2016
#VIRAL #SuperBowl #Commercial is Really #ProLife! SHARE #Babies of the Super Bowl are so Cute!
Wow this Super Cute Video shows many of the Babies Born because of the SuperBowl. They sing together in this Amazing Ad. It has gone Viral in a few days with Millions of Views - but do they realize the Great Pro-Life Message it gives? SHARE
National #Marriage Week Free Resources from Catholic #Bishops to SHARE
National Marriage Week 2016 is February 7-14.
"The upcoming observances of National Marriage Week (Feb. 7-14) and World Marriage Sunday/Valentine's Day (Sunday, Feb. 14) provide an opportunity to celebrate the gift and blessing of marriage and to affirm and support engaged and married couples." - Bishop Richard Malone
The Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth offers the following resources to bishops, priests, deacons, married couples, and lay men and women to help celebrate and live the great gift of married life.- Letter from Bishop Richard Malone (Buffalo), chairman of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth to all bishops, sharing with them the various resources available for National Marriage Week.
- Preaching Resource for World Marriage Sunday (February 14): reflections on the Scriptures of the day to assist bishops, priests, and deacons in preaching about marriage.
- Bulletin insert about the social benefits of marriage: one-page front and back, available in color or in black and white.
- Seven-day virtual marriage retreat, three options: #1) New this year!"Marriage and Mercy" retreat, themed to fit with the year-long Jubilee of Mercy; #2) "A marriage retreat with Pope Francis" based on his advice about marriage and family life; and #3) based on the USCCB pastoral letterMarriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan. If you are on Facebook, you can join the virtual marriage retreat event by visiting the For Your Marriage Facebook page and clicking on More --> Events *coming soon*.
Resources
Helpful USCCB Links
- National Pastoral Initiative for Marriage
- Marriage Unique for a Reason
- For Your Marriage
- Evangelization and Catechesis
- Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth
- USCCB Action Center
Selection of Statements and Initiatives of Local Catholic Bishops and State Catholic Conferences
- Massachusetts Catholic Conference
COLF's Marriage Matters,. . . a question and answer leaflet by The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF), working with the Canadian Catholic Bishops
Videos/Text from USCCB#PopeFrancis "Mercy makes life bloom.” #ProLife message at #Angelus FULL TEXT - Video
Before the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters, Good morning!
The Gospel of this Sunday from St. Luke speaks of the call of Jesus’ first disciples (Lk 5:1-11). The event takes place in a context of everyday life: there are some fishermen on the shore of Lake Galilee, who, after working the night before without catching anything, are washing and putting their nets in order. Jesus went up into the boat of one of them, that of Simon called Peter, and asks him to put out a short distance from the shore and he begins to preach the Word of God to the crowds that had gathered. When he finished speaking, he said to Peter to put out into deep water and lower the nets for a catch. Simon had already known Jesus and experienced the miraculous power of His word, and therefore, replied: “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.”(v. 5). And this faith is not disappointed: in fact, they had caught such a great number of fish that their nets were tearing (cf. v. 6).
In the face of this extraordinary event, the fishermen are overcome with amazement. Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ feet, and said: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” It was a miraculous sign that convinced him that Jesus is not only a terrific teacher, Whose word is true and powerful, but that He is the Lord, the manifestation of God. And this close presence arouses in Peter’s a strong sense of his own pettiness and unworthiness. From a human point of view, one could think there should be distance between the sinner and the saint. In truth, his own sinful condition requires the Lord to not distance himself from him, the same way a doctor cannot create distance from he who is sick.
Jesus’ response to Simon Peter is reassuring and decisive: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” (v. 10). And again, the fisherman from Galilee, placing his trust in this word, leaves everything and follows Him, Who has become his Master and Lord. And James and John, companions of Simon Peter, did too. This is the logic that drives the mission of Jesus and the mission of the Church: to seek out, “fish” for men and women, to return the full dignity and freedom to all, through the forgiveness of sins. This is the essence of Christianity: to spread the regenerating and gratuitous love of God, with the attitude of acceptance and mercy to everyone, because everyone can meet the tenderness of God and have fullness of life. And here, in a particular way, I think of confessors. They are the first that are to give the mercy of God, following the example of Jesus, like how our two brother saints, Father Leopold [Mandic] and Father Pio, did.
Today’s Gospel challenges us: Do we really trust the Word of the Lord? Or do we let ourselves be discouraged by our failures? In this Holy Year of Mercy, we are called to comfort those who feel they are sinners and unworthy and downhearted for their mistakes, telling them the same words of Jesus: “Fear not.” The mercy of the father is greater than your sins. Don’t fear. It’s greater. Let’s pray that the the Virgin Mary helps us to understand more and more that being a disciple means to put our feet on the footprints left by the Master: they are the footprints of divine grace that regenerates life for all.
[Original text: Italian] [Translation by Deborah Castellano Lubov]
After the Angelus:
I follow with deep concern the dramatic fate of civilian populations involved in heavy fighting in Syria and forced to leave everything behind to escape the horrors of war. I hope that, with generous solidarity, they are lent the necessary help to ensure their survival and dignity, and I appeal to the international community to not save any effort to urgently bring to the negotiating table, the parties. Only a political solution of the conflict will be able to guarantee a future of reconciliation and peace in that beloved and martyred country, for which I invite you to pray a lot. And also now, let’s pray together to Blessed Mary, for beloved Syria […Hail Mary …]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today, in Italy, we celebrate the Day for Life, on the theme: “Mercy makes life bloom.” I join the Italian bishops in wishing, on the part of various educational and social institutions, for a renewed commitment in favor of human life from conception to its natural end. Our society must be helped to heal from all attacks on life, daring an inner change, which is shown by the works of mercy. I greet and encourage university teachers in Rome and those who are committed to witness the culture of life.
Tomorrow, we celebrate the Day of Prayer and Reflection Against Trafficking of Persons, which offers everyone the opportunity to help the new slaves today to break the heavy chains of exploitation, to regain their freedom and dignity. I think in particular of so many women and men, and so many children! We must make every effort to vanquish this crime, and this unbearable shame.
And tomorrow, in the Far East and in various parts of the world, millions of men and women celebrate the Lunar New Year. I wish everyone to experience serenity and peace within their families, which are the first place where you live and transmit the values of love and brotherhood, coexistence and sharing, attention and care of others . May the New Year bring fruits of compassion, mercy and solidarity. And these brothers and sisters in the Far East, tomorrow they celebrate the Lunar New Year, let’s greet them with an applause from here!
I greet all the pilgrims, parish groups and associations from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ecuador, Slovakia and other countries. Too many to list them all! I cite only the candidates of the Dioceses of Treviso, Padua, Cuneo, Lodi, Como and Crotone. And I salute the priests of the Mexican College of Rome, here with other Mexicans: thank you for your commitment to accompany with prayer the Apostolic Trip to Mexico that I will make in a few days. And also the encounter that I’ll have in Havana with my dear brother [Patriarch] Kirill [of Moscow].
I wish you all a good Sunday. Please do not forget to pray for me. Good lunch and goodbye!
[Original Text: Italian] [Zenit Translation by Deborah Castellano Lubov]Wow Archbishop makes #SuperBowl #Football Players Holy - Celebrates Mass for #Broncos
The night before, Regis Jesuit High School president the Rev. Philip Steele, who serves as a Broncos chaplain, said Mass for about 15 Broncos players, coaches and family members.
"It's a great gift — something I never expected," Aquila said of the Broncos, speaking by phone from California, where he was traveling. "It's a gift to be with them spiritually. We pray for protection, good sportsmanship, for their gifts to exceed. We place it all in the hands of the Lord."
The Del Rios have been a part of Colorado's Catholic community since Jack was hired by the Broncos in January 2012, before Aquila was installed that July.
In October, Linda Del Rio visited the Vatican, where she met Pope Francis and gave him a signed Broncos football. Aquila said he came to know the Del Rios through Bishop Robert Baker of Birmingham, Ala., who had worked with Aquila in Rome. Jack Del Rio explanation of the influence of his faith on his work and life.
"When things are going well, I don't know that the challenges are as difficult as when they're not going well, and you're really leaning on your faith," he said. "I think, certainly, faith is involved in both. My trust in God is involved in both, my faith is involved in both, but through some of the harder times in my career, I've leaned harder — more fervently — on my faith."
He said his faith helps him keep perspective, even when coaching on one of sport's most high-profile stages: the Super Bowl.
"(Faith is) certainly something I don't take for granted," Del Rio said. "I'm very appreciative of a great man like the archbishop in the church, and glad that he's going to be out here with us."
Aquila said his homily to the team Saturday will be guided by the Holy Spirit — and added, for good measure, that he will be cheering for a Broncos win, too. (Text Edited from DenverPost - Image Google)
Sunday Mass Online : Sun. February 7, 2016 - 5th in Ordinary Time - C
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 75
Reading 1IS 6:1-2A, 3-8
In the year King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,
with the train of his garment filling the temple.
Seraphim were stationed above.
They cried one to the other,
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!
All the earth is filled with his glory!”
At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook
and the house was filled with smoke.
Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
He touched my mouth with it, and said,
“See, now that this has touched your lips,
your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
“Here I am,” I said; “send me!”
I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,
with the train of his garment filling the temple.
Seraphim were stationed above.
They cried one to the other,
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!
All the earth is filled with his glory!”
At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook
and the house was filled with smoke.
Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
He touched my mouth with it, and said,
“See, now that this has touched your lips,
your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
“Here I am,” I said; “send me!”
Responsorial PsalmPS 138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8
R. (1c) In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth;
and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD:
“Great is the glory of the LORD.”
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
of the gospel I preached to you,
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, Christ appeared to more
than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally,
he appeared to me.
For I am the least of the apostles,
not fit to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;
not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed.
I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more
than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one abnormally born,
he appeared to me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed.
Come after me
and I will make you fishers of men.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth;
and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD:
“Great is the glory of the LORD.”
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Reading 21 COR 15:1-11
I am reminding you, brothers and sisters,of the gospel I preached to you,
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, Christ appeared to more
than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally,
he appeared to me.
For I am the least of the apostles,
not fit to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;
not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed.
Or1 COR 15:3-8, 11
Brothers and sisters,I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more
than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one abnormally born,
he appeared to me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed.
AlleluiaMT 4:19
R. Alleluia, alleluia.Come after me
and I will make you fishers of men.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelLK 5:1-11
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening
to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said in reply,
“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets.”
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish
and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat
to come to help them.
They came and filled both boats
so that the boats were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him
and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners of Simon.
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men.”
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.
to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said in reply,
“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets.”
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish
and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat
to come to help them.
They came and filled both boats
so that the boats were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him
and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners of Simon.
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men.”
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.
Saint February 7 : St. Colette of Corbie : Foundress of #Colettine #PoorClares
 |
13 January 1381, at Corbie in Picardy, France
Died:
6 March 1447, Ghent
Canonized:
24 May 1807
(Diminutive of NICOLETTA, COLETTA). Founder of Colettine Poor Clares (Clarisses), born 13 January 1381, at Corbie in Picardy, France; died at Ghent, 6 March, 1447. Her father, Robert Boellet, was the carpenter of the famous Benedictine Abbey of Corbie; her mother's name was Marguerite Moyon. Colette joined successively the Bequines, the Benedictines, and the Urbanist Poor Clares. Later she lived for a while as a recluse. Having resolved to reform the Poor Clares, she turned to the antipope, Benedict XIII (Pedro de Luna), then recognized by France as the rightful pope. Benedict allowed her to enter to the order of Poor Clares and empowered her by several Bulls, dated 1406, 1407, 1408, and 1412 to found new convents and complete the reform of the order. With the approval of the Countess of Geneva and the Franciscan Henri de la Beaume, her confessor and spiritual guide, Colette began her work at Beaume, in the Diocese of Geneva. She remained there but a short time and soon opened at Besançon her first convent in an almost abandoned house of Urbanist Poor Clares. Thence her reform spread to Auxonne (1410), to Poligny, to Ghent (1412), to Heidelberg (1444), to Amiens, etc. To the seventeen convents founded during her lifetime must be added another begun by her at Pont-à-Mousson in Lorraine. She also inaugurated a reform among the Franciscan friars (the Coletani), not to be confounded with the Observants. These Coletani remained obedient to the authority of the provincial of the Franciscan convents, and never attained much importance even in France. In 1448 they had only thirteen convents, and together with other small branches of the Franciscan Order were suppressed in 1517 by Leo X. In addition to the strict rules of the Poor Clares, the Colettines follow their special constitutions sanctioned in 1434 by the General of the Franciscans, William of Casale, approved in 1448 by Nicholas V, in 1458 by Pius II, and in 1482 by Sixtus IV.
St. Colette was beatified 23 January, 1740, and canonized 24 May, 1807. She was not only a woman of sincere piety, but also intelligent and energetic, and exercised a remarkable moral power over all her associates. She was very austere and mortified in her life, for which God rewarded her by supernatural favours and the gift of miracles. For the convents reformed by her she prescribed extreme poverty, to go barefooted, and the observance of perpetual fast and abstinence. The Colettine Sisters are found today, outside of France, in Belgium, Germany, Spain, England, and the United States. (Text from the Catholic Encyclopedia)
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
