SIN

 

 

 

St John Chrysostom said that we do not mourn and fast because Jesus was crucified. This is a cause for joy, because it brings salvation.He said we mourn and fast because we are sinners and our sins caused it.O felix culpa quae talem et tantum meruit habere redemptoremO happy fault that merited such and so great a Redeemer!

PRAY FOR SINNERS

The painting commissioned by Fr. Alphonse Ratisbonne in thanksgiving for his conversion by Our Lady.

If only, like Fr Alphonse Ratisbornne, we would pray to our Holy Mother, for the conversion of sinners.

We should pray fervently and incessantly for sinners to abandon their evil life and turn to God.

The Holy Mother at Fatima solicited us to pray and make sacrifices so that her Sacred Heart together with the Sacred Heart of her Son would triumph over evil.

This request has been repeated to Sister Faustina by Christ of the Divine Mercy.

JESUS IS ALL

 

Young people are trying to find their way in this world, and Jesus tells them they can do that only by keeping their eyes on another world and giving their hearts to a King who will be fully seen as himself only at the end of time.

Cardinal Francis George (Chicago)

TU ES PETRUS

 

The Bones of Saint Peter Displayed by the Vatican for the First Time

To mark the end of the Year of Faith, the Vatican has for the first time publicly displayed the bones of St. Peter. While no pope has ever definitively declared the fragments to belong to the apostle Peter,  Pope Paul VI in 1968 said fragments found in the necropolis under St Peter’s Basilica were “identified in a way that we can consider convincing”.

The bones were discovered in 1939 in an excavation of the Vatican Necropolis below the main altar at Saint Peter’s Basilica, which has been the consistent traditional burial place of the first Pope since antiquity. The excavation, ordered by Pope Pius XII, found the bones in a first century funerary wall creche, with a Greek inscription of ”Petros eni”, or “Peter is here”.

The bones were found wrapped in purple and gold threaded cloth. Scientific study of the bones showed them to be of a “robust” man in his 60′s-70′s at the time of death.

RIGHT AND WRONG

 

THREE ADVICES

34th SUNDAY YEAR C FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING

Today the Catholic Church ends her liturgical year by celebrating the Feast of Christ the King.

But I would rather say it is the celebration of Christ Our King  and not the King. He is no ordinary king. He is the king of the Universe, of all Creation and of all mankind.

At Baptism we pledged our allegiance to Him. And every Easter and certain Sundays of the year we renew our vows to HIM.

We promise Him that we shall serve Him and only Him since He is the Way, Truth and Life. He is our shepherd who leads his sheep and lambs to green pastures .

We must do our best to be the light of the world so that we may spread His message and Kingdom amongst our brethren.

CHRIST OUR KING

'Can you expect to go to Heaven for nothing? Did not our dear Saviour and King track the whole way to it with His Blood and tears?'

 St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

O Jesu! Light of all below!
Thou font of life and fire!
surpassing all the joys we know,
and all we can desire.

May every heart confess Thy name,
and ever Thee adore;
and seeking Thee, itself inflame
to seek Thee more and more.

LOVE

SUFFERING AND CONTRITION

ADORATION

 

ADORATION IS ESSENTIALLY AN EMBRACE WITH JESUS IN WHICH I SAY TO HIM: " I AM YOURS AND I ASK YOU, PLEASE, STAY WITH ME."

 

POPE BENEDICT XVI

LIGHT AND DARKNESS

 

When was the last time you walked into a room and saw light and darkness struggle? No, never. When light comes, darkness must go.

Either you are for Christ or against Christ.

One cannot serve two master, one either loves one and hates the other.

IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER

Prayer is to our soul what rain is to the soil. Fertilize the soil ever so richly, it will remain barren unless fed by frequent rains.
-- St John Vianney

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

“To be Saintly is not a privilege of a few, but a vocation for everyone.”

— Pope Francis

 

“How do you get grace? The same way you get wet. You don’t make the rain, and you don’t make God’s grace. But to get grace you have to go outside yourself, you have to go where God is, just as you have to go outside to get rained on. If you stand in the street, you’ll get hit by a car. If you stand in the Bible, you’ll get hit by God’s kiss. THE BIBLE IS A BIG SPRIG OF HIS MISTLETOE.”

 

“God can use our weakness as easily as our strength in order to accomplish His will.”

— Blessed Pope John Paul II

 

 

33rd SUNDAY YEAR C PERSEVERANCE

Do you think persecution is a rare occurrence or an ever-present reality for the Church? Why? Where are Christians being persecuted today? Do you think God uses your suffering in conjunction with Christ’s to help renew the face of the earth?

Persecution is not a rare occurrence in the present day Catholic Church. Persecution can come from within the Church. 

It is common, when we refuse and/or criticize unjustly the teaching of the church, which after all is the teaching of Christ.

It is even more present when persecution is from without. Those who do not believe in Christ surely must hate him and they vent their hatred against his followers.

Let us pray for those persecuted christians so that they persevere in their faith and a light for their fellow citizens.

TREASURE YOUR TIME HERE ON EARTH

While still in this world, we must wholeheartedly repent of sins committed in the body and make it possible for the Lord to save us while there is time. When we have left this
world, we shall no longer be able to repent and confess our sins. We must do the will of the Father, keep our bodies pure, and observe the commandments of the Lord, for this
is the way to obtain eternal life.

-- Sermon of the second century

ADVANTAGES OF ATTENDING MASS

 

1. The Mass is Calvary continued.
2. Every Mass is worth as much as the sacrifice of Our Lord’s life, sufferings and death.
3. Holy Mass is the most powerful atonement for your sins.
4. At the hour of death the Masses you have heard will be your greatest consolation.
5. Every Mass will go with you to judgment and plead for pardon.
6. At Mass you can diminish more or less temporal punishment due to your sins, according to your fervor.
7. Assisting devoutly at Holy Mass you render to the sacred humanity of Our Lord the greatest homage.
8. He supplies for many of your negligences and omissions.
9. He forgives the venial sins which you have not confessed. The power of Satan over you is diminished.
10. You afford the souls in Purgatory the greatest possible relief.
11. One Mass heard during life will be of more benefit to you than manyheard for you after your death.
12. You are preserved from dangers and misfortunes which otherwise might have befallen you. You shorten your Purgatory.
13. Every Mass wins for you a higher degree of glory in Heaven.
14. You receive the priest’s blessing which Our Lord ratifies in Heaven.
15. You kneel amidst a multitude of holy angels, who are present at the adorable Sacrifice with reverential awe.
16. You are blessed in your temporal goods and affairs.

AFTER LIFE

 

"Two things define you. Your patience when you have nothing, and your attitude when you have everything."

PRAY INCESSANTLY FOR PRIESTS

Our Priests are under attack from the world, the flesh and the devil. If he can strike the shepherd, the sheep will scatter.

 I love them so much. Pray for the Priests.

just another small thought:

"There are no crown wearers in heaven that were not cross bearers on earth."

CONFESSION

"In failing to confess, Lord, I would only hide You from myself, not myself from You."

— St. Augustine

32nd SUNDAY

 

 

When you run into rough waters in your marriage, Fr. James Gilhooley invites you to always remember that Marriage still remains the only game in the world where two can play and both can win.

And the chances of success are more likely when couples remember that within a happy marriage, the positive comments should always outnumber the negative about 5 to 1.

PLEASE PRAY THE LORD THAT MARRIED COUPLES BE AUTHENTIC WITNESSES TO CHRIST AND HIS TEACHING.

 

 

IF YOU SEE THIS IT MEANS THAT YOU ARE ALIVE.

IF THAT IS NOT SOMETHING TO BE GRATEFUL FOR, I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ADVICE FROM THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY

If these Holy Souls were to speak to you, what would you think they would tell you?

"Value your time on earth, and never waste it."

"Use it to do acts of piety, personal prayer, service to those in need, participate in the Holy Mass and receive often the Holy Eucharist, if possible daily."

"We were very foolish to waste our time when we were in your world. During our stay here in purgatory we are suffering a lot.  It seems that time here is at a standstill.....one hour seems a year.... and a year seems to be centuries."

PRAYER FOR THE SOULS IN PURGATORY

Those languishing in Purgatory, who are purified in a fire beyond measure, and are tormented in grievous suffering, may your compassion relieve: O Mary!

You are the clear fountain that washes sins away, you assist all and reject none; extend your hand to the dead, who languish under continual pains: O Mary!

The dead piously sigh unto you, longing to be delivered from their pains, and to be present in your sight, and fully to enjoy eternal joys: O Mary!

And when the just examination shall take place, at the awesome judgment of God, entreat your Son judging, that our portion may be with the saints: O Mary!

TRUST

PRAY FOR THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY

 

 

Mondays are dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory

• One can gain a plenary indulgence visiting a cemetery each day between November 1 and November 8. These indulgences are applicable only to the Souls in Purgatory. 
• A partial indulgence can be obtained by devoutly visiting a cemetery and praying for the departed, even if the prayer is only mental. 
• A partial indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, can also be obtained when the Eternal Rest (Requiem aeternam) is prayed. This is a good prayer to recite especially during the month of November:

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

• Réquiem ætérnam dona eis Dómine; et lux perpétua lúceat eis. Requiéscant in pace. Amen. Fidélium ánimae per misericordiam Dei requiéscant in pace. Amen. 

WHAT IS LOVE?

“Love,  isn’t a constant thing. It doesn’t always flow at the same strength. It’s not always like a river in flood. It’s more like the sea. It has tides, it ebbs and flows. The thing is, when love is real, whether it’s ebbing or flowing, it’s always there, it never goes away. And that’s the only proof you can have that it is real, and not just a crush or an infatuation or a passing fancy.”

THE WORTH OF A SOUL

I cannot fathom how a Creator, so Divine, would be interested in a soul like mine.

An artist always admires His own work.

God so values the soul, his own creation, that He sent his Son so that by his sufferings, death and resurrection, our soul might be saved from eternal damnation. 

A SAINT IS NOT BORN

A saint is not born a saint.

A saint  labours incessantly to become one.

CONVERSION

Zacchaeus was trying to see Jesus but  it was Jesus that was calling him. And He was inviting him to convert and follow the way of the Lord.

The fruit of conversion is a change in thought and action.

If one is not ready to climb down the tree one is not ready to accept the  invitation of Jesus.