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The Daily Gospel

2008-12-21T21:12:00.001-08:00

Monday, 22 December 2008
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 1,46-56.

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. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever." Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

The Daily Gospel

2008-12-10T21:13:00.001-08:00

Thursday, 11 December 2008

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 11,11-15

Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force. All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come. Whoever has ears ought to hear.

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception: Mary Reflects the Beauty That Saves the World

2008-12-08T10:26:00.000-08:00

Vatican City, Dec 8, 2008 (CNA).- In celebration of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, Pope Benedict XVI presided over the angelus prayer today at noon. The Pontiff said that this feast is a chance to "contemplate the reflection of the Beauty who saves the world: the beauty of God that shines on the face of Christ."

Thousands of pilgrims poured into St. Peter's Square today to pray the angelus with the Holy Father and hear his teaching on the Virgin Mary. Pope Benedict described her, saying, "this beauty is totally pure, humble, free from arrogance and presumption." This is how the Virgin appeared to St. Bernadette in Lourdes, where she told the saint, "I am the Immaculate Conception," he reminded the faithful.

The Pope explained that the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary recalls two truths of the faith: the existence of original sin, and especially the victory of Christ over evil, a victory that shines so sublimely in the form of the Virgin Mary.

"The existence of what the Church calls ‘original sin’ is unfortunately overwhelmingly evident, if only we look around us and within ourselves. The experience of evil is so consistent that it arouses in us the question: where did it come from?" This question becomes an "even more profound one" for the believer, the Pope noted. "If God, who is absolute Kindness, has created everything, where does evil come from?" he asked.

Benedict XVI explained that the answer is clear from the first pages of the Bible, which tell the story of creation and the fall of the first parents.

"God created all that exists, in particular he has created human beings in his own image, he did not cause death, but it entered the world through the envy of the devil (Wisdom 1:13-14; 2,23-24), who rebelled against God, and also deceived men, causing them to rebel."

"It's the drama of the freedom that God picks us up out of love, pledging instead to be a son of a woman who crushed the head of the ancient serpent," he said, adding that "the woman predestined to be Mother of the Redeemer, the mother of the One who has been humiliated to bring us back to our original dignity."

"This Woman, in the eyes of God, has always had a face and a name: "full of grace," as she was called by the Angel visitors to Nazareth. She is the new Eve, the wife of Adam, made to be the mother of all redeemed," Pope Benedict said. He also quoted from Saint Andrew of Crete who said: "Mary Theotokos, the common refuge of all Christians, was the first to be released by early fall of our forefathers."

The Holy Father also pointed to today's liturgy, which says that God has "prepared a worthy dwelling for his son and, in anticipation of the death of him, has preserved from every stain of sin."

In keeping with tradition, Pope Benedict XVI will visit the Spanish Steps in Rome this afternoon, where he will pay homage to the image of the Immaculate Conception.

Advent Begins: Pope Reminds Christians to be Watchful for Christ

2008-12-02T09:03:00.000-08:00

Vatican City, Nov 30, 2008 (CNA).- Having returned from his pastoral visit to the Roman parish of St. Lawrence Outside-the-Walls, Pope Benedict XVI prayed the Sunday Angelus with 15,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square. In his words to the faithful, the Pope challenged them to be mindful of how the Lord comes into their lives and to make room for him.

Before the praying the Angelus, he noted the beginning, with the First Sunday of Advent, of a new liturgical year. "All of us say that 'we don't have time' because the rhythm of daily life has become, for us, frantic...God gives us his time. We have always little time; especially for the Lord we do not know or, sometimes, do not want to find. Well, God has time for us! This is the first thing that the beginning of the liturgical year makes us rediscover with always new marvel.”

Pope Benedict then explained that God gives us his time “because he entered into history with his word and his works of salvation to open it to the eternal, to make it become part of the history of the covenant. Time is already in itself a sign of God's love: a gift that like every other thing, man is in a position to value or, to spoil; to understand, or to neglect with obtuse superficiality."

The Pontiff suggested three great "hinges" of time, which scan the history of salvation: at the beginning, Creation; at the middle, the Incarnation-Redemption and at the end, "parusia," the final coming that also includes universal judgment.

"These three moments," he continued, "are not understood simply in chronological succession. In fact, creation is at the origin of all, but it also continues and is carried throughout the entire cosmos, until the end of time. So too the Incarnation-Redemption, which occurred at a given historical moment, the period of Jesus' passage on earth, still extends its radius to all time, before and after. And at their time, the final coming and last judgment, which on the Cross of Christ had a decisive advance, exercise their influence over the conduct of men of every age."

The liturgical season of Advent celebrates the coming of God in two moments, the Holy Father explained."First it invites us to reawaken the expectation of the glorious return of Christ; then, as Christmas approaches, it calls upon us to welcome the Word made flesh for our salvation.

“But the Lord comes into our lives all the time,” Pope Benedict reminded the faithful.

Turning to today’s Gospel reading, he said, “Jesus' appeal therefore comes very much at the right time and in this first Sunday it is again proposed with force: 'Be watchful!' Jesus directed these words to his disciples, but also to 'everybody else' because each one will be called to answer for his existence at a time known only to God. This entails the right detachment from earthly things, sincere repentance for one's own errors, active charity towards one's fellow man and especially a humble and trusting faith in the hands of God, our tender and merciful Father."

Benedict XVI concluded, "The icon of Advent is the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus. We invoke her to help also us to become a prolongation of humanity for the Lord who comes."

The Daily Gospel

2008-11-30T21:12:00.001-08:00

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 8,5-11.

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully." He said to him, "I will come and cure him." The centurion said in reply, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven

The Daily Gospel

2008-11-17T21:12:00.001-08:00

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 19,1-10

He came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost."

The Daily Gospel

2008-11-10T21:12:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, 11 November 2008

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 17,7-10

Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here immediately and take your place at table'? Would he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'

The Daily Gospel

2008-11-05T21:12:00.001-08:00

Thursday, 06 November 2008

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 15,1-10

The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." So to them he addressed this parable. What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance. Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, 'Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.' In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Bishops Defend Marriage in YouTube Videos

2008-11-03T09:07:00.001-08:00

Washington DC, Nov 2, 2008 (CNA).- The U.S. bishops have posted to the YouTube video sharing site two videos about same-sex unions, defending marriage from efforts to redefine it.

“Certain groups and individuals are trying to make same-sex unions the equivalent of marriage," they state. “This is a false idea being proposed and, in some cases, imposed by a minority. This is nothing less than the radical redefinition of marriage -- denying the truth that it is exclusively the union of a man and a woman."

The bishops featured in the videos include Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky and Archbishop of San Antonio José Gomez, who speaks in the Spanish-language video.

In the video, the bishops warn that a successful redefinition of marriage to include same-sex unions “will bring confusion to what marriage actually means. This confusion could spread and have enormous legal consequences for the rearing of children, public education, employment, and religious freedom. Children would be forced to learn that marriage is merely one kind of loving relationship among many. Churches would be prevented from witnessing to and teaching about the necessary and singular role of love between a man and a woman.”

“Same-sex unions and marriage are completely different realities,” they continue. “Reaffirming the traditional understanding of marriage is neither discrimination nor the denial of rights. Like all people, homosexual persons have the right to be treated with respect and to live in peace with the support of their loved ones. But it is to the benefit of all members of society that the institution of marriage be preserved as the relationship of a man and a woman that serves the common good in a distinct way.”

The videos are part of the efforts of the Defense of Marriage Ad Hoc Committee, which assists the bishops and State Catholic Conferences.

U.S. Prelate: Voters Need to Hear About Life Issues, Calls Them "Fundamental Concerns"

2008-10-31T09:13:00.000-07:00

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, OCT. 29, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Life and family are not "religious issues," but actually involve "fundament concerns of human civilization." And thus, voters need to be informed about them, says the archbishop of San Antonio.

Archbishop José Gomez affirmed this in a column published today in the San Antonio Express News, noting that a voter's guide published by that daily had neglected to list the candidates' positions regarding the preservation of life and the definition of marriage.

"The 'culture of life' issues, and I include in that the preservation of the very foundational definition of the human family, often are dismissed as purely religious issues," he wrote. "This characterization is inaccurate. These issues deal with the most fundamental concerns of human civilization. The strong moral teaching at the foundation of these issues does not disqualify them from deserving serious public discussion, nor deny the impact they have on the common good."

Archbishop Gomez said he finds it "unfortunate" that "when an individual raises abortion as a critical issue, there is a fear that they will be quickly labeled a 'one-issue' voter."

"While this characterization might protect one from confronting the moral gravity of taking an innocent, defenseless, human life, it also avoids the reality that abortion is an issue that affects all segments of our society," he wrote. "It represents the primary right guaranteed in our Declaration of Independence -- the right to life. Unless we protect this fundamental right of each human person, at all stages of life, no other issue or liberty matters."

The Church does not pretend to tell people for whom to vote, the archbishop clarified. "We have a responsibility to be a voice for the innocent, the helpless, for life itself at this time of political clutter.

"We cannot ignore these issues, many of which we believe are 'non-negotiable.' If our nation loses respect for life and true 'family values' it will have lost its moral authority to lead the world."

The Daily Gospel

2008-10-30T22:09:00.001-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Friday, 31 October 2008

Today the Church celebrates : St. Quentin, St. Wolfgang

John Paul II: "The sabbath was made for man" (Mk 2,27)

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 14,1-6.

On a sabbath he went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy. Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, "Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?" But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him. Then he said to them, "Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?" But they were unable to answer his question.

Commentary of the day :

John Paul II
Apostolic Letter "Dies Domini", 61 (copyright Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

"The sabbath was made for man" (Mk 2,27)

As the seventh day blessed and consecrated by God, the "shabbat" concludes the whole work of creation, and is therefore immediately linked to the work of the sixth day when God made man "in his image and likeness" (Gn 1:26). This very close connection between the "day of God" and the "day of man" did not escape the Fathers in their meditation on the biblical creation story. Saint Ambrose says in this regard: "Thanks, then, to the Lord our God who accomplished a work in which he might find rest. He made the heavens, but I do not read that he found rest there; he made the stars, the moon, the sun, and neither do I read that he found rest in them. I read instead that he made man and that then he rested, finding in man one to whom he could offer the forgiveness of sins". Thus there will be for ever a direct link between the "day of God" and the "day of man".

When the divine commandment declares: "Remember the Sabbath day in order to keep it holy" (Ex 20:8), the rest decreed in order to honour the day dedicated to God is not at all a burden imposed upon man, but rather an aid to help him to recognize his life-giving and liberating dependence upon the Creator, and at the same time his calling to cooperate in the Creator's work and to receive his grace. In honouring God's "rest", man fully discovers himself, and thus the Lord's Day bears the profound imprint of God's blessing (Gn 2:3), by virtue of which, we might say, it is endowed in a way similar to the animals and to man himself, with a kind of "fruitfulness" (Gn 1:22, 28). This "fruitfulness" is apparent above all in filling and, in a certain sense, "multiplying" time itself, deepening in men and women the joy of living and the desire to foster and communicate life.

Same-sex Marriage Will Impact All Families and Children, Video Shows

2008-10-29T12:04:00.001-07:00

Washington DC, Oct 27, 2008 (CNA).- To demonstrate the impact that allowing same-sex marriage has on society, iVoteValues has produced a short video showing how the gay agenda in schools impacts children and families.

iVoteValues, a collaborative effort from the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family recently released a video titled, “Gay Agenda in Schools.” In it, Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, explains how same-sex marriage impacts everyone.

“You may be asking yourself, how will same-sex marriage affect my family? Well, based on the evidence, everything changes when same-sex marriage becomes legal. If it is legalized, it must be taught as normal, acceptable and moral behavior in every public school.”

“Don’t believe me? It has already happened in Massachusetts,” Perkins states in the video.

In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to permit homosexual marriage in the United States. This decision has impacted students within the public school system as young as five who are taught that same-sex marriage is acceptable.

In the video, Perkins also speaks with two families who discuss their experiences of same-sex marriage being taught in schools.

The first family, the Parkers, explain that their kindergarten son was given a book about homosexuality in a “diversity book bag.” The parents were not given prior notification.

The second family, the Wirthlins, tell the story of their seven year old son coming home from school after a teacher read his class the book, “King and King,” in which a prince falls in love with another prince.

Mr. Wirthlin notes that “it’s a story that introduces the story of men having a relationship and getting married.” Wirthlin and his wife also explain in the video that homosexuality was presented to their son as something that is “good and right.”

The stories of these families show that voting in this election on same-sex marriage “affects every family and every child,” Perkins concludes in the video, “including yours.”

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OUR DAILY BREAD

2008-10-21T10:03:00.000-07:00

Tuesday
October 21, 2008

God’s Love Story

Read: Hosea 11

How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? . . . My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred. --Hosea 11:8

Is there any human feeling more powerful than that of betrayal? Ask a high school girl whose boyfriend has dumped her for a pretty cheerleader. Or tune your radio to a country-western station and listen to the lyrics of infidelity. Or check out the murders reported in the daily newspaper, an amazing number of which trace back to a quarrel with an estranged lover.

In the Old Testament, God through Hosea’s marriage demonstrates in living color exactly what it is like to love someone desperately and get nothing in return. Not even God, with all His power, will force a human being to love Him.

Many people think of God as an impersonal force, something akin to the law of gravity. The book of Hosea portrays almost the opposite: a God of passion and fury and tears and love. A God in mourning over Israel’s rejection of Him (11:8).

God the lover does not desire to share His bride with anyone else. Yet, amazingly, when Israel turned her back on God, He stuck with her. He was willing to suffer, in hope that someday she would return to Him.

Hosea, and later Jesus, prove that God longs not to punish but to love. In fact, He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us! --Philip Yancey

Love sent the Savior to die in my stead.
Why should He love me so?
Meekly to Calvary’s cross He was led.
Why should He love me so? --Harkness

God loved us so much, He sent His only Son

Bishop Reminds Catholics to Remember Judgment Day in Voting Booth

2008-10-20T12:02:00.000-07:00

St. Louis, Oct 18, 2008 (CNA).- Bishop Robert J. Herman, the administrator of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, has written a column reminding Catholics that their vote will be a decision weighed on the Day of Judgment. He urged Catholics not to treat the unborn as the neglectful rich man treated Lazarus in the biblical parable.

“Judgment Day is on its way,” the bishop wrote in the St. Louis Review. “We cannot stop it. We don’t know when it will come, but just as surely as the sun rises daily, the Son of Man will come when we least expect.”

“For many, this coming election may very well be judgment day, for this election will measure us,” he continued, referencing Christ’s words of judgment in Matthew 10:32-33:

“Everyone who acknowledges Me before others, I will acknowledge before My heavenly Father. But whoever denies Me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

Bishop Herman asked the faithful to consider what kind of witness they give to God when they enter the voting booth on Election Day.

“The decision I make in the voting booth will reflect my value system. If I value the good of the economy and my current lifestyle more than I do the right to life itself, then I am in trouble,” the bishop wrote.

He cited Pope John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation Christifideles laici, which said outcry on human rights is “false and illusory” if the right to life is not defended to the maximum.

“The right of our children to be protected from destruction is greater than my right to a thriving economy,” Bishop Herman continued.

“My desire for a good economy cannot justify my voting to remove all current restrictions on abortion. My desire to end the war in Iraq cannot justify my voting to remove all current restrictions on abortion.”

Bishop Herman looked to the spiritual dimension as well.

“Those 47 million children our nation destroyed are still living. We have destroyed their bodies, but their souls are still alive. When our Lord comes again, they may very well be there to judge us. Even worse, Jesus tells us that whatever we do to the least of our brethren, we do to Him. We would truly shudder if we heard the words, ‘I was in my mother’s womb but you took my life!’

“It is quite possible that we might see these children, but, depending upon the choices we have made, we may very well be separated from them by a great chasm which cannot be crossed, much as the rich man who ignored Lazarus, the poor man, during his lifetime here on earth but was separated from him after death.”

Bishop Herman said the “deepest problem” with many Catholics is that they have become accustomed to rationalizing away a “life of sinful actions” headed in the wrong direction.

“My goal is not to engage you in some political party way but to engage you with our Savior and His teachings. We need to constantly challenge our accustomed behaviors in the light of the Gospel,” he wrote.

He said the issues of the coming election could help people learn about the teachings of the Catholic Church and to use the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

“When we do this, both we and the heavens will be filled with joy!” he asserted.

“Judgment Day is on its way,” he repeated, encouraging people to pray the family Rosary daily between now and Election Day.

In a previous column for the St. Louis Review, Bishop Herman urged Catholics not to put politics ahead of the Fifth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.”

“Save our children!” he wrote. “More than anything else, this election is about saving our children or killing our children. This life issue is the overriding issue facing each of us in this coming election. All other issues, including the economy, have to take second place to the issue of life.”

Marriage Supporters in California Attacked Outside Catholic Church, "Wave of Intimidation"

2008-10-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

Sacramento, Oct 15, 2008 (CNA).- This past Sunday, a parishioner at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Modesto, California was attacked while helping promote Proposition 8, which will define marriage as only between a man and a woman in California. According to promoters of the initiative, the assault is part of a “wave of violence” throughout the state.

Jose Nunez, 37, was waiting outside of St. Stanislaus for Mass to finish so he could distribute yard signs to Prop. 8 supporters when he was approached by an opponent of the initiative.

The unidentified man grabbed about 75 of the “Vote Yes on 8” signs and ran. Nunez then spotted the man trying to throw the signs over a wall and approached him.

When he got nearer, the man shouted, "What do you have against gays!" to which Nunez replied that he had nothing against gays.

When Nunez attempted to take the stolen signs from the assailant, the man punched him. The blow sent Nunez to the hospital, where he received 16 stitches for the wound below his left eye.

“Yes on 8” press secretary Chip White told CNA that the irony of the whole episode is that, the opponents of Prop. 8 “are the ones who are claiming to be tolerant and open-minded.”

"It's outrageous that the ‘No’ campaign calls themselves the voice of tolerance and moderation and wants people to feel bad for supporting Prop. 8. There was nothing tolerant or moderate about beating up Jose," said White. "Clearly the man who attacked Jose is intolerant of those who support traditional marriage," he added.

Following the altercation between Nunez and the anti-Proposition 8 assailant, the “No on Prop. 8” campaign director Patrick Guerrier released a statement condemning the violent attack and saying that such actions “should not be tolerated in any campaign."

In an interesting twist, Jose Nunez is originally from Mexico but just became a U.S. citizen two months ago. He will be voting for the first time in November. Nunez is also active in his parish as the Grand Knight of the St. Stanislaus Council Knights of Columbus, an organization that has contributed more than $1 million to the campaign for Prop. 8.

The attack has not lessened Nunez´s support for Proposition 8.

"The other side wants to intimidate us, but we can't stop standing up for traditional marriage,” he said. “I may be bloody and bruised, but I'm not giving up. Protecting traditional marriage is just too important for our kids," added Nunez, who is the father of three children, ages 9, 5, and 3.

According to Chip White, Californians from around the state have reported being harassed by people who are against Prop. 8. Among the incidents he related were: verbal harassment of Prop.8 supporters on the freeway, including obscene gestures; the theft of yard signs; and a woman in Riverside, California who had her garage sprayed with graffiti.

White characterized the incidents as “a whole wave of intimidation and violence up and down the state.”

Cardinal George: Bible Not Part of Popular Imagination, Society Sees Scripture As "Fantasy Fiction"

2008-10-10T15:12:00.003-07:00

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 8, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Current society has lost touch with the world of Scripture, of searching for God's will and seeing the hand of providence in life's events, says Cardinal Francis George.

The archbishop of Chicago and president of the U.S. episcopal conference said this Tuesday at the world Synod of Bishops on "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church," under way in the Vatican through Oct. 26.

In his address the cardinal spoke of the "lived contexts in which believers hear the Word of God and the need for pastoral attention to conversion of the imagination, the intellect and the will."

"Western culture has been historically shaped in  conversation with the Bible," he said. "References to 'the prodigal son' or 'the Good Samaritan' or 'Sodom and Gomorrah' could be taken for granted as images popularly recognizable.

"This familiarity, that has now largely disappeared from popular imagination, disappeared a generation ago from the world of art and theatre."

"Behind this loss of biblical images lies the loss of a sense and an image of God as an actor in human history," Cardinal George continued. "In Scripture, God is both the principal author and the principal actor. In Scripture, we encounter the living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Our people, for the most part, do not live confidently in the biblical world of active spirit, of angels and demons, of the search for God’s will and God’s intentions in the midst of this world governed by God’s providence.

"Scripture takes on the genre of fantasy fiction, and the biblical world becomes an uninhabitable embarrassment."

The cardinal added that Scripture is then "approached only as a moral guidebook, and often found deficient even in that."

School of liturgy

"Scripture is the soul of liturgy even more than it is the heart of theology," the president of the US bishops' conference said. "With decreased participation in the Sunday liturgy, the faithful cut themselves off from contact with Scripture in the context of communal worship.

"Through steady attention to the Scriptures that shape the liturgical cycles and calendar, the believer opens himself to conversion and development in the life of grace."

Cardinal George called regular attendance at Mass a "schooling in the obedience of faith."

"A love of Scripture," he continued, "feeds the desire to worship in spirit and in truth, and, in turn, our worship gives God the opportunity to transform us more profoundly into the image of Christ."

The cardinal commented on the practice of "lectio divina," which he called a form of prayer "so apt to purify one’s desires and bring one’s will into harmony with God’s will," yet so "far from common even among those who regularly come to Church."

He said that if pastors are attentive, "people will not fear confusion when they read and listen to the Bible. It will not be for them a grand puzzle but a path to the freedom that comes from personal surrender to God’s world, God’s mind, God’s will.

"If the power of God’s word in Holy Scripture is to be felt in the life and mission of the Church, pastors must attend to personal context as well as to inspired text."

The Daily Gospel

2008-10-07T21:09:00.001-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Wednesday, 08 October 2008

Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Pelagia

Saint Augustine : «Teach us to pray»

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11,1-4.

He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test."

Commentary of the day :

Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Sermon 80

«Teach us to pray»

My brethren, do you imagine God is ignorant of what you need? He who knows our distress foreknows our desires also. That is why, in teaching them the Our Father, the Lord counselled his disciples not to use many words: «When you pray, do not keep babbling because your Father knows what you need before you ask him» (Mt 6,7-8). If our Father already knows what we need, why tell him about it even in few words?... If you know about it, Lord, do we even need to pray?

However, he who says to us here: «Do not use many words in your prayers» says to us elsewhere: «Ask and you will receive», and so that we don't think this is said casually, he adds: «Seek and you will find», and so that we don't think this to be a mere figure of speech, see how he concludes: «Knock and it will be opened to you» (Mt 7,7). So what he wants is for you to begin by asking so as to receive, to set yourself to seeking in order to find and not to stop knocking so as to enter in the end... Why ask? Why seek? Why knock? Why weary ourselves with praying, seeking, knocking as though we had to inform him who already knows it all? We even read elsewhere: «Pray always without becoming weary» (Lk 18,1)... Well, to clear up this mystery, ask, seek, knock! If he disguises this mystery it is because he wants to move you to seek and find the explanation for yourself. We should all encourage ourselves to pray.

Worthy Brief - 10/7/2008

2008-10-06T23:30:00.000-07:00

CFC, multiply your time!

Colossians 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

Life can get so hectic sometimes -- we often try to do too many things at once. But when our schedule gets that hectic, we need to start investing in some quality time with the Lord. The operating word here is "investing".

Did you know that God is the best broker in town? When we invest our time in worship, prayer and the reading of His word, He takes just takes that time and multiplies it many times over! When we give the Lord our time, He gets our minds focused and can even give us new ideas for how we can get things done better and more efficiently! I've heard testimony after testimony about this and seen God at work in my own life in this area. It really works!

CFC, I heard it said once that "proof of love is the investment of time". Do we have something to prove today? Let's start start by spending some time with the Lord. Spending time in His presence is the greatest investment we could ever make!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah

UN Petition of the Unborn Child

2008-10-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

CFC-FFL members are strongly encouraged to sign up as requested below by Austin Ruse, for the UN Petition of the Unborn Child. CFC FFL stands in solidarity with all groups under the Prollife movement.

Austin Ruse is the President of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), the only Prolife organization holding office at the United Nations premises.C-FAM was founded in the summer of 1997 in order to monitor and affect the social policy debate at the United Nations and other international institutions.

Let us help in our little way, to support every good endeavor of our comrades-in-arms, within the prolife movement.

Solidarity is an essential stance of faith and a feature of moral consciousness recognizing that we belong to one human family. (Catechism of the Catholic Church)
September 29, 2008

Dear Friend,

The UN will celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this December 10th.

To celebrate this occasion, radical pro-abortion groups intend to present the UN General Assembly with petitions calling for a universal right to abortion.

The largest, richest and most powerful pro-abortion groups are even now planning their attack on the unborn at the General Assembly.

Campaigns are being waged right now by International Planned Parenthood Federation and Maire Stopes International, the two groups responsible for more abortions than any other groups in the world. Both are beloved of the powers that be at the UN; and their efforts to promote an international right to abortion are welcomed by many UN Member States, perhaps most of the UN bureaucracy, and powerful US foundations that give millions to promote abortion at the UN and around the world.

We must stop them this December.

I am writing to ask you to sign a petition calling on UN Members States to interpret the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as protecting the unborn child from abortion. Did you know that the Universal Declaration calls for a right to life? Did you know that UN committees now interpret that as a right to abortion? We can stop them.

Please go HERE to sign the petition which we will present at the UN on December 10th, the celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At the very least we must match what the pro-abortion advocates will present to the UN that day! They will present thousands and thousands of names. WE MUST MATCH THEM.

Go HERE to sign the petition and then please send this email to all of your family and friends. Our goal is to present 50,000+ names to the General Assembly. We need your help right now to block the pro-aborts from making huge progress for abortion at the UN.

We are going to run this campaign for the next six weeks. There is plenty of time to get this petition to everyone in your address book and all around the world. This is an international right. Please help us now.

Imagine the look on their faces when we slam down 50,000 names! Be a part of that. Sign the petition HERE and send this all over the world.

Yours sincerely,

Austin Ruse
President
C-FAM
(The only pro-life group working exclusively on UN social policy)

Only One Mommy: The Story of Lisa and Isabella Miller

2008-10-01T11:08:00.000-07:00

October 1, 2008

Activist judges in Vermont have declared that a legal stranger is a mommy to another woman's biological child. Now, a Vermont judge will decide whether to order that the six year old little girl be stripped from the loving arms of the only mommy she has ever known -- her biological mother, Lisa.

Lisa Miller left the homosexual lifestyle and became a Christian when Isabella was 17 months old. Janet Jenkins, who was Lisa's same-sex partner when Lisa gave birth to Isabella, then sought full custody of Isabella, claiming she was a parent even though she was not biologically related to Isabella and never sought to adopt her.

Not only did Vermont create new law from the bench to declare that Isabella has two mommies, but appellate courts in Virginia (the state where Isabella was born and has lived all but 13 months of her life) directed Virginia to fully recognize the Vermont orders giving Janet (who lives in Vermont) liberal unsupervised visitation. In doing so, the courts ignored Virginia's Marriage Amendment and marriage laws declaring all rights arising from same-sex relationships void and unenforceable.

Now, a judge in Vermont on October 27 will hear Janet's argument that she should get full custody!

We are asking you to help us spread the word about the ongoing legal case that directly impacts the life of six-year old child Isabella and the future of this Nation.

If Vermont can declare from the bench that a legal stranger is a mommy to another woman's child and then have it enforced in a state with one of the strongest marriage amendments in the country, then, on the issues of marriage and family, our country will no longer be the United States of America but instead will be the United States according to Massachusetts, California, or Vermont.

To learn more about Lisa's case, please read the letter we posted on our website.

We are trying to rally support for Lisa by promoting a group on Facebook called Only One Mommy: The Story of Lisa and Isabella Miller. This group was created by Rena Lindevaldsen, a Liberty Counsel attorney and law school professor at Liberty University School of Law.

Pray:

That Judge Cohen in Vermont will not order Lisa to turn over Lisa's daughter to Janet
That the judges in the Virginia cases will follow Virginia law.
Supreme Court Justices who are considering our request for the Court hear the Miller cases
Salvation for Janet Jenkins, who is trying to take full custody of Lisa's daughter
Safety for Lisa's little girl, Isabella
God’s continued strength and grace for Lisa
That the President and Senators who will be elected in November will be those who will support the right judges
That people of this Nation will realize the importance of this issue for the entire country
Critical Dates:

Now - We are waiting to hear whether the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear our appeal from the Vermont Supreme Court.

October 27 - hearing in Vermont where Janet is asking for full custody because Lisa has not given visitation (out of concern for Isabella’s physical and mental safety).

Janet’s attorneys are pressing for an immediate hearing in Virginia to enforce the Vermont visitation (and possibly switch of custody) orders.

December 7 - U.S. Supreme Court Justices will conference together to consider whether to hear our appeal from the Virginia Supreme Court.

PRAY FOR LISA AND ISABELLA TODAY!

Please help us inform as many people as possible by forwarding this Liberty Alert to your entire e-mail list of family and friends, and encourage them to subscribe.

Liberty Counsel does not charge clients for representation, so we depend on individuals, groups and churches who care about advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the traditional family. Liberty Counsel is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that accepts tax-deductible donations. Donate or order resources from the Liberty Counsel online store.

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Bishop’s Defense of Church Teaching at Gay Ministry Conference Draws Attendees’ Ire

2008-09-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

Sacramento, Sep 27, 2008 (CNA).- Jamie Soto, the coadjutor bishop of Sacramento, addressed the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries conference in Long Beach, California on September 18. While noting that marriage is not the "sole domain of love," he also reiterated the Church’s teaching that homosexual acts are sinful. During his talk, several audience members walked out while Bishop Soto received hostile responses from many in the audience afterward.

The bishop’s address began by challenging the belief that Jesus "always gave people what they wanted" and was an "agreeable person." He noted the exchange between Jesus and Simon Peter in Matthew 16, where Jesus says "You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

"Jesus does not give in to the expectations of Peter or the expectations of others," Bishop Soto explained. "He has firmly planted in his heart the expectations and desires of his Father in heaven. He says ‘no’ to Peter and challenges Peter to take up a greater ‘yes,’ to take up his cross and follow him."

The bishop also referenced St. Paul’s phrase "do not conform yourselves to this age," noting the human capacity to think that Jesus is "too unrealistic, too unreasonable," and to convince ourselves that "we know better than the Lord."

Such habits, the bishop said, are evident today in the area of sexuality, about which many of us have a "distorted sense."

"Sexuality has been reduced to a matter of personal preference and personal pleasure without responsibility and with little respect for others. We can lose sight of the profound dignity of the human person who shares in God’s love and creative work through the chaste expression of one’s sexuality proper to one’s calling in life. "

Bishop Soto criticized the "contraceptive culture" that reduces the procreative act to "simple recreation absolved of any responsibility." He also explained the Church’s support for the California ballot’s Proposition 8, which would overturn the California Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year instituting same-sex marriage.

"The nature of love has been distorted," the bishop continued. "Many popular notions have deviated from its true destiny. Love for many has come to mean having sex. If you cannot have sex than you cannot love. This is the message. Even more destructive is the prevailing notion that sex is not an expression of love. Sex is love."

He said this view "deprives sexuality of its true meaning" and hampers the possibility of "ever knowing real love."

Sexual intercourse, he explained, is "a beautiful expression of God’s love" when it is understood "as a unique expression intended to share in the creative, faithful love of God." Referencing Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Deus Caritas Est, he said that when sexual intercourse ceases to be an icon of God’s "creative, unifying love" it becomes "impoverished" and "demeans the human person."

Bishop Soto then lauded the virtue of chastity, calling it "the path that brings us to that harmony with God’s wisdom and love" and a thing that "moves us beyond one’s desire to what God wills for each one of us."

This is true, he said, also for men and women who are homosexual.

"Let me be clear here," the bishop stated. "Sexual intercourse, outside of the marriage covenant between a man and a woman, can be alluring and intoxicating but it will not lead to that liberating journey of true self-discovery and an authentic discovery of God. For that reason, it is sinful."

While same-sex relations can be "alluring" for homosexuals, it "deviates from the true meaning of the act and distracts them from the true nature of love to which God has called us all."

Acknowledging the "beautiful, heroic expression" of married love, he added, "Marriage is also not the sole domain of love as some of the politics would seem to imply." Love includes "the deep and chaste love of committed friends" as well as the love of religious and clergy, the bonds between Christians, and the love between family members.

"Should we dismiss or demean the human and spiritual significance of these lives given in love?" He asked rhetorically.

"We hope and pray that all people, including our brothers and sisters who are homosexuals, will see the reasonableness of our position and the sincerity of our love for them," the bishop continued, closing with an exhortation to the audience "to be drawn into the ways and the manners of Jesus."

Two conference attendees told the California Catholic Daily that they witnessed Bishop Soto "courageously but gently" give a clear presentation of Catholic teaching on sexuality. They report at least five members of the audience walked out during the bishop’s address, while only a very small number applauded the bishop at the conclusion of his speech.

When the conference chairman announced the bishop would answer questions at a reception held in another room, members of the audience reportedly made widespread shows of disapproval and said they wanted to respond immediately.

Bishop Soto then interacted with respondents.

About eight audience members expressed their unhappiness with what the bishop had said. One woman reportedly commented that the audience knew what the Church teaches but wanted to hear about the value of the "lived experience" of lesbian women and gay men.

Two other speakers, one man and one woman, thanked the bishop for his address and voiced agreement with his remarks.

While the audience members responded to the bishop’s remarks, the California Catholic Daily says, one board member of the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries approached one of the tables in the room and said "On behalf of the board, I apologize. We had no idea Bishop Soto was going to say what he said."

The California Catholic Daily claims that the Berkeley-based National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries has the reputation of taking "at best, an ambiguous stance" on issues concerning same-sex attraction and homosexual acts.

Guide to Catholic Voting

2008-09-29T10:02:00.001-07:00

"Catholics who cast a vote for a politician who supports abortion and same-sex 'marriage' "commit moral evil,"
Editorial by Fr. Alphonse DeValk, editor, The Catholic Insight

September 24, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Just before the election of January 23, 2006, the Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF), an association of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued an Open Letter to Canadian Catholics. First, it summarized Canada's general situation as follows:

"At this time in the history of Canada, a realistic look at society reveals a fundamental problem-the loss of respect for human life and dignity. This is evident in so many ways:
- the legal void that permits abortion right up to birth;
- medical research that authorizes the destruction of embryos;
- a mentality that increasingly favours euthanasia and assisted suicide;
- the gratuitous violence in our schoolyards;
- abuse of women and children;
- the violent deaths of young men;
- the silence that surrounds so many situations of poverty;
- the widespread incidence of prostitution, pornography and drugs."

The COLF Letter observed that the family is under constant attack, today not least because of the Liberal government's redefinition of marriage in June 2005. It went on to point to Canada's anti-religious secularism:

"We are witnessing an obvious effort by some in society who wish to relegate religion to the private lives of citizens. This aggressive secular ideology refuses religion the right to exist in the public square. In the name of pluralism and secularity, then, there is a desire to exclude from public dialogue those who promote religious values, even when these can be defended by human reason and experience."

Just recently, in Ontario, the Human Rights Commission made the most brazen attack on freedom of religion and conscience seen so far in Canada. It boldly ordered the College of Physicians and Surgeons to extinguish the rights of medical doctors to follow their own conscience in judging the needs of their patients. The Human Rights Commissions are now a blight on the Canadian landscape.

Meanwhile, the legalized killing of infants in the womb remains the overall most important moral crisis for Canada. Its deadly social consequences are now upon us. It is shameful that Prime Minister Harper once more distanced himself from this issue before calling the election. We encourage the voters in the riding of Calgary South-West to express their unhappiness on election day.

The first principle in voting is that to be pro-abortion disqualifies a candidate from office. He/she is simply unsuited to hold office. Their thinking is awry. Because of this opinion, they get everything important wrong as well.

But Catholics have obligations above and beyond other voters. Why? Because they have received the Truth. The following principles apply to them.

Catholics who cast a vote for a politician who supports abortion and same-sex 'marriage' "commit moral evil," if a moral candidate is available. Advancing pro-abortion candidates and their aims is incompatible with the Catholic faith.

"Voting is a moral act." In some matters of morality, such as immigration, universal health care, and affordable housing, "the use of reason allows for a legitimate diversity in our prudential judgments." Other acts, regardless of the motive or circumstances, always "involve doing evil" and must be opposed: "These choices include elective abortion, euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, the destruction of embryonic human beings in stem-cell research, human cloning, and same-sex 'marriage.'"

"Such acts are judged to be intrinsically evil, that is, evil in and of themselves regardless of our motives or the circumstances. They constitute an attack against human life, as well as marriage and family."

Catholic voters have to bring a "correct conscience" on matters regarding innocent human life and the family even when faced with the choice of two unacceptable candidates.

"When there is no choice of a candidate that avoids supporting intrinsically evil actions, especially elective abortion, Catholics should vote in such a way as to allow the least harm to innocent human life and dignity."

"We would not be acting immorally therefore if we were to vote for a candidate who is not totally acceptable in order to defeat one who poses an even greater threat to human life and dignity."

Who said all this? It is contained in a voters' guide issued by the four bishops of the State of Kansas. It presents authentic Catholic moral teaching. It applies in Canada, the United States, Great Britain and anywhere else in the world.

For information on candidates in the various ridings, see LifeSiteNews.com for the Campaign Life Coalition election 2008 Voters Guide which will be posted late today.

OUR DAILY BREAD

2008-09-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

Friday
September 26, 2008

Things Above

Read: Colossians 3:1-13

Seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. --Colossians 3:1

Stepping outside and gazing heavenward on a star-studded evening always helps to soothe my soul after a trouble-filled day. When I peer into the night sky, I forget, at least for a moment, the cares of life on earth.

Ancient Israel’s prolific songwriter wrote a poem thousands of years ago that still rings true: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” (Ps. 8:3-4).

When we try to imagine the immensity of God’s heavens, our problems indeed seem trivial. Yet God doesn’t think so! With all the galaxies He has to attend to, God is mindful of us. And not only are we on His mind, He cares for us.

No wonder the apostle Paul advised new believers to set their minds on things above (Col. 3:2). In doing so, we raise our thoughts above the level of earthly disputes and focus instead on our loving, heavenly Father, who wants us to know Him, to know how to live peacefully with one another, and to know that we can live eternally with Him in a place even more beautiful than the heavens.

“The heavens declare the glory of God” (Ps. 19:1). Let’s join creation in praise to Him. --Julie Ackerman Link

Bless the Lord and sing His praises,
Bless the Lord now, O my soul;
Join the song all heaven raises,
Let the anthem loudly roll! --Peterson

World Financial Crisis Is Consequence of Idolatry of Money, Cardinal Says

2008-09-25T10:03:00.001-07:00

Lima, Sep 23, 2008 (CNA).- The Archbishop of Lima, Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, said this week the financial crisis in the United States and the rest of the world is a consequence of the idolatry of money and power.

This idolatry has manifested itself in the network of corrupt officials who were greedy for more and therefore did not properly carry out their roles, Cardinal Cipriani said.

“They adore money and therefore, they engage in deceit. They issued a series of mortgages that had no value, and that, multiplied by millions has led to this flood of fraudulent corruption,” the cardinal said on his weekly radio program.

The cardinal warned that idolizing power and money has reached “very troubling levels in the world.” When money and power are “the only objects of our lives, they end in problems,” he said.

“When there is so much desire for money, it is for power, and when there is a desire for power it is for money. All of this just to impose our subjectivism, arrogance and pride,” the cardinal stated.

In this sense, he pointed out that the financial crisis in the Unites States is not because of “bad loans” but because of corruption by “those who were supposed to oversee mortgages, those who were supposed to handle lending, those who were supposed to be in charge of financial oversight” and who were part of a great “network of corruption.”

40 Days Revive Hope for Life, An Interview with National Campaign Director David Bereit

2008-09-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

By Genevieve Pollock

FREDERICKSBURG, Virginia, SEPT. 23 and 24, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The question pro-life activist David Bereit is asking these days is not if abortion will end, but when it will end.

Bereit is the national campaign director of 40 Days for Life, a campaign he says has inspired hope that a culture of life is possible.

The campaign began Wednesday, and will unite pro-life advocates all over the United States, and two cities in Canada, to pray, fast and work together through Nov. 2, the Sunday that precedes the U.S. election day.

Q: Could you give us a brief overview of the 40 Days for Life program, and explain how it works?

Bereit: 40 Days for Life is a very focused, 40-day intensive pro-life campaign that has as its mission an effort to end abortion peacefully and prayerfully in the community, ultimately throughout our nation and throughout our world.

Three things are done for a period of 40 days. The first component is that in the local community we call upon believers to join together in prayer and fasting for an end to abortion. Our prayer is based on the belief that with God all things are possible.

We are not going to win the struggle against abortion on purely human terms. It is not going to be decided purely by the Supreme Court, who is in the White House or who is in Congress.

Ultimately, it is with God that an end to abortion is possible.

The other part of this, the fasting, is very important. I was raised in a Christian tradition that did not emphasize fasting, but when I read Scripture I realized that it talked about how there are some demons that can only be driven out through prayer and fasting. I thought that maybe this is something that we need to do specifically: fasting with the intention of ending abortion.

We have had people do everything from a very significant bread-and-water fast for 40 days, but for most people it means giving up a meal each day or giving up a certain type of food or drink.

One family gave up television for 40 days and said, "We are going to put all of that time that we usually spend in front of the tube into pro-life work." I thought to myself how that would really change our nation if everyone who was pro-life would do that as well.

The second component is the constant, peaceful prayer vigil that is held outside of an abortion facility or Planned Parenthood office. Essentially it draws community awareness to the injustice that is happening at that abortion center.

It also sends a message to those who work at the center, in a very peaceful and loving way, that what they are doing is detrimental to women, detrimental to the community, and that it is not supported by the Church in their community.

The participants are also there to reach out in a compassionate way to those pregnant mothers who are in crisis and do not know where else to turn, to offer them better alternatives that do not imply a lifetime of regrets. So, there is this aspect of 40 days of, in many cases, 24-hour, daily, round-the-clock prayer vigils outside of these facilities.

The third component, then, is grassroots educational outreach. This implies taking a pro-life message to community groups, churches and schools. In many communities, including the site of the very first 40 Days for Life campaign, this went along with a door-to-door outreach that reached 25,000-30,000 homes in the 40-day period.

We engage the media, both the religious outlets as well as the secular media outlets, so as to make sure that those who do not drive by the facility to see the prayer vigil, or those who do not go to a church on Sunday, still get the message.

We spread the message that life is sacred, that it is worth protecting, and that there is hope that we can rebuild, as Pope John Paul II said, a "culture of life" in our nation again. Thus we have prayer and fasting, peaceful vigil, and grassroots outreach all done through a focused 40-day period of time.

Q: How do you encourage the participants to reach out to people who have had abortions?

Bereit: Actually, last week in our training with the 174 campaign leaders we focused on reaching out to post-abortive mothers and fathers, especially in the time immediately after they have had an abortion, when it finally begins to hit them and they say to themselves, "What have I just done?"

We encouraged reaching out to those who have been carrying the pain of abortion for years and have been unable to find healing and forgiveness. We have partnered with wonderful ministries like Rachel's Vineyard, Project Rachel, Silent No More Awareness, and Abortion Recovery International Network.

Amazingly, more than half of the campaigns that we have had to date have been led by post-abortive women who have been the leaders for these campaigns because they have gone through these types of healing programs and have benefited from them.

They want this 40 Days for Life to reach out to other people who are at risk of making that same decision that for them turned into so many emotional, psychological and spiritual regrets down the road. Everything is done in a peaceful, loving, compassionate way during this campaign.

We have seen enormous surges of people who have come out of the woodwork in the communities where 40 Days for Life has been done, and they say, "A year ago, five years ago, 30 years ago, I had an abortion and it has still been bothering me."

Many times some of those people that go through the post-abortive healing become some of the most incredible advocates for life, and are able to share their testimonies to help people realize that, yes, abortion destroys the life of an innocent child made in God's image and likeness, but also it is devastating to women.

They can say: "I've been there. I've done that. I've felt the pain." And that is a very compelling message. We embrace their message. We welcome those who have had abortions to participate in this campaign.

Q: As you do your outreach, what have you found to be the reaction of the public, from both pro-abortion and pro-life groups?

Bereit: We are continually amazed. This campaign has now been done in 139 cities and 43 states, and is being organized in 179 cities for the campaign beginning this month. In that time, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

The pro-life community has been incredibly rejuvenated in those cities where a campaign has been done. We see people from pregnancy resource centers, right-to-life groups, parish respect life committees, diocesan respect life offices, and post-abortive ministries all come together in a common focus for a 40-day period of time.

When I travel around to the different states that have done this campaign, and I look into the eyes of the people that have participated, many of them first-time volunteers for pro-life work, I have seen such incredible hope.

People have told me, "After 35 years of legalized abortion in America, I had begun to despair. I had begun to think that we could never have any part in ending this. But now I have cause for hope."

I realized that it is not a matter of if abortion ends. It is a matter of when abortion ends.

Regarding the abortion industry as a whole, I am amazed that during the first campaign that was held nationally last fall, even Planned Parenthood gave us attention. They set up an entire Web site, and an entire fundraising campaign around the 40 Days for Life. They talked about how they were under siege. They are very concerned.

I am amazed still to date that as an organization we have grown so much. I work out of a little corner of my bedroom. We have a tiny little budget.

This was just an idea a year and a few months ago. Yet here today God has spread this to over 200 cities now collectively, and inspired hope all over the nation.

Q: What explanation do you give for why 40 Days for Life is growing and spreading so quickly to so many new cities?

Bereit: Number one it is because of prayer. It is because of the Holy Spirit. That is my strongest of convictions.

In second place it is because of the amazing people that God has called to be a part of this effort. I have heard some of the most incredible stories of people who have never been involved in pro-life work before they heard about this campaign. They got involved, launched local campaigns, mobilized hundreds of people, saved dozens of lives, and really turned the tide in their communities.

We have seen two abortion facilities go out of business following 40 Days for Life campaigns. We know of five abortion-clinic workers who have left the abortion industry, telling the 40 Days for Life volunteers that it was because of them and their prayers.

Q: Why did you decide to make this next program, beginning today and ending Nov. 2, coincide with the national elections? How important do you think the abortion issue is in these elections?

Bereit: Well, the campaign dates were the same that we used last year, because they worked very well, but we also felt that there was certainly no coincidence that the 40 days lead up to the Sunday immediately preceding the national election in America.

We believe this is a crucial time here in our nation. This is the year, 2008, when the death toll from abortion has crossed the 50 million mark. This is the year when the abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, crossed the billion dollar mark in revenues, over $336 million of that coming from American taxpayers.

After 35 years, if abortion was a good thing, it would be settled in the minds of people. But we have recognized that abortion has not been a good thing. It has not done any good for women, and it has certainly been destructive to the lives of the 50 million children that have been lost.

There is no more important time in our nation's history than right now for people to pray, to fast, and to put their faith into action. We will be able to do big, big things, because we have a big, big God who can do all things.

We took a tour of the capital recently. We got the opportunity to get down on the floor of the House of Representatives chamber. There, up on the wall, above where the Speaker of the House sits, it says in big letters "In God We Trust."

And I thought, one of the problems we have had these last 35 years of legalized abortion in America, is that we have put our trust in everything else but that.

We have put our trust in who resides in the White House. We have put our trust in who is walking the halls of Congress. We have put our trust in who are the black-robed judges sitting on the United States Supreme Court. We have put our trust in the state legislatures. We put our trust in politics.

This year we must recognize the importance of that statement "In God We Trust," and we must return our faith there. He is the only one who will never let us down.

I really believe from the bottom of my heart that this year is going to mark the beginning of the end of abortion, and I think we are already starting to see that play out all across the nation.

I see it in the eyes of the people. I see them putting their work into action. I see them in position now all across the country. I am amazed. I have never seen it like this before.

Last year we had some really good things happening. Reports around the country showed that people were going to planning meetings, and they had 15 or 20 people getting involved. By comparison, this year I went to three different planning meetings in Nebraska, and at these three meetings there were 500 people.

These people were on fire and they were ready to do things. I am seeing planning, intensity, and work like I have never seen. It gives me enormous hope.

Q: Are you expecting any specific results from this campaign?

Bereit: The most important result we hope for is that each of us who are involved grow in holiness during the campaign. That is more important than any immediate result.

Yes, we hope and pray that we will see many children's lives saved. Nationally, thus far in the previous two campaigns we have reports of 514 children saved, and we want to see many more children saved.

Yes, we want to see many people spared from making a decision for abortion. Yes, we want to see a lot of post-abortion healing happen.

But most importantly we want our nation to turn back to God, and that is going to start through each one of us. It will begin through our faithfulness, through our personal growth in holiness. Personally, I have never had the degree of spiritual growth like I experienced during my first 40 Days for Life.

Q: What are some ways that people can join in the 40 Days for Life effort?

Bereit: The first thing I would tell anybody would be to get down on their knees and begin to pray. Pray about what role God has for you in this effort.

Certainly for many people it will be to join in the prayer and fasting from today to Nov. 2. For many people it will be to participate in the vigil campaign in 179 cities throughout the country.

On our Web site we have a list of all the locations where the vigils will be held, and people can go there, they can find the location nearest to them, they can get the information, and they can come out to the vigil.

Maybe it will be one hour a day for the 40 days, the equivalent of a workweek, and they can have the opportunity to save lives. Maybe it will be once a week. Maybe it will be just once during the 40 days.

They can go and be there in prayer in the place where there is so little hope, at an abortion facility or Planned Parenthood office, to be a beacon of light in the darkness there.

Another thing is that people can discern if God is calling them to be a part of spreading the pro-life message through personal outreach. Maybe it will start with talking with their friends, or family members, people at their parish, people throughout their diocese, people they work with, people they go to school with or that their children go to school with, and inviting people to join together in this effort during these 40 days.

On our Web site we have a section where people can sign up for the daily e-mail updates and devotionals during the 40 days.

We have national leaders such as Father Frank Pavone and other clergy, other national pro-life leaders, who will be sending out a daily devotional with a Scripture reflection and a call to action for people during the 40 days. We have heard so many great reports from people that tell us it is such an inspiration to know that their intentions are being united with others around the country.

For those people who are in a city that does not have an organized campaign this fall, they may discern that God is leading them to lead a campaign down the road. We are very likely to do another campaign again next Lenten season, and one again next fall.

Q: What message would you like to give to people who are interested in participating in this campaign?

Bereit: The main thought that keeps coming back to me as I work with people during this campaign, is that years from now in the history books, there is going to be a chapter about abortion, and about how this great injustice ultimately ended. As with every great injustice, such as segregation or slavery, or any other injustice in America and throughout the world, all of them eventually fell or will fall.

Abortion will eventually fall. When it does, and when the history books are written, our children and our grandchildren are going to be reading about how abortion ended.

I believe that they are going to be reading about the year 2008 and how this year was the beginning of the end of abortion. And we will have to answer to them what we did or did not do during this crucial time in American history.

I believe that the faithful, God's people, who are willing to pray and fast, who are willing to hold peaceful vigil, who are willing to spread the pro-life message, and do anything they can to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, I believe that we will be able to tell our children and grandchildren, "I did everything that I could possibly do. I was willing to do the things that needed to be done in order to end abortion."

It is the legacy that we are going to be known for. People will look back at us and will measure us by how we met this great evil, this great injustice. Abortion will be in the history books. The question is what role will we have played in bringing it down? That's the message I really want to get across to people.

Ultimately of course, we live with the desire that when we each arrive in our heavenly home, we want to eventually hear those words, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

ORISSA AGONY

2008-09-24T12:04:00.001-07:00

Let us pray for our Indian brethren as they undergo severe persecution and martyrdom. May their sacrifices and the blood they shed advance the kingdom of God in India. May Indian Catholics be strengthened in their faith, pray for their persecutors, and continue to spread the love of Jesus to all. God bless.

Hi Brother and sisters, I received the narrative form of this email and some brothers and sisters confirm that this is true. I received this email from my Indian catholic colleague. This is not for faint hearted. Please pray for them and definitely our Father won't leave HIS children nor forsaken His Children.

Thank you.

Dear Children of the Living God,
Does any religion allow this – Is this not Terrorism.
Keeping quiet about it will not help – Christians, do not retaliate, we are willing to die as Martyrs, however, are these people willing to face God and justify their actions?
Please send this to your friends, and raise your voices, against the atrocities committed, in the name of religion.
I am an Indian, and am proud of being a Chrisitian.
Attached are few pictures of violence against Christians in Orissa.

Reports received that thousands of Christian homes were burned down, many were brutally murdered and many are living away in remote unknown hide outs, without food and clothes to change. Many are living in the shelters.
Please pray for our country and those who are suffering.

A REQUEST TO ALL CHRISTIANS – PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILIES SO THAT TOGETHER WE COULD RAISE OUR VOICE TO HEAVEN…
The VHP has plans to kill all Christians in Puri District of Orissa. Let us fast and pray to Jesus for His intervention and protection of his people…

FAQs on Proposition 8

2008-09-24T09:20:00.001-07:00

Questions & Answers

About Proposition 8

What is Proposition 8?

Proposition 8 is a simple and straightforward voter initiative. It contains the same 14 words that were previously approved in 2000 by over 61% of California voters: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."

Because four activist judges in San Francisco wrongly overturned the people's vote, we need to pass this measure as a constitutional amendment to restore the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

What does a YES vote on Proposition 8 mean?

Voting YES on Proposition 8 does 3 simple things:

􀂃

It restores the definition of marriage to what the vast majority of California voters already approved and human history has understood marriage to be.

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It overturns the outrageous decision of four activist Supreme Court judges who ignored the will of the people.

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It protects our children from being taught in public schools that "same-sex marriage" is the same as traditional marriage.

What does a NO vote on Proposition 8 mean?

If Proposition 8 is defeated, the sanctity of marriage will be destroyed and its powerful influence on the betterment of society will be lost. The defeat of Prop. 8 would result in the very meaning of marriage being transformed into nothing more than a contractual relationship between adults. No longer will the interests of children and families even be a consideration. We will no longer celebrate marriage as a union of husband and wife, but rather a relationship between 'Party A' and 'Party B.' The marriage of a man and a woman has been at the heart of society since the beginning of time. It promotes the ideal opportunity for children to be raised by a mother and father in a family held together by the

legal, communal and spiritual bonds of marriage. And while divorce and death too frequently disrupt the ideal, as a society we should put the best interests of children first, and that is traditional marriage. Voting No on Proposition 8 would destroy marriage as we know it and cause profound harm to society.

Will Proposition 8 take away any rights for gay and lesbian domestic partners?

No. Proposition 8 is about preserving marriage; it's not an attack on the gay lifestyle. Proposition 8 doesn't take away any rights or benefits from gays or lesbians in domestic partnerships. Under California law, "domestic partners shall have the same rights, protections and benefits" as married spouses. (Family Code §297.5.) There are no exceptions. Proposition 8 will not change this.

If Proposition 8 passes, what will happen to the same-sex marriages that have already taken place?

Under Proposition 8, the validity and recognition of all marriage in California would be limited to a man and a woman, including past and future marriages, as well as marriages from other states or countries. The rights and obligations of same-sex couples who obtained marriage licenses before Proposition 8 passes will be up to the Courts to decide.

If Proposition 8 does not pass, will my children be forced to learn about gay marriage at school?

Yes. In health education classes, state law requires teachers to instruct children as young as kindergarteners about marriage. (Education Code §51890.) If the same-sex marriage ruling is not overturned, teachers will be required to teach young children that there is no difference between gay marriage and traditional marriage.

Why is Proposition 8 needed? Didn't we already vote on this issue?

In 2000, over 61% of Californians voted to reaffirm the traditional definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman (Proposition 22). However, because this language wasn't put into the California Constitution, four activist judges from San Francisco wrongly overturned the people's vote in a closely divided 4-3 decision. Proposition 8 reverses the court's decision by restoring the definition of marriage as a man and a woman in the state Constitution.

Could the California Supreme Court overturn the people's vote again and declare Proposition 8 unconstitutional?

No. By amending the state Constitution directly, the court cannot declare Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional, as it did with Proposition 22. Proposition 22 added a regular statute to the California Family Code. Regular statutes are a "lower" law than the state Constitution. By adding the language of Proposition 8 to the state Constitution, which is the highest source of law in the state, the California courts would be required to uphold traditional marriage.

Who supports this initiative?

A wide range of national, state and local pro-family organizations, churches and individuals have formed a broad-based coalition to support Proposition 8. To date, the coalition represents over one million people in California. To view a list of supporters, visit www.ProtectMarriage .com.

What will happen to the domestic partnership laws if Proposition 8 is enacted?

Nothing. All laws on the books regarding domestic partnerships will remain intact. Gays and lesbians in domestic partnerships will continue to enjoy all the legal rights and benefits that married couples enjoy. Proposition 8 does not affect those rights and benefits.

Where can I find more information about Proposition 8 or get involved in the campaign?

You can visit the Proposition 8 Web site at www.ProtectMarriage .com or call

(916) 446-2956. There are a number of ways to get involved with the campaign, including volunteering, donating and helping to spread the word about the importance of voting YES on Proposition 8.

Vote Yes on Proposition 8!

www.ProtectMarriage .com

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Philippines Threatened By a 2-Child Policy

2008-09-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON, D.C., SEPT. 21, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Filipino-Americans are joining with Catholics from their native country to fight proposed legislation that would promote contraception and limit family size, while punishing conscientious objectors.

The newly consolidated Reproductive Health Bill of 2005, renamed "An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development, and for Other Purposes," was put on the floor of Congress last week to begin plenary debates, reported the Washington-based Filipino Family Fund.

At the close of the week, the debates were temporarily suspended, but are due to resume soon. Pro-life groups are holding vigils outside of the House of Representatives in order to closely monitor the proceedings of the bill.

After the original reproductive health bill's failure to pass in 2005, the new Congress reconvened, introduced three new bills, consolidated them into the current proposal, and put the new bill through the Committee on Population without due process in May of 2008.

The Philippine Legislator Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) has worked with International Planned Parenthood and the U.N. Population Fund in the creation of this legislation that aims to depopulate the country through all possible means and decrease HIV/AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases. The U.N. fund has appropriated $26 million to the Philippines for this purpose.

This bill would mandate an "ideal family size," setting the stage for a proposed Two-Child Policy. It foresees stiff penalties that include up to six months imprisonment and heavy fines for those who do not comply with the proposed reproductive health care agenda.

According to the bill, these penalties could even apply to any person "who maliciously engages in disinformation about the intent or provisions of this act."

Provisions of the bill call for a network of doctors, population officers in every province, and a national curriculum that will teach secular sex education to fifth graders.

Silencing parents

Eileen Macapanas Cosby, president of the Filipino Family Fund, told ZENIT that "freedom of speech is at stake. Parents will not be able to object. Health care workers will be forced to refer against their conscience. Employers will have to provide family planning services."

"International Planned Parenthood has sold false presuppositions that access to contraception will alleviate poverty, and decrease the number of abortions. Many who do not have an understanding of Catholic social teachings have bought this," explained Cosby. "Precisely because the country is Catholic, [Planned Parenthood] has targeted the Philippines."

Cosby noted the affirmation of Archbishop Pacino Aniceto, chairman of the episcopal commission on family and life, who stated "If you are Catholic, you should behave like a Catholic. Otherwise you are not what you profess."

Filipino bishops are sponsoring an advocacy movement against the passage of the bill. They note that a contraception bill with necessarily include abortion.

Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Lingayen-Dagupan affirmed on his blog, "It is not hard to see that the title of the bill alone says many words yet its open-ended phrase ‘for other purposes' suggests its hardly realized humungous price tag and grave moral costs."

Rest of Asia

Filipino Catholics plan to gather 1 million signatures against the reproductive health bill to present to Congress. Father Melvin Castro, secretariat of the Pro-life Office of the bishops' conference reported that he had collected 100,000 signatures of constituents by last week.

The Filipino Family Fund is urging people to sign the petition on their Web site.

"We have to defend the Church now or the rest of Asia will be at stake," said Cosby.

In return for the foreign funding promised by Planned Parenthood and the United Nations, the Philippines will be losing moral ground, Cosby told ZENIT. Our stance is to remain vigilant now, as the debates are set to resume soon, she added.

"The truth of the matter is, that the bill will lead to the implementation of an immoral policy -- a proposed synthetic artificial contraceptives eventually designed to ruin health as it slants the idea of responsible parenthood to issues of depopulation, which proponents claim will result to progress among underdeveloped countries like ours," Archbishop Cruz wrote on his blog. "After all, no human act, no legislative bill, no executive function, no judicial work is over and above morality.

"Morality is neither irrelevant in politics, not indifferent in a secular society. Irrespective of the race, color and creed of those concerned, the moment individuals fool around with private morals, the moment the government disregards public morals, then the families and country are in big trouble respectively. This is the standing lesson of history."

By Genevieve Pollock

The Daily Gospel

2008-09-17T21:11:00.001-07:00

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Thursday, 18 September 2008

Thursday of the Twenty-fourth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Joseph of Cupertino, Saint Thomas of Villanova (+1555), Bishop

Saint [Padre] Pio de Pietrelcina : "Who is this who even forgives sins?"

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 7,36-50.

A Pharisee invited him to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. Now there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee. Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner." Jesus said to him in reply, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Tell me, teacher," he said. Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred days' wages and the other owed fifty. Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?" Simon said in reply, "The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven." He said to him, "You have judged rightly." Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." The others at table said to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" But he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Commentary of the day :

Saint [Padre] Pio de Pietrelcina (1887-1968), Capuchin friar
CE, 18.16; AD, 54

"Who is this who even forgives sins?"

May our hope in God's mercy uphold us amidst the tumult of passions and contradictions. Let us run confidently to the sacrament of penance where Our Lord is always waiting for us with infinite tenderness. And once our sins have been forgiven we should forget about them because Our Lord has already done so before we do. Even if you were to confess you had committed all the sins in the world, yet the Lord assures you: «Your many sins have been forgiven because you loved much.»

Lord Jesus, you are all sweetness: how could I possibly live without you? Come, Lord, take sole possession of my heart.

Worthy Brief - 9/18/2008

2008-09-16T22:45:00.000-07:00

CFC, eye for an eye?

Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Two shopkeepers were bitter rivals. Their stores were directly across the street from each other and they would spend each day keeping track of each other's business. If one of them got a customer, he would smile in triumph at his rival.

One night an angel appeared to one of the shopkeepers in a dream and said, "I will give you anything you ask, but whatever you receive, your competitor will receive twice as much. Do you want to be rich? You can, but he will be twice as much. Do you wish to live a long and healthy life? You can, but his life will be longer and healthier. What is your desire?"

The man thought for a moment, and then said, "Please… blind me in one eye."

I think we are often unaware of the deceptive way the enemy operates in this area of our lives. Is it easier for us to show sympathy when a person is hurting then to truly rejoice when they receive a blessing? That's one surefire way to tell.

CFC, God wants us to be free of the bondages that hold us back from doing great things for Him, and many times we don't even know they exist! Let's examine our hearts today. Perhaps we need to do some repenting. There's so much work to be done!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah

OUR DAILY BREAD

2008-09-16T10:49:00.001-07:00

Tuesday
September 16, 2008

Responding To Criticism

Read: 1 Peter 2:4-12

When they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God. --1 Peter 2:12

Abraham Lincoln knew what it meant to face criticism. He is quoted as saying, “If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how--the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what’s said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.”

Lincoln, against huge opposition, went on to reunite the fractured United States, win the Civil War, and abolish slavery in the US. Had he allowed his critics to defeat him, Lincoln would not have accomplished what he did.

The apostle Peter understood the dangers of unfounded criticism. He wrote, “Having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God” (1 Peter 2:12).

Criticism can consume our lives to the point of emotional paralysis, or we can set our hearts to serve God faithfully undeterred by that criticism and put our God on display. When we do that, we won’t need to answer our critics with words--our lives will say all that is needed. --Bill Crowder

If we keep doing what is right--
And serving Christ each day,
We need not fear what others think
Nor what the critics say. --D. De Haan

The most powerful testimony is a godly life.

Benedict XVI Gives Youth Two Treasures

2008-09-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

15-September-2008 -- ZENIT.org News Agency

PARIS, SEPT. 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI participated in a type of mini-World Youth Day in Paris, addressing some 270,000 young people gathered near Notre Dame Cathedral, and entrusting them with two "treasures."

The Pope met Friday evening with youth of France, on the first day of his four-day trip marking the 150th anniversary of the Virgin's apparitions at Lourdes.

After having celebrated vespers in the cathedral, the Holy Father met the youth, gathered in the plaza and along the banks of the Seine, who watched the Pope on video screens.

Seeing the river of youth, the Pontiff said the encounter reminded him of World Youth Day in Sydney last July. Referring to the theme in Australia, he spoke to them of how the event helped many youth to rediscover the importance of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

"The Spirit, who is Love, can open your hearts to accept the gift of genuine love," the Bishop of Rome said. "All of you are seeking the truth; and all of you want to live in truth, to truly live in it! This truth is Christ. He is the only Way, the one Truth and the true Life. [...]

"Surrender yourselves to the Holy Spirit in order to find Christ. The Spirit is our indispensable guide in prayer, he animates our hope and he is the source of true joy."

Witnessing God

Benedict XVI encouraged the young people to have an apostolic spirit.

"Bring the Good News to the young people of your age, and to others as well," he said. "They know what it means to experience difficulty in relationships, worry and uncertainty in the face of work and study. They have experienced suffering, but they have also known unique moments of joy. Be witnesses of God, for, as young people, you are fully a part of the Catholic community through your baptism and our common profession of faith. The Church has confidence in you, and I want to tell you so."

He then "entrusted" the youth with a second "treasure": the mystery of the cross.

"For Christians, the cross signifies God's wisdom and his infinite love revealed in the saving gift of Christ, crucified and risen for the life of the world, and in particular for the life of each and every one of you," he said. "May this amazing realization that God was made man for love lead you to respect and venerate the cross. [...]

"I know that venerating the cross can sometimes bring mockery and even persecution. The cross in some way seems to threaten our human security, yet above all else, it also proclaims God's grace and confirms our salvation. This evening, I entrust you with the cross of Christ. The Holy Spirit will enable you to understand its mysteries of love."

Radiant

The youth had arrived several hours early in hopes of securing the best seats. During the wait, they watched projected images of the Pope's live discourse at the College of the Bernardines and the vespers service.

A group of 20 students from the Joan of Arc school in Bretigny talked to ZENIT about their excitement. Fourteen-year-old Loic said he discovered in the words of the Pope that "God has not completed creation," while his classmate Remy confessed that he was impressed by what the Holy Father said about the word of God and the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. He said he realized that everything is "united" -- man and the Church, people and nature.

Meanwhile, 20-year-old Benoît, a seminarian from the Diocese of Pontoise, said he was excited by the two "treasures" Benedict XVI entrusted especially to the youth: the Holy Spirit and the Cross. Aude, standing beside his friend, agreed: "Yes, [the invitation] to carry the cross."

Father Jérôme Bascoul, from one of the parishes of Paris, said he was struck by the "Holy Father's radiant face when he spoke to the youth in the midst of this marvelous light" of the setting sun.

Father Denis Dupont-Fauville shared his reflection on the "extraordinary" discourse the Pontiff gave to the world of culture just hours before his meeting with the young people.

"He has faced the heart of that we want to do," Father Dupont-Fauville said. "It seemed that he presented us with a program: 'ora et labora' -- prayer and work, according to the Rule of St. Benedict."

Sister Stella, an Italian religious from the Order of the Assumption, affirmed: "[The Pope] is a man completely given to God and to his people, the Church. [...] He is someone capable of adapting himself to any age group, who knows to whom he is speaking. ... I love him very much."

Cardinal: Defending Life Among Church Priorities

2008-09-12T13:44:00.001-07:00

FATIMA, Portugal, SEPT. 12, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The primary objectives of the Church's pastoral action include defending life and religious liberty, and the quest for peace and human rights, says the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Cardinal Renato Martino affirmed this today at the congress titled "Social Action Today: Memory and Project," under way in Fatima. The event is being sponsored by the Portuguese episcopate.

The cardinal emphasized the need for the Church to maintain a clear and firm stance when "human dignity and fundamental moral truths" are at stake.

He said these cases are "abortion, euthanasia, violence -- especially against children -- torture, man's merciless abuse of man," and situations where "the integrity of the family, religious liberty and educational liberty" are compromised.

"In cases where these principles are at stake, Christian communities can and must pronounce a sentence of condemnation, with prudence when it comes to judging causes and situations that at times are complex and avoiding easy simplifications," said Cardinal Martino.

Fundamental

The president of the justice and peace dicastery highlighted in particular the defense of life, "which should be at the origin of all social projects, inspired by the Christian faith, and of all interventions of the Church in society."

He also stressed the importance of religious liberty, which he described as "fundamental" to "root all other rights on an absolute and transcendent base," both against "intransigent secularism" as well as "all types of religious fundamentalism."

Moreover, Cardinal Martino mentioned new topics in social pastoral action to be discussed in the near future, such as "the progress and regression of democracies" and the "transnational power of finance."

He also mentioned other topics such as "novelties in the world of work, the new forms of injustice and poverty, the new fundamentalisms and the tragedy of international terrorism."

"The fundamental criterion to address them," he explained, "is the ever closer relation between natural and human ecology, as respect of the latter will also bear fruits of material development and correct management of material resources and the environment."

Worthy Brief - 9/10/2008

2008-09-10T01:00:00.000-07:00

CFC, shaping and reshaping politics!

1 Peter 2:13-17 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

For a season I worked in Washington D.C. for one of the largest Christian political organizations in America. Sometimes I saw how politics could get ugly and, more often than not, how it changed people -- not for the better...but often for the worse! As the elections are heating up in the United States, there have recently been some outrageous attacks. And sadly, I feel pretty sure these attacks will only intensify in the days ahead. Nevertheless, I'm encouraged! Why? Because, often, the enemy's destructive intentions and attacks become God's means for testimony and victorious proclamation!

Let me give you an example: during the period of history known as "the enlightenment", the "enlightened" philosopher, Voltaire, proclaimed that within twenty-five years the Bible would be forgotten and Christianity would be a thing of the past. Forty years after his death in 1778, Voltaire's house was purchased, and used to print Bibles and other Christian literature. Such is the irony of one man's prophetic folly. His own house became God's platform for proclaiming the message that Voltaire despised. Watching the current election process in America, without mentioning names, I suggest we may once again witness such an irony.

So, CFC, don't let the political season shape you for the worse, with bitterness, mockery, sarcasm, rancor, etc... -- but rather, transform the political landscape by who you are -- a king and a priest of the Most High! Be a confident, respectful, and quietly shining beacon of light in this dark (political) world, and continue to pray the Lord's guiding hand upon the leaders who face the tremendous responsibilities and challenges ahead!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah

Our Daily Bread

2008-09-05T10:21:00.000-07:00

Friday
September 5, 2008

Roots Or Shoots?

Read: Matthew 13:1-9

Because they had no root they withered away. --Matthew 13:6

In the life of trees, one key to survival is having more roots than shoots. In his book Oak: The Frame of Civilization, author William Bryant Logan says, “If a tree puts on a lot of top growth and few roots, it is liable to be weak-wooded and short-lived. . . . If a tree puts down a great deal of roots and adds shoots more slowly, however, it is liable to be long-lived and more resistant to stress and strain.”

People and organizations can be like trees. The rise to prominence is exhilarating, but anything that puts up shoots faster than it puts down roots is fragile and in danger of breaking, falling, or dying.

Jesus used a similar analogy in His parable of the sower. People who hear the Word and receive it joyfully are like seed sown on stony places; they spring up quickly but endure only a short time because they have no roots (Matt. 13:6,20-21).

Roots aren’t at all glamorous, but they are the source of our strength. If our roots go deep in the knowledge of God (Jer. 9:24) and our lives are “hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3), we’ll be strong, resistant to blight, and more likely to survive the storms of adversity.

How deep are your roots? --Julie Ackerman Link

Lord, keep me from being envious of the beautiful and the seemingly powerful. May I use Your resources to put down roots that will make me strong rather than growing branches to make me attractive. Amen.

The roots of stability come from being grounded in God’s Word and prayer

The Daily Gospel

2008-09-03T21:11:00.001-07:00

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Thursday, 04 September 2008
Thursday of the Twenty-second week in Ordinary Time
Today the Church celebrates : St. Rosalia

See commentary below or click here
Saint José Maria Escriva de Balaguer : "From now on you will be catching men."

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 5,1-11.

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

Commentary of the day :

Saint José Maria Escriva de Balaguer (1902-1975), priest, founder
Homily in Amigos de Dios

"From now on you will be catching men."

«Look! I will send many fishermen, says the Lord, to catch them» (Jer 16,16). Thus he makes clear our great mission: fishing. It is said or written sometimes that the world is like the sea. There is a certain truth in the comparison. In human lives, as in the sea, there are periods of calm and periods of storm, of peace and of raging winds. Very often men find themselves in salt waters among great waves; they make headway through great storms, sorry seafarers even when they seem joyful and even enthusiastic: their laughter seeks to disguise their discouragement, disappointment, their lives without either charity or understanding. They devour each other like fish.

Act in such a way that all men will enter the divine net of their own free will and will love one another. This is the task of God's children. As Christians we should turn ourselves into those fishermen described by the prophet Jeremiah with the help of a metaphor that Jesus Christ also often used: «Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,» he said to Peter and Andrew.

We are going to join Christ in that divine fishing. «While the crowd was pressing in and listening to the word of God,» Jesus «was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret» (Lk 5,1). Just as he does today! Can't you see?

Californians Hoping to Define Marriage in November, Bishops Speak Up in Favor of Proposition 8

2008-09-03T13:48:00.000-07:00

SACRAMENTO, California, AUG. 29, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Citizens in California are campaigning in preparation for November, but not just regarding the presidential election. They are facing "Proposition 8," to place a definition of marriage in the state constitution.

Coadjutor Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento and the other California prelates have joined their voices to an effort that is bringing together conservative Christians, Mormons, Catholics and other groups in an attempt to inform voters before they make their choice on the ballot.

Proposition 8 responds to a state Supreme Court decision in May that made California the second U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage. But critics of the court decision managed to get a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot. A similar measure was passed by 61% of California voters in 2000, though that measure was struck down by the May decision.

Bishop Soto dedicated his Aug. 16 column in the Catholic Herald to "Keeping Our Eyes Fixed on Marriage."

"Marriage as it is -- the union of a woman and a man for the purpose of having children -- will continue to exist but without a word," the bishop wrote. "It won't exist in language and it won't exist in law. People will point to the reflection but not the actual fact of a family created by the sexual union of a woman and man."

The bishop affirmed arrangements that reflect certain characteristics of marriage are being taken for marriage itself.

"Like a hall of mirrors, we have lots of reflections without having to take responsibility for seeing and naming the real thing," he said.

But Bishop Soto encouraged readers to stay focused on the truth of marriage. "It is not a matter of what or who we are against," he affirmed. "We are keeping our eyes fixed on marriage. It is a matter of seeing marriage for what it is, hoping that our courts and legislators will quit playing with mirrors."

State appeal

On Aug. 1, Catholic bishops of the state released a statement in favor of Proposition 8.

"The issue before us with Proposition 8 is 'marriage' -- an ancient, yet modern, human institution which pre-exists both Church and government," they wrote. "Marriage, history shows us, is intrinsic to stable, flourishing and hospitable societies. Although cultural differences have occurred, what has never changed is that marriage is the ideal relationship between a man and a woman for the purpose of procreation and the continuation of the human race."

The prelates mentioned six points to help Catholics respond "to this radical change in California's public policy regarding marriage," brought about in May.

They affirmed that "same-sex unions are not the same as opposite-sex unions" and that "the ideal for the well being of children is to be born into a traditional marriage and to be raised by both a mother and a father."

The bishops added, "[W]e need to recall that marriage mirrors God's relationship with us. […] Any other pairing -- while possibly offering security and companionship to the individuals involved -- is not marriage."

"Protecting the traditional understanding of marriage should not in any way disparage our brothers and sisters -- even if they disagree with us," the bishops clarified. And they urged the faithful to "pray and work for a just resolution of this issue, which is so important to the well being of the human family." They added that as citizens, Catholics should avail of the vote as the chance to overturn the California Supreme Court ruling.

Obama and McCain Discuss Faith-Based Issues

2008-08-28T12:07:00.001-07:00

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History was made when presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain made their first joint appearance of the 2008 campaign at the first ever televised forum led by one of our nation’s leading pastors, Dr. Rick Warren of Saddleback Church.

If you missed this unprecedented event, not to worry — GodTube has partnered with the Saddleback Civil Forum to provide exclusive clips for our users to get you involved in the discussions. Watch these clips, rate them and share what you think about the candidates and where they stand on the issues that matter to you!



Why do you want to be president?	Obama	McCain


Does evil exist?	Obama	McCain


Define “marriage”.	Obama	McCain


What is your stance on abortion?	Obama	McCain


What is your stance on stem cell research?	Obama	McCain


What does being a Christian mean to you?	Obama	McCain


What do you think about religious persecution?	Obama	McCain


What is your stance on federal funding of faith-based organizations?	Obama	McCain


What do you consider your greatest moral failure to be? What is America’s?	Obama	McCain


Who are the three wisest people in your life?	Obama	McCain


Name one instance when you went against party loyalty.	Obama	McCain


Name one instance when you flip-flopped on an issue.	Obama	McCain


What is the most gut-wrenching decision you’ve ever had to make?	Obama	McCain


Which existing Supreme Court Judge would you not have nominated?	Obama	McCain


What is your stance on merit-based pay for teachers?	Obama	McCain


Define “rich”.	Obama	McCain


What cause is worth our troops dying for?	Obama	McCain


Would you consider creating an emergency plan for orphans?	Obama	McCain


What do you say to the people who oppose you answering these questions in a church?	Obama	McCain

We understand that the very nature of politics lends itself to discussion, debate and disagreement. We ask that you keep this in mind and show proper respect in all your dialogue. Per our Terms of Use, we will remove comments attacking the opinions, values or respectfully stated beliefs of others.

Get your family and friends involved in the discussion! Pass this email along to them so they can see the candidates’ stances on the issues that matter most.

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Life of St. Paul by Pope Benedict

2008-08-27T12:08:00.001-07:00

Vatican, Aug. 27, 2008 (CWNews.com) - At his Wednesday public audience on August 27, Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) sketched a rough biography of St. Paul.

The Holy Father had announced on July 2 that he planned a series of weekly talks on St. Paul's life and teaching during the current Pauline year. But the Pope's regular cycle of weekly audiences was interrupted by his vacation and his trip to Australia for World Youth Day. Upon resuming his weekly sessions, the Pope devoted two audiences to other topics: on August 13 to the importance of prayer and on August 20 to the veneration of the saints. So his August 27 talk was only the second in the projected series.

The audience was also the first held at the Vatican in several weeks; on the two previous Wednesdays the Pontiff had met with the faithful in the courtyard of his summer residence. Today he traveled by helicopter from Castel Gandolfo to the Vatican, returning later in the day.

Explaining his plans to the crowd in the Paul VI auditorium, the Pope said that he would speak the following week about the pivotal event in St. Paul's life: his conversion on the road to Damascus. For now he offered an overview of the Apostle's life.

First the Pope explained that experts set the birth of St. Paul in the year 8 AD-- thus establishing this year as the 2000th anniversary-- because Saul was described as a young man at the time St. Stephen was slain, and as an old man when he was imprisoned in Rome.

Saul was born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia that was a provincial capital-- which, incidentally, was once ruled by Cicero, and later was the site of the first meeting between Marc Antony and Cleopatra.

Saul was a Jew who spoke Greek and a Roman citizen. Thus, the Pope remarked, he lived at the intersection of three important cultures. He was also a trained craftsman, who probably learned from his father to make tents.

At about the age of 12, young Saul left Tarsus for Jerusalem, to study in the strict tradition of the Pharisees. That study, the Pope observed, "instilled in him a great zeal for the Mosaic law," and caused him to view the followers of Christ as dangerous threats to Jewish orthodoxy and identity.

That intolerant attitude was changed completely along the road to Damascus, the Pope continued, and Paul became a tireless missionary for the Gospel. He undertook three great missionary journeys, which are described in the Acts of the Apostles, followed by his fourth trip as a prisoner to Rome.

Pope Benedict traced the route taken by Paul and his companions on those trips, as well as the key role that Paul played in the Council of Jerusalem. The Pope noted that while St. Luke reports that Paul spent two years in Rome under house arrest, the final events of the Apostle's life are not fully recorded. But apparently his appeal to the Emperor Nero was unsuccessful, and he died as a martyr. The Pontiff promised to speak about St. Paul's martyrdom, too, in a future Wednesday catechetical talk.

Gospel Today - 8/25/08

2008-08-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

Matthew 23:13-22

13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. 16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, `If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, `If any one swears by the altar, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; 21 and he who swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it; 22 and he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

Meditation: When God knocks on your door are you ready to let him in (Revelations 3:20)? God offers each of us an open door to his kingdom, but we can shut ourselves out if we reject his offer. What is the door to heaven? When Jacob fled from his brother Essau, who wanted to kill him for stealing his birthright (Genesis 27:41), Jacob sought refuge in the wilderness. There God pursued him and gave him a vision that both changed his life and the life of his people. As Jacob slept on a star-lit hillside God showed him a great ladder or stairway that extended from earth to heaven. This stairway was filled with a multitude of angels ascending and descending before the throne of God. God opened heaven to Jacob, not only to give him a place of refuge and peace, but to offer him the blessing of dwelling in intimate friendship with the living God. God spoke to Jacob and renewed the promises which he had made to his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac, and now to Jacob and his posterity. God promised not only to bless and protect Jacob, but to make him and his descendants a blessing to all the nations as well. When Jacob awoke he exclaimed: "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven" (Genesis 28:17). God opened a door for Jacob that brought him and his people into a new relationship with the living God.

Jesus proclaimed to his disciples that he would fulfill the dream of Jacob in his very own person: "You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man" (John 1:51). Jesus proclaimed that he is the door (John 10:8-9) and the way (John 14:6) that makes it possible for us to access heaven and God's very throne. But Jesus woefully warned the religious leaders and successors of Jacob that they were shutting the door of God's kingdom not only on themselves but on others as well. The word woe expresses sorrowful pity and concern as well as grief and extreme sadness.

Why did Jesus lament and issue such a stern rebuke? Jesus was angry with the religious leaders because they failed to listen to God's word and they misled the people they were supposed to teach and lead in the ways of God. Jesus gave a series of examples to show how misguided they were. In their zeal to win converts, they required unnecessary and burdensome rules which obscured the more important matters of religion, such as love of God and love of neighbor. They were leading people to Pharisaism rather than to God. Jesus also chastised them for breaking their oaths and solemn promises. Oaths made to God were considered binding, but the Pharisees found clever ways to evade the obligation of their oaths when convenience got in the way. They forgot that God hears every word we utter and he sees the intention of the heart even before we speak or act. The scribes and Pharisees preferred their idea of religion to God's idea. They failed as religious leaders to teach others the way of God's kingdom because they failed to listen and to understand the intention of God's word. Through their own pride and prejudice they blindly shut the door of their own hearts and minds to God's understanding of his kingdom.

How can we shut the door of God's kingdom in our lives? By closing our ears to Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelations 17:14; 19:16), who speaks words of life and love, truth and freedom, hope and pardon. The Lord Jesus wants to dwell with us and to bring us his kingdom. He opens the way for each of us to "ascend to heaven" and to bring "heaven to earth" in the daily circumstances of our lives. God's kingdom is present in all who seek him and who do his will. Do you pray as Jesus taught, "May your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10)?

"Lord Jesus, your word is life for me. May I never shut the kingdom of heaven through disbelief, indifference, or disobedience. Help me to listen to your voice and to conform my life more fully to your word."

Worthy Brief - 8/20/2008

2008-08-20T01:15:00.000-07:00

CFC, press through the swamps!

Psalms 107:2-6 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

We recently watched the new release of the movie "Pilgrim's Progress" and I have to say, it's remarkably close to the book, which often is not the case when a movie is based upon a book. In his book, Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan has written one of the most beautiful allegories about the journey we all travel as a believers. The book describes the hero, Christian, and his journey from the City of Destruction to his heavenly destination, the Celestial City. Now there's one part of Pilgrim's Progress that I want to focus on today-- walking through the Swamp of Despondency!

At one point during their travels, Christian and his companion suddenly find themselves there....in the Swamp of Despondency. Still bearing his burden, Christian, begins to sink in the mire. His traveling companion manages to get out, but he returns to the City of Destruction without giving aid to Christian. Christian is left all alone and sinking even deeper in the mire, until Help, the allegorical figure for the Holy Spirit, pulls him free from the swamp.

Christian then asks Help why this dangerous plot of land has not been mended so that poor travelers might go safely to the Celestial City. Help replies, "This miry slough is such a place that cannot be mended."

How true it is in real life! As hard as we try to avoid them, whether young in the Lord, or spiritually mature...swamps of despondency seem inevitable, and we must struggle through them!

Charles Spurgeon once wrote to his students in the book, "Lectures to my Students", "Fits of depression come over most of us. Usually cheerful as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down. The strong are not always vigorous, the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, and the joyous not always happy. There may be here and there men of iron...but surely the rust frets even these."

CFC, there are times in our lives when we will struggle through the swamps of despondency -- but praise God that He has provided us a helper for those times of need! We need to press through, seeking and trusting the power of the Holy Spirit to pull us out of those nasty swamps, and set our feet back upon the Rock of our salvation. Let's also look around us to see our brethren who may be struggling in the swamps of despondency, so that, rather than abandoning them, we might give them a hand on their journey to the celestial city!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah

Pope to Catholics: Most Important Service Is Proclamation of Jesus Christ

2008-08-15T13:51:00.001-07:00

Quito, Aug 14, 2008 (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI sent a message to the Third American Missionary Congress (CAM3) being held in Quito this week, reminding Catholics that “the most important service we can give our brothers and sisters is the clear and humble proclamation of Jesus Christ, who came to this world that we might have life and have it in abundance.”

“Amidst the difficulties of a sometimes hostile environment from the lack of immediate and spectacular results, or faced with the insufficiency of human means, I invite you not to be overcome by fear, weighed down by discouragement or dragged along by inertia,” the Pope said.

“The present time is a providential occasion for listening again with simplicity, purity of heart and fidelity to how Christ reminds us that we are not servants but friends,” the Pope continued.

“He instructs us in order that we might remain in his love without molding ourselves to the messages of this world. Let us not be deaf to his Word. Let us learn from Him. Let us imitate his way of life. Let us be sowers of the Word. In this way, with all of our lives, with the joy of knowing we are loved by Jesus, who we can call brother, we will be valid instruments for Him to continue drawing everyone to Himself with the mercy that flows from his Cross,” the Pope added.

He went on to encourage Catholics “to share this treasure with others, as there is no greater treasure than to enjoy the friendship of Christ and walk by his side. Consecrating our greatest energies to this beautiful labor is worth it, knowing that divine grace precedes, sustains and accompanies us in carrying it out,” the Pontiff stated.

“May you find, therefore, in persevering prayer, in the fervent meditation of the Word of God, in the obedience to the Magisterium of the Church, in the dignified celebration of the Sacraments and in the testimony of fraternal charity, the strength necessary to identify with the sentiments of Christ. You will be his disciples with coherence and generosity, proclaiming with your own examples, that Christ is the Son of God, the Redeemer of man and the firm rock upon which we cement our existence,” the Pope continued.

He also encouraged Catholics in America to feel “the consolation of Christ and to offer his love to those in tribulation, to those who are weighed down by suffering and have been wounded by the coldness of indifferentism or the scourge of corruption. These challenges demand we overcome individualism and isolation and that we strengthen the sense of belonging to the Church and the loyal collaboration with her pastors, in order to form Christian communities that are prayerful, unified, fraternal and missionary.”

CAM 3 began on August 12 in Quito with more than 3,000 delegates in attendance. It concludes this Sunday, August 17, with the beginning of the “Continental Mission,” an effort to bring about renewal in the Church in America.

"CFC-FFL, RESTORED AND REFOCUSED,MOVES ON UNDER THE ANOINTING OF THE SPIRIT"

2008-08-14T12:19:00.001-07:00

Truly, we have a merciful and faithful God. We also have a very loving and caring Mother in our Blessed Virgin Mary. Miracles still do happen today in our very midst. Our Lord continues to affirm CFCFFL with His miracles. As we continue to consecrate our community, our families and ourselves to Our Lady, She has also kept each of us cradled in her loving arms.
"Go back to Christ. Only Jesus can save you."

A lone gunman barged into the room and started shooting me. The first three shots missed me altogether but the 4th shot got me in the back and the bullet went out through my right armpit. The 5th shot hit me on my left leg, breaking my left femur. I could no longer move. I slumped on the floor when I saw the gunman walking very fast towards me and right before he shot me on the head, I called on our Lord and said, "Jesus, Mama Mary, I am sorry. Nagkasala ako but I still want to live". Then I heard the bang of the sixth shot. I also heard another "click" which was the gunman pulling the trigger again and discovering that he has fired the last bullet on my head. The gunman ran out.

Suddenly, I was enveloped in a very bright light and there was a scent of fragrant flowers. Suddenly, it was cool but not freezing. I felt no pain. I felt wonderful! The light was very bright but not glaring. Then starting as a haze, as my right eye was covered with blood flowing from the gunshot wound, slowly appeared before me was a woman and a man. They were about 3 meters away. They started to walk towards me. The woman was in front, holding the man by his arm, as if dragging him to come near me. She was wearing a long white dress and I recognized her to be Mama Mary. I looked at the man who had long hair and a beard and I recognized him to be Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Mama Mary looked at me straight in the eye and started to communicate with me without opening her lips. Jesus' head was turned away from me, as if refusing to look at me, like He was very upset with me. Mama Mary told me, "Magpakabait ka na, anak." She said this in such a very loving way that I truly felt Her love for me. I have never felt so loved before!

"Madami ka pang gagawin," she said.

"Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened for you."

"Go back to Christ". "Only Jesus can save you."

These were what she told me. She knew me. She knew all that I have done. She allowed me to look back at my life and realized all my sins.

I looked at Jesus and noticed the scar on the bridge of his nose. It was only when I saw the movie "Passion of the Christ" about 12 years later when I saw that he was hit right there on the nose. He was still not looking at me. He refused to look at me. He was so disgusted with me BUT He was there because His Mother brought Him there, Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, His own Mother, our own Mother.

They started to walk away from me to leave. I wanted so much to go with them. I called out, "Mama, sama ako", almost crying like a small child.

When I was with Them, there was no space, no time. I had a vision of my wife at that instance, inside our house cleaning. She was wearing cut-off shorts and a blue shirt (she later confirmed this), I called out to her but she could not hear me.

The time that I was with Them, most probably took only about earth 10 seconds. I realized that I was back on earth when some men carried me out of the house and into a car to take me to the hospital where I stayed for 15 days.

My wife and I were participants at a CLP at the time that happened. As soon as I was able, I continued with the CLP sessions and signed up to be CFC members. We continue now to be active members of CFC-FFL, totally dedicating our lives in serving the Lord and His Mother, Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace.

Contributed by:

Don Abarrientos
CFC-FFL, Kalookan District

Catholic Effort Launched to Support California Proposition Defending Marriage

2008-08-14T12:13:00.001-07:00

Sacramento, Aug 13, 2008(CNA).- ProtectMarriage.com, the campaign favoring Proposition 8, the California initiative that would ban same-sex marriage, on Tuesday announced the launch of the official grassroots effort dedicated to supporting the campaign. The organization Catholics for ProtectMarriage.com is led by the Knights of Columbus, the California Catholic Conference and Catholics for the Common Good.

Catholics for ProtectMarriage.com is chaired by Bill May, who is also chairman of Catholics for the Common Good.

“Our strong Catholic faith teaches us the importance of treating all of God's children with love and respect, it also teaches us that marriage between a man and a woman is the foundation of the family - the first school of love, peace and justice," May said in a statement. "The ruling by the California Supreme Court nullifying the legal definition of marriage in state law was a shock to Catholics and other citizens who are concerned about how this will affect their own children's understanding of marriage.”

California Catholics reportedly played a large role in the passage of Proposition 22 in 2000, which defined marriage as being between one man and one woman. The proposition was approved by more than 60 percent of California voters.

Proposition 22 was overturned on May 15, 2008 by the California Supreme Court. The court’s majority found that domestic partnerships are not an adequate substitute for marriage.

Ron Prentice, chairman of ProtectMarriage.com, welcomed Catholics to the effort aimed at amending California’s Constitution. “The fight to protect marriage is an all-encompassing effort that affects everyone in California," he said. "We're honored to have Catholics for ProtectMarriage.com offer us their assistance and to add them to our diverse list of supporters. We expect they will help us motivate a groundswell of support for Proposition and we're confident that with that support we will restore the definition of marriage in California, come November.”

Catholics for ProtectMarriage.com reportedly supports volunteer activities such as literature distribution and phoning in parishes and surrounding communities.

CFC-FFL Restored Series No. 16 - "GO BACK TO CHRIST. ONLY JESUS CAN SAVE YOU" Aug 6, '08 12:45 PM

2008-08-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

"CFC-FFL, RESTORED AND REFOCUSED,
MOVES ON UNDER THE ANOINTING OF THE SPIRIT"

Truly, we have a merciful and faithful God. We also have a very loving and caring Mother in our Blessed Virgin Mary. Miracles still do happen today in our very midst. Our Lord continues to affirm CFCFFL with His miracles. As we continue to consecrate our community, our families and ourselves to Our Lady, She has also kept each of us cradled in her loving arms.
"Go back to Christ. Only Jesus can save you."

A lone gunman barged into the room and started shooting me. The first three shots missed me altogether but the 4th shot got me in the back and the bullet went out through my right armpit. The 5th shot hit me on my left leg, breaking my left femur. I could no longer move. I slumped on the floor when I saw the gunman walking very fast towards me and right before he shot me on the head, I called on our Lord and said, "Jesus, Mama Mary, I am sorry. Nagkasala ako but I still want to live". Then I heard the bang of the sixth shot. I also heard another "click" which was the gunman pulling the trigger again and discovering that he has fired the last bullet on my head. The gunman ran out.

Suddenly, I was enveloped in a very bright light and there was a scent of fragrant flowers. Suddenly, it was cool but not freezing. I felt no pain. I felt wonderful! The light was very bright but not glaring. Then starting as a haze, as my right eye was covered with blood flowing from the gunshot wound, slowly appeared before me was a woman and a man. They were about 3 meters away. They started to walk towards me. The woman was in front, holding the man by his arm, as if dragging him to come near me. She was wearing a long white dress and I recognized her to be Mama Mary. I looked at the man who had long hair and a beard and I recognized him to be Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Mama Mary looked at me straight in the eye and started to communicate with me without opening her lips. Jesus' head was turned away from me, as if refusing to look at me, like He was very upset with me. Mama Mary told me, "Magpakabait ka na, anak." She said this in such a very loving way that I truly felt Her love for me. I have never felt so loved before!

"Madami ka pang gagawin," she said.

"Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened for you."

"Go back to Christ". "Only Jesus can save you."

These were what she told me. She knew me. She knew all that I have done. She allowed me to look back at my life and realized all my sins.

I looked at Jesus and noticed the scar on the bridge of his nose. It was only when I saw the movie "Passion of the Christ" about 12 years later when I saw that he was hit right there on the nose. He was still not looking at me. He refused to look at me. He was so disgusted with me BUT He was there because His Mother brought Him there, Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, His own Mother, our own Mother.

They started to walk away from me to leave. I wanted so much to go with them. I called out, "Mama, sama ako", almost crying like a small child.

When I was with Them, there was no space, no time. I had a vision of my wife at that instance, inside our house cleaning. She was wearing cut-off shorts and a blue shirt (she later confirmed this), I called out to her but she could not hear me.

The time that I was with Them, most probably took only about earth 10 seconds. I realized that I was back on earth when some men carried me out of the house and into a car to take me to the hospital where I stayed for 15 days.

My wife and I were participants at a CLP at the time that happened. As soon as I was able, I continued with the CLP sessions and signed up to be CFC members. We continue now to be active members of CFC-FFL, totally dedicating our lives in serving the Lord and His Mother, Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace.

Contributed by:

Don Abarrientos

Pope Benedict's prayer intention for August

2008-08-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

VATICAN CITY, 31 JUL 2008 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for August is: "That the human family may know how to respect God's design for the world and thus become ever more aware of the great gift of God which Creation represents for us".
His mission intention is: "That the answer of the entire people of God to the common vocation to sanctity and mission may be promoted and fostered, with careful discernment of the charisms and a constant commitment to spiritual and cultural formation

Muslim ‘Warriors’ Threaten Filipino Bishop If He Does Not Convert

2008-07-24T14:41:00.001-07:00

Manila, Jul 24, 2008 (CNA).- A Catholic bishop in the southern Philippines’ Basilan province has received a letter from self-described “Muslim warriors” possibly linked to Abu Sayyaf who are threatening him with harm if he does not convert to Islam or pay “Islamic taxes.” Further, authorities are seeking the return of three adults and two children, all Catholics, who were kidnapped in the same area this week.

On July 19 Bishop Martin Jumoad of Isabela sent a copy of the threatening letter to Church-run Radio Veritas in Quezon City, UCA News reports. Bishop Jumoad told UCA News that a student at Claret College in Isabela was told to give the letter to the school secretary who could pass it along to the bishop.

The writers of the letter claimed to be “Muslim warriors” who “don't follow any laws other than the Qur'an.” They say the bishop should convert to Islam or pay the Islamic tax, called a “jizya,” to their group in exchange for protecting him “in the place of Muslims.”

If the bishop refuses, the letter threatened, “force, weapons or war may be used” against him. Citing bombings in other Philippines cities, the letter said he should not feel safe even if protected by soldiers.

Bishop Jumoad was given two mobile cell phone numbers and told he had fifteen days to respond. The letter bore the two names “Puruji Indama” and “Nur Hassan J. Kallitut,” both of whom were titled “Mujahiddin.”

The letter was accompanied by a letterhead in the local dialect that said “Al-Harakatul Islamiyya.” The bishop said he has seen the phrase “Al-Harakatul” in kidnapping incidents in Basilan involving the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf.

He also reported that other Catholics have said they are receiving threatening letters. “Bishop, we are disoriented and we cannot sleep. What is our reaction to this?" they have reportedly said.

On July 21 the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’’ CBCP News reported that three adults and two children who are members of a parish in Basilan had been kidnapped from a public jeep. Provincial administrator Talib A. Barahim on Tuesday told UCA News that no one has reported receiving a ransom demand.

Muslims who commit violence were rebuked at a joint conference between Catholic bishops and Muslim scholars on Monday in Manila, where Hamid Barra, the Muslim convener of the conference, underlined Islamic belief in the sacredness of life.

“It is God who gave life; he is the only one authorized to take life,” he said.

Barra, an Islamic law expert, explained that non-Muslims protected by an Islamic state are required to pay the jizya tax, which is used to support the needy, but no such payment is required in a non-Islamic state.

Worthy Brief - 7/24/2008

2008-07-24T03:30:00.000-07:00

CFC, so many commitments!

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

One of my favorite ministers of the Gospel is D.L. Moody. He tells a story about having heard Pastor Henry Varley once say that, "The world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through the man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him."

As Moody pondered the pastor's words, He realized something. Pastor Varley did not say that God would use an intelligent person. He didn't say an educated person, nor did he say a person who was ultimately gifted. What the wise pastor said was that the person with whom God will work with and for and through will be the person "who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him".

This radically changed Moody's ministry... and ours too, for that matter. We realized that God isn't looking for people with amazing minds or hands or voices or computer skills. He's not looking for those who are wearing the nicest suits or dresses at church. And He's not looking for the people with the highest grade point averages at the local Christian College. What God is really looking for, are people who are simply sold out for Him!

CFC, one of the great secrets to a successful walk with the Lord, is understanding total commitment to Jesus. But being totally committed requires us to daily take up our cross -- leave the past behind us -- and despite all the obstacles the enemy tries to throw in our path, press forward for the Lord and His work! Let's consecrate ourselves to the Lord again today. There's so much work to be done!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah

More than 500 million tune in for WYD Stations of the Cross

2008-07-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

Sydney, Jul 18, 2008 / 09:36 am (CNA) .- Spectacular scenes were played out across Sydney city’s landmarks, as part of the re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross for WYD.

An audience of half a billion tuned in to watch the performance that involved around 80 performers and was played out by young people at six major venues. Over 270,000 international and local spectators also made their way to points around the city to watch the Stations of the Cross live and on big screen televisions.

The first station held on the steps of St Mary’s Cathedral was attended by Pope Benedict XVI who led the prayer.

“Make us generous and insightful as we try to walk in your footsteps,” the Holy Father prayed.

The Pope then watched the procession on television from St. Mary’s Cathedral Crypt.

The procession moved through the Domain, a large open space in Sydney; the Art Gallery of NSW; and the Sydney Opera House, where the actor playing Jesus, Alfio Stuto 27, received the crown of thorns. At Darling Harbour, the stations were played out on a wharf built across the small bay specifically for the purpose before travelling by ferry to Barangaroo.

A somber and reverent mood permeated the crowds, previously filled with cheering and chanting.

“It is truly a different mood here. Sydney has taken on a somber, more reflective mood,” said Fr Mark Podesta WYD08 spokesman, “The pilgrims are recognizing the gravity of the passion of the Christ.”

Camillus Okane, a 21-year-old university student, was chosen to do play the role of Thomas.

“It was a touching experience, in a special way to see the reactions of the people, some of them were crying, others were praying. It made an impact,” he said.

The director of the Stations of the Cross, Fr Franco Cavarra, has been preparing this presentation since December when a group of young people were chosen to play the roles.

Over 90 wardrobes were created for twenty people, three months prior to the presentation. The dramatic highlight was the crucifixion of Jesus in a 3.5 meter (11.48 ft.) cross, upon the elevated stage at Barangaroo.

The performance concluded when Jesus’ body was carried from the cross and through the crowd watching at Barangaroo.

“It was a fairly realistic representation of what actually happened,” said Rachel, a local pilgrim from Sydney.

“It felt very solemn,” she continued. “The music was very suitable. Overall, everyone paid a lot of attention to it.”

After the Stations of the Cross performance, Pope Benedict met with a group of disadvantaged youth at the University of Notre Dame in Sydney

Filipino Srchbishop Bars Pro-abort Pols from Communion

2008-07-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

Manila, Jul. 14, 2008 (CWNews.com) - In a debate reminiscent of recent disputes among American bishops, Church leaders in the Philippines have taken up the question of whether pro-abortion politicians should be barred from the Eucharist-- with one archbishop answering with an emphatic Yes.

Archbishop Jesus Armamento Dosado of Ozamis has announced that politicians who support legal abortion will not be allowed to receive Communion.

"The practice of indiscriminately presenting oneself to receive Holy Communion merely as a consequence of being present at Mass is an abuse that must be corrected," wrote Archbishop Dosado in a pastoral letter released on July 13. He said that Catholic politicians who vote or campaign for legal abortion should be denied Holy Communion "until they bring to an end the objective situation of sin."

"This decision, properly speaking, is not a sanction or a penalty," the archbishop said. "Nor is the minister of the Holy Communion passing judgment on the person’s subjective guilt, but rather is reacting to the person’s public unworthiness to receive Holy Communion due to an objective situation of sin."

Another ranking Filipino prelate, Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Linguyen-Dagupan, said that the ban on Communion for pro-abortion politicians-- which now covers only the Ozamis archdiocese-- could be extended throughout the country. The issue could be brought before the bishops' conference for consideration of a nationwide policy if conditions warrant, Archbishop Cruz told a broadcast audience on Radio Veritas. "It has not yet reached that level," he said.

The speaker of the Filipino parliament, Prospero Nograles, disagreed with Archbishop Dosado's pastoral letter. While saying that he personally opposes abortion, Nograles said that Church leaders should "respect separation of church and state."

But Archbishop Cruz supported his fellow prelate, saying that denial of the Eucharist is an appropriate ecclesiastical sanction. He told Radio Veritas, the bishops' broadcast outlet: "If a priest or bishop does not punish a public sinner, it is the priest or bishop who is wrong."

Susan B. Anthony List Attacks Obama’s "Extreme Record on Abortion"

2008-07-10T14:49:00.001-07:00

Washington DC, Jul 10, 2008 (CNA).- The Susan B. Anthony List has criticized presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama’s recent remarks about his stand on partial birth abortion. The pro-life group argues that he knows his actual record on abortion doesn’t “resonate with everyday American voters.”

According to the Susan B. Anthony List, Obama is a co-sponsor of the “Freedom of Choice Act,” which would allow taxpayer funding of abortions and reportedly nullify almost all state and federal limits on abortion. He has publicly pledged to sign the Freedom of Choice Act as his first presidential action.

As a state legislator, Obama also opposed the Illinois Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which is intended to protect babies who survive abortions. He voted against the legislation twice and “present” once – effectively a “no” vote.

He has also criticized the Gonzales v. Carhart Supreme Court decision upholding the partial-birth abortion ban. “I am extremely concerned that this ruling will embolden state legislatures to enact further measures to restrict a woman's right to choose, and that the conservative Supreme Court justices will look for other opportunities to erode Roe v. Wade, which is established federal law and a matter of equal rights for women,” he has said.

"Barack Obama knows his extreme record on abortion doesn't resonate with everyday American voters, so now he's trying to soften his image," said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser in a press release. She thinks such a strategy will not work.

Obama reportedly has a zero percent approval rating with the National Right to Life Committee and a 100 percent approval rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America, while the Planned Parenthood Action Fund has also recently endorsed his presidential candidacy.

Responding to CNA in an e-mail, Susan B. Anthony List spokeswoman Joy Yearout said many voters know Obama supports abortion, but do not know the extent of his support.

She noted that Obama has said that passing the Freedom of Choice Act would be his “number one legislative priority.”

“In essence,” Yearout explained, “it would allow abortion at any time, for any reason, and paid for by American tax dollars. ‘Freedom of Choice’ sounds nice -- unfortunately it would mean death for thousands of unborn babies and pain for their mothers. And Obama would sign it first thing.”

Yearout thought that Obama is successfully balancing his extreme pro-abortion position with his need to appear moderate.

“He talks the abortion talk to Planned Parenthood rallies and usually avoids talking about it anywhere else,” she told CNA. “Many predicted he would use the abortion issue to reach out to supporters of Hillary Clinton -- but he isn't. He knows his extreme abortion position only appeals to a small slice of the electorate. Your everyday American woman doesn't believe abortion should be taxpayer-funded and available for any reason at any time.” Legislative action at the state level, Yearout said, has even tended to add more restrictions on abortion, not fewer.

“Barack Obama would roll back every pro-life success of the last thirty years,” she argued. “Obama's advocacy for an extreme abortion agenda would be tragic for women and their unborn children.”

Churchgoing Married Couples Happier, Study Says

2008-07-07T13:22:00.000-07:00

Charlottesville, VA, Jul 5, 2008 (CNA).- A new analysis of three major national surveys claims that married couples who attend church together tend to be happier than couples who rarely or never attend services and are also less likely to divorce.

University of Virginia sociologist W. Bradford Wilcox, using data from the General Social Survey (GSS), the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), and the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), found that married churchgoing Americans, regardless of race or religious denomination, were more likely to describe themselves as “very happy” – more so than non-churchgoing married couples, Cybercast News Service reports.

Professor Wilcox also found that couples who regularly attend church together are less likely to divorce.

"Attending church only seems to help couples when they attend together," Wilcox told Cybercast News Service. "But when they do, they are significantly happier in their marriages, and they are much less likely to divorce, compared to couples who do not attend church. I would say that church attendance is a beneficial component of marriage when it is done together."

Wilcox said that churches supply moral norms like sexual fidelity and forgiveness while also offering family-friendly social networks to support couples through high and low points of their marriages.

Churches, he said, provide “a faith that helps couples make sense of the difficulties in their lives--from unemployment to illness--that can harm their marriages.”

"So, in a word, the couple that prays together stays together," said Wilcox.

Critics of Wilcox’s study say other factors may be at work.

"Some studies have reported a correlation between church attendance and successful marriages," Tom Flynn, editor of the secular humanist magazine Free Inquiry said to Cybercast News Service. "That may reflect the fact that males who are settled in their lives and are highly socialized are both more likely to succeed in their marriages and more likely to attend church."

Flynn said other studies suggesting a link between church membership and better health or a longer life could also mask other factors.

“Once again, it may mean that folks who have their lives together tend to avoid substance abuse, practice good health habits, and go to church," he said.

A 2001 Barna Research Poll showed that individuals who describe themselves as “born again” were just as, if not more, likely to divorce than other Christians and non-Christians.

"A few studies have shown that seculars who do marry have a better track record at staying married than members of Southern Baptists and other conservative denominations," Flynn said. "Those seculars who bother to marry may be marrying more successful than very traditional, male-authoritarian Christians."

Wilcox responded by claiming that men and women with an active church life “do look different in the marital realm.”

“At least in the marriage arena, faith alone doesn't work,” Wilcox said. “You've got to combine faith and works to enjoy a happy and stable marriage. You need the consistent message, the accountability, and the support a church community can provide to really benefit from religious faith.

Christians Must Unite to Render Valid Witness of Christ

2008-07-02T15:42:00.000-07:00

VATICAN CITY, 29 JUN 2008 (VIS) - At 9.30 a.m. today, Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles, Benedict XVI celebrated the Eucharist in the Vatican Basilica. Concelebrating with the Holy Father were 40 new metropolitan archbishops, upon whom he imposed the pallium. The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I was also present at the ceremony.

The Pope and Bartholomew I entered St. Peter's Square together, preceded by an Orthodox and a Latin deacon bearing the Gospel.

Following the reading of the Gospel in Latin and Greek the Holy Father presented the Ecumenical Patriarch to the assembly, after which each of them pronounced a homily.

In his homily Benedict XVI spoke of the two Apostles, patrons saints of Rome. "Through their martyrdom", he said, "through their faith and their love, the two Apostles show where true hope lies. They founded a new kind of city, one that must be formed ever and anew in the midst of the old human city which is threatened by the opposing forces of sin and human selfishness".

"We could say that their martyrdom was, in the deepest sense, like giving a fraternal embrace. They died for the one Christ and, in the witness for which they gave their lives, they became one single entity. In the New Testament we can, so to say, follow the development of that embrace, the creation of unity in witness and in the mission".

The Pope highlighted the fact that although Paul "usually went only to places in which the Gospel had not already been announced, Rome was an exception. There he found a Church the faith of which was the talk of the world. Going to Rome was part of the universality of his mission as an envoy to all peoples, ... it was an expression of the catholicity of his mission. Rome must make the faith visible to the whole world, it must be a place of encounter in the one faith".

Turning to consider Peter, the Holy Father recalled how "he left the presidency of the Christian-Judaic Church to James the Less in order to dedicate himself to his true mission, the ministry for the unity of the one Church of God made up of Jews and pagans".

"The perpetual mission of Peter", he went on, is "to ensure the Church never becomes identified with a single nation, with a single culture or a single State. That she always remains the Church of everyone. That she unites humankind beyond all frontiers and, amidst the division of this world, brings God's peace, the reconciliatory power of His love".

Addressing the archbishops who were about to receive the pallium, the Holy Father told them that the gesture of imposing it upon their shoulders "reminds us of the shepherd who takes the lost sheep across his back, the sheep that cannot find its way home, and brings it back to the fold. In this sheep the Fathers of the Church saw the image of the entire human race, of all human nature, which is lost and no longer knows the way home"; and the Pastor that brings it home "is the eternal Word of God Himself". Yet nonetheless, God "also wants men 'to carry' alongside Him. Being a pastor of the Church of Christ means sharing in this task".

In this way, he said, "the pallium becomes a symbol of our love for Christ the Shepherd, and of our loving together with Him. ... It becomes a symbol of the call 'to love them all' with the power of Christ ... that they might find Him and, in Him, themselves".

Benedict XVI concluded his homily by expressing the view that the pallium "speaks to us of the catholicity of the Church, of the universal communion of Pastor and flock, just as it is a reference to apostolicity, to communion with the faith of the Apostles upon which the Church is founded".

At the end of the Mass and before praying the Angelus, the Holy Father pointed out that since this year the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul falls on a Sunday, "the entire Church, and not just the Church of Rome, celebrates it solemnly".

"Of course", said the Pope referring to the Pauline Year which he officially inaugurated yesterday, "its focal point will be Rome, in particular the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls and the place of the saint's martyrdom at the Three Fountains. But it will involve the entire Church, beginning with Tarsus where Paul was born, and the other Pauline sites ... in what is now Turkey, as well as the Holy Land and the island of Malta where the Apostle arrived after having been shipwrecked and sowed the fertile seed of the Gospel.

"The truth is", he added, "that the horizon of the Pauline year cannot but be universal, because St. Paul was, par excellence, the Apostle to those who were 'far off' from the Jews and who 'by the blood of Christ' were 'brought near'. Hence, even today, in a world that has become 'smaller' but where many have still not met the Lord Jesus, the Jubilee of St. Paul invites all Christians to become missionaries of the Gospel".

"As the liturgy says, the charisms of the two great Apostles are complementary in the edification of the one People of God, and Christians cannot render valid witness of Christ if they are not united among themselves".

Benedict XVI concluded by inviting everyone to pray "for these great intentions: the Pauline Year, evangelisation, communion in the Church and full unity among all Christians, entrusting them to the celestial intercession of Most Holy Mary Mother of the Church and Queen of the Apostles".

CFC 27th Anniversary

2008-06-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

Worthy Brief - 6/26/2008

2008-06-26T00:45:00.000-07:00

CFC, don't get burned!

Proverbs 6:27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?

June 12, is independence day for the Philippines. In 1991 the day was forever marked by one of the strongest volcano eruptions in history. Mount Pinatubo, dormant for over 500 years, began to erupt, and three days later exploded with twice the power of the 1980 Mount St. Helen's eruption. The release of power blasted a cubic mile off the mountaintop and the earth shook for eight hours. The eruption produced an ash cloud that rose over 50,000 feet into the atmosphere. If that wasn't enough, Typhoon Yunga then struck the island nation with fierce winds and torrential rains which mixed with the ash creating what the locals called "Black Saturday!"

The United States was forced to abandon and eventually close Clark Air Force base, located just a few miles from Mount Pinatubo, due to the devastating blanket of fallen ash. When a vulcanologist was asked to account for the widespread damage which sent thousands of American soldiers and Filipinos fleeing, he replied, "When a volcano is silent for many years, people forget it's a volcano and begin to treat it like a mountain."

Now here's a lesson from nature. We should always be aware of how our sinful nature has the potential to erupt. It would be a big mistake to ignore this possibility simply because it has lain dormant for a season...even a seemingly long one.

Solomon writes a profound statement in his book of Proverbs, which, when paraphrased goes something like this; "Can someone play with fire in his lap without incinerating his clothes?"

The enemy of our souls would love for us to believe that we can somehow play with sin, without it negatively affecting our spirit and our walk with the Lord -- oh how deceptive Satan can be!

D.L. Moody was a fairly simple man and I love the way he dealt with sin. He said, "When you're thinking sin, think scripture!"

CFC, let's be on guard! Sin is a dormant volcano which can erupt at ANY moment and set our house on fire. How do we prepare? First, by being aware of the possibility...then...;"Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee". [Psalm 119:11] Let's meditate upon His Word, allowing it to sink deep into our minds and our hearts, so that the only fire which burns there...is the fire of God's Holy Spirit. Amen.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah

Worthy Brief - 6/19/2008

2008-06-19T01:00:00.000-07:00

CFC-FFL, anyone can be restored!

Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

There is a fascinating true story about the Apostle John narrated by the early church "Father", Eusebius, well worth reading.

The account goes that the elderly John took an affection and interest in a young man from Ephesus and subsequently entrusted him to the care of a bishop in the vicinity, and that, after a season, this young man became entangled with a band of criminals, and was corrupted by them, finally becoming their leader. When John returned after some time to search for the young man, expecting to find him spiritually well and maturing, the bishop despondently informed John of his fate.

Eusebius wrote, "The apostle tore his clothing, beat his head, and groaned, 'A fine guardian I left for our brother's soul! But get me a horse and someone show me the way.' He rode off from the church, just as he was. When he arrived at the hideout and was seized by the outlaws' sentries, he shouted, 'This is what I have come for, take me to your leader!'"

"When John approached and the young leader recognized him, he turned and fled in shame. But John ran after him as hard as he could, forgetting his age, and calling out, 'Why are you running away from me, child – from your own father, unarmed and old? Pity me, child, don't fear me! I will give account to Christ for you, and if necessary, gladly suffer death and give my life for yours as the Lord suffered death for us. Stop! Believe! Christ sent me.'"

"The young man stopped, stared at the ground, threw down his weapons and wept bitterly. Flinging his arms around the old man, he begged forgiveness, baptized a second time with his own tears…[John] led him back and did not leave him until – through prayer, fasting, and instruction – he restored him to the church."

What an awesome story! I've used this story many times when talking to the despondent backslider who believes he can no longer be forgiven.

CFC-FFL, be an example of His love! No matter how far someone believes he has strayed from, or even deserted the Lord – he can always be restored! Perhaps, while reading this message, the Lord is reminding you of a person with whom you can share this story. Just possibly, you are the one that God wants to use to bring about his/her restoration. If so, I trust that, reading of the Apostle John's loving example, you've been inspired by the compassion and grace the Lord Himself feels toward His "prodigals", and moved by His Spirit to go out in faith...and rescue the lost sheep!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah

The Daily Gospel

2008-06-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Thursday, 19 June 2008

Thursday of the Eleventh week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Romuald

Saint Teresa of Avila : «Your will be done»

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 6,7-15.

In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one. If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.

Commentary of the day :

Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church
Way of Perfection, ch.32 (©ICS publications)

«Your will be done»

«Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.» O my Lord, what a great comfort this is for me, that you didn't want the fulfillment of Your will to depend on a will as wretched as mine!... I'd be in a fine state, Lord, if it were up to me as to whether or not Your will were to be done! Now I freely give mine to You, even though I do so at a time in which I'm not free of self-interest. For I have felt and have had great experience of the gain that comes from freely abandoning my will to Yours. O friends, what a great gain there is here! Oh, what a great loss there is when we do not carry out what we offer to the Lord in the Our Father!...

Well, I want to advise you and remind you what His will is. Don't fear that it means He will give you riches, or delights, or honors, or all these earthly things. His love for you is not that small, and He esteems highly what you give Him. He wants to repay you well, for He gives you His kingdom while you are still alive... Well, see here, daughters, what He gave to the one He loved most. By that we understand what His will is. For these are His gifts in this world. He gives according to the love He bears us... according to the courage He sees in each and the love each has for His Majesty. He will see that whoever loves Him much will be able to suffer much for Him; whoever loves Him little will be capable of little. I myself hold that the measure for being able to bear a large or small cross is love...

Everything I have advised you about in this book is directed toward the complete gift of ourselves to the Creator, the surrender of our wills to His, and detachment from creatures - and you have understood how important this is-I'm not going to say any more about the matter; but I will explain why our good Master teaches us to say the words mentioned above, as one who knows the many things we gain by rendering this service to His eternal Father. For we are preparing ourselves that we may quickly reach the end of our journey and drink the living water from the fount we mentioned. Unless we give our wills entirely to the Lord so that in everything pertaining to us He might do what conforms with His will, we will never be allowed to drink from this fount.

Take God Out of "Parentheses," Urges Pope

2008-06-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 10, 2008 (Zenit.org).- If people want to have hope and find meaning in their lives, they need to take God out of the "parentheses," says Benedict XVI.

The Pope affirmed this Monday in the Basilica of St. John Lateran when he inaugurated the ecclesial congress of the Diocese of Rome. The event is under way through Thursday, focused on the theme: "Jesus Has Risen: Educating for Hope in Prayer, Action and Suffering."

The Holy Father referred to the subject of Christian hope, explaining that, "in a certain way, it concerns each of us personally, [...] but it is also a community hope, a hope for the Church and for the entire human family."

"In today's society and culture, and hence also in this our beloved city of Rome, it is not easy to live in an atmosphere of Christian hope," he said. "There is a widespread feeling that, for both Italy and Europe, the best years have passed and that a future of instability and uncertainty awaits the new generations."

"Moreover," the Pontiff added, "hopes for great novelties and improvements are concentrated on science and technology." Yet, "it is not science and technology that can give meaning to our lives and teach us to distinguish good from evil. Indeed, as I wrote in my encyclical 'Spe Salvi,' it is not science that redeems man: Man is redeemed by love, and this applies even in terms of the present world."

Benedict XVI lamented how "our civilization and our culture [...] too often tend to place God in parentheses, to organize personal and social life without him, to maintain that nothing can be known of God, even to deny his existence. But when God is laid aside, [...] all our hopes, great and small, rest on nothing.

"In order, then, to 'educate for hope' -- as we propose in this congress and during the coming pastoral year -- it is necessary, in the first place, to open our hearts, our intellects and all our lives to God, in order to be his credible witnesses among our fellow man."

Commitment

The Bishop of Rome mentioned some concrete areas in which the Church will work to better the Eternal City.

"An acute and widespread awareness of the evils and problems afflicting the heart of Rome is reawakening the desire for [...] joint commitment," he said. "It is our task to make our own specific contribution, beginning with the decisive question of the education and formation of the person, but also facing with a constructive spirit the many other real problems that often make the lives of those who live in this city wearisome.

"In particular we will seek to promote a form of culture and social organization more favorable to the family and to welcoming life, as well to valuing the elderly who are so numerous among the population of Rome.

"We will work to respond to the crucial needs of work and housing, especially for the young. We will share the commitment to make our city safer and more 'liveable,' but we will work to ensure it is so for everyone, especially the poorest, and to ensure that immigrants who come among us to find a living space in respect for our laws are not excluded."

Benedict XVI concluded his address by encouraging young people to make "the gift of Christian hope" their own, using it "in freedom and responsibility [...] to enliven the future of our beloved city."

2008-06-12T07:58:00.001-07:00

A picture is definitely worth 1000 words! God save us!!!

RespectSenator Barack Obama, Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Hillary Clinton and Ruth Harkin stand during the national anthem.Barack Hussein Obama's photo (that's his real name).... ..the article said he REFUSED TO NOT ONLY PUT HIS HAND ON HIS HEART DURING THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, BUT REFUSED TO SAY THE PLEDGE.....how in the world can a man like this expect to be our next Commander-in-Chief????

Is just merely my opinion..

Has Obama Dissolved His Catholic Advisory Council?

2008-06-11T11:01:00.001-07:00

New York, Jun 10, 2008 (CNA).- Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has apparently dissolved his Catholic National Advisory Council. According to the latest information obtained by CNA, evidence of the committee’s continued existence remains elusive.

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said in a June 9 press release that there is no mention of the advisory council on the Obama website and Obama’s National Catholic Outreach Coordinator has not responded to Catholic League inquiries about the council.

In recent months two Catholic advisors to Obama have been the subject of controversy. One of Obama’s Catholic advisers, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, was recently rebuked by Archbishop of Kansas City Joseph Naumann because of her pro-abortion views and asked by the archbishop not to present herself for Holy Communion.

The other Obama advisor who has drawn fire is Chicago priest Fr. Michael Pfleger who reportedly withdrew his name from the Advisory Council after video of him mocking Obama’s Democratic opponent Sen. Hillary Clinton was publicized. Amid critical media coverage, Fr. Pfleger was asked by Cardinal Francis George, the Archbishop of Chicago, to take a two-week leave of absence from his parish.

Bill Donohue had called on Sen. Obama to dissolve the campaign’s Catholic National Advisory Council because of what he said was the senator’s selection of “dissident Catholics.” Donohue said most of the public officials on the council had a 100 percent rating from NARAL, a pro-abortion group.

Noting the lack of publicity for the Catholic National Advisory Council, Donohue said “It would appear, then, that the group no longer exists.”

The Catholic League informed CNA on Tuesday that no further information on the fate of the advisory council has surfaced. The League also pointed to a report from BeliefNet in which one of the advisory council’s members said that she chats on the phone with other members, but does nothing more.

Obama’s Catholic National Advisory Council Members (as published May 12, 2008)

Former Congressman Tim Roemer of Indiana Sr. Catherine Pinkerton, Congregation of St. Joseph Governor Jim Doyle of Wisconsin Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont Representative Xavier Becerra of California Representative Lacy Clay of Missouri Representative Rosa. DeLauro of Connecticut - Representative Anna Eshoo of California Representative Raul M. Grijalva of Arizona Representative George Miller of California Representative Linda Sanchez of California Mary Jo Bane, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School Nicholas P. Cafardi, Catholic Author and Scholar, Pittsburgh, PA Lisa Sowle Cahill, Professor of Theology, Boston College Tom Chabolla, Assistant to the President, Service Employees International Union M. Shawn Copeland, Associate Professor of Theology, Boston College Ron Cruz, Leadership Development Consultant, Burke, VA Sharon Daly, Social Justice Advocate, Knoxville, MD Richard Gaillardetz, Murray / Bacik Professor of Catholic Studies, University of Toledo Grant Gallicho, Associate Editor, Commonweal Magazine Margaret Gannon, IHM, A Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Scranton, PA Don Guter, Judge Advocate General of the Navy (2000-2002); Rear Admiral, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Pittsburgh, PA Teresa Heinz, Chairman, Heinz Family Philan11J.ropies Cathleen Kaveny, Professor of Law and Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame Victoria Reggie Kennedy, President, Common Sense About Kids and Guns Peggy Kerry, Independent Consultant, New York, NY Jim Kesteloot, President and Executive Director, Chicago Lighthouse Vincent Miller, Associate Professor of Theology, Georgetown University David O'Brien, Loyola Professor of Catholic Studies at the College of the Holy Cross Reverend Michael Pfleger, Pastor of Faith Community of St. Sabina, Chicago, IL Sr. Jamie Phelps, O.P., Director and Professor of Theology, Institute for Black Catholic Studies, Xavier University Peter Quaranto, Senior Researcher and Conflict Analyst, Resolve Uganda (Notre Dame Class of 2006) Dave Robinson, International Peace Advocate, Erie, Pennsylvania Vincent Rougeau, Associate Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame Mary Wright, Inter-Faith Liaison, Louisville, KY

Worthy Brief - 6/11/2008

2008-06-11T04:30:00.000-07:00

CFC, choose the better part!

Luke 10:38-42 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

So often in ministry, the Lord deals with my own spirit, saying – "You need to step back and get refocused!" And we all know how hard it is at times when we get so busy with the normal every day stresses of life tugging at our limited time.

Shortly after my recent return from a speaking tour in the U.S., I was reading the story of Mary and Martha, and how Mary chose the better part, while Martha was doing the housework. Now let's not deny the real importance of housework and practical matters; let's face it, with nobody doing that stuff, what would get done? Life would be a mess! But according to Jesus, something was wrong, and Martha had her priorities out of line. And He made it very clear, Mary had chosen the better part! Mary preferred and chose relationship and intimacy with the Lord over the physical preparations and housework associated with His visit. And Jesus blessed and protected her choice.

And so the Lord has had to remind me, over and again of the importance of intimacy with Him...before getting down to the work!

It's a constant temptation to slip into an emphasis on DOING the work at hand; and even in our own personal prayer time, to be mainly focused on those "urgent ministry needs"...and completely forgetting the most important thing, the "better part"- intimacy, personal communication, just BEING with Him.

CFC, let's resolve to choose intimacy with Jesus! Let's choose the better part! Let's resolve to spend time with the Lord and develop that intimate relationship He so wants with us. That way we will constantly experience how deep and awesome His love for us is. And it will make the work we're called to do -- so much easier!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah

The Daily Gospel

2008-06-09T21:10:00.001-07:00

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

Tuesday of the Tenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Getulius & Comp., St Ithamar

Saint John Chrysostom : Salt of the earth

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5,13-16.

You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.

Commentary of the day :

Saint John Chrysostom (c. 345-407), Bishop of Antioch then of Constantinople, Doctor of the Church
Sermons on Saint Matthew's Gospel, no.15

Salt of the earth

«You are the salt of the earth», the Saviour says, so showing them the necessity of all those precepts he has just proclaimed. «My word,» he says to them, «will not only apply to your own lives but has been entrusted to you for the whole world. I am not sending you out to two towns, nor ten, nor twenty, nor even to a single people as in the case of the prophets in former times. I am sending you out to the earth, the sea, the whole creation (Mk 16,15), wherever evil is rampant.

Indeed, by saying to them: «You are the salt of the earth», he showed them that all human nature is saltless, corrupted by sin. Through their ministry the Holy Spirit's grace will regenerate and preserve the world. Hence he teaches them the virtues of the Beatitudes, those that are most necessary and efficacious in anyone responsible for the multitude. Someone who is gentle, modest, merciful and just does not shut up the good deeds he carries out within himself; he takes care that these lovely springs should also stream out for the good of others. Anyone who has a pure heart, who is a peacemaker, who suffers persecution for the truth is a person who consecrates his life for the good of others.

"Held" by Natalie Grant

2008-06-05T10:44:00.000-07:00

Ten States Petition California To Delay Same-sex Marriages

2008-06-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

San Francisco, Jun 2, 2008 (CNA).- Attorneys general from ten states on Friday asked the California Supreme Court to delay until November its ruling implementing legal same-sex marriages.

The attorneys general, all Republicans, said if the ruling is implemented on schedule on June 17, the states would be subjected to lawsuits from homosexual couples married in California who seek to have their unions recognized in their home states, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

"An inevitable result of such 'marriage tourism' will be a steep increase in litigation" over whether the couple's home state must recognize their marriage, said Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who authored the brief. Shurtleff said delaying the implementation of the ruling would save other states from “premature, unnecessary, unnecessarily difficult, and therefore unduly burdensome litigation in our courts.”

The attorneys general of Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Carolina and South Dakota joined the brief.

Each of the ten states has legally banned the recognition of same-sex marriages contracted elsewhere. Unlike Massachusetts, where homosexual marriages have also been legalized, California allows residents of other states to marry even if the marriage would not be legal in their home state.

California voters could overturn the state Supreme Court’s decision in the November 3 election with a constitutional amendment that would declare only opposite-sex marriages to be valid. Sponsors of the amendment have submitted petitions bearing 1.1 million signatures, about 400,000 more signatures than required to qualify for the state ballot.

If the amendment passes, courts will then have to decide whether California same-sex marriages contracted before November 3 were valid.

Worthy Brief - 6/2/2008

2008-06-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

CFC, pour yourself out!

Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

Charles Finney wrote about how God gave him mighty infillings of the Holy Spirit. He said, "[These infillings] went through me, as it seemed, body and soul. I immediately found myself endued with such power from on high that a few words dropped here and there to individuals were the means of their immediate conversion. My words seemed to fasten like barbed arrows in the souls of men. They cut like a sword. They broke the heart like a hammer. Multitudes can attest to this...Sometimes I would find myself in a great measure empty of this power. I would go and visit, and find that I made no saving impression. I would exhort and pray with the same results. I would they set apart a day for private fasting and prayer...after humbling myself and crying out for help, the power would return upon me with all its freshness. This has been the experience of my life."

D.L Moody said, "I believe firmly that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride and selfishness and ambition and everything that is contrary to God's law, the Holy Spirit will fill every corner of our hearts. But if we are full of pride and conceit and ambition and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God. We must be emptied before we can be filled."

CFC, let's get right with the Lord today. Let's set aside some time to get before Him and empty ourselves of the world's influences and our selfish ways that we might be filled with His power and anointing!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah

The Daily Gospel

2008-06-01T21:11:00.001-07:00

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Monday, 02 June 2008

Monday of the Ninth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : Sts. Peter & Marcellinus

Saint Catherine of Siena : "I am the true vine and my Father is the vine grower" (Jn 15,1)

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 12,1-12.

He began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent them another servant. And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully. He sent yet another whom they killed. So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed. He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, 'They will respect my son.' But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What (then) will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scripture passage: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes'?" They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd, for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them. So they left him and went away.

Commentary of the day :

Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), Dominican tertiary, Doctor of the Church, co-patron of Europe
Dialogue 24 (©Classics of Western Spirituality)

"I am the true vine and my Father is the vine grower" (Jn 15,1)

Do you know what course I follow, once my servants have completely given themselves to the teaching of the gentle loving Word? I prune them, so that they will bear much fruit-cultivated fruit, not wild. Just as the gardener prunes the branch that is joined to the vine so that it will yield more and better wine, but cuts off and throws into the fire the branch that is barren, so do I the true gardener act (Jn 15,2). When my servants remain united to me I prune them with great suffering so that they will bear more and better fruit, and virtue will be proved in them. But those who bear no fruit are cut off and thrown into the fire (Jn 15,6).

These are the true workers. They till their souls well, uprooting every selfish love, cultivating the soil of their love in me. They feed and tend the growth of the seed of grace that they received in holy baptism. And as they till their own vineyards, so they till their neighbors' as well, for they cannot do the one without the other. You already know that every evil as well as every good is done by means of your neighbors. You, then, are my workers. You have come from me, the supreme eternal gardener, and I have engrafted you onto the vine by making myself one with you... All of you together make up one common vineyard...; are all united in the vineyard of the mystic body of holy Church from which you draw your life. In this vineyard is planted the vine, which is my only-begotten Son, into whom you must be engrafted.

The Daily Gospel

2008-05-28T21:10:00.001-07:00

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Thursday, 29 May 2008

Thursday of the Eighth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St Raymond and companions

William of Saint-Thierry : "What do you want me to do for you?"

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 10,46-52.

They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me." And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me." Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage; get up, he is calling you." He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see." Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

Commentary of the day :

William of Saint-Thierry (c.1085-1148), first a Benedictine, then a Cistercian monk
The Contemplation of God, 1-2

"What do you want me to do for you?"

«Come! Let us climb the Lord's mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways,» (Is 2,3). You, good intentions, burning desires, thought and will, affections and all the heart's strength, come!, let us climb the mountain, let us get to the place where the Lord sees and is seen. But as for you, worries, cares and anxieties, hard work and heavy bondage, wait for us here... until, hastening to that place, we return to you when we have worshipped (cf. Gn 22,5). For unfortunately we have to come back again only too quickly.

Lord, God of my strength, turn us towards you, «bring us back to you, show us your face and we shall be saved,» (Ps 80[79],20). However, my Lord, how premature, bold and presumptuous he is, how opposed to the rule borne by the word of your truth and wisdom, to claim to see God with impure heart! O sovereign goodness, supreme good, life of our hearts, light of our interior eyes: in your goodness, Lord, have mercy on us.

See! my purification, trust and right: see it now, the contemplation of your goodness, my good Lord! You say to my soul, O my God, as you well know how: «I am your salvation,» (Ps 35[34],3). Rabboni, sovereign master and teacher, the only physician able to make me see what I long to see, say to this blind beggar of yours: «What do you want me to do for you?». And how well you know, who give this grace to me..., with what strength my heart cries out to you: «I have sought you, Lord, and still will seek your face! Hide not your face from me,» (cf. Ps 27[26],8-9).

Catholics Must Bring Wisdom about Marriage to Gay Union Debate, California Bishop Says

2008-05-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

Oakland, May 22, 2008 (CNA).- In a pastoral letter responding to the California Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage, Bishop of Oakland Allen Vingeron said that Catholics must respond to this “profoundly significant” issue by bringing a proper understanding of marriage into public life. The failure to do so, he said, would result in a difficult situation where Christianity becomes a counter-cultural way of life.

Writing in a May 16 letter, Bishop Vingeron said the “most fundamental point” is that “marriage is a reality authored by God in his very act of creating the human race.” A marital relationship is only possible between one man and one woman for the purposes of “mutual loving support” between them and for their “loving service of life” by bringing children into the world.

All Catholics implicitly affirm this conviction when they profess to share the Church‘s faith in their baptismal promises, the bishop said.

However, he said, this conviction about marriage can be known from reason. Therefore, its position in society is not an ideological imposition but an aspect of the common good.

“This wisdom about the nature of marriage is not a form of discrimination, but undergirds our freedom to live according to God’s plan for us,” Bishop Vigneron said. “No government has the power to change the order which God has inscribed in our nature.”

Bishop Vigneron said future challenges related to same-sex unions can be divided into short term and long term categories.

In the short term, Catholics are called to bring marriage laws into conformity with their knowledge about the nature of marriage.

If such efforts fail, the bishops said, “our way of life will become counter-cultural, always a difficult situation for Christians -- one our forebears faced in many ages past, one that the Lord himself predicted for us.”

Bishop Vigneron recommended Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body as a resource for Catholics to use in renewing both their own and their society’s understanding of marriage and human life.

Recalling Pope John Paul II’s constant reminder to “be not afraid,” he concluded:

“Christ is risen. His vision for our world, and for the place of marriage in it, will, according to the time he has appointed, become the truth of our world.”

The Daily Gospel

2008-05-22T21:10:00.001-07:00

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Friday, 23 May 2008

Friday of the Seventh week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St William of Rochester

Vatican Council II: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and handed himself over for her" (Eph 5,25)

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 10,1-12.

He set out from there and went into the district of Judea (and) across the Jordan. Again crowds gathered around him and, as was his custom, he again taught them. The Pharisees approached and asked, "Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?" They were testing him. He said to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?" They replied, "Moses permitted him to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her." But Jesus told them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother (and be joined to his wife), and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate." In the house the disciples again questioned him about this. He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."

Commentary of the day :

Vatican Council II
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church in the modern world, «Gaudium et Spes», §48 (©Libreria editrice vaticana)

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and handed himself over for her" (Eph 5,25)

A man and a woman, who by their compact of conjugal love "are no longer two, but one flesh", render mutual help and service to each other through an intimate union of their persons and of their actions. Through this union they experience the meaning of their oneness and attain to it with growing perfection day by day. As a mutual gift of two persons, this intimate union and the good of the children impose total fidelity on the spouses and argue for an unbreakable oneness between them.
Christ the Lord abundantly blessed this many-faceted love, welling up as it does from the fountain of divine love and structured as it is on the model of His union with His Church (Eph 5,32). For as God of old made Himself present to His people through a covenant of love and fidelity, so now the Savior of men and the Spouse of the Church comes into the lives of married Christians through the sacrament of matrimony. He abides with them thereafter so that just as He loved the Church and handed Himself over on her behalf (Eph 5,25), the spouses may love each other with perpetual fidelity through mutual self-bestowal.
Authentic married love is caught up into divine love and is governed and enriched by Christ's redeeming power and the saving activity of the Church, so that this love may lead the spouses to God with powerful effect and may aid and strengthen them in sublime office of being a father or a mother. For this reason Christian spouses have a special sacrament by which they are fortified and receive a kind of consecration in the duties and dignity of their state. By virtue of this sacrament, as spouses fulfil their conjugal and family obligation, they are penetrated with the spirit of Christ, which suffuses their whole lives with faith, hope and charity. Thus they increasingly advance the perfection of their own personalities, as well as their mutual sanctification, and hence contribute jointly to the glory of God.

Worthy Brief - 5/13/2008

2008-05-13T03:30:00.000-07:00

CFC, spiritually prepare for the storms are brewing!

Matthew 7:24-25 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

After spending three months on the road, with an incredible wife and two kids -- it's great to be home! As you can imagine, living out of a suitcase with a 4 year old daughter and a son who is barely 6 months old now, it was quite a trip as we traveled over 11,000 miles!

As we spoke in numerous places throughout the United States, we stressed the need for our spiritual foundation to be solidified, and of how important it is right now for believers to be grounded on the rock that doesn't move! We are entering ever so quickly into some of the most turbulent times in the history of the world, and sad to say, it seems much of the church is asleep in the light without a clue of what's ahead and how rapidly it is approaching.

While we see these events moving toward us on the horizon, we need more than ever to guard against worry or fear. Rather, let's embrace our God, who has promised to protect His children in the very midst of storms! In my own personal life, I have often experienced God's faithfulness and protection most dramatically in the midst of great storms. Not only that, but when you think of it, how can a rainbow be formed without a cloud or a storm?

CFC, now is the time to dig deep, and be firmly planted on the Rock -- so that when the approaching storms do come, we will weather them through, and be there to rejoice as we see the fulfillment of God's promises at the end of the storm!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Rivka, Elianna & Baby Obi

The Daily Gospel

2008-05-12T21:08:00.001-07:00

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Tuesday, 13 May 2008

Tuesday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : Our Lady of Fatima

Jean-Pierre de Caussade : "Do you not yet understand or comprehend? "

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 8,14-21.

They had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. He enjoined them, "Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." They concluded among themselves that it was because they had no bread. When he became aware of this he said to them, "Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?" They answered him, "Twelve." When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up? They answered (him), "Seven." He said to them, "Do you still not understand?"

Commentary of the day :

Jean-Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751), Jesuit
Self-Abandonment to Divine Providence, II, 1 (trans. Algar Thorold)

"Do you not yet understand or comprehend? "

Could we pierce the veil, and were we vigilant and attentive, God would reveal himself continually to us and we should rejoice in his action in everything that happens to us. At every occurrence we should say: «Dominus est. It is the Lord!» (Jn 21,7) and in all circumstances we should find a gift from God.

We should consider creatures as very feeble instruments in the hands of an almighty worker, and we should recognize without difficulty that nothing is lacking to us and that God's constant care leads him to give us each instant what is suited to us. If we had faith, we should welcome all creatures; we should, as it were, caress them and thank them interiorly for contributing so favourably to our perfection when applied by the hand of God. If we lived uninterruptedly by the life of faith, we should be in continual contact with God; we should speak with him face to face...

Faith is the interpreter of God; without the illumination which it brings, nothing can be understood of the language in which creatures speak to us. That language is a cypher in which nothing is apparent but confusion; it is a thorn-bush from which no one could imagine God speaking. But faith makes us see, as in the case Moses, the fire of divine charity burning in the midst of the thorns; faith gives us the key to the cypher and enables us to discover in that confusion the marvels of heavenly wisdom. Faith gives a face as of heaven to the whole earth, and by it our hearts are ravished and transported to converse in heaven... Faith is the key of the treasury, the key of the abyss of divine wisdom.

The Daily Gospel

2008-05-11T21:08:00.001-07:00

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Monday, 12 May 2008

Monday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : Pancras, Nereus & Achilleus

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta : "They were seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him"

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 8,11-13.

The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation." Then he left them, got into the boat again, and went off to the other shore.

Commentary of the day :

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), Foundress of the Missionary Sisters of Charity

"They were seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him"

God is everywhere, in everything; without him we cannot exist. I've never doubted his existence for one moment but I know there are some who doubt. If you don't believe in God, at least you can help others with deeds inspired by love, and the fruit of those works will be the coming down of extra graces into your soul. Then you will begin to open yourself out gradually and will long for the joy of loving God.

There are so many religions! Each one follows God in its own way. But I follow the way of Christ: Jesus is my God, Jesus is my Spouse, Jesus is my only Love, Jesus is my All for me in everything, Jesus is all for me.

This is why I'm never afraid. I do my work with Jesus; I do it for him, offering it to him; so the results are his, not mine. If you need a guide, you have only to turn your eyes to Jesus. You have to hand yourself over to him and rely entirely on him. If you do that then doubt vanishes away and assurance takes over. But Jesus said: «Unless you turn and become like children, you cannot come to me» (cf Mt 18,3).

The Daily Gospel

2008-05-08T21:12:00.001-07:00

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Friday, 09 May 2008

Friday of the Seventh week of Easter

Today the Church celebrates : St. Pachomius,

Saint Augustine : "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you."

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 21,15-19.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." He then said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." (Jesus) said to him, "Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me."

Commentary of the day :

Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Guelferbytanus Sermon 16,1; PLS 2,579 (©Friends of Henry Ashworth)

"Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you."

The Lord appeared once again to his disciples after his resurrection, and questioning Peter, who from fear had thrice denied him, extracted from him a threefold declaration of love. Christ had been raised to life in the flesh and Peter to life in the spirit; for when Christ died as a result of the torments he endured, Peter was also dead as a result of denying his master. Christ the Lord was raised from the dead; Christ the Lord raised up Peter through Peter's love for him. And having obtained from him the assurance of that love, he entrusted his sheep to Peter's care.

We may wonder what advantage there could be for Christ in Peter's love for him. If Christ loves you, you profit, not Christ; and if you love him, again the advantage is yours, not his. But wishing to show us how we should demonstrate our love for him, Christ the Lord made it plain that it is by our concern for his sheep.

«Simon, son of John, Do you love me?» he asked. «I do love you.» «Then feed my sheep.» Once, twice, and a third time the same dialogue was repeated. To the Lord's one and only question, Peter had no other answer than «I do love you.» And each time the Lord gave Peter the same command: «Feed my sheep.» Let us love one another then, and by so doing we shall be loving Christ.

The Daily Gospel

2008-05-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Thursday, 08 May 2008

Thursday of the Seventh week of Easter

Today the Church celebrates : St Victor

Saint Peter Damian : "May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you"

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 17,20-26.

I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them."

Commentary of the day :

Saint Peter Damian (1007-1072), hermit, then a Bishop, Doctor of the Church
Opuscule 11 «Dominus vobiscum», 6 (Migne 1992, p.22 rev.)

"May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you"

Holy Church, although diverse in multiplicity of persons, is brought into unity by the fire of the Holy Spirit. If, from the physical point of view, she seems to be divided among several families, yet the mystery of her profound unity loses nothing of its integrity: «because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us,» (Rom 5,5). There is no question that this Spirit is both one and many at the same time: one at the core of its majesty; many in the gifts and charisms granted to the Holy Church filled by his presence. And it is this same Spirit that enables the Church to be at one and the same time single in its universal extent yet wholly present in each of its members...

So if those who believe in Christ are one, no matter where any particular one of them happens physically to be, the whole body of the Church is there through the sacramental mystery. And everything suitable to the whole body seems suitable to each one of its members... Hence it is that, when several of the faithful are together, they can say: «Incline your ear, O Lord; answer me, for I am afflicted and poor. Keep my life, for I am devoted to you» (Ps 86[85],1-2). And when we are alone, we can still sing: «Let us all sing joyfully to God our strength; acclaim the God of Jacob» (Ps 81[80],2). It is not misplaced for us all to say together: «I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth» (Ps 34[33]2) nor, when I find myself alone, to proclaim: «Glorify the Lord with me, let us together extol his name» (v.4) and many other, similar expressions. Solitude prevents nobody from speaking in the plural while the mass of the faithful can just as well express themselves in the singular. The Holy Spirit's power, which dwells in each of the faithful and encircles them all, means that in the latter case there is a peopled solitude and in the former a great many who form but one.

The Daily Gospel

2008-05-06T21:12:00.001-07:00

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Wednesday, 07 May 2008
Wednesday of the Seventh week of Easter

Today the Church celebrates : St. John of Beverley

Saint Augustine : "I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely"

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 17,11-19.

And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are. When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.

Commentary of the day :

Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Sermons on St John's Gospel, no.107

"I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely"

When he had said to his Father: «And now I will no longer be in the world...; I am coming to you» (Jn 17,11), our Lord recommended to his Father those who were about to be deprived of his physical presence: «Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given to me.» As man, Jesus prays to God for the disciples he has received from God. But note what follows: «So that they may be one just as we are.» He does not say: That they may be one with us, or: So that they and we together may be one thing just as we are one, but he says: «That they may be one just as we are.» That they may be one in their nature just as we are one in ours. The truth is that these words imply that Jesus spoke as having the same divine nature as his Father, as he says elsewhere: «The Father and I are one,» (Jn 10,30). According to his human nature he had said: «My Father is greater than I, « (Jn 14,28), but since God and man form one and the same person in him, we understand that he is man because he prays and understand him to be God because he is one thing with the one to whom he prays...

«But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely.» As yet he has not left the world; he is still there; but since he is shortly going to leave it, he is no longer in it, so to speak. But what is that joy with which he wants his disciples to be filled? This he has already explained a little before, when he said: «That they may be one as we are.» Concerning this joy, which belongs to him and which he has given to them, he foretells to them the perfect fulfillment and that is why he speaks about it «in the world». This joy is the peace and happiness of the world to come and, to gain it, we must live in the present world with self-restraint, justice and devotion.

Worthy Brief - 5/6/2008

2008-05-06T03:30:00.000-07:00

CFC, life awaits us!

Philippians 3:13-14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

There are two kinds of birds that roam the desert: vultures and hummingbirds. The vulture thrives on a diet of rotting meat. He flies overhead searching for traces of leftover carcasses from slow-footed critters eaten by wild animals who've already had their fill.

Hummingbirds, on the other hand, will sweep through the desert, passing over all those repulsive, dead animals and seek colorful patches of beautiful wild desert flowers. They will suckle the delicious juices of those sweet desert blossoms and be satisfied.

While vultures look to the dead for their survival, the hummingbird seeks the living! Likewise, some of us unconsciously look to our past with its regrets, failures and sins to keep us alive. We think that somehow by looking back to those dead things, we might find some motivation to keep surviving here and now. But let's take a lesson from the hummingbird.

CFC, let's sweep past that which is dead and focus on the sweet new life -- the exciting future that God holds for us as we continue seeking Him and moving forward in our relationship with Him!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah
Currently in Baltimore, MD

The Daily Gospel

2008-05-05T21:12:00.001-07:00

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Tuesday, 06 May 2008

Tuesday of the Seventh week of Easter

Today the Church celebrates : St Petronax, St Dominic Savio

Saint Irenaeus of Lyons : "So that he may give eternal life to all you gave him"

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 17,1-11.

When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began. I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.

Commentary of the day :

Saint Irenaeus of Lyons (c.130-c.208), Bishop, theologian and martyr
Against the Heresies, IV,14 (SC 100, p.537 rev.)

"So that he may give eternal life to all you gave him"

In the beginning it was not because he had need of man that God fashioned Adam but so as to have someone on whom to set his blessings. For, not only before Adam but even before creation, the Word glorified the Father while dwelling in him and was glorified by the Father as he himself said: «Father, glorify me with the glory that I had with you before the world began.» Further, it wasn't because he needed our help that he told us to follow him but to win salvation for us. Because following the Savior is to share in salvation just as following the light is to have a share in the light.

When people stand in the light, it is not they who illumine the light and cause it to shine but who are illumined and made to shine by it. Far from contributing anything at all to it, they benefit from the light and are lit up by it. This is how it is in serving God: our service contributes nothing to God for God has no need of man's service; but to those who serve and follow him God gives life, incorruptibility and eternal glory...

If God requests man's service it is so that he who is good and merciful might grant his blessings to those who persevere in his service. For, if God has no need of anything, yet man has need of communion with God. The glory of man is to persevere in the service of God. That is why our Savior said to his disciples: «It was not you who chose me but I who chose you» (Jn 15,16). Thus he showed that it was not they who glorified him by following him but that, since they had followed the Son of God, they were glorified by him. «Father, I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory» (Jn 17,24).

AN OPEN LETTER TO CFC-FFL WORLDWIDE

2008-04-30T10:39:00.000-07:00

April 30, 2008

My dear brethren,

Grace and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ!

The turn of events

Events have moved quickly since an article entitled “Vatican admonishes CFC over GK” appeared on ABS-CBN online news last April 16 (note: we had nothing to do with that article, and the writer is unknown to me/us). Then the letter of Cardinal Rylko of the Pontifical Council for the Laity (Vatican) to Joe Tale dated March 11 surfaced on the Net (note: this did not come from us as we had no copy, but came from them as they tried to downplay the ABS-CBN news item). The letter told Joe about going back to the essentials, and the priority of building up the family, in fidelity to the Church. It talked about counterbalancing the overemphasis on the social work. It talked about the public scandal due to the mistakes committed, and the need to correct them. It urged Joe to issue a public declaration in the Philippine newspapers recognizing the errors and publicly apologizing. It directed CFC to stop receiving funding (from those producing or marketing contraceptives) .

The reaction of some on the CFC-GK side was fast and furious. Boy Montelibano, the right-hand man of Tony Meloto in GK, issued a series of writings, basically maligning me, Bishop Gabriel Reyes, Cardinal Rylko of the Vatican, and the Church hierarchy in general. He used strong words such as Pharisees and hypocrisy. Other newspaper columnists such as Esposo and de Quiros, connected with Boy, joined in on the personal attacks on me and on the hierarchical church.

http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=2008042699&type=2
http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=2008042866&type=2

We are in a time of intense spiritual warfare!

God’s action in our lives

Last year, the Lord brought us to Lamentations, to teach us a stern lesson, that we would lose it all if we are unfaithful to our covenant, just as what happened to His people Israel. I took command responsibility for our collective guilt, and made a spiritual offering of resignation from the Int’l Council. That should have brought us back to God’s grace, if we all repented and turned back from unfaithfulness to our covenant and veering away from our calling. But that did not happen, as there was disrespect and disobedience to our bishops, and there was maligning and attacks against those who wanted to restore CFC to its authentic charism.

We all allowed the enemy (the devil, our common enemy) to enter our gates, with the result that CFC plunged into deep crisis and then split.

But given that bringing us to Lamentations did not have the desired result, since there were those with hardened hearts who would not repent and turn away from errors, God then allowed the split to happen. If we had not split, CFC would soon have disintegrated, as the enemy wanted to destroy us all. With the split, the tensions between the social and the spiritual dimensions of our work were eliminated. We in CFC-FFL, the restored CFC true to its authentic charism, moved on, with great joy and starting to experience the return of God’s anointing.

The enemy, thinking he had succeeded in seriously weakening CFC with the split, now saw God bringing victory out of seeming defeat. He now saw the emergence of a restored CFC, once again totally focused on the charism given it. Once again God’s work of family renewal and evangelization could proceed in the power of His Spirit. And once again the enemy raged.

Since many bishops have recognized CFC-FFL, and since the Holy See, through the Pontifical Council for the Laity, has recognized the errors committed by CFC, so now it is the hierarchical Church herself that is under attack.

This is where we see that indeed we are into more intense spiritual warfare. The devil rages against the Church and her authentic work. The conflict is not just about us in CFC, but about the whole Church.

Call to prayer

What should we do?

First, be not afraid. The gates of hell will not prevail against the Church.

Second, rejoice in persecution for the sake of righteousness, for you are blessed (Mt 5:10-12). Such is God’s way of purifying us and moving us on to holiness.

Third, do not retaliate in kind. Continue to love your “enemy” (the only real enemy is the devil).

Fourth, pray hard. Prayer is our lifeline to God, who is merciful, kind, just and loving. We are His children. He is committed to care for us. He knows our pains. He allows crosses into our lives. But He has a great plan for us, not for woe but for a future full of hope.

Let us pray for God’s protective mantle on us all. Let us pray for our brethren who are in CFC-GK. They are our brethren and not our enemies. And let us pray for Mother Church, especially our bishops who guide and pastor us.

I ask every member of CFC-FFL, in addition to your regular daily prayer and Bible reading, to look to frequent participation in the Eucharist (daily if you can), to regular family prayer of the rosary (daily if you can), and to Eucharistic adoration (if you are able). The different CFC-FFL groupings (households, chapters, districts, etc.) should look to communal prayer and intercession. The intercessory groups should intensify their prayers. Let us also pray the chaplet of the Divine Mercy.

I also call on fasting twice a week. We, and the whole Church, are into intense spiritual warfare. Certain demons “can only come out through prayer (and through fasting)” (Mk 9:29). We are on spiritual war footing. Be fit for the fight.

Finally, keep your hearts pure and humble. “‘God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble.’ So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.” (1 Pt 5:5-7).

Rejoice in the Lord

It is appropriate that we in CFC-FFL have taken on the theme of joy for this year. God loves us, God has a great plan for us, God will never abandon us, God turns our pains and crosses into sanctification and holiness. And God is already victorious over the enemy. What more could we ask for?

I leave you with Peter’s wise words.

“Now who is going to harm you if you are enthusiastic for what is good? But even if you should suffer because of righteousness, blessed are you. Do not be afraid or terrified with fear of them, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil.” (1 Pt 3:13-17)

Mama Mary, please pray for us and keep us in your loving embrace always.

God bless us all.

Your brother in Christ,

Frank Padilla

The Daily Gospel

2008-04-29T21:12:00.001-07:00

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Wednesday, 30 April 2008

Wednesday of the Sixth week of Easter

Today the Church celebrates : St. Pius V

Saint Silouan : "When he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth"

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 16,12-15.

I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.

Commentary of the day :

Saint Silouan (1866-1938), Orthodox monk
Spiritual writings

"When he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth"

If you want to pray in your heart and are not able, be content to pray with your lips and keep your mind attentive to what you are saying. Little by little the Lord will also give you the grace of interior prayer and then you will know how to pray without distractions. Don't try to bring about prayer of the heart by using techniques; you would risk harming your heart and, in the end, you would only be praying with the lips. Acknowledge the rule of the spiritual life: God grants his gifts to those who are humble and without guile. Be obedient; don't overdo things, whether in food, speech, or whatever you undertake. Then the Lord himself will give you the grace of interior prayer...

Spiritual silence is born of the desire to fulfil Christ's command: «Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul... with all your strength,» (Mk 12,30). It is a silence brought about by the search for the living God in anyone who wants to be free from this world's temptations so that they can find our Lord in fullness of love and live in his presence in pure prayer. Lord, how could I not seek you? You have revealed yourself to my soul in such an amazing way! You have made it a prisoner of your love and it cannot forget you. Indeed, the soul recognises its Lord all at once in the Holy Spirit; who can describe this joy, this consolation? The Holy Spirit acts within the whole man, mind, soul and body; even so is God acknowledged, on earth as in heaven. In his infinite goodness the Lord has granted this grace to me sinner that I am so that men might know him and turn back to him.

The Daily Gospel

2008-04-28T21:12:00.001-07:00

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Tuesday, 29 April 2008

Tuesday of the Sixth week of Easter

Today the Church celebrates : St Catherine of Siena

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross [Edith Stein] : "It is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you"

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 16,5-11.

But now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. Coming of the Advocate

Commentary of the day :

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross [Edith Stein] (1891-1942), Carmelite, martyr, co-patron of Europe
From a Pentecost Novena, 1937 (©ICS publications)

"It is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you"

Who are you, sweet light, that fills me
And illumines the darkness of my heart?...
Are you the master who builds the eternal, cathedral,
Which towers from the earth through the heavens?
Animated by you, the pillars are raised high
And stand immovably firm (Rev 3,12).
Marked with the eternal name of God,
They stretch up to the light,
Bearing the dome
That crowns the holy cathedral,
Your work that encircles the world:
Holy Spirit God's molding hand!...

Are you the sweet song of love
And of holy awe
That eternally resounds around the triune throne,
That weds in itself the clear chimes of each and every being?
The harmony
That joins together the members to the Head,
In which each one
Finds the mysterious meaning of being blessed
And joyously surges forth,
Freely dissolved in your surging:
Holy Spirit eternal jubilation!