades professionals who work for Serenelli Project that will train community members and lead the work on the church and with external jobs.
Arlinghaus said that his vision is for the members of the community to receive spiritual formation from a priest in residence during their time of labor and reentry.
The total cost of buying the church, rectory, and their restoration will cost millions, he said, but he’s not worried about reaching the fundraising feat.
“We have the next thousand years to make this look like what God wants it to look like,” Arlinghaus said. “I’m not worried about raising that much money to do the full restoration in a quick amount of time. This is something that gets built up slowly in the Spirit more than it does physically.”
Although its first large undertaking will be a community for men, the Serenelli Project also serves women and anyone else reentering society who doesn’t want to live in community but still wants help in their faith. Some of those services include connecting these individuals to parishes in their area, counseling services, and “spiritual encouragement.”
Namesake
The Serenelli Project is named after Alessandro Serenelli, the man who in 1902 attempted to rape and then murdered Maria Goretti, who was later canonized a saint.
Serenelli served a 30-year prison sentence but repented for his sins after the saint appeared to him in a vision and offered him 14 lilies representing her 14 stab wounds.
His life was changed in that moment and when he left prison he asked forgiveness from Goretti’s mother, which she gave. Serenelli lived the rest of his life as a Third Order Franciscan, working on the religious order’s monastery grounds until his death.
In a letter dated May 5, 1961, Serenelli wrote: “At the age of 20, I committed a crime of passion, the memory of which still horrifies me today.”
“Maria Goretti, now a saint, was my good angel whom God placed in my path to save me. Her words both of rebuke and forgiveness are still imprinted in my heart. She prayed for me, interceding for her killer,” he wrote.
Arlingaus said: “We’re trying to create the same community for guys like him.”
Recruiting
Attracting men to live in the community is a large task, but Arlinghaus is hoping that his position in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati as the director of prison ministry can help.
Arlinghaus oversees the ministry’s three prisons and spends much of his workweek in the prisons with inmates.
He said that in one of the prisons there are about 25-30 men who show up each week to the prison ministry and many are joining the OCIA (formerly RCIA) program for those coming into full communion with the Catholic Church.
He hopes that through his relationships with men in the prison, the project will be able to identify individuals who will be interested in living in the community.
The idea for the Serenelli Project, after all, began in prison.
One day, an inmate said to him, “Marty, could a guy like me become a priest?”
“And this just was a question that blew me away because I’d never thought these guys would be thinking about that,” Arlinghaus said.
Researching the answer, Arlinghaus began to think about the simple difficulties of “making it in a Catholic parish.”
Many of the inmates come to faith while in prison, but when released, “know nothing of the Church on the outside.”
From that one inmate’s question, The Serenelli Project was born.
To hear Marty Arlinghaus speak more about The Serenelli Project, check out the video below:
https://youtu.be/tdBK53nHAWc
Arlinghaus, 31, said that the project will first focus on men who were former inmates and hopes to have individuals living in the community as early as May 2024.
The plan is for the men to live in houses, owned by the Serenelli Project, surrounding Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, in Sedamsville, a neighborhood of Cincinnati. Currently, the project owns and is renovating one house with a chapel inside near the church.
The 19th-century Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church was closed in 1989 by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and was sold to a developer years later but is now owned by the The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority.
Arlinghaus is hoping to buy the church and its rectory from the port authority with the intention of refurbishing the historic establishment to be used once more.
The ex-inmates living in the community will play a large role in the renovation of the church, he said.
The Serinelli Project will partner with tradesmen and construction companies and offer their members as laborers. Through this work, the former inmates will begin to develop a craft in the trades and use these skills to develop a career, as well as to refurbish the church.
Eventually, Arlinghaus hopes to have trades professionals who work for Serenelli Project that will train community members and lead the work on the church and with external jobs.
Arlinghaus said that his vision is for the members of the community to receive spiritual formation from a priest in residence during their time of labor and reentry.
The total cost of buying the church, rectory, and their restoration will cost millions, he said, but he’s not worried about reaching the fundraising feat.
“We have the next thousand years to make this look like what God wants it to look like,” Arlinghaus said. “I’m not worried about raising that much money to do the full restoration in a quick amount of time. This is something that gets built up slowly in the Spirit more than it does physically.”
Although its first large undertaking will be a community for men, the Serenelli Project also serves women and anyone else reentering society who doesn’t want to live in community but still wants help in their faith. Some of those services include connecting these individuals to parishes in their area, counseling services, and “spiritual encouragement.”
Namesake
The Serenelli Project is named after Alessandro Serenelli, the man who in 1902 attempted to rape and then murdered Maria Goretti, who was later canonized a saint.
Serenelli served a 30-year prison sentence but repented for his sins after the saint appeared to him in a vision and offered him 14 lilies representing her 14 stab wounds.
His life was changed in that moment and when he left prison he asked forgiveness from Goretti’s mother, which she gave. Serenelli lived the rest of his life as a Third Order Franciscan, working on the religious order’s monastery grounds until his death.
In a letter dated May 5, 1961, Serenelli wrote: “At the age of 20, I committed a crime of passion, the memory of which still horrifies me today.”
“Maria Goretti, now a saint, was my good angel whom God placed in my path to save me. Her words both of rebuke and forgiveness are still imprinted in my heart. She prayed for me, interceding for her killer,” he wrote.
Arlingaus said: “We’re trying to create the same community for guys like him.”
Recruiting
Attracting men to live in the community is a large task, but Arlinghaus is hoping that his position in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati as the director of prison ministry can help.
Arlinghaus oversees the ministry’s three prisons and spends much of his workweek in the prisons with inmates.
He said that in one of the prisons there are about 25-30 men who show up each week to the prison ministry and many are joining the OCIA (formerly RCIA) program for those coming into full communion with the Catholic Church.
He hopes that through his relationships with men in the prison, the project will be able to identify individuals who will be interested in living in the community.
The idea for the Serenelli Project, after all, began in prison.
One day, an inmate said to him, “Marty, could a guy like me become a priest?”
“And this just was a question that blew me away because I’d never thought these guys would be thinking about that,” Arlinghaus said.
Researching the answer, Arlinghaus began to think about the simple difficulties of “making it in a Catholic parish.”
Many of the inmates come to faith while in prison, but when released, “know nothing of the Church on the outside.”
From that one inmate’s question, The Serenelli Project was born.
To hear Marty Arlinghaus speak more about The Serenelli Project, check out the video below:
https://youtu.be/tdBK53nHAWc
By Francesca Pollio Fenton
CNA Newsroom, Nov 12
When Madeleine Sri and Caden Bennett met as students at Benedictine College, little did they know they would end up engaged to be married and co-owners of a thriving business that helps people grow in their faith through coffee. And they haven’t even graduated yet.
Sri and Bennett came up with their business, Little Way of Perfection, soon after they met during their freshman year at Benedictine, a Catholic liberal arts college in Atchison, Kansas.
Originally known as Religious Roast Coffee, the soon-to-be married couple’s business has grown to include clothing, accessories, stickers, and more, in addition to their popular roasted coffee, available in a variety of flavors, ground or as whole beans.
The two started dating the week before the country went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, as was the case with many others, they found themselves bored while at home. One day Bennett had the idea to start a Catholic coffee business. And the next day he had a website, logo, and business plan ready.
“Caden is a big go-getter, [an] ideas person, and I am good at making a plan happen and working out all the little details to get there, so we make a pretty great team,” Sri said in an interview with CNA.
Bennett explained how he felt the Lord calling him and how his own morning routine inspired the idea for Religious Roast Coffee.
“I was inspired to start this company from my own prayer. Jesus kept leading me to become more aware of him and let him encounter me in every moment of my day so that I could give every moment to him,” he said. “As I grew in this invitation from our Lord it centered around beginning my day with a morning offering so that the first thing I did each day was talk with Jesus and give him everything.”
“One morning as I was making coffee and praying the morning offering,” he continued, “I had the idea of pairing the first thing we all do in the morning — make a cup of coffee — with also inviting God into the first moments of our day. From this came the idea of Religious Roast Coffee.”
In the fall of 2020 the two launched several labels with an image of a saint on each, along with a morning offering asking for the intercession of that particular saint. The idea was to have people pray while their morning coffee brewed.
CNA Newsroom, Nov 12
When Madeleine Sri and Caden Bennett met as students at Benedictine College, little did they know they would end up engaged to be married and co-owners of a thriving business that helps people grow in their faith through coffee. And they haven’t even graduated yet.
Sri and Bennett came up with their business, Little Way of Perfection, soon after they met during their freshman year at Benedictine, a Catholic liberal arts college in Atchison, Kansas.
Originally known as Religious Roast Coffee, the soon-to-be married couple’s business has grown to include clothing, accessories, stickers, and more, in addition to their popular roasted coffee, available in a variety of flavors, ground or as whole beans.
The two started dating the week before the country went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, as was the case with many others, they found themselves bored while at home. One day Bennett had the idea to start a Catholic coffee business. And the next day he had a website, logo, and business plan ready.
“Caden is a big go-getter, [an] ideas person, and I am good at making a plan happen and working out all the little details to get there, so we make a pretty great team,” Sri said in an interview with CNA.
Bennett explained how he felt the Lord calling him and how his own morning routine inspired the idea for Religious Roast Coffee.
“I was inspired to start this company from my own prayer. Jesus kept leading me to become more aware of him and let him encounter me in every moment of my day so that I could give every moment to him,” he said. “As I grew in this invitation from our Lord it centered around beginning my day with a morning offering so that the first thing I did each day was talk with Jesus and give him everything.”
“One morning as I was making coffee and praying the morning offering,” he continued, “I had the idea of pairing the first thing we all do in the morning — make a cup of coffee — with also inviting God into the first moments of our day. From this came the idea of Religious Roast Coffee.”
In the fall of 2020 the two launched several labels with an image of a saint on each, along with a morning offering asking for the intercession of that particular saint. The idea was to have people pray while their morning coffee brewed.
Early Church, Early Morning Saints Peter and Paul Roast. Credit: Madeleine Sri / Little Way of Perfection“Nobody else had this idea at the time — now there are a few who’ve hopped on the idea — so it was so much fun to name all the different coffee flavors after different saints and invite our customers to grow closer to them in their mornings,” Sri explained. “Ultimately, we started this business to be a tool to help people grow in deeper intimacy with Christ.”
“One of our favorite professors here at Benedictine said about prayer that ‘in order to pray at all times, you must first pray for a time,’ and this is really what the heart of our business is all about,” she continued.
“We don’t want people to just stop and ‘check the box’ of their morning prayer by praying the morning offering on our bag, but we hope that it is a tool to begin a time of longer and deeper contemplation in order to be in dialogue with God for the entirety of their day.”
Bennett added: “Just as the saints lived so beautifully united to Jesus in every moment from the early mornings, washing dishes, the joy of the day, and even the mundane task, so too are we called to live with Christ at all moments.”
The pair will graduate this December with degrees in theology and get married soon after.
Recently they had more ideas of ways people can be reminded to pray throughout the day — such as stickers with prayers that can be placed on a bathroom mirror — and so the company expanded from Religious Roast Coffee to Little Way of Perfection.
“We then changed our brand name to Little Way of Perfection because, ultimately, what we want to do is to invite people to reach spiritual perfection through being brought further into God through prayer but also to embrace the ‘little way’ of allowing God’s grace and mercy to always work through you,” Sri said.
“One of our favorite professors here at Benedictine said about prayer that ‘in order to pray at all times, you must first pray for a time,’ and this is really what the heart of our business is all about,” she continued.
“We don’t want people to just stop and ‘check the box’ of their morning prayer by praying the morning offering on our bag, but we hope that it is a tool to begin a time of longer and deeper contemplation in order to be in dialogue with God for the entirety of their day.”
Bennett added: “Just as the saints lived so beautifully united to Jesus in every moment from the early mornings, washing dishes, the joy of the day, and even the mundane task, so too are we called to live with Christ at all moments.”
The pair will graduate this December with degrees in theology and get married soon after.
Recently they had more ideas of ways people can be reminded to pray throughout the day — such as stickers with prayers that can be placed on a bathroom mirror — and so the company expanded from Religious Roast Coffee to Little Way of Perfection.
“We then changed our brand name to Little Way of Perfection because, ultimately, what we want to do is to invite people to reach spiritual perfection through being brought further into God through prayer but also to embrace the ‘little way’ of allowing God’s grace and mercy to always work through you,” Sri said.
The name, and goal, of Little Way of Perfection is also significant in that it’s inspired by two female saints: St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Teresa of Ávila. Credit: Madeleine Sri / Little Way of PerfectionThe name, and goal, of their business is also significant in that it’s inspired by two female saints: St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Teresa of Ávila.
“St. Teresa of Ávila talks about the ‘way of perfection’ and how it is possible in this life to reach spiritual perfection, but this comes from detachment from the sinful pleasures of the world and striving for humility and pure love of God,” she explained. “St. Thérèse of Lisieux is famous for her ‘little way’ in that we are far too small to achieve sainthood on our own and we must have total abandonment to the merciful love of God.”
“We want our customers to be inspired by the reality that they can become a saint through loving God with your entire heart and choosing him above all things, but also to remain little and to do little things out of love and humility for God.”
The different coffee flavors are also inspired by the saint on their bag. For example, Little Flower Cinnamon Hazelnut is said to have a floral smell — hence St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower. Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a medium roast with a sweet, buttery caramel flavor. Other roasts include Holy Family Hazelnut; Love and Roastsponsibility St. John Paul II Medium Roast; Early Church, Early Morning Saints Peter and Paul Roast; and Monte Caffino Benedictine Breakfast Blend.
Each bag also includes a morning offering prayer, which reads: “Heavenly Father I offer you this day, all that I think, do and say. May everything I do begin with your inspiration and continue with your help, uniting everything in the Holy Spirit and what was done by our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.”
“Making your morning coffee is something that we usually wouldn’t think of as being an opportunity to pray, but actually every simple moment is a perfect time to talk to God,” Sri said. “We hope that our products remind people that God is present in every moment and to make every moment an offering to him.”
“St. Teresa of Ávila talks about the ‘way of perfection’ and how it is possible in this life to reach spiritual perfection, but this comes from detachment from the sinful pleasures of the world and striving for humility and pure love of God,” she explained. “St. Thérèse of Lisieux is famous for her ‘little way’ in that we are far too small to achieve sainthood on our own and we must have total abandonment to the merciful love of God.”
“We want our customers to be inspired by the reality that they can become a saint through loving God with your entire heart and choosing him above all things, but also to remain little and to do little things out of love and humility for God.”
The different coffee flavors are also inspired by the saint on their bag. For example, Little Flower Cinnamon Hazelnut is said to have a floral smell — hence St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower. Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a medium roast with a sweet, buttery caramel flavor. Other roasts include Holy Family Hazelnut; Love and Roastsponsibility St. John Paul II Medium Roast; Early Church, Early Morning Saints Peter and Paul Roast; and Monte Caffino Benedictine Breakfast Blend.
Each bag also includes a morning offering prayer, which reads: “Heavenly Father I offer you this day, all that I think, do and say. May everything I do begin with your inspiration and continue with your help, uniting everything in the Holy Spirit and what was done by our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.”
“Making your morning coffee is something that we usually wouldn’t think of as being an opportunity to pray, but actually every simple moment is a perfect time to talk to God,” Sri said. “We hope that our products remind people that God is present in every moment and to make every moment an offering to him.”
By Joe Bukuras
Boston, Mass., Nov 11
To coincide with Veterans Day, a marriage ministry has launched a free “virtual date night” video series specifically for military couples, providing mentoring and other resources to help spouses strengthen their bonds to one another, to their families and communities, and to God.
The new, three-part series is one of several developed by Witness to Love, a faith-centered marriage ministry based in St. Martinville, La. Founded by a Catholic couple, Mary-Rose and Ryan Verret, in effort to supplement existing church-based marriage preparation programs, Witness to Love provides a “virtues-based, Catechumenate model of marriage renewal and preparation that integrates modern principles of psychology and the virtues to help couples facilitate an authentic dialogue about their relationship," according to its website.
There is also a date night series tailored to first responders and hospital workers, and a more general program suitable for all couples.
Daniela Mazzone, vice president of content and leadership development and Spanish support lead at Witness for Love, told CNA that the idea for a date night video series came in response to the fact that so many couples were home together during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We've always had in our hearts to do something for military couples, because we know that they also need a lot of support because there are challenges that they face in their own marriages which are much harder and could be different from what the average couple deals with,” especially when spouses are separated during a deployment, Mazzone said.
Couples can register online for free and will have access to Witness to Love’s app where they can see all the videos. It is not necessary to download the app on their mobile devices to see the videos, as they can also be viewed on the organization's website, Mazzone said.
The military spouses series launches on Nov. 11, but couples will still have access to the videos on the website after that date. You can watch a promo video about the new military date night series below.
The new series features Kelly and Nancy McKeague, an Alexandria, Va. couple with four grown children who share the challenges and successes they experienced in their marriage while Kelly served in the U.S. Air Force.
“While a military spouse may not wear the uniform,” Kelly McKeague told CNA, “they’re going through the same tribulations and trials.”
“I just traveled with him and went along for the ride,” Nancy McKeague quipped. But her husband disagreed.
“I think, to be fair,” Kelly McKeague said, “the military spouse has a very unique role just because of separation, deployments, and what have you, and so in essence, a military spouse really does serve.”
Military life is a “higher calling,” Kelly McKeague said. “It’s a calling of service, but also a sacrifice that takes many, many forms.”
Nancy McKeague told CNA that “it would seem that whenever Kelly would leave and be gone, something pretty dramatic and traumatic would happen in our life.”
Speaking about a time when their son had an asthma attack in the middle of the night, Nancy McKeague said that she grabbed all her children and went to the emergency room, spending hours there.
She noted that emergencies like her son’s asthma attack happened “quite frequently,” and she just had to remind herself to stay strong for herself and children.
Nancy McKeague said she constantly reminded her children, while her husband was deployed, to “just remember that Daddy is doing this not only for our family, but for our country, and this is a really great thing that he’s doing.”
“I know it's not easy for him to be gone,” she would say to her children, “but just remember we're just going to pray for Daddy that he comes safely back home.”
The video series is not exclusively for Catholic couples. However, the McKeagues, who have been married for more than 37 years, say in their video testimony that their Catholic faith was their “anchor” during Kelly’s military service.
“Having that strong faith connection, in our view, as we present in the video, was so crucial to us, not only surviving as a military family, but thriving as a military family,” Kelly McKeague told CNA.
Staying close to the sacraments was “crucial” in keeping them strong as a couple and as a family, Nancy McKeague added.
Other presenters in the videos include a Navy couple, Shannon and Kim Walker, who speak about interpersonal relationship; an Air Force couple, Jon and Lea-Ann Virnig, who discuss family and community life; and Father Michael Murphy, the pastor at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Coronado, Colo. Reflection questions and other resources resources are included with each video.
While each of the couples in the series has a unique perspective on the challenges that military spouses face, they also share a common experience, the McKeagues say.
“The thing that I've always loved so much about our military life was traveling to new places, getting to meet many new people, building friendships that have lasted since the beginning of our time in the military, and people that we've kept in touch with through the years that have made us stronger and have made us grow in our faith more,” Nancy McKeague told CNA.
“Those relationships and those friendships have been such a huge blessing to both of us,” she said.
“We were all in the crucible together, we were all experiencing the same challenges, and then some of those friends that Nancy talked about are from the chapel community, the Catholic chapel and they were lifelong friendships because they were honed in somewhat less than ideal circumstances, either the place or the situation or the operational tempo,” Kelly McKeague said.
“All of that starts to build a closeness with people who share the same uniform, but also share the same faith. So it's an added bonus,” he said.
‘A Really Joyful Journey’: Preparing People with Intellectual Disabilities to Receive the SacramentsCNA Staff, Nov 14 (CNA).- As book titles go, the “Directory for Catechesis” is hardly the catchiest. But this volume could potentially transform the lives of thousands of people.
That is the conviction of Gail Williams, center manager at Caritas St. Joseph in Hendon, north London. When the updated directory -- formerly known as the General Directory for Catechesis -- was released in June, she was struck by what it said about people with disabilities.
“People with disabilities are called to the fullness of sacramental life, even in the presence of serious disturbances,” the directory said. “The sacraments are gifts of God and the liturgy, even before being rationally understood, asks to be lived: therefore, no one can deny the sacraments to people with disabilities.”
“It means so much for it actually to be printed in there,” Williams told CNA, “because the General Directory for Catechesis is the go-to for anybody that’s not really doing this work. And they’ll often say: ‘Well, is it in the General Directory for Catechesis?’”
“To be able to say ‘Yes, it is’ is just amazing, because then you have real proof and back-up that actually the Catholic Church does want to embrace everyone and does want to encompass those that are usually ignored.”
For the past 40 years, Caritas St. Joseph has supported people with intellectual disabilities, as well as their families and friends, in the English Diocese of Westminster. Formerly known as St. Joseph’s Pastoral Centre, Caritas St. Joseph wants to share its expertise far beyond the borders of Westminster diocese, which includes all of London north of the River Thames and some outlying areas.
Williams believes that some parishes are scared of catechizing those with learning disabilities. She is on a mission to persuade them that it can, in fact, be “a really joyful journey.”
Her interest in catechesis began when her oldest son, who is severely dyslexic, started his First Communion course at the age of seven.
“Nobody understood how he functioned. In those days, it was all ‘sit down and read from the book,’ and it was so difficult for him,” she recalled.
She realized that her son’s faith grew by listening to the words said at Mass, as well as through the sounds and smells at the church they attended.
In 2006, Williams attended a course called “Symbols of Faith” at St. Joseph’s. When she returned to her parish with a deeper knowledge of how to teach the faith to people with learning disabilities, she made a disturbing discovery.
She found that there were families that didn’t bring their children to church because they couldn’t cope with crowds or remain still during the quieter parts of Mass.
“To go back and find that part of my parish family was missing because of all these reasons was a real eye-opener for me,” she remembered. “That’s when I really felt quite strongly that everybody should be included.”
Williams continued: “When you’re a parent of a child or an adult with a learning disability, and you are on the phone constantly to doctors, fighting for them at school, the last thing you really need to do is to feel shut off from your faith.”
The latest catechetical directory is the third since the Second Vatican Council. The first, the General Catechetical Directory, was published in 1971. The second, the General Directory for Catechesis, was issued in 1997. The latest version updates catechetical methods for the digital age and is likely to have a profound impact on the teaching of the Catholic faith around the world.
When Williams begins catechizing a child, she takes them into an empty church and helps them to appreciate all the sensory elements: the colors, sounds and smells. She may lead them to the altar and explain why it is much more than an ordinary table.
“It's not about long, convoluted words. It’s about showing and supporting them in making their own discoveries,” she said.
Williams urges parents of disabled children to raise the directory’s new recommendations with their pastors. If their parish doesn’t know where to begin, she advises them to contact Caritas St. Joseph or similar organizations where they live.
“We can come out and we can train people, and we can share our knowledge, expertise and resources. But once you are trained, don’t be afraid to be the voice for those people who are left on the fringes of your parish,” she said.
Williams noted that, while her work is deeply rewarding, it can be emotionally draining. At one point, she was visiting families after finishing her day job.
“Sometimes you would spend one minute with the child because he had had enough at school that day and just wasn’t interested,” she said. “But then you would spend half an hour with the mum, because she hadn’t seen anyone all week or he had had a difficult day at school and she needed to talk to someone.”
“At those times you think ‘Well, I can’t catechize today.’ But actually you’re supporting the whole family. And it’s so important that even if it seems impossible, actually it isn’t. Kindness, patience and time is the best gift.”
There are also heart-lifting breakthroughs. Williams talks about discussing transubstantiation with a child who responded by making two sign-language gestures, one meaning “change” and the other signifying “creation.”
“So then you know that actually she’s understanding that that’s the Consecration, that the bread and the wine is changing and creating the Body and Blood. You get moments like that, that absolutely clarify what you are doing,” she said.
Above all, Williams wants parents to know that, thanks to the latest directory, a new path is open to them.
“It doesn’t matter where you are or who you are. God can always be present in your life,” Williams said.
“Quite a lot of time we get the question ‘Do they really know?’ And yes, they really do. Sometimes you have to work with someone for four years, sometimes for a year. Sometimes you can support them straightaway on the Communion program.”
“Just don’t be afraid,” she concluded. “It is possible for everyone.”
For One Young Catholic, Music is an Apostolate of BeautyBy Hillary MastAnn Arbor, Mich., Nov 15 (EWTN News/CNA) - An up-and-coming Catholic musician in Michigan aims to expose listeners to God in the same way she did during her school years – through beauty found in “truly good” forms of art.
“My desire with this music and this album is to reach anybody, anywhere and hopefully open their hearts to the reality that transfiguration and transformation is real,” singer/songwriter Alanna-Marie Boudreau told EWTN News recently.
Growing up, she said that her parents made it a point to expose their children to “the transcendental truth, goodness and beauty” through beautiful literature and art. Since they believed that was not available in the upstate New York schools where they lived, her mother decided to homeschool them.
Learning from a Catholic curriculum, Boudreau says excellent books and beautiful music were a regular part of her education.
“It was a very natural part of the fabric of our life and it was interwoven with a really sacramental understanding of life and of family,” she said.
“The faith, it always fit like a hand in the glove with our upbringing and with our education.” That integration of faith, beauty and truth is something the 23-year old woman says she hopes permeates her music, especially in her new, full-length album, “Hints and Guesses” – a follow-up to her 2012 EP, “Hands in the Land.”
“And anybody – everybody – is affected by beauty, no matter what their life experience is, where they’re from, or what they’ve done, there’s something about beauty that bypasses those preconceived ideas and it just sets the heart in a very good position to hear God.”
But Boudreau doesn’t label her work as “Christian music” – not because it doesn’t deal with the faith, but because of the inclination of some to automatically be turned off by such a label or assume that it will sound a certain way without listening to it.
“I’m a Catholic woman and that affects the way that I write and the way that I understand the world, but I have noticed there’s a tendency when people hear about a label like ‘Christian’ they misunderstand it, so they feel threatened by it and they close their hearts to it.”
However, when music or other art forms simply expose the listener to beauty instead of assigning labels, that’s when conversion of the heart can begin, she explained.
“God, in His wisdom, he knows that beauty is a way of bypassing the intellect and softening the heart to make it receptive.”
That’s something she hopes “Hints and Guesses” will do – open listeners’ hearts up in a way that allows them to be more receptive to authentic beauty, and in turn, God.
“I hope that the album would act kind of as a question mark for them – that it would bring up certain things or inspire certain movements that would make them examine things a little more deeply – to have a more examined life and to ask those big questions, whether it has to do with relationships, inner healing, if it has to do with seeking God more ardently, or if it has to do with just being more receptive to life in general.”
One of the songs on the album, “The Weight of Glory,” is based on a sermon of the same name by C.S. Lewis and deals with asking questions and developing a thirst for God.
Another track, “Solitudes,” focuses on how human relationships can never fully satisfy us, while at the same time revealing something eternal.
“There will always be a part of us that is incommunicable to another person and that’s what sets us above creation and it’s what makes us like God, in a sense. And yet, there’s that tension: we are made for community,” Boudreau explained.
Her new album – which was completed after a successful Kickstarter campaign back in March – was received enthusiastically and reached number 22 on the top 100 “Singer/Songwriter” category on iTunes the day after it was released in September.
Boudreau toured for a month over the summer and is now playing shows intermittently, but says right now is a “waiting period” while she discerns her next move.
"Cloud and light. These two images occur together in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. In the theophanies of the Old Testament, the cloud, now obscure, now luminous, reveals the living and saving God, while veiling the transcendence of his glory - with Moses on Mount Sinai, at the tent of meeting, and during the wandering in the desert, and with Solomon at the dedication of the Temple. In the Holy Spirit, Christ fulfills these figures. The Spirit comes upon the Virgin Mary and "overshadows" her, so that she might conceive and give birth to Jesus. On the mountain of Transfiguration, the Spirit in the "cloud came and overshadowed" Jesus, Moses and Elijah, Peter, James and John, and "a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!'" Finally, the cloud took Jesus out of the sight of the disciples on the day of his ascension and will reveal him as Son of man in glory on the day of his final coming."
Catechism of the Catholic Church #697
“My desire with this music and this album is to reach anybody, anywhere and hopefully open their hearts to the reality that transfiguration and transformation is real,” singer/songwriter Alanna-Marie Boudreau told EWTN News recently.
Growing up, she said that her parents made it a point to expose their children to “the transcendental truth, goodness and beauty” through beautiful literature and art. Since they believed that was not available in the upstate New York schools where they lived, her mother decided to homeschool them.
Learning from a Catholic curriculum, Boudreau says excellent books and beautiful music were a regular part of her education.
“It was a very natural part of the fabric of our life and it was interwoven with a really sacramental understanding of life and of family,” she said.
“The faith, it always fit like a hand in the glove with our upbringing and with our education.” That integration of faith, beauty and truth is something the 23-year old woman says she hopes permeates her music, especially in her new, full-length album, “Hints and Guesses” – a follow-up to her 2012 EP, “Hands in the Land.”
“And anybody – everybody – is affected by beauty, no matter what their life experience is, where they’re from, or what they’ve done, there’s something about beauty that bypasses those preconceived ideas and it just sets the heart in a very good position to hear God.”
But Boudreau doesn’t label her work as “Christian music” – not because it doesn’t deal with the faith, but because of the inclination of some to automatically be turned off by such a label or assume that it will sound a certain way without listening to it.
“I’m a Catholic woman and that affects the way that I write and the way that I understand the world, but I have noticed there’s a tendency when people hear about a label like ‘Christian’ they misunderstand it, so they feel threatened by it and they close their hearts to it.”
However, when music or other art forms simply expose the listener to beauty instead of assigning labels, that’s when conversion of the heart can begin, she explained.
“God, in His wisdom, he knows that beauty is a way of bypassing the intellect and softening the heart to make it receptive.”
That’s something she hopes “Hints and Guesses” will do – open listeners’ hearts up in a way that allows them to be more receptive to authentic beauty, and in turn, God.
“I hope that the album would act kind of as a question mark for them – that it would bring up certain things or inspire certain movements that would make them examine things a little more deeply – to have a more examined life and to ask those big questions, whether it has to do with relationships, inner healing, if it has to do with seeking God more ardently, or if it has to do with just being more receptive to life in general.”
One of the songs on the album, “The Weight of Glory,” is based on a sermon of the same name by C.S. Lewis and deals with asking questions and developing a thirst for God.
Another track, “Solitudes,” focuses on how human relationships can never fully satisfy us, while at the same time revealing something eternal.
“There will always be a part of us that is incommunicable to another person and that’s what sets us above creation and it’s what makes us like God, in a sense. And yet, there’s that tension: we are made for community,” Boudreau explained.
Her new album – which was completed after a successful Kickstarter campaign back in March – was received enthusiastically and reached number 22 on the top 100 “Singer/Songwriter” category on iTunes the day after it was released in September.
Boudreau toured for a month over the summer and is now playing shows intermittently, but says right now is a “waiting period” while she discerns her next move.
"Cloud and light. These two images occur together in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. In the theophanies of the Old Testament, the cloud, now obscure, now luminous, reveals the living and saving God, while veiling the transcendence of his glory - with Moses on Mount Sinai, at the tent of meeting, and during the wandering in the desert, and with Solomon at the dedication of the Temple. In the Holy Spirit, Christ fulfills these figures. The Spirit comes upon the Virgin Mary and "overshadows" her, so that she might conceive and give birth to Jesus. On the mountain of Transfiguration, the Spirit in the "cloud came and overshadowed" Jesus, Moses and Elijah, Peter, James and John, and "a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!'" Finally, the cloud took Jesus out of the sight of the disciples on the day of his ascension and will reveal him as Son of man in glory on the day of his final coming."
Catechism of the Catholic Church #697
A bit of humor…
-Teacher: Tell us, Johnny, where is your father staying on business? Johnny: In Vishakhapatnam. Teacher: How interesting. And now tell us all how it is spelled. Johnny: Oh, I just remembered he got reposted to Goa.
-Little Johnny comes home and his father sighs, "Alright, boy, out with your report card." Johnny says, "I don't have it, dad." "What? Why not?" asks his father. "I borrowed it to my friend. He wanted to freak out his parents."
Some Thoughts:
-When in doubt, mumble.
- I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not sure.
- I like work. It fascinates me. I sit and look at it for hours.
- If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you!
New Generation
I was visiting a friend who could not find her cordless phone. After several minutes of searching, her young daughter said, “You know what they should invent? A phone that stays connected to its base so it never gets lost.”
Where You Want to Be
"Where is Pearl Harbor?" I asked my fourth-grade history class. "Here’s a hint: It’s a place where everyone wants to go." One student blurted out, "Candy Land!"
UNANSWERED PRAYER? The preacher's 5 year-old daughter noticed that her father
always paused and bowed his head, for a moment, before starting his sermon.
One day, she asked him why.
"Well, Honey," he began, proud that his daughter was so
observant of his messages, "I'm asking the Lord to help me preach a good
sermon
"How come He doesn't do it?" she asked.
UNTIMELY ANSWERED PRAYER:
During the minister's prayer, one Sunday, there was a loud
whistle from one of the back pews. Tommy's mother was horrified. She
pinched him into silence and, after church, asked, "Tommy, whatever made you
do such a thing?"
Tommy answered, soberly, "I asked God to teach me to whistle,
and He just then did!"
TIME TO PRAY:
A pastor asked a little boy if he said his prayers every night.
"Yes, sir," the boy replied.
"And, do you always say them in the morning, too?" the pastor asked.
"No sir," the boy replied. "I ain't scared in the daytime."
-Teacher: Tell us, Johnny, where is your father staying on business? Johnny: In Vishakhapatnam. Teacher: How interesting. And now tell us all how it is spelled. Johnny: Oh, I just remembered he got reposted to Goa.
-Little Johnny comes home and his father sighs, "Alright, boy, out with your report card." Johnny says, "I don't have it, dad." "What? Why not?" asks his father. "I borrowed it to my friend. He wanted to freak out his parents."
Some Thoughts:
-When in doubt, mumble.
- I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not sure.
- I like work. It fascinates me. I sit and look at it for hours.
- If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you!
New Generation
I was visiting a friend who could not find her cordless phone. After several minutes of searching, her young daughter said, “You know what they should invent? A phone that stays connected to its base so it never gets lost.”
Where You Want to Be
"Where is Pearl Harbor?" I asked my fourth-grade history class. "Here’s a hint: It’s a place where everyone wants to go." One student blurted out, "Candy Land!"
UNANSWERED PRAYER? The preacher's 5 year-old daughter noticed that her father
always paused and bowed his head, for a moment, before starting his sermon.
One day, she asked him why.
"Well, Honey," he began, proud that his daughter was so
observant of his messages, "I'm asking the Lord to help me preach a good
sermon
"How come He doesn't do it?" she asked.
UNTIMELY ANSWERED PRAYER:
During the minister's prayer, one Sunday, there was a loud
whistle from one of the back pews. Tommy's mother was horrified. She
pinched him into silence and, after church, asked, "Tommy, whatever made you
do such a thing?"
Tommy answered, soberly, "I asked God to teach me to whistle,
and He just then did!"
TIME TO PRAY:
A pastor asked a little boy if he said his prayers every night.
"Yes, sir," the boy replied.
"And, do you always say them in the morning, too?" the pastor asked.
"No sir," the boy replied. "I ain't scared in the daytime."
PRAYER FOR DECEASED LOVED ONES
O most merciful and eternal Father, Whose will it is that all should be saved, Who did send Thy Son to the lost and did pour out Thy Life-giving Spirit: Have mercy on our relatives and those who are near and dear to us who have fallen asleep, and on all who have died throughout the ages; forgive and save them, and by their intercession visit us, that with them we may shout to Thee, our God and Saviour, the song of victory: ALLELUIA. (said 3 times)
O most merciful and eternal Father, Whose will it is that all should be saved, Who did send Thy Son to the lost and did pour out Thy Life-giving Spirit: Have mercy on our relatives and those who are near and dear to us who have fallen asleep, and on all who have died throughout the ages; forgive and save them, and by their intercession visit us, that with them we may shout to Thee, our God and Saviour, the song of victory: ALLELUIA. (said 3 times)
"In the work of teaching and applying Christian morality, the Church needs the dedication of pastors, the knowledge of theologians, and the contribution of all Christians and men of good will. Faith and the practice of the Gospel provide each person with an experience of life "in Christ," who enlightens him and makes him able to evaluate the divine and human realities according to the Spirit of God. Thus the Holy Spirit can use the humblest to enlighten the learned and those in the highest positions." -Catechism of the Catholic Church #2038
+JMJ+
SUNDAY BIBLICAL MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Sunday, November 12, 2023
The First Reading - Wisdom 6:12-16
Resplendent and unfading is wisdom, and she is readily perceived by those who love her, and found by those who seek her. She hastens to make herself known in anticipation of their desire; Whoever watches for her at dawn shall not be disappointed, for he shall find her sitting by his gate. For taking thought of wisdom is the perfection of prudence, and whoever for her sake keeps vigil shall quickly be free from care; because she makes her own rounds, seeking those worthy of her, and graciously appears to them in the ways, and meets them with all solicitude.
Reflection
To the Jew, wisdom is the knowledge of how to conduct oneself in speech and conduct in such a way as to dispose others favorably, to foster one’s own success and advancement, and to live free of the anxiety which arises from hostility, opposition, and failure. Young men were trained in the manners of a good scribe when they learned their letters. Israelite wisdom differed from the wisdom of other cultures in that it was modified by its relation of faith in the Lord. Only God is truly wise – his wisdom is exhibited in creation.
Adults - How would you define wisdom? How does our faith call us to see wisdom?
Teens - What is the difference between wisdom and knowledge?
Kids - How can you grow in wisdom?
Responsorial- Psalm 63:2,3-4, 5-6,7-8
R.My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
I will remember you upon my couch,
and through the night-watches I will meditate on you:
You are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Reflection
How do you seek the Lord? Seek him more this week.
The Second Reading- 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left,
will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words.
Reflection - We hope in the resurrection of our bodies at the end of time, when our Lord comes again in glory. Saint Paul describes this second coming as an event of great solemnity in our reading today, an event accompanied by an angel’s call and the sound of a trumpet. The language Saint Paul uses to describe this event (called apocalyptic language) highlights the mystery and power of God. After the parousia (Greek for “appearance” or “showing”) will come the resurrection of the dead. Each body will be brought back to life by its own soul, and those who are still alive on that day will, together with their brethren who are dead and have risen, go to meet the Lord. However, the bodies of both will be glorified and therefore those who died before the parousia will have no advantage or disadvantage compared to those who are still living at this point.
-Do you ever think of heaven?
The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 25:1-13
Jesus told his disciples this parable: "The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour."
Reflection Last week we heard Jesus take the scribes and Pharisees to task for not “fathering” the people; for not setting the proper example and treating them fairly. We now move to the parable of the wise and 5 foolish virgins; a parable peculiar to Matthew. There is little detailed information about wedding practices at the time of Christ, but there was a solemn procession from the home of the bride to the home of the bridegroom: the taking of the bride from her father’s house to his own by the bridegroom was the symbolic act of marriage. Since the bridesmaids went to welcome the groom, this indicates that they went to accompany him and his party to the house of the bride and from there, presumably to the house of the groom. It is from the wedding feast that the foolish virgins are excluded – and since it is the bridegroom who denies them, the feast must be at his house. We must keep our own lamps lit so we are ready for the Bridegroom when He arrives.
Adults - How can you keep the light of the Lord burning in your life?
Teens - How do you daily prepare your soul for the coming of Christ?
Kids - What do you do when it is hard to do the right thing?
LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! - Providing themselves with oil was the obligation imposed on the bridesmaids in the parable. It was surely a trivial condition when compared with the reward offered them: a very special place at the marriage feast. The obligations imposed on us Christians are surely trivial too when compared with the reward offered us in return: an eternity of happiness in heaven. It seems incredible that there are many among us this very day who, like the foolish bridesmaids, doze and sleep contentedly holding empty lamps in their hands, while at any moment they may be awakened by: Behold, the bridegroom comes! Go forth to meet him. It will be too late then to do anything; even their best friends cannot help them. Each one must stand before the judge just as he is: there can be no borrowing of the oil of merit from others and there will be no time to buy any.
Now is the time for all of us to say "Lord, Lord, open to us." open to us the doors of your mercy and kindness. Open to us the eyes of our understanding that we may see our defects and remedy them while there is yet time.
It is up to us now to decide, aided by God's grace, where we shall be found on the last day—with the wise bridesmaids or with the foolish. -Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.
595. How is forgiveness possible? c) it is only possible if we ourselves learn how to forgive
Mercy can penetrate our hearts only if we ourselves learn how to forgive – even our enemies. Now even if it seems impossible for us to satisfy this requirement, the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit can, like Christ, love even to love’s extreme; it can turn injury into compassion and transform hurt into intercession. Forgiveness participates in the divine mercy and is a high-point of Christian prayer.
596. What does “Lead us not into temptation” mean? d) all of the above We ask God our Father not to leave us alone and in the power of temptation. We ask the Holy Spirit to help us know how to discern, on the one hand, between a trial that makes us grow in goodness and a temptation that leads to sin and death and, on the other hand, between being tempted and consenting to temptation. This petition unites us to Jesus who overcame temptation by his prayer. It requests the grace of vigilance and of final perseverance.
597. Why do we conclude by asking “But deliver us from evil”? d) “evil” indicates the person of Satan who opposes God and is “the deceiver of the whole world.” “Evil” indicates the person of Satan who opposes God and is “the deceiver of the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). Victory over the devil has already been won by Christ. We pray, however, that the human family be freed from Satan and his works. We also ask for the precious gift of peace and the grace of perseverance as we wait for the coming of Christ who will free us definitively from the Evil One.
598. What is the meaning of the final Amen? a) ‘so be it’ “At the end of the prayer, you say ‘Amen’ and thus you ratify by this word that means ‘so be it’ all that is contained in this prayer that God has taught us.” (Saint Cyril of Jerusalem)
SUNDAY BIBLICAL MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Sunday, November 12, 2023
The First Reading - Wisdom 6:12-16
Resplendent and unfading is wisdom, and she is readily perceived by those who love her, and found by those who seek her. She hastens to make herself known in anticipation of their desire; Whoever watches for her at dawn shall not be disappointed, for he shall find her sitting by his gate. For taking thought of wisdom is the perfection of prudence, and whoever for her sake keeps vigil shall quickly be free from care; because she makes her own rounds, seeking those worthy of her, and graciously appears to them in the ways, and meets them with all solicitude.
Reflection
To the Jew, wisdom is the knowledge of how to conduct oneself in speech and conduct in such a way as to dispose others favorably, to foster one’s own success and advancement, and to live free of the anxiety which arises from hostility, opposition, and failure. Young men were trained in the manners of a good scribe when they learned their letters. Israelite wisdom differed from the wisdom of other cultures in that it was modified by its relation of faith in the Lord. Only God is truly wise – his wisdom is exhibited in creation.
Adults - How would you define wisdom? How does our faith call us to see wisdom?
Teens - What is the difference between wisdom and knowledge?
Kids - How can you grow in wisdom?
Responsorial- Psalm 63:2,3-4, 5-6,7-8
R.My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
I will remember you upon my couch,
and through the night-watches I will meditate on you:
You are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Reflection
How do you seek the Lord? Seek him more this week.
The Second Reading- 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left,
will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words.
Reflection - We hope in the resurrection of our bodies at the end of time, when our Lord comes again in glory. Saint Paul describes this second coming as an event of great solemnity in our reading today, an event accompanied by an angel’s call and the sound of a trumpet. The language Saint Paul uses to describe this event (called apocalyptic language) highlights the mystery and power of God. After the parousia (Greek for “appearance” or “showing”) will come the resurrection of the dead. Each body will be brought back to life by its own soul, and those who are still alive on that day will, together with their brethren who are dead and have risen, go to meet the Lord. However, the bodies of both will be glorified and therefore those who died before the parousia will have no advantage or disadvantage compared to those who are still living at this point.
-Do you ever think of heaven?
The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 25:1-13
Jesus told his disciples this parable: "The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour."
Reflection Last week we heard Jesus take the scribes and Pharisees to task for not “fathering” the people; for not setting the proper example and treating them fairly. We now move to the parable of the wise and 5 foolish virgins; a parable peculiar to Matthew. There is little detailed information about wedding practices at the time of Christ, but there was a solemn procession from the home of the bride to the home of the bridegroom: the taking of the bride from her father’s house to his own by the bridegroom was the symbolic act of marriage. Since the bridesmaids went to welcome the groom, this indicates that they went to accompany him and his party to the house of the bride and from there, presumably to the house of the groom. It is from the wedding feast that the foolish virgins are excluded – and since it is the bridegroom who denies them, the feast must be at his house. We must keep our own lamps lit so we are ready for the Bridegroom when He arrives.
Adults - How can you keep the light of the Lord burning in your life?
Teens - How do you daily prepare your soul for the coming of Christ?
Kids - What do you do when it is hard to do the right thing?
LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! - Providing themselves with oil was the obligation imposed on the bridesmaids in the parable. It was surely a trivial condition when compared with the reward offered them: a very special place at the marriage feast. The obligations imposed on us Christians are surely trivial too when compared with the reward offered us in return: an eternity of happiness in heaven. It seems incredible that there are many among us this very day who, like the foolish bridesmaids, doze and sleep contentedly holding empty lamps in their hands, while at any moment they may be awakened by: Behold, the bridegroom comes! Go forth to meet him. It will be too late then to do anything; even their best friends cannot help them. Each one must stand before the judge just as he is: there can be no borrowing of the oil of merit from others and there will be no time to buy any.
Now is the time for all of us to say "Lord, Lord, open to us." open to us the doors of your mercy and kindness. Open to us the eyes of our understanding that we may see our defects and remedy them while there is yet time.
It is up to us now to decide, aided by God's grace, where we shall be found on the last day—with the wise bridesmaids or with the foolish. -Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.
595. How is forgiveness possible? c) it is only possible if we ourselves learn how to forgive
Mercy can penetrate our hearts only if we ourselves learn how to forgive – even our enemies. Now even if it seems impossible for us to satisfy this requirement, the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit can, like Christ, love even to love’s extreme; it can turn injury into compassion and transform hurt into intercession. Forgiveness participates in the divine mercy and is a high-point of Christian prayer.
596. What does “Lead us not into temptation” mean? d) all of the above We ask God our Father not to leave us alone and in the power of temptation. We ask the Holy Spirit to help us know how to discern, on the one hand, between a trial that makes us grow in goodness and a temptation that leads to sin and death and, on the other hand, between being tempted and consenting to temptation. This petition unites us to Jesus who overcame temptation by his prayer. It requests the grace of vigilance and of final perseverance.
597. Why do we conclude by asking “But deliver us from evil”? d) “evil” indicates the person of Satan who opposes God and is “the deceiver of the whole world.” “Evil” indicates the person of Satan who opposes God and is “the deceiver of the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). Victory over the devil has already been won by Christ. We pray, however, that the human family be freed from Satan and his works. We also ask for the precious gift of peace and the grace of perseverance as we wait for the coming of Christ who will free us definitively from the Evil One.
598. What is the meaning of the final Amen? a) ‘so be it’ “At the end of the prayer, you say ‘Amen’ and thus you ratify by this word that means ‘so be it’ all that is contained in this prayer that God has taught us.” (Saint Cyril of Jerusalem)
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