Make your faith an active faith

The Acts of the Apostles is about some of the recorded activity, through their faith in Christ, of those who first followed Jesus. Today, we who know our Lord are also called to an active faith. Some of these things we do as His disciples, we are called to do daily, like praying. Other things come upon us suddenly, like helping others in times of need. And then there is a special call for each of us...

Part of what I have been called to do in this life on earth is to teach children. At the present time, God is leading me in writing for children in order to share the Catholic faith with them. Honestly, I have learned some things from books written for children, myself. So I believe that what I am given to write from my Lord and my Lady, by the grace of God, will reach many more than children; parents, too, I'm sure.

I'm pretty much decided upon this artistic representation of "The Annunciation" for my first book. It is from the 1600s by Caravaggio. It is available in the public domain, which is a real blessing, as it is free for the taking. It pleases me to be able to use it in such a noble endeavor, that being the reaching others for God with His truth.

The daily scriptural reading from the Holy Gospel for today is about how after Jesus had risen from the dead, His disciples were walking and talking with Him, but they did not recognize Him.

They listened to Jesus explain the Holy Scriptures to them and they asked Him to stay with them. He stayed with them, and in the breaking of the bread is when they recognized Him as their Lord. It is my prayer that more Catholics will begin to see that Jesus is truly present in the Holy Eucharist. He is present in the consecrated bread at Mass. (Thank you Lord, for our priests.)

It is also my desire to share the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for this prayer is the contemplation of the Gospel, and we know that the Word of God is Jesus. I'd like to think that whenever people open my book, they are in a spiritual way breaking open the truth of the Bread of Life, supping with Jesus, through Mary, as they learn of our Redeemer through the one who knew Him better than anybody--His Holy Mother.

The book I am speaking of is the first in a series of books that I am answering God's call to write. Simultaneously I am writing other books, a little here and there. But this is the gem that will be coming out first. I am very pleased with the progress. I'll write of "The Annunciation: The First Joyful Mystery of the Holy Rosary" from time to time as things move along through the grace of God and the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit.

It is a true honor to be given this Holy task. It is a pleasure to work at crafting a masterpiece of God. I find it both humbling and fulfilling. The "Joyful" mysteries indeed :)

If you have an idea of some sort that you think might have been given to you by God, just step out in faith and do it. Go for it. This is active faith. Trust Jesus and take that first step of faith. Like a toddler, step by step, the Holy Spirit will lead you along. As you make progress, you can also sense our Heavenly Father saying that you are His child, and with you He is well pleased.

Understanding more of the Paschal Mystery

After going to St. Catherine's to participate in the Stations of the Cross, my children and I went downstairs to pray The Divine Mercy Chaplet together at the hour of great mercy on the day of great mercy, in the adoration chapel. The two doors were wide open. It struck me so strange. How wrong this was, not just odd, but as if something was really very wrong.

We looked inside the chapel. Then we went inside, yet the little golden tabernacle was also open, and there was no consecrated host, where Jesus should be present in the appearance of the bread, but was no where to be found. This was not what we had expected. We had anticipated praying there together with our Lord. But He had been taken from us. He was gone.

The emptiness in that room grew within my heart and it was a sad and heavy feeling, even though we all had realized that this absence of the Lord must be a part of our Catholic ritual that we hadn't known of prior to this Good Friday, for we have only been going to Adoration for about 4 months. Boy, talk about the impact of feeling like you are right there along with Mary Magdeline at the empty tomb!

Now the "coincidental" thing about this experience is that I had stayed up until 2 in the morning assisting my son with his new blog and his first post. He wrote about this exact same feeling. Yet I was not familiar with any of the things that he was referring to in his blog post. I marveled about how he felt, but I did not feel it myself--until we came upon our own empty tomb.

Here's an excerpt from Zjeng's new blog, Story Helix: http://storyhelix.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/the-end-of-lent-beginning-of-the-easter-triduum/

And finally, last year’s Easter Candle which has been the source of all the candle light in my Church for special events, was also destroyed. The Easter candle is the symbol of Christ in our world – the pillar of smoke by day, and a pillar of fire by night and it was smashed on the ground, with the final words: “For the light of the world has been shattered.”

With that, our pastor walked away in silence and I felt that empty Gethsemane feeling.

I really wish that every devout Catholic would experience this emptiness without our Blessed Savior. Perhaps it would cause us to better appreciate and love those who do not know God. Of course, atheists do not even know what they are missing. But all the same, we could understand them better. What would we do if we did not have our Lord? We would see things more like those who do not know God do, and some of us have come from that very place. Such an empty place.

Just one decade, this, even you can do

Our Catholic children may be able to recite an Our Father and a Hail Mary prayer. But do we really expect them to be able to pray the Rosary? Most Catholic adults don't even know how to pray the Holy Rosary any more. It looks very complicated. Prayer should be simple and from the heart, you may protest. Well, here's good news. Mary's prayer, the Holy Rosary, is simple and is to be prayed from the heart. Well, it looks very time consuming and repetitious. That's a real turn off, you say. Well, considering your day has 24 whole hours in it, is about a half an hour really too much time for you to give to God? Don't you want to bless somebody that you love with a dozen roses rather than 2 or 3? Repeating the prayers in the Holy Rosary are not vain repetitions but they are like the most beautiful of roses that you present to our Blessed Mother.

The Rosary is the most powerful prayer that there is next to the Mass, when you pray in contemplation on the mysteries of the lives of Jesus and Mary. Sometimes, though, looking at the whole of it looks like several tasks and inconveniences that today's busy Americans just aren't going to take the time to learn to do it. The sad truth is that their busy-ness is more about rest and relaxation and entertainment and fun than anything else. But here's an idea that may help fellow Catholics brave dipping their toes into the refreshing and grace-filled water of the Holy Rosary. Just one decade... http://www.examiner.com/x-4317-Denver-Roman-Catholic-Examiner~y2010m3d26-The-mystery-of-The-Annunciation 
The mystery of the Visitation is here...

Pray, pray, pray!!!

Pray, pray, pray for our country and all of her citizens whether born or preborn for our right to liberty and to life. There are so many links I can add to this post later, but for now, I just really want to encourage everyone to pray united together, prayer warriors joining to the army of the Lord. Myriads of angels are fighting. We need to get into the fight as well, for this is not just one small battle we may lose but certainly a major loss in the war from the culture of death. Many do not even realize that their tax dollars are already going to fund abortions in other places in the world. We have money going to developing countries. Look up the Mexico City Policy. And read what the Bishops have said about it: http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2009/09-022.shtml . Also read "Building and Promoting a Culture of Life" by Archbishop Chaput for explanations of excellent "do"s and "don't" in the fight for life: http://www.archden.org/index.cfm/ID/1406 . I will also add a photo later as well. Not now. My heart is so heavy. Yet miracles are very real and they can and do happen. Lord God, we need a mighty miracle. Holy Mary, Mother of God, intercede for us and for our nation, for if this bill becomes law, we surely will see the judgment of our Lord come upon us with great fury. Lord have mercy on us. Amen. Wow, just in time w/ the finish here, it's the Holy Rosary on EWTN. Joining... 

It is high time to drive the snakes out of the Catholic Church

This St. Patrick's Day is one historical day. People have something to say. It is a spiritual battle and here are just a few of the details. While the Catholic Bishops oppose the Senate version of the health care bill, making news in the Catholic press, what gets plastered in headlines of the secular news that reaches everyone is that Catholic nuns support and endorse the bill, and hey, THEY are the ones who work with the people, so they are supposedly the real voice of the Catholic Church. They are "progressive" they claim. Liberals, socialists, communists, and the pro-death sites are running with this in gleeful distribution of this Catholic support of their views. Here is one: http://www.feministing.com/archives/020405.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Feministing+(Feministing)&utm_content=Twitter

It is important to note who is pleased with the "Catholic nuns" who are opposing the stance of the USCCB because this tells you something.

Archbishop Chaput linked to his statement on facebook. Finally we are beginning to call these people out and name them. Here it is: http://www.archden.org/index.cfm/ID/3614

TO THE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO

In the past two days, congressional leaders and the White House have brought tremendous pressure on prolife Democratic members of Congress to support a fatally flawed Senate version of health care reform.

Regrettably, groups like Network and the Catholic Health Association have done a grave disservice to the American Catholic community by undermining the leadership of the nation’s Catholic bishops, sowing confusion among faithful Catholics, and misleading legislators through their support of the Senate bill.

Do not be fooled.  Nothing has changed.  The Senate bill remains gravely flawed on the issues of abortion funding, conscience protections and the inclusion of immigrants.  Unless seriously revised to address these issues, the Senate version of health care is unethical and should be firmly opposed. Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. Archbishop of Denver James D. Conley, S.T.L. Auxiliary Bishop of Denver

Catholics United has an ad that they are airing, it looks like in the prolife Democrat districts to sway minds in those areas stating that the Reform is endorsed by the Catholic Health Association:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0310/Catholic_group_pushes_back_on_abortion_claims.html?showall These people are using the "Catholic" title to confuse people. How many people know that this is a liberal group that is breaking with the Catholic Bishops who are opposing the Senate version of the health care bill? We Catholics must begin to understand and to accept the fact that there are real wolves dressed in sheep's clothing in our Holy Catholic Church. RealCatholicTV call them "snakes"...


As Catholics, we are very much in tune with not pulling up the weeds and letting them grow along with the wheat, just as our Lord, Jesus, told us to do. And yet, the Holy Scriptures must be taken as a whole, not in part. They must be interpreted along with our Tradition, and Jesus Himself cried out: "You are of your father, the devil" to the Jewish leadership. These people who are priests and nuns who are hurting our people, need to be shown the door forthwith. We have excommunication. It is high time we began to implement this service. And certainly it is a service to save the souls of many millions of Catholics who are otherwise deceived and taught that Marxist belief trumps even the sanctity of human life for Catholic faithful believers. It is time for this to end. Let the word, the title, Catholic, mean something again.

Glenn Beck has recently stated that if you are in a church that teaches "social justice" you should leave that church. Some people were shocked, and they say he was attacking the Catholic Church. I agree that he was. And I also agree that he understands very well this code wording of "social justice" that ultimately means communistic thought, leaving the redeeming of souls out of their personal mission inside of the Church. The virtue of justice is being used as a useful good, a tool for conversion, capturing hearts, destroying lives, and causing the loss of souls. This is not true virtue. But how successfully deceptive. Take a look at how "good" these caring Catholics seem to be: http://www.catholics-united.org/?q=about Since they care to much about people who are victims of injustice, why are they opposing the Catholic Bishops who are upholding the sanctity of human life? Jesus said, "you shall know them by their fruits" and this is fruit positive of their views.

But I disagree with Beck on what needs to be done about the problem, the infiltration of heretics and "progressive" new age deceivers. Show them the door. They are in our church for one reason--to twist the teachings of our Church and to deceive as many as they can. They are a cancer in our midst, spreading their lying poison. Here is something insightful that Glenn had to say on St. Patrick's Day: Obama is Marxist:
  

Some 59 "Catholic nuns" signed a letter in support of the bill that was sent to members of Congress on the 14th of the month, yet even today all over twitter the word is that 59,000 Catholic nuns support the bill. Lies of this sort, exaggerated and hyped are being regularly retweeted by liberal, pro-death, and homosexual groups. They want the word out that Catholics are for the passage of the bill because it serves their purposes. Keep telling the lie and it is seen as the truth. Supposedly the smaller number of nuns represent the larger number of Catholics in their groups. If that is true, all the more reason to begin kicking them out of our Church. Today if possible. The faithful Catholic laity welcomes this to save our true Catholic identity.

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has already refuted that claim with his own letter opposing the bill.

George pointed out the slew of flaws that the U.S. bishops find “deeply disturbing” in the Senate health bill, including its lack of conscience protections, [lack of] Hyde-amendment protections against federal abortion funding, and the millions in new funds for Community Health Centers which will be available to fund abortions.

“It expands federal funding and the role of the federal government in the provision of abortion procedures,” he explained. “In so doing, it forces all of us to become involved in an act that profoundly violates the conscience of many, the deliberate destruction of unwanted members of the human family still waiting to be born.” http://www.lifenews.com/nat6140.html

St. Patrick was a Bishop. May God bless our faithful Bishops. And may our Bishops be faithful to our Catholic laity by driving out the snakes. Amen. St. Patrick, please pray for our people in the Catholic Church and in our great country, the United States of America. Amen.

We the People have something important to say and to pray on St. Patrick's Day

St. Joseph and St. Patrick pray for us.Strengthen us Catholic patriots to take a courageous stand in the upcoming days as this tyrannical government take over becomes the law of the land w/o even a vote. I believe this will happen with the socialist health care bill, I figure the left knows it is now or never. If I'm wrong, great.

St. Joseph was and is a man of God, a man of great faith, obedient to our Lord, protector of and provider for the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Christ Jesus, the Holy Son of God. St. Joseph pray for us for our families are at stake along with our country.

St. Patrick converted Ireland. He risked his life and stood strong. We need the Catholic Church to stand strong now in America and speak the truth to our youth and lead the pagans or secularists to Christ. This does not mean just the priests or the Pope or good Catholic schools. It means YOU and it means ME. St. Patrick, pray for us and for our country.

Catholics would really do themselves a service and educate themselves on reconciling in their minds things like going to war and worrying about if it might be gossip or bad to call out leftist deceitful Catholics by reading the book of Judith. Also let us faithfully take out our most powerful weapons, our Rosaries. Contemplate, contemplate, contemplate. Amen.

We the People...


http://www.examiner.com/x-4317-Denver-Roman-Catholic-Examiner~y2010m3d16-Archbishop-Chaput-says-Senate-health-care-bill-dangerous-blames-Catholic-groups

Kill the pro-death healthcare bill

Senator Michael Bennet had emails sent out inviting feedback on "how to fix Washington." So I sent this letter via email.

Dear Senator Michael Bennet:

Kill the pro-death healthcare bill. 

I will keep you in my prayers, for you are one of those who are most in need of God's mercy. Blind, deaf, and unrepentant.

The way to fix Washington is for everyone over there to find a low-paying job and learn some humility. (You should be able to get a job, although regular US citizens cannot find any that are gainful to provide for our families now.)

Sincerely,

Theresa M. Navarra

Here's a must see from here: http://www.sba-list.org/site/c.ddJBKJNsFqG/b.5489321/k.656C/Stop_Hiding_Behind_Hyde.htm