Tag Archives: Christ

Our Lady of the Rosary, Pray for Us

07 Saturday Oct 2017

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Praying hands rosary

Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Roman rite of the Catholic Church. Since the sixteenth century when St. Dominic was inspired to develop the devotion, the Rosary has been used to combat both physical and spiritual enemies.

This feast was instituted by Pope St. Pius V to honor Mary for the Christian victory over the Turks at Lepanto on October 7, 1571. He attributed the victory to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was invoked through praying the Rosary throughout Europe for protection from the Turkish invasion.

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Responding to Love with Love

18 Friday Aug 2017

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Christ Carrying the Cross, Tiziano Vecelli, c. 1565

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” Matthew 16:24-28

In this Gospel passage, Jesus tells us how to be one of His followers. Specifically, to be His disciple requires the denying of self. In this age of the unholy trinity – me, myself and I – these words of Jesus are hard to understand and follow. We live in a culture that honors and admires rugged individualism and personal satisfaction. Sacrifice and suffering are to be avoided at all costs. Yet Jesus is telling us that this is the way to eternal joy and happiness.

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Making Your Marriage a Sacrifice of Praise

11 Friday Aug 2017

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Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!” The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge! Psalm 50:5-6

Our parents grew up during the Great Depression and both of our fathers served in World War II. Back then, self-sacrifice was a normal part of life. However, in modern times, we have an aversion to sacrifice; it is to be avoided at all costs. But, the increasing rates of divorce, suicide and substance abuse suggest that people are not happy. That’s because true happiness is found in giving ourselves totally for the good of another, in imitation of Christ’s self-sacrificial love for His bride, the Church.

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Hebrews 13:15

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Strengthen Your Family through Living the Beatitudes (Part 2)

04 Friday Aug 2017

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This is the second of a two-part series on the Beatitudes that Jesus taught in His “Sermon on the Mount.” The Beatitudes contrast kingdom values (which are eternal) with worldly values (which are temporary). They describe how we should act as followers of Christ.

Last week, we focused on the first four Beatitudes. This week, we look at the last four Beatitudes: Mercy (Mt 5:7), the Pure in Heart (Mt 5:8), the Peacemaker (Mt 5:9) and the Persecuted (Mt 5:10).

Beatitude #5 – Mercy

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Matthew 5:7

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Strengthen Your Family through Living the Beatitudes (Part 1)

28 Friday Jul 2017

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Sermon on the Mount

Stained Glass Windows – St. Vincent de Paul Chapel, St. Louis, MO

This is the first of a two-part series studying the lessons from Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount,” commonly known as the “Beatitudes” (Mt 5:3-10). The Sermon on the Mount challenges us to live in heartfelt obedience to God’s commands. The Beatitudes tell us how to be blessed. This is more than a sense of happiness. It is an experience of hope and joy independent of circumstances, because we are focused on our eternal home in heaven. This hope and joy, the highest form of happiness, can only be found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

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Families: The center of evangelization efforts in the Archdiocese of Detroit

20 Thursday Jul 2017

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Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit

Photo Credit: The Michigan Catholic

On June 3rd, the Vigil of Pentecost, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit issued a pastoral letter, Unleash the Gospel. This letter is the game plan for the transformation of the Archdiocese into a “joyful band of missionary disciples.”

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Love That Will Last

15 Saturday Jul 2017

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St. Dominic Adoring the Crucifixion, Fra Angelico, c. 1442

Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. 1 John 4:7-8

Where do you find your strength to live out your vocation to marriage? Do you look to your spouse to fulfill your every need physically, emotionally, sexually, spiritually? If you are looking to your spouse to fulfill your every need, you are setting yourself up for disappointment and failure in your marriage. We are sinful human beings that struggle with selfishness, mood swings, anger, exhaustion and brokenness. We are incapable of fulfilling our own needs let alone the needs of others. No, we need to look to the source of life and love to give us the grace to love with a perfect love.

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Marriage: Reflecting the Love of Christ to the World

08 Saturday Jul 2017

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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).

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Families: Called to Reflect the Face of Christ

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.

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Praying Scripture for your Marriage and Family

25 Sunday Jun 2017

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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.

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