The Catholic story is being told by the wrong people

"There are not a hundred people in America who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church, which is, of course, quite a different thing."

~Bishop Fulton Sheen~

I look forward to viewing this positive and brilliant masterpiece, set to be released this Fall. Father Barron is a very intelligent man of faith. An acclaimed author, speaker, and theologian. I wait to be inspired, enriched and enlightened by his words and the beauty that will unfold in this 10 part series. Considering the Church is 2,000 years old, there is, I am sure, a lot of info and footage jammed into only 10 parts. I understand that being a world wide church, they traveled and filmed in over 20 countries.

I agree with Father Barron, that the Catholic story has been told by the wrong people and it is time to set the story right.

Thank you Father Barron and the Word on Fire team for your years of hard work and dedication to a great project. With my hubby, children, the big flat screen TV, and our bowls of buttery popcorn we will enjoy this epic cinematic experience in the near future.We are proud to be Catholic, the oldest Christian faith in existence. This film will bring that reality to new heights.

Pardon me, please!

 

 Singing the Divine Mercy in song

Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Jesus I trust in You!

Have you ever done something wrong to someone? Caused them hurt or harm and wished you could go back in time and change things? Not an easy task. Well, mercy can mean being pardoned for a wrongful act or being released of a punishment. However, in the Catholic Church, the word mercy, means much more than this.

If we look at the New Testament, the Greek word that is usually translated as "mercy" is the word "eleos." It can also be translated as loving kindness or tender compassion. In short, eleos is God's love poured out upon His people. In Pope John Paul II's encyclical letter "Dives in Miesericordia" (Rich in Mercy) he made two very important statements about mercy. First, he wrote, "Mercy is love's second name." Secondly, he taught that mercy is "the greatest attribute of God.

So, today, we prayed/sang the Divine Mercy Chaplet to God, asking for Mercy to be poured over all mankind. You, me and all the people we love and those that don't even make the top 10 list.*smile* A beautiful day of blessing and drawing closer to Jesus and his sacred heart of love.

The Divine Mercy is based on the writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska, an uneducated Polish nun who, in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary of about 600 pages recording the revelations she received about God's mercy. Even before her death in 1938, the devotion to The Divine Mercy had begun to spread.

The message of The Divine Mercy is simple. It is that God loves us — all of us. And, he wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy. Spend time to learn more about the mercy of God, learn to trust in Jesus, and live your life as merciful to others, as Christ is merciful to you. Below are acts of work/mercy that we can do for others in our lives:

Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, cloth the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, visit those in prison, bury the dead, instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, admonish the sinner, comfort the sorrowful, forgive injuries, bear wrong patiently, pray for the living and the dead.

A tall list of works, but while we can't fix everyone's problem, we can support and help lots of people in little ways. Look at the example of Jesus. While He did not wipe out all disease in the world, He did cure many diseased people. Jesus himself did not personally counsel every discouraged, confused person, but, He did give those whose lives touched His a golden ray of real hope. And then he told his disciples—including us—to go about doing the same thing.  

Sometimes they only seem little, but, small acts of kindness help people. We're all richer and better—and more like Jesus—when we put our faith to work with the works of mercy.

Faith without works is dead.(James 2:20)

Have you ever visited your family or friends grave?

What did you feel when you visited your friends grave, or family members grave? How about their funeral? I know, this is a gloomy and sad subject. But, how did you feel? Imagine if they they were not there. Their body was stolen? The tombstone was taken? What emotions would you experience? How must Jesus' family and friends have felt that day he was not in His tomb?A great reflection here, from Matt Maher, a great Catholic music artist. Our family can't wait to see him this May in Toronto!

Have we died to ourselves with Christ? Are we experiencing the passion, death and resurrection this season? What a great time in our lives to have a start at new life. To be resurrected with Christ. To be born again in the spirit. We are all spiritual after all. Emotional, Physical, Mental and Spiritual beings.If there is something missing in your life and you don't feel complete, it may be that you are missing that spiritual component-God. I know that I was feeling incomplete and empty...and now I do feel complete:) God filled that void.

In this time of Spring and new beginnings, and in this time of the Easter season (the next 50 days) we have opportunity for rebirth. I think we are always being reborn in spirit. It is a continual conversion of heart and mind and spirit that we undertake as Christians.

I personally, think that this is why Easter is celebrated in the Spring. Just look outside at all the trees with swelling buds. Flowers pushing through the soil. Birds scurrying about looking for debris to make their nests and lay eggs. There is new life all around us.  Easter eggs- signify new life. Now, I don't understand Easter bunnies, so, if anyone knows, please share. Anyways, the empty tomb of Christ represents eternal life. We can die to ourselves and live for Christ-eternal life. As it says in John 3:30 "he must increase and I must decrease." Do you chose to live for the world and its ways or the ways of God? Can you die to self? Can you surrender yourself to the Holy Spirit and follow Jesus? He gives us free will. So, you need to ask Him to help you draw closer...and He will. But, only if you ask Him.

Christ is Risen-Alleluia!

Have you ever missed someone so bad????

Have you ever missed someone so much? Someone that passed away, that was dear to you? Someone that has moved to another country? You miss them so much it hurts?! We have a hard time awaiting their return to us and reuniting with them. For those laid to rest, we have a hard time waiting to be reunited with them, we hope, in heaven. How must it have felt for the early followers of Christ when he died? What a day that must have been, almost 2,000 years ago, when he resurrected! 

Well, yesterday, we celebrated Christs resurrection. A great celebration is was. Last night, after the sun went down, we celebrated the Easter Vigil at our Church. The most beautiful liturgy in the RC Church. The church was is in darkness, with only the last bits of light coming through the stain glass windows (that tell stories of the bible). A bowl of fire, at the back of the Church is blessed and lit. The priest lights the Pascal candle (the Christ candle) from the new fire, saying: "May the light of Christ, rising in glory, dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds". Slowly the light travels, as all members of the Church had their candles lit from this candle. This signifies the light of Christ among his people. We call it the "Service of light."

Then the lights are all turned on and we all exclaim and sing "Glory to God in the Highest." This is a very moving part of the service, as the darkness is dispelled and the Church is filled with light. Symbolically the light of Christ.  

Then, during the service there can be up to 7 readings from the bible. Who says we Catholics are not into scripture? *grin*  We heard 3 readings from the Old Testament and 1 from the New Testament. I always marvel at how the Old Testament fulfills the New Testament. Readings from Ezekiel and Isaiah (the Old Testament) for example, prophesize the coming of Christ down to His Passion and Crucifixion in the New Testament. Amazing! I never really understood that until the past few years. It is a learning process being Catholic! *smile*

The Easter water is blessed, and new members are brought into the Church through water baptism.The faithful are blessed with water and renew their baptismal promises.We then got sprinkled with the Easter Holy water. My daughter loved that part! Sometimes my son and the other altar servers have received an extra sprinkle- all in good fun.

Lastly, we have the Mass. The whole church is called to join at the sacrificial table that Christ prepared for us through his death and resurrection. We remember. 

We all have special people that have gone to rest that we remember in our lives. That touched us deeply. That we loved deeply. There are those that we miss, that we will see again. I have chosen, during this Easter, to remember someone that died for me, and died an excruciating death as the sacrificial lamb for my sins. No one had a word to describe a pain as intense as a crucifixion , so a new word was created. The word excruciating literally means "out of the cross." 

There is no greater love then this.

What is so Good about Good Friday?

As Matt Maher says here in this video, it is a GOOD thing calling today "Good" Friday. I originally thought, how could anyone surmise that the Passion (the suffering of Jesus Christ)  and His death is a day to call "Good". maybe Bad Friday, but Good? But, as Matt reflects, it is truly a Good Friday, as He died for our sins so that we may live.

Today, at Mass after a long and reflective Gospel reading we got to see good. We got to see God. God on a cross, crucified. Myself and all that filled the Church today at 3pm had an intimate encounter with Jesus, as we humbly bent down to kiss his face or foot. No, not as idol worship, though some may misunderstand or misinterpret that action. The cross is a reminder of the sacrifice of Jesus, of his death and resurrection which was the ultimate gift of love to all creation. The cross is therefore a reminder, to the faithful, of all that God has done for all of us. I brought Kleenex along, because I  know that  I am going to cry. First, I cried when at the beginning of the service, Father Chris prostrated himself on the floor in front of the altar. Such a form of humility, servant hood and love for Christ. Such a great tradition that lends example, and a role model of true devotion to us all sitting in the pews. Then the tears flowed again, as I solemnly went up to kiss the cross. My son, who altar serves held the crucifix, as I made my way to the altar. I know he held that cross with love. I marveled at this young mans maturity and knowing who God is, and it touched my heart deeply. As I felt that special bond between mother and son, I thought of Mary. How must have Mary felt kissing the feet of her dying son, as he was hanging on that cross? Her love so immense for her son and Lord!

Good Friday is the first full day of the Triduum (Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday follow) and it is a day of meditation, mourning and fasting, and is when Christians remember the Passion and his crucifixion. As a sign of grieving and to show the somber nature of the day, no Mass is held on Good Friday and all candles, flowers, icons etc are removed from churches or covered up.

Every Mass we have an intimate encounter with Christ. When we kneel at Mass for the consecration of the Host/bread (the Eucharist), we are kneeling at Calvary. We partake in consuming His body and blood. I look to the crucifix on the wall and marvel at the gift He gave us. You can't put God in a box. Look at how He changed the water to wine at the Wedding of Cana. He can therefore, change wine into His blood. He multiplied the loaves of bread. Well, He can also make the bread into His body. Look to John 6 and read about the Mass as it happened for the first time at the Last Supper (which was the focal point of  Holy Thursday along with the washing of feet).
 
Some non-Catholics will  raise the objection that Catholics believe that Christ is crucified and dies again at every Mass; thus, they will say that we believe that the one sacrifice of Christ was not efficacious, that it was not sufficient. WE DO NOT BELIEVE that Christ is crucified and dies at every Mass; rather, we believe that it is the unbloody, re-presentation of the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary. The one sacrifice of Jesus Christ was sufficient, and we as Roman Catholics believe this. However, the infinite merits of the Redemption which Christ won for us must still be applied; and this is what occurs in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by the power of the Holy Spirit.

It was a Good Friday...as I look to the time. It is now the start of Holy Saturday/Easter Saturday. I better get to bed. GOOD night:).