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My Prayer Box
for the Third Sunday of Advent
from My
Catholic Tradition
“You cannot strengthen the
weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help the
wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You
cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You
cannot help men permanently by doing for them what
they could and should do for themselves.” -
Abraham Lincoln
To subscribe to the newsletter, please follow this
link. |
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Time
for Levity ... |
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The
Wisdom of Larry the Cable Guy |
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(Contributed by John M.) |
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1. |
A day without sunshine is like night.
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On the other hand, you have
different fingers. |
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3. |
42.7 percent of all statistics are
made up on the spot. |
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4. |
99 percent of lawyers give the rest
a bad name. |
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5. |
Remember, half the people you know
are below average. |
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6. |
He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
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7. |
Depression is merely anger without
enthusiasm. |
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8. |
The early bird may get the worm, but
the second mouse gets The cheese in the
trap. |
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9. |
Support bacteria. They're the only
culture some people have. |
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10. |
A clear conscience is usually the
sign of a bad memory. |
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11. |
Change is inevitable, except from
vending machines. |
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12. |
If you think nobody cares, try
missing a couple of payments.
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13. |
How many of you believe in
psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand. |
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14. |
OK, so what's the speed of dark?
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15. |
When everything is coming your way,
you're in the wrong lane. |
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16. |
Hard work pays off in the future.
Laziness pays off now. |
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17. |
How much deeper would the ocean be
without sponges? |
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18. |
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't
get sucked into jet engines.
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19. |
What happens if you get scared half
to death, twice? |
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20. |
Why do psychics have to ask you
your name? |
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21. |
Inside
every older person is a younger person
wondering, 'What the heck happened?' |
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Just remember -- if the world
didn't suck, we would all fall off.
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23. |
Light travels faster than sound..
That's why some people appear bright
until you hear them speak. |
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24. |
Life isn't
like a box of chocolates . it's more like a
jar of jalapenos. What you do today, might
burn your bottom tomorrow. |
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Did
You Know? |
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Criticism of the Catholic Church comes
from both the right and the left |
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Whereas
criticism from the left is obvious and
actually quite expected, criticism from the
right needs some explanation.
Throughout its history the Catholic Church had
been fraught with schismatic groups. Foremost,
of course, is the division of the Roman Empire
made first by Diocletian (284-305), and again
by the sons of Theodosius I (Arcadius in the
East, 395-408; and Honorius in the West,
395-423). This was made permanent by the
establishment of a rival empire in the West
(Charlemagne, 800).
From then on several schismatic groups arose,
who broke away from and still are not in
communion with the Pope due to political or
theological reasons. However, there are
Eastern Rites Churches who recognize the
primacy of the Pope.
Of the
Western Churches, the foremost schismatic
group is the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX, who
also call themselves traditionalist
Catholics), which was founded by French
Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who was ordained a
Spiritan Missionary and later became the first
Archbishop of Dakar, Africa.
The original founding of SSPX is generally
considered as a result of the conservative
backlash within the Catholic Church that
developed in response to perceived
non-traditional revisions to both liturgy and
to prevailing Church policy that occurred
during the Vatican II with Declaration on
Religious Liberty, Dignitatis Humanae . What’s
curious about this, is that with the
publication by Rome of Acta Synodalia, the
complete Vatican II Council documents, it has
been demonstrated from the original Vatican II
archives that Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, as
well fellow-traditionalist Bishop Antonio de
Castro Mayer of Campos, Brazil, appear on the
list of signatures to this and the other three
documents promulgated on the final day of
Vatican Council II, December 7, 1965.
SSPX
sees the Vatican II declaration as
irreconcilable with orthodox Catholic
doctrine, not true to the tradition of the
Catholic Church herself. For example,
traditionalists decry the use of English
language in the Mass, as opposed to using the
Tridentine Mass, or the Latin Rites.
On May
5, 1988 an agreement was finally reached
reconciling the SSPX to Rome, signed then
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and Archbishop
Lefebvre. Nevertheless, a few days afterwards,
Archbishop Lefebvre retracted his signature
and announced his intention to consecrate
bishops without Rome’s permission.
On June 30, 1988, Archbishop Lefebvre
proceeded with the consecration of bishops in
violation of canon law, incurring an automatic
excommunication under the law. In a papal motu
proprio on July 2, 1988, the Holy Father John
Paul II also confirmed Lefebvre’s
excommunication for schism and for having
consecrated bishops despite the Holy See’s
warnings not to do so.
However, actually the more puzzling dissent
from the Catholic Church comes from liberal
Catholics, who see Rome as "oppressive, stodgy
and caught in a time-warp of traditionalism,
blind to the practicalities of the modern
era."
The political form of Liberal Catholicism,
wishes to regulate the relations of the Church
to the State and modern society in accordance
with the Liberal principles as expounded by
Benjamin Constant from its predecessors and
patterns in Gallicanism, Febronianism, and
Josephinism.
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To
read
the whole article,
please click here. |
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The
Most Rev. Charles Chaput
is the Archbishop of the
Catholic Archdiocese of Denver Colorado, USA. |
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The 2008
election has come and gone, but with a difficult
economy, an on-going war and an incoming
administration committed to troubling policies
on abortion and other sanctity of life issues,
the challenges facing us as a country seem just
as intractable as they were a month ago.
Elections focus our attention. They fire up our
emotions. But the real work of applying our
Catholic faith to building a culture of life
must happen between our trips to the voting
booth.
This week Catholics have an opportunity to wash
away the grime and heavy feelings of a long
campaign season. Thanksgiving Day reminds us
that gratitude is the beginning of joy. We
cannot be happy unless we’re first grateful; and
gratitude can only come about through yet
another virtue—humility, which is the ability to
see beyond ourselves to the needs, feelings and
rights of others. Despite our nation’s problems,
God has given us enormous blessings as a people.
The Thanksgiving holiday serves perfectly as a
doorway to the First Sunday of Advent, which
opens the new Church year this weekend.
Advent is a chance to begin again; a time to
examine our hearts in the light of the Gospel,
repent of our sins and look for the coming of
our Savior. We can’t really experience or
understand Christmas unless we first conform our
hearts to the longing of Advent. Advent calls us
all to refocus our lives on God’s promise of deliverance
and the flesh-and-blood reality of Jesus Christ,
our deliverer—who came to us first in Bethlehem,
comes to us today in the Eucharist, and will
come again at the end of time.
Like any deep human relationship, our Catholic
faith, to be genuine, must have
consequences—first in our private lives, but
also in our public witness. If we really believe
in the coming of a Messiah, our lives will
reflect that in the way we treat our families,
our friends and business colleagues, the poor,
the homeless and the suffering.
more...
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To read
the entire article,
please click here. |
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Our
Faith: What you might want to know |
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The Original Sin |
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The Office of Catechism
of the United States Congress of Catholic Bishops
website puts our knowledge of the Catholic
Faith to a test! |
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1. |
True or false.
The disobedience of Adam and Eve to God’s
command evinced a lack of trust in God’s
goodness. |
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2. |
If the first Adam has
sold us into slavery to sin, who is the
second Adam
who breaks the power of the evil one? |
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3. |
True or false.
Satan and the angels associated with him were
created evil. |
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4. |
True or false.
By Adam’s sin, the supernatural relationship
with God in which Adam and Eve were born was
lost both for themselves and for all human
beings. |
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True or false.
After Baptism takes away original sin, our
will is no longer inclined toward evil. |
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As a result of original
sin, human nature is weakened in its powers;
subject to ignorance, suffering, and the
domination of death; and inclined to sin
(Para. 418). . . . This
inclination
is called: |
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personal sin |
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concupiscence |
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hamartia |
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subjective guilt
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synderesis |
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Original sins
means that |
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since Adam and Eve
committed a sin which had never been
committed before, it can truly be said to
be original. |
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all those born after
Adam and Eve are also held personally
responsible for that sin, just as Adam and
Eve were. |
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we become subject to
original sin when we initially imitate the
rebellion of Adam and Eve. |
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because of Adam’s
sin, all people are born with a fallen
human nature.
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b and c. |
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8. |
True or false.
Original Sin is a personal sin for which we
are responsible. |
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9. |
True or false.
The sin of Adam and Eve has opened up for us
greater blessings from God than if Adam and
Eve had never sinned.
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10. |
Because of the sin of
Adam and Eve,
which of the following consequences resulted?
Choose none, any, or all. |
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Death entered the
world. |
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The relationship
between man and woman is now distorted by
lust and domination. |
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The control of our
body by our spiritual faculties is
shattered. |
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d. |
Sex now became a
necessary evil to propagate the species. |
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e. |
Creation became
hostile to man. |
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To
learn more about Our Faith, please
click here. |
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The Third Sunday of Advent
December 14,
2008
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First Reading
from the Prophet Isaiah |
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Is 61:1-2a, 10-11 |
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The spirit of the
Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has
anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad
tidings to the poor, to heal the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives and release to the prisoners, to
announce a year of favor from the LORD and
a day of vindication by our God.
I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God
is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed
me with a robe of salvation and wrapped me
in a mantle of justice, like a bridegroom
adorned with a diadem, like a bride
bedecked with her jewels.
As the earth brings
forth its plants, and a garden makes its
growth spring up, so will the Lord GOD
make justice and praise spring up before
all the nations. |
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Responsorial From the Book of Psalms |
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Lk 1:46-48, 49-50,
53-54. |
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R. My soul rejoices in my
God.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me
blessed:
R. My soul rejoices in my God.
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
R. My soul rejoices in my God.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
R. My soul rejoices in my God. |
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First Reading
from the Letter to the Thessalonians |
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1 Thes 5:16-24 |
Brothers and sisters:
Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing.
In all circumstances
give thanks, for this is the will of God for
you in Christ Jesus.
Do not quench the
Spirit.
Do not despise prophetic utterances.
Test everything; retain what is good.
Refrain from every kind of evil.
May the God of peace make you perfectly holy
and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body,
be preserved blameless for the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
The one who calls you
is faithful, and he will also accomplish it.
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Reading From the
Gospel of John |
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Jn 1:6-8, 19-28 |
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A man named John was
sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the
light, so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light,
but came to testify to the light.
And this is the testimony of John.
When the Jews from
Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him
to ask him, “Who are you?”
He admitted and did
not deny it,
but admitted, “I am not the Christ.” |
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So they asked him,
“What are you then? Are you Elijah?”
And he said, “I am not.”
“Are you the
Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
So they said to him,
“Who are you, so we can give an answer to
those who sent us? What do you have to say for
yourself?”
He said:
“I am the voice of one crying out in the
desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord,’”
as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Some Pharisees were
also sent. They asked him,
“Why then do you baptize if you are not the
Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”
John answered them,
“I baptize with water; but there is one among
you whom you do not recognize, the one who is
coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not
worthy to untie.”
This happened in
Bethany across the Jordan, where John was
baptizing. |
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Suggested Readings |
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intersection of
morality, reason, and politics. This isn’t
just a book for Catholics, but for anyone who
cares about the state of America’s soul —and
how that concern might shape the 2008
elections.”
—John
L. Allen Jr., NCR and CNN senior Vatican
correspondent, Amazon |
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Happiness Is a Serious
Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual
by Dennis Prager.
In this unique blend of self-help and moral
philosophy, talk-radio host Dennis Prager
asserts that we're actually obligated to be
happy, because it makes us better people.
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Praying With Frederic Ozanam
(Companions for the Journey Series)
-
Paperback, by Ronald Cm Ramson (Author) |
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Praying With Louise De
Marillac (Companions for the Journey Series)
by Audrey Gibson (Author), Kieran Kneaves
(Author) |
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Praying with Vincent de
Paul (Companions for the Journey)
2004, by Thomas McKenna
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The Rise of Christianity:
How the Obscure, Marginal, Jesus Movement Became
the Dominant Religious Force ....
(Paperback) by Rodney Stark
(Author)
From the Publisher
"... this account of Christianity's remarkable
growth within the Roman Empire is already the
subject of much fanfare. |
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"Anyone who has puzzled
over Christianity's rise to dominance... must
read it,"
...
Read the first page. |
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Living Liturgy:
Spirituality, Celebration, and Catechesis for
Sundays and Solemnities, Year A,
2008 (Paperback) by C.PP.S. Joyce Ann Zimmerman
(Author), Thomas A. Greisen (Author), S.N.D. de
N. Kathleen Harmon (Author), M.S. Thomas L.
Leclerc (Author) |
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"Perfect for home use or to prepare for weekly
liturgy . . . It includes help for the
celebration, ideas for catechesis on the
particular event, and ways to understand the
readings more deeply. Finally, it includes
sample questions from which priests, deacons,
lay groups, ministers and others can jump off
into deeper discussion." |
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Straight Answers, Answers
to 100 Questions about the Catholic Faith
by Ph.D Rev. William P.
Saunders (Author)
Review by: Reverend William G. Curlin Bishop of
Charlotte
Straight Answers offers Catholics a simple and
direct response to the many questions concerning
the Catholic Church. It spells out profound
truths in very |
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simple language for all who seek a better
understanding of their Faith. I highly recommend
it for Catholics, both young and old. |
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The Power of Intention:
Learning to Co-create Your World Your Way
From Amazon:
After years of spiritual study and reflection,
inspirational speaker and |
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bestselling
author Wayne Dyer has emerged a highly esteemed
teacher. His current message about tapping into
the power of intention may sound like good old
positive thinking: just stay focused on what you
want, rather than focusing on the lack of having
what you want. But the teaching here goes deeper
than just controlling thoughts (although he does
acknowledge that thought control is a
surprisingly challenging and significant
endeavor).
This book might
help readers land a better job, but it's more
relevant for those who are ready to detach from
an ego-driven life filled with quick fixes of
happiness and step into a more authentic,
joyful, and spiritually fulfilling life. His
core teachings speak to tapping into a universal
source of energy that can also be called the
"power of intention." |
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The Chariot of Israel:
Exploits of the Prophet of Elijah
THE CHARIOT OF ISRAEL: When Elijah was caught up
to heaven, his disciple Elisha cried out, "the
chariot of Israel, and its horsemen." Elisha was
referring not to the chariot but to the prophet.
This study of Elijah’s life will captivate you
as it walks you through a pivotal period in
Israel’s history, and illustrative maps will
give you a better picture of the physical
geography of this ancient land. |
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Read
more about the Liturgical Year |
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The Origins of the
Liturgical Year (Pueblo Books)
by Thomas J. Talley (Author) The Rev. Dr.
Thomas J. Talley, Professor of Liturgics
at the General Theological Seminary in New
York, is one of the leading liturgists in
the country. He gives us a fresh
examination of the complex history of the
Liturgical Year. |
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The Cultural World
of Jesus: Sunday by Sunday, Cycle C.
(Bestseller! the Cultural World of Jesus:
Sunday by Sunday)
by John J. Pilch (Author)
Reader
Review: The book by Pilch provides those
who not only fill the pulpits across this
country but also all interested in the
cultural world in which Jesus lived with a
lot of pertinent information that sheds
light on a lot of areas that have been
"muddled" in the past. Yes, I highly
recommend this book. - James Mauldin |
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Learn
more and read the Old Testament. |
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Preaching from the
Old Testament
by Elizabeth Achtemeier (Author) Reader
Review: The author of these thirty-two
short chapters begins and ends with the
assumption that problems we experience
with the Old Testament are our problem,
not the Bible's. This subordinating of the
Bible reader to the well-weathered book he
holds in his hand opens doors, not to
forced |
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harmonisations of problematic
passages, but to fresh reappraisal of
difficult texts on their own terms. -
David A. Baer |
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The Navarre Bible:
Pentateuch (The Navarre Bible: Old
Testament)
This volume helps
you make the first five books of the Old
Testament a vital part of your spiritual
reading and practical growth in the
Christian life. It contains the full
English and Latin texts of these books,
along with extensive and
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faithfully Catholic
commentaries. Like other volumes in the
world-renowned Navarre Bible series, these
commentaries draw on Church documents, the
exegesis of Fathers and Doctors of the Church, and the works of
contemporary spiritual writers — particularly
St. Josemaría Escrivá, who initiated the
Navarre Bible project. |
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Comments and Suggestions are Most Welcome.
If you have any comments or contributions,
please
use the form in this link.
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