Jesus Forbid Us To Judge – He Commands Us To Love!

In this powerful and very moving 4 minute video, Fr. Larry Richards, founder of the Reason For Our Hope Foundation, reminds us of an extremely important teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. One I’m sure every one of us needs to apply to the way in which we relate to others.

Father Richards reveals this truth by relating to us a personal experience in which he was reminded that Jesus commands us to love and not to judge. Enjoy! Please pass this message along to others. It is one we all need to hear.



Also, please visit the Reason For Our Hope Foundation website @ http://www.thereasonforourhope.org/ where you can listen to Fr. Richards’ homilies, view more of his video presentations, order materials and videos, and learn more about the mission of this ministry, and ways in which you can support it.

You will be blessed!

What It Means To Be A Real Man!

Fathers, Husbands and All Boys and Men:

Take a lesson from St. Joseph!

Let’s take a look at this remarkable saint!

He is the silent saint! The Gospel does not record one spoken word of St. Joseph, nevertheless, what this great saint did in his life for God speaks volumes.

St. Matthew’s Gospel describes St. Joseph as being an upright man. This simply means that he lived by God's standard, keeping the commandments and emulating God's love.

St. Joseph was obedient to God without question and demonstrated great faith! Following what must have been devastating news, St. Joseph unquestioningly fulfilled the task set before him by God in marrying our Blessed Mother and raising Jesus as his own!

St. Joseph courageously led Jesus and Mary to safety when instructed to do so, and provided for them by working hard without complaint!

St. Joseph was presented with the most awesome responsibility! He was entrusted with the spiritual and physical well being of our Blessed Mother and Jesus! We are also entrusted by God with the spiritual and physical well being of our wives and children!

What some saints have said about St. Joseph:

St. Bernardine of Siena (d. 1444) preached, "He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of His greatest treasures, namely, His divine Son and Mary, Joseph's wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying, 'Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.”

St. Teresa of Avila (d. 1582) said, "I took St. Joseph as my advocate and protector, and recommended myself very earnestly to him. He came to my help in the most visible manner. This loving father of my soul, this beloved protector, hastened to pull me out of the state in which my body was languishing, just as he snatched me away from greater dangers of another nature which were jeopardizing my honor and my eternal salvation! For my happiness to be complete, he has always answered my prayers beyond what I had asked and hoped for. I do not remember even now that I have ever asked anything of him which he has failed to grant. I am astonished at the great favors which God has bestowed on me through this blessed saint, and at the perils from which He has freed me, both in body and in soul."

Popes through the ages of the Church have also recognized the importance of St. Joseph:

Pope Pius IX declared him the Patron of the Catholic Church (1870).

Pope Leo XIII in "Quamquam Pluries" (1889) wrote, "Joseph was the guardian, the administrator and the legitimate and natural defender of the divine household of which he was the head. It was thus natural and very worthy of St. Joseph that, as he supported in another era all the needs of the Family of Nazareth which he wrapped in his holy protection, he now covers with his heavenly patronage and defends the Church of Jesus Christ."

Pope John Paul II in Redemptoris Custos (1989) exhorted the faithful to look to St. Joseph in our troubled age: "This patronage must be invoked, and it is always necessary for the Church, not only to defend it against dangers ceaselessly cropping up, but also and above all to support it in those fearful efforts at evangelizing the world, and spreading the new evangelization among nations where the Christian religion and life were formerly the most flourishing, but are now put to a difficult test.... May St. Joseph become for all a singular master in the service of the saving mission of Christ that is incumbent on each and every one of us in the Church: To spouses, to parents, to those who live by the work of their hands or by any other work, to persons called to the contemplative life as well as to those called to the apostolate."

Pope John XXIII on Nov. 13, 1962 ordered St. Joseph's name inserted into the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I), a proper recognition for the Guardian of the Universal Church. Moreover, St. Joseph's feast day of March 19 is a solemnity and traditionally a holy day of obligation throughout the universal Church (Code Canon Law, No. 1246); however, the United States was granted an exemption from the requirement at the request of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (1884) because of the difficulty of observing holy days in a non-Catholic environment.

Pope Pius XII, in 1955, established the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1 to present St. Joseph as the exemplar of all working men and to focus on the true dignity of human labor in contrast to the "May Day" celebrations of communist countries.

Some material in this post was borrowed from an article entitled St. Joseph: The Silent Figure, writen by Fr. William Saunders, which may be found on the link to the web page below and which was obtained with permission from the Arlington Catholic Herald - http://catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0410.html

Father William Saunders is dean of the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College and pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Sterling, Virginia. The above article is a "Straight Answers" column he wrote for the Arlington Catholic Herald. Father Saunders is also the author of Straight Answers, a book based on 100 of his columns and published by Cathedral Press in Baltimore.

Get Healed In The Sacrament of Reconciliation

Reconciliation, also referred to as Confession or Penance is a healing sacrament. Just as we must seek medical attention for physical illness, the grace conferred through the sacrament of Confession heals the soul and places it in the state of grace in preparation to receive our Lord in the Eucharist!

Note that proper disposition in the reception of the sacraments are essential elements in receiving the grace that they confer! For example, in the sacrament of Confession, one must approach with faith, humility, sincere contrition, and gratitude for the forgiveness received!

Below is a brief but accurate definition of this sacrament, including the effects that it has on its recipients. It certainly addresses some misconceptions about what some non-Catholics have heard or believe about the sacrament, not to mention many Catholics whom have not aken the time to learn enough about their faith to adequately defend it.

I found this definition on the following website belonging to St. Bartholomew Parish, located in Long Beach, CA. http://www.sblb.org/

The Sacrament of Reconciliation

Penance is a sacrament of the New Law instituted by Christ in which forgiveness of sins committed after baptism is granted through the priest's absolution to those who with true sorrow confess their sins and promise to satisfy for the same. It is called a "sacrament" not simply a function or ceremony, because it is an outward sign instituted by Christ to impart grace to the soul. By way of further explanation it is needful to correct certain erroneous views regarding this sacrament which not only misrepresent the actual practice of the Church but also lead to a false interpretation of theological statement and historical evidence.

From this it should be clear:

• that penance is not a mere human invention devised by the Church to secure power over consciences or to relieve the emotional strain of troubled souls; it is the ordinary means appointed by Christ for the remission of sin.

• No Catholic believes that a priest simply as an individual man, however pious or learned, has power to forgive sins. This power belongs to God alone; but He can and does exercise it through the ministration of men.

• It is not true that for the Catholic the mere "telling of one's sins" suffices to obtain their forgiveness. Without sincere sorrow and purpose of amendment, confession avails nothing, the pronouncement of absolution is of no effect, and the guilt of the sinner is greater than before.

• While this sacrament as a dispensation of Divine mercy facilitates the pardoning of sin, it by no means renders sin less hateful or its consequences less dreadful to the Christian mind; much less does it imply permission to commit sin in the future.

Body and Soul

We are all made up of a body and a soul.

Most of us wouldn’t think of going without a meal, let alone going without nourishment for an extended period of time. The reason is obvious – illness and death! Or, when we become ill, would we intentionally deprive ourselves of the aid of a physician or medication?

Why then do many of us deprive our souls of nourishment and healing? As Catholic Christians, that source of nourishment and healing is provided to us by Christ through the sacraments.

It is Christ that restores our soul to life in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and it is He who nourishes us with His very Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Each time we participate in the Mass, we transcend time and are present at Christ’s crucifixion, death and resurrection. Each time, we receive the healing and nourishment that sustains us on our journey to our true home – heaven!

Please don’t neglect your soul! Come home today for the healing and nourishment Christ wants to give to you!

Why are the Sacraments Important?

There is power in the sacraments!

The power of the sacraments comes from Christ himself!

Each sacrament was instituted by Christ himself for the purpose of conferring upon those who choose to participate in the sacraments with the proper disposition, the grace he earned through his passion, death and resurrection.

As Catholics we enjoy the privilege of being in communion with Jesus and his Church each and every when we take the opportunity to receive Him in the Eucharist at daily Mass!

The beauty of the sacraments is the manner in which they confer God’s grace upon us. In his divine wisdom, Jesus knew that as corporeal beings we would best be led to things of a spiritual nature through our bodily senses. St. Thomas Aquinas refers to the matter and form, used in each sacrament as proper and fitting for the purpose intended. He also teaches us the following about the role sacraments play in our salvation:

I answer that, Sacraments are necessary unto man's salvation for three reasons. The first is taken from the condition of human nature which is such that it has to be led by things corporeal and sensible to things spiritual and intelligible. Now it belongs to Divine providence to provide for each one according as its condition requires. Divine wisdom, therefore, fittingly provides man with means of salvation, in the shape of corporeal and sensible signs that are called sacraments.

The second reason is taken from the state of man who in sinning subjected himself by his affections to corporeal things. Now the healing remedy should be given to a man so as to reach the part affected by disease. Consequently it was fitting that God should provide man with a spiritual medicine by means of certain corporeal signs; for if man were offered spiritual things without a veil, his mind being taken up with the material world would be unable to apply itself to them.

The third reason is taken from the fact that man is prone to direct his activity chiefly towards material things. Lest, therefore, it should be too hard for man to be drawn away entirely from bodily actions, bodily exercise was offered to him in the sacraments, by which he might be trained to avoid superstitious practices, consisting in the worship of demons, and all manner of harmful action, consisting in sinful deeds.

It follows, therefore, that through the institution of the sacraments man, consistently with his nature, is instructed through sensible things; he is humbled, through confessing that he is subject to corporeal things, seeing that he receives assistance through them: and he is even preserved from bodily hurt, by the healthy exercise of the sacraments. Summa Theologica: TREATISE ON THE SACRAMENTS (QQ[60]-90): Question. 61 - OF THE NECESSITY OF THE SACRAMENTS (FOUR ARTICLES)