Archive for April, 2015

Reflections for Sunday, April 12, 2015
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Reflections for Sunday, April 12, 2015

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by on Apr 08, 2015 in Catechesis, Church Street, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Acts 4:32-35 2nd Reading: 1 John 5:1-6 Responsorial: Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24 Gospel: John 20:19-31 Allowing the Word of God to Deepen Our Faith These are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ. (John 20:31) The Gospel writers […]

<em>The Second Greatest Story Ever Told</em>
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The Second Greatest Story Ever Told

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by on Apr 08, 2015 in Catechesis, Featured, On Books
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As one might expect, the first greatest story ever told is that of God creating the world and then sending His son to save us from our sins. Throughout human history, God has wanted His people to know Him, to love Him, and to Trust Him, but due to sin, this has not been an […]

St. Perpetuus, Bishop
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St. Perpetuus, Bishop

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by on Apr 08, 2015 in Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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ST. PERPETUUS was the eighth Bishop of Tours from St. Gatian, and governed that see above thirty years, from 461 to 491, when he died on the 8th of April. During all that time he labored by zealous sermons, many synods, and wholesome regulations, to lead souls to virtue. St. Perpetuus had a great veneration […]

Our God is a Mighty God
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Our God is a Mighty God

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by on Apr 07, 2015 in Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ
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I love silence. I crave it sometimes, especially in a world that seems filled with noise 24/7. Radios and TVs, alarm clocks and iPods, CD players and Youtube, telephones and cell phones and people talking-talking-talking wherever we go. It can be a challenge to hear God’s voice over all of that noise. We might try […]

“Save Yourselves from this Corrupt Generation” (Acts 2:40)
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“Save Yourselves from this Corrupt Generation” (Acts 2:40)

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by on Apr 07, 2015 in Catechesis, Featured, Live in Christ
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This verse in the Book of Acts brings an image to my mind of a street activist holding a sign with these words scrawled across it — a scenario many would turn away from. But those who heard St. Peter’s speech at Pentecost were “cut to the heart by it,” and that day three thousand were baptized […]

Is Indiana’s Debate the Precursor to a <em>Forbidden God</em>?
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Is Indiana’s Debate the Precursor to a Forbidden God?

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by on Apr 07, 2015 in Featured, Law & Justice, On Media, On TV and Movies
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No matter what side of the debate you find yourself on, the heated discussion surrounding Indiana’s recently passed religious freedom restoration act is infuriating. For those who honestly condemn bigotry it appears to be a discriminatory power grab, one that is nothing less than downright disheartening. For those who welcome the measure, they see a […]

St. Hegesippus, a primitative father of the Church
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St. Hegesippus, a primitative father of the Church

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by on Apr 07, 2015 in Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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HE was by birth a Jew, and belonged to the Church of Jerusalem, but travelling to Rome, he lived there nearly twenty years, from the pontificate of Anicetus to that of Eleutherius, in 177, when he returned into the East, where he died at an advanced age, probably at Jerusalem, in AD 180 according to […]

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel
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Front Row With Francis: An Easter People on Easter Monday

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by on Apr 06, 2015 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, The Shepherd's Voice
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The overriding sentiment which prevails at my house and in my heart each Easter Monday is the same.  It is finished.  The long 40 days of Lenten fasting, prayer and penance are completed.  The late nights of the Triduum liturgies are over.  Crumbs of the traditional Italian Easter bread and a handful of neon colored […]

St. Celestine, Pope
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St. Celestine, Pope

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by on Apr 06, 2015 in Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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ST. CELESTINE was a native of Rome, and upon the demise of Pope Boniface he was chosen to succeed him, in September 422, by the wonderful consent of the whole city. His first official act was to confirm the condemnation of an African bishop who had been convicted of grave crimes. He wrote also to […]

Dawn of the Living Dead
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Dawn of the Living Dead

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by on Apr 05, 2015 in Columnists, Evangelization, Featured
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Mary Magdalene wept. Inconsolable. Bereft. Her mind raced. What’s going on here? she thought. I think I need to go lie down, put a warm towel across my forehead and drink a cup of herbal tea. Too much, too soon, too fast, and I can’t wrap my mind around it. They say it is darkest […]

Can It Be?
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Can It Be?

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by on Apr 04, 2015 in Apologetics, Featured
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I celebrate my 21st Easter this year, 2015. For the first 38 years of my life I did not celebrate Easter because I was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a pseudo-Christian group with a very strange economy of salvation. It is not easy to describe life in a cult like Jehovah’s Witnesses. It is very dark. Even […]

Poem"Maybe No Dyin' Today"
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Poem”Maybe No Dyin’ Today”

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by on Apr 04, 2015 in Poetry
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Maybe No Dyin’ Today Don’t feel much like walkin’ today. Don’t want to do that hill. Dad, let this pass now and Maybe tomorrow I will. Walkin’s gotta be over now, But look on up this hill. Don’t want no more pain today. Maybe tomorrow I will. This really hurts like hell, Each step up […]

Waterboy, Where are You Hiding?
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Waterboy, Where are You Hiding?

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by on Apr 03, 2015 in Columnists, Featured, History, Live in Christ
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John Mark was only a boy when he met Jesus. His mother Mary, a prominent member of the seventy disciples who followed Jesus throughout his three-year ministry, opened her home to the Lord and his Apostles. In the upper room of Mary’s house they held the Last Supper. Six weeks later the Apostles and Mary […]

Enough is Enough
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Enough is Enough

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by on Apr 03, 2015 in Contraception & Abortion, Featured
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“I think all of us should have a respect for innocent life. With regard to the freedom of the individual for choice with regard to abortion, there’s one individual who’s not being considered at all. That’s the one who is being aborted. And I’ve noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born. […]

Do Small Things with Great Love
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Do Small Things with Great Love

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by on Apr 03, 2015 in Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ
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The older I get, the more time I spend enduring medical exams and “procedures.” Never willing to waste time, I often pray in my moments alone while waiting. I’m also fond of chatting up and observing people. That can provide flashes of grace. Recently, I was laying on a hospital bed in expectation of being […]

The Cross is for Wretches Like Me
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The Cross is for Wretches Like Me

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by on Apr 03, 2015 in Featured, Live in Christ, MyChurchParish.com
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In his remarkably profound book, Lift Up You Heart, Bishop Fulton Sheen said, “The Cross is the most inescapable reality of life. If we will not accept it outside of ourselves, to pardon us and to heal, then we will have it inside, as frustration and despair.” The life changing reality of Calvary has been […]

Holy Week 2015: Sinai Pantocrator, John 15:18 Greek and English
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Holy Week 2015

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by on Apr 02, 2015 in Columnists, Featured
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John 15:18

Flight Night
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Flight Night

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by on Apr 02, 2015 in Columnists, Featured, Live in Christ
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There are two kinds of stories. Someone goes on a journey. A stranger comes to town. Often these storytelling techniques occur simultaneously. For instance: years ago, the kind words of a Cuban rosary warrior named Rosemary Sharpe spurred me to begin anew my journey to the priesthood. One morning I was praying in the chapel […]

His Flesh is True Food
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His Flesh is True Food

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by on Apr 02, 2015 in Apologetics, Catechesis, Evangelization, Featured, History
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“Take and eat; this is my body… Drink from [the cup], all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant…” (Matthew 26:26-27). These are Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, on the first “Holy Thursday,” as he offered to his apostles what appeared to be bread and wine. As Catholics, we believe that Jesus […]

Unexpected
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Unexpected

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by on Apr 02, 2015 in Disability, Sickness & Suffering, Featured, Live in Christ
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Our third son married his beloved fianceé just over 2 weeks ago. What a beautiful day it was. Everything was perfect. Family and friends were in town from both sides, great jubilation saturated the air. The weeks leading up to the wedding were filled with expectation and busyness. I remember a prayer I had raised […]

Holy Week, Choice and the Problem of Evil and Sin
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Holy Week, Choice and the Problem of Evil and Sin

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by on Apr 02, 2015 in Contraception & Abortion, Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide, Featured, Live in Christ
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We are in Holy Week 2015, so it is most appropriate to consider the problem of evil and sin. The sacrificial Passion, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ was to settle with God the problem of human sin and evil. I have often heard the question, “If there is a God, why does he permit […]

"The Orthodox Practice" on Divorce and Communion: Part I
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“The Orthodox Practice” on Divorce and Communion: Part I

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by on Apr 02, 2015 in Catechesis, Featured, Marriage
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At the close of the Extraordinary Synod of Catholic Bishops last October, the Synod’s Final Report ( the “Lineamenta”) included a questionnaire on pastoral practices on family issues. Among the questions was number 38, which opened with the following premise: “With regard to the divorced and remarried, pastoral practice concerning the sacraments needs to be […]

Reflections for Sunday, April 5, 2015
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Reflections for Sunday, April 5, 2015

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by on Apr 01, 2015 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Acts 10:34, 37-43 2nd Reading: Colossians 3:1-4 Responsorial: Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 Gospel: John 20:1-9 Allowing the Resurrection of Jesus to Strengthen Our Faith He had to rise from the dead. (John 20:9) At the first miracle, the wedding at Cana, Jesus turned […]

Spy Wednesday
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Spy Wednesday

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by on Apr 01, 2015 in Saint of the Day
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So named for the clandestine plans of Judas Iscariot. Matthew 26:14-16. “Then one of the Twelve called Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests, and said to them, ‘What are you willing to give me for delivering him to you?’ But they assigned him thirty pieces of silver. And from then on he sought out […]