What is Lent to you? What does it meant to enter into Lent and participate in this extraordinary season of our Church?
Fr. Jack Collins, CSP, walks in the streets of New York to interview individuals to share their own understanding of Lent or Ash Wednesday. Let's explore what people think of it.
Archbishop Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia, reflects on the meaning of Lent and explains the fasting, prayer and almsgiving that Catholic are called to during the six week preparation for Easter.
January 30, 2012. (Romereports.com) During Sunday's Angelus, the pope talked about abuse of power in both the workforce and social life. The pope said those in authority should be guided by an attitude of service.
Benedict XVI
“Often, authority means possession, power, dominance and success. To God, however, authority means service, humility and love. It means entering into the logic of Jesus Christ, Who leans down to wash the feet of His disciples.”
The pope also took time to talk about “World Leprosy Day.” Every year about 230,000 people contract the disease, especially in India, Brazil and Indonesia.
Benedict XVI
“I express my support to everyone affected by this disease as well as their caregivers, who in many ways strive to eliminate poverty and marginalization, which are the true causes of its continuance.”
The Pope also talked about the International Day of Intercession for Peace in the Holy Land, which is celebrated on January 30th. To honor the cause, a group of Italian families and young adults gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray for world peace.
At the end of the Angelus, the Pope released white doves from his window. But after being released they decided to go back into the Pope's study.
Benedict XVI
“They want to be in the Pope's home.”
The doves were released to symbolize peace. Some saw it as a metaphor, of the long road that still lies ahead.
Another part of a video series from Wordonfire.org. Father Barron will be commenting on subjects from modern day culture. For more visit http://www.wordonfire.org/
Fr. Greg Friedman, O.F.M gives us his take on The First week of Lent, the story of how Jesus was tempted by the devil, after 40 days in the desert.
www.romereports.com The Vatican has asked every bishop from around the world how to bring the Christian message to those who have never heard the word of God and those who have left the faith.
"The first Sunday of the Lenten journey reveals our condition as human beings here on earth. The victorious battle against temptation, the starting point of Jesus’ mission, is an invitation to become aware of our own fragility in order to accept the grace that frees [us] from sin and infuses new strength in Christ — the way, the truth and the life." --Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI: Lenten Message for 2011
NATIONAL VOCATION AWARENESS WEEK
January 9 – 15, 2011
From Fr. Peter Dumag, Director of Vocations
Source: Catholic Hawaii
January 9 – 15, 2011 is National Vocations Awareness Week. It begins with the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. Let us remember to pray for priests and consecrated men and women this week, and for married couples and families. Send a card to a priest or consecrated person this week, thanking them for the gift of themselves given to Christ and to his body, the Church. Pray for more vocations to priesthood and consecrated life, and consider a vocation to priesthood and consecrated life.
I ask you to consider the following:
include an intention at the Masses on this week from January 9-15
place a notice about this week on your parish bulletin
consider placing the Diocesan Prayer for Vocations in your bulletin, newsletters,
website, or other means of communication
Diocesan Prayer for Vocations
Heavenly Father, your divine Son taught us
to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His vineyard.
We earnestly beg you to bless our Diocese and our world
with many priests, deacons and religious who will love you
fervently and gladly and courageously spend their lives
in service to your Son's Church,
especially the poor and the needy.
Bless our families and our children, and choose from our homes
those whom you desire for this holy work.
Teach them to respond generously
and keep them ever faithful in following your Son Jesus Christ,
that under the guidance of the Holy Spirit
and with the inspiration of Saint Damien and Blessed Marianne
the Good News of redemption may be brought to all.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
This post below is from the Diocese of Honolulu Spiritual Mothers Apostolote blog which Esther G. and I run and maintain. The post below was posted by Esther yesterday, September 15. I apologize for not seeing it right away, but do jump in and join the many Catholics in praying for Pope Benedict XVI.
The Novena period which precedes the Feast begins on Wednesday
15th of September - Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
As this Novena period surrounds the Papal Visit - (September
16th to 19th) it is suggested that people pray the Novena for
the following intentions:
"For God's mighty blessing and protection upon the Papal Visit
and for the Holy Father's intentions".
For overseas readers, perhaps the best way of joining in the Novena is to say the Rosary each day, or at least one decade, for this intention.
Here at this blog, we are asking that you offer your Holy Rosary prayers for the Holy Father's intentions for nine consecutive days, along with the following prayer from the Knights of Columbus' prayer card, for his intentions:
PRAYER FOR POPE BENEDICT XVI
Lord, source of eternal life and truth,
give to your shepherd, Benedict, a spirit
of courage and right judgment, a spirit
of knowledge and love. By governing
with fidelity those entrusted to his care,
may he, as successor to the Apostle Peter
and Vicar of Christ, build your Church
into a sacrament of unity, love and peace
for all the world. Amen.
V. Let us pray for Benedict, the pope.
R. May the Lord preserve him,
give him a long life,
make him blessed upon the earth,
and not hand him over
to the power of his enemies.
V. May your hand
be upon your holy servant.
R. And upon your son,
whom you have anointed.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
The liturgy interprets for us the language of Jesus’ heart, which tells us above all that God is the shepherd of mankind, and so it reveals to us Jesus’ priesthood, which is rooted deep within his heart; so too it shows us the perennial foundation and the effective criterion of all priestly ministry, which must always be anchored in the heart of Jesus and lived out from that starting-point.
The most important of those texts in today’s liturgy is Psalm 23(22) – "The Lord is my shepherd" – in which Israel at prayer received God’s self-revelation as shepherd, and made this the guide of its own life. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want": this first verse expresses joy and gratitude for the fact that God is present to and concerned for humanity. The reading from the Book of Ezechiel begins with the same theme: "I myself will look after and tend my sheep" (Ez 34:11). God personally looks after me, after us, after all mankind. I am not abandoned, adrift in the universe and in a society which leaves me ever more lost and bewildered. God looks after me. He is not a distant God, for whom my life is worthless.
-Pope Benedict XVI
Fr. John Berger
The priest is not a mere office-holder, like those which every society needs in order to carry out certain functions. Instead, he does something which no human being can do of his own power: in Christ’s name he speaks the words which absolve us of our sins and in this way he changes, starting with God, our entire life. Over the offerings of bread and wine he speaks Christ’s words of thanksgiving, which are words of transubstantiation – words which make Christ himself present, the Risen One, his Body and Blood – words which thus transform the elements of the world, which open the world to God and unite it to him.
The priesthood, then, is not simply "office" but sacrament: God makes use of us poor men in order to be, through us, present to all men and women, and to act on their behalf. This audacity of God who entrusts himself to human beings – who, conscious of our weaknesses, nonetheless considers men capable of acting and being present in his stead – this audacity of God is the true grandeur concealed in the word "priesthood". That God thinks that we are capable of this; that in this way he calls men to his service and thus from within binds himself to them: this is what we wanted to reflect upon and appreciate anew over the course of the past year. We wanted to reawaken our joy at how close God is to us, and our gratitude for the fact that he entrusts himself to our infirmities; that he guides and sustains us daily. In this way we also wanted to demonstrate once again to young people that this vocation, this fellowship of service for God and with God, does exist – and that God is indeed waiting for us to say "yes".
-Pope Benedict XVI, at the papal Mass on the feast of the Sacred Heart that marked the end of the Year for Priests.
Lawrence replied that the Church was indeed rich. “I will show you a valuable part. But give me time to set everything in order and make an inventory.” After three days he gathered a great number of blind, lame, maimed, leprous, orphaned and widowed persons and put them in rows. When the prefect arrived, Lawrence simply said, “These are the treasure of the Church.”
I know a few chaplains whose hearts are filled with the love of God. One of them is Fr. Patrick McCormick. Read his answers to 8 questions posted by Anna Weaver in the Hawai'i Catholic Herald.
Here's a song that takes a chaplain over Bhagdad, in prayer, and perhaps, in search of anyone who might be in need of help.
Let us pray for all chaplains.
Bishop Larry Silva, looking proud and pleased
Bishop Larry with Fr. Gordy of Sacred Heart Parish
Our bishop with Fr. Keahi receiving for Fr. Edward Popish, SS.CC
Vicar General Fr. Marc Alexander
