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January 7, 2015Wednesday after Epiphany    Reading 1 1 Jn 4:11-18 Beloved, if God so loved us,we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,and his love is brought to perfection in us. This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,that he has given us of his Spirit. Moreover, we have seen and testifythat the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,God remains in him and he in God....

READINGS EPISTLE  Titus 2:11-3:7 - Transformation of Life Brothers and Sisters: The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds. Declare these things; exhort and...

January 6, 2015Tuesday after Epiphany    Reading 1 1 Jn 4:7-10 Beloved, let us love one another,because love is of God;everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.In this way the love of God was revealed to us:God sent his only-begotten Son into the worldso that we might have life through him.In this is love:not that we have loved God, but that he loved usand sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Responsorial Psalm PS 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8 R. (see 11) Lord, every nation on...

Tradition has it that the church at Antioch was founded by St. Peter himself, who served as its bishop for seven years before moving on to found the church at Rome. (Robert Spencer writes that “Gregory III Laham, the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, has joked that if the Apostle Peter had just stayed put, he himself would be the earthly head of the Catholic Church today.”) Only decades later, during the reign of Trajan (98-117), another bishop of Antioch would also make the journey to Rome. This was St. Ignatius, who had succeeded St. Evodius as Antioch’s third...

Francis met Syriac Christians during his recent visit to Turkey (CNS) Turkish government gives go-ahead to Syriac church in IstanbulTurkey’s government has given the go ahead for the building of the first new church in the country for nearly a century.The Syriac Orthodox church will be built in Yeşilköy on the outskirts of Istanbul, in an area which already has Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Catholic churches.The announcement was made last Friday, after Turkey’s prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu met Turkey’s religious leaders.He told Turkish media: “It is the first [new church] since the creation of the republic [in 1923]. Churches...

So you’ve vowed to up your intake of kale and have signed up for yoga to kick off the New Year. But has your spiritual life been part of your New Year’s resolutions? Here are a few ideas of small, practical steps you can take to get spiritually stronger in 2015.1. Daily Mass. If you don’t go at all, try going one day a week. If you go one day a week, try two. If you go every day….well, good job.“The best way to economize time is to ‘lose’ half an hour each day attending Holy Mass.” - Frederic Ozanam 2....

January 5, 2015Memorial of St. John Neumann    Reading 1 1 Jn 3:22–4:6 Beloved:We receive from him whatever we ask,because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.And his commandment is this:we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,and love one another just as he commanded us.Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them,and the way we know that he remains in usis from the Spirit whom he gave us. Beloved, do not trust every spiritbut test the spirits to see whether they belong to God,because many false prophets have gone...

And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law… … And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of...

READINGS Hebrews 7:11-19 - Melchizedek, a Type of Christ Brothers and Sisters: Now if perfection had been attainable through the levitical priesthood — for the people received the law under this priesthood — what further need would there have been to speak of another priest arising according to the order of Melchizedek, rather than one according to the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. Now the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served...

Joan of Arc cut her hair short and wore men’s clothes. She particularly fancied beautiful armor and fine horses, which she rode astride, and was admired for her prowess with the lance. She led troops into battle, remaining in armor for six days running if necessary, and never faltered in her objective even after the enemy captured her. They tried her and executed her, not for war crimes, but for being a witch. We might expect to see her commemorated on a postage stamp or a silver dollar along with other intrepid females who fought for women’s rights or otherwise...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IWvxzsKIww&index=2&list=PLCIlBJSHXyrrhBeYGilqH9S5DgotIqAR8

Tabernacle: All Holy Sacrament of the Altar as theCenter Point of the Sanctuary (New York) The Bishop of Springfield in Illinois, Msgr. Thomas John Paprocki Joseph, gave instructions to return the tabernacle with the Blessed Sacrament back into the center of the sanctuary in the churches of his diocese.  Bishop Paprocki, who was appointed in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI., wrote the pastoral letter Ars et celebrandi adorandi to his diocese. In it he points to the rich tradition and teaching of the Church for celebration and adoration of the Holy Eucharist. The bishop also outlines the historical development over the past...

January 4, 2015The Epiphany of the Lord    Reading 1 Is 60:1-6 Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,the glory of the Lord shines upon you.See, darkness covers the earth,and thick clouds cover the peoples;but upon you the LORD shines,and over you appears his glory.Nations shall walk by your light,and kings by your shining radiance.Raise your eyes and look about;they all gather and come to you:your sons come from afar,and your daughters in the arms of their nurses. Then you shall be radiant at what you see,your heart shall throb and overflow,for the riches of the sea...

The title Man of the Year, bestowed by the mass media on a gender-neutral “Person of the Year,” reflects the impact a public figure has had on world events during the year preceding. Thus it was quite understandable, even predictable, that Time, the world’s leading news magazine, and The Advocate, the world’s most prominent homosexualist publication, would both name Pope Francis “Person of the Year” for 2013.  The world understands, even if most Catholics have forgotten, that the Catholic Church is the last barrier against the terminal civilizational apostasy for which the powers that be have been laboring for almost...

It has been twenty years since the Catholic Church officially permitted the use of altar girls at Mass. While extending this permission for girls to serve, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDWDS) was also careful to state that: “The Holy See wishes to recall that it will always be very appropriate to follow the noble tradition of having boys serve at the altar. As is well known, this has led to a reassuring development of priestly vocations. Thus the obligation to support such groups of altar boys will always continue.” Two decades later, there is...

January 3, 2015Christmas Weekday    Reading 1 1 Jn 2:29–3:6 If you consider that God is righteous,you also know that everyone who acts in righteousnessis begotten by him. See what love the Father has bestowed on usthat we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are.The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.Beloved, we are God’s children now;what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,for we shall see him as he is.Everyone who has this...

Virtue isn’t often associated with manliness these days. In fact, the exact opposite is true—many believe you aren’t a real man unless you are a “bad boy” or a rebel. But this wasn’t always the case. In fact, the virtue comes from the Latin word vir, meaning man. Virtue literally means manliness. In ancient times, philosophers like Aristotle encouraged men to cultivate virtue to reach their full potential. What is Virtue? It is hard to live a virtuous life if we don’t first know what virtue it is. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines virtue in the following way:...

Chapter 1 Following Hard after God My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.-Psa. 63:8 Christian theology teaches the doctrine of prevenient grace, which briefly stated means this, that before a man can seek God, God must first have sought the man. Before a sinful man can think a right thought of God, there must have been a work of enlightenment done within him; imperfect it may be, but a true work nonetheless, and the secret cause of all desiring and seeking and praying which may follow. We pursue God because, and only because, He has first...

New Year’s Day promises two certainties: college football bowl games and Christmas trees on the curb. To Catholics, of course, January 1 is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. It's a Holy Day of Obligation, and the final day of the Octave of Christmas.The Church, however, is so generous with joy. She does not end our celebration of the Incarnation with the conclusion of the Octave of Christmas. She extends it to Epiphany. Twelfth Night, as our English-speaking brethren call it, is an event Catholics in America should celebrate with more enthusiasm (think: roaring bonfires, grilled meat, lots...

January 2, 2015Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church    Reading 1 1 Jn 2:22-28 Beloved:Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father,but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well. Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you,then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise...