In this e-weekly:
-"Visions of God to Akiane Kramarik"-a MUST SEE Video in (Helpful Hints for Life.)
-Life Teen: Catholic Youth website (below the laptop)
-Safe Haven "Baby Box" Saves Infant from Infanticide (Diocesan News and Beyond)
-***LENT BEGINS THIS ASH WEDNESDAY - Lenten Regulations at the very end of E-weekly*** (www.MassTimes.org)
-"Visions of God to Akiane Kramarik"-a MUST SEE Video in (Helpful Hints for Life.)
-Life Teen: Catholic Youth website (below the laptop)
-Safe Haven "Baby Box" Saves Infant from Infanticide (Diocesan News and Beyond)
-***LENT BEGINS THIS ASH WEDNESDAY - Lenten Regulations at the very end of E-weekly*** (www.MassTimes.org)
Catholic Good News
Receiving the Gospel, Serving God and Neighbor
SILENCE-Silent Moments in the Mass
"Teach me, and I will be quiet." Job 6:24
Receiving the Gospel, Serving God and Neighbor
SILENCE-Silent Moments in the Mass
"Teach me, and I will be quiet." Job 6:24
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Once we are able to be in a silent outside, the inside must be recollected, composed. Why? So that we can hear Jesus speak to us, so that we can hear the miracles that happen at Mass, so that we can be transformed outside and inside by Jesus Christ who was Himself silent.
Interior silence is very difficult, but we must make the effort. In silence we will find new energy and true unity. The energy of God will be ours to do all things well. We will find the true unity of our thoughts with His thoughts, the unity of our prayers with His prayers, the unity of our actions with His actions, and the unity of our life with His life."
-St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Silence in the Mass, from the 'calling to mind our sins' to 'Let us pray' to the intimate silence after Holy Communion when it is Jesus and I in the midst of His Family, the Church, silence in the Mass is where you and I must enter into from NOW on.
Go to the upper room of your heart where you can recollect yourself in silence, then enter the silent parts of the Mass and be transformed for earthly service and heaven forever!
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
P.S. This coming Sunday is 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time. The readings can be found at: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021923.cfm
Once we are able to be in a silent outside, the inside must be recollected, composed. Why? So that we can hear Jesus speak to us, so that we can hear the miracles that happen at Mass, so that we can be transformed outside and inside by Jesus Christ who was Himself silent.
Interior silence is very difficult, but we must make the effort. In silence we will find new energy and true unity. The energy of God will be ours to do all things well. We will find the true unity of our thoughts with His thoughts, the unity of our prayers with His prayers, the unity of our actions with His actions, and the unity of our life with His life."
-St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Silence in the Mass, from the 'calling to mind our sins' to 'Let us pray' to the intimate silence after Holy Communion when it is Jesus and I in the midst of His Family, the Church, silence in the Mass is where you and I must enter into from NOW on.
Go to the upper room of your heart where you can recollect yourself in silence, then enter the silent parts of the Mass and be transformed for earthly service and heaven forever!
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
P.S. This coming Sunday is 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time. The readings can be found at: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021923.cfm
3 of 1,607
Catholic Good News 2-18-2023-SILENCE-Silent Moments in the MassInboxFather RobertFeb 18, 2023, 7:35 PM
to me
In this e-weekly:
-"Visions of God to Akiane Kramarik"-a MUST SEE Video in (Helpful Hints for Life.)
-Life Teen: Catholic Youth website (below the laptop)
-Safe Haven "Baby Box" Saves Infant from Infanticide (Diocesan News and Beyond)
-***LENT BEGINS THIS ASH WEDNESDAY - Lenten Regulations at the very end of E-weekly*** (www.MassTimes.org)
Silence at Mass as chalice with Precious Blood is offered (St. Padre Pio)
Catholic Good News
Receiving the Gospel, Serving God and Neighbor
SILENCE-Silent Moments in the Mass
"Teach me, and I will be quiet." Job 6:24
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Once we are able to be in a silent outside, the inside must be recollected, composed. Why? So that we can hear Jesus speak to us, so that we can hear the miracles that happen at Mass, so that we can be transformed outside and inside by Jesus Christ who was Himself silent.
Interior silence is very difficult, but we must make the effort. In silence we will find new energy and true unity. The energy of God will be ours to do all things well. We will find the true unity of our thoughts with His thoughts, the unity of our prayers with His prayers, the unity of our actions with His actions, and the unity of our life with His life."
-St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Silence in the Mass, from the 'calling to mind our sins' to 'Let us pray' to the intimate silence after Holy Communion when it is Jesus and I in the midst of His Family, the Church, silence in the Mass is where you and I must enter into from NOW on.
Go to the upper room of your heart where you can recollect yourself in silence, then enter the silent parts of the Mass and be transformed for earthly service and heaven forever!
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
P.S. This coming Sunday is 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time. The readings can be found at: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021923.cfm
P.S.S. Readings with questions for self or family reflection found at the end of e-weekly.
Homilies on Silent Moments at the Mass are found below:
Listen
Catholic Good News 2-18-2023-SILENCE-Silent Moments in the MassInboxFather RobertFeb 18, 2023, 7:35 PM
to me
In this e-weekly:
-"Visions of God to Akiane Kramarik"-a MUST SEE Video in (Helpful Hints for Life.)
-Life Teen: Catholic Youth website (below the laptop)
-Safe Haven "Baby Box" Saves Infant from Infanticide (Diocesan News and Beyond)
-***LENT BEGINS THIS ASH WEDNESDAY - Lenten Regulations at the very end of E-weekly*** (www.MassTimes.org)
Silence at Mass as chalice with Precious Blood is offered (St. Padre Pio)
Catholic Good News
Receiving the Gospel, Serving God and Neighbor
SILENCE-Silent Moments in the Mass
"Teach me, and I will be quiet." Job 6:24
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Once we are able to be in a silent outside, the inside must be recollected, composed. Why? So that we can hear Jesus speak to us, so that we can hear the miracles that happen at Mass, so that we can be transformed outside and inside by Jesus Christ who was Himself silent.
Interior silence is very difficult, but we must make the effort. In silence we will find new energy and true unity. The energy of God will be ours to do all things well. We will find the true unity of our thoughts with His thoughts, the unity of our prayers with His prayers, the unity of our actions with His actions, and the unity of our life with His life."
-St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Silence in the Mass, from the 'calling to mind our sins' to 'Let us pray' to the intimate silence after Holy Communion when it is Jesus and I in the midst of His Family, the Church, silence in the Mass is where you and I must enter into from NOW on.
Go to the upper room of your heart where you can recollect yourself in silence, then enter the silent parts of the Mass and be transformed for earthly service and heaven forever!
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
P.S. This coming Sunday is 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time. The readings can be found at: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021923.cfm
P.S.S. Readings with questions for self or family reflection found at the end of e-weekly.
Homilies on Silent Moments at the Mass are found below:
Listen
Catholic Term
recollected (from Latin recolligere, recollēct-, "to gather up, to collect")
- calm and composed state of the mind and body to receive God
recollected (from Latin recolligere, recollēct-, "to gather up, to collect")
- calm and composed state of the mind and body to receive God
"Helpful Hints of Life"
Listen to God
Visions of God to Akiane Kramarik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6HLg2XUFOg
Listen to God
Visions of God to Akiane Kramarik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6HLg2XUFOg
Akiane on The Katie Couric Show
www.youtube.com
Website: https://www.akiane.com/store/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/akianeart/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akianeart/
www.youtube.com
Website: https://www.akiane.com/store/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/akianeart/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akianeart/
"The most important thing in this world is faith, because without faith, you cannot communicate with God. And it is just so beautiful up there (heaven)."-Akiane
This is a spotlight of a 18-year old girl who has been drawing from age 4 and been a self-taught painter since age 6. Her mother was an atheist and never spoke of God, but Akiane has communicated visions from God and turned them into paintings and even music now. (5 minutes)
Her official website tells more about her life, has her art work and more:
http://www.akiane.com
Her Art:
http://www.akiane.com/store/
"Entering into contemplative prayer is like entering into the Eucharistic liturgy: we "gather up:" the heart, recollect our whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, abide in the dwelling place of the Lord which we are, awaken our faith in order to enter into the presence of him who awaits us. We let our masks fall and turn our hearts back to the Lord who loves us, so as to hand ourselves over to him as an offering to be purified and transformed."
-Catechism of the Catholic Church #2711
This is a spotlight of a 18-year old girl who has been drawing from age 4 and been a self-taught painter since age 6. Her mother was an atheist and never spoke of God, but Akiane has communicated visions from God and turned them into paintings and even music now. (5 minutes)
Her official website tells more about her life, has her art work and more:
http://www.akiane.com
Her Art:
http://www.akiane.com/store/
"Entering into contemplative prayer is like entering into the Eucharistic liturgy: we "gather up:" the heart, recollect our whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, abide in the dwelling place of the Lord which we are, awaken our faith in order to enter into the presence of him who awaits us. We let our masks fall and turn our hearts back to the Lord who loves us, so as to hand ourselves over to him as an offering to be purified and transformed."
-Catechism of the Catholic Church #2711
Life Teen: For Catholic Youth
http://www.lifeteen.com/
http://www.lifeteen.com/
LifeTeen.com for Catholic Youth | Leading Teens Closer to ...
lifeteen.com
Camp Hidden Lake. Hidden Lake is home to an incredible Catholic community, gorgeous views, welcoming meeting spaces and so much more. Dedicated to leading teens closer to Christ, we hope you'll be welcomed home to Hidden Lake soon.
lifeteen.com
Camp Hidden Lake. Hidden Lake is home to an incredible Catholic community, gorgeous views, welcoming meeting spaces and so much more. Dedicated to leading teens closer to Christ, we hope you'll be welcomed home to Hidden Lake soon.
Life Teen is a movement within the Catholic Church, Life Teen leads teenagers and their families into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church.
Best Parish Practices
START A MEN'S GROUP (Faith Sharing, Encouragement, Challenge)
Men and fatherhood is under attack today. Being men of faith and good example to others is critical for ourselves and others. Bring together a group of men in your parish or church to learn more about Christ, support one another, and help them to be the best version of themselves to their loved ones and one another.
BENEFITS:
Parishes are only as strong as their families and their marriages. Strengthening one part strengthens all. And men who know how to follow Christ, love those around them, and are strengthened in faith are tremendous blessings to their homes, parishes, and the world.
HOW?
Ask your Parish Priest for guidance and permission, especially if this will be held on parish grounds. Gather two or more men once a week or as often as you are able or would like. You might have food or drink for the gathering which allows fellowship and sharing a meal (have one participant provide it each week, or buy from local restaurant and ask for donations). And then go to:
http://www.crossingthegoal.com
START A MEN'S GROUP (Faith Sharing, Encouragement, Challenge)
Men and fatherhood is under attack today. Being men of faith and good example to others is critical for ourselves and others. Bring together a group of men in your parish or church to learn more about Christ, support one another, and help them to be the best version of themselves to their loved ones and one another.
BENEFITS:
Parishes are only as strong as their families and their marriages. Strengthening one part strengthens all. And men who know how to follow Christ, love those around them, and are strengthened in faith are tremendous blessings to their homes, parishes, and the world.
HOW?
Ask your Parish Priest for guidance and permission, especially if this will be held on parish grounds. Gather two or more men once a week or as often as you are able or would like. You might have food or drink for the gathering which allows fellowship and sharing a meal (have one participant provide it each week, or buy from local restaurant and ask for donations). And then go to:
http://www.crossingthegoal.com
Crossing the Goal
www.crossingthegoal.com
Crossing the Goal An Introduction Crossing the Goal is a non-profit ministry whose mission is to call, equip and empower Catholic men to become and stay spiritually fit in their faith through the utilization of Spiritual Fitness Workouts.
www.crossingthegoal.com
Crossing the Goal An Introduction Crossing the Goal is a non-profit ministry whose mission is to call, equip and empower Catholic men to become and stay spiritually fit in their faith through the utilization of Spiritual Fitness Workouts.
And let 4 Catholic men who have been in sports and lived their faith to this day share their story in free video or audio format as the basis of the group. Print off free booklets from under the Resources tab: 'Workout Group Questions'. Video, audio clips are broken into 5 sections which can lead your group and men present into discussion. Questions are also in workbooks if you need them. Witness of the Catholic men in the clips are inspiring, and great jumping off places for men to discuss who gather in the group. You can do one of their series; take a break for a month or two, and start another series, or go from series to series. ALL FREE!
GOD AND THE MEN OF YOUR PARISH NEED YOU TO DO THIS TODAY!
GOD AND THE MEN OF YOUR PARISH NEED YOU TO DO THIS TODAY!
A Kentucky baby was discovered safe and healthy inside a specially-designed Safe Haven Baby Box last week in Bowling Green, just two months after a local fire station installed it.
WBKO reports first responders at the Bowling Green Fire Department rescued the baby on Feb. 9 less than two minutes after the mother surrendered her child. Local authorities said the newborn was healthy.
Kentucky law protects newborns from infanticide by providing struggling mothers who cannot care for their babies themselves the opportunity to legally and safely give their children to authorities. Once surrendered, the babies are taken to the hospital for medical care and later placed for adoption.
According to the fire department, they installed the baby box in December, and the baby was the first to be surrendered there.
Monica Kelsey, founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, thanked the baby’s parents for trying to do what’s best for their child during a press conference last week, Breitbart reports.
“Thank you for doing what you felt you could for the life of this child,” Kelsey said. “This baby is healthy. This baby is beautiful. This baby is perfect. And the Department of Child Services is now looking for a forever home for this family… If this parent is out there and they want the resources of counseling or medical care, it is available for you at no cost.”
SUPPORT LIFENEWS! If you want to help fight abortion, please donate to LifeNews.com!
Kentucky has 16 baby boxes across the state, according to WNKY.
To-date, Kelsey’s organization has helped install more than 130 baby boxes in communities across the country. Kelsey said each box is temperature controlled and has an alarm that alerts authorities as soon as a baby is placed inside. She said they cost about $200 to $300 per year to maintain.
All 50 states have safe haven laws that allow mothers to safely surrender their newborns to authorities, often at a police station, fire department or hospital, without questions or repercussions as long as the infant is unharmed. Typically, laws allow safe surrender within a certain time limit, such as up to 30 days after the baby’s birth.
According to Centers for Disease Control research, “Since 1999, when Texas became the first state to implement Safe Haven Laws, an estimated 4,100 infants have been safely surrendered nationwide.”
LifeNews Note: File photo.
WBKO reports first responders at the Bowling Green Fire Department rescued the baby on Feb. 9 less than two minutes after the mother surrendered her child. Local authorities said the newborn was healthy.
Kentucky law protects newborns from infanticide by providing struggling mothers who cannot care for their babies themselves the opportunity to legally and safely give their children to authorities. Once surrendered, the babies are taken to the hospital for medical care and later placed for adoption.
According to the fire department, they installed the baby box in December, and the baby was the first to be surrendered there.
Monica Kelsey, founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, thanked the baby’s parents for trying to do what’s best for their child during a press conference last week, Breitbart reports.
“Thank you for doing what you felt you could for the life of this child,” Kelsey said. “This baby is healthy. This baby is beautiful. This baby is perfect. And the Department of Child Services is now looking for a forever home for this family… If this parent is out there and they want the resources of counseling or medical care, it is available for you at no cost.”
SUPPORT LIFENEWS! If you want to help fight abortion, please donate to LifeNews.com!
Kentucky has 16 baby boxes across the state, according to WNKY.
To-date, Kelsey’s organization has helped install more than 130 baby boxes in communities across the country. Kelsey said each box is temperature controlled and has an alarm that alerts authorities as soon as a baby is placed inside. She said they cost about $200 to $300 per year to maintain.
All 50 states have safe haven laws that allow mothers to safely surrender their newborns to authorities, often at a police station, fire department or hospital, without questions or repercussions as long as the infant is unharmed. Typically, laws allow safe surrender within a certain time limit, such as up to 30 days after the baby’s birth.
According to Centers for Disease Control research, “Since 1999, when Texas became the first state to implement Safe Haven Laws, an estimated 4,100 infants have been safely surrendered nationwide.”
LifeNews Note: File photo.
Columbus Aims to Raise $2 Million for Ukrainian Refugees
The Knights of Columbus announced Friday it is giving $1 million for Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion. More than 50,000 have already entered Poland alone.
The world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization has also begun a Ukraine Solidarity Fund, which will match funds donated up to another $500,000, for a total of $2 million.
“The situation in Ukraine is dire and worsening. The people of Ukraine and our brother Knights in that nation need our help,” Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly wrote Feb. 25 to Knights, encouraging donations and prayer.
Kelly also said in a video message to the 1,800 Knights of Columbus in Ukraine that “In this time of intense danger, know that your brother Knights of Columbus around the world are praying for you, your families and all the people of Ukraine. We ask that our Lord protect you and your loved ones and restore peace in your land. We ask that he give you strength and courage to persevere.”
Ukraine has a population of more than 41 million, and it is believed more than 5 million may become refugees.
The country is expecting men between 18 and 60 to remain to repel the invading forces, and most of those fleeing are women and children.
Russian forces are assaulting Kyiv and other cities. A missile struck an apartment building in the capital.
The Ukrainian government has said that nearly 200 of its people have been killed since Russia invaded Feb. 24.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that “We are defending the country, the land of our future children. Kyiv and key cities around the capital are controlled by our army.”
"I'm here. We won't lay down our arms. We will defend our state," he said in a video from Kyiv.
The Knights of Columbus said its refugee fund “will be used to provide shelter, food, medical supplies, clothing and religious goods, as well as other humanitarian needs as identified, both directly in Ukraine and through refugee sites in Poland.”
It added that it will collaborate “with both the Latin and Greek Catholic Churches in Ukraine, with dioceses and K of C councils in Poland, and with international humanitarian aid agencies to address needs quickly and effectively.”
If funds should outlast the immediate need, the organization said that “consideration will be given to assist widows and orphans of brother Knights killed as a result of military action, and for assistance in resettlement and rebuilding for communities displaced by conflict and war.”
The world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization has also begun a Ukraine Solidarity Fund, which will match funds donated up to another $500,000, for a total of $2 million.
“The situation in Ukraine is dire and worsening. The people of Ukraine and our brother Knights in that nation need our help,” Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly wrote Feb. 25 to Knights, encouraging donations and prayer.
Kelly also said in a video message to the 1,800 Knights of Columbus in Ukraine that “In this time of intense danger, know that your brother Knights of Columbus around the world are praying for you, your families and all the people of Ukraine. We ask that our Lord protect you and your loved ones and restore peace in your land. We ask that he give you strength and courage to persevere.”
Ukraine has a population of more than 41 million, and it is believed more than 5 million may become refugees.
The country is expecting men between 18 and 60 to remain to repel the invading forces, and most of those fleeing are women and children.
Russian forces are assaulting Kyiv and other cities. A missile struck an apartment building in the capital.
The Ukrainian government has said that nearly 200 of its people have been killed since Russia invaded Feb. 24.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that “We are defending the country, the land of our future children. Kyiv and key cities around the capital are controlled by our army.”
"I'm here. We won't lay down our arms. We will defend our state," he said in a video from Kyiv.
The Knights of Columbus said its refugee fund “will be used to provide shelter, food, medical supplies, clothing and religious goods, as well as other humanitarian needs as identified, both directly in Ukraine and through refugee sites in Poland.”
It added that it will collaborate “with both the Latin and Greek Catholic Churches in Ukraine, with dioceses and K of C councils in Poland, and with international humanitarian aid agencies to address needs quickly and effectively.”
If funds should outlast the immediate need, the organization said that “consideration will be given to assist widows and orphans of brother Knights killed as a result of military action, and for assistance in resettlement and rebuilding for communities displaced by conflict and war.”
A Few of Our Favorite (Traditional) Things: Lessons From the Von Trapp Family
Singing Catholics offer insights in reprinted book.
Clare Walker
Singing Catholics offer insights in reprinted book.
Clare Walker
The story of the “Family von Trapp” has enchanted people of all faiths since it was put to music by Rodgers and Hammerstein in the Broadway and Hollywood hit musical The Sound of Music, and although the popular portrayal of Fraulein Maria and all those children has taken on fairy-tale status across the world, it has a solid foundation in reality.
Around the Year With the von Trapp Family — published in 1955 and now reprinted for a new generation of Catholic families — confirms what the musical portrays: Maria really was a postulant at a Benedictine convent in Salzburg, Austria, and she really did become governess in the employ of World War I Navy veteran and widower Georg von Trapp. Maria and Georg really did fall in love, get married, and sing with the family at festivals all over Europe, and they really did flee Austria after the Nazi takeover.
The musical ended there, and the credits rolled — but the real-life story of the von Trapps was far from over. As Maria relates in her memoirs, by 1939, Maria and Georg had had two children of their own and had another on the way. Just as war was breaking out all over the Continent, the von Trapps emigrated to America, where they continued to perform as a family. In 1942 they purchased an old farm in Stowe, Vermont.
For more than 20 years, they delighted audiences all over the world with their music. The old farm in Stowe has been converted into a world-class resort that is still operating to this day, with some of Maria and Georg’s grandchildren at the helm.
Meg Marlett, a home-schooling mother from Livermore, California, had heard of Maria’s second memoir years ago but never found a copy of her own because it was out of print.
However, when the new edition of Around the Year with the von Trapp Family came out, she snapped it up immediately. Even though she and her husband, Mark, are seasoned parents — they have eight children and four grandchildren — Maria’s book provides much-needed inspiration for the “home stretch” of their parenting journey.
“The book is beautifully laid out,” Marlett said.
But what she appreciates most is the theme of family unity that runs like an unbreakable cord through the entire book.
“We segregate by age so much in the world, and even in the Church. Maria’s main point, though, is to integrate the whole family into all the traditions and activities, so that all ages can celebrate the high times and low times together.”
As their youngest children enter their late teens, the Marletts are determined to continue providing the same rich and solidly Catholic upbringing as their older children enjoyed. Mrs. von Trapp offers plenty of inspiration.
The book begins with Advent, Christmas and the winter feasts, including a charming pre-Lenten season called Carnival. Lent, Holy Week and the Easter season follow. The great swath of Ordinary Time that comes after Easter gets its own lovely chapter entitled, “The Green Meadow,” so named for green liturgical vestments and for the single summer feasts that are “like isolated peaks towering above the green meadow.”
With a tone of gentle and joyful nostalgia, full of hope that many of the old traditions will be revived, Maria teaches the reader about Christkindl, the joys of feasting and fasting (“high tide and low tide”), and ways to commemorate important family days (like baptismal anniversaries). She provides handy lists of saints for various occasions, and in the chapter on celebrating the sacraments, she gives one of the best explications of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit (from the prophet Isaiah) that I’ve ever read.
But she also writes with candor and concern about the shocking differences between Austria and America, which serve as stand-ins for the Old World and the New World — or, even more broadly, for Christendom and secularism. A chapter called “The Land Without a Sunday” is particularly timely.
She writes that “the Christian Sunday is threatened more and more both from without and from within — from without, through the systematic efforts of the enemies of Christianity, and from within through the mediocrity and superficiality of the Christians themselves who are making of Sunday merely a day of rest, relaxing from work only by seeking entertainment.”
She then quotes Pope Pius XII’s encyclical Mediator Dei: “The results of the struggle between belief and unbelief will depend to a great extent on the use that each of the opposing fronts will make of Sunday.”
But Maria doesn’t merely lament. She’s practical and positive. To combat a pernicious secular problem, she writes, “There is no use in just talking against it. Something better has to be substituted.”
And for that, Maria’s book is full of ideas. Even though it was published more than a decade before Vatican II, modern Catholic parents will still gain much wisdom and practical help from this book. The new 2018 edition is a keepsake-quality, hardcover book featuring illustrations by Georg and Maria’s daughter Rosemary.
Naturally, a book about the musical von Trapps will include music, and this book is filled with seasonal songs, many with lines for harmonizing with the melody. Some of the songs include piano staves, but it would have been much improved and accessible to more families if all the songs had been arranged for piano and included guitar chords.
Another minor fault of the book is that numerous pre-Vatican II references received no editorial comment to provide context for the benefit of modern readers. Some of the recipes also should have been updated if present-day Catholics are expected to use them.
Nevertheless, with the combination of practical “how-to” advice and inspiring, relevant essays, this book is a welcome addition to every Catholic family library. Parents searching for a way to build a distinctive Catholic family culture that is intentionally different from the culture “out there” will find this book especially helpful. Parish priests would also benefit from this book because they could use it to reinstate worthy traditions and practices from the past, such as having a special service on Candlemas Day and giving every family a blessed candle, or ceremoniously veiling an “Alleluia” plaque at the beginning of Lent. It also makes an excellent wedding present or gift for a young family at their first child’s baptism.
Lent is here, so picking up this book now will give you time to peruse it and make some plans for “The Great Fast.” As Maria exhorts her readers, “Let us not be so soft anymore!”
Maria also writes, “When Hitler’s troops invaded Austria in 1938, my husband and I felt bound by conscience to save our children from yielding to the religion and philosophy of this neo-paganism. … Only the Church throws light onto the gloomy prospects of modern man — Holy Mother Church — for she belongs, herself, to a realm that has its past and present in time, but its future in the World Without End. ... With every passing year, I [realize] more deeply how joyful our religion is. The more one penetrates into what it means to be Catholic, the fuller life becomes.”
Joe and Joannie Kuefler live in suburban Boston with their eight children, ranging in age from 4 to 25.
Joannie advises Catholic parents to study Maria’s book (and books like it) to gain whatever inspiration they can, but “choose what will work for your family and your own family culture.”
“The whole of Western civilization is suffering from Modernism and secularism,” Joannie told the Register, “but books like Maria von Trapp’s help reassure us that a lot of the worldly seasonal practices actually come from Catholicism. It’s a simple matter to add meaning and richness to them by explaining the religious significance to children.”
Clare Walker writes from
Westmont, Illinoi
READ
The book is available online via sophiainstitute.com or by calling (800) 888-9344.
Fruits of Family Traditions
A little goes a long way in family life, as the von Trapps can attest. When parents deliberately incorporate Catholic traditions and practices into their daily life, even small ones, they often “stick,” staying with our children into their adulthood.
For example, Kat Millard, a 2009 college graduate, vividly remembers her parents’ emphasis on daily prayer. “Every morning the family gathered around the table to pray with Dad before he left for work and before the school day started. Then, in the evening, we read aloud together and then prayed, either the Rosary or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.” She and her husband, John, now try to make prayer a cornerstone of their day with their four children in their home in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
And Andrew Kelly, an actor from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, remembers family travel, Catholic-style: “Saying a quick prayer for passing emergency vehicles is a fairly ingrained behavior for me,” he said.
Brothers Noah and Josh Billing, both college students in Illinois, have strong memories of many Catholic family traditions growing up, such as going on retreats and to daily Mass as a family, kneeling down and praying at the Christmas crèche before opening presents, and making dinner together a priority. At these family dinners, the conversation often turned to the Catholic faith, which had a big impact on both of them. Their friend Jake Bartley, also an Illinois college student, had a similar experience of dialogue with his parents about the faith and about life: “Open discussion about faith and morals was encouraged and fostered in my family.”
— Clare Walker
Love is the heart of doctrine on family, Pope Francis saysBy Elise Harris
Vatican City, Jul 16, 2018 / 12:32 pm (EWTN News/CNA)
In a message to Antillean youth, Pope Francis said love is the core of the Church's doctrine on the family, which is something every young person is responsible for carrying forward.
To understand what this love means, the pope urged young people to both read and study chapter four of his 2016 post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the family, Amoris Laetitia, which is dedicated to “Love in Marriage.”
“I tell you that the core of Amoris Laetitia was chapter four. How to live love. How to live love in the family,” he said, and told youth to read and talk about the chapter with each other, because “there is a lot of strength here to continue going forward” and to transform family life.
Love “has its own strength. And love never ends,” he said, explaining that if they learn how to truly love as God taught, “you will be transforming something that is for all of eternity.”
Pope Francis sent a video message to participants in the youth assembly of the Antilles Bishops Conference, which is taking place in the Archdiocese of Saint-Pierre and Fort-de-France, in Martinique, from July 10-23.
In his message, the pope asked youth whether they were really living as young people, or if they had become “aged youth,” because “if you are aged young people you are not going to do anything. You have to be youth who are young, with all the strength that youth has to transform.”
He said young people should not be “settled” in life, because being “settled” means one is at a standstill and “things don't go forward.”
“You have to un-stall what has been stalled and start to fight,” the pope said. “You want to transform, you want to carry forward and you have made your own the directives of the post-synodal exhortation on the family in order to carry the family forward and transform the family of the Caribbean,” he said.
In order to promote and carry the family forward, one must understand both the present and the past, Pope Francis said.
“You are preparing to transform something that has been given to you by your elders. You have received the history of yesterday, the traditions of yesterday,” he said, adding that people “cannot do anything in the present nor the future if you are not rooted in the past, in your history, in your culture, in your family; if you do not have roots that are well grounded.”
To this end, he told youth to spend time with their grandparents and other elderly people, and to take what they learn and “carry it forward.”
--------------------
"The Christian tradition comprises three major expressions of the life of prayer: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplative prayer. They have in common the recollection of the heart." -Catechism of the Catholic Church #2721
A bit of humor.
Some Thoughts:
- When I asked if you'd like to go out on a date sometime, I meant with me.
- Why, yes, I am dressed for the weather. I am wearing a house.
- My diet always starts on a Monday morning and ends at the donuts somebody brings into the office later that morning.
- I hate when I'm singing along to the Beatles and they mess up the lyrics.
Pastor's Business Card:
A new pastor was visiting in the homes of his parishioners. At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door.
Therefore, he took out his business card and wrote "Revelation 3:20" on the back of it and stuck it in the door.
When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, "Genesis 3:10."
Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid for I was naked."
Around the Year With the von Trapp Family — published in 1955 and now reprinted for a new generation of Catholic families — confirms what the musical portrays: Maria really was a postulant at a Benedictine convent in Salzburg, Austria, and she really did become governess in the employ of World War I Navy veteran and widower Georg von Trapp. Maria and Georg really did fall in love, get married, and sing with the family at festivals all over Europe, and they really did flee Austria after the Nazi takeover.
The musical ended there, and the credits rolled — but the real-life story of the von Trapps was far from over. As Maria relates in her memoirs, by 1939, Maria and Georg had had two children of their own and had another on the way. Just as war was breaking out all over the Continent, the von Trapps emigrated to America, where they continued to perform as a family. In 1942 they purchased an old farm in Stowe, Vermont.
For more than 20 years, they delighted audiences all over the world with their music. The old farm in Stowe has been converted into a world-class resort that is still operating to this day, with some of Maria and Georg’s grandchildren at the helm.
Meg Marlett, a home-schooling mother from Livermore, California, had heard of Maria’s second memoir years ago but never found a copy of her own because it was out of print.
However, when the new edition of Around the Year with the von Trapp Family came out, she snapped it up immediately. Even though she and her husband, Mark, are seasoned parents — they have eight children and four grandchildren — Maria’s book provides much-needed inspiration for the “home stretch” of their parenting journey.
“The book is beautifully laid out,” Marlett said.
But what she appreciates most is the theme of family unity that runs like an unbreakable cord through the entire book.
“We segregate by age so much in the world, and even in the Church. Maria’s main point, though, is to integrate the whole family into all the traditions and activities, so that all ages can celebrate the high times and low times together.”
As their youngest children enter their late teens, the Marletts are determined to continue providing the same rich and solidly Catholic upbringing as their older children enjoyed. Mrs. von Trapp offers plenty of inspiration.
The book begins with Advent, Christmas and the winter feasts, including a charming pre-Lenten season called Carnival. Lent, Holy Week and the Easter season follow. The great swath of Ordinary Time that comes after Easter gets its own lovely chapter entitled, “The Green Meadow,” so named for green liturgical vestments and for the single summer feasts that are “like isolated peaks towering above the green meadow.”
With a tone of gentle and joyful nostalgia, full of hope that many of the old traditions will be revived, Maria teaches the reader about Christkindl, the joys of feasting and fasting (“high tide and low tide”), and ways to commemorate important family days (like baptismal anniversaries). She provides handy lists of saints for various occasions, and in the chapter on celebrating the sacraments, she gives one of the best explications of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit (from the prophet Isaiah) that I’ve ever read.
But she also writes with candor and concern about the shocking differences between Austria and America, which serve as stand-ins for the Old World and the New World — or, even more broadly, for Christendom and secularism. A chapter called “The Land Without a Sunday” is particularly timely.
She writes that “the Christian Sunday is threatened more and more both from without and from within — from without, through the systematic efforts of the enemies of Christianity, and from within through the mediocrity and superficiality of the Christians themselves who are making of Sunday merely a day of rest, relaxing from work only by seeking entertainment.”
She then quotes Pope Pius XII’s encyclical Mediator Dei: “The results of the struggle between belief and unbelief will depend to a great extent on the use that each of the opposing fronts will make of Sunday.”
But Maria doesn’t merely lament. She’s practical and positive. To combat a pernicious secular problem, she writes, “There is no use in just talking against it. Something better has to be substituted.”
And for that, Maria’s book is full of ideas. Even though it was published more than a decade before Vatican II, modern Catholic parents will still gain much wisdom and practical help from this book. The new 2018 edition is a keepsake-quality, hardcover book featuring illustrations by Georg and Maria’s daughter Rosemary.
Naturally, a book about the musical von Trapps will include music, and this book is filled with seasonal songs, many with lines for harmonizing with the melody. Some of the songs include piano staves, but it would have been much improved and accessible to more families if all the songs had been arranged for piano and included guitar chords.
Another minor fault of the book is that numerous pre-Vatican II references received no editorial comment to provide context for the benefit of modern readers. Some of the recipes also should have been updated if present-day Catholics are expected to use them.
Nevertheless, with the combination of practical “how-to” advice and inspiring, relevant essays, this book is a welcome addition to every Catholic family library. Parents searching for a way to build a distinctive Catholic family culture that is intentionally different from the culture “out there” will find this book especially helpful. Parish priests would also benefit from this book because they could use it to reinstate worthy traditions and practices from the past, such as having a special service on Candlemas Day and giving every family a blessed candle, or ceremoniously veiling an “Alleluia” plaque at the beginning of Lent. It also makes an excellent wedding present or gift for a young family at their first child’s baptism.
Lent is here, so picking up this book now will give you time to peruse it and make some plans for “The Great Fast.” As Maria exhorts her readers, “Let us not be so soft anymore!”
Maria also writes, “When Hitler’s troops invaded Austria in 1938, my husband and I felt bound by conscience to save our children from yielding to the religion and philosophy of this neo-paganism. … Only the Church throws light onto the gloomy prospects of modern man — Holy Mother Church — for she belongs, herself, to a realm that has its past and present in time, but its future in the World Without End. ... With every passing year, I [realize] more deeply how joyful our religion is. The more one penetrates into what it means to be Catholic, the fuller life becomes.”
Joe and Joannie Kuefler live in suburban Boston with their eight children, ranging in age from 4 to 25.
Joannie advises Catholic parents to study Maria’s book (and books like it) to gain whatever inspiration they can, but “choose what will work for your family and your own family culture.”
“The whole of Western civilization is suffering from Modernism and secularism,” Joannie told the Register, “but books like Maria von Trapp’s help reassure us that a lot of the worldly seasonal practices actually come from Catholicism. It’s a simple matter to add meaning and richness to them by explaining the religious significance to children.”
Clare Walker writes from
Westmont, Illinoi
READ
The book is available online via sophiainstitute.com or by calling (800) 888-9344.
Fruits of Family Traditions
A little goes a long way in family life, as the von Trapps can attest. When parents deliberately incorporate Catholic traditions and practices into their daily life, even small ones, they often “stick,” staying with our children into their adulthood.
For example, Kat Millard, a 2009 college graduate, vividly remembers her parents’ emphasis on daily prayer. “Every morning the family gathered around the table to pray with Dad before he left for work and before the school day started. Then, in the evening, we read aloud together and then prayed, either the Rosary or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.” She and her husband, John, now try to make prayer a cornerstone of their day with their four children in their home in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
And Andrew Kelly, an actor from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, remembers family travel, Catholic-style: “Saying a quick prayer for passing emergency vehicles is a fairly ingrained behavior for me,” he said.
Brothers Noah and Josh Billing, both college students in Illinois, have strong memories of many Catholic family traditions growing up, such as going on retreats and to daily Mass as a family, kneeling down and praying at the Christmas crèche before opening presents, and making dinner together a priority. At these family dinners, the conversation often turned to the Catholic faith, which had a big impact on both of them. Their friend Jake Bartley, also an Illinois college student, had a similar experience of dialogue with his parents about the faith and about life: “Open discussion about faith and morals was encouraged and fostered in my family.”
— Clare Walker
Love is the heart of doctrine on family, Pope Francis saysBy Elise Harris
Vatican City, Jul 16, 2018 / 12:32 pm (EWTN News/CNA)
In a message to Antillean youth, Pope Francis said love is the core of the Church's doctrine on the family, which is something every young person is responsible for carrying forward.
To understand what this love means, the pope urged young people to both read and study chapter four of his 2016 post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the family, Amoris Laetitia, which is dedicated to “Love in Marriage.”
“I tell you that the core of Amoris Laetitia was chapter four. How to live love. How to live love in the family,” he said, and told youth to read and talk about the chapter with each other, because “there is a lot of strength here to continue going forward” and to transform family life.
Love “has its own strength. And love never ends,” he said, explaining that if they learn how to truly love as God taught, “you will be transforming something that is for all of eternity.”
Pope Francis sent a video message to participants in the youth assembly of the Antilles Bishops Conference, which is taking place in the Archdiocese of Saint-Pierre and Fort-de-France, in Martinique, from July 10-23.
In his message, the pope asked youth whether they were really living as young people, or if they had become “aged youth,” because “if you are aged young people you are not going to do anything. You have to be youth who are young, with all the strength that youth has to transform.”
He said young people should not be “settled” in life, because being “settled” means one is at a standstill and “things don't go forward.”
“You have to un-stall what has been stalled and start to fight,” the pope said. “You want to transform, you want to carry forward and you have made your own the directives of the post-synodal exhortation on the family in order to carry the family forward and transform the family of the Caribbean,” he said.
In order to promote and carry the family forward, one must understand both the present and the past, Pope Francis said.
“You are preparing to transform something that has been given to you by your elders. You have received the history of yesterday, the traditions of yesterday,” he said, adding that people “cannot do anything in the present nor the future if you are not rooted in the past, in your history, in your culture, in your family; if you do not have roots that are well grounded.”
To this end, he told youth to spend time with their grandparents and other elderly people, and to take what they learn and “carry it forward.”
--------------------
"The Christian tradition comprises three major expressions of the life of prayer: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplative prayer. They have in common the recollection of the heart." -Catechism of the Catholic Church #2721
A bit of humor.
Some Thoughts:
- When I asked if you'd like to go out on a date sometime, I meant with me.
- Why, yes, I am dressed for the weather. I am wearing a house.
- My diet always starts on a Monday morning and ends at the donuts somebody brings into the office later that morning.
- I hate when I'm singing along to the Beatles and they mess up the lyrics.
Pastor's Business Card:
A new pastor was visiting in the homes of his parishioners. At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door.
Therefore, he took out his business card and wrote "Revelation 3:20" on the back of it and stuck it in the door.
When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, "Genesis 3:10."
Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid for I was naked."
A PRAYER IN A COUNTRY CEMETERY
DEAR Lord, here lie in their last rest, the boys and girls, the men and women that worked on the land. They knew the meaning of hard work. They knew the joy and peace that is the product of labor. Now we trust they know the peace and happiness of everlasting life with You.
They watched the sun rise often, winter and summer, over these hills and fields. They worked hard by its light, and turned willingly to their rest at its setting. Now they walk in the light of a Sun that knows no setting. Lord, if they are still in the waiting room of heaven--in purgatory--bring them speedily to the light of Your peace and the happiness of Your presence.
These men and women all their lives long labored to supply the food and drink necessary to sustain human life. Now, or soon, they enjoy in all its fullness the life that You, Lord, came down to earth to give men, and to give more abundantly.
Dear Lord, bless us who labor now in the fields and hills where these dear dead have worked. Grant that we may remember them with charity and kindness, walking reverently in the ways that they have left behind them. Grant, too, that we may finally meet these men and women, these boys and girls, in the eternal mansions that You are even now preparing for us. Amen.
"Contemplative prayer is the simple expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word of God, a silent love. It achieves real union with the prayer of Christ to the extent that it makes us share in his mystery."
-Catechism of the Catholic Church #2724
DEAR Lord, here lie in their last rest, the boys and girls, the men and women that worked on the land. They knew the meaning of hard work. They knew the joy and peace that is the product of labor. Now we trust they know the peace and happiness of everlasting life with You.
They watched the sun rise often, winter and summer, over these hills and fields. They worked hard by its light, and turned willingly to their rest at its setting. Now they walk in the light of a Sun that knows no setting. Lord, if they are still in the waiting room of heaven--in purgatory--bring them speedily to the light of Your peace and the happiness of Your presence.
These men and women all their lives long labored to supply the food and drink necessary to sustain human life. Now, or soon, they enjoy in all its fullness the life that You, Lord, came down to earth to give men, and to give more abundantly.
Dear Lord, bless us who labor now in the fields and hills where these dear dead have worked. Grant that we may remember them with charity and kindness, walking reverently in the ways that they have left behind them. Grant, too, that we may finally meet these men and women, these boys and girls, in the eternal mansions that You are even now preparing for us. Amen.
"Contemplative prayer is the simple expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word of God, a silent love. It achieves real union with the prayer of Christ to the extent that it makes us share in his mystery."
-Catechism of the Catholic Church #2724
+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
7th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sunday, February 19th, 2023
The First Reading - Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18
The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy. “You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart. Though you may have to reprove your fellow citizen, do not incur sin because of him. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”
Reflection
We are called to the holiness of God. That is the extraordinary claim made in both the First Reading and Gospel this Sunday. Notice that in this first reading, God lets us know that part of holiness is how we treat one another.
Adults - What is the biggest thing that is standing between you and holiness?
Teens -Do you ever lead others into sin? How can you be sure to curb that behavior?
Kids - How are you a good example to others?
Responsorial- Psalm 103: 1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
R.The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Reflection: God does not deal with us as we deserve, as we sing in this week’s Psalm. He loves us with a Father’s love. He saves us from ruin. He forgives our transgressions. Where have you seen God’s mercy at work?
The Second Reading- 1 Corinthians 3:16-23
Brothers and sisters: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy. Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool, so as to become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written: God catches the wise in their own ruses, and again: The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you, Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future: all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God.
Reflection - We have been bought with the price of the blood of God’s only Son (see 1 Corinthians 6:20). We belong to Christ now, as St. Paul says in this week’s Epistle. By our baptism, we have been made temples of His Holy Spirit.
-How does becoming a fool make you wise?
The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 5:38-48
Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand over your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow. “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Reflection
How is it possible that we can be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect? Jesus explains that we must be imitators of God as His beloved children (Ephesians 5:1–2). As God does, we must love without limit—with a love that does not distinguish between friend and foe, overcoming evil with good (see Romans 12:21).
Jesus Himself, in His Passion and death, gave us the perfect example of the love that we are called to.
He offered no resistance to the evil—even though He could have commanded twelve legions of angels to fight alongside Him. He offered His face to be struck and spit upon. He allowed His garments to be stripped from Him. He marched as His enemies compelled Him to the Place of the Skull. On the cross He prayed for those who persecuted Him (see Matthew 26:53–54, 67; 27:28, 32; Luke 23:34). In all this He showed Himself to be the perfect Son of God. By His grace, and through our imitation of Him, He promises that we too can become children of our heavenly Father.
Adults - Do you pray for those who persecute you? How do you think doing so might change you?
Teens - How can you more imitate the love of Christ?
Kids - What example does Jesus set for you?
LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! - Life for many, if not for most people, has many dark, gloomy and despairing moments. The man or woman who is moved by true Christian charity can bring a beam of sunshine, a ray of hope, into the lives of these people. Fr. Faber in a booklet on kindness has a poem which we could all learn and practice with great profit for ourselves and for a neighbor in need of kindness. He says:
"It was but a sunny smile, And little it cost in the giving,
But it scattered the night like the morning light
And made the day worth living.
It was but a kindly word, A word that was lightly spoken,
et not in vain for it chilled the pain
Of a heart that was nearly broken.
It was but a helping hand, And it seemed of little availing,
But its clasp was warm, it saved from harm
A brother whose strength was failing."
Try the sunny smile of true love, the kindly word of Christian encouragement, the helping hand of true charity, and not only will you brighten the darkness and lighten the load of your brother but you will be imitating in your own small way the perfect Father of love who is in heaven. -Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lenten Regulations for Catholics
(from Church Law and US Bishops)
Lent
The Christian faithful are to do penance through prayer, fasting, abstinence and by exercising works of piety and charity. All Fridays through the year, and especially during Lent, are penitential days. (“Piety” is the moral virtue by which a person is disposed to render to God the worship and service He deserves.)
Abstinence from meat:
All who 14 years of age or older are to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, on all Fridays during Lent and on Good Friday. (On other Fridays of the years, Catholics may substitute a work of penance or charity (i.e. extra prayers said for those in need; visiting or assisting the sick, poor, or needy; etc.) or abstain from meat.
Fasting:
All those who are 18 years of age and older, until their 59th birthday, are to fast on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 22) and Good Friday (April 7). Only one full meatless meal is allowed on days of fast. Light sustenance on two other occasions, sufficient to maintain strength, may be taken according to one's needs. But together, these two occasions are not to equal a full meal. Eating between meals is not permitted, but liquids, including milk and fruit juices, are allowed.
The obligation does not apply to those whose health or ability to work would be seriously affected (i.e. pregnant/nursing, chronically ill/diabetic, the sick, etc.). People in doubt about fast or abstinence should consult a parish priest. The obligation does not apply to military personnel in deployed or hostile environments in which they have no control over meals.
To conscientiously disregard or purposely fail to observe the regulations of fasting and abstinence is seriously sinful (that is, an area of mortal sin).
CONFESSION/PENANCE/RECONCILIATION:
Catholics are bound by an obligation faithfully to confess serious sins at least once a year (Canon 989). Lent is an appropriate time to fulfill this obligation.
EASTER DUTY: After having received their First Holy Communion, all the faithful (all Catholics) are bound by the obligation of receiving Holy Communion at least once a year. This precept must be fulfilled during the Easter season, unless for a good reason it is fulfilled at another time during the year. This obligation may be fulfilled between Feb. 25 (First Sunday in Lent) and June 4 (Most Holy Trinity Sunday).
Additional Items for the Lenten Season
No alleluia. The Alleluia is not sung or said during the Lenten liturgies.
No Gloria, except on particular solemnities. The Gloria is not sung or said during Lent except on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph (March 19, transferred to March 20 in 2023) and the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (March 25).
Color. Violet is the color of the season. Rose may be used on the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday).
No Decorations. In order to help emphasize the penitential character of the Lenten season (with the exception of Laetare Sunday), the altar and sanctuary should not be decorated with flowers.
No Instrumental Music. Musical instruments should only be used to support the assembly’s singing, except on Laetare Sunday (fourth Sunday of Lent), Solemnities, and Feasts.
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
7th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sunday, February 19th, 2023
The First Reading - Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18
The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy. “You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart. Though you may have to reprove your fellow citizen, do not incur sin because of him. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”
Reflection
We are called to the holiness of God. That is the extraordinary claim made in both the First Reading and Gospel this Sunday. Notice that in this first reading, God lets us know that part of holiness is how we treat one another.
Adults - What is the biggest thing that is standing between you and holiness?
Teens -Do you ever lead others into sin? How can you be sure to curb that behavior?
Kids - How are you a good example to others?
Responsorial- Psalm 103: 1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
R.The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Reflection: God does not deal with us as we deserve, as we sing in this week’s Psalm. He loves us with a Father’s love. He saves us from ruin. He forgives our transgressions. Where have you seen God’s mercy at work?
The Second Reading- 1 Corinthians 3:16-23
Brothers and sisters: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy. Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool, so as to become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written: God catches the wise in their own ruses, and again: The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you, Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future: all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God.
Reflection - We have been bought with the price of the blood of God’s only Son (see 1 Corinthians 6:20). We belong to Christ now, as St. Paul says in this week’s Epistle. By our baptism, we have been made temples of His Holy Spirit.
-How does becoming a fool make you wise?
The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 5:38-48
Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand over your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow. “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Reflection
How is it possible that we can be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect? Jesus explains that we must be imitators of God as His beloved children (Ephesians 5:1–2). As God does, we must love without limit—with a love that does not distinguish between friend and foe, overcoming evil with good (see Romans 12:21).
Jesus Himself, in His Passion and death, gave us the perfect example of the love that we are called to.
He offered no resistance to the evil—even though He could have commanded twelve legions of angels to fight alongside Him. He offered His face to be struck and spit upon. He allowed His garments to be stripped from Him. He marched as His enemies compelled Him to the Place of the Skull. On the cross He prayed for those who persecuted Him (see Matthew 26:53–54, 67; 27:28, 32; Luke 23:34). In all this He showed Himself to be the perfect Son of God. By His grace, and through our imitation of Him, He promises that we too can become children of our heavenly Father.
Adults - Do you pray for those who persecute you? How do you think doing so might change you?
Teens - How can you more imitate the love of Christ?
Kids - What example does Jesus set for you?
LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! - Life for many, if not for most people, has many dark, gloomy and despairing moments. The man or woman who is moved by true Christian charity can bring a beam of sunshine, a ray of hope, into the lives of these people. Fr. Faber in a booklet on kindness has a poem which we could all learn and practice with great profit for ourselves and for a neighbor in need of kindness. He says:
"It was but a sunny smile, And little it cost in the giving,
But it scattered the night like the morning light
And made the day worth living.
It was but a kindly word, A word that was lightly spoken,
et not in vain for it chilled the pain
Of a heart that was nearly broken.
It was but a helping hand, And it seemed of little availing,
But its clasp was warm, it saved from harm
A brother whose strength was failing."
Try the sunny smile of true love, the kindly word of Christian encouragement, the helping hand of true charity, and not only will you brighten the darkness and lighten the load of your brother but you will be imitating in your own small way the perfect Father of love who is in heaven. -Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lenten Regulations for Catholics
(from Church Law and US Bishops)
Lent
The Christian faithful are to do penance through prayer, fasting, abstinence and by exercising works of piety and charity. All Fridays through the year, and especially during Lent, are penitential days. (“Piety” is the moral virtue by which a person is disposed to render to God the worship and service He deserves.)
Abstinence from meat:
All who 14 years of age or older are to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, on all Fridays during Lent and on Good Friday. (On other Fridays of the years, Catholics may substitute a work of penance or charity (i.e. extra prayers said for those in need; visiting or assisting the sick, poor, or needy; etc.) or abstain from meat.
Fasting:
All those who are 18 years of age and older, until their 59th birthday, are to fast on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 22) and Good Friday (April 7). Only one full meatless meal is allowed on days of fast. Light sustenance on two other occasions, sufficient to maintain strength, may be taken according to one's needs. But together, these two occasions are not to equal a full meal. Eating between meals is not permitted, but liquids, including milk and fruit juices, are allowed.
The obligation does not apply to those whose health or ability to work would be seriously affected (i.e. pregnant/nursing, chronically ill/diabetic, the sick, etc.). People in doubt about fast or abstinence should consult a parish priest. The obligation does not apply to military personnel in deployed or hostile environments in which they have no control over meals.
To conscientiously disregard or purposely fail to observe the regulations of fasting and abstinence is seriously sinful (that is, an area of mortal sin).
CONFESSION/PENANCE/RECONCILIATION:
Catholics are bound by an obligation faithfully to confess serious sins at least once a year (Canon 989). Lent is an appropriate time to fulfill this obligation.
EASTER DUTY: After having received their First Holy Communion, all the faithful (all Catholics) are bound by the obligation of receiving Holy Communion at least once a year. This precept must be fulfilled during the Easter season, unless for a good reason it is fulfilled at another time during the year. This obligation may be fulfilled between Feb. 25 (First Sunday in Lent) and June 4 (Most Holy Trinity Sunday).
Additional Items for the Lenten Season
No alleluia. The Alleluia is not sung or said during the Lenten liturgies.
No Gloria, except on particular solemnities. The Gloria is not sung or said during Lent except on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph (March 19, transferred to March 20 in 2023) and the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (March 25).
Color. Violet is the color of the season. Rose may be used on the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday).
No Decorations. In order to help emphasize the penitential character of the Lenten season (with the exception of Laetare Sunday), the altar and sanctuary should not be decorated with flowers.
No Instrumental Music. Musical instruments should only be used to support the assembly’s singing, except on Laetare Sunday (fourth Sunday of Lent), Solemnities, and Feasts.
RSS Feed
