Tag Archives: wisdom

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

16 Sunday May 2021

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The Ascension__Benjamin West_c1801

The Ascension
Benjamin West, c.1801
Denver Art Museum

Depending on where you live in the United States, the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord occurs on the Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter (40 days after Easter) or is transferred to the Seventh Sunday of Easter. This feast commemorates Jesus’ triumphant ascension into heaven. It is a foreshadowing of our own ascension to heaven.

“Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. John 14:1-3

This is our hope and our assurance. Jesus also promises to send us the Holy Spirit to lead us in all truth.

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Back to the School of Love

01 Saturday Aug 2020

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Since 1965, August has been recognized as “Back to School” month. This year, many public and private schools are still trying to determine what that looks like amidst the COVID-19 confusion. But we want to encourage all families to prepare to go back to the “school of love.”

The good news is you don’t have to leave your house or join a Zoom call to attend this school! It is right in your own home. Because the home is where children first hear the gospel proclaimed, the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes the family as the domestic church, “a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian charity” (1666).

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Saints Louis and Zélie Martin – Love of Christ Imaged in Marriage

11 Thursday Jul 2019

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Louis and Zelie_03

July 12th 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.

Louis and Zélie are not saints because they raised a saint but rather because they lived and imparted the faith to their family in a concerted and committed way. They evangelized their children by their example as a couple, living their faith in works and instruction in the heart of the family. Pope Paul VI’s Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (Evangelization in the Modern World), stresses that the family is the place where children are evangelized and then the family becomes the evangelizer of other families:

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Family Prayer to the Holy Spirit

20 Sunday May 2018

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Come Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, Lord of Life, bless us and grant us the grace of loving our families, as Jesus calls us to do, and help us to build peace in our hearts and in our homes.

Come, Spirit of Right Judgment, bless us and grant us the grace of peacefully resolving conflicts that arise in our families through patient dialogue that leads to understanding and renewal of love.

Come, Spirit of Knowledge, bless us and grant us the grace of loving the Church and finding in her a sure guide for truth and service to God’s will, especially in our relationships at home and in our extended families.

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O Come Emmanuel

22 Friday Dec 2017

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We are all familiar with the hymn O come, O come, Emmanuel. This is a paraphrase of the “O Antiphons” which can be traced back to eighth century Christendom. These antiphons use biblical imagery drawn from the messianic promises of the Old Testament to proclaim the coming of the Christ. Each antiphon is a name of Christ, one of His attributes mentioned in Scripture. The repeated use of “Come!” expresses the longing of all hearts for the Divine Messiah.

In these final days before Christmas, we suggest that you pray and meditate on these promises of the coming of the Christ Child. Set aside all the busyness of this season. Focus on Christ and be filled with hope that God is with you, both now and forever.

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Fix Your Eyes on Jesus

08 Friday Sep 2017

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Christ Rescuing Peter from Drowning, Lorenzo Veneziano, 1370

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:22-31

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