Tag Archives: Jesus

Saying “Yes” to Jesus

08 Saturday Sep 2018

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Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38

It was Mary’s “Yes” to the Archangel Gabriel that enabled God to humble Himself, take on flesh, and launch His plan for the salvation of humanity through the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ. Mary was blessed to be the Mother of God. She was the first disciple of Jesus, carrying the Savior of the world in her womb. She indeed “found favor with God” (Lk 1:30).

Just as God asked Mary’s permission, Jesus is asking permission to dwell within you. He wants you to know His love for you. He took on human flesh so He could search for you like the shepherd searching after the one lost sheep (see Lk 15:1-7). Father Raniero Cantalamessa, Preacher to the Papal Household, said that all of Scripture can be reduced to just three words, “God is love.” Jesus is God’s love manifested in the flesh and He wants a personal and intimate relationship with you.

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Do You Know What I Have Done for You?

30 Friday Mar 2018

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Crucifixion_02

On this Good Friday, take time to read and meditate on the Suffering Servant foretold in Isaiah 53. Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy. Do you know what God has done for you? Do you understand all that Jesus accomplished on the cross? Do you comprehend and believe that Jesus is the Christ?

And you, who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him. Colossians 2:13-15

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This is Love

29 Thursday Mar 2018

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Maundy Thursday

A chaste and holy young couple was planning their wedding. Everything was coming together beautifully except one aspect. The bride-to-be was fretting over how to maintain her modesty during the traditional garter toss at the wedding reception. The thought of wearing the garter on her upper thigh and bearing her leg in public was contrary to her belief in the sacredness of the human body. She considered wearing the garter on her calf or ankle but decided that would look silly. When the wedding day arrived, she was still without a plan for dealing with this distressing detail.

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Living a Contagious Christian Marriage

22 Thursday Mar 2018

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Bride and groom stand before crucifix in church 2

Do you know the point of marriage? The purpose of your marriage is to make visible the invisible love of God. In this homily, Fr. Riccardo speaks of the importance of living a contagious Christian marriage.

Fr. Riccardo’s Homily

Pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church

Plymouth, Michigan

March 18, 2018

The Mass: A Life-Changing Encounter with Jesus – Part III

18 Sunday Mar 2018

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eucharist

In response to Archbishop Allen Vigneron’s request in his recent pastoral letter Unleash the Gospel, to provide “opportunities for families to encounter Jesus anew, grow daily as His disciples, and give witness to the power of His mercy,” we have undertaken a study of what happens in the Mass.

Pope Benedict XVI at his January 11, 2012 general audience explained that the Eucharist is “the apex” of all Christian prayers. He stressed the need for proper preparation for receiving the Eucharist, especially the Sacrament of Penance. Pope Benedict called the Eucharist “the food of pilgrims” and “a source of strength” for those who are “tired, weary and disoriented.”

With this in mind, we offer the third in our series based on the Parish Mission at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Plymouth, Michigan given by Abbot Jeremy Driscoll, OSB, “The Mass: Supreme Encounter with God in Jesus.”

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The Mass: A Life-Changing Encounter with Jesus – Part II

11 Sunday Mar 2018

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Last Supper_Juan de Juanes

Jesus with the Eucharist at the Last Supper, Juan de Juanes, Mid-Late 16th Century

To be a contagious Catholic, it is imperative to understand the Mass. If understood, the Mass is transformative. Your life will never be the same. Your family will be a beacon of light in a society that is broken and without hope.

Archbishop Allen Vigneron of the Archdiocese of Detroit in his recent pastoral letter Unleash the Gospel, offered the following vision for families:

Families who, having embraced their role as the domestic church and in connection with other families and single persons, actively seek the spiritual and social renewal of their neighborhoods, schools and places of work. Such families…would display a strikingly counter-cultural way of living: grounded in prayer, Sacraments and attention to Scripture; unusually gracious hospitality; a capacity to include those on the margins of society; and joyful confidence in the providence of God even in difficult and stressful times. Unleash the Gospel, p. 32

To this end, we offer you the second blog post in a series based on the Parish Mission at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Plymouth, Michigan given by Abbot Jeremy Driscoll, OSB, “The Mass: Supreme Encounter with God in Jesus.”

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The Mass: A Life-Changing Encounter with Jesus

03 Saturday Mar 2018

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St. Paul The Apostle Parish, Westerville, Ohio

In previous blogs, we have discussed Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron’s pastoral letter, Unleash the Gospel. This letter is the game plan for the transformation of the Archdiocese of Detroit into a “joyful band of missionary disciples.”

Archbishop Vigneron states that families are “the very heart of our archdiocesan efforts to unleash the Gospel, because they are the first and most important setting in which evangelization takes place.”

He offers an action plan for families to reclaim their identity with God (Unleash the Gospel, p. 33). The first and most important action he recommends is attending Sunday Mass as a family.

Those who find the Mass boring or view it as nothing more than an obligation to fulfill may be surprised by that recommendation. However, the “Mass is about love. It is not an idea about love but the supreme encounter with love.”[1] During the next three weeks, we will briefly explain the Mass to provide a better understanding of what happens.

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How to Live Out the Four Goods in Your Marriage

04 Sunday Feb 2018

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BXVI_04

Last week we learned about the four goods of marriage and how they are woven into the very fabric of the vows that are part of the Marriage Rite of the Catholic Church. The wedding vows speak of: partnership, permanence, fidelity, and fruitfulness.

This week, we will show you how to live out the four goods in your marriage.

In marriage there are two people wounded by Original Sin with a natural bent to selfishness, who join their lives together for life. There will be struggles, hardships, disagreements, strife, and heartache. But the good news is that Jesus died on the cross to save us from sin and give us the grace we need to live out the four goods of marriage.

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Families: Pray Together

21 Sunday Jan 2018

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Fr Patrick Peyton

Perhaps you have heard the phrase, “The family that prays together stays together.” Did you know the phrase was coined in the 1940s by Father Patrick Peyton a Catholic media pioneer? Known as “The Rosary Priest,” Father Peyton used radio, television, and billboards to promote family prayer, especially praying the Holy Rosary.

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Manifestation of the Lord

07 Sunday Jan 2018

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'ADORATION OF THE MAGI'

Adoration of the Magi

Basilica of the Immaculate Conception

Conception Abbey, Conception, Missouri

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.”…and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Matthew 2:1-2, 9-11 (emphasis added)

“The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 528). The joy of the Magi upon seeing the Child is the joy of the Gospel. It is “the joy of one whose heart has received a ray of God’s light and who can now see that his hope has been realized—the joy of one who has found what he sought, and has himself been found” (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives, 106). The Magi find “crying in a manger, the one they have followed as he shone in the sky…in swaddling clothes, the one they have long awaited as he lay hidden among the stars” (St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 150).

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