Today is my 3rd day for the Novena for Christian Unity. Especially since we are now in the Week of Prayer for Christian unity, please join me in this novena.
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Biyernes, Enero 20, 2006
Double (1954 Calendar): January 20Optional Memorial (1969 Calendar): January 20
Today the Church remembers St. Fabian along with St. Sebastian. St. Fabian was a Roman layman, who was coming in from the fields one day when the clergy were preparing to elect a new Pope. As soon as St. Fabian came into the assembly, a dove came and rested upon his head - a sign for the laity and clergy. St. Fabian was chosen as Pope.
He led the Church for 14 years and died in 250 AD as a martyr. St. Fabian is remembered for baptizing the emperor Marcus Julius Philippus, known as Philip the Arab, along with his son. Pope St. Fabian helped build in the catacombs, improved the organization of the Church in Rome, and appointed officials to register the deeds of the martyrs. His grave, though broken into four pieces, is still readable today in the catacombs of Saint Callistus: "Fabian, bishop, martyr"
As we continue down our journey in this world, please don't forget all of our past. For hundreds of years, Catholics were murdered for their faith. Let us not forget the martyrs who gave their lives to Christ and His Church. Even today, men and women die for their faith in Christ. Let us praise God and know that He is life (John 14:6); no one else is pure joy.
May Christ reign in His Church and may we pray for the unity of all Christians, especially during this week of prayer for Christian Unity.
Traditional Matins Reading:
Fabian, a Roman by birth, governed the Church from the reign of 'Maximian to that of Decius. He divided the City into seven parts, which he consigned to as many Deacons, and to them he gave the charge of looking after the poor. He created also a like number of Subdeacons, who were to collect the Acts of the Martyrs, written by seven Notaries. It was he who decreed that every year, on the fifth Feria of our Lord's Supper, the Chrism should be renewed, and the old should be burnt. At length, on the thirteenth of the Kalends of February (January 20), he was crowned with martyrdom, in the persecution of Decius, and was buried in the cemetery of Callixtus, on the Appian Way, after reigning fifteen years and four days. He held five ordinations in the month of December, in which ordinations he made two and twenty Priests, seven Deacons, and eleven Bishops for divers places.
St. Fabian, ora pro nobis! “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” (Tertullian).
Prayer:
O Almighty God, have regard to our weakness: and since the weight of our own evil deeds is oppressive, may the glorious intercession of Thy blessed Martyrs, Fabian and Sebastian, protect us. Through our Lord.
Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal
Prayer:
O Almighty God, have regard to our weakness: and since the weight of our own evil deeds is oppressive, may the glorious intercession of Thy blessed Martyrs, Fabian and Sebastian, protect us. Through our Lord.
Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal
Huwebes, Enero 19, 2006
If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself. - St. Augustine
It is especially during this week of prayer for Christian Unity that I appeal to you. We all are entitled to our own opinions, but that doesn't mean they are right.
Look at all of the various beliefs out there - but realize there can only be one right answer. And, I can say, without any sense of arrogance but rather with pure joy of heart, that Jesus Christ is the answer! The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - Our One God is the true answer. People can twist the Gospels and believe what they want, but realize that only one set of beliefs is right. And, I firmly believe this for Our Savior said His Church would be protected from the fires of hell (Matthew 16:18) We feel the Holy Spirit in life - in the joy of the Eucharist. We know the truth and if you hold the truth in your heart, don't hold it back but share this light of life with others. For a light dispels the darkness of ignorance and sin. Share this light of Christ with others.
Read the Gospels - believe in Him, in His Church!
"About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter." - St. Joan of Arc
Yesterday the United States partially sidestepped an abortion ruling. But, the Court did say that the parental notification law in New Hampshire, which was ruled unconstitutional, was struck down prematurely. They sent the law back to the lower court to reconsider whether it was appropriate to strike down the law.
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Miyerkules, Enero 18, 2006
Today, January 18, begins the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, lasting until January 25. Let us remember to pray that all of us, as believers in Christ, may be brought to the fullness of the Truth - the Catholic Faith. Let us pray as Our Savior prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before His passion: "That they might be one."Update: See my 2007 post for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity for more information.
Please join me in this Novena for Christian Unity:
O Lord Jesus Christ, who said unto Your Apostles, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you," regard not our sins, but the faith of Your church, and grant unto her that peace and unity which are agreeable to Your will, who live and reign, God, forever and ever. Amen. O Lord, increase in us the faith. My God, unite all minds in the truth and all hearts in charity Amen
Source: Catholic Culture
Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain
"Every time you sacrifice something at great cost every time you renounce something that appeals to you for the sake of the poor you are feeding a hungry Christ.You are clothing His nakedness.You are offering shelter to a homeless Christ. Every time we are concerned about the poor whether they are near or far away we do it all for Him. "Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain
Martes, Enero 17, 2006
With today being Tuesday, January 24th, I wanted to continue my Tuesday tradition to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Please join me in prayer:O Mother of Perpetual Help, thou art the dispenser of all the gifts which God grants to us miserable sinners; and for this end He has made thee so powerful, so rich, and so bountiful, in order that thou mayest help us in our misery. Thou art the advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners who have recourse to thee: come to my aid, for I recommend myself to thee.
In thy hands I place my eternal salvation, and to thee I entrust my soul. Count me among thy most devoted servants; take me under thy protection, and it is enough for me. For, if thou protect me, I fear nothing; not from my sins, because thou wilt obtain for me the pardon of them; nor from the devils, because thou art more powerful than all hell together; nor even from Jesus, my judge, because by one prayer from thee He will be appeased.
But one thing I fear: that in the hour of temptation I may through negligence fail to have recourse to thee and thus perish miserably. Obtain for me, therefore, the pardon of my sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace ever to have recourse to thee, O Mother of Perpetual Help.---3 Hail Marys.
Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain
Some bad news...
The United States Supreme Court today upheld the Oregon law allowing physician assisted suicide. Let me reiterate the Catholic Church is opposed to this intrinsic evil because it allows the murder of a human being - it is an attack on the culture of life.
The only promising part of the 6-3 ruling to uphold the law, was that Supreme Court Justice Roberts voted to strike down the law. He is a Catholic and I was so happy to hear that he stood up for life.
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The United States Supreme Court today upheld the Oregon law allowing physician assisted suicide. Let me reiterate the Catholic Church is opposed to this intrinsic evil because it allows the murder of a human being - it is an attack on the culture of life.
The only promising part of the 6-3 ruling to uphold the law, was that Supreme Court Justice Roberts voted to strike down the law. He is a Catholic and I was so happy to hear that he stood up for life.
Memorial (1969 Calendar): January 17
Double (1954 Calendar): January 17
Today is the feastday of St. Anthony of Egypt (251-356). After the death of his parents, St. Anthony, only 20 years old, left the world and its riches after hearing the Gospel: “Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor” (Mark 10:21). St. Anthony sold his house, furniture, and the land he owned, and he gave the proceeds to the poor. He joined the anchorites who lived nearby. At age 35 he moved alone to the desert and lived for 20 years in an abandoned fort.
Although he barricaded himself inside in order to achieve solitude, admirers broke in. St. Anthony miraculously healed people while agreeing to be the spiritual counselor of others. He also founded two monasteries on the Nile: one at Pispir, one at Arsinoe. In 311 AD, he left his solitude in order to combat Arianism and comfort the victims of Emperor Maximinus' persecution. While there, he again met his sister, who had also left the world and lived as a nun.
St. Anthony was modest and courteous. He died in solitude in 356 AD at Mount Colzim of natural causes at the age of 105; his relics are located near Vienne.
Prayer:
May the intercession of blessed Anthony the Abbot commend us unto Thee, we beseech Thee, O Lord: so that what we cannot acquire by any merits of ours, we may obtain by his patronage. Through our Lord.
Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal
Traditional Matins Reading:
Antony was born in Egypt, of noble and Christian parents, who left him an orphan at an early age. Having one day entered a Church, he heard these words of the Gospel being read: If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all thou hast, and give to the poor. He took them as addressed to himself, and thought it his duty to obey these words of Christ his Lord. Selling therefore his possessions, he distributed all the money among the poor. Being freed from these obstacles, he resolved to lead on earth a heavenly life. But at his entrance on the perils of such a combat, he felt that besides the shield of faith, wherewith he was armed, he must needs fortify himself with the other virtues; and so ardent was his desire to possess them, that whomsoever he saw excelling in any virtue, him did he study to imitate.
Nothing, therefore, could exceed his continency and vigilance. He surpassed all in patience, meekness, mercy, humility, manual labour, and the study of the Sacred Scriptures. So great was his aversion for the company of, or conversation with, heretics, especially the Arians, that he used to say that we ought not even to go near them. He lay on the ground when necessity obliged him to sleep. As to fasting, he practised it with so much fervour that his only nourishment was bread seasoned with salt, and he quenched his thirst with water; neither did he take this his food and drink until sunset, and frequently abstained from it altogether for two successive days. He very frequently spent the whole night in prayer. Antony became so valiant a soldier of God that the enemy of mankind, ill-brooking such extraordinary virtue, attacked him with manifold temptations; but the Saint overcame them all by fasting and prayer. Neither did his victories over Satan make him heedless, for he knew how innumerable are the devil’s artifices for injuring souls.
Knowing this, he betook himself into one of the largest deserts of Egypt, where such was his progress in Christian perfection that the wicked spirits, whose attacks grew more furious as Antony’s resistance grew more resolute, became the object of his contempt, so much so indeed, that he would sometimes taunt them for their weakness. When encouraging his disciples to fight against the devil, and teaching them the arms wherewith they would vanquish him, he used often to say to them: 'Believe me, Brethren, Satan dreads the watchings of holy men, and their prayers, and fasts, and voluntary poverty, and works of mercy, and humility, and above all, their ardent love for Christ our Lord, at the mere sign of whose most holy Cross he is disabled and put to flight.' So formidable was he to the devils that many persons in Egypt who were possessed by them were delivered by invoking Antony's name. So great. too, was his reputation for sanctity, that Constantine the Great and his sons wrote to him, commending themselves to his prayers. At length, having reached the hundred and fifth year of his age, and having received a countless number into his institute, he called his Monks together; and having instructed them how to regulate their lives according to Christian perfection, he, venerated both for the miracles he had wrought, and for the holiness of his life, departed from this world to heaven on the sixteenth of the Calends of February (January 17).
St. Anthony Receives His Vocation by St. Athanasius:
When Anthony was about eighteen or twenty years old, his parents died, leaving him with an only sister. He cared for her as she was very young, and also looked after their home.
Not six months after his parents’ death, as he was on his way to church for his usual visit, he began to think of how the apostles had left everything and followed the Saviour, and also of those mentioned in the book of Acts who had sold their possessions and brought the apostles the money for distribution to the needy. He reflected too on the great hope stored up in heaven for such as these. This was all in his mind when, entering the church just as the Gospel was being read, he heard the Lord’s words to the rich man: If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor – you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me.
It seemed to Anthony that it was God who had brought the saints to his mind and that the words of the Gospel had been spoken directly to him. Immediately he left the church and gave away to the villagers all the property he had inherited, about 200 acres of very beautiful and fertile land, so that it would cause no distraction to his sister and himself. He sold all his other possessions as well, giving to the poor the considerable sum of money he collected. However, to care for his sister he retained a few things.
The next time he went to church he heard the Lord say in the Gospel: Do not be anxious about tomorrow. Without a moment’s hesitation, he went out and gave the poor all that he had left. He placed his sister in the care of some well-known and trustworthy virgins and arranged for her to be brought up in the convent. Then he gave himself up to the ascetic life, not far from his own home. He kept a careful watch over himself and practised great austerity. He did manual work because he had heard the words: If anyone will not work, do not let him eat. He spent some of his earnings on bread and the rest he gave to the poor.
Having learned that we should always be praying, even when we are by ourselves, he prayed without ceasing. Indeed, he was so attentive when Scripture was read that nothing escaped him and because he retained all he heard, his memory served him in place of books.
Seeing the kind of life he lived, the villagers and all the good men he knew called him the friend of God, and they loved him as both son and brother.
When Anthony was about eighteen or twenty years old, his parents died, leaving him with an only sister. He cared for her as she was very young, and also looked after their home.
Not six months after his parents’ death, as he was on his way to church for his usual visit, he began to think of how the apostles had left everything and followed the Saviour, and also of those mentioned in the book of Acts who had sold their possessions and brought the apostles the money for distribution to the needy. He reflected too on the great hope stored up in heaven for such as these. This was all in his mind when, entering the church just as the Gospel was being read, he heard the Lord’s words to the rich man: If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor – you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me.
It seemed to Anthony that it was God who had brought the saints to his mind and that the words of the Gospel had been spoken directly to him. Immediately he left the church and gave away to the villagers all the property he had inherited, about 200 acres of very beautiful and fertile land, so that it would cause no distraction to his sister and himself. He sold all his other possessions as well, giving to the poor the considerable sum of money he collected. However, to care for his sister he retained a few things.
The next time he went to church he heard the Lord say in the Gospel: Do not be anxious about tomorrow. Without a moment’s hesitation, he went out and gave the poor all that he had left. He placed his sister in the care of some well-known and trustworthy virgins and arranged for her to be brought up in the convent. Then he gave himself up to the ascetic life, not far from his own home. He kept a careful watch over himself and practised great austerity. He did manual work because he had heard the words: If anyone will not work, do not let him eat. He spent some of his earnings on bread and the rest he gave to the poor.
Having learned that we should always be praying, even when we are by ourselves, he prayed without ceasing. Indeed, he was so attentive when Scripture was read that nothing escaped him and because he retained all he heard, his memory served him in place of books.
Seeing the kind of life he lived, the villagers and all the good men he knew called him the friend of God, and they loved him as both son and brother.
Lunes, Enero 16, 2006
Q: Why are faith and works so important in the Catholic faith?
A: It takes both faith and works to successfully live our lives for Christ. First, I must stress, though, that the works don't save us. These works of good-will do not save us; only through God's grace and faith in Him are we saved. Good Works allow us to become followers of Christ and serve him.
Look to Matthew 25 that we can be condemned for not being charitable enough. Our Lord said, "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me." And then He shall say, "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me."
And to those that didn't help others Our Lord shall say, "Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me."
As those words illustrate, we can lose our salvation without good works unless of course there are exceptions in a person's abilities. Again, faith are so important in the Catholic faith because that is what Jesus Christ taught. He didn't just have faith; Jesus Christ had the greatest of all works - the Cross. Faith in Christ leads to our salvation, but to serve Him and follow Him we must do good. We are saved by grace- the freely given supernatural gift of God bestowed on us out of love. We are saved by grace.
James 2:17-18 "So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Indeed someone might say, 'You have faith and I have works.' Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. "
Epistle of St. James:
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well," but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Indeed someone might say, "You have faith and I have works." Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble. Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called "the friend of God." See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route? For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
Do you really believe that someone that harms others and hates everyone else will still reach Heaven if he believes? Faith demands action.
Action isn't a lot - Our Lord died for us! His skin and was torn open all of of love for us. Dismas, the good thief, confesses Jesus is the Christ and is saved. He is saved through his faith and his baptism of desire:
Above all, we are saved though through God's friendship. If we do not know Christ and find Him on our deathbed, then we can't have any works. But, if you claim to have faith in Christ then you certainly must follow His Commandments. Following the Commandments is doing something - it's a work. We too must follow the Commandments and serve God. He gave us the Sacraments to lead us to Him. They are gravely important.
Yet, what I find most important is for us to put aside these differences. What we should do is spread Christ to others - to those that do not know him. We must convert atheists, Buddhists, Muslims, and Jewish people to our true faith in Our Savior. We will all have differences and I will always know that Christ's Church is the Catholic Church, but if we don't do anything to bring the unbelievers to God then so many souls could be lost.
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An important objection against this Protestant error can also be raised here, first of all from Scripture itself.
a) In the Epistle of St. James we read that faith without works is dead; in the Apocalypse the dead are praised, ". . . for their works follow them." And in the Second Book of Maccabees we see the great hero Judas taking a collection for the fallen, that a sin-offering may be made; that it is a good and pious thought to pray for the dead.
b) Human nature itself reveals a connection between faith and works, as it consists of body and soul, whereby the soul is expressed in the body, the body is an instrument of the spiritual soul, and an exchange between body and soul cannot be denied. For example, if I make a genuflection before the Blessed Sacrament, I proclaim the faith of the Church, that Christ truly, really and powerfully, with His divinity and humanity, body and soul under the appearances of bread, is present among us. By the same token every outward gesture, every sign of the cross and every bow, helps us to strengthen our faith. The soul is inwardly nourished by these outward signs. In this connection it is not to be forgotten that the separation of body and soul in death is only a temporary arrangement until the last day, when body and soul will again find their unity, yet distinct from one another.
Exactly the same relationship holds between faith and works. Faith expresses itself in works, as works without faith are dead, like the body without the soul. At the same time works are a true prolongation of faith, reflect back upon it, strengthen it and shape it.
c) As works belong essentially to faith, a blinding flash of light occurs in the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Godhead; God comes visibly among us; He walks around for thirty-three years in our earthly flesh, He performs miracles and makes use of outward elements as, for instance, a mud plaster in the healing of a blind man, His finger in the healing of a deaf-mute; He cries out and prays aloud for the apostles' sake in the raising of Lazarus.
And thus the Church is His visible Body; the Sacraments are visible signs, which contain and bestow an inner, invisible grace and mediate it through the work itself; works are faith made visible; our cathedrals and churches, processions and pilgrimages, our seminaries and convents, all proclaim the eternal, living Truth which has broken into time.
Because God became man, therefore we bend the knee; because He went down into the dust of the earth, we throw ourselves on the ground in holy fear. All of nature should proclaim His works, all art should be put at His service and sing the praise of the Eternal One.
When we reverence the relics of the saints, we are praying to that uncreated Love which took weak man to Itself, opened Its throne to them and surrounded them with Its grace.
Not to be overlooked in this regard, the Catholic priest binds himself to celibacy and wears the black cassock, in order to show himself to other men as a man chosen from among men, to make visible in the world the presence of God.
It is therefore clear that works are not only a short-term or a long-lasting consequence of faith; they are part of faith and thus also a part of justification. Because parts of Holy Scripture are a direct contradiction to the sola fides theory of Luther, he did away with the Epistle of St. James, calling it an epistle of straw, the Apocalypse of doubtful authenticity, and the Books of Maccabees as definitely apocryphal. He himself not only attacked celibacy, but did not hesitate as a monk with perpetual vows, to marry an ex-nun...
If we see work therefore as sign and fruit of Christian love, then the sola fides theory must become the gravedigger of that beautiful principle which, according to St. Paul, surpasses and survives faith and hope; and it alone remains, because it is eternal.
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