Divine Treasure!

The earth is a mere pinpoint in this immense universe, the ends of which remain unknown to man! It never ceases to amaze me that its Creator longs for a close relationship with its human inhabitants, so much so that He humbles Himself and makes Himself available veiled under the appearance of bread and wine to those who will receive Him! Always be mindful of Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist! Thank you Lord for the wonderful gift of your Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, the Nourishment that sustains us on this journey!

Power of the Eucharist

To be the men and women God intended us to be in our roles as priests, religious, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives and friends; children of God made in His image; to love with the love of Christ; to offer ourselves as holy and living sacrifices; to have faith and hope, and to increase in every other virtue; is possible only through the grace that comes through frequent reception of the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.

It is impossible to fulfill our purpose in this life without the Eucharist! Amen!

Go to confession and attend Mass often, daily if possible! It will change your life!

A Wealth of Information!

I recently attended a Catholic Men's Conference at which the Knights of Columbus were present and distributing some very informative, well written, and easy to read booklets from the Knights of Columbus Catholic Information Service. The booklets I have read are: The Gift of Woman, The Family in the Modern World, and Becoming a Man of God.

The great thing is that these booklets are available online as downloadable audio files or pdf files. You may also order hard copies of the booklets for only a $1.00 each, and at reduced rates for bulk orders.

The booklets cover a wide variety of topics on matters pertaining to Catholic faith and life. You can access this great resource at the following link - http://www.kofc.org/un/eb/en/publications/cis/podcasts/veritas/index.html

Soul of Christ, Sanctify Me!

The Anima Christi is a beautiful prayer! The following four prayers develop the richness of the prayer even further. I discovered these prayers in a publication entitled The Catholic Devotional published in 2006 by the Apostolic Publishing Company, 7010 6th Street North, Oakdale, MN 55128.

Soul of Christ, Sanctify Me!

Make a saint of me. Show me how to rid myself
Of traits of character that annoy others;
that make the lives of those about me miserable.
Help me to break the hardened shell within which selfishness hides, and which renders me insensible to the needs of others.
May I become great enough to be the servant of both rich and poor.
May I grow strong in virtue, so as to sustain the weak and encourage the weary.
May my heart increase its power to love, so as to be able to minister kindness to the timid and mercy to the wayward.
May I have the honor to bring cheer to all my fellow men on the long and sometimes rugged road of life.

Body of Christ, Save Me!

Save me from my great archenemy, my weak and faltering self.
Save me from all greed of money, of power, and of praise.
Save me from the thirst for pleasure, worldly show, and midnight revelry.
Save me from betraying You, Dear Lord, in thought, or in word, or in deed.

Blood of Christ, Strengthen Me!

Inebriate me with Your Love, that I may be absorbed in Your Will. Absorbed so as to be unmindful of my ills and petty cares.
Unmindful of weariness and pain, heartache, and disappointment.
Heedless of the lash of cruel words, and patient under wrongs.

Passion of Christ, Strengthen Me!

Strengthen me under the pressure of temptation.
Strengthen me when principle is at stake.
Strengthen me to do Your Will, My God.
Strengthen me in moments of suffering, in times of loneliness, in periods of depression.
Strengthen me that I may never swerve from You, Dear Christ, nor weaken through a desire to be popular, through hope of social distinction.
Strengthen me to accept my cross and carry it generously to the end.
On the battlefield of life, stand by me that I may never prove a traitor in the ranks.
Stand by me that I may not be dazzled by the glitter and glow of the enemy camp.

Unfathomable Love! - Awesome Privilege!

It has been discovered that an ordinary, 8oz. drinking glass can hold approximately 2 million grains of sand.

The photographs and data scientists have gathered through the use of the Hubble telescope indicate the majesty and incomprehensible size of the universe that exists beyond our planet. It is estimated that there are more stars in the heavens than there are grains of sand on all the beaches of the world.

Consider the world unseen by the naked eye and all of its wonder. The complex structure and life-sustaining automated functions of just the trillions of cells in the human body alone.

Contemplate the fact that all of creation is maintained in a perfect, life-sustaining balance, i.e., the perfect mixture of gases in the air we breath, precise distances of the sun and the moon from our earth, which are necessary to sustain life on earth.

Think of the marvelous, awesome complexity of the vast variety of insects and birds, and the variety of life existing beneath the ocean waves!

I don’t about you, but whenever I’m in our Lord’s presence in the Blessed Sacrament, or at Mass during transubstantiation as the priest says the words, “This is My Body”, my mind is immediately aware of the fact that the awesome Creator of our vast universe is not only present, but desires to be with us!

It is truly a humbling experience, and an inexpressible privilege, not only to be in the presence of the Creator, but to be able to receive His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity as spiritual and physical nourishment for our journey.

Armed with the knowledge that God, the Creator of the universe, longs to give Himself to us fully, and makes Himself available to us daily under the appearance of bread and wine, ONE SHOULD NEVER AGAIN HAVE A REASON TO FEEL UNLOVED! For this is the perfect love! Out of love, God gives Himself to us, and accepting His Gift assists us in passing the love of God on to others. This is how love remains eternal. St. Paul illustrates the permanence of love in his first letter to the Corinthians when he says, “love never fails”. St. Paul emphasizes the fact that love remains long after prophesy, knowledge, and tongues pass away.

The next time you receive Christ in the Eucharist, or are privileged to spend time with Him at adoration, ponder the magnificence of the love our awesome Creator has for us!

The Catholic Church Is Perfect! Why?

Do you know someone who no longer practices their Catholic Faith, and claims that it was the sexually deviant behavior of some members of the clergy, and the failure of the Church to address the issue that finally caused them to leave the Church?

As repulsive as pedophilia is, especially when committed by a man whom we know has been ordained to represent Christ on earth in the administration of the sacraments, we must remember that the MAN has not been made perfect through the sacrament of Holy Orders. The priest is still a man and thus remains subject to the tendency toward sin along with the rest of humankind.

It is not man that makes the Catholic Church PERFECT, it is Jesus Christ who founded the Church and instituted the sacraments. As Catholics we must remain focused on Christ, truly present in the Eucharist, the very center of our Faith! If we are looking for perfection in a man, we will fail to find it in any church on earth!

John L. Barger, founder of Sophia Institute Press, in a debate with his daughter over the perfection of the Catholic Church, presents a powerful yet brief argument which I encourage all to read here.

Pray The Rosary Online

Pray The Rosary Online

Called To Give A Common Witness

I was prompted to write this post after receiving a video via my Facebook Inbox from a Christian woman, not of the Catholic Faith, whom, after finding me on the world wide web, decided that I needed to be rescued from the evil clutches of Rome. The video follows this post, and is actually quite good!

She sent me the usual anti-Catholic rhetoric and suggested several links that would help to set me straight. I lovingly and gently responded by suggesting that she spend some time learning what the Catholic Faith truly teaches and directed her to the website Catholics Come Home.

The fact that this woman sent me this video served as a warm reminder that our call as Christians is a common call, in fact we are all commissioned by our Lord to proclaim the same Good News to the world! The point is that Christian unity is incredibly beautiful because it demonstrates the very love of God which is manifested by a common concern for the eternal salvation of every soul!

In this Year of Evangelization, our Holy Father shared the following reflection concerning Christian unity. On January 25, 2010, the feast of the conversion of St. Paul, Pope Benedict XVI in a homily he gave at vespers in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, appealed to all Christians to give a common witness starting immediately . . .Pope Says Now Is Time For United Testimony.

In a world in which the enemy has craftily led so many away from God by deception, distraction and false hopes of happiness, Christians need more than ever to unite to share the love of Christ with the world!

Pope Benedict reflected on the "fundamental intuition" of the preliminary ecumenical gathering held in Edinburgh, Scotland one hundred years ago: that Christians cannot proclaim the Gospel credibly if they are divided. Within Christianity there are about 34,000 separate groups of which over half of them are independent churches that have no interest in linking with a large denomination. There are over 4,684 Christian groups in the United States teaching their own brand of 'truth'.

Satan and his minions seem to have gained much ground in two major areas, both of which we must immediately begin work to reverse. We must abandon the culture of death in which we now live and acknowledge the sanctity of life! We must also begin to restore Christian unity into the one Body of Christ which God intended us to be!

Our Best Defense!

We proceed on this journey stalked constantly by a vicious and cruel enemy, an enemy who hates us simply because we are created and loved by God! This enemy is cunning, calculating, and constantly scheming to launch attacks against us, which if successful, can result not only in the death of our body, but the eternal death of our soul! The enemy is Satan and his minions.

The good news is that God has provided the ammunition necessary to defend ourselves against these attacks! Without it we are as weak and defenseless as newborn babes! That ammunition is God’s grace!

Now most Christians, including myself will agree that one way to receive God’s grace is by earnestly asking for it in prayer! Now God is capable of all things and no man should presume to understand the mind of God, so we can probably all agree that God can bestow His grace upon anyone He wishes in any manner He deems fit!

From a Catholic perspective, the ammunition or grace of which I speak is the grace which is made available to us in the very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ as He gives Himself to us in the Eucharist! However, to receive the fullness of the grace made available to us in the Blessed Sacrament, we must be properly prepared and disposed to do so!

What do we mean by properly disposed and prepared to receive our Lord?

First, we must firmly believe without a doubt in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist! We must then very humbly and thankfully acknowledge the greatness of the One whom we are about to receive into our bodies and souls!

Reflect if you will on this fact: the God who gives Himself to us in the Eucharist is the same God who created the incomprehensible vastness, complexity, and beauty of the entire universe, from the immeasurable magnitude of the cosmos to the awesome design and workings of the sub-atomic world! He is also the One who keeps it all in perfect balance in the palm of His Mighty Hand! This is the God for whom we must be properly prepared to receive, truly present in the communion wafer that is placed on our tongue or in the palm of our hand at Mass!

Our preparation to receive our Lord in the Eucharist begins in the sacrament of Reconciliation. This is how we make clean and presentable the house into which we are inviting our Lord! The grace that is conferred upon us in the sacrament of Reconciliation requires true contrition for our sins! True contrition is demonstrated by a firm resolve to avoid future sin! Although we are absolved of our sins in the sacrament of Reconciliation, our tendency toward sin remains. So, once again, we need God’s grace to continue to fight off future temptation when the enemy has us in his sights!

The next step in receiving our Lord in the Eucharist is to truly desire to receive Him, and welcome Him warmly into our hearts and surrender ourselves totally to Him. In this way we become the instruments through which others will come to know Him! We are reminded of this when we hear the priest speak these words at Mass, “The Mass is ended, now go in peace to love and serve the Lord!”

Receiving Christ in the Eucharist gives us tremendous power against the temptations of sin and is the Source and Summit of our Faith!

Find the Answers

Bishop Fulton Sheen once said, "There are not more than 100 people in the world who truly hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they perceive to be the Catholic Church."

The optimum word here is perceive! Where have these perceptions come from?

In the spirit of Christian love, please take the time to examine what the Catholic Church truly believes and teaches about such topics as Mary and the Saints, Salvation, Scripture and Tradition and more.

Scroll to the bottom of this page and allow the Holy Spirit be your guide as you begin to explore these topics.

Year of Evangelization

This is the most important invitation anyone can receive! The logo to the left is so beautiful! A depiction of our Lord Jesus Christ welcoming all to return home with open arms! Imagine!

The following explanation of the meaning of The Year of Evangelization is taken directly from the F.A.Q. page of the website Year of Evangelization - Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence.

Please take some time to peruse the website and share it with others!

Thank you for visiting! May the peace of our Lord be with you always!

So Many Good, Dedicated, and Holy Catholic Priests

There have been, and still are so many good, holy, and dedicated Catholic priests serving God in this world! This thought comes to mind each time the media focuses the world’s attention on something negative concerning Catholic priests. By no means am I trying to lessen the serious nature of such incidents. The point is that the same amount of attention should be given to the far greater number of positive instances of self-sacrificing service given by our Catholic clergy from the Holy Father on down!

I’ll share with you the story of Father Vincent Capodanno, a priest who was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic actions while serving as Chaplain with the Marines in Vietnam.

Fr. Capodanno’s story was written by Father Daniel L. Mode in a book entitled, The Grunt Padre. A DVD of the same title is also available. The video contains powerful and moving accounts by Marines who were ministered to by Fr. Capodanno on the battlefield on the day that he gave his life! If you’re looking for a tearjerker, this is it, and it’s REAL!

The following 6-minute video is part of an interview with Mr. James Capodanno on the 40th anniversary of his brother’s death.