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Calling Couples to Christ

~ Building strong, joy-filled marriages

Calling Couples to Christ

Tag Archives: prayer

Manifestation of the Lord

07 Sunday Jan 2018

Posted by Dennis and Rose Wingfield in Family, Marriage

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Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, Evangelization, grace, Jesus, Joy of the Gospel, prayer, salvation, Unleash the Gospel, virtue

'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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The Most Holy Name of Jesus

03 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by Dennis and Rose Wingfield in Family, Marriage

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Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, domestic church, happiness, Holy Name of Jesus, joy, prayer, sacraments, Unleash the Gospel

Name of Jesus_Bernadine of Siena

Today the Church commemorates the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. In his letter to the Church at Philippi, St. Paul wrote of the supremacy of the name of Jesus Christ: “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name” (Phil 2:9) and “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10-11).

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The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

31 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by Dennis and Rose Wingfield in Family, Marriage

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family, holiness, Holy Family, honor, Jesus, Joseph, joy, love, Mary, prayer

The-Two-Trinities-MURILLO-Bartolomé-Esteban

The Two Trinities, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1675-82

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family. Through the Incarnation, the Divine Word assumed a human body, entering into every aspect of human life, including family life, sanctifying it and making it a path to holiness.

Teacher and author Scott Hahn says,

The family is the key to Christmas. The family is the key to Christianity…When God came to save us, he made salvation inseparable from family life, manifest in family life. Since the family is the ordinary setting of human life, he came to share it, redeem it and perfect it. He made it an image and sacrament of a divine mystery. Salvation itself finds meaning only in familial relations.[1]

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Prayer is Essential!

10 Friday Nov 2017

Posted by Dennis and Rose Wingfield in Family, Marriage

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compassion, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, love, mercy, prayer

Prayer Righteous Man

If a Christian is to have a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God, prayer is essential. St. Thérèse of Lisieux said “prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”[1] St. John Damascene said “prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God.”[2]

Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. Ephesians 6:18

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All Souls Day: Our faith is built on those who have gone before us

02 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by Dennis and Rose Wingfield in Family, Marriage

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Christ Jesus, faith, family, pray, prayer, salvation

Makonde Family Tree

The Makonde people of Tanzania in Africa are known for intricate wood carvings. One style of carving is called the Ujamaa, which means community and family. Also known as “Tree of Life” carvings, they are fashioned from a single piece of African Blackwood (mpingo), and can be as high as six feet tall. They depict past and present generations of a family, supporting each other around a central family ancestor. The sculpture poignantly illustrates that each person’s life is built upon the lives of those who have gone before them.

So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22

The image of the Ujamaa is helpful in thinking about the souls of the faithfully departed that have gone before us. Our Christian faith has been built on generations of faithful disciples who have kept the flames of the faith burning for more than two millennia. We are truly “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets… [with] Christ himself being the cornerstone” (Eph 2:20). Our ancestors are part of this foundation along with countless saints and unrecognized champions of the faith. This “great cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1) is praying for us, urging us to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:14).

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Change History: Pray the Rosary

27 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by Dennis and Rose Wingfield in Family, Marriage

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Blessed Virgin Mary, families, Our Lady of Rosary, prayer, rosary

St_Dominic_Receives_the_Rosary_from_the_Virgin_Mary

During the month of October, the Church honors Our Lady of the Rosary. We began this month with a call to pray the Rosary daily for peace in the world and for peace, unity, and harmony in all Christian families. As the month comes to a close, we want to reiterate the importance and efficacy of praying the Rosary daily for these intentions.

The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary was instituted by Pope St. Pius V to honor Mary for the Christian victory over the Islamic Ottoman Empire 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 invasion. This victory severely curtailed attempts by Islam to control the Mediterranean region. Had this battle been lost, Western Christianity as we know it today would not have come about.

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Praying the Rosary: Being Conformed to Christ with Mary

20 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by Dennis and Rose Wingfield in Family, Marriage

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Christ, comtemplation, peace, prayer, rosary

JPII on the Rosary

October is the month of the Rosary. This week, we continue to focus on this amazing prayer by citing excerpts from St. John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (On the Most Holy Rosary). Again, we invite you to join us in praying the Rosary for peace in the world and for peace, unity, and harmony in all Christian families.

“The Rosary of the Virgin Mary…is a prayer loved by countless Saints and encouraged by the Magisterium. Simple yet profound, it still remains, at the dawn of this third millennium, a prayer of great significance, destined to bring forth a harvest of holiness. It blends easily into the spiritual journey of the Christian life, which, after two thousand years, has lost none of the freshness of its beginnings and feels drawn by the Spirit of God to ‘set out into the deep’ (duc in altum!) in order once more to proclaim, and even cry out, before the world that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour, ‘the way, and the truth and the life’ (Jn 14:6), ‘the goal of human history and the point on which the desires of history and civilization turn.’[1]

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Our Lady of Fátima: Intercede for Families

13 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by Dennis and Rose Wingfield in Family, Marriage

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family, harmony, Marriage, Our Lady, peace, prayer, rosary, unity

Today marks the 100th anniversary of last of six apparitions of Our Blessed Mother to three shepherd children – Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta – at Fátima, Portugal. She first appeared to the children on May 13, 1917. In her subsequent appearances, the Virgin Mary requested conversion, prayer (particularly the recitation of the Rosary), and sacrifices on behalf of sinners. She also revealed a three-part secret regarding the fate of the world.

Fatima children_crop

The Children of Fátima: Lúcia dos Santos, Francisco Marto, Jacinta Marto

As word of the apparitions spread, Mary promised a sign from heaven. On October 13, 1917, the “Miracle of the Sun” occurred.  The crowd of some 70,000 witnesses reported that the sun began to spin, twirling in the sky, and at one point appeared to veer toward earth before jumping back to its place in the sky.

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Our Lady of the Rosary, Pray for Us

07 Saturday Oct 2017

Posted by Dennis and Rose Wingfield in Family, Marriage

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Blessed Virgin Mary, Catholic, Christ, family, holiness, John Paul II, peace, prayer, rosary, unity

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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Entrust Your Family to Our Lady of Sorrows

15 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by Dennis and Rose Wingfield in Family, Marriage

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comfort, family, Jesus, Mary, prayer, sacrifice, struggles, suffering

Sorrowful Heart_Salamanca_Iglesia_de_la_Vera_Cruz_crop

Seven Swords Piercing the Sorrowful Heart of Mary

Iglesia de la Vera Cruz

Church of the Holy Cross – Salamanca, Spain

Today the Church celebrates the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. From the cross, Jesus pronounces “Behold, your mother!” (Jn 19:27). As Jesus was dying, He entrusted us, the Church to the care of His mother. While He was on earth, Mary comforted and strengthened Jesus, especially at the foot of the cross. Jesus knew that we would need the maternal closeness of the Sorrowful Mother to sustain us during the trials in our lives. As a mother, Mary especially desires to comfort us during difficulties in our families. She comforts us in our suffering and shows us how to offer our suffering back to God.

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