25th Sunday After Pentecost 2021
In today’s Gospel about the mustard seed Our Lord teaches us the importance of the spiritual life in a world that seems so foreign to His kingdom. We should make a perfect act of charity daily, practice mental prayer and spiritual reading. We have an apostolate to prisoners and there is read a beautiful story from 1939 about a prisoner’s conversion through the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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Wedding of Tyler & Patricia Smith
This is a happy day for the bride and groom and all who know and love you. The marriage bond was given by God to Adam and Eve and then it was raised to a sacrament by Christ when He walked among us. The purposes of this sacrament are the procreation and education of children, mutual support and a remedy to concupiscence. The primary purpose is raising children, not just to live in this world but, for heaven. This holy institution demands responsible adults whose love for each other gives them the ability to share sufferings together and to be humble in bearing one another’s weaknesses. Through this you will both have a happy life together and win a reward in heaven.
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Funeral Mass for Saundra Warner
The Church encourages us to pray always for the deceased that she be released from Purgatory if she is still detained there. We know that praying for the dead is not in vogue but its practice is pre-Christian because all peoples, sharing the primitive revelation from Adam and Eve, offered sacrifices for their departed loved ones so they could be freed from a place of purifying after death. It was recognized that after death we were rewarded or punished for our deeds in life. Christ approved of the Jews praying for the dead during His life in the Holy Land. We can help pay the debt for one of our own and thereby comfort her.
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24th Sunday After Pentecost 2021
Today’s Gospel is warning and a consolation that the good and evil grow together but are separated at the end and receive different rewards based on their deeds in life. The Church has gone through troubles in the past and present but will always survive because of God’s preserving grace. The enemies will have their apparent power stripped away. We should not assume that we are the wheat and neglect to watch over our hearts and have weeds grow there instead. The most successful apostolates are good example and prayer. The virtuous life becomes easier as we practice it.
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First Friday, November 2021
Two final notes concerning the Holy Souls are how they pass time in Purgatory and how we relate to them. We are raised with the secular teaching that the Church and State should be separated. Christ spoke to the people of His time as integral individuals and did not dichotomize them by their public and private lives. The Our Father petitions for the coming of His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Christ did not limit Himself to individuals but commanded preaching to entire nations. All this is based on the hypostatic union which constitutes Our Lord as priest and king. St. Pius X said that the problems of the world are permitted by the laxity and lukewarmness of passive Catholics.
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All Souls Day, Evening 2021
The ancient pagan art in Rome often had death as its theme. We too should meditate on death but Christianize it by seeing the goal as God in heaven. Some of our brethren have not achieved the goal yet and are in Purgatory. We can assist them by praying for them and teaching others, especially our children, to pray for them. By taking a moment to help the Holy Souls we will be gaining friends for eternity.
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All Souls Day 2021
Having a day to pray for the souls of the faithful departed began in the monasteries where the deceased monks were remembered in Masses, the Divine Office and by reciting 150 Our Fathers. Souls in Purgatory are often permitted to visit family, friends and the altars where they assisted at Mass. At death a person’s soul leaves his body and is judged instantly. His decision at that time can never change because without his body to provide new information the soul’s choice at the moment of death is irrevocable. Those in grace but not yet perfect are purified in Purgatory where the fires purify their souls by humbling their pride. There is peace and joy there also because the Holy Souls know that they are saved and will see God. We should pray, fast and give alms to assist them.
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All Saints Day 2021, Evening
It is natural for us to seek the help of our friends when trying to accomplish something. This is what we do with our heavenly friends, the saints, as well. Today honors all the unknown saints with their own feast day. Our chapel has the Beatitudes intermingled with the statues of the saints because these are the marks of what a saint is. Parents have a tremendous influence in raising their children to be saints. Saints deserve to be on pedestals but we should never forget that they were people like us. We can achieve the same by corresponding to grace as they did. Avoid occasions of sin and follow the example of the saints like Mary Magdalen, Augustine and the Little Flower.
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All Saints Day 2021
The Church always celebrated groups of saints and today’s feast includes all the saints. In the seventh century the pagan Pantheon was consecrated to God and the relics of the saints in the catecombs were brought to this temple for veneration and honoring. God gave this feast so we thank Him for the saints, we can imitate them, implore their intercession and make reparation for any dishonor shown them or the angels. If worldlings work so hard following their pagan ideals why can’t Christians work as hard to love God as He deserves? Humility is the secret of the saints and the law of mercy.
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Feast Of Christ The King 2021
We are subjects of Christ, our King, and as such we are grateful to assist at this feast day and to follow Him faithfully. Pope Pius XI instituted this feast almost a century ago and placed it before All Saints day. This highlights His authority over the saints and encourages us to pray to them for their intercession. The encyclical of the pope teaches about the basis of Our Lord’s Kingship in the Incarnation. It explains His three fold powers as executor, legislator and judge. His is a gentle rule over the hearts of men and in due time He rescues us. On our part, we must never compromise what our King has asked us to do and the best way to honor Him is by denying ourselves, taking up our crosses daily and following Him into His heavenly kingdom.
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