12 Wednesday Jul 2017
Today is the Feast Day of Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. In October 2015, they became the first couple to be canonized together as husband and wife. As the exemplars of holy family life, we have designated Louis and Zélie Martin as the patron Saints of the Calling Couples to Christ Apostolate.
08 Saturday Jul 2017
The Transfiguration, Raphael, c. 1520
Did you know that you and your spouse are a living icon, called to radiate the love of God?
It’s true. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in his 2005 encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) said that “marriage based on exclusive and definitive love becomes the icon of the relationship between God and his people and vice versa. God’s way of loving becomes the measure of human love” (11).
01 Saturday Jul 2017
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Christ with Martha and Maria, by Henryk Siemiradzki, 1886
At the end of the Great Jubilee 2000, St. John Paul II wrote the apostolic letter Novo Millenio Ieunte (NMI), translated “at the beginning of the new millennium.” The letter summarizes the graces that the Lord poured out on the Church during the Great Jubilee and then looks forward to the mission of the Church in the new millennium, evangelization. This mission is even more urgent today. Souls are being lost and it is the duty and responsibility of all the faithful to evangelize the culture.
25 Sunday Jun 2017
Christ the Teacher (Photo Credit: orthodoxy-icons.com)
This week, we invite you to pray for your marriage and family using Psalms 127 and 128. Pray these passages with your spouse and meditate on a verse that particularly strikes you. God’s Word is a fountain of blessings. May He bless you richly.
18 Sunday Jun 2017
During the entire month of June, Holy Mother Church honors the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is celebrated this year on June 23. The Directory of Popular Piety and the Liturgy says, “The term ‘Sacred Heart of Jesus’ denotes the entire mystery of Christ, the totality of his being, and his person…Devotion to the Sacred Heart…calls for a fundamental attitude of conversion and reparation, of love and gratitude, apostolic commitment and dedication to Christ and his saving work” (166, 172).
10 Saturday Jun 2017
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We have found that as we make a greater commitment to loving and serving the Lord with all our hearts, minds and strength, the attacks of the Evil One have increased against us. Satan wants to destroy marriage and families because they are an image of the love of the Triune God. Through prayer and discernment, we see that God is calling us to a greater dependence and trust in His loving care and mercy.
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. Psalm 37:5
04 Sunday Jun 2017
The Marriage Feast at Cana, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1672
Marriage has been “wounded by the fall and our own personal sin,” but “the redemptive work of Christ renews and restores the goodness of creation and hence of marriage,” says Dr. Eduardo J. Echeverria, Professor of Philosophy and Systematic Theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Michigan. He has written an excellent article to dispel the confusion surrounding marriage in our modern culture. The article has been posted to The Catholic Thing website and can be read by clicking on the following link…
21 Sunday May 2017
Christ Healing the Mother of Simon Peter’s Wife
Artist: John Bridges
Suffering is part of life. Whether it is relationship issues in our families or sickness or even death, Jesus desires to bring healing to these situations.
And many followed him, and he healed them all… Matthew 12:15
13 Saturday May 2017
06 Saturday May 2017
St. Paul’s understanding of the body of Christ was formed by his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. He recounts his conversion in the Acts of the Apostles…
“While I was on my way and approaching Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Then he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.’” Acts 22:6-8 (emphasis added)
Calling Couples to Christ 