Month: August 2018

Thursday Thoughts

“The first beneficiary of salvation is the Church. Christ won the Church for himself at the price of his own blood and made the Church his co-worker in the salvation of the world. Indeed, Christ dwells within the Church. She is his Bride. It is he who causes her to grow. He carries out his mission through her.”

— John Paul II, Redemptoris missio, 9

 

Take someone by the hand…

“To convert somebody, go and take them by the hand and guide them.”

— St. Thomas Aquinas

Notice that St. Thomas Aquinas does not say drag them by the hand kicking and screaming.   Mentoring someone in the Way of Christ requires humility, patience, love, and mercy.  Generally speaking, people don’t tend to take in a message when it’s being yelled or they feel they are being forced or manipulated into believing.

It bears repeating, to guide someone to Christ on the path to holiness REQUIRES humility, patience, love, and mercy.  True charity must be your motivation and gentleness, your method.

At the same time, you cannot give what you, yourself, are not already pursuing.  If you are not praying, how then can you effectively teach someone how to communicate with God?   If you are not participating in the sacramental life of the Church, how then can you speak with any credibility about the graces that are conferred?  If you are not loving towards others, how can you show that both that you truly love God and that God truly loves?  If you are not living an authentic Christian life, how can your life serve as an example of sanctification?  In other words, as you guide disciples towards holiness, you, too, need to be working towards holiness.

SPOTLIGHT ON: Lay Carmelites

The call from God to Elijah (1 Kings 17:2-4), the spiritual father of the Carmelites, is also the call to those persons called to the Carmelite vocation.  This includes a call to be:  detached from things that we put higher than God; to move away from sin; to find solitude for prayer; to love; to contemplate; and to persevere.  The Call to Carmel is achieved through a call to prayer, a call to community, and a call to service.

The Lay Carmelites of Christ the King Parish is a lay branch of the Third Order Carmelites.  The community supports the members in learning and practicing Carmelite spirituality through monthly community meetings and formation instruction.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the Carmelites is encouraged to contact the parish office at 946-1675.

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Thursday Thoughts

“Confirming his words by miracles and by his resurrection from the dead, Christ proclaimed himself to be the Son of God dwelling in intimate union with the Father, and was recognized as such by his disciples. The Church offers mankind the Gospel, that prophetic message which responds to the needs and aspirations of the human heart and always remains ‘Good News.’ The Church cannot fail to proclaim that Jesus came to reveal the face of God and to merit salvation for all humanity by his cross and resurrection.”

— John Paul II, Redemptoris missio, 11

 

Queenship of Mary – August 22

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“Let all, therefore, try to approach with greater trust the throne of grace and mercy of our Queen and Mother, and beg for strength in adversity, light in darkness, consolation in sorrow; above all let them strive to free themselves from the slavery of sin and offer an unceasing homage, filled with filial loyalty, to their Queenly Mother. Let her churches be thronged by the faithful, her feast-days honored; may the beads of the Rosary be in the hands of all; may Christians gather, in small numbers and large, to sing her praises in churches, in homes, in hospitals, in prisons. May Mary’s name be held in highest reverence, a name sweeter than honey and more precious than jewels; may none utter blasphemous words, the sign of a defiled soul, against that name graced with such dignity and revered for its motherly goodness; let no one be so bold as to speak a syllable which lacks the respect due to her name.”

~ Pope Pius XII, Ad Caeli Reginam, 48, October 11, 1954

Today we celebrate the Memorial of the Queenship of Mary.  For more information about this feast please visit HERE and HERE.

Happy Coronation Day, Blessed Mother!!