Can anyone really live the Catholic faith? Sure. It's easier to strive for holiness when you have a traveling companion on your spiritual journey, though. Come walk along with this Catholic mom who shares life day by day, both the joys and the sorrows, the saints and the demons, our Lord Jesus Christ and our Blessed Mother. Mary will help us live our Catholic faith!
There is a young person, not quite a teenager yet, whose mother makes it a rule that the television is kept on EWTN just about any time that it is on to add a counter voice to the lives of those in the household who get bombarded every day with pagan and secular and anti-Christian messages from everywhere else. It may seem to her that her son is opposed to learning anything related to spiritual matters, but much to her surprise, going to Mass each Sunday, praying the Rosary each evening together as a family, and the daily influence of this Catholic channel have begun to impact him.
As a part of his education at home, he was required to write an essay. About anything he wanted to write about. There was no prompting on any subject. Her son has no habit of writing anything to please her. Here is the ultimate surprise produced by the hands of her child...
Why we need priests
We need priests. If we did not have them then the world would be more corrupt. We need priests because God wants us to have them for Mass. In Mass the priest makes bread and wine into the body and the blood of our Lord. The priests also are the mouth and hands of God. Like Confession and the Eucharist. The priest makes the bread and wine body and blood, and Confession he absolves us of our sins.
Without priests there would be no church and no one going to church. That is why we need priests. We would not be forgiven of our sins and it would be harder to go to heaven. Lots of people have been saved because of the priests. They are very important in our life.
My heart is thankful to the priests who have set good examples before my son, and for the vocation that they have chosen to serve us in the Catholic Church. I am grateful to Mother Angelica and all who serve us at EWTN through so many excellent programs. And I wish to especially give a shout out to those who usually go unnoticed by the rest of us who still exist in this physical world.
My family was thoroughly impressed with the excellent performance and creativity that made this one-man drama successful in bringing St. Jean-Marie Vianney to life. I especially appreciated being introduced to St. Philomena.
We are no strangers to theatre, my very good Jewish actor friend was very impressed as well, expressing great admiration for the gifted Defilippis, the creation of this exceptional drama, and for the mission of Saint Luke Productions that was presented. The concluding prayer, while in costume and character, that Defilippis led the audience in was very moving.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Holy Spirit inspired this production and is working through it to reach hearts and minds for Christ. We all have so much to learn; and the message of sacrificial love that Jesus demonstrated for us was lived out in an exemplary way in the priesthood in the life of St. John Vianney, and was brilliantly portrayed in the performance by Leonardo Defilippis.
My prayers are with your great ministry and all who are a part of it from the most visible actors to the unsung invisible persons working behind the scenes, all servants of God. This was a refreshing affirming word about Catholicism, the holy Sacraments of the Church, the noble vocation of the priesthood, and the on-going communion of the ever-living and active saints.
I encourage everyone to see this powerful stage presentation...and to bring a friend or family member who has doubts about our Catholic faith. This is a great gift to share with them.
I don't know how everything works, and I don't know the answers to most questions, nor do I know what I am doing from one day to the next most of the time. I may have something planned but then something else comes up and enters in to change everything. I thank God that these are not usually emergencies. When they are unexpected blessings, though, I love it!
It used to be the case that I didn't understand that when things go sour, it does not mean that God's hand isn't in it. Happy things were attributed to God working in my life. But suffering is also used by our Lord. Jesus also suffered, and he asked for the cup to be taken away. Thinking about this during my times in praying the sorrowful mysteries of the Holy Rosary, I have come to understand that it was God's will for sorrowful things to happen in my life as well. Meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary must include a connection to our own lives. This is necessary for spiritual growth.
Be encouraged today to just keep on praying and amending your life to be more pleasing to God each day. Read the Bible. If you are lazy, put on EWTN to learn from, borrow a movie like "The Gospel of John" from the library, or listen to the Word of God through a CD. But daily get something somehow some way from the Holy Scriptures. When you pray the Rosary, you are praying the Gospel. So pray the Rosary every day.
Every Sunday Mass is a must. Make time for it no matter how many other things are pulling at you for your time. Even if you haven't "felt" anything, even if it is just to go and get it over with so that you have the rest of the day free for other endeavors, continue to go. Sometimes it seems like God isn't even there in the Church. Sometimes it seems like He has forgotten you. Maybe you have tried to find Him, but can't, there are so many beliefs, so many different religions. I can assure you of this, if you seek Him, you will find Him. He wants you to seek Him. He will reveal Himself to you as you are able to receive the truth. To some He can only do so a little at a time, and to others He can bring you close like a small child can sit right up on the lap of his or her father for interaction and love and affection.
Do not be afraid to risk feeling or looking like a fool. I have found that there are always people unwittingly listening to the evil one, who want to drag people along with them to indulge in sinful things. What are their opinions to you? You have to be true to yourself, to find God and live your own life. The truth is there for you, and you can study and learn all about God, and still not "know" Him. When you pray the Rosary, Mary, His Mother can best show Him to you, for she knows Him better than any other human being.
You were created unique and special. Your gifts, your talents, these are blessings that have been given to you by God, Himself, and as you begin to use them as God designed them to be used, to glorify Him, you will find that you will be given new and better friends. You will begin to see that you belong to a holy family of brothers and sisters who are not perfect but cultivate gardens of virtues in their lives that helps you to want to sin less and please our Heavenly Father more.
None of us has all the answers. None of us knows it all. None of us has all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. As the Scriptures say, we are all parts of His body, with Jesus being the head. All of us are important to the whole, and it is a mystery how everything works together for the good of them who serve the Lord.Think about it this way: Jesus chose to lay His life down for us to save us from sin and death. He prayed to our Father, not His will, but that of the Father be done, agreeing to do whatever it took to liberate us and save our souls. Jesus embraced what was going to happen willingly, always having in His power as the Son of God to say NO.
In His Paschal sacrifice, His death, what appeared to be a tragic ending, it was, in fact, the ultimate victory. God will likewise use all of our sufferings for the benefit and value of His redemption plan. Trust Jesus. He did not come to condemn the world, He came to reconcile us to God. You don't have to understand how it all works, but it does.
Our Lady of Fatima, our Holy Mother wants us to return to God, to pray, and to do penance. Some Catholics have a regular devotion to our Blessed Mother. She requested that we pray the Rosary on the 1st Saturdays of the month of 5 consecutive Saturdays. There is more that she asked of us, but at least more and more Catholics a little at a time, have begun to pray. http://www.shrineofsaintjude.net/home1211.html
Praying the Rosary is more powerful than you can image. All the same, I'm about to imagine, and I'll do so right here. May 1st was the 1st Saturday of the month of the first apparition of Mary in Fatima in 1917 to 3 shepherd children. Typically the first Saturday of each month is also when pro-life Americans participate in prayer vigils across the nation at abortion clinics. The Catholic faithful are out there praying the Rosary.
I have no way to guess about the numbers, but all around the world there was a tremendous amount of prayer that was happening on Saturday and Sunday, depending upon time zones, with Marian groups and Apostolates, pro-life warriors being there at the preborn human killing places, and all these Catholics were praying the Holy Rosary as Mary requested.
In addition, Saturday and Sunday are the days that Christians of all denominations are praying at their Churches, too, both Catholic and Protestant believers in Jesus. Considering all of the concentrated public and private prayer that was going on for these 2 days, I believe it is very possible that the reason that the IED did not go off and kill anybody in the failed terrorist attempt in Times Square Saturday night is because of our Blessed Mother.
It is the first thing I thought of. And it wouldn't be the first time that she has done miracles even concerning battles and war. http://catholicism.org/mary-of-victory.html In my opinion, this makes more sense than anything else. And since others are getting credit for doing a good job in their part in saving many innocent people who were out enjoying the spring evening, I want to say, "Thank you, Blessed Mother. I love you!"
