Sunday, June 4, 2006
Begin Novena to St. Anthony of Padua

Today I begin the nine day Novena to St. Anthony of Padua. He is an amazing example of living a life dedicated to Jesus Christ. He lived from 1195 to 1231 and received a vision of the child Jesus, who St. Anthony cradled in his arms.

Please join me in beginning the Novena to St. Anthony of Padua.

Prayer:

O wonderful St. Anthony, glorious on account of the fame of your miracles, and through the condescension of Jesus in coming in the form of a little child to rest in your arms, obtain for me of His bounty the grace which I ardently desire from the depths of my heart . (State your intention)

You who were so compassionate toward miserable sinners, regard not the unworthiness of those who pray to you, but the glory of God that it may once again be magnified by the granting of the particular request (State your intention) which I now ask for with persevering earnestness. Amen

(Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father, in honor of Saint Anthony.)

Saint Anthony, pray for us!

DAY ONE:

O holy St. Anthony, gentlest of saints, your love for God and charity for his creatures made you worthy while on earth to possess miraculous powers. Miracles waited your word, which you were ever ready to speak for those in trouble or anxiety. Encouraged by this thought, I implore you to obtain for me the favor I seek in this novena (State your intention). The answer to my prayer may require a miracle; even so, you are the saint of miracles. O gentle and loving Saint Anthony, whose heart was ever full of human sympathy, whisper my petition into the ears of the Infant Jesus, who loved to be folded in your arms, and thee gratitude of my heart will always be yours.

(One Our Father, one Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father, in honor of Saint Anthony).

Saint Anthony, pray for us!
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Prayers for Pentecost


Act of Consecration to the Holy Ghost

On my knees before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses, I offer myself soul and body to Thee, Eternal Spirit of God. I adore the brightness of Thy purity, the unerring keenness of Thy justice, and the might of Thy love. Thou art the Strength and Light of my soul. In Thee I live and move and am. I desire never to grieve Thee by unfaithfulness to grace, and I pray with all my heart to be kept from the smallest sin against Thee. Mercifully guard my every thought and grant that I may always watch for Thy light and listen to Thy voice and follow Thy gracious inspirations. I cling to Thee and give myself to Thee and ask Thee by Thy compassion to watch over me in my weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of Jesus and looking at His Five Wounds and trusting in His Precious Blood and adoring His opened Side and stricken Heart, I implore Thee Adorable Spirit, helper of my infirmity, so to keep me in Thy grace that I may never sin against Thee. Give me grace O Holy Ghost, Spirit of the Father and the Son, to say to Thee always and everywhere, Speak Lord, for Thy servant heareth. Amen.

Come Holy Spirit, Creator Blest (Veni, Creator Spiritus)

Come, Holy Spirit, Creator blest,
and in our souls take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heavenly aid
to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

O comforter, to Thee we cry,
O heavenly gift of God Most High,
O fount of life and fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.

Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts are known;
Thou, finger of God's hand we own;
Thou, promise of the Father, Thou
Who dost the tongue with power imbue.

Kindle our sense from above,
and make our hearts o'erflow with love;
with patience firm and virtue high
the weakness of our flesh supply.

Far from us drive the foe we dread,
and grant us Thy peace instead;
so shall we not, with Thee for guide,
turn from the path of life aside.

Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow
the Father and the Son to know;
and Thee, through endless times confessed,
of both the eternal Spirit blest.

Now to the Father and the Son,
Who rose from death, be glory given,
with Thou, O Holy Comforter,
henceforth by all in earth and heaven. Amen.

Note: There is an indulgence associated with the above prayer.

Prayer for the Help of the Holy Ghost by Saint Anthony of Padua

O God, send forth your Holy Ghost into my heart that I may perceive, into my mind that I may remember, and into my soul that I may meditate. Inspire me to speak with piety, holiness, tenderness and mercy. Teach, guide and direct my thoughts and senses from beginning to end. May your grace ever help and correct me, and may I be strengthened now with wisdom from on high, for the sake of your infinite mercy. Amen. 
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The Solemnity of Pentecost!


Today is one of the most holy days in the year - Pentecost Sunday (also known as Whit Sunday)! As the Catholic Dictionary of Fr. John Hardon summarizes, today's holy day "commemorat[es] the descent of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles. It takes its name from the fact that it comes about fifty days after Easter. The name was originally given to the Jewish Feast of Weeks, which fell in the fiftieth day after Passover, when the first fruits of the corn harvest were offered to the Lord (Deuteronomy 16:9), and later on the giving of the law to Moses was celebrated."

Our celebration is based on a greater gift than that of the Two Tables of the Law to Moses - today we celebrate the Apostles and Our Lady receiving God Himself - the Holy Ghost. As the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 1, illustrates, there were 120 people praying for the Holy Ghost. And just as the heavens opened and a dove descended in the Baptism of Jesus, the Holy Ghost descended on the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary at Pentecost. How truly remarkable and breathtaking it would have been if we were there to see tongues of fire falling from the sky. But that is what happens to each of us, though invisibly, at our own Confirmation. The same Spirit is within those that have been confirmed in the Catholic Church. We have the Holy Ghost and we have the responsibility to go out and be beacons of the light of Christ, just like the Apostles did.

The word "Pentecost" means "fifty days" because today's celebration is fifty days after the celebration of the Lord's triumphant Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Pentecost, traditionally after the completion of its Octave, officially ends the Season of Pascaltide.  There is a Plenary Indulgence available today.

Dom Gueranger provides us with this account of the liturgy of Pentecost Sunday:
The Christian Pentecost, prefigured by the ancient one of the Jews, is of the number of the feasts that were instituted by the apostles. As we have already remarked, it formerly shared with Easter the honour of the solemn administration of Baptism. Its octave, like that of Easter, and for the same reason, ended with the Saturday following the feast. The catechumens received Baptism on the night between Saturday and Sunday. So that the Pentecost solemnity began on the vigil, for the neophytes at once put on their white garments: on the eighth day, the Saturday, they laid them aside. 
In the middle-ages, the feast of Pentecost was called by the beautiful name of ‘The Pasch of roses,’ just as the Sunday within the octave of the Ascension was termed the ‘Sunday of roses’. The colour and fragrance of this lovely flower were considered by our Catholic forefathers as emblems of the tongues of fire, which rested on the heads of the hundred and twenty disciples, and poured forth the sweet gifts of love and grace on the infant Church. The same idea suggested the red-coloured vestments for the liturgical services during the whole octave. In his Rational (a work which abounds in most interesting information regarding the mediƦval liturgical usages), Durandus tells us that, in the thirteenth century, a dove was allowed to fly about in the church, and flowers and lighted tow were thrown down from the roof, during the Mass on Whit Sunday; these were allusions to the two mysteries of Jesus’ baptism, and of the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost.
When we read the Old Testament we realize that it mirrors and foreshadows the New Covenant in Christ. In the Old Testament, Jews celebrated Pentecost as the important feast to commemorate Moses receiving from God the Tablets of the Law.  Yet, for us who are Christians, we celebrate today an even greater gift - receiving the Third Person of the Trinity, God Himself, into our souls!

And the account of the Descent of the Holy Ghost holds another important lesson - prayer is necessary. After praying fervently for nine days did Mary and the apostles receive the gift from on high. And it was when Jesus was praying after His baptism that the Heavens opened. And it was during prayer when Jesus was transfigured on Mt. Tabor. Today we recall that the Holy Ghost descended during prayer. Let us keep the importance of prayer in mind. Prayer is after all necessary for salvation.

It was through the Spirit that the Apostles, the men that ran in fear during the Crucifixion, were given the courage to bring Jesus Christ to the whole world. They would not just bring Him to the people of Judea but to Gentiles (i.e. non-Jews) - to the whole world.

Pentecost also shows us the reversal of Babel as The Church's Year of Grace by Father Pius Parsch explains:
One final question: why the miracle of tongues? In answer, recall the story regarding the tower of Babel. Puffed up by pride, men attempted to build a tower that would touch the heavens. To punish their sin, God confused their speech. Sin causes confusion and division. Now Christ came to gather all men into His Church and thereby to unite them to Himself. This should result in creating but one family of nations again. To this blessed state the miracle of tongues points. Yes, even we as individuals have a gift of tongues which all men can understand. It is the gift of love infused into us by the Holy Spirit. Love unites, love is a common language, by means of love we can speak to all nations.
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Saturday, June 3, 2006
Final Day of the Original Novena

Today is the ninth and final day of the Novena for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, called the Original Novena because the apostles prayed for the Holy Spirit for 9 days. Today we focus on the fruits of the Holy Spirit as we prepare for tomorrow's glorious celebration on Pentecost Sunday. We remember not only the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary but also the foundation of the Church. For it was the Descent of the Holy Spirit that founded the Church and set the disciples out as apostles to preach the Gospel to the whole world.


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Words of Inspiration: June 3, 2006

Blessed Mother Teresa:

"We are all capable of good and evil. We are not born bad: everybody has something good inside. Some hide it, some neglect it, but it is there. God created us to love and to be loved, so it is our test from God to choose one path or another."

Padre Pio:

"Jesus you already come into my soul. With what food must I feed You? With love! But my love is false, Jesus I love You very much, make up for my love" (AD,36).

St. Madeleine Sophie Barat:

"Ah! If we had faith! If we were penetrated by the thought that at this moment Our Lord is on the altar! We would be motionless, we would forget that we have bodies
. . . . We have so much to ask for the Church, for sinners, for the Society, for our families, for the children entrusted to us, for ourselves."
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St. Charles Lwanga & Companions

St. Charles Lwanga was born in 1865 at Bulimu, Buganda, Uganda. He was a servant of King Mwanga of Uganda. In 1885 he converted to Catholicism and for that he was burned to death in 1886 at Namugongo, Uganda because they refused to give in to the homosexual demands of King Mwanga. Yet, St. Charles did not scream in pain as he burned to death. He even helped arrange the sticks for the fire and said he was pleased to die for the True Faith. The Gift of Fortitude was very strong in him. St. Charles Lwanga is one of 22 people that we remember for dying for their faith in Uganda. 

Canonization of St. Charles Lwanga:

"The African martyrs add another page to the Church's roll of honor - an occasion both of mourning and of joy. These African martyrs herald the dawn of a new age. If only the mind of man might be directed not toward persecutions and religious conflicts but toward a rebirth of Christianity and civilization! Africa has been washed by the blood of these latest martyrs, and first of this new age (and, God willing, let them be the last, although such a holocaust is precious indeed). Africa is reborn free and independent."

From the homily at the canonization of Saint Charles Lwanga and companions by Pope Paul VI
    

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Friday, June 2, 2006
Fr. Todd Reitmeyer's eulogy

I would just like to ask everyone visiting my blog to continue praying for the soul of Fr. Todd Reitmeyer. As a blogger and a newly ordained priest, it is very sad to hear of his passing. The eulogy for the funeral is online, so if you click on the title of this post you can hear the it.

Image Source: Older Photo, Believed to be in the Public Domain, Not of Fr. Todd's Requiem
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Rosary Novena to Close Tiller's Abortion Mill

I am still continuing the 54-Day Rosary Novena, but I also wanted to let others know of another Rosary Novena going on right now. This is from Catholic Fire's Blog:

May 31st - Visitation of Mary to August 15th - Assumption of Mary

38 days of Petition May 31st to July 7th
39 days of Thanksgiving July 8th to August 15th

1. Daily Pray Seven Sorrows of Mary on Regular Rosary Beads.
Meditate on each mystery, as you pray 10 Hail Mary's on each decade.

First Sorrow: Simeon's Prophesy "Thy own soul shall pierce thy heart." Second: Mary and Joseph fled into Eygpt with Jesus.
Third: Jesus lost in the temple - Mary and Joseph suffered the loss of Jesus.
Fourth: Mary meets Jesus on the way of the Cross.
Fifth: Mary stood beneath the Cross and watched her Son suffer and die.
Sixth Sorrow: Mary cradles Her dead Son in Her arms.
Seventh Sorrow: Mary watched Her dead Son placed in the tomb.
Finish the 7 Sorrows Rosary as normal with the Hail Holy Queen, etc.

2. Daily Consecrate Tiller's Abortion Mill to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Use these or similar words: "I consecrate Tiller's abortion mill to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus."

3. Daily Accept Sufferings during the Novena to Close Tiller's abortion mill. "O Lord, I accept all sufferings during this novena, to close Tiller's abortion mill."

Promise: If during the Novena, Tiller's abortion mill is closed, I will do the best I can to create a memorial to the unborn on the sight, and help establish a procession to Our Lady of Guadalupe every year on the date of its closure.

This novena has already closed one abortion mill in Wichita, KS, but let's not stop there. Please join in to close the internationally famous Tiller's late-term abortion mill -- the place where people from all over the world come to slaughter the innocent -- the place where both women and children are murdered.
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Thursday, June 1, 2006
Why Scripture-Alone (Sola-Scriptura) Is A False Doctrine

Sola-Scriptura (latin for "by Scripture alone") is a false doctrine that claims Scripture is the sole basis of Divine Revelation. It is believed by many Protestants. We, as Catholics, know that Scripture and the unwritten teachings of Jesus Christ as taught through His established Church are on the same level as the means of His Revelation among men. As the book “My Catholic Faith” succinctly summarizes: “Divine Revelation comes down to us by two means: through Holy Scripture, written down under divine inspiration, and through Tradition, handed down orally from Apostolic times.”

Look to 2 Thessalonians 2:15 if you have doubts:
St. Paul writes: "Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours."
Look also to 2 Timothy 3:14-17:
"But continue thou in those things which thou hast learned, and which have been committed to thee: knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And because from thy infancy thou hast known the holy scriptures, which can instruct thee to salvation, by the faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, That the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work."
Many Protestants will quote the above verses in 2 Timothy as if they support sola-scriptura. However, first and foremost, these verses never say that everything which must be believed is contained in the Scriptures. And most importantly, these verses do not refer to the Bible! When St. Paul wrote this, the Bible had not yet been put together. St. Paul was referring to the Old Testament being useful for teaching. This verse can not be used to support sola-scriptura.

Reflection by Father Franz Schmidberger entitled "The Errors of Luther and the Spirit of Today"

1. Sola scriptura (Scripture alone)

A whole string of powerful objections can be brought against this tenet of Luther and the Protestants; above all, Holy Scripture itself can be called to witness.

a) In John 20.30-1, we read: "Many other signs did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book." And a little further on (John 21.25): "But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."

Thus it is clearly stated that Holy Scripture presents only a portion of the world and deeds of Jesus; and it is not at all clear by what criterion the choice was made. It is therefore a wholly unjustified assumption that Holy Scripture alone contains the saving teachings of Christ and that what is left out consists only of unimportant details.

b) Actually the Lord instructed His disciples to go forth and teach. He gave them no commission to write a book. It is therefore the living teaching under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth, which stands at the beginning of the life of the Church. This fact corresponds to an immediately obvious point: God the Creator of nature as well as of grace makes use of men as His tools, whereby a very special meaning comes to the spoken word in its transmission from person to person.

c) Only in later years was Holy Scripture first written down, after the Church had already existed for many years and had developed her life fully in the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice, the administration of the Sacraments and in the proclamation of the wonderful works of God. If Scripture had been the only definitive foundation of the Church, the Church would not have existed for the first few decades at all.

d) Whose authority is it to decide what belongs to Scripture? Or, to put it another way, what does the canon of Holy Writ contain? The criterion for this cannot be in the Bible itself, as the question can be asked only afterwards. There must therefore be a criterion outside Scripture which discerns and separates the authentically inspired writings from the apocryphal: this is the authority of Christ Himself, which carries a protection of faith under the guidance of the Holy Ghost intact through the storms of the ages.

e) Who interprets in doubtful cases and in disputes as they occur? The Holy Ghost Himself, say Luther and the Protestants. This opinion the Catholic can accept, provided he makes the restriction that the Holy Ghost must be expressed in an objective way by human standards, namely through the Magisterium of the Church, and that the guardianship of the treasury of the faith in every case of doubt be removed from all subjective association. The very number of self-contradictory Protestant sects shows clearly that God has entrusted the treasury of faith neither to private persons, nor to any and all rival groups for final decision.

Here as always, the Protestants have nothing positive with which to replace Catholic teaching. They live entirely and exclusively on criticism of our positions, and they claim that we Catholics are in principle no better than they, the Protestants; that they have Scripture as definitive source of faith, while we on our side have added yet another system of dogmas.

The answer to this argument is simple: the Catholic Church is neither a set of dogmas, nor a system of morality, but is above all, in its sacrifice in our midst, the powerfully living and powerfully working Emmanuel (Christ-with-us). The Church does not have a tradition; rather, the Church essentially is Tradition, more precisely, a prolongation of the Word-made-Flesh. Hence it is not the Church which offers sacrifice, it is not the Church which baptizes, and it is not the Church which teaches, but rather, properly and in the last analysis, it is Christ Who offers sacrifice, baptizes and teaches, and uses human priests and the Pope as Supreme Pontiff as His instruments in the mystery of mediating grace.

The Church is therefore the living Christ, established with a living authority, which is capable at any time of redefining truths (but not of inventing them!) to meet contemporary problems, to discern and sort out, to argue, to judge and to reject. "Whoever hears you, hears Me; whoever rejects you, rejects Me and rejects Him, Who sent Me," said the Lord to His apostles.

The Protestant position, in its one-sided emphasis on the Word, is nothing but cold rationalism. It does not want to acknowledge that the Word became Flesh and sacrificed Himself, that the Redemption is the great work of God in history. It pushes the altar aside and puts in its place the pulpit; the sermon and hymns stand in the center of things, no longer the tenting of God among men. So much the more painful must the reminders of the Reformation within the Church strike the Catholic of our day in light of the above: the rejection of Tradition, the pushing aside of mystery and the march to cold rationalism. As Stuttgart went over to Protestantism in the sixteenth century, the priests celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the last time on a prearranged day in the court chapel. Afterwards the prior took the Blessed Sacrament from the tabernacle; the eternal flame was put out; the building has remained standing to the present day; but He, Emmanuel, is gone.
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Updates on South Dakota Abortion Ban

November 7, 2006: South Dakota Residents did not approve the law by a roughly 45-55%. It is a sad day. But the pro-life movement will move on!!

There have been some updates in recent days concerning the ban on virtually all abortions in South Dakota.

  1. Sioux Tribe President Cecilia Fire Thunder previouly said that she would allow an abortion clinic on her Indian nation because it would be outside of the law. Well, it's not going to happen. The Oglala Sioux tribal council has voted, in an unanimous vote, to ban all abortion businesses on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The council has also suspended its president, Cecilia Fire Thunder, for accepting donations for the proposed abortion business without council approval. This is good news for the fight to end the murder of the unborn.
  2. Now the bad news...South Dakota pro-abortion groups have submitted enough signatures to put a motion on the ballot to allow abortions and thereby reverse the ban signed into law by Governor Rounds on March 6, 2006. They supposedly have 30,000 signatures but it will take weeks to verify them all. They need 16,728 signatures to put the motion on the ballot.

Please pray that the ban will be upheld by the voters in Novemeber. We desperately need your prayers.

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