Catechumen To Neophyte

Easter Vigil 2022 The Easter Vigil is the culmination of our Lenten retreat and especially for the catechumens who are baptized and who will receive their first Holy Communions at the Mass which follows.  The Liturgy brings light to the darkness of the world of sin and sings the praise of Our Lord’s Paschal candle. …

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The Only Solution

Holy Thursday 2022 Today is a good day to remind everyone about how to receive Holy Communion properly. The Epistle is a warning from St. Paul that is timely  because we live in a time of unprecedented sacrileges against Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.  The Gospel describes the Mandatum when Christ washed the feet of…

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The Devil Hates Us

First Sunday In Lent 2022 This Friday begins Stations of the Cross and this is an appropriate devotion for Lent that was begun by our Mother of Sorrows.  Fasting and abstinence began on Ash Wednesday and their origins go back to Noah.  These practices are essential to our Lenten retreat days.  This week is the feast…

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Lent Is A Season Of Joy

Ash Wednesday 2022 Septuagesima season has prepared us for this time of removing sin from our lives.  This should comfort us as we begin this time of penance.  When examining our conscience we should not look at self but at Our Lord crucified to realize the effects of our evil on Him.  Lent is the…

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Crave The Eucharist

Holy Thursday 2021 St. Paul warns us in the Epistle not to abuse Our Lord by receiving Him sacrilegiously in Holy Communion.  This is especially so because the Holy Eucharist is the greatest gift God has given us and the sign of His love for us.  To betray this love is like the kiss of…

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Baptism Rite Is A Mini-Lent

3rd Sunday in Lent 2021 Today is also the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas who is a model of many things including fidelity to a vocation.  The Liturgy of Lent continues to prepare the catechumens and penitents for the Sacred Triduum.  The daily Masses for this week are geared by the Church for this purpose. …

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Prayer and Fasting

1st Sunday In Lent 2021 Jesus Christ leads us by example as we begin Lent.  He sanctified the forty days we have begun by first spending that number of days in prayer and fasting in the desert before He started His public life.  Upon its completion He overcame Satan and his temptations.  We will do…

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Our 40 Day Lenten Retreat

Ash Wednesday Evening 2021 Ashes are a sacramental so we should stir up our hearts and receive them devoutly.  By popular demand the reception of ashes was extended to all the faithful not just the public penitents.  We should imitate the penitents and catechumens during this spiritual retreat and practice acts of penance like prayer,…

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Ultimately Penance Is Love

Ash Wednesday 2021 Neglect of practicing penance during Lent is a cause of the problems we experience in the world today.  The virtue of penance is a power from God which makes us hate sin, be sorry for it, make reparation for it and convert because sin offends God Who loves us.  Penance spurs us…

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Purity of Intention

Quinquagesima Sunday 2021 In preparation for Ash Wednesday and Lent there is a review of the laws concerning fast and abstinence.  Today is also the feast of St. Valentine and his impact in our own day.  The Epistle for this Mass is taken from St. Paul and teaches us the importance of doing all our…

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Servants of the Holy Family