January 2020

[ad_1] January 11, 2020 Daily Reading from the USCCB: John 3:22-30 https://www.franciscanmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/SW_011114_II.mp3   Today’s reading from the Gospel of John serves as a conclusion to the first portion of the Church’s liturgical year. We have heard about the preparations that God made for the birth of Jesus and John, and how these preparations came to fulfillment. We have been given some initial idea of the mission and characteristics of Jesus… Read More »Sharing the Word for January 11, 2020

[ad_1] Why the daily Rosary? That’s a good question. Let’s turn to the Fatima seer who gives so many clear reasons why Our Lady insisted on the daily Rosary for all. Servant of God Sister Lucia gives an impeccable explanation in her “Calls” from the Message of Fatima. At Fatima, Our Lady ended her initial message in May with the direction, “Pray the Rosary every day in order to obtain… Read More »Why Does Our Lady of Fatima Call Us to the Daily Rosary?

[ad_1] How do we integrate our faith with our work? If you think about it, most of us will likely spend the majority of our adult (awake) lives in the workplace. A typical eight hour work day accounts for a third of the total day, with the other two-thirds devoted to sleeping, family, friends, faith, and so on. In the practice of our faith, do we consider the workplace as… Read More »Practical Lessons for Integrating Faith and Work — Integrated Catholic Life™

[ad_1] Note: Reflections 1-10 provide a general introduction to the Diary of Saint Faustina. Starting with Reflection 11 we will begin to ponder it’s content with citations to the Diary. The Diary of Saint Faustina calls us to a new form of devotion in various ways.  The fourth way is by honoring the hour of Jesus’ death every day. “Father, into Your hands I commend my spirit!” And Jesus breathed His last…… Read More »Reflection 9: Meditation on His Passion at the 3 O’Clock Hour

[ad_1] Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako, responding to a U.S. drone attack in Baghdad that killed Iran’s top general, said “wisdom is required to avoid the ‘volcanic eruption’ we are about to face.” Speaking during the Epiphany Mass in Baghdad Jan. 6, he said the current crisis resulted from the “upsetting escalation, as well as the emotional and impulsive decisions taken which lacked wisdom and the sense of responsibility.” Speaking… Read More »Iraqi cardinal: Innocents will ‘be the fuel’ for fire after drone strike

[ad_1] During Jesus’ public ministry, He attracted great crowds like flecks of iron drawn to a magnet. Under the blazing heat of the sun, people waited for hours just to catch a glimpse of Him. They marveled at His deeds and clamored for His attention. Why? Was it because of His dazzling charisma and enigmatic presence? Or was it simply because He just had the right kind of things to… Read More »Monday After Epiphany

[ad_1] OUR SEARCH FOR GOD It is likely that each of us here actively seeks the Lord. Jesus instructs us to seek Him, saying, “Seek and you will find.” Man and woman’s search for God is a recurring story through the ages as we try to discover the meaning of our lives. While meditating on the Fifth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, The Finding of the Child Jesus in the… Read More »The Epiphany—God Has Come for You — Integrated Catholic Life™

[ad_1] The Incarnation was the greatest act of Mercy ever known. The only subsequent act that surpassed it was the act of Jesus dying on the Cross destroying sin and death by His blood. The redemption of the world, through the blood of the Cross, is an act of love and Mercy that we will never fully comprehend. We could never be grateful enough for this act since we will… Read More »Reflection 5: Redemption of the World

[ad_1] January 3, 2020 Daily Reading from the USCCB: Psalm 98:1, 3cd-4, 5-6 https://www.franciscanmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/SW_010312_II.mp3   An appropriate response from us to God’s initiative of salvation is music. God wants to hear us celebrating what He does for us expressed in the melodiousness of song. Sing out, our poem says. God wants to hear the joyfulness of harps and trumpets and horns! The theme of the music is to be God’s… Read More »Sharing the Word for January 3, 2020

[ad_1] Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton was born on August 28, 1774. She was the first native-born U.S. citizen to be canonized a saint by the Church. Elizabeth’s mother died three years after her birth and her childhood was far from stable. Her father remarried, but eventually separated from Elizabeth’s stepmother. The stepmother rejected Elizabeth and her sister. During the separation her father left for London and she was left in… Read More »St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Kept Her Life Fixed On Christ, Even in Adversity