You shall worship the Lord Your God and Him only shall you Serve, Part 1

The Catechism has an extensive treatment of the Ten Commandments. The first commandment regards our obligation to worship the Lord.

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them.

It is written: "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve."

2084   God makes himself known by recalling his all-powerful loving, and liberating action in the history of the one he addresses: "I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." the first word contains the first commandment of the Law: "You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve him.... You shall not go after other gods." God's first call and just demand is that man accept him and worship him.

2085   The one and true God first reveals his glory to Israel. The revelation of the vocation and truth of man is linked to the revelation of God. Man's vocation is to make God manifest by acting in conformity with his creation "in the image and likeness of God":

There will never be another God, Trypho, and there has been no other since the world began . . . than he who made and ordered the universe. We do not think that our God is different from yours. He is the same who brought your fathers out of Egypt "by his powerful hand and his outstretched arm." We do not place our hope in some other god, for there is none, but in the same God as you do: the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

2086   "The first commandment embraces faith, hope, and charity. When we say 'God' we confess a constant, unchangeable being, always the same, faithful and just, without any evil. It follows that we must necessarily accept his words and have complete faith in him and acknowledge his authority. He is almighty, merciful, and infinitely beneficent. Who could not place all hope in him? Who could not love him when contemplating the treasures of goodness and love he has poured out on us? Hence the formula God employs in the Scripture at the beginning and end of his commandments: 'I am the LORD.'"

Catechism of the Catholic Church

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Lenten Fast and Abstinence Rules
St. Peter Chrysologus on Prayer, Fasting, and Mercy

One of the greatest preachers of the early church explains the key penitential practices of Lent-prayer, fasting, and almsgiving or mercy. Saint Peter Chrysologus declares that Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. He shows how prayer, mercy and fasting are one, and they give life to each other. This reading is used by the Roman Catholic Church for the Office of Readings for Tuesday of the 3rd week of Lent and it excerpted from Sermo 43: PL 52, 320, 322. St. Peter Chrysologus was the bishop of Ravenna, Italy in the middle of the 5th century. His sermons were so inspiring that he was given the title "Chrysologus" (Greek for "Golden-worded) and was eventually declared a "Doctor of the Church." For an overview of the Early Church Fathers, click here.

There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other.

Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others you open God’s ear to yourself.

When you fast, see the fasting of others. If you want God to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry. If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery.

Let this be the pattern for all men when they practice mercy: show mercy to others in the same way, with the same generosity, with the same promptness, as you want others to show mercy to you.
Therefore, let prayer, mercy and fasting be one single plea to God on our behalf, one speech in our defense, a threefold united prayer in our favor.

Let us use fasting to make up for what we have lost by despising others. Let us offer our souls in sacrifice by means of fasting. There is nothing more pleasing that we can offer to God, as the psalmist said in prophecy: A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God does not despise a bruised and humbled heart.

Offer your soul to God, make him an oblation of your fasting, so that your soul may be a pure offering, a holy sacrifice, a living victim, remaining your own and at the same time made over to God. Whoever fails to give this to God will not be excused, for if you are to give him yourself you are never without the means of giving.

To make these acceptable, mercy must be added. Fasting bears no fruit unless it is watered by mercy. Fasting dries up when mercy dries up. Mercy is to fasting as rain is to earth. However much you may cultivate your heart, clear the soil of your nature, root out vices, sow virtues, if you do not release the springs of mercy, your fasting will bear no fruit.

When you fast, if your mercy is thin your harvest will be thin; when you fast, what you pour out in mercy overflows into your barn. Therefore, do not lose by saving, but gather in by scattering. Give to the poor, and you give to yourself. You will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others.

Courtesy of the Crossroads Initiative.

Lenten Fast and Abstinence Rules

Each Catholic is asked to preserve Lent's penitential purpose and character, which begins Ash Wednesday. Therefore:

• Catholics who have celebrated their 14th birthday are bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and each Friday of Lent.


• Catholics who have celebrated their 18th birthday, in addition to abstaining from meat, should fast, that is, eat only one full meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Smaller quantities of food may be taken at two other meals, but no food should be consumed at other times during those two days. The obligation of fasting ceases with the celebration of one's 59th birthday.

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Sunday's Readings: Isaiah 50:4-7 Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24 Philippians 2:6-11 Luke 22:14-23:56

Here are a couple of commentaries on these readings:

• St. Charles Borromeo Lectionary Site (PDF)


• Passion of the Christ (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology


• Palm Sunday: Victory of Humility from The Crossroads Initiative

Andrew's Responsorial Psalms is dedicated to "encouraging English-speaking Catholic Churches around the world to sing the responsorial psalms for Sunday Mass and for other liturgical seasons." Along with the many Psalms for the seasons, feast days and solemnities, this site also features the complete set of responsorial psalms for Sunday Mass. Each psalm includes not only a midi file which contains both the response and the first verse but also a music score in PDF format. Though the topic itself is limited, this site offers a wonderful resource on the responsorial psalms.

From Catholic Culture.

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The Solemnity of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary on March 25th.

Introduction

The story of the Annunciation, meaning the announcing, from the Latin annuntiare, is told in Luke's gospel. At the Annunciation, the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will conceive a Son, and his name will be Jesus. His greeting, "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you" has echoed down through the ages in many prayers, and is known as the "Hail Mary." Mary is initially confused as to how she will bear God's Son, seeing as she is a virgin. The angel then explains that the Holy Spirit will come upon on her. This is why when we recite the Nicene creed we say "by the power of the Holy Spirit, [Jesus] was born of the Virgin Mary and became man." The Apostles Creed likewise affirms that Jesus was "conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit." Thus, the Feast of the Annunciation is the beginning of Jesus' miraculous life, and it begins with the theotokos conceiving Jesus by the Holy Spirit's power.

Mary's response to the angel, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word," (Latin: ecce ancilla Domini; fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum) is a statement of humble faith, and a model for how we are to respond when God calls us to do what seems impossible. This response is called Mary's fiat, from the Latin word meaning "let it be done." The Catechism addresses the significance of Mary's faith in relation to her role as Christ's mother:

By pronouncing her "fiat" at the Annunciation and giving her consent to the Incarnation, Mary was already collaborating with the whole work her Son was to accomplish. She is mother wherever he is Savior and head of the Mystical Body (973).

History

The Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary dates back to at least the 6th century, and is mentioned between AD 530 and 533 in a sermon by Abraham of Ephesus. In the West, the first authentic reference is in the Gelasian Sacramentary in the 7th century. The tenth Synod of Toledo (AD 656), and Trullan Synod (AD 692) speak of the Annunciation feast as universally celebrated in the Catholic Church. In the Acts of the latter council, the feast is exempted from the Lenten fast.

The oldest observance of the day is on March 25, although in Spain the feast was at times celebrated on December 19 to avoid any chance of the date falling during the Lenten season. March 25 is obviously 9 months before Christmas, the birth of Jesus. Scholars are not completely sure whether the date of the Annunciation influenced the date of Christmas, or vice-versa. Before the Church adopted fixed days of celebration, early Christians speculated on the dates of major events in Jesus' life. Second-century Latin Christians in Rome and North Africa tried to find the day in which Jesus died. By the time of Tertullian (d. AD 225) they had concluded that he died on Friday, March 25, AD 29 (incidentally, this is an impossibility, since March 25 in the year AD 29 was not a Friday). How does the day of Jesus' death relate to the day of his conception? It comes from the Jewish concept of the "integral age" of the great Jewish prophets. This is the notion that the prophets of Israel died on the same dates as their birth or conception. Therefore, if Jesus died on March 25, he was also conceived that day. The pseudo-(John)Chrysostomic work de solstitia et aequinoctia conceptionis et nativitatis nostri Iesu Christi et Iohannis Baptistae accepts the same calculation. St. Augustine mentions it as well. Other ancient Christians believed Jesus was conceived on March 25th for another reason: they believed (based on Jewish calculations of the period) that the creation of the world occurred that day. Thus, it was fitting that the one who makes us new creations was conceived on the day the world was created. For more information on this subject check out Choosing the Date of Christmas: Why December 25?, by the author of this web page, Calculating Christmas by William Tighe, and The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church.

Of interest, the Feast of the Annunciation is one of the 4 "Quarter Days" in the Church. These are days which fall around the equinoxes or solstices, and mark the beginnings of the natural seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. These Quarter Days were Christian feast days used in medieval times to mark "quarters" for legal purposes. The other days Quarter Days are the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24), Michaelmas (September 29), and Christmas (December 25).

From ChurchYear.Net

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The Obligation of the Decalogue

The Ten Commandments are familiar, but through the Catechism, we can better grasp the tremendous importance of these ten words God first gave to His people through Moses. Tradition has embraced the Ten Commandments as a means for teaching the faith and showing us how to live the Gospel.

2072   Since they express man's fundamental duties towards God and towards his neighbor, the Ten Commandments reveal, in their primordial content, grave obligations. They are fundamentally immutable, and they oblige always and everywhere. No one can dispense from them. the Ten Commandments are engraved by God in the human heart.

2073   Obedience to the Commandments also implies obligations in matter which is, in itself, light. Thus abusive language is forbidden by the fifth commandment, but would be a grave offense only as a result of circumstances or the offender's intention.

2074   Jesus says: "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." The fruit referred to in this saying is the holiness of a life made fruitful by union with Christ. When we believe in Jesus Christ, partake of his mysteries, and keep his commandments, the Savior himself comes to love, in us, his Father and his brethren, our Father and our brethren. His person becomes, through the Spirit, the living and interior rule of our activity. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

Catechism of the Catholic Church

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St. Leo the Great on Almsgiving

St. Leo was pope during the middle of the fifth century, a troubled time when barbarian armies were ravaging the once mighty Roman empire. He is perhaps most famous for persuading Attila the Hun to abandon his plans to sack the city of Rome. Leo, one of the Early Church Fathers, was such an extraordinary teacher that he is one of the few Popes of history to have been dubbed "the Great." This selection from one of his Lenten Sermons (Sermo 6 de Quadragesima, 1-2: PL 54, 285-287) is used in the Roman Catholic Office of Readings for the Thursday after Ash Wednesday with the accompanying biblical reading taken from Exodus 1:1-22.

Dear friends, at every moment the earth is full of the mercy of God, and nature itself is a lesson for all the faithful in the worship of God. The heavens, the sea and all that is in them bear witness to the goodness and omnipotence of their Creator, and the marvelous beauty of the elements as they obey him demands from the intelligent creation a fitting expression of its gratitude.

But with the return of that season marked out in a special way by the mystery of our redemption, and of the days that lead up to the paschal feast, we are summoned more urgently to prepare ourselves by a purification of spirit.

The special note of the paschal feast is this: the whole Church rejoices in the forgiveness of sins. It rejoices in the forgiveness not only of those who are then reborn in holy baptism but also of those who are already numbered among God’s adopted children.
Initially, men are made new by the rebirth of baptism. Yet there still is required a daily renewal to repair the shortcomings of our mortal nature, and whatever degree of progress has been made there is no one who should not be more advanced. All must therefore strive to ensure that on the day of redemption no one may be found in the sins of his former life.

Dear friends, what the Christian should be doing at all times should be done now with greater care and devotion, so that the Lenten fast enjoined by the apostles may be fulfilled, not simply by abstinence from food but above all by the renunciation of sin.

There is no more profitable practice as a companion to holy and spiritual fasting than that of almsgiving. This embraces under the single name of mercy many excellent works of devotion, so that the good intentions of all the faithful may be of equal value, even where their means are not. The love that we owe both God and man is always free from any obstacle that would prevent us from having a good intention. The angels sang: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. The person who shows love and compassion to those in any kind of affliction is blessed, not only with the virtue of good will but also with the gift of peace.

The works of mercy are innumerable. Their very variety brings this advantage to those who are true Christians, that in the matter of almsgiving not only the rich and affluent but also those of average means and the poor are able to play their part. Those who are unequal in their capacity to give can be equal in the love within their hearts.

Courtesy of the Crossroads Initiative.

Lenten Fast and Abstinence Rules

Each Catholic is asked to preserve Lent's penitential purpose and character, which begins Ash Wednesday. Therefore:

• Catholics who have celebrated their 14th birthday are bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and each Friday of Lent.


• Catholics who have celebrated their 18th birthday, in addition to abstaining from meat, should fast, that is, eat only one full meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Smaller quantities of food may be taken at two other meals, but no food should be consumed at other times during those two days. The obligation of fasting ceases with the celebration of one's 59th birthday.

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This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

Sunday's Readings: Isaiah 43:16-21 Psalms 126:1-6 Philippians 3:8-14 John 8:1-11

Here are a couple of commentaries on these readings:

• St. Charles Borromeo Lectionary Site (PDF)


• Something New (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology


• The Adulterous Woman from The Crossroads Initiative

Rosary for the Bishop is a program which aims to show support for Catholic Bishops by maintaining an ongoing web-based spiritual bouquet.

The effort began at Christmas of 2005 in Madison Wisconsin as a Spiritual Bouquet for Bishop Robert Morlino. Lay Catholics from around the Diocese of Madison could sign up online to pray one rosary per month for the Bishop.

We recommend you participate in this effort which seeks to do more than criticize the bishops.

Click here to sign up to pray a Rosary for our Bishop Francis Xavier DiLorenzo.

From Catholic Culture.

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This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

St. Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Church celebrates the feast of St. Joseph on March 19th.

Despite the attention given to him today, saint Joseph is a relatively minor figure in the New Testament. We know a few facts about him from the canonical gospels. He was probably a relatively old man when Jesus was born, since he does not appear in the gospels during Jesus' ministry. The non-canonical Protevangelium, dated to around the 2nd century, attests to Joseph's advanced age. The Protevangelium also asserts that Joseph was a widower, and had grown-up children from his previous marriage. This story is used by many of the early Church Fathers to explain Scriptural references to Jesus' brothers, who would have been step-brothers, and not biologically related. Finally, we know from the Scriptures that Joseph was a carpenter by trade, and a descendant of the Old Testament King David.

St. Joseph was betrothed to a virgin named Mary, and when she became pregnant without sexual intercourse with him, he intended to divorce her secretly. However, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, telling him that Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and that Joseph should take Mary as his wife. The angel also instructed Joseph to name the child Jesus. Joseph, being a humble man, obeyed the angel and took Mary as his wife.

Various legends have grown-up about St. Joseph, and while non-canonical, and historically suspect, they are interesting. One legend suggests that the high-priest Zechariah told Mary that he was instructed in a revelation to bring together marriageable men and have each man leave his staff in the temple overnight. The husband chosen by God would be revealed through a sign. In the morning, Joseph the Carpenter's staff blossomed, while the other suitors' staffs did not. This was a sign that Mary was to marry Joseph.

St. Joseph is a model of humility and holiness, and is a model for fathers everywhere. He cared for the Son of God, despite Jesus not being his own biological Son. His devotion to Mary, despite his suspicions of her infidelity, and his willingness to listen to the angel of God, demonstrate his humility.

St. Joseph is a popular patron saint. He is the patron saint of the universal Church, a happy death, workers, carpenters, expecting mothers, families, and more.

Devotion to St. Joseph developed slowly, more slowly than devotion to Mary. The devotion seems to have begun in the East, with the apocryphal History of Joseph the Carpenter (4th-7th century) playing a major role in fostering the devotion. The Copts likely kept his feast as early as the 4th century. In one of the oldest Coptic calendars we possess, St. Joseph was commemorated on July 20. In later Greek calendars, he is remembered on either December 25 or December 26. In the West, devotion to Joseph developed more slowly, with its earliest promoters being St. Bernardino of Siena and John Gerson. The theological foundations they set paved the way for the establishment of the Feast of St. Joseph. St. Teresa of Avila and St. Francis De Sales were also known for their strong devotion to St. Joseph.

The feast of St. Joseph did not enter the Western calendar until AD 1479. In 1714 Pope Clement XI composed a special office for the feast, and in 1729 Pope Benedict XIII inserted his name into the litany of the saints. Pope Pius IX declared him patron of the universal Church in 1870. In 1955 the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker was promulgated by Pope Pius XII, observed on May 1. This feast was added to the calendar on May 1st to counter the Communist May Day celebration that day, by offering a Christian view of labor, and prime example in the husband of Mary. The Feast of St. Joseph the Worker is not a holy day of obligation. In 1962 his name was added to the list of saints in the Roman Canon (the First Eucharistic Prayer).

Many traditions and customs have developed around St. Joseph and his feast day. March 19th has been a traditional day to show hospitality in the Italian culture. On this day, all who come to the door are invited to dinner. The family table is extended full-length, moved against the wall (like the Church altar), and a statue of St. Joseph surrounded by flowers and candles is made the centerpiece. After the guests have enjoyed the bounteous feast (blessed by a priest prior to the meal), the guests leave so other guests may enter. What is left is given to the poor. On a variation of this theme, a table is set up in the town square, and all families bring food. After Mass, everyone comes and shares a meal, which consists of a variety of foods, including bread baked in the shape of scepters and beards.

Another popular custom associated with St. Joseph is burying St. Joseph statues upside-down in order to sell one's home more quickly. While there is nothing inherently wrong with burying a saint statue, this practice should not be used superstitiously, but simply viewed a process whereby one joins one's prayers with St. Joseph, asking God to sell a home more quickly. The statue is not magic. Many people, to thank St. Joseph for his intercessions, will display the buried statue in their new home.

From ChurchYear.Net

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The Decalogue in the Church's Tradition and the Decalogue and the Natural Law

The Ten Commandments are familiar, but through the Catechism, we can better grasp the tremendous importance of these ten words God first gave to His people through Moses. Tradition has embraced the Ten Commandments as a means for teaching the faith and showing us how to live the Gospel.

2069   The Decalogue forms a coherent whole. Each "word" refers to each of the others and to all of them; they reciprocally condition one another. the two tables shed light on one another; they form an organic unity. To transgress one commandment is to infringe all the others.30 One cannot honor another person without blessing God his Creator. One cannot adore God without loving all men, his creatures. the Decalogue brings man's religious and social life into unity.

2070   The Ten Commandments belong to God's revelation. At the same time they teach us the true humanity of man. They bring to light the essential duties, and therefore, indirectly, the fundamental rights inherent in the nature of the human person. the Decalogue contains a privileged expression of the natural law:

From the beginning, God had implanted in the heart of man the precepts of the natural law. Then he was content to remind him of them. This was the Decalogue.

2071   The commandments of the Decalogue, although accessible to reason alone, have been revealed. To attain a complete and certain understanding of the requirements of the natural law, sinful humanity needed this revelation:

A full explanation of the commandments of the Decalogue became necessary in the state of sin because the light of reason was obscured and the will had gone astray.

   We know God's commandments through the divine revelation proposed to us in the Church, and through the voice of moral conscience.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

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St. Patrick

The Church celebrates the feast of St. Patrick on March 17th.

Saint Patrick (Latin: Patricius) was a Christian missionary to Ireland, the son of Calpornius and Conchessa. It is possible that he was born in AD 387, and died in AD 493, although the exact dating of his life is uncertain. Nonetheless, evidence suggests Patrick was active as a missionary in Ireland during the latter half of the fifth century. He was born to a family of high rank in Roman Britain. At 16, Patrick was captured by Irish raiders, and was taken to Ireland as a slave. While there, he learned the Celtic language. After six years, he escaped, and returned to his family in Britain, where he entered the Church, and eventually became a bishop, having been ordained by St. Germanus, bishop of Auxerre. Patrick later returned to Ireland as a missionary, working in the northern and western areas of the country. As a missionary, Patrick baptized thousands, ordained many priests, and converted wealthy men and women who became monks and nuns. He is often associated with St. Brigid, another patron of Ireland, who was possibly an Irish abbess. He set up an Episcopal administration (bishops, priests, and deacons) in Ireland, and led a monastic lifestyle. Although not a martyr or confessor, St. Patrick nonetheless encountered great hostility and was often held a prisoner for his deeds in Ireland. At one point some of his enemies decreed his death, but the sentence was never carried out. Perhaps because of these incidents, he is honored as a martyr in a few ancient martyrologies. The popular Breastplate of Saint Patrick, an old Irish hymn, is attributed to Saint Patrick, although scholars date it to the 8th century on linguistic grounds. For the words to this beautiful hymn, visit our Saint Patrick's Day Prayers page.

Many scholars believe that much of the life and actions of Saint Palladius have been subsumed into the legend of Saint Patrick. Palladius was a Roman deacon who persuaded Pope Celestine I to send St. Germanus to stamp out the Pelagian heresy in Britain. Later, according to fifth century writer Saint Prosper of Aquitaine, Pope Celestine sent Palladius to be the first bishop of the Irish, before Patrick arrived as a bishop. Seventh century accounts of Saint Patrick portray Palladius as an unsuccessful missionary, who abandoned his task (or perhaps died), paving the way for the work of Saint Patrick. Whatever the role of Saint Palladius in spreading Christianity to Ireland, Saint Patrick apparently made a deeper impression upon the Irish people than did Palladius, and some of the acts of Palladius became conflated with those of Saint Patrick in later historical accounts. However, even if this is true, it does not cast doubt upon the saintliness of Patrick, whose life and actions have been approved by the Church.

From ChurchYear.Net

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Tertullian on Prayer

Prayer is one of the three traditional tools for spiritual growth in Lent (and anytime), the others being almsgiving (charity) and fasting. Prayer is primary, however, for without communion with God, it is impossible to fast or serve joyfully and effectively. This excerpt from Tertullian's treatise On Prayer, written in the late second century, is used in the Roman Catholic Office of Readings for Thursday of the 3rd week in Lent. The accompanying biblical reading is Exodus 34:10-28.

Prayer is the offering in spirit that has done away with the sacrifices of old. What good do I receive from the multiplicity of your sacrifices? asks God. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams, and I do not want the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats. Who has asked for these from your hands?

What God has asked for we learn from the Gospel. The hour will come, he says, when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. God is a spirit, and so he looks for worshippers who are like himself.

We are true worshippers and true priests. We pray in spirit, and so offer in spirit the sacrifice of prayer. Prayer is an offering that belongs to God and is acceptable to him: it is the offering he has asked for, the offering he planned as his own.

We must dedicate this offering with our whole heart, we must fatten it on faith, tend it by truth, keep it unblemished through innocence and clean through chastity, and crown it with love. We must escort it to the altar of God in a procession of good works to the sound of psalms and hymns. Then it will gain for us all that we ask of God.

Since God asks for prayer offered in spirit and in truth, how can he deny anything to this kind of prayer? How great is the evidence of its power, as we read and hear and believe.

Of old, prayer was able to rescue from fire and beasts and hunger, even before it received its perfection from Christ. How much greater then is the power of Christian prayer. No longer does prayer bring an angel of comfort to the heart of a fiery furnace, or close up the mouths of lions, or transport to the hungry food from the fields. No longer does it remove all sense of pain by the grace it wins for others. But it gives the armor of patience to those who suffer, who feel pain, who are distressed. It strengthens the power of grace, so that faith may know what is gaining from the Lord, and understand what it is suffering for the name of God.

In the past prayer was able to bring down punishment, rout armies, withhold the blessing of rain. Now, however, the prayer of the just turns aside the whole anger of God, keeps vigil for its enemies, pleads for persecutors. Is it any wonder that it can call down water from heaven when it could obtain fire from heaven as well? Prayer is the one thing that can conquer God. But Christ has willed that it should work no evil, and has given it all power over good.

Its only art is to call back the souls of the dead from the very journey into death, to give strength to the weak, to heal the sick, to exorcise the possessed, to open prison cells, to free the innocent from their chains. Prayer cleanses from sin, drives away temptations, stamps out persecutions, comforts the fainthearted, gives new strength to the courageous, brings travelers safely home, calms the waves, confounds robbers, feeds the poor, overrules the rich, lifts up the fallen, supports those who are falling, sustains those who stand firm.

All the angels pray. Every creature prays. Cattle and wild beasts pray and bend the knee. As they come from their barns and caves they look out to heaven and call out, lifting up their spirit in their own fashion. The birds too rise and lift themselves up to heaven: they open out their wings, instead of hands, in the form of a cross, and give voice to what seems to be a prayer.

What more need be said on the duty of prayer? Even the Lord himself prayed. To him be honor and power for ever and ever. Amen.

Courtesy of the Crossroads Initiative.

Lenten Fast and Abstinence Rules

Each Catholic is asked to preserve Lent's penitential purpose and character, which begins Ash Wednesday. Therefore:

• Catholics who have celebrated their 14th birthday are bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and each Friday of Lent.


• Catholics who have celebrated their 18th birthday, in addition to abstaining from meat, should fast, that is, eat only one full meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Smaller quantities of food may be taken at two other meals, but no food should be consumed at other times during those two days. The obligation of fasting ceases with the celebration of one's 59th birthday.

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This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

Sunday's Readings: Joshua 5:9-12 Psalms 34:2-7 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Here are a couple of commentaries on these readings:

• St. Charles Borromeo Lectionary Site (PDF)


• Found Alive Again (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology


• Atonement and the Prodigal Son from The Crossroads Initiative

The Sodality of Our Lady, an association formed by the Society of Jesus and approved by the Holy See, aims at fostering in its members an ardent devotion, reverence and filial love towards the Blessed Virgin Mary and seeks through this devotion to help Catholics reach sanctity in their state in life and to help save and sanctify their neighbor.

The website gives the interesting history and spirituality of the Sodality and features notable sodalists. This organization was a well-known part of the life of Catholic communities worldwide prior to Vatican II. Hopefully it will be again.

From Catholic Culture.

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The Decalogue in the Church's Tradition

The Ten Commandments are familiar, but through the Catechism, we can better grasp the tremendous importance of these ten words God first gave to His people through Moses. Tradition has embraced the Ten Commandments as a means for teaching the faith and showing us how to live the Gospel.

2064   In fidelity to Scripture and in conformity with the example of Jesus, the tradition of the Church has acknowledged the primordial importance and significance of the Decalogue.

2065   Ever since St. Augustine, the Ten Commandments have occupied a predominant place in the catechesis of baptismal candidates and the faithful. In the fifteenth century, the custom arose of expressing the commandments of the Decalogue in rhymed formulae, easy to memorize and in positive form. They are still in use today. The catechisms of the Church have often expounded Christian morality by following the order of the Ten Commandments.

2066   The division and numbering of the Commandments have varied in the course of history. the present catechism follows the division of the Commandments established by St. Augustine, which has become traditional in the Catholic Church. It is also that of the Lutheran confessions. the Greek Fathers worked out a slightly different division, which is found in the Orthodox Churches and Reformed communities.

2067   The Ten Commandments state what is required in the love of God and love of neighbor. the first three concern love of God, and the other seven love of neighbor.

As charity comprises the two commandments to which the Lord related the whole Law and the prophets . . . so the Ten Commandments were themselves given on two tablets. Three were written on one tablet and seven on the other.

2068   The Council of Trent teaches that the Ten Commandments are obligatory for Christians and that the justified man is still bound to keep them; The Second Vatican Council confirms: "The bishops, successors of the apostles, receive from the Lord . . . the mission of teaching all peoples, and of preaching the Gospel to every creature, so that all men may attain salvation through faith, Baptism and the observance of the Commandments."

Catechism of the Catholic Church

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This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

Prayer to the Holy Face One devotion that reminds us of the infinite love that our Lord has for us is the devotion to His Holy Face. The traditional sixth station of the cross is Veronica's wiping of Jesus' face. In this station, Veronica's love for the Lord is shown in her willingness to publicly identify with Him as He carries the cross to Calvary.

O Blessed Face of my kind Savior,
by the tender love
and piercing sorrow
of Our Lady as she beheld You in
Your cruel Passion,
grant us to share in this
intense sorrow and love
so as to fulfill the holy will
of God to the utmost
of our ability.

Amen.

Lenten Fast and Abstinence Rules

Each Catholic is asked to preserve Lent's penitential purpose and character, which begins Ash Wednesday. Therefore:

• Catholics who have celebrated their 14th birthday are bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and each Friday of Lent.


• Catholics who have celebrated their 18th birthday, in addition to abstaining from meat, should fast, that is, eat only one full meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Smaller quantities of food may be taken at two other meals, but no food should be consumed at other times during those two days. The obligation of fasting ceases with the celebration of one's 59th birthday.

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The following are highlights from this Sunday's bulletin. To read the entire parish bulletin for March 7, 2010, click here.

NEED FOR ALTAR SERVERS:  There is a need for Altar Servers for the 5:00 p.m. Saturday Mass. Individuals should be willing to serve 1-2 times per month. Anyone from 9 to 90 should consider this important ministry. Training will be provided. Please call Jim Morrisard at 973-6570 if you are interested.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS:  The Stations of the Cross will be held Fridays at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed by a simple soup supper. Your participation is needed. Each Friday two readers, a Cross bearer and two candle bearers are needed. Sign-up is on the credenza. No experience is needed and training will be provided. Call Jim Morrisard at 973-6570 for more information.

CANTORS NEEDED:  We are in need of additional singers to serve as cantors for the 5:00 p.m. Saturday mass and the 8:30 a.m. Sunday mass. Any interested persons should speak to Bill Polhill, Minister of Music or contact him at gwpolh3@yahoo.com.

CCS CONTINUES TO ACCEPT APPLICATIONS: Charlottesville Catholic School (CCS) continues to accept applications for Pre-kindergarten through 8th grade and are in the process of considering applicants in our applicant pool.  If you are interested in learning more about all that CCS has to offer, please call our Admissions Coordinator, Ann Michel, at 964-0400. Appointments may be made for tours Monday through Friday.

AUCTION:  Just one week until CCS’s 14th Annual Gala Auction!  Make your online reservation now to join us next Saturday, March 13th at the Boar’s Head Inn Pavilion as we "Celebrate the Journey"!  Buy a raffle ticket (prizes include a new 46" flat screen TV, a Dell Mini Laptop, Vacation weeks, UVA sports packages and much more!) and/or join us for a fun, memorable community evening.  Silent and live auctions, dinner and dancing included!!  This weekend is your last chance to register! For more information, visit http://www.cvillecatholic.org/auctionupdate2010/.

PHILOSOPHY CLUB:  The Philosophy Club has moved to daylight hours!  We now meet the second Sunday of the month at 12:30 p.m. (right after the 11:00 a.m. mass) in the Bernard Moore Room.  All are welcome to join us at any time.  At our next meeting, on March 14th, we will discuss St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica, Question II and Question III, Articles 3 and 4, on the existence of God.
Please contact Suzanne Bailey (sbailey@nlrg.com or 296-5033) with any questions.

IMPACT:  Mark your calendars!  The IMPACT Nehemiah Action Assembly takes place at U-Hall on Monday, March 22.  Although the program starts at 7:00 p.m., it's a good idea to plan to arrive at 6:15 to park and sign-in.  Even if you have ignored all the other IMPACT programs this year, your attendance at Nehemiah is crucial.  IMPACT works to bring justice for the poor through the power of numbers -- a very large number of people of faith.

PANTRY:  The amount of food we receive from the government has increased lately, but that doesn't mean we can eliminate the pantry bags provided by the parish.  We always need protein foods like tuna and chunky soups, and toilet articles are especially welcome.  It's amazing how many people ask for soap and toilet paper, and how pleased they are when we tell them those items are automatically included in all pantry bags.

SALTADÈRE UPDATE:  Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Haiti. Father Blot and our twin parish of St. Michel are helping to support about 500 refugees in the community through care at the clinic and education at St. Michel School. Watch for updates and recent pictures at the Haiti table. Updates on relief efforts are being posted on the Saltadère website, www.saltadere.org.

ANNUAL DIOCESAN HAITI GATHERING:  St. Thomas Aquinas is hosting the Diocesan Haiti Gathering on March 20th. Please take advantage of the opportunity to learn more about the work of our diocese in Haiti. The new bishop of Hinche (sister diocese to Richmond) will be a speaker. Help is needed with all aspects of organizing this all day event. To register, call Patrice at (804)545-5974 or email patrice.schwermer@cccofva.org.

BI-PARISH HAITI COMMITTEE:  The committee’s next meeting will be March 7th at St. Thomas Aquinas at 1:00 p.m. in the Library. For more information, please contact Laurie Duncan at Laurie Duncan.

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This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

Sunday's Readings: Exodus 3:1-8,13-15 Psalm 103:1-4, 6-8, 11 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 Luke 13:1-9

Here are a couple of commentaries on these readings:

• St. Charles Borromeo Lectionary Site (PDF)


• Fruits of the Fig (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology


• Lenten Fasting or Feasting? (en español La Higuera) from The Crossroads Initiative

Musings of a Catholic presently consists of a short course on prayer and a course on the Mass. The course on the Mass is partially complete. The portion that is available is a detailed study of the Mass. The unfinished portion consists of a history of the Mass and a study on the Real Presence. A third course on the Liturgical Year is planned. The courses our aimed at the average Catholic.

From Catholic Culture.

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This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

The Decalogue in Sacred Scripture, Part 2

The Ten Commandments are familiar, but through the Catechism, we can better grasp the tremendous importance of these ten words God first gave to His people through Moses. Part 1 of this section can be read here.

2060   The gift of the commandments and of the Law is part of the covenant God sealed with his own. In Exodus, the revelation of the "ten words" is granted between the proposal of the covenant and its conclusion - after the people had committed themselves to "do" all that the Lord had said, and to "obey" it. The Decalogue is never handed on without first recalling the covenant (“The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.").

2061   The Commandments take on their full meaning within the covenant. According to Scripture, man's moral life has all its meaning in and through the covenant. the first of the "ten words" recalls that God loved
his people first:

Since there was a passing from the paradise of freedom to the slavery of this world, in punishment for sin, the first phrase of the Decalogue, the first word of God's commandments, bears on freedom "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery."

2062   The Commandments properly so-called come in the second place: they express the implications of belonging to God through the establishment of the covenant. Moral existence is a response to the Lord's loving initiative. It is the acknowledgment and homage given to God and a worship of thanksgiving. It is cooperation with the plan God pursues in history.

2063   The covenant and dialogue between God and man are also attested to by the fact that all the obligations are stated in the first person ("I am the Lord.") and addressed by God to another personal subject ("you"). In all God's commandments, the singular personal pronoun designates the recipient. God makes his will known to each person in particular, at the same time as he makes it known to the whole people:

The Lord prescribed love towards God and taught justice towards neighbor, so that man would be neither unjust, nor unworthy of God. Thus, through the Decalogue, God prepared man to become his friend and to live in harmony with his neighbor.... the words of the Decalogue remain likewise for us Christians. Far from being abolished, they have received amplification and development from the fact of the coming of the Lord in the flesh.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

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St. Katharine Drexel

The feast day of St. Katharine Drexel is March 3rd.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. on 26 November 1858, Katharine was the second daughter of Francis Anthony Drexel, a wealthy banker, and his wife, Hannah Jane. The latter died a month after Katharine's birth, and two years later her father married Emma Bouvier, who was a devoted mother, not only to her own daughter Louisa (born 1862), but also to her two step-daughters. Both parents instilled into the children by word and example that their wealth was simply loaned to them and was to be shared with others.

Katharine was educated privately at home; she traveled widely in the United States and in Europe. Early in life she became aware of the plight of the Native Americans and the Blacks; when she inherited a vast fortune from her father and step-mother, she resolved to devote her wealth to helping these disadvantaged people. In 1885 she established a school for Native Americans at Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Later, during an audience with Pope Leo XIII, she asked him to recommend a religious congregation to staff the institutions which she was financing. The Pope suggested that she herself become a missionary, so in 1889 she began her training in religious life with the Sisters of Mercy at Pittsburgh.

In 1891, with a few companions, Mother Katharine founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People. The title of the community summed up the two great driving forces in her life—devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and love for the most deprived people in her country.

Requests for help reached Mother Katharine from various parts of the United States. During her lifetime, approximately 60 schools were opened by her congregation. The most famous foundation was made in 1915; it was Xavier University, New Orleans, the first such institution for Black people in the United States.

In 1935 Mother Katharine suffered a heart attack, and in 1937 she relinquished the office of superior general. Though gradually becoming more infirm, she was able to devote her last years to Eucharistic adoration, and so fulfill her life’s desire. She died at the age of 96 at Cornwell Heights, Pennsylvania, on 3 March 1955. Her cause for beatification was introduced in 1966; she was declared Venerable by Pope John Paul II on 26 January 1987, by whom she was also beatified on 20 November 1988.

From EWTN

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Via Crucis

Of all the pious exercises connected with the veneration of the Cross, none is more popular among the faithful than the Via Crucis. Through this pious exercise, the faithful movingly follow the final earthly journey of Christ: from the Mount of Olives, where the Lord, "in a small estate called Gethsemane" (Mk 14, 32), was taken by anguish (cf. Lk 22, 44), to Calvary where he was crucified between two thieves (cf. Lk 23, 33), to the garden where he was placed in freshly hewn tomb (John 19, 40-42).

The love of the Christian faithful for this devotion is amply attested by the numerous Via Crucis erected in so many churches, shrines, cloisters, in the countryside, and on mountain pathways where the various stations are very evocative.

The Via Crucis is a synthesis of various devotions that have arisen since the high middle ages: the pilgrimage to the Holy Land during which the faithful devoutly visit the places associated with the Lord's Passion; devotion to the three falls of Christ under the weight of the Cross; devotion to "the dolorous journey of Christ" which consisted in processing from one church to another in memory of Christ's Passion; devotion to the stations of Christ, those places where Christ stopped on his journey to Calvary because obliged to do so by his executioners or exhausted by fatigue, or because moved by compassion to dialogue with those who were present at his Passion.

In its present form, the Via Crucis, widely promoted by St. Leonardo da Porto Maurizio (+1751), was approved by the Apostolic See and indulgenced, consists of fourteen stations since the middle of seventeenth century.

The Via Crucis is a journey made in the Holy Spirit, that divine fire which burned in the heart of Jesus (cf. Lk 12, 49-50) and brought him to Calvary. This is a journey well esteemed by the Church since it has retained a living memory of the words and gestures of the final earthly days of her Spouse and Lord.

In the Via Crucis, various strands of Christian piety coalesce: the idea of life being a journey or pilgrimage; as a passage from earthly exile to our true home in Heaven; the deep desire to be conformed to the Passion of Christ; the demands of following Christ, which imply that his disciples must follow behind the Master, daily carrying their own crosses (cf Lk 9, 23).

From Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy (131-3)

Lenten Fast and Abstinence Rules

Each Catholic is asked to preserve Lent's penitential purpose and character, which begins Ash Wednesday. Therefore:

• Catholics who have celebrated their 14th birthday are bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and each Friday of Lent.


• Catholics who have celebrated their 18th birthday, in addition to abstaining from meat, should fast, that is, eat only one full meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Smaller quantities of food may be taken at two other meals, but no food should be consumed at other times during those two days. The obligation of fasting ceases with the celebration of one's 59th birthday.

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Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. - Romans 12:12

The Holy Father's prayer intentions for March are:

General:   That the world economy may be managed according to the principles of justice and equity, taking account of the real needs of peoples, especially the poorest.

Mission:   That the Churches in Africa may be signs and instruments of reconciliation and justice in every part of that continent.

Pro-Life Prayer Intention

That children may witness to their peers about the sanctity of life.