4th Day of the Novena for Christian Unity

Today is the Fourth Day of the Novena for Christian Unity. If you have not started yet, please join me in praying this novena.

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Please Pray for Speeches Tomorrow

Tomorrow I will be going out again and giving speeches. But, tomorrow is different. It's an extremely important day. There will be many others there, and I not only want to do well in my speaking but also to serve God completely.

Please pray for me that I might succeed in both. I'll be gone all day on this one.

Thank you all for your prayers.

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Anniversary of Roe V. Wade Approaching

News Update: The man who shot Pope John Paul ll in the early 1980s has now been re-arrested. When he was arrested he said, "I am the messiah." How sad... May he see the light of Christ espeically through John Paul ll, who knew the real Messiah - Jesus Christ.

Also, The anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the decision that legalized abortion, is approaching. On January 22, it will have been 33 years of legalized murder of the unborn.

"The cemetery of the victims of human cruelty in our century is extended to include yet another vast cemetery, that of the unborn. " - Pope John Paul ll

There are 46 million abortions globally each year. Thankfully some countries have outlawed abortions, but other have not. [Click here for abortions laws]

Let us pray especially with the anniversary of abortion approaching in the US. In the US, 1.3 million of our brothers and sisters are murdered! Let us unite in Christ! Let us be one in the same spirit and fight against this! Faith demands a response. Don't sit idlely go out an peacefuly protest, pray, and preach. Go out - faith demands action!

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St. Sebastian

Double (1954 Calendar): January 20
Optional Memorial (1969 Calendar): January 20

Today the Church remembers St. Sebastian (c. 257- c. 288). St. Sebastian was a convert to Christianity and died a martyr for his faith. Sebastian helped imprisoned Christians during this time of persecution and converted many others. After learning of St. Sebastian's acts, the emperor ordered Sebastian murdered. Sebastian was pierced with numerous arrows and left to die, but a widow named Irene found him and healed him.

He came before Emperor Diocletian again and was then sentenced to death. He was martyred by being beaten to death with clubs. He refused to give up his love for Jesus Christ.

Traditional Matins Reading:

Sebastian, whose father was of Narbonne, and his mother a lady of Milan, was beloved by Diocletian on account of his noble birth and his virtues. Being a captain of the pretorian cohort, he was able to give assistance and alms to the Christians, whose faith he himself followed, though privately. When he perceived any of them trembling at the great tortures of the persecutors, he made it his duty to encourage them; and so well did he do it, that many, for the sake of Jesus Christ, would freely offer themselves to the executioners. Of this number were the two brothers Mark and Marcellian, who were in custody under Nicostratus, whose wife, named Zoe, had recovered her speech by the prayer made for her by Sebastian. Diocletian, being told of these things, summoned Sebastian before him; and after upbraiding him in very strong words, tried every means to induce him to turn from the faith of Christ. But finding that neither promises nor threats availed, he ordered him to be tied to a stake, and to be shot to death with arrows.

Everyone thought he was dead; and a pious woman named Irene gave orders that his body should be taken away during the night and buried; but she, finding him to be still alive, had him taken to her house, where she took care of him. Not long after, having quite recovered, he went before Diocletian, and boldly chided him for his wickedness. At first the Emperor was struck dumb with astonishment, for he had been told that Sebastian was dead; but at length the strange event and the Martyr's sharp rebuke so inflamed him with rage, that he ordered him to be scourged to death with rods. His body was thrown into a sewer, but Lucina was instructed by Sebastian, in her sleep, both as to where his body was, and where he wished to be buried. Accordingly she buried him at the Catacombs, where, afterwards, a celebrated Church was built, called Saint Sebastian's.

A Prayer to St. Sebastian:

Dear Commander at the Roman Emperor's court, you chose to be also a soldier of Christ and dared to spread faith in the King of Kings, for which you were condemned to die. Your body, however, proved athletically strong and the executing arrows extremely weak. So another means to kill you was chosen and you gave your life to the Lord. May athletes be always as strong in their faith as their Patron Saint so clearly has been. Amen.

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

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Protect Marriage in Illinois

I just got an email about this great site, Protect Marriage Illinois. If you are from the state of Illinois, please visit this site and sign the petition to "place a referendum on the November 2006 ballot calling on the Illinois General Assembly to pass a Marriage Protection Amendment permanently defining marriage as one-man, one-woman."

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3rd day of the Novena for Christian Unity

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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Pope St. Fabian

Double (1954 Calendar): January 20
Optional 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

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Believe in the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church

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

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US Abortion Ruling: Parental Notification Law in New Hampshire

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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Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

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

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