by SrDeniseSickinger | Jan 14, 2022 | Accompaniment, Ad maiorem Dei gloriam and the salvation of souls!, Devotion to Mary
MICHAEL O’NEILL Staring his own mortality in the face and struggling beneath the weight of a terminal diagnosis of tuberculosis on the upper lobe of his right lung, Patrick Peyton sat up on his deathbed, feeling his faith ablaze like a pile of hay sprinkled with gasoline and ignited with a match. The words he had just received from one of his professors, Fr. Cornelius Hagerty, C.S.C., while visiting his hospital room, were the most powerful he had ever heard in his life, and they changed everything: If you believe twenty-five percent, that’s what you will receive. Fifty — that’s what you’ll get. But if you believe one hundred percent and you give it all to Mary to give to her son, Jesus, to be healed, that is what you’ll receive. Patrick, who at the time was in formation to become a Holy Cross priest, mentally and physically had been at his worst. He was depressed and had even thought that he had lost his faith. But with those words, he invited his family and friends and anybody he could think of, to pray for healing through the intercession of Mary. Patrick did what his former mentor suggested and...
by SrDeniseSickinger | Jan 14, 2022 | Devotion to Mary, Events / Calendar, Liturgy
JANUARY 11, 2022 FR. ED BROOM, OMV As a seminarian studying in Rome, the Postulants formed a group to get to know and love Mary, the Mother of God. Our group read a short but excellent apostolic exhortation by Pope Paul VI: Marialis Cultus—the Cult of the Virgin Mary. It took us several sessions to end our sharing and discussion on the document. However, we all derived many positive fruits. Given that I was just in the initial stages of my priestly formation, the document proved to be a solid ecclesial teaching. However, of equal importance, because I was preparing to become a Religious priest of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, this document proved to be of enormous importance in helping me understand and live my charism which is to love Mary, live out a Marian consecration, and promote Marian devotion as catechist, preacher and teacher. Mother of the Church The Second Vatican Council placed Mary in a special place in the overall ecclesial context, proclaiming Mary to be The Mother of the Church. Venerable Fulton Sheen remarked that when Mary was proclaimed as the Mother of the Church, there was an explosion! Most of the Council Fathers, who were Bishops, stood up...
by SrDeniseSickinger | Jan 14, 2022 | Catechesis, Children, Devotion to Mary, Parenting, Pope Francis, St. Joseph, The Holy Family
At the weekly General Audience, Pope Francis reflects on the fatherhood of St. Joseph, and prays that all children might enjoy the bond of paternal love, even if through the praiseworthy practice of adoption. By Devin Watkins Pope Francis continued his catechesis series on St. Joseph at the Wednesday General Audience, focusing his remarks on his role as the father of Jesus. The Pope noted that the Gospels of Luke and Matthew present Joseph as the “foster-father of Jesus” and not as his biological one. The evangelist Matthew avoids the term “father of” in his genealogy, while Luke said he was the father of Jesus, “as was supposed”. Venerable practice of adoption Pope Francis recalled that the practice of adoption was much more common in ancient times in the East than it is in our own societies. He gave the example of the requirement in ancient Israel for a man to marry the widowed wife of his deceased brother, if he died without a male heir (Dt 25:5-6). In this case, the legal father of the firstborn son from such a union would be the deceased man, ensuring both an heir for the deceased and the preservation of his estate....
by SrDeniseSickinger | Jan 14, 2022 | Accompaniment, Catechesis, Devotion to Mary, Family MInistry, Marriage and the Family, Pope Francis, St. Joseph, The Holy Family
Pope Francis grants an interview to Vatican Media on being parents during the Covid-19 pandemic and the witness of Saint Joseph, calling him an example of strength and tenderness for today’s fathers. By Andrea Monda and Alessandro Gisotti The Special Year dedicated to Saint Joseph ended 8 December 2021, but Pope Francis’ attention and love for this Saint have not ended and indeed are further strengthened in the Catecheses which he has been devoting to the figure of the Patron of the universal Church, since 17 November. On our part, L’Osservatore Romano [in Italian] has published a monthly feature throughout 2021 which was also covered by the Vatican News website, on Patris corde, focusing on each chapter of the Apostolic Letter on Saint Joseph. This feature which dealt with fathers, but also with children and mothers in an ideal dialogue with the Bridegroom of Mary, prompted in us the desire to discuss with the Pope the theme of paternity and its various aspects, challenges and complexities. The following interview thus resulted in Pope Francis answering our questions, showing all his love for families, his closeness to those experiencing suffering, and the Church’s embrace of the fathers and mothers who today have to...
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