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St. Padre Pio, received the stigmata, the visible wounds of Christ, in his hands, feet, and side, like St. Francis of Assisi before him.
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His wounds’ blood smelled of flower perfume.
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He heard confessions 10 or 12 hours a day.
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He could read the hearts of penitents, telling them the sins they had forgotten or concealed.
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Often attacked, he had others “praise Jesus” to confirm they were not demons in disguise.
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He had the gift of bilocation, the ability to be present at places far from where he was.
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Allied planes were repeatedly prevented from bombing his Italian town during WWII because of the appearance of a flying friar.
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On June 25, 1950, he was seen attending to the death of a fellow monk in Milwaukee. When asked about it he said, “If Christ multiplied the loaves and fishes, why cannot he multiply me?”
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Before dying on September 23, 1968, at the age of 81, all his wounds healed without scars, just as he had foretold they would fifty years prior.
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On June 16, 2002, over 500,000 attended his canonization by Pope John Paul the Great.
Ten Neat Facts About St. Padre Pio
September 23, 2013A Rose Novena to St. Therese of Lisieux
September 22, 2013Today, September 22nd, is the day to begin your nine-day novena to St. Therese, the Little Flower. Here’s a prayer you can use:
O Little Therese of the Child Jesus, please pick for me a rose from the heavenly gardens and send it to me as a message of love. O Little Flower of Jesus, ask God today to grant the favors I now place with confidence in your hands…
(State your personal intentions)
St. Therese, help me to always believe as you did, in God’s great love for me, so that I might imitate your “Little Way” each day. Amen.
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…
(After this novena, don’t be surprised if you find a rose.)
St. Augustine on the Parable of the Dishonest Steward
September 21, 2013Why did the Lord Jesus Christ present this parable to us? He surely did not approve of that cheat of a servant who cheated his master, stole from him and did not make it up from his own pocket. On top of that, he also did some extra pilfering. He caused his master further loss, in order to prepare a little nest of quiet and security for himself after he lost his job.
Why did the Lord set this before us? It is not because that servant cheated but because he exercised foresight for the future. When even a cheat is praised for his ingenuity, Christians who make no such provision blush. I mean, this is what he added, “Behold, the children of this age are more prudent than the children of light.” They perpetrate frauds in order to secure their future.
In what life, after all, did that steward insure himself like that? What one was he going to quit when he bowed to his master’s decision? He was insuring himself for a life that was going to end. Would you not insure yourself for eternal life?
Simon’s Missed Opportunity — Thursday, 24th Week in Ordinary Time—Year I
September 19, 2013Simon the Pharisee missed his opportunity. He invited Jesus to his house, but neglected to provide him water for his feet, oil for his head, or a kiss of greeting. Maybe Simon was preoccupied and the oversight was accidental, or maybe the discourtesy was intended, but in any case Simon failed to minister to Jesus from head to toe, he missed this chance to show him love.
We, however, are offered Simon’s opportunity every day, for the members of Christ’s body are in our midst. When we serve and greet them, his high and his lowly, we are serving and loving him. Whatever you do for one of the least brothers of his, you do for him. (Matthew 25:40)
Popes or Presidents Quiz
September 19, 2013There have been 266 papal reigns, from Pope St. Peter to Pope Francis, and 44 U.S. presidential tenures, from President Washington to President Obama. Take this quiz to see how well you know your popes from your presidents.
The Ever-Timely G.K. Chesterton — Wednesday, 24th Week in Ordinary Time—Year I
September 18, 2013Today’s readings remind me of things said by G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936,) the British journalist, writer, husband, and convert to the Faith, whose cause for canonization has just been opened.
In the Gospel, the same critics who rejected John the Baptist, who came “neither eating food nor drinking wine,” as too extreme are rejecting Jesus for being too lax, on account of his “eating and drinking.” This is akin to something Chesterton noticed about criticisms of Christianity while he was still a non-believer. Christianity was supposedly too meek, and the cause of countless wars. It was condemned for its penitential austerity, and condemned for its opulence. The Church imprisoned women, yet was criticized as being “too feminine.” The Church promoted celibacy against the good of marriage, and it promoted marriage, forcing the shackles of marriage and family upon us. The Church feared sexuality, and Catholics had too many children. (Though this was a century ago, similar arguments are still made today.) Chesterton eventually concluded that Christianity was sane and all its critics mad—in various ways.
Why did Chesterton go on to become a Catholic? Partly because he did not see how the Bible could be wielded as a weapon against the Catholic heritage:
The ordinary sensible skeptic or pagan is standing in the street (in the supreme character of the man in the street) and he sees a procession go by of the priests of some strange cult, carrying their object of worship under a canopy, some of them wearing high head-dresses and carrying symbolical staffs, others carrying scrolls and sacred records, others carrying sacred images and lighted candles before them, others sacred relics in caskets or cases, and so on. I can understand the spectator saying, “This is all hocus-pocus”; I can even understand him, in moments of irritation, breaking up the procession, throwing down the images, tearing up the scrolls, dancing on the priests and anything else that might express that general view. I can understand his saying, “Your croziers are bosh, your candles are bosh, your statues and scrolls and relics and all the rest of it are bosh.” But in what conceivable frame of mind does he rush in to select one particular scroll of the scriptures of this one particular group (a scroll which had always belonged to them and been a part of their hocus-pocus, if it was hocus-pocus); why in the world should the man in the street say that one particular scroll was not bosh, but was the one and only truth by which all the other things were to be condemned? Why should it not be as superstitious to worship the scrolls as the statues, of that one particular procession? Why should it not be as reasonable to preserve the statues as the scrolls, by the tenets of that particular creed? To say to the priests, “Your statues and scrolls are condemned by our common sense,” is sensible. To say, “Your statues are condemned by your scrolls, and we are going to worship one part of your procession and wreck the rest,” is not sensible from any standpoint, least of all that of the man in the street.
What is the “pillar and foundation of truth?” Most Protestants would say “the Bible,” yet Sacred Scripture (in today’s first reading from St. Paul’s 1st letter to Timothy) answers “the Church.” The Bible cannot be trusted more than Catholic Church, which wrote and canonized its books (not to mention taught, revered, and preserved them for two millennia.)
(May the works and prayers of G.K. Chesterton aid us in the world today.)
The Angel’s Puzzle
September 18, 2013The Lord Jesus recently hosted a dinner party in Heaven to which he invited some of his friends. As they reclined at table, an angel serving in the kitchen became curious as to who was in attendance and snuck the briefest of glances. It wasn’t long enough to immediately identify those around the table, but his angelic intellect was able to intuit a number of facts about them. From this, the angel deduced who the famous saints and blesseds were and where they sat with Jesus.
Can you solve the angel’s puzzle?
Puzzle Solution [Highlight to Reveal]: (By Seat Number) 1. St. John the Baptist 2. St. Paul 3. Blessed John Paul II 4. St. Peter 5. Blessed John XXIII 6. St. Mary Magdalene 7. The Blessed Virgin Mary 8. The Lord Jesus Christ (Other valid, though more obscure, answers are possible.)
Deciphering Catholic Codes
September 16, 2013Recently we noted that A.D. signifies that we are living in the 2,013th “Year of our Lord.” Today we present the meanings behind other enigmatic Catholic acronyms & symbols.
INRI = “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews”
At the crucifixion, Pilate ordered a sign to be written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin and placed atop Jesus’ cross to display the charge against him. The Latin read “Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum,” from which INRI comes. Though the punishment of Jesus was unjust, this charge against him was true.
CCD = “Confraternity of Christian Doctrine”
In other words, a group in service of teaching the faith to children.
RCIA=“Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults”
The process, involving lessons and sacraments, by which adults and older youths are gradually introduced into full communion with the faith of Christ’s Roman Catholic Church.
IHS = “Jesus”
In Greek, the name Jesus is ΙΗΣΟΥΣ. These first three letters were Latinized into “IHS,” forming a symbol for the Holy Name of Jesus.
☧ = “Christ”
In Greek, the title Christ, or “anointed one,” is ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ. These first two letters, the Chi and Rho, were merged to form a symbol for Christ known as the Chi-Rho.
= “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior”
The fish was an early Christian symbol containing a summary of the faith. The letters of the Greek word for fish, ΙΧΘΥΣ (or “ichthys,”) are an acronym for the phrase above.
The Proof of the Apostles
September 10, 2013By St. John Chrysostom
It was clear through unlearned men that the cross was persuasive, in fact, it persuaded the whole world. Their discourse was not of unimportant matters but of God and true religion, of the Gospel way of life and future judgment, yet it turned plain, uneducated men into philosophers. How the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and his weakness stronger than men!
In what way is it stronger? It made its way throughout the world and overcame all men; countless men sought to eradicate the very name of the Crucified, but that name flourished and grew ever mightier. Its enemies lost out and perished; the living who waged a war on a dead man proved helpless. Therefore, when a Greek tells me I am dead, he shows only that he is foolish indeed, for I, whom he thinks a fool, turn out to be wiser than those reputed wise. So too, in calling me weak, he but shows that he is weaker still. For the good deeds which tax-collectors and fishermen were able to accomplish by God’s grace, the philosophers, the rulers, the countless multitudes cannot even imagine.
Paul had this in mind when he said: The weakness of God is stronger than men. That the preaching of these men was indeed divine is brought home to us in the same way. For how otherwise could twelve uneducated men, who lived on lakes and rivers and wastelands, get the idea for such an immense enterprise? How could men who perhaps had never been in a city or a public square think of setting out to do battle with the whole world? That they were fearful, timid men, the evangelist makes clear; he did not reject the fact or try to hide their weaknesses. Indeed he turned these into a proof of the truth. What did he say of them? That when Christ was arrested, the others fled, despite all the miracles they had seen, while he who was leader of the others denied him!
How then account for the fact that these men, who in Christ’s lifetime did not stand up to the attacks by the Jews, set forth to do battle with the whole world once Christ was dead – if, as you claim, Christ did not rise and speak to them and rouse their courage? Did they perhaps say to themselves: “What is this? He could not save himself but he will protect us? He did not help himself when he was alive, but now that he is dead he will extend a helping hand to us? In his lifetime he brought no nation under his banner, but by uttering his name we will win over the whole world?” Would it not be wholly irrational even to think such thoughts, much less to act upon them?
It is evident, then, that if they had not seen him risen and had proof of his power, they would not have risked so much.
Three Common Catholic Confusions
September 10, 2013What Does “A.D.” Mean?
A.D. does not stand for “After Death” but rather the Latin phrase “Anno Domini,” or “In the Year of the Lord.” Since Jesus is born as the King of Kings we count time according to the year of his reign.
Who is the Immaculate Conception?
Although Jesus was sinlessly and miraculously conceived within the womb of the Virgin Mary, the December 8th Feast of the Immaculate Conception celebrates Mary’s conception as one entirely free from the stain of Original Sin. Mary’s birthday is traditionally celebrated 9 months later on September 8th.
Can Divorcees Receive Communion?
Many Catholics believe that simply getting divorced bars one from the sacraments. The precise teaching is that those who divorce and then live as husband and wife with another person without obtaining an annulment of their prior marriage should not present themselves for communion. Legal divorce is not the issue but rather adultery. When marriages fail the Church can investigate whether something essential was missing from the very beginning which prevented the marriage from being an unbreakable sacramental bond. If so, that marriage can be “annulled,” freeing the couple to marry in the Church.
The “In Brief” Catechism On “The Fall” (CCC #413-421)
September 9, 2013● “God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. . . It was through the devil’s envy that death entered the world.” (Wisdom 1:13, 2:24).
● Satan or the devil and the other demons are fallen angels who have freely refused to serve God and his plan. Their choice against God is definitive. They try to associate man in their revolt against God.
● Although set by God in a state of rectitude man, enticed by the evil one, abused his freedom at the very start of history. He lifted himself up against God, and sought to attain his goal apart from him.
● By his sin Adam, as the first man, lost the original holiness and justice he had received from God, not only for himself but for all human beings.
● Adam and Eve transmitted to their descendants human nature wounded by their own first sin and hence deprived of original holiness and justice; this deprivation is called “original sin.”
● As a result of original sin, human nature is weakened in its powers, subject to ignorance, suffering and the domination of death, and inclined to sin (this inclination is called “concupiscence.”)
● “We therefore hold, with the Council of Trent, that original sin is transmitted with human nature, “by propagation, not by imitation” and that it is. . . ‘proper to each.'” (Pope Paul VI)
● The victory that Christ won over sin has given us greater blessings than those which sin had taken from us: “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” (Romans 5:20).
● Christians believe that the world has been established and kept in being by the Creator’s love; has fallen into slavery to sin but has been set free by Christ, crucified and risen to break the power of the evil one.
The “In Brief” Catechism On “Man” (CCC #380-384)
September 8, 2013● “Father,. . . you formed man in your own likeness and set him over the whole world to serve you, his creator, and to rule over all creatures” (Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer IV).
● Man is predestined to reproduce the image of God’s Son made man, the “image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), so that Christ shall be the first-born of a multitude of brothers and sisters.
● Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity. The doctrine of the faith affirms that the spiritual and immortal soul is created immediately by God.
● “God did not create man a solitary being. From the beginning, “male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27) This partnership of man and woman constitutes the first form of communion between persons.
● Revelation makes known to us the state of original holiness and justice of man and woman before sin: from their friendship with God flowed the happiness of their existence in paradise.
The “In Brief” Catechism On “Heaven & Earth” (CCC #350-354)
September 7, 2013● Angels are spiritual creatures who glorify God without ceasing and who serve his saving plans for other creatures: “The angels work together for the benefit of us all.” (St. Thomas Aquinas)
● The angels surround Christ their Lord. They serve him especially in the accomplishment of his saving mission to men.
● The Church venerates the angels who help her on her earthly pilgrimage and protect every human being.
● God willed the diversity of his creatures and their own particular goodness, their interdependence and their order. He destined all material creatures for the good of the human race. Man, and through him all creation, is destined for the glory of God.
● Respect for laws inscribed in creation and the relations which derive from the nature of things is a principle of wisdom and a foundation for morality.
The “In Brief” Catechism On God “The Creator” (CCC #315-324)
September 6, 2013● In the creation of the world and of man, God gave the first and universal witness to his almighty love and his wisdom, the first proclamation of the plan of his loving goodness, which finds its goal in the new creation in Christ.
● Though the work of creation is attributed to the Father in particular, it is equally a truth of faith that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit together are the one, indivisible principle of creation.
● God alone created the universe, freely, directly and without any help.
● No creature has the infinite power necessary to “create” in the proper sense of the word, that is, to produce and give being to that which had in no way possessed it to call into existence “out of nothing.”
● God created the world to show forth and communicate his glory. That his creatures should share in his truth, goodness and beauty—this is the glory for which God created them.
● God created the universe and keeps it in existence by his Word, the Son “upholding the universe by his word of power” (Hebrews 1:3), and by his Creator Spirit, the giver of life.
● Divine providence consists of the dispositions by which God guides all his creatures with wisdom and love to their ultimate end.
● Christ invites us to filial trust in the providence of our heavenly Father, and St. Peter the apostle repeats: “Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.” (1st Peter 5:7)
● Divine providence works also through the actions of creatures. To human beings God grants the ability to co-operate freely with his plans.
● The fact that God permits physical and even moral evil is a mystery that God illuminates by his Son Jesus Christ who died and rose to vanquish evil. Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit an evil if he did not cause a good to come from that very evil, by ways that we shall fully know only in eternal life.
The “In Brief” Catechism On God “The Almighty” (CCC #275-278)
September 5, 2013● With Job, the just man, we confess: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2)
● Faithful to the witness of Scripture, the Church often addresses her prayer to the “almighty and eternal God,” believing firmly that “nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)
● God shows forth his almighty power by converting us from our sins and restoring us to his friendship by grace. “God, you show your almighty power above all in your mercy and forgiveness. . .” (Roman Missal, 26th Sunday, Opening Prayer).
● If we do not believe that God’s love is almighty, how can we believe that the Father could create us, the Son redeem us and the Holy Spirit sanctify us?
Parishable Items 