She Offers Her Son

February 2, 2016By

Feast of the Purification 2016
After childbirth, the Hebrew women were considered ritually unclean because of the shedding of their blood.  The Blessed Mother was exempt from all the requirements of the law, because she had not shed blood in her virginal birth and because she had no need for a sin offering.  The newborn children were required to be presented to the temple to show that they belonged to God first and were only loaned to their natural parents for a time.  This presentation of Our Lord was a portent of that day on which the Virgin Mary would offer her Divine Son on Calvary to God the Father.  This feast was celebrated in the most ancient days of the Church in the Holy Land, and was used as a means of combating a pagan celebration of the time.  The use of the powerful sacramental of the candle is a testament to our glorious and bloodstained past, when the Mass was offered by candlelight in the catacombs.
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Love Christ As He Loves Us

January 31, 2016By

Sexagesima Sunday 2016
St. Paul wrote this Epistle in answer to those who criticized him and to show his zeal for the salvation of souls.  To hear all that St. Paul endured makes us feel ashamed when considering how little we have suffered for the love of Christ.  Many today have a very confused idea of what Heaven is.  We can only have a true notion of Heaven through infused faith and prayer, and those lacking the true Faith cannot have a correct appreciation of eternal happiness.  Our union with Our Lord in the reception of the Holy Eucharist gives us a foretaste of eternal beatitude.  God desires that we have an ardent love for Him and that our love for Him reflects, in some small way, the love He has for us.
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Sexagesima Sunday 2016
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Become a Catechumen Again

January 24, 2016By

Septuagesima Sunday 2016
This Sunday marks the beginning of a new season in the liturgical year.  The liturgy is the official prayer of Christ through the Church, and our union with Christ in his prayer makes our prayers efficacious.  This is the season for us to prepare for Lent by reminding us why we must do penance.  In the beginning God created something good, but Adam fell and introduced sin into the world.  We live with the consequences of original sin every day.  We spend a lifetime trying to eliminate the selfishness with which we are all born.  We become keenly aware of our sins now, so we may fight them better during Lent.  We must continue to learn about our Faith as the catechumens and find out what attachments are holding us back from God.  Let us all embark on this retreat together.
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Septuagesima Sunday 2016
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Uncompromising Faith

January 17, 2016By

2nd Sunday after Epiphany 2016
St. Vincent was ordained a deacon and was arrested with his bishop under Roman persecution. While imprisoned St. Vincent began preaching to those around him, and even the tortures he endured did nothing to silence him. St. Vincent resisted the slightest compromise. It was only by his continuous prayers that he remained faithful to Our Lord. May we all be as faithful as this great saint.

The theme of the feast of the Epiphany is continued in the text for today’s Mass. St. Paul instructs the converted pagans in Rome to be patient with their neighbors. At the wedding feast of Cana, Our Lord made it clear to His holy Mother that the will of His Father came before every other consideration. The first miracle He performed sanctified marriage in a special way and increased the faith of the Apostles.
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Obligations to God and Family

January 10, 2016By

Feast of the Holy Family 2016
In this Gospel, the Holy Family went to Jerusalem for the Bar Mitzvah of Jesus Christ because He had reached the age required to become a “Son of the Law.”  This was the moment when a Jewish boy would take on the responsibility of an adult.  For Our Lord it meant that He officially and juridically became the public and formal representative of God, His Heavenly Father.  The reason Christ stayed in the Temple was because from that moment the Temple was His true home.  Our Lord’s “Father’s business” was liturgical worship.  The actions of Christ are a clear lesson to us that our obligations to Almighty God exceed all other obligations, even those towards our family.  When the Gospel says that “He advanced in wisdom and age and grace before God,” it means that as His humanity developed, He manifested more perfectly His wisdom and perfections.
This feast was instituted as a defense against the attacks on the family, and to combat the errors taught about the family’s purpose in society. It teaches us the sublimity of the passive virtues of family life: silence, humility, and fidelity to duty.  These virtues, so often scorned by the world, are the very foundation of a holy human existence.
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The Power of His Name

January 3, 2016By

Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus 2016
St. Telesphorus led the Church as pope soon after it was founded.  He is one of the many saints who corroborates the fact that our Church is certainly apostolic.  This pope gave us the midnight Mass on Christmas, along with the Gloria chanted at the Mass, and many other practices we have to this day.  The star which led the magi was not a natural phenomenon, but clearly a miraculous guide to lead these men to Our Lord.  Uttering the Holy Name of Jesus obtains an immediate response from Our Lord.  God the Father loves to hear us invoke the Name of His Son.  Christ was given this Name at the moment of the circumcision, when He began our redemption by shedding the first drops of His Precious Blood.  There is no more lofty prayer than the Name of Jesus.
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His Desire To Be United With You

January 1, 2016By

Octave of Christmas 2016
We must remember that Christmas is just the beginning of the work of redemption. It assures us of glorious day of Our Lord’s second coming. We can see in nearly every aspect of the Christmas mystery future events typified. Today we have a second celebration of Christmas, because one day is not enough for this great feast. So many in our day attack the doctrine of the Virgin Birth. This should enrage the pious hearts of true Catholics. On the eighth day after the birth of Our Lord, He was circumcised. This ritual was of divine institution, and through it a baby boy become part of the Hebrew race. It was a type of the sacrament of Baptism which makes us members of the Mystical Body. Although Christ did not need to submit to this ritual, He did so in order to be better associated with the sinners He was about to redeem. On this day the Virgin Mary held Our Lord on her lap and shared for the first time in His sufferings as He shed His first drops of Precious Blood.
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Christ’s Victory Will Come

December 27, 2015By

Sunday within the Octave of Christmas 2015
The liturgy is not only the prayer of the Church, but the prayer of Our Lord Himself.  Similar to the sacraments, the liturgy also uses outward signs to confer grace to us.  We continually renew the celebration of Christmas throughout the days of its octave.  In the composite scene of the Creche Set we are taught many things.  In the animals of the nativity scene we see that all of creation is being renewed and once more submits to its Creator.  This Mass also looks forward to the end of the Christmas season with its reference to the feast of the Purification.  We must not submit to the disinformation which the world propagates against the Nativity and must remain ever confident in Christ’s coming victory.
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Swaddling Clothes and a Manger

December 25, 2015By

Christmas Midnight Mass 2015
We should pay special attention to the repetition of the phrase “swaddling clothes” in the Gospel account for today.  The importance of these swaddling clothes is found in the care and love shown to the Holy Infant.  Even though this Child was rejected by so many and was forced to be laid in a filthy feeding trough for animals found in a dark cave, there are those who still loved Him and cared for Him.  This is the story of Christ’s entire life – rejected by many but ardently loved by a few.  The Savior entered the world through the painless, virginal birth of His Mother.  This birth prophesied the Resurrection, in which Our Lord passed through the tomb with new life, while leaving the tomb shut.  On this feast, we celebrate the stupendous moment in which our Redeemer first appeared to mankind in the Flesh.  God the Father became father in a new way today, and all Heaven celebrates the birth of His Son.  On this feast, our sorrows are lifted and we look forward to a greater day to come.
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Anticipate Christmas Joys

December 13, 2015By

Gaudete Sunday 2015
The “O” Antiphons are sung every day from December 17th to the feast of the Nativity. Antiphons are citations from Holy Scripture or prayers created by the Church that demonstrate the theme of the day, recited before and after the Psalms of the Divine Office. The “O” Antiphons are very ancient petitions to God the Son in preparation for the end of time. These prayers refer to the Son of God as “Wisdom,” “Adonai,” “Root of Jesse,” and other titles full of meaning. We should pray these antiphons to help us prepare for the real purpose of Christmas.

The liturgical color of rose is a combination of the violet color representing penance and the white representing joy. Penance is found in the hatred of sins and the intention never to commit them again. Mortification is related to penance but refers to acts which put our evil inclinations to death. Through mortification we deny ourselves even those things which are permissible, in order to strengthen us on the road to sanctity. The joy of this day comes from our proximity to the great feast of Christmas, in which we have a foretaste of the everlasting joys of Heaven.
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