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October 26, 2009                                     Monday of the Thirtieth Week                                       in Ordinary Time Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Rom 8:12-17 Brothers and sisters,we are not debtors to the flesh,to live according to the flesh.For if you live according to the flesh, you will die,but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,but you received a spirit of adoption,through which...

For the servant (slave) of Christ (His soldier); all that he/she possesses is at the total disposal of Almighty God, to be used for His honor and glory here in time (Romans 12:1-5). Be not offended in what God wills, allows or uses in your life to further the Gospel message to a lost and dying world (Matt 11:6, Rom 8:28). Endure hardness as a good soldier (2 Tim 2:3-4). Some times the very thing in which we are seeking to preserve or save is to be on the chopping block and removed. Fret not my beloved, Almighty God is...

THE Anglican Archbishop of Perth has cautioned disgruntled Anglicans not to join the Catholic Church in anger and haste. Rogert Herft said the Vatican's offer to receive Anglicans would provide a "helpful way for those who wished to join the Roman Catholic Church to do so on similar terms to many Roman Catholics".

One caution: Many of the details remain up in the air This week's big Vatican story is obviously the decision to create special structures, called "personal ordinariates", to welcome Anglicans seeking to join the Catholic church. In some reports, the move was touted as a bold gambit to end the schism that began with the English Reformation in the 16th century -- a dubious bit of spin, given that the actual number of Anglicans likely to sign up for one of these ordinariates will almost certainly be quite small.When the dust settles, the centuries-long breach between Rome and Canterbury will...

Submitting to God’s Purpose "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" —1 Corinthians 9:22 A Christian worker has to learn how to be God’s man or woman of great worth and excellence in the midst of a multitude of meager and worthless things. Never protest by saying, "If only I were somewhere else!" All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them. Unless we have the right purpose intellectually in our minds and lovingly in our hearts, we will very...

October 25, 2009                                         Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Jer 31:7-9 Thus says the LORD:Shout with joy for Jacob,exult at the head of the nations;proclaim your praise and say:The LORD has delivered his people,the remnant of Israel.Behold, I will bring them backfrom the land of the north;I will gather them from the ends of the world,with the blind and the lame in their midst,the mothers and those with child;they shall return as an immense throng.They departed in tears,but I will console them and guide them;I will...

WASHINGTON – Bishop Donald W. Trautman of Erie, Pa., former chairman of the U.S. bishops’ liturgy committee, sharply criticized what he called the “slavishly literal” translation into English of the new Roman Missal from the original Latin. He said the “sacred language” used by translators “tends to be elitist and remote from everyday speech and frequently not understandable” and could lead to a “pastoral disaster.” “The vast majority of God’s people in the assembly are not familiar with words of the new missal like ‘ineffable,’ ‘consubstantial,’ ‘incarnate,’ ‘inviolate,’ ‘oblation,’ ‘ignominy,’ ‘precursor,’ ‘suffused’ and ‘unvanquished.’ The vocabulary is not readily understandable...

Monday and Thrsday morning, 10/26 and 29Kohen--Genesis 12:1-3Levi--vs. 4-9Yisra'el--vs. 10-13 Strday 10/31--Shabbat Parashat Lekh-LekhaMORNING Kohen--Genesis 12:1-13Levi--12:14-13:4Shelishi--13:5-18Revi`i--14:1-20Chamishi--14:21-15:6Shishi--15:7-17:6Shevi`i--17:7-27Maftir--17:24-27Haftarah--Isaiah 40:27-41:16 EVENING Kohen--Genesis 18:1-5Levi--vs. 6-8Yisra'el--vs. 9-14

"Why do we have to go to Mass?" is one of the most frequently asked questions that students address to their religion teachers, and recently I received an email from a former student asking for an article that he could share with his friends that answers that very question. There is obviously a scriptural basis for going to Mass, but there is also a basis in human reason. The human person is the subject of a host of duties. It is the virtue of justice that dictates how he ought to respond to those duties. Firstly, he has a duty...

There aren’t many churches in Christendom where the person sitting next to you is likely a star of stage, screen or television. St. Malachy’s Church, located on 49th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, founded in 1902, is a little jewel box of a church and an essential and important aspect of New York City’s theatrical community.Because of its location in the midst of the Theatre District — and the number of actors who have graced its precincts — it has come to be known as the Actors’ Chapel. Prior to 1920, St. Malachy’s was a working-class Irish-Italian parish....

The Proper Perspective "Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ . . ." —2 Corinthians 2:14 The proper perspective of a servant of God must not simply be as near to the highest as he can get, but it must be the highest. Be careful that you vigorously maintain God’s perspective, and remember that it must be done every day, little by little. Don’t think on a finite level. No outside power can touch the proper perspective.The proper perspective to maintain is that we are here for only one purpose— to be captives marching...

October 24, 2009                                 Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week                                 in Ordinary Time Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Rom 8:1-11 Brothers and sisters:Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesushas freed you from the law of sin and death. For what the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do,this God has done:by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful fleshand for the sake of sin, he condemned sin in...

Daily Telegraph religion journalist Damien Thompson is sometimes a bit gossipy for my liking, but in this article he does an inside analysis on some of the other major things happening in and behind this week's stunning announcement of Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans.For ten years I was an Anglican priest, and for ten years I was a Catholic layman in England. I worked for the St Barnabas Society--a charity that quietly assists convert clergy as they convert to the Catholic Church. At the same time I was on a long road to ordination myself. I therefore got to meet and...

Guest blogger Mantilla Amontillado, Ecclesiastical fashionista comments on the Anglican Ordinariate.Let me tell you something hon, I went to England one summer for to study the English you know? I was maybe seventeen and I go to this English Language School in Kent. It was really nice, and on Sunday I go into town to go to Mass with my friend Anna. So we find this nice old church and go to Mass and it is beautiful. The priest is very nice. He's wearing an old lace alb and fiddleback chasuble, maniple, the works. The deacon has on this beautiful...

Visits from God Today's Scripture "…And God has visited His people [in order to help and care for and provide for them]!" (Luke 7:16, AMP) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Every person has times of visitation from the Lord. These are the times when God distinctly intervenes in our lives to bring us help, direction, care, and provision. He's ordained special times to pour out His love, favor, and blessing. It may be through a person we meet, an unexpected promotion, or supernatural favor so that in a split second we are thrust years ahead. These marked moments...

Nothing of the Old Life! "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" —2 Corinthians 5:17 Our Lord never tolerates our prejudices— He is directly opposed to them and puts them to death. We tend to think that God has some special interest in our particular prejudices, and are very sure that He will never deal with us as He has to deal with others. We even say to ourselves, "God has to deal with other people in a very strict way, but of course He...

October 23, 2009                                     Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week                                         in Ordinary Time   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Rom 7:18-25a Brothers and sisters:I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh.The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not.For I do not do the good I want,but I do the evil I do not want.Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it,but sin that dwells in...

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Parishioners at Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio, the largest Anglican-use Catholic parish in the U.S., have plenty to talk about these days. "Everyone is excited, but they have lots of questions," said the pastor, Father Christopher Phillips, about the Vatican's Oct. 20 announcement of a special structure for Anglicans who want to be in full communion with the Catholic Church. Father Phillips -- once an Episcopal priest and now a Catholic priest who founded Our Lady of the Atonement 26 years ago -- doesn't have detailed answers yet for the parish's 500 families. He...

Santiago, Chile, Oct 22, 2009 / 01:03 pm (CNA).- In an interview with the Chilean daily, “El Mercurio,” the Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, Bernard Fellay, acknowledged that the Vatican is considering the possibility of converting the Lefebvrist group into a personal prelature as part of the discussions aimed at bringing about reconciliation. Fellay, who visited members of the SSPX movement in Chile, is one of four bishops whose excommunication was lifted by Pope Benedict XVI last January. Asked about the speculation that the Society of Pius X could be made into a personal prelature similar...

The welcoming of Anglican clergy into the Catholic Church highlights the differences, and difficulties, of approach Attack is the best form of defence. On the eve of another damning report on clerical abuse and cover-up in Ireland, that seems to be Pope Benedict’s tactic. His sudden invitation to Anglican defectors will certainly take the spotlight off a continuing child abuse scandal fed, for decades, by the masculine and intimidating structures of authority in the Catholic hierarchy. Words like “poaching” may seem harsh, but there is more than a whiff of power politics in this move. A “rush to Rome” would...

Marked Moments Today's Scripture "…time and chance happen to them all" (Ecclesiastes 9:11, AMP) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria God created every one of us to be successful. Before the foundation of the world, He laid out an exact plan for our lives. In this plan, He has marked moments that are going to come across your path. These moments are not ordinary. They are destiny-altering moments. They are designed to thrust you years ahead. Today's verse says that time and chance comes together for every person. That means you'll have opportunities to meet the right people, opportunities...

The Witness of the Spirit "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit . . ." —Romans 8:16 We are in danger of getting into a bargaining spirit with God when we come to Him— we want the witness of the Spirit before we have done what God tells us to do.Why doesn’t God reveal Himself to you? He cannot. It is not that He will not, but He cannot, because you are in the way as long as you won’t abandon yourself to Him in total surrender. Yet once you do, immediately God witnesses to Himself— He cannot...

October 22, 2009                             Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week                             in Ordinary Time   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Rom 6:19-23 Brothers and sisters:I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your nature.For just as you presented the parts of your bodies as slaves to impurityand to lawlessness for lawlessness,so now present them as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness.But what profit did you get thenfrom the things of which you are now ashamed? For the...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The relative ease with which groups of Anglicans can be welcomed into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church owes much to the unique history of the Anglican Communion. Even before the formal Anglican-Roman Catholic theological dialogue began working on ways to restore unity, the Second Vatican Council singled out the Anglicans when talking about the Christian communities born in the 16th century. "Among those in which Catholic traditions and institutions in part continue to exist, the Anglican Communion occupies a special place," the council said in its Decree on Ecumenism. Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect...

As I caught up on the day-after coverage of the pope’s welcome mat/hostile takeover (take your pick) of the Anglican Communion, what remained in my brain were the U.S.-based elements Laurie Goodstein had in the NYT story (with Rachel Donadio): Bishop Martyn Minns, a leader of that group [the new breakaway Anglican Church in North America], welcomed the pope’s decision. “It demonstrates his conviction that the divisions in the Anglican Communion are very serious and these are not things that are going to get papered over,” he said.However, both Bishop Minns and Archbishop Robert Duncan, primate of the Anglican Church...

An armed robber in America turned to God mid-robbery in what investigators are calling the strangest case they have ever seen.Gregory Smith, 23, walked into a store in an Indianapolis shopping centre brandishing a gun. But instead of raiding the place, he started hugging his tearful victim, Angela Montez, telling her he hated what he was doing but had no choice. The pair began discussing God and before long Smith was on his knees in tears, praying and being hugged by her.

Out of the Pit Today's Scripture "He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on the solid ground and steadied me as I walked along" (Psalm 40:2, NLT) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Do you feel like you are in a pit today? That pit can be frustration or disappointment or a feeling of discouragement, despair, or hopelessness. And maybe you can’t see a way out, but you’ve got to know that God is still with you, and He will make a way where there seems to...

Impulsiveness or Discipleship? "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith . . ." —Jude 20 There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the lines of our own nature, not along the lines of God’s nature. Impulsiveness is a trait of the natural life, and our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God gives a sense of...

October 21, 2009                                 Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week                                 in Ordinary Time   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Rom 6:12-18 Brothers and sisters:Sin must not reign over your mortal bodiesso that you obey their desires.And do not present the parts of your bodies to sinas weapons for wickedness,but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to lifeand the parts of your bodies to Godas weapons for righteousness. For sin is not to have any power over you,since you are not under the law but...

(Oct. 20) -- The number of married Catholic priests could grow sharply as the result of the Vatican's epochal decision to welcome thousands of disaffected Anglicans and Episcopalians into the Catholic Church. At press conferences in Rome and London on Tuesday, Vatican officials announced that the Church would set up a special canonical structure that will ease the conversion of members of the Anglican Communion without them having to give up what the Vatican called "the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony." That means not only a body of prayers and hymns, but also a tradition of married priests and...

God keeps us in the environment which is the most fertile and productive for our spiritual growth. Either we will take advantage of the learning process or we will not. It is our choice. May our desire be to learn, grow, endure, have faith in Almighty, be thankful and rejoice for His great love and out working in our lives through the Holy Spirit. To God be the glory!

What is your first response when you hear someone refer to the mother of Jesus Christ as the “Co-redemptrix�? Extreme? Excessive pietism, even if well-intended? Heresy? Only Jesus is the Redeemer. If not directly heresy, then extremely dangerous? At least anti-ecumenical? At best confusing?Witness of the Saints Now let’s look at some people who have in fact called the Virgin Mary the Co-redemptrix: John Paul II (on six different occasions); Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta; St. Padre Pio, stigmatic wonder worker of the 20th century; Sr. Lucia, the Fatima visionary; St. Francis Cabrini, the first American citizen to be canonized;...

Begin Again Today's Scripture "He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!…" (Revelation 21:5, NIV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Can you remember the time when you first discovered a big dream in your heart? Maybe you were determined to excel in your career, or excel as a parent; or even excel in your walk with the Lord. You probably started out strong, but maybe things got a little difficult and didn't happen as quickly as you would have liked. At that point many people decide, "Let's just settle here. It's not exactly...

Is God’s Will My Will? "This is the will of God, your sanctification . . ." —1 Thessalonians 4:3 Sanctification is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify me— is it my will? Am I willing to let God do in me everything that has been made possible through the atonement of the Cross of Christ? Am I willing to let Jesus become sanctification to me, and to let His life be exhibited in my human flesh? (see 1 Corinthians 1:30). Beware of saying, "Oh, I am longing to be sanctified." No, you are not. Recognize...

Having a loved one laid to rest to the blaring strains of Simply The Best might seem a fitting tribute to assembled mourners. But whenever the Tina Turner hit - or any other pop song now popular at funerals - booms out, it leaves one vicar feeling 'like a lemon'. Father Ed Tomlinson, 35, said he wonders what a clergyman's role is at such services as he feels 'spiritually unwanted'. Writing on his internet blog, the vicar from Kent lamented the decline of Christian farewells centred on a 'beautiful requiem mass'. He said: 'The best our secularist friends can hope...

Archbishop Raymond Burke, prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, has offered the first solemn High Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite in St. Peter’s Basilica since the promulgation of the ordinary form four decades ago. The Pontifical Mass took place in the Chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament. Ordained to the priesthood in 1975, the 61-year-old prelate was ordained Bishop of La Crosse (Wisconsin) in 1995 and installed as Archbishop of St. Louis in 2004. Pope Benedict appointed him to his present position in June 2008.

A record number of people - 1.5 million visitors - came to the Western Wall during the Hebrew month of Tishrei, according to figures from the Western Wall Heritage Foundation and the Israel Police. The rabbi of the Kotel (Western Wall), Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitz, commented that "these figures are evidence that the Western Wall is the spiritual home for Jews from all around the world, regardless of their background."

October 20, 2009                             Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week                                 in Ordinary Time       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Rom 5:12, 15b, 17-19, 20b-21 Brothers and sisters:Through one man sin entered the world,and through sin, death,and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned. If by that one person’s transgression the many died,how much more did the grace of Godand the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christoverflow for the many.For if, by the transgression of the one,death came to reign through that...

He Will Multiply You Today's Scripture "And I will make My covenant (solemn pledge) between Me and you and will multiply you exceedingly" (Genesis 17:2, AMP) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria God is in the multiplication business. It doesn't matter what your need is today, God wants to increase you. One time in the Old Testament, God simply multiplied the sound of four men's footsteps and caused them to sound like a mighty army. When their enemies heard them coming, they took off running. Thousands of people, thousands of troops running for their lives, scared to death, thinking...

The Unheeded Secret "Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world" —John 18:36 The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation . . . . For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you" ( Luke 17:20-21 ). It is a hidden,...

Verses about salvation: Ezekiel 18 23"(A)Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked," declares the Lord GOD, "rather than that he should (B)turn from his ways and live? Ezekiel 18 31"(A)Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a (B)new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel?  32"For I have (A)no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the Lord GOD. "Therefore, repent and live."  30"Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct," declares the Lord GOD. "(A)Repent...

Traditional Holy Mass Propers † Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost † † Feast of Blessed Apostle and Evangelist Saint Luke, Martyr † Missa Mihi autem nimis honoráti sunt amici tui, Deus ( "....To me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honorable...." ) 18 October 2009 Anno Dómini "....Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not...." "Nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so thrilling, so overcoming, as the Mass, said as it is among us.I could attend Mass forever, and not be tired.It is not a mere form of words; it is a great action.The greatest action that can...

October 19, 2009                                 Memorial of Saint John de Brébeuf                                 and Saint Isaac Jogues,                                 priests and martyrs,                             and their companions, martyrs       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Rom 4:20-25 Brothers and sisters:Abraham did not doubt God’s promise in unbelief;rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to Godand was fully convinced that what God had promisedhe was also able to do.That is why it was credited to him...

... the High Mass according to the old rite will be celebrated tomorrow in St. Peter's Basilica. The celebrant, reports Robert Moynihan of Inside the Vatican, will be Archbishop Raymond Burke: When I returned home, I found an email from Alberto waiting for me. Here it is: "Normally conferences and symposiums are relevant for the message their organisers intend to convey to the public through the speeches and lectures of their speakers, but in the case of the 2nd Conference on the Motu prorio Summorum Pontificum (16-18 October 2009), entitled The Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum by Benedict XVI: A Great Gift...

Preaching and short cut of the hymn, There Is A Fountain.

The Key to the Missionary’s Devotion ". . . they went forth for His name’s sake . . ." —3 John 7 Our Lord told us how our love for Him is to exhibit itself when He asked, "Do you love Me?" ( John 21:17 ). And then He said, "Feed My sheep." In effect, He said, "Identify yourself with My interests in other people," not, "Identify Me with your interests in other people." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 shows us the characteristics of this love— it is actually the love of God expressing itself. The true test of my love...

Readings: Deuteronomy 32:15-18 Sacrificing to demons Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior. They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to demons, which are not God--gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear. You deserted the Rock, who bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth. Mark 5:1-20 Jesus heals a demon-possessed man They went across the lake to the region of...

October 18, 2009                             Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time     Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Is 53:10-11 The LORD was pleasedto crush him in infirmity. If he gives his life as an offering for sin,he shall see his descendants in a long life,and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.Because of his afflictionhe shall see the light in fullnessof days;through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,and their guilt he shall bear. Responsorial PsalmPs 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22 R. (22)Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust...

A short instructional film on how to worship appropriately http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K4fveLQZZQ

By his own estimation, the Rev. Mark Batterson has preached about 1,000 sermons in his makeshift sanctuary at Union Station's Phoenix Theatres, where his congregation has met for the past 13 years. Last week's was one of the most difficult: In his remarks he told his congregation it would be the final service at their unconventional church. The train station's movie theater closed abruptly last week. Mr. Batterson said that for the past two years he had been hearing rumors the theater would close, but he had been assured they were not true. So it came as a shock when...