Core of Christianity: Heart of Jesus

SOLEMNITY of the Most SACRED HEART of JESUS

His love endures forever! (cf. Ps 136)

"The very core of Christianity is expressed in the heart of Jesus ... the Love that saves us and even now makes us live in the eternity of God (John 3:16).  ... God's heart calls to our hearts, inviting us to come out of ourselves, to forsake our human certainties, to trust in Him and by following His example, to make ourselves a gift of unbounded love."  ~ Pope Benedict XVI

"I am linked with Eternal Love through the Blessed Sacrament.  In His temple within me, the Saviour has revealed His goodness and kindness to me.  I have received the inestimable alms of God.  His love urges me...

So, for all mankind, I beg Your Eternal Love.  Let me pour out this Love into the hearts of all.  Let me welcome with compassion the poor, the oppressed, the rejected, those in danger, and lead them to You, the Good Shepherd.  Grant me this grace through the Blessed Sacrament, the source of Your human-divine love.

... Never have I been able to separate the devotion of the Sacred Heart from that of the Blessed Sacrament.  ... When you are appealing to His Divine Heart for a soul, He will never refuse you, although sometimes He demands much prayer, sacrifice and suffering." 

Blessed Maria Droste

Good Shepherd Sister

Our Lord made known to Bl Maria that He wanted the entire universe consecrated to His Heart and that  she was to request this of the Holy Father.  She carried out this delicate task in June, 1898, and again, on the insistence of our Lord, in January, 1899.  "My mission on earth will be completed as soon as the consecration is accomplished", she said to her confessor.  And so it was.  Shortly before her death (June 8, 1899) Bl Maria received news of the publication of the encyclical ANNUM SACRUM with the decree of consecration of the entire human race to the Sacred Heart (Pope Leo XIII) on June 11, 1899. 

 Jesus meek and humble of Heart,

make our hearts like unto Thine!

 

ORDAINED to the Holy Priesthood of Jesus Christ TODAY

Friday, June 27, 2014

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 David Gaines ~ Diocese of Spokane (Washington)

Rev Mr Paul Heric ~ Diocese of Spokane

Rev Mr Brian Sattler ~ Diocese of Spokane

Rev Mr Curtis Seidel~ Diocese of Spokane

Rev Mr Dale Tuckerman~ Diocese of Spokane

St Aloysius Church ~ 6:30 PM Mass

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

"The priest is another Christ: Alter Christus, he is Jesus Himself;

he has the same work as Jesus to accomplish;

he must be the same." ~ Dom de Roton, OSB

All glory to the Three in One!

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee:

Holy, Holy, Holy! merciful and mighty!

God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity.

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

"All three in a great dynamic of love,

are so close that they are One God." ~ Fr. John Foley, S. J.

 

Trinity Sunday, officially "The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity," is one of the few feasts of the Christian Year that celebrates a reality and doctrine rather than an event or person. On Trinity Sunday we remember and honor the eternal God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Trinity Sunday is celebrated the Sunday after Pentecost, and lasts only one day, which is symbolic of the unity of the Trinity. The Eastern Churches have no tradition of Trinity Sunday, arguing that they celebrate the Trinity every Sunday. Westerners do as well, although they set aside a special feast day for the purpose.

“The Eucharistic gift assumes even more awesome proportions when we reflect that the Son of God present herein is ever united, intimately and indivisibly, with His co-Persons in the Trinity – His Eternal Father and their mutual Spirit of Love; which means that they, too are mysteriously yet really with Him, and consequently with us no less. 

In effect, then, the total Eucharistic mystery includes the presence of both the Father and the Holy Spirit as an inseparable concomitant.  That is, the Blessed Sacrament embraces the Trinitarian mystery within its compass.”

Fr Richard Foley, S.J.

Mary and the Eucharist

"In the communion of grace with the Trinity, man's 'living area' is broadened

and raised up to the supernatural level of divine life." - St John Paul II

Click here: Fr. Robert Barron's -Theology: Holy Trinity Sunday (2 mins)

Click here: Fr. Robert Barron -Theology: Holy Trinity Sunday  (1:43 mins)

Both Excellent!  

BLESSED FATHER'S DAY to all FATHERS!

"Best wishes, best wishes to you on your day!

I ask for you the grace to be ever closer to your children,

allow them to grow, but be close, close!

They need you, your presence, your closeness, your love....

As Joseph was for Jesus, [be] the example

and the teacher of the wisdom

that is nourished by the Word of God."

Pope Francis, Father's Day Message 2014

Solemnity of Pentecost

 Solemnity of Pentecost

In honor of the Holy Spirit - wear RED to holy Mass today!

Today is Pentecost. It is not merely a reminder of a past event, but a continuation of the Spirit renewing the face of the earth (Psalm 104:30). Today's Pentecost will not be a shadow of the first Pentecost, rather the first Pentecost is a shadow of today's Pentecost. God's grace is abounding all the more (Romans 5:20). The Spirit is not diminishing His work in our world, but increasing it. It will not be only thousands who come to Jesus today (Acts 2:41), but millions. The waters of the Spirit become deeper as they flow further around the world and into history (Ezekiel 47:5). 

 Come, Holy Spirit, Come!

The Holy Spirit "leads us to perceive the Lord’s presence and love in our lives, and moves us to respond joyfully in prayer and adoration."

- Pope Francis, 4 June 2014

 St Cyril of Jerusalem, in his Catecheses, states that we

"call upon God in His mercy

to send His Holy Spirit

upon the offerings before us,

to transform the bread into the Body of Christ

and the wine into the Blood of Christ.

Whatever the Holy Spirit touches is

sanctified and completely transformed."

  

 

 

The Pentecost Sequence, Veni Sancte Spiritus

Come, Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!

Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.

You, of comforters the best;

You, the soul’s most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;

In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.

O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!

Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:

Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
In your sevenfold gift descend:

Give them virtue’s sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end.

---

One way to celebrate today...

Click here: Catholic Cuisine: Flaming Cupcakes for Pentecost!

"There is no greater freedom than that of allowing oneself 

to be guided by the Holy Spirit, renouncing the attempt 

to plan and control everything to the last detail, 

and instead letting him enlighten, guide, and direct us, 

leading us wherever he wills. 

The Holy Spirit knows well what is needed in every time and place. 

This is what it means to be mysteriously fruitful!" 

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium #280

Click here: ZENIT - Pope Francis -Pentecost Homily 

That generous word...

 The ANNUNCIATION of the LORD

Solemnity

  "The Virgin Mary utters that generous word, "be it done"

...Immediately the Heart of Jesus, ever to be adored,

has begun to pulsate with love, divine and human."

 

Pius XII, On Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 63

 

"The Wisdom of God creates poets. How evidently this is so can be seen by considering Mary of Nazareth. When she had given to the Lord of Hosts the Flesh that would become our Bread, Wisdom caused her to break into a poem of praise, a song repeated by more people than probably any other ever composed. The Presence within stirred her to exult and proclaim the One 'who has filled the hungry with good things'. And the praise owed to the Presence of embodied Wisdom among us has never ceased in the Church from that day until this."

James T. O'Connor

The Hidden Manna

Mystical Rose - Artist: Sr. Marie Pierre Semler, M.M. 

“When the Divine Child was conceived, Mary’s humanity gave Him hands and feet, eyes and ears, and a body with which to suffer. Just as the petals of a rose after a dew close on the dew as if to absorb its energies, so too Mary as the Mystical Rose closed upon Him Whom the Old Testament had described as a dew descending upon the earth. When finally she did give Him birth, it was as if a great ciborium had opened, and she was holding in her fingers the Guest Who was also the Host of the world, as if to say, ‘Look, this is the Lamb of God; look, this is He Who takes away the sins of the world.’”

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Life of Christ

More on the ANNUNCIATION, incl liturgical readings, history and family activities

http://www.wf-f.org/Annunciation.html

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, 

that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ!

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!

Solemnity of the Holy Mother of God

and World Day of Peace

January 1

 

Hail, Holy Mother, who gave birth to the King,

who rules heaven and earth for ever.

(Entrance Antiphon, Today's Liturgy)

 

 

 

"Let us invite the Blessed Virgin to preside maternally over the Eucharistic life of the entire Church.  May she, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, implore from Him the attainment of that Life which Christ offers to all through the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, celebrated and received in the power of the Spirit of Life and Love."

Pope Blessed John Paul II

 We have received this heavenly Sacrament with joy, O Lord:

grant, we pray, that it may lead us to eternal life,

for we rejoice to proclaim the Blessed ever-Virgin Mary

Mother of your Son and Mother of the Church, 

Through Christ our Lord.

~ Prayer after Communion, Today's Liturgy

 

Virgin Immaculate, you are the perfect model of adorers of the Blessed Sacrament. You adored Jesus in the little white Host with the same faith, reverence and wonder with which you adored Him on the first Christmas night and during all the years you lived with Him. Teach us not to forget that the small white Host is truly our God, infinite, eternal and omnipotent. Help us to conduct ourselves at all times in His presence with the modesty and reverence we owe to our God...

Virgin Immaculate, perfect lover of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, we ask you to obtain for us the graces we need to become true adorers of our Eucharistic God. Grant us, we beg of you, to know Him better, to love Him more, and to center our lives around the Eucharist, that is, to make our whole life a constant prayer of adoration, thanksgiving, reparation, and petition to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Amen.

V. Pray for us, O Virgin Immaculate, Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

R. That the Eucharistic Kingdom of Jesus Christ may come among us!

~ From "Treasury of Prayer: Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament"

 

 

“We serve a Mother who seems to grow more beautiful

as new generations call her blessed."  ~ GK Chesterton

The Lord has done marvelous deeds!

SOLEMNITY of the

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

December 8

 

Sing to the Lord a new song,

for He has done marvelous deeds.  Psalm 98:1

 

God chose Mary the Immaculate to be "a model of holiness" ... At Mary's conception, a new way of being human happens, and we are "chosen, destined" to share it.  Adam and Eve were tricked by the serpent's "conception." The yes of Mary at the Annunciation, the culmination of the Immaculate Conception, undoes the disobedience of Eden and makes paradise a possibility once again for us.

 (From Magnificat, Vol 15, No 10, Dec 2013)

 

 

Glorious things are spoken of you, O Mary, for from you arose the sun of justice, Christ our God (Communion Antiphon - today's liturgy).

 

The Immaculate Conception (detail): Sassoferrato

 

Preface: The Mystery of Mary and the Church

(today's Liturgy)

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation ,

always and everywhere to give you thanks,

Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.

For you preserved the most Blessed Virgin Mary

from all stain of original sin,

so that in her, endowed with the rich fullness

    of your grace,

you might prepare a worthy Mother for your Son

and signify the beginning of the Church,

his beautiful Bride without spot or wrinkle.

She, the most pure Virgin, was to bring forth a Son,

the innocent Lamb who would wipe away our offenses;

you placed her above all others

to be for your people an advocate of grace

and a model of holiness.

And so, in company with the choirs of Angels,

we praise you, and with joy we proclaim:  Holy, …

“To the maternal intercession of Mary, the Virgin of expectation, let us entrust our path toward the Lord, while we continue our Advent itinerary of making our heart and our life ready for the coming of Emmanuel, God-with-us. “ - Benedict XVI, 12/05/11, Noon Angelus

Click here: Catholic Fire: The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Incl Brief overview - What is the IC? YouTube

 

 O fairest Virgin Mary, intercede for us!

 

TODAY:

Episcopal Ordination of

The Most Reverend Andrew Cozzens

 

 

 

Monday, December 9, 2013

2:00 PM

Cathedral of Saint Paul

St Paul, Minnesota

O blest communion!

 

  Solemnity of All Saints*

November 1

We are called to remember all of the saints, known and unknown, whose lives have served as holy examples for us.  

"To become saints means to fulfill completely what we already are, raised to the dignity of God's adopted children in Christ Jesus..." ... "This, then, is the meaning of today's Solemnity:  looking at the shining example of the Saints to reawaken within us the great longing to be like them:  happy to live near God, in His light, in the great family of God's friends.  Being a Saint means living close to God, to live in His family... " ~ Benedict XVI

 

   

          "Saints of God, perfected in love and victorious over sin, who now enjoy the reward of adoring Our Lord face to face in everlasting JOY and GLORY: 

            Be gracious to remember us, flawed and failing, who still struggle on earth, who kneel here adoring Our Lord hidden in the tabernacle, who long for the day when we too will be made like Him and will see Him as He is.

              Gather around us here in His Eucharistic Presence to strengthen us with your prayers and to enrich our feeble worship with the mighty chorus of your praise.  Teach us by your example to love Him above all things, so that we too may become the pure in heart to see God, who enjoy with you the eternal blessed fellowship of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen." 

From Jesus, We Adore You,

Prayers Before the Blessed Sacrament

Paul Thigpen

   

 

 

*Origin of All Saint's Day as a feast of the Church Click here:  http://www.wf-f.org/AllSaints.html

 

  

 

During the Octave of All Saints' Day (Nov 1 thru Nov 8) any of the faithful,

by devoutly visiting a cemetery and praying for the departed,

can obtain a plenary indulgence (each day this is done),

applicable to the poor souls in purgatory,

(under the usual conditions for obtaining indulgences).

Let us follow her - who follows Him

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Solemnity ~ August 15

Today, she who "belongs to Christ" by a unique, abiding, and unrepeatable

privilege, the most holy Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary, follows where He

has gone, "through the greater and more perfect tent not made by human hands,

that is, not of this creation . . . into the Holy Place" (Heb 9:11). "Today the sacred

and living ark of the living God, who conceived her Creator Himself,

takes up her abode in the temple of God." ~ St. John Damascene

The Assumption of the Virgin ~ Bartolome Esteban Murillo (1617-1682)

 “Above all, let us listen to Mary Most Holy, in whom the mystery of the Eucharist appears, more than in anyone else, as a mystery of light. Gazing upon Mary, we come to know the transforming power present in the Eucharist. In her we see the world renewed in love. Contemplating her, assumed body and soul into heaven, we see opening up before us those 'new heavens' and that 'new earth' which will appear at the second coming of Christ. Here below, the Eucharist represents their pledge, and in a certain way, their anticipation: 'Veni, Domine Iesu!'’” (Rev 22:20).

Bl. John Paul II,  Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 62

"The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the oldest Marian Feast, returns every year in the heart of summer. It is an opportunity to rise with Mary to the heights of the spirit where one breathes the pure air of supernatural life and contemplates the most authentic beauty, the beauty of holiness. The atmosphere of today’s celebration is steeped in paschal joy. “Today”, the antiphon of the Magnificat says, “the Virgin Mary was taken up to Heaven. Rejoice, for she reigns with Christ for ever. Alleluia”. This proclamation speaks to us of an event that is utterly unique and extraordinary, yet destined to fill the heart of every human being with hope and happiness.

Mary is indeed the first fruit of the new humanity, the creature in whom the mystery of Christ – his Incarnation, death, Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven – has already fully taken effect, redeeming her from death and conveying her, body and soul, to the Kingdom of immortal life.

For this reason, as the Second Vatican Council recalls, the Virgin Mary is a sign of certain hope and comfort to us (cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 68).  Today's feast impels us to lift our gaze to Heaven; not to a heaven consisting of abstract ideas or even an imaginary heaven created by art, but the Heaven of true reality which is God Himself.  God is Heaven.  He is our destination, the destination and the eternal dwelling place from which we come and for which we are striving." 

- Pope Benedict XVI - August 15, 2008 (Homily)

"And now death came; not indeed clothed in mourning and grief, as it does to others, but adorned with light and gladness. But what do we say? Why speak of death? Let us rather say that divine love came, and cut the thread of that noble life. And as a light, before going out, gives a last and brighter flash than ever, so did this beautiful creature, on hearing her Son's invitation to follow him, wrapped in the flames of love, and in the midst of her loving sighs, give a last sigh of still more ardent love, and breathing forth her soul, expired. Thus was that great soul, that beautiful dove of the Lord, loosened from the bands of this life; thus did she enter into the glory of the blessed, where she is now seated, and will be seated, Queen of Paradise, for all eternity." - St. Alphonsus de Liguori

Prayer on the Assumption

All-powerful and ever-living God, you raised the sinless Virgin Mary, mother of your Son, body and soul to the glory of heaven. May we see heaven as our final goal and come to share her glory. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Fire enkindles fire!

Solemnity of the Most SACRED HEART of JESUS

   All eyes on Jesus! ~ Mass of Thanksgiving - Fr Spencer J Howe ~ 26 May 2013

  

"Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus infallibly leads souls to the Eucharist. Love for, and devotion to, the Eucharist infallibly leads souls to the mystery of God's infinite love symbolized for us by the Sacred Heart, a symbol necessary because love itself is immaterial and imperceptible: We need the sensible manifestation of the Divine Heart.

So it is that the Sacred Heart, the Holy Eucharist, and Love itself, are one and the same thing; for in the Eucharist dwells Jesus, in Jesus His Heart, and in His Heart is infinite love. The Eucharist can be explained only by love; the love of Jesus is the love of His Heart, and so the Eucharist is explained only by the Sacred Heart. Drawn close to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by cords of love, we receive into our own hearts the Eucharistic Lord in Holy Communion. It is not possible to carry fire in one's bosom and not become inflamed by it. Fire enkindles fire."

~ Fr Richard Neilson

Full text:

Click here: Library : The Sacred Heart and the Eucharist - Catholic Culture

"Love overcomes, love delights.

Those who love the Sacred Heart rejoice."

~ St Bernadette

 

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

The Sacred Heart is often depicted in Christian art as a flaming heart shining with divine light, pierced by the lance-wound, surrounded by the crown of thorns, surmounted by a cross and bleeding. Sometimes the image is shown shining within the bosom of Christ with His wounded hands pointing at the heart. The wounds and crown of thorns allude to the manner of Jesus' death, while the fire represents the transformative power of Divine Love. Jesus is ever-offering His Heart of Love to all!

 

Click here: Sacred Heart of Jesus - YouTube

Click here: Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus - YouTube

Click here: Sacred Heart of Jesus - YouTube