I belong to Jesus!

Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just;
for praise is fitting for loyal hearts. - Psalm 33:1

 

"Jesus, for You I live.  

Jesus, for You I die. 

Jesus, I am Yours in life and death."

 From Reflections and Prayers

for Visits with our Eucharistic Lord,

John J. Cardinal Carberry

 

FEAST of the First Roman Martyrs ~ JUNE 30

 The First Martyrs of the Church of Rome were Christians martyred 

in Rome during Nero's persecution in the year 64.

“This dreadful conflagration continued nine days; when Nero, finding that his conduct was greatly blamed, and a severe odium cast upon him, determined to lay the whole upon the Christians, at once to excuse himself and have an opportunity of glutting his sight with new cruelties. This was the occasion of the first persecution ... 

Nero even refined upon cruelty, and contrived all manner of punishments for them that the most infernal imagination could design.  In particular, he had some sewed up in the skins of wild beasts, and then worried by dogs till they expired; and others dressed in shirts made stiff with wax, fixed to axle-trees, and set on fire in his gardens in order to illuminate them.  This persecution was general throughout the whole Roman empire; but it rather increased than diminished the spirit of Christianity."

A. Wright

A History of the Principal

and Most Distinguished Martyrs

 

Torches of Nero ~ Henryk Siemiradzki

Holy Martyrs of Rome, pray for us!

Sts Peter and Paul, pray for us!

Solemnity of Sts PETER and PAUL*

June 29

"This day has been made holy by the passion of the blessed apostles
Peter and Paul. ... These martyrs realized what they taught: 
they pursued justice, they confessed the truth, they died for it."
- St Augustine, Sermon 295

 We do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord,
and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus. - 2 Cor 4:5

Entrance Antiphon (Today’s Liturgy)

These are the ones who, living in the flesh, planted the Church with their blood; they drank the chalice of the Lord and became friends of God.  

Prayer over the Offerings (Today's Liturgy)

May the prayer of the Apostles, O Lord, accompany the sacrificial gift that we present to your name for consecration, and may their intercession make us devoted to you in celebration of the sacrifice.

Through Christ our Lord.

Prayer After Communion (Today’s Liturgy) 

Grant us, O Lord, who have been renewed by this Sacrament, so to live in the Church, that, persevering in the breaking of the Bread and in the teaching of the Apostles, we may be one heart and one soul, made steadfast in your love. 

Through Christ our Lord.

Click here: Discovering our Saints - Sts Peter and Paul - YouTube (3 mins)

Click here: Fr. Barron on Saints Peter and Paul - YouTube (6 mins)

Click here: Feast of Ss Peter & Paul - YouTube (21 mins)

Sts Peter and Paul, pray for us!

*Sts Peter and Paul are the principle pillars of the Church founded by Christ.

St Peter was chosen by Christ to be his first Vicar on earth; he was endowed with powers of the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Mt 16:13-19) and charged with the role of Shepherd of Christ's flock (Jn 21:15-17). In St. Peter and his successors, we have a visible sign of unity and communion in faith and charity. Divine grace led St. Peter to profess Christ's divinity.  St. Peter suffered martyrdom by crucifixion under Nero, in about the year 64 AD. He was buried at the hill of the Vatican; recent excavations have revealed his tomb on the very site of St. Peter's Basilica.
St Paul was chosen to form part of the apostolic college by Christ himself on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-16). Selected to bring Christ's name to all peoples (Acts 9:15), he is the greatest missionary of all time, the advocate of pagans, the Apostle of the Gentiles. St. Paul was beheaded in the Tre Fontane along the Via Ostiense and buried nearby, on the site where the basilica bearing his name now stands. Source: Daily Roman Missal, Edited by Rev. James Socías, Midwest Theological Forum, Chicago, Illinois ©2003

Word in due season...

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold

in a setting of silver. - Proverbs 25:11

"Only through the Eucharist is it possible

to live the heroic virtues of Christianity:

charity, to the point of forgiving one's enemies;

love for those who make us suffer;

chastity in every age and situation of life;

patience in suffering and

when one is shocked by the silence of God

in the tragedies of history or of one's own personal existence.

You must always be Eucharistic souls

in order to be authentic Christians." 

St. John Paul II

Catechism 101

...grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. - John 1:17b

"Since Christ Himself said in reference to the bread: "This is My Body," who will dare remain hesitant? And since with equal clarity He asserted: "This is My Blood," who will dare entertain any doubt and say that this is not His Blood?...

You have been taught these truths. Imbued with the certainty of faith, you know that what seems to be bread is not bread but the Body of Christ, although it seems to be bread when tasted. You also know that what seems to be wine is not wine but the Blood of Christ although it does taste like wine."

- From a catechetical instruction given by St Cyril for his successor, John - 4th c

St Cyril of Alexandria

370-444

Bishop, Doctor of the Church

Preeminent role at Council of Ephesus

This Council defined the inseparable unity

of the divine and human natures of Christ,

and thus the appropriateness of invoking the Blessed Virgin Mary

under the title of "Theotokos" or Mother of God.

FEAST DAY - June 27

 

"In Cana of Galilee Christ changed water into wine,

and shall we think Him less worthy of credit

when He changes wine into His Blood?” ~ St Cyril of Alexandria

Click here: St. Cyril of Alexandria - YouTube (2 mins)

St Cyril of Alexandria, pray for us!

ORDAINED to the Holy Priesthood of Jesus Christ

TODAY

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Oh, day of Love Divine, all loves excelling!

An Old German saying:
It is worth wearing out a pair of shoes to walk
to receive a priest's First Blessing!

Rev Mr Joshua Barrow ~ Diocese of Providence (Rhode Island)

Rev Mr Nicholas Fleming ~ Diocese of Providence
Rev Mr Ryan Simas ~ Diocese of Providence

Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul ~ 10:00 AM Mass 

Rev Mr Alexander Kreidler ~ Diocese of Kansas City -St Joseph (Missouri)
Rev Mr Andrew Mattingly ~ Diocese of Kansas City -St Joseph
Cathedral of St Jospeh ~ 10:00 AM Mass

Rev Mr George Elliot ~ Diocese of Tyler (Texas)
Rev Mr Nelson Munoz ~ Diocese of Tyler 
Rev Mr Joshua Neu ~ Diocese of Tyler 
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception - 10:00 AM Mass

Rev Mr Kyle Metzger ~ Diocese of Fargo (North Dakota) 
Rev Mr William Slattery ~ Diocese of Fargo
St Mary's Cathedral  - 10:00 AM Mass

Rev Mr Cesar Anicama ~ Diocese of Jefferson City (Missouri)
Rev Mr Jeffrey Brooke ~ Diocese of Jefferson City
Rev Mr Simeon Etonu ~ Diocese of Jefferson City
Cathedral of St Joseph - 11:00 AM Mass

Rev Br Fernando Camou ~ Diocese of Phoenix (Arizona)
SS Simon and Jude Cathedral - 10:00 AM Mass

Rev Mr Christopher Bethge ~ Diocese of Brooklyn (New York)
Rev Mr Jose Castano ~ Diocese of Brooklyn 
Rev Mr Nicholas Colalella ~ Diocese of Brooklyn 
Rev Mr John Gribowich ~ Diocese of Brooklyn 
Rev Mr Christopher Heanue ~ Diocese of Brooklyn 
Rev Mr Daniel Kingsley ~ Diocese of Brooklyn 
Rev Mr Lukasz Lech ~ Diocese of Brooklyn 
Rev Mr Mark Matthias ~ Diocese of Brooklyn 
Rev Mr Rafael Perez ~ Diocese of Brooklyn 
Rev Mr Alexander Pinacue ~ Diocese of Brooklyn 
Co-Cathedral of St Joseph - 10:30 AM Mass

Rev Mr Robert Coleman ~ Diocese of Charlotte (North Carolina) 
Rev Mr Santiago Mariani ~ Diocese of Charlotte
Cathedral of St Patrick - 10:00 AM Mass

Rev Mr Mark Miller ~ Diocese of LaCrosse (Wisconsin) 
Rev Mr Daniel Thelen ~ Diocese of LaCrosse 
St Joseph the Workman Cathedral - 10:00 AM Mass

Rev Mr Jay Alexius ~ Diocese of Lake Charles (Louisiana) 
Rev Mr Ruben Villarreal ~ Diocese of Lake Charles 
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception - 10:00 AM Mass

Rev Mr Tyler Bischoff ~ Diocese of Gaylord (Michigan)
Rev Mr Robert Pahlkotter ~ Diocese of Gaylord
St Mary's Cathedral - 10:00 AM Mass

Let us hold them in prayer and offer thanksgiving for each  'YES'!

"He made them, the vicars of His love."

St. Ambrose of Milan

He is totally available...

 "I am asked for very little compared to

how much I am being given." - St Josemaría Escrivá

 

"... Jesus hides in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar because He wants us to dare to approach Him. He wants to nourish us so we become one single thing with Him.

When He said, Apart from me you can do nothing, He was not condemning Christians to ineffectiveness or obliging them to seek Him by a difficult and arduous route. On the contrary... He has stayed here with us, He is totally available to us."

St Josemaría Escrivá

Spain ~ 1902-1975

Priest, Founder of Opus Dei

 FEAST DAY - June 26

Click here: josemariaescriva - YouTube (7 mins)

Click here: St. Josemaría Escrivá: Saint of Ordinary Life - Crisis Magazine

 

St Josemaría Escrivá, pray for us!



ORDAINED to the Holy Priesthood of Jesus Christ TODAY

Friday, June 26, 2015

Oh, day of Love Divine, all loves excelling!

An Old German saying:

It is worth wearing out a pair of shoes to walk

to receive a priest's First Blessing!

 

Rev Mr Joseph Delke ~ Diocese of Salt Lake City (Utah)

Rev Mr David Trujillo ~ Diocese of Salt Lake City

Cathedral of the Madeleine ~ 7 PM Mass

 

Rev Mr Christopher Lebsock ~ Diocese of Helena (Montana)

Rev Mr Craig Hanley ~ Diocese of Helena

Cathedral of St Helena 

 

Rev Mr Eric Dinga~ Diocese of Sioux Falls (South Dakota)

Rev Mr Grant Lacey ~ Diocese of Sioux Falls

St Joseph Cathedral - 11:00 AM Mass

  

Rev Mr Scott Emerson ~ Madison (Wisconsin)

Rev Mr Chahm Gahng ~ Madison

Rev Mr Christopher Gernetzke  ~ Madison

Rev Mr Tafadzwa Kushamba ~ Madison

Rev Mr Gabriel Lopez-Betanzos ~ Madison

Rev Mr Christopher Padilla ~ Society of Jesus (Jesuits)

St Maria Goretti Church ~ 7:30 PM Mass

 

Let us hold them in prayer and offer thanksgiving for their 'YES'!

 

St Josemaria Escriva describes this experience

about himself as a young seminarian...

"Why am I becoming a priest? Our Lord wants something: what is it?  

And in Latin — not very elegant Latin —

… I kept repeating Domine, ut videam! Ut sit! Ut sit!  -

The thing that you want, and that I don’t know — make it happen!”

Dedicated emissaries...

"I propose to have no other purpose in all my activities,

either interior or exterior, than the motive of Love alone...

St Teresa Margaret Redi of the Sacred Heart

 

"When devotion to the Sacred Heart is recommended, what is being recommended to us is the gift of our entire self to Jesus - soul and body, thoughts, feelings, words, actions, joys and sorrows.

Jesus came to light a fire on earth.  Fire purifies, gives light, communicates, unites.  Such is the blaze of Divine Love devotion to the Sacred Heart enkindles in our hearts.

The Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament feeds the flame of our love for the Lord, burning from us the dross of self.   Thus afire we thirst for souls as He does, becoming His dedicated emissaries among the men and women of our day, so many of whom neither know Him nor love Him."

Fr Richard Neilson

Celebrating the birth of the herald!

Solemnity of the Birth 
of St John the Baptist - June 24

Today's Entrance Antiphon - Jn 1:6-7; Lk 1:17

 A man was sent from God, whose name was John.  He came 

to testify to the light, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.

  

Today's Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia! You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High,

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.  Alleluia, alleluia!

"Happy birthday of John the Baptist. His birth is the culmination of an age, an era, a Covenant. He is the last of the Old Testament Prophets. His birth signals an end and a beginning. The Book of Hebrews says By calling this covenant “new,” [God] has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear (Hebrews 8:13). Hence John would later say, “The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must increase; I must decrease. (Jn 3:29-30).  Today John the Baptist is born who will usher in the new by answering the most significant question ever posed:  "But where is the Lamb?'"

Msgr Charles Pope

Pastor ~ Holy Comforter - St Cyprian Parish ~ Washington, DC

 

“Behold the Lamb of God

who takes away the sins of the world.”

(St John the Baptist is quoted at every Mass)

Prayer after Communion (Today's Mass)

Having feasted at the banquet of the heavenly Lamb,

we pray, O Lord,

that, finding joy in the nativity of Saint John the Baptist,

your Church may know as the author of her rebirth

the Christ whose coming John foretold.

Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

 

“I want to show you a sun that shone more brightly than all these, a soul that was truly free and detached, cleaving only to the will of God. I have often wondered who is the most mortified of the saints I know, and after some reflection I have come to the conclusion that it was Saint John the Baptist. He went into the desert when he was five years old and knew that our Savior and his came on earth in a place quite close by, one or two days' journey perhaps. How his heart, touched with love of his Savior from the time He was in His Mother's womb, must have longed to enjoy His presence! Yet he spends twenty-five years in the desert without coming to see our Lord even once; and leaving the desert he stays to catechize without visiting Him but waiting till our Lord comes to seek him out. Then when he has baptized Him he does not follow Him but stays behind to do his appointed task. How truly mortified was his spirit! To be so near his Savior and not see Him, to have Him so close and not enjoy His presence! Is this not a completely detached spirit, detached even from God Himself so as to do His will and serve Him, to leave God for God, and not to love God in order to love Him better? The example of this great saint overwhelms me with its grandeur.”  ~  St Francis de Sales

Click here: St. John the Baptist - YouTube 
Click here: Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist - Catholic Culture 
Click here: The Catholic Witness of St. J the B : The Integrated Catholic Life™

St John the Baptist, pray for us!

Friends of the King!

 “The Eucharist is the visible manifestation

of the generosity of God.” - Fr Raniero Cantalamessa

“Beneath the accidents of bread, Jesus is accessible – if the King disguises Himself, we can converse with Him without ceremonies and court etiquette:  indeed He seems to have waived His claim to them by appearing incognito.

Take pleasure in remaining in His society:  do not lose such precious time, for this hour is of the utmost value to the soul, and the good Jesus desires you to spend it with Him.

When you have received our Lord, since He really dwells within you, try to close the eyes of your body and to open those of your soul; look into your heart.  … He will reveal Himself to you, in proportion to the desire you have of seeing Him.  …

He will not show Himself openly or reveal His glories or bestow His treasures, save on souls who prove that they ardently desire Him, for these are His real friends.”

Excerpt from The Way of Perfection 34:9-11

St Teresa of Avila (1582 +)

Curagio!

Therefore , my dear brothers, stand firm.  Let nothing move you. 

Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because

you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. - I Cor 15:58

 

"When Thomas More was Chancellor of England some of his friends reproached him for going to Communion so often.  With all his duties and responsibilities they thought that this piety took up too much of his time.  He answered their objections with these words: 

'Your reasons for wanting me to stay away from Holy Communion are exactly the ones which cause me to go so often.  My distractions are great, but it is in Communion that I recollect myself.  I have temptations many times a day; by daily Communion I get the strength to overcome them.  I have much very important business to handle and I need light and wisdom; it is for this very reason that I go to Holy Communion every day to consult Jesus about them.' " 

John M Haffert

Excerpt from The World's Greatest Saints

St Thomas More

Husband, Father, Lawyer, Knight,

Lord Chancellor of England, Author, Martyr

Steadfastly refused to approve Henry VIII’s divorce/remarriage

and establishment of the Church of England

Patron of Lawyers
England ~ 1478-1535

FEAST DAY - June 22

  

 On July 7, 1535, the 57-year-old More

came before the executioner to be beheaded.

“I die the king's good servant,” he told the onlookers, “but God's first.”

Click here: Fr. Robert Barron on St. Thomas More - YouTube (7 mins) 

Click here: St. Thomas More - YouTube (2 mins)

St Thomas More, pray for us!

ANOTHER FEAST CELEBRATED TODAY:

Of all the English bishops, only Bishop John Fisher of Rochester publicly opposed Henry VIII's mandatory Oath of Allegiance, which unlawfully declared King Henry the head of the Church of England. The bishop's stand ultimately cost him his life. May his example inspire all Catholics today, especially the bishops on whose courageous leadership the Church depends.

On the scaffold he said to the people assembled:

"Christian people, I am come hither to die for the faith of Christ's Holy Catholic Church, and I thank God hitherto my stomach hath served me very well thereunto, so that yet I have not feared death. Wherefore I do desire you all to help and assist me with your prayers, that at the very point and instant of death's stroke, I may in that very moment stand steadfast without fainting in any one point of the Catholic faith free from any fear; and I beseech Almighty God of His infinite goodness to save the king and this Realm, and that it may please Him to hold His holy hand over it, and send the king good Counsel."

He then knelt, said the Te Deum and submitted to the axe.

Erasmus said: "He is the one man at this time who is incomparable for uprightness of life, for learning and for greatness of soul."

St. John Fisher

Bishop, Martyr

England ~ 1469-1535

FEAST DAY - June 22

 St. John wrote to someone who left the Church: “Had you but tasted one

drop of the sweetness which inebriates the souls of those religious from

their worship of this Sacrament, you would never have written as you have,

nor have apostatized from the faith that you formerly professed.”

St John Fisher, pray for us!