Good Info...

A great (and informative) article discussing the canceling of Public Masses & a great website (that will be added to the right column)

Do Bishops have the Authority to Cancel Masses Completely? 

I have heard and understand statements/arguments for both sides of this topic and it should be VERY much discerned by all parties involved, the local ordinary (Bishop), Parish Priest & the body of Christ (lay faithful)...

THE CHURCH (founded by Jesus Christ) is there to nourish the spirit & soul far more than the body.
These quotes come to mind:

"For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?"

~ Mark 8:36

&

"For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?"

~ Matthew 16:26

That being said... With what we now know about viruses, that they did not know even 150 years ago, not to mention 500 years ago, is it prudent to put hundreds of people in close proximity on a Sunday Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? What if it's the Priest who has the contagion, now he is responsible (potentially) for the illness (or loss) of his faithful.

Difficult times & decisions, BUT we must always remember...it is the Church and Her Sacraments that offer TRUE EVERLASTING LIFE (Life w/ our Lord in Heaven).

Study.Pray.Serve.

Podcast from Patrick Haines:
3rd Sunday in Lent: Christ & COVID-19
Here is his website as well: https://studyprayserve.com/

The podcast (message) is really good!!!

We DO need to listen to this and apply it...WHEN we are out the other end of this pestilence/epidemic, remember this, brothers!!!

We have needed to re-prioritize for quite a while now, this Chinese virus is the time to consider this.

How are we as a culture responding to Christ?
Look how we respond to crisis? How can we not respond 100 times that to our Eternal Salvation... To letting others know about THEIR eternal salvation?!?!?

Message from Cdl. Burke

HERE is a message from Cardinal Burke on the COVID-19.

My brief thoughts:
Spiritual Retreat . . . Maybe this is God moving us in His direction.
Our most effective weapon is our relationship with Christ.
In God alone we find salvation!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Prayer in the Time of any Calamity

Help Us, O God, our Savior; and for the glory of Thy Name deliver us: and forgive us our sins for Thy Name's sake.

Psalm 53 (54)

Save me, O God, by Thy Name;
and judge me in Thy strength.
Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
For strangers are risen up against me, and the mighty have sought after my soul;
and they have not set God before their eyes.
For, behold, God is my Helper;
and the Lord is the protector of my soul.
Turn back the evils upon mine enemies;
and cut them off in thy truth.
I will freely sacrifice to Thee;
and will give praise to Thy Name, O Lord, for it is good.
For Thou hast delivered me out of all trouble;
and mine eye hath looked down upon mine enemies.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. AMEN.

V/: For the glory of Thy holy Name deliver us,
R/: And forgive us our sins for Thy Name's sake.

Let Us Pray:
Mercifully hear the prayers of Thy people, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that we who are justly afflicted for our sins, may be mercifully delivered from the same for the glory of Thy holy Name, Through Christ our Lord. AMEN.

Good resources...

Here are two sites from Tony Shay on homilies...

Diocese of Little Rock (Six Long Steps...)

This was a very good and reflective style!

Spiritual Catholic (Intro-Body-Conclusion Style)

Fr. John Ricardo (Youtube)

Recommended by Paul Arbanas: Fr. John Ricardo (look him up on youtube)
Lots of stuff... We were taking about Kerygma, so I posted these!

Proclaiming the Kerygma

Catechists & Kerygma

Be the Maccabee!

In our classes we talked about the fact that "We are the Maccabee's". There is a group of us that feel we have to fight, to do battle and be ready for battle...to DEFEND THE FAITH (Catholicism).

I do not know, nor have I read or listened to a lot of Dr. Taylor Marshall. But I think he has some good stuff. In this video, he also calls for people to "Be the Maccabee".
I like it!

Be a Warrior for the Catholic faith!
Fight for your Faith.
No need to get bloody, uses the supernatural gifts that Our Lord has given us:
Take the Sword of the Holy Spirit.
Take the Word of the Lord (Scripture & the Gospel).
Take the Rosary ("the weapon" as Padre Pio called it).
Take the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
USE THEM!!!

We are waging battle!
Against Satan & his demons.
Through prayer, sacrifice & martyrdom (both red & white), we can and will WIN this supernatural war that affects us daily on this earth.

Being Pastoral

We are finishing our Pastoral Ministry course. Very good course, studying and reading various documents (esp. the VII docs). We DO need to be pastoral. It is what the world needs...

What is being pastoral?
Loving, caring, compassionate, understanding, empathetic ~ Absolutely!!!
Accepting ~ Yes & NO
Accepting of the human being ~ a profound YES!
Accepting of the things that destroy the spirit, soul & heart of the human being ~ NO WAY!
As always, Cardinal Ratzinger has some comments and clarity on this matter:

The take-away:

"In the end, only the TRUTH can be pastoral."

As Pope John XXIII stated in his opening comments to the Council of Vatican II, on Oct. 11, 1962:

"The greatest concern of the Ecumenical Council is this: that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine should be guarded and taught more efficaciously."

NOW...
...take Pope John XXIII's comments along with Cdl. Ratzinger's and see where that leads you!

Gaudium et Spes

We are reading Gaudium et Spes for our next class. My first thought at the beginning of this was that it seems like they want to change because of our culture and times.

My first statement in the V2 Class was "misinformation". And after reading and then re-reading, at least the parts I highlighted in Part 1 of GS, that may be just what happened to my thoughts...misinformed. My initial read and "feel" was that they wanted to change some things and were getting long winded about it. BUT, then as I re-read my highlighted parts, it sounds like they are grounded in the TRUTH that is Jesus Christ.

Here are two Quotes:
"the Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel." GS 4

"The Church also maintains that beneath all changes there are many realities which do not change and which have their ultimate foundation in Christ, Who is the same yesterday, and today, yes and forever. Hence under the light of Christ, the image of the unseen God, the firstborn of every creature, the council wishes to speak to all men in order to shed light on the mystery of man and to cooperate in finding the solution to the outstanding problems of our times."

The first time reading of the first quote, I felt like the council wanted to interpret traditional things differently, in light of what was happening w/in society...that we needed to "soften" things up and not be so harsh and critical, basically to "dummy down" how we present Catholicism.

In the 2nd quote, I really loved the first sentence (in fact Hebrews 13:8 is one of my favorites) and felt the 2nd, "Hence under the light of Christ..." was a contradiction because they wanted to "find a solution", which we should always know and should always be known, because it NEVER changes.
The answer or solution to all of our questions is JESUS CHRIST!!!

Then this quote showed up:
"It is an error to believe that Christ did not teach a determined body of doctrine applicable to all times and to all men, but rather that He inaugurated a religious movement adapted, or to be adapted , to different times and different places." ~ Pope St. Pius X

BINGO...I thought!

I had just my initial reading and feeling of GS and was thinking they were in contradiction, but then went back to read my highlights to confirm, and found that, reading my highlights, it seemed to me that GS is basically stating that what was...is! We just need to find a way of getting this across in our day and age, and that is what the council wanted to do (At least according to Pope Paul VI)!

So after re-reading Part 1, there is Joy & Hope!!!