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She Offers Her Son

February 2, 2016By
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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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Uncompromising Faith

January 17, 2016By
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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
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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
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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
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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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Swaddling Clothes and a Manger

December 25, 2015By
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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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The Triumph of the New Eve

December 8, 2015By
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Feast of the Immaculate Conception 2015
Although the Blessed Mother was given the unique privilege of being preserved from Original Sin, this does not mean that she was not redeemed.  It simply means that she was redeemed in a more perfect, anticipatory manner.  She was conceived with an initial plenitude of grace, yet her share in God’s life continually increased in her until she was taken back to Heaven.  Adam was made God-like with the gift of Sanctifying Grace and mankind was meant to remain in perfect harmony with the Divine.  Because Adam was made master of creation, he was given a sign to show his subordination to God – the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  The devil brought evil into the world by convincing Eve to tempt Adam.  We see in the book of Genesis how quick God is to offer mercy after we fall.  Immediately after the sin of Adam was revealed, God promised a Savior who would come through the new Eve, the woman never touched by sin.
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Rededicate Yourselves!

November 29, 2015By
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1st Sunday of Advent 2015

At the beginning of the new liturgical year, we are reminded of many great truths.  Advent is a time of preparation.  God had His Chosen People wait in anticipation of His first coming in mercy, and He has His chosen people once again waiting for His return in glory.  Our Lord, as the great Pontiff, bridges the gap between the Creator and the creature, between the infinite and the finite, in His Incarnation.  With the beginning of the liturgical year, our journey to become more Christlike is renewed once more.  This progressive incorporation into Christ can only be accomplished through participation in the Mass, devout reception of the sacraments, and unceasing prayer.
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The Remains of Sin

November 2, 2015By
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All Souls Day 2015

Very few in our day remember the souls of the departed because of the false belief in the universal salvation of all men.  In assisting the suffering souls in Purgatory, we gain friends who will intercede for us.  We must never waste the time we have been given, because the way we choose to spend our moments on earth will make the difference between an eternity in Heaven or Hell.  Many souls can be released on this day, especially through the intercession of the Virgin Mary.  All our sins have a debt of punishment attached to them.  If we pray our penance well, we could remit our entire debt of temporal punishment, but if we die with these dispositions of soul, we would rather throw ourselves into the punishments of Purgatory than remain in the presence of the infinitely perfect God.
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We Must Desire Sanctity

November 1, 2015By
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All Saints Day 2015
Today we rejoice because this is the day on which the Church celebrates all her children who have overcome the world.  In the process by which a saint is canonized, it must be determined that they expressed nothing contrary to faith and morals, and that they practiced virtue in a heroic way.  After this, the Church waits for God to affirm the individual’s sanctity by miracles attributed to their intercession.  It is not enough for a Catholic merely to recite the Creed, he must believe it and practice it.  For every walk of life, there is a saint who has lived it as an example to follow.  Today we adore God as we honor His saints, and desire to make the little sacrifices necessary on our road to holiness.
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Mar
14
St. Boniface, Bishop of Ross, Scotland

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