Today's Feast

Today is the feast day of the Archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel. I highly reccommend reading the second reading from today's Office of Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours. It is from a sermon by Pope St. Gregory, which I have copied below (from universalis). It's a wonderful way to think about and understand more about the angels.


"You should be aware that the word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels. And so it was that not merely an angel but the archangel Gabriel was sent to the Virgin Mary. It was only fitting that the highest angel should come to announce the greatest of all messages.Some angels are given proper names to denote the service they are empowered to perform. In that holy city, where perfect knowledge flows from the vision of almighty God, those who have no names may easily be known. But personal names are assigned to some, not because they could not be known without them, but rather to denote their ministry when they came among us. Thus, Michael means “Who is like God”; Gabriel is “The Strength of God”; and Raphael is “God’s Remedy.”Whenever some act of wondrous power must be performed, Michael is sent, so that his action and his name may make it clear that no one can do what God does by his superior power. So also our ancient foe desired in his pride to be like God, saying: I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven; I will be like the Most High. He will be allowed to remain in power until the end of the world when he will be destroyed in the final punishment. Then, he will fight with the archangel Michael, as we are told by John: A battle was fought with Michael the archangel.So too Gabriel, who is called God’s strength, was sent to Mary. He came to announce the One who appeared as a humble man to quell the cosmic powers. Thus God’s strength announced the coming of the Lord of the heavenly powers, mighty in battle. Raphael means, as I have said, God’s remedy, for when he touched Tobit’s eyes in order to cure him, he banished the darkness of his blindness. Thus, since he is to heal, he is rightly called God’s remedy."

RCIA

I had the chance to revisit RCIA last Thursday - this time as a guest speaker. Man was it weird to me. Since RCIA is in our chapel/library of the Newman Center, it is in the same place each year. Sitting there with all those candidates and catechumens (this was the first class and we already had over 15 - about half of which had never been baptized! That means we're on target to break last year's 24 candidates and catechumens!) flooded back vivid memories of my first day in RCIA last November; the nervousness, the paranoia of not knowing what you are doing. All that passed very quickly in the hands of our Deacon and the Catechism.

I almost broke down in tears thinking about how badly I wanted to get finished with the process last year and start taking the Eucharist. And now I'm here, and can even share experiences with others! There was another former Sunday School teacher (like me) in the class. I got to talk to him quite a bit after I shared my experiences and background.

Anyway, please pray for candidates and catechumens everywhere.

The Journey Home

I was watching the latest episode of The Journey Home (and for you Protestants who read my blog, there are episodes out there for just about every denomination under the sun, including several former CoC ministers who have been on) and Marcus Grodi, the host, did a special where he shared 10 verses that he came across during his Spiritual Journey that just stuck out in his mind and made him think deeply about himself as an evangelical Presbyterian. I encourage you to listen to the whole program, but I just wanted to share the verses, encourage you to read them, and maybe share a reflection or two of my own. I'll use the NAB version. My comments in red.

Prov. 3:5,6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your path.

This passage struck both he and I because as "sola scriptura" Christians, we had both relied on our own understanding and knowledge of scriptures and our personal interpretations (informed of course by our own traditions, but we wouldn't admit that).


I Tim 3:15: But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth. .

Again, what is the pillar and foundation of truth? Not the Bible alone, but rather the Church, the guardian of sacred scripture. This also ties in a lot with my discoveries concerning the Canon of scripture and its development when I was in my "conversion" process.

II Tim 3:14-17: But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known (the) sacred scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

The fact that Paul is talking about the Old Testament scriptures is kind of mind blowing when you think of the context this scripture is generally used in.

II Thes 2:15: 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.

The two parts of Sacred Tradition stand here in this verse side by side - Oral Tradition and Sacred Scripture, both intrusted to the Church as the Pillar and Foundation of Truth.

Matt 16:13-19: Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

I always wondered later why I fought so hard against Jesus saying this was Peter he was founding the Church on since 1) He names him Rock and says he will build his Church on the rock (in his native tongue there is no masculine/feminine distinction btw, and the Greek would be proper to use both in that sentence structure even when talking about the same person) 2) Other scriptures show us the Church is founded on the Apostles and Prophets with Christ being the chief cornerstone, and 3) Ever wonder what he could bind and loose and why it happened on Earth before it happened in Heaven?

John 14:15,16: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you.

Interesting that the Holy Spirit would be with the Church always! It didn't leave after the first century and stop guiding the Church.

Rev 14:13: I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," said the Spirit, "let them find rest from their labors, for their works accompany them.

Our works accompany us to Heaven?! BTW, Marcus points out that this is part of the Presbyterian Funeral liturgy. I had no idea but that is interesting.

John 15:4: Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.

The same word remain is sometimes translated "abide". This same word is used in John 6:56 where he tells us how to abide in him: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.


Col 1:24: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church,

I'm still meditating on this one myself. Not sure what I have comprehended so far.

Luke 1:46-49: And Mary said: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.

On a more personal level, I've sometimes thought about how in the CoC Mary was so disregarded and ignored. I wonder if that might be why so many women feel disrespected who have left or are still in the CoC. I think a relationship with our Blessed Mother is a key step towards understanding the wonders of women and a true love for their suffering and work for God.


Now go listen to the whole show because he's a lot better than I am !

Cultural Commentary

I ran into this story and was once again thinking that this is what we relegate our babies too in a culture of abortion, trash.

Pray for us

Mel writes: "Still trying to work through the "pray for us" part of the Hail Mary. I've read quite a bit and have even started another blog as a place for "book reports." Any suggestions? It may all boil down to a matter of faith in the Marian doctrines, which I do not have." in the comments of the post below this one. Thought I would just try to answer this a tiny bit.

First, I think you can separate this idea of praying for us from other Marian teachings like her perpetual virginity, immaculate conception, assumption, coronation, etc. This one really has little to do with that, although those might all be reasons why we might choose to ask Mary for her intercessions. This idea revolves directly around the idea of "communion of the Saints".

We believe that those who are Saints are with God. That being said, we ask them for their prayers on our behalf. The best example that I think helps someone understand is how we ask our friends and neighbors to pray for us. I might ask Mel to pray for me, and likewise she might ask me. But, because of their being in Heaven with God and the nature of their lives, they are especially close to us all (being in communion with the whole Church includes those saints who have passed out of this life and into the next) and because of that special relationship we ask them for their prayers on our behalf. All this, of course, works through God's grace. Our Lady, as the Mother of Christ, has a special position where of course he would want to listen to her requests - we can see this in the wedding feast at Cana. That makes her often beseeched by those in need.

During the Easter Vigil (and hopefully as individuals we pray this more often), we pray the Litany of the Saints (responses in black, and this can differ a tiny bit):

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, hear us.

Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven,

have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world,

have mercy on us.

God the Holy Spirit,

have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, one God,

have mercy on us.

Holy Mary,

pray for us.

Holy Mother of God,

pray for us.

Holy Virgin of virgins,

pray for us.

St. Michael,

pray for us.

St. Gabriel,

pray for us.

St. Raphael,

pray for us.

All you holy Angels and Archangels,

pray for us.

All you holy orders of blessed Spirits,

pray for us.

St. John the Baptist,

pray for us.

St. Joseph,

pray for us.

All you holy Patriarchs and Prophets,

pray for us.

St. Peter,

pray for us.

St. Paul,

pray for us.

St. Andrew,

pray for us.

St. James,

pray for us.

St. John,

pray for us. .

St. Thomas,

pray for us.

St. James,

pray for us.

St. Philip,

pray for us. .

St. Bartholomew,

pray for us.

St. Matthew,

pray for us.

St. Simon,

pray for us.

St. Thaddeus,

pray for us.

St. Matthias,

pray for us.

St. Barnabas,

pray for us.

St. Luke,

pray for us.

St. Mark,

pray for us.

All you holy Apostles and Evangelists,

pray for us.

All you holy Disciples of the Lord,

pray for us.

All you holy Innocents,

pray for us.

St. Stephen,

pray for us.

St. Lawrence,

pray for us.

St. Vincent,

pray for us.

Sts. Fabian and Sebastian,

pray for us. .

Sts. John and Paul,

pray for us. .

Sts. Cosmas and Damian,

pray for us.

Sts. Gervase and Protase,

pray for us.

All you holy Martyrs,

pray for us.

St. Sylvester,

pray for us.

St. Gregory,

pray for us. .

St. Ambrose,

pray for us.

St. Augustine,

pray for us.

St. Jerome,

pray for us.

St. Martin,

pray for us.

St. Nicholas,

pray for us.

All you holy Bishops and Confessors,

pray for us.

All you holy Doctors,

pray for us.

St. Anthony,

pray for us.

St. Benedict,

pray for us.

St. Bernard,

pray for us.

St. Dominic,

pray for us.

St. Francis,

pray for us.

All you holy Priests and Levites,

pray for us.

All you holy Monks and Hermits,

pray for us.

St. Mary Magdalen,

pray for us.

St. Agatha,

pray for us.

St. Lucy,

pray for us.

St. Agnes,

pray for us.

St. Cecilia,

pray for us.

St. Catherine,

pray for us.

St. Anastasia,

pray for us.

All you holy Virgins and Widows,

pray for us.

All you Holy Men and Women, Saints of God,

make intercession for us.

Be merciful,

spare us, O Lord. .

Be merciful,

graciously hear us, O Lord. .

From all evil, O Lord,

deliver us.

From all sin,

deliver us.

From your wrath,

deliver us.

From sudden and unprovided death,

deliver us.

From the snares of the devil,

deliver us.

From anger, and hatred, and all ill-will,

deliver us.

From the spirit of fornication,

deliver us.

From lightning and tempest,

deliver us.

From the scourge of earthquake,

deliver us.

From plague, famine and war,

deliver us.

From everlasting death,

deliver us.

Through the mystery of your holy Incarnation,

deliver us.

Through your Coming,

deliver us.

Through your Nativity,

deliver us.

Through your Baptism and holy Fasting,

deliver us.

Through your Cross and Passion,

deliver us.

Through your Death and Burial,

deliver us.

Through your holy Resurrection,

deliver us.

Through your admirable Ascension,

deliver us.

Through the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete,

In the day of judgment,

deliver us.

We sinners,

we beseech you, hear us.

That you would spare us,

we beseech you, hear us.

That you would pardon us,

we beseech you, hear us.

That you would bring us to true penance,

we beseech you, hear us.

That you would deign to govern and preserve your holy Church,

we beseech you, hear us.

That you would deign to preserve our Apostolic Prelate, and all orders of the Church in holy religion,

we beseech you, hear us.

That you would deign to humble the enemies of Holy Church,

we beseech you, hear us.

That you would deign to give peace and true concord to Christian kings and princes,

we beseech you, hear us.

That you would deign to grant peace and unity to all Christian people,

we beseech you, hear us.

That you would deign to call back to the unity of the Church all who have strayed from the truth and lead all unbelievers to the light of the Gospel,

we beseech you, hear us.

That you would deign to confirm and preserve us in your holy service,

we beseech you, hear us.

That you would lift up our minds to heavenly desires,

we beseech you, hear us.

That you would render eternal blessings to all our benefactors,

we beseech you, hear us.

That you would deliver our souls and the souls of our brethren, relations and benefactors, from eternal damnation,

we beseech you, hear us.

That you would deign to give and preserve the fruits of the earth,

we beseech you, hear us.

That you would deign to grant eternal rest to all the faithful departed,

we beseech you, hear us.

That you would deign graciously to hear us,

we beseech you, hear us.

Son of God,

we beseech you, hear us.

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,

spare us, O Lord. .

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,

graciously hear us, O Lord. .

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,

have mercy on us. .

Christ, hear us.

Christ, graciously hear us.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Mary, Mother of God

How much do you love your mother? Very much assuming she is a wonderful Mother like most are. That being said, what would you do for her? Everything in the world.

That got me to thinking about Mary. I had a mother who left when I was 2 years old. I have only seen her 3-4 times since then. A terrible mother. Christ's mother loved him and cared for him his entire life, even until the cross where she sat at the foot and mourned him. How much does he love her? How hard would he try to do whatever she asks? Obviously from the Wedding Feast at Cana and thereafter, we see that he tried his hardest to do everything for her, something natural to a son who loves his mother. When we ask for her intercession, who better could we go to to ask her son for a favor? No one. And the entire prayer focuses on her son, who allows her to be sinless.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

Pray for us Sinners, Now and at the Hour of Our Death.

Amen.

The Holy Father's Prayer Intentions

Pope Benedict's prayer intentions for September:

General That those who are forced to leave home and country because of war or oppression may be supported by Christians in the defense and protection of their rights.

Mission That faithful to the sacrament of matrimony, every Christian family may cultivate the values of love and communion in order to be a small evangelizing community, sensitive and open to the material and spiritual needs of others.

Please pray for these things.

Jesus Image REALLY IS Seen on the Wings of a Moth

Ok. Jesus isn't on this moth like a painting. Instead, we should see his image in all of his Creation. Every animal, including the amazing moth actually shows his image.

I've been extremely busy catching up with work this week, this was just my quick thought I wanted to share.

St. Louis of France

St. Louis is one of my favorite Saints. Something about the fact that he was a King and yet spent so much of his life seeking God and trying to reform the country into a better place. I wish we had more politicians today who put Christian values first and try to reform our state into something God would be pleased with - something that loves and respects everyone in society.

Retreating

So, over the last couple of days (Friday night and Saturday), we held a young adults retreat here at our parish. What an event. It was so wonderful and drew us so close with each other and more importantly with God, that I just thought I would share the schedule of events, in this order:

Confession
Friday's Daily Mass
Opening Prayer
Knights of Columbus/Catholic Daughters provided Dinner and talked about service activities
Lectio Divina
Praying the Rosary
Cooking Breakfast with Each Other
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour
A short talk on service and discussion of our service activities in the past
Cooking Lunch for the Homeless
Catholic Jeopardy
Journaling about Our Experiences over the Weekend
Each member of the retreat prayed over each other individual who attended
Our Priest laid his hands on us and prayed over us and blessed us.
We ended with the Vigil Mass.


What an experience!

Why I boycott the Olympics

I cannot, in good conscience support the Olympic games and have tried my best to ignore coverage of them in the media and watch them on television. The human rights violations being perpetrated by the Chinese government are immense. Some might criticize this decision of mine, because the United States is also obviously a violator. Would I watch an Olympics here? Probably so. Unfortunately these Olympics have become a great burden on the Chinese citizens who care about the human rights of their fellow countrymen, this article even describes two older women who were arrested for petitioning to protest in an area set up by the government for that purpose.

I was also somewhat disappointed in Pope Benedict's comments leading up to the Olympics and felt he really should have taken a much harder line stand on it, but he probably knows better than I do.

Abandoned Baby Might be Put to Death

Did that headline shock you? I saw this on CNN and thought that's what I was reading. As a sad commentary on society, I said to myself "I should have expected they would start doing this to babies after they came out of the womb sooner or later." Luckily, it was a whale and not a human being.

Wonderful Act of Contrition

I think Psalm 51 is a wonderful Act of Contrition for use during the sacrament of reconciliation. I'm going to post it in it's whole and encourage you to read, pray, and reflect on this Psalm:

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offense.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.

My offenses truly I know them;
my sin is always before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have done.

That you may be justified when you give sentence
and be without reproach when you judge.
O see, in guilt I was born,
a sinner was I conceived.

Indeed you love truth in the heart;
then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.
O purify me, then I shall be clean;
O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me hear rejoicing and gladness
that the bones you have crushed may thrill.
From my sins turn away your face
and blot out all my guilt.

A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.

Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervor sustain me,
that I may teach transgressors your ways
and sinners may return to you.

O rescue me, God, my helper,
and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.
O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall declare your praise.

For in sacrifice you take no delight,
burnt offering from me you would refuse;
my sacrifice, a contrite spirit,
a humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.

In your goodness, show favor to Zion;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice,
(burnt offerings wholly consumed),
then you will be offered young bulls on your altar.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen

Medical Science Versus Religion?

In another odd and peculiar story on CNN, we see the media once again trying to draw a distinction between medical science and faith that does not really exist.



Perhaps most disturbing is the quote

"Sise, a Catholic doctor working in a Catholic hospital, said miracles don't happen when medical evidence shows death is near.

"That's just not a realistic situation," he said."

First of all, I agree with the premise that doctors should lay the scientific cards on the table and tell family when something is very, very unlikely. But, to say that miracles don't happen AT ALL? That's obviously not true. Check out this story for instance. I'm kind of disturbed that a "Catholic doctor" said this.

Scraps from the Tables

Sunday's Gospel:

At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
“Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon.”
But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her.
Jesus’ disciples came and asked him,
“Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.”
He said in reply,
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.”
He said in reply,
“It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters.”
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
“O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish.”
And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.

Reflecting on this gospel, it made me think about the relationship between Catholics and Protestants. While the Catholic/Orthodox Church has all seven sacraments to receive God's Grace through, our Protestant brothers and sisters only have 2 (Baptism and Marriage). They do not get the "full feast" that we receive in the sacraments. At the same time, many of them have great faith, and as such, like the woman Jesus talks to here, they get part of that grace through the sacraments and other religious experiences (prayer, worship services, Bible Reading, etc.). Likewise, we should not limit what God would do for these individuals or belittle them as less than ourselves. As Christ said, "Let it be done for you as you wish".

Paganism and Ecumenicalism

Seraphina and I were talking the other day about the Church's stance on other religions (non-Christian, Muslim, or Jewish), and how it synchs with Sacred Scripture. It seems as though God condemns paganism and idolatry over and over in the Bible. How then, could we say that something good comes out of these religions, especially since they do not know God? How is there a possibility (and how slight would it be?) that some in those religions might be saved.

Well, looking at the Scriptures, we noticed that many times God isn't condemning the fact that they don't know him as much as he is the fruits of that religion. In other words, what was so wrong with Paganism? As Romans 1 describes, it led to rampant immorality, something that God really hated.

Looking at other religions around the world, we can see that some (take Buddhism for instance) will have many elements that actually push people to do good and show love to their fellow man. These are the elements of religion that come from God. He does not condemn them for their good works. Ignorance in and of itself may not be the fault of the individual either. God's grace may be able to reach these individuals because they find God through Creation and see the inherent wrongness of immorality. Will they come into fullness with Christ? We can pray, but leave the judgment up to God himself. The wickedness of false religion comes in the downfall of morals that can so easily happen with it, but we shouldn't overlook the positives of other religions as well...

Alleluia

This morning at mass, the Gospel acclamation was as follows:

Alleluia, Alleluia. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits for his word. Alleluia, alleluia.

As the Deacon holds up the Gospels in preparation for reading, I was just holding my breath, waiting for him to proclaim the living Word of God. Think about the acclamation. We wait for Christ in his Second coming, but even more immediately his presence in the Eucharist, but our souls are dying to hear him proclaimed through the Gospel, which is the Word of God, which is Him!

"Who else shall we go to? We know you have the words of Life!"

Reflections on Morning Prayer

Have you ever stayed on the beach where you can look out of your balcony and see the ocean? That's the position I'm in this week. This morning in the Psalmody, we prayed Psalm 93 in the Liturgy of the Hours while sitting out on the balcony. One of the verses in Psalm 93: "Greater than the roar of mighty waters, more glorious than the surgings of the sea, the Lord is glorious on high." When you actually pray that, looking out over how powerful and amazing the ocean really is, it strikes you in a special way. Our God is a powerful, loving, and gracious God. Talk about a good way to get me in the mood to go received the Eucharist at mass in an hour or so!

Evening Prayer

I just finished Evening Prayer. I would like to comment on the Magnificat, because it stuck out to me the most during the Liturgy of the Hours today. Specifically I would like to discuss how Mary's prayer is a wonderful model prayer for us as Christians today.

My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

This is the ultimate of what we can do as Christians. Our praise and worship are really why we were created and why we have such wonderful blessings that will follow in the prayer. We should remember to keep this in our minds always and always be thankful for everything that happens to us, even when we don't think it is for the best. Christ's sacrifice and becoming our savior is so wonderful that we should constantly be thinking about the Invitatory to the hours: "Lord, Open my Lips and My Mouth Will Proclaim Your Praise".

For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,

Indeed, how low are we without Christ?

For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

Like the Mother of God, won't we always be called blessed by future generations of people for being chosen as his sanctified and priestly people?

For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.

The sacrifice he has done for us clearly shows his mercy towards us, and is the source of why we will always be his blessed people.

He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.

Think about what he did to the Roman Empire as prophesied in Daniel! And, he takes someone like humble fisherman and turns them into his Apostles. Note how they were spoken of by the educated Jews of the time. It's fascinating that a simple fisherman could be given the position to lead the early Church like Peter was. Likewise, he will lift us up if we humble ourselves before him. Pride goes before a fall, and as a Church we should remember to always seek out his mercy and grace, especially through the sacraments.

He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen

Vacation

Pray for Seraphina and I. We are on our first day of vacation. We have internet, and I hope to have it for the rest of the week. If so, you will get my reflections on the prayer and conversation we have during the week. I'm going to be praying the Liturgy of the Hours as much as possible. Probably some rosary and some Lectio Divina (Meditative Scripture Reading) in there too.


Peace be with you!