Charity

Today we celebrate the life of St. Albert the Great, who has given us such wisdom as this:

"It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws near to man, and man to God. But where charity is not found, God cannot dwell. If, then, we possess charity, we possess God, for 'God is Charity.'" -- St. Albert the Great

Charity is one of the three theological virtues placed upon a soul at baptism along with faith and hope. Charity, however, is lost after a mortal sin is committed. Mortal sin destroys sanctifying grace and only through Confession can we "wash our robes clean in the blood of the Lamb"; by seeking Christ in forgiveneness we put ourselves in the right place again - humbly below God.

"Without the help of grace, men would not know how "to discern the often narrow path between the cowardice which gives in to evil, and the violence which under the illusion of fighting evil only makes it worse." This is the path of charity, that is, of the love of God and of neighbor. Charity is the greatest social commandment. It respects others and their rights. It requires the practice of justice, and it alone makes us capable of it. Charity inspires a life of self-giving: "Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.""(CCC 1889)

I particularly love the last line - in Christ we gain all truly great things. For the Good Shepard laid down his life for His sheep. Ask yourself would you lay down your life for him? For your fellow man? Do you ask yourself "How much do I love"? But more importantly...do you act on it.

Love Christ and preach His Gospel in the Catholic Church for all generations. We live for Christ, Our God. Alleluia.

Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain, Title Unknown

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"In God Is Our trust"

Update: The Motto is to remain!

In America we have a Freedom to Religion not a Freedom from religion. Atheism is a lie and nothing more!

Just tonight I found out that the same man who has filed suit for "under God" in the pledge of Allegiance to be removed has now filed suit against "In God is our trust" on America's currency. He is expected to win the case in the circuit court and take it to the Supreme Court.

“Every one therefore that shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven. But he that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven” Matthew 10:32-33 (Douay Rheims).

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A Beatification Today

Today Pope Benedict XVI will move three people closer to being declared a saint by declaring them blessed. They are Charles de Foucauld, Maria Pia Mastena, and Maria Crocifissa Curcio. Their beatification ceremony is being aired on EWTN tonight. I will post more after their beatification tonight.

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St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

Memorial (1969 Calendar): November 13

Today we celebrate the Memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, who shows us another example of today's gospel of living our faith. Born in Lombardi, Italy in 1850, she desired to be a nun by the age of eighteen, but her poor health prevent her. St. Frances helped her parents until their death and afterwards worked on a farm with her brothers and sisters. Following the request of a preach, St. Frances began to teach in a girl's school, and she taught there for 6 years.

Later, at request of her Bishop, St. Frances Cabrini founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, a religious order to care for poor children in schools and hospitals. At the urging of Pope Leo XIII she came to the United States in 1889 with six nuns to work among the Italian immigrants.
She lived tirelessly for the poor and founded 67 institutions to help the poor and misfortunate in a period of 35 years. At the time of her death, on December 22, 1917, in Chicago, Illinois, her institute numbered houses in England, France, Spain, the United States, and even South America. St. Frances became the first US citizen to ever be when Pope Pius XII canonized her in 1946.

Prayer:

"Holy Spirit, when Saint Frances was a child, she pretended she was a missionary to China as she sailed paper boats on a stream. Although You eventually sent her west to America instead of East to the Orient, her childhood games shaped her desire to serve You. I ask her to pray for our children to be protected from the lure of games that are worldly, violent, or occultic. O Lord, prevent society’s influences from blocking their desire to serve You when they grow up. Touch their souls to make them uneasy about games that erode their love for You and teach them to listen to Your guidance. Saint Frances, pray for us. Amen."

Image Source: Photo believed to be in the Public Domain

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Mary As the Ark of the Covenant

“O Ark of the New Covenant, clad on all sides with purity in place of gold, the one in whom is found the golden vase with true manna that is the flesh in which lies the God-head.” -- St. Anthanasius (295-373)

Back in the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant was the holiest of holies in which no mere man could touch and not die. And, when Uzzah touched the Ark he was slain by God because the Ark is undefiled and has no place in sin (cf. 2 Sam. 6:7). Inside contained what, at that time, was the most important objects by God, and no mere man could touch them.

God is completely filled with glory and power, yet He also loves us beyond recollection. In the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant contained the most holy objects: The Ten Commandments, manna, and Aaron’s staff. These objects were directly linked with God and were greatly special, but it is further true that these objects were not God. This ark was so holy no one could touch it and not die except the chief priest one day a year, but these objects still are nothing compared with Christ, who is the epitome of holiest. Now, Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant, which holds a much more powerful object than manna or a staff – Christ Himself. Mary is the holiest of all humans having carried within her the greatest splendor - Our Lord.

Let us look at Luke 1:35 where the Archangel says to Mary: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” This word “overshadow” comes from the Greek word "episkiasei", which refers to a glorious instance. This same Greek term was used previously in Exodus 40:34-35 to describe the Temple; the clear resemble to the Temple and Mary shows again the Mary is to be a great temple for God to come into the world and save us. She is the new Ark that held the greatest gift to the human race, and she must have been pure and sinless to be able to carry the Lord within her. Some say that making Mary into the Ark of the New Covenant shows we worship her, but we do not worship her just as the people of the Old Testament did not worship the ark itself. Instead, what was inside of the Ark was adored just as we adore the treasure inside Mary, who is Our Lord. Let us remember every time we say the Rosary that we recall God’s saving power through her willingness to humble herself.

Luke wrote this parallel under the careful guidance of the Holy Spirit along with his account of the Visitation, which also show reference to Mary being the Ark of the New Covenant.

In Luke 1:39 it states that Mary rose and went to her sister resembling the man, Daniel, rising in 2 Samuel 6:2. Also, further in Luke 1:42, upon Mary’s visit to St. Elizabeth, St. John the Baptist leapt in his mother’s womb alluding to 2 Sam 6:16 where King David leap for joy before the Ark of the New Covenant. Finally, St. Elizabeth responded to Mary by asking, “How can the Mother of my Lord come to me," (Luke 1:43) but this, once again, resembles Old Testament writings especially in 2 Sam. 6:9: “How shall the ark of the Lord come to me?"

These instances of the Old Testament mirroring the New Testament show us how many occasions, from the grace of baptism mirroring the Great flood to the Bread of Life first mirrored in the manna in the desert, relate to each other. However, even though the image of Mary as the Ark is resembled very accurately it does not have to mirror it completely. For example, scholars indicate that King David mirrored Christ, but King David did commit sins unlike the Lord; the same finer details can be seen in the Ark where the Old Testament Ark was stolen, but the New Ark is now safely in Heaven.

Just as the Ark of the Old Covenant was worthy of praise, now an even greater Ark has come along with an even greater object in the Ark, Our Lord. We should remember this during the “Hail Mary” when we say, “The Lord is with thee,” because Mary is also deserving of honor, though less than God, but honor nonetheless. In 1 Chron. 15 and 16, the Old Ark is surrounded by hymns, veneration, trumpets, and other glorious actions. During the Hail Mary we take part in a new hymns and trumpets and proclaim Mary is truly blessed to have been made the Immaculate Ark of the New Covenant through whom Our Lord could take flesh.

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Pope St. Leo the Great

Double (1955 Calendar): April 11
Memorial (1969 Calendar): November 10

Today is the feastday of one of the few saints who have the informal title of "great" - St. Leo the Great (c. 400-461), pope and Doctor of the Church. He is a shining example for apologetics. St. Leo was an eloquent writer and homilist. He wrote exceptionally well on St. Peter and the papacy as founded in Matthew 16:18. However, St. Leo also fought extensively against heresies and preserved Church teachings.

He was pope from 440 to 461 AD during the invasion of Attila the Hun. When Attila marched on to Rome, St. Leo went out to meet him and pleaded for him to leave. As Leo spoke, Attila saw a vision of a man in priestly robes, carrying a bare sword, and threatening to kill the invader if he did not obey Pope St. Leo. It is believed that the visionary was St. Peter, to whom St. Leo had a great devotion. Attila the Hun, one of the most brutal barbarians in history, left. St. Leo won without a life being lost.

Prayer:

Look forgivingly on Thy flock, Eternal Shepherd, and keep it in Thy constant protection, by the intercession of Blessed Leo, Thy Sovereign Pontiff, whom Thou didst constitute Shepherd of the whole Church. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

Image: Pope St. Leo the Great confronts Atilla the Hun, In the Public Domain

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Abortion Laws - state by state

I'm looking to help make things clearer and create a whole post on abortion laws state by state. This is rather long, so I'm just looking for the whether their is a parential notification law, a parental consent law, or other abortion related laws state by state. Also, how many abortion clinics are in each state, so we can pray even deeper for that one to shut down. I know for a fact that North Dakota only has 1 clinic left.

For info. on abortion laws by other countries around the world visit this post of mine.

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Pope Pius XII: His Role in The Holocaust

There are lies out in the world. This is the honest truth - some people hate others and live a life devoted to violence; they are living lies as we are all children of the same God. We are called to holiness. All are called to enter God's House in Heaven.

Of these lies, some people deny God's existence and His love, which is poured out into each of us when we receive Him in Holy Communion. Christ's love for us is incomparable; on His sacred shoulder rested the wait of the world. I was carrying a heavy bag today and thought of how horrible it would be to carry the world on your shoulder; and Christ did it for love of us!

There are also people who deny the Holocaust. This is a blatant lie; during the Holocaust millions of people: Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, and priests died in horrible concentration camps. Yes, 4,000 priests died for their beliefs and love. We have the survivor's stories, their pictures, their memories. We have a small piece of history remaining only today though as many of the survivors have already died from old age. Today I had the chance to hear a speech in my community by a survivor of the Holocaust.

He spoke about hate and how he knew it. He spoke about how he saw people murdered (his brother brutally and his parents and uncles and aunts). He spoke of people being lit on fire alive and how could they do this. How did the anyone know they were Jewish? Because people told on them. They would scream, "Jews live here! And there! In that house too!" It was a world of hate and pain. These people were not pressured to tell; they wanted to tell. It was hate.

I also disagreed with the gentleman though on some claims such as that "Christ was a Jew; a creation of God." We know that Christ is God and not a creation of God but eternally begotten of the father. This, though is no reason we should hate others. The speaker today even spoke so highly of Pope John Paul ll. Why? Because Pope John Paul ll was a Pope of love. He spoke against the Holocaust, Communism, and other attacks on life. Pope John Paul ll in this speaker's words was the "greatest pope in history" because of his tolerance for others. So many people could have helped these poor people but didn't. In the end, people blame the Church for not doing enough. But in truth, it was us as a people; not us as a Church. The Catholic Church saved nearly 800,000 Jewish people from death in the Holocaust (Read More).

In today's world, we no longer have a Holocaust but a different one. There is one directed against the elderly by legalizing euthanasia, one against the unborn child in embryonic stem cell research and abortion, and a holocaust against love. People are trying to take God out of life and make the world secular. This is an outrage!

I hope those of you that have read this post can one day soon listen to a holocaust speaker. It was 1 1/2 hours long but filled with pain - pain knowing that no one cared when he cried out.

Trust the Lord, receive Him in the Eucharist. Love Him as He loved you and listen. Listen to Our Lord. Take the Crucifix in your hands, as Mother Teresa said, and what a sermon you will hear. And what is the sermon on? It's on love - the foundation of our Faith as God is the God of Love.

"I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I cannot feel it. I believe in God even when He is silent" (an anonymous prisoner of the Holocaust)

Image Source: Photo of Pope Pius XII believed to be in the Public Domain

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Living History

Today I'm going to be hearing a speech from a survivor of the Holocaust that was in several concentration camps. It's a piece of living history and a dark time though God's love shone down through the clouds to us. There is a lot of misguided opinions that the Catholic Church didn't help holocaust victims, but they did! I'll try and post information later tonight.

One of my favorite quotations:

"I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I cannot feel it. I believe in God even when He is silent." (an anonymous prisoner of the Holocaust).

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Somber News in California

Prop. 73, which would have required parental notification and make California the 35th state in the US to have such a law, failed very, very narrowly today. With 83.9% of precincts reporting 51.8% of voters rejected it to 48.2% of voters supporting it.

Those working to defeat this included Planned Parenthood ($1.1 mil. dollar donation), the California Family Health Council, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern and Southern California, and state and national chapters of the Abortion Rights Action League.

It is very saddening to see a state turning down an opportunity to save lives. How sad is this day in US history when California could have saved lives and turned them away. Let's remember Our Lord's words that whoever shows mercy will be shown mercy; I pray abortion will be illegal soon enough.

God bless all of you that voted for Prop 73 or at least supported it in your prayers. Rest assured, that even though this is a minor setback on getting abortion made illegal, that abortion is wrong. Our great Lord, who knows each of us, knows those of us that supported those little ones.

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