First Friday Devotion to the Sacred Heart
Torch of The Faith News on Friday 03 October 2008 - 19:14:26 | by admin
'Behold the heart that has loved mankind so much and received so little love in return.' The words of Our Lord Jesus Christ to St. Margaret Mary.
This being the First Friday of the month (the day on which Jesus encourages us to go to Holy Communion for nine consecutive months to love, honour and make reparation to His Sacred Heart), I thought I'd share this little prayer card that I picked up when I was in America. It was produced by Shepherds of Christ Ministries in Morrow, Ohio. On the reverse is the following Prayer for Union with Jesus which may be helpful to making a short thanksgiving after Holy Communion and Mass.
Come to me, Lord Jesus, and possess my soul. Come into my heart and permeate my soul. Help me to sit in silence with you and let You work in my heart.
I am Yours to possess. I am yours to use. I want to be selfless and only exist in You. Help me to spoon out all that is me and be an empty vessel ready to be filled by You. Help me to die to myself and live only for You. Use me as You will. Let me never draw my attention back to myself. I only want to operate as You do, dwelling in me.
I am Yours, Lord. I want to have my life in You. I want to do the will of the Father. Give me the strength to put aside the world and let You operate my very being. Help me to act as You desire. Strengthen me against the distractions of the devil to take me from Your work.
When I worry, I have taken my focus off You and placed it on myself. Help me not to give in to the promptings of others to change what in my heart You are making very clear to me. I worship You, I adore You and I love You. Come Lord Jesus, and dwell in me now. Amen.
Imprimatur: Most Rev. Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of Cincinnatti Archdiocese.Â
Evangelium Vitae
Torch of The Faith News on Friday 03 October 2008 - 18:57:18 | by admin
Some words from Pope John Paul II's pro-life message Evangelium Vitae, from 1995, provide further food for thought in light of yesterday's blog post.
In paragraph 95 the Holy Father explained,
We need to begin with the renewal of a culture of life within Christian communities themselves. Too often it happens that believers, even those who take an active part in the life of the Church, end by separating their Christian faith from its ethical requirements concerning life, and thus fall into moral subjectivism and certain objectionable ways of acting. Â
In paragraph 96, His holiness taught that consciences must be formed,and he reminded that the links between life and freedom, and freedom and truth need to be re-established
He concluded that paragraph with these words,
Where God is denied and people live as though He did not exist, or His commandments are not taken into account, the dignity of the human person and the inviolability of human life also end up being rejected or compromised.
In paragraph 97 he continued,
Closely connected with the formation of conscience is the work of education, which helps individuals to be ever more human, leads them ever more fully to the truth, instils in them growing respect for life, and trains them in right inter-personal relationships... There can be no avoiding the duty to offer, especially to adolescents and young adults, an authentic education in sexuality and love, an education which involves training in chastity as a virtue which fosters personal maturity and makes one capable of respecting the 'spousal' meaning of the body.
Parents - Know your rights... and duties!
Torch of The Faith News on Thursday 02 October 2008 - 17:57:44 | by admin
In 1995 the late, great champion of the right to life, Cardinal Trujillo signed off this wonderful document for the Pontifical Council for the Family.
Many Catholic parents have spent at least a decade labouring against untold pressures to implement it. Often those pressures came from places they should not have; I know of one priest that was also the education officer in a diocese who claimed at a public meeting that this document only related to the Church in Rome 'as we have here an English church...' (Students of the English Reformation may shudder to find that remark eerily familiar...).
Nevertheless, many parents have still never heard of it. Let us reiterate that this is essential reading for parents. It outlines your rights and duties regarding the education, and in particular the education for love and chastity, of your children. The document stresses throughout that the parents are the primary educators of their children and that education for love is normally and fundamentally 'a personal dialogue between parents and their children, that is, individual formation within the family circle.' (Part VII, para 129, italics in the original text).
Â
Pertinent points include;
Â
1. Each child is a unique and unrepeatable person and must receive individualized formation.
2. The moral dimension must always be a part of their explanations.
3. Formation in chastity and timely information regarding sexuality must be provided in the broadest context of education for love.
4. Parents should provide this information with great delicacy, but clearly and at the appropriate time.
The document also recommends that parents help each other to defend these basic rights whenever they are threatened.
St. Therese of Liseux
Torch of The Faith News on Wednesday 01 October 2008 - 15:47:40 | by admin
St. Therese is one of our favourites! Over the years she has given us little roses in the most unlikely of circumstances, and at times when we most needed affirmation, all of which we have taken as a sign of her help and intercession.
When one considers how much this little saint packed into her 24 years in terms of spiritual growth it is amazing!
At times we can grow very discouraged, especially in our frailty or when looking at the problems in the church or at the state of the world. Yet, St. Therese helps us look upwards to heaven with renewed hope. She desired to be a missionary, yet was restricted to her cloister. There she learned a great key to peace and fulfillment, which she wrote in her journal,
IÂ prefer the monotony of obscure sacrifice to all ecstasies. To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul.Â
Love is the key. This is something well worth remembering in all our apostolic and evangelical efforts. Another is the fact that many of the seeds she sewed in hearts and in culture did not bear fruit until long after her lifetime on earth. Several years ago we went to honour her relics which were then visiting the shrine of Knock in Ireland. The basilica was packed with swathes of pilgrims. Somebody in the long line remarked with vigour 'Who says the faith is dead in Ireland?' Unknown during her life, she was now fulfilling her missionary endeavours. We can't wait for the visit of her relics to England next year!
St. Therese of Liseux, Doctor of the Church - pray for us!
Our Lady of La Vang
Torch of The Faith News on Wednesday 01 October 2008 - 15:21:25 | by admin
Please pray for Cao as he leaves for a period in Vietnam, during which he will visit the Shrine of Our Lady of La Vang.
During the harsh persecution which left over 100,000 Vietnamese Catholics martyred Our Lady appeared at La Vang in 1798. A group of Catholics were hiding in the jungle and they gathered together to pray the rosary for protection. Our Lady appeared to them with the child Jesus in her arms and two angels at her side. She told the people to boil leaves for medicine and promised to answer the prayers of souls who came to the spot. Over the years the pilgrims came until a church was opened by Bishop Gasper there in 1901 with 12,000 pilgrims in attendance.
In 1961 the Bishops of Vietnam selected La Vang's church as the National Marian Centre, and the following year it was elevated to Basilica status by Pope John XXIII. Tragically it was destroyed during the Vietnam War in 1978. Pilgrims continued to flow however, and in 1988 Pope John Paul II drew fresh attention to its importance as a recognized shrine whilst canonizing 117 Vietnamese martyrs.
We pray that Cao will be kept safe in his travels and will have a blessed pilgrimage.
Interestingly we discovered that Cao and I were both born in 1972. And Cao recently bought a classic Honda 350 which had been imported from America. It's year of manufacture? 1972. Yep, it was a vintage year!Â
(Although I'm not sure which is creakier; me or the bike!)
Thank you for the Masses and Prayers
Torch of The Faith News on Tuesday 30 September 2008 - 13:02:45 | by admin
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for the soul of our friend Laura and for her poor parents and family at this tragic time. Special thanks to the two priests who contacted us to say that they had offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for Laura's eternal repose. Please continue to pray for her poor family in their grief and sorrow.
May God Bless you all for your kindness.
Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute
Torch of The Faith News on Tuesday 30 September 2008 - 12:43:57 | by admin
The United Nations will celebrate 60 years of the Declaration of Human Rights on December 10th this year. As we know this declaration includes the right to life in its list of fundamental rights.
Tragically pro-abortion groups including IPPF and Marie Stopes International are intending to 'celebrate' this anniversary by presenting the UN with a petition calling for the so-called 'right to abortion'.
C-Fam (the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute) are launching an opposing petition which calls on the UN to respect and protect life in the womb. They need to gather at least 50,000 names and they need to do this fast!
Please click the link and add your name to be part of this vital petition;
http://www.c-fam.org/publications/id.95/default-asp Â
Â
Send Your Angel to Mass
Torch of The Faith News on Monday 29 September 2008 - 18:04:01 | by admin
Fr. Alessio Parente OFM Cap. used to assist St. Pio in his daily sufferings and duties. He has written several devotional works over the years. This delightful little book has a poem inside which is worth pondering for its simple truths; if work, distance, or illness make attendance at daily mass difficult its verses provide grounds for hope;
O holy Angel at my side
Go to the church for me
Kneel in my place at Holy Mass
Where I desire to be.
At Offertory, in my stead
Take all I am and own
And place it as a sacrifice
Upon the altar throne.
At holy Consecration's bell
Adore with seraph's love
My Jesus hidden in the Host
Come down from heav'n above.
Then pray for those I dearly love
And those who cause me grief
That Jesus' Blood may cleanse all hearts
And suffering souls relieve.
And when the priest Communion takes
Oh, bring my Lord to me
That His sweet Heart may rest on mine
And I His temple be.
Pray that this Sacrifice Divine
May mankind's sins efface;
Then bring me Jesus' blessing home-
The pledge of every grace.
Simple, yet profound... Ask the Lord to impart a special blessing to your guardian angel. After all their help and protection it's the least we can do in gratitude! And we can cooperate with them and give them profound joy by making visits to the Blessed Sacrament in our spare time.
Â
The Feast of St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael - Archangels
Torch of The Faith News on Monday 29 September 2008 - 17:42:55 | by admin
Only last week, we were introduced to the Chaplet of Holy Michael the Archangel. We have prayed it twice now and highly recommend it as a powerful spiritual work.Â
We were given this special set of beads to pray it on. Ordinary rosary beads can of course be used, but as each portion of the chaplet consists of an Our Father and three Hail Mary's, it is perhaps easier to get a set of dedicated beads. I noticed today that wooden sets are available from www.cenacle.co.uk for less than £6. If you wish to begin on your rosary beads, the prayers of the chaplet, which invoke the nine choirs of angels at each section, can be downloaded from EWTN's prayer page atÂ
http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/chaplet-of-st-michael.htm.Â
With our times being so perilous, both spiritually and temporally, this is a good day to increase our use of the Holy Michael prayer of Pope Leo XIII; perhaps as a part of our period of thanksgiving after Holy Mass and when commencing the day, journeys, jobs, meetings, etc. Let us also renew our efforts by making fresh acts of the will to cooperate with God's Grace, avoid the occasions of sin, and open our hearts more to sincere prayer.
It is a great truth of our faith that we have the protection of God's good angels under the powerful leadership of Holy Michael and the Archangels. Let us invoke their help often,
Holy Michael the Archangel
defend us in this the day of battle.
Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him we humbly pray
and do thou o' prince of the heavenly host,
thrust down to Hell, Satan and all the wicked spirits
who prowl through this world seeking the ruin of souls. AmenÂ
Now you are the Body of Christ! (1 Cor 12:27)
Torch of The Faith News on Sunday 28 September 2008 - 15:55:34 | by admin
As is so often the case, St. Paul says it best;
If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. (1 Corinthians 12:26-27).
This day we sorrow in our hearts and suffer with Laura's parents and family over her tragic, young death yesterday. Through the evening, night and early hours we shed heavy tears. A priest friend has already kindly offered a Holy Mass for her this morning. Thank the Lord for the gift of the Catholic Faith which helps us to carry such otherwise unbearable crosses. Please do continue to pray for Laura's eternal repose with the Lord and for her family in the midst of their grief.
And yet, such is the mystery of communion in the Body of Christ that we are also sharing in the rejoicing of some other good friends of ours who kindly asked us to stand as their Confirmation sponsors. Anne and Gwyn were brought into the Catholic Church today, received Confirmation and made their First Holy Communion at St. David's in Pantasaph this very morning. Here we all are after the Holy Mass;
As St. Paul concludes above; Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it!
Here they are outside St. David's with our good mutual friend from the parish, Cao. Please pray for him as he prepares to travel to Vietnam to visit the National Shrine of Our Lady there.
Please also keep these newest Catholics, our brother and sister in Christ in your prayers. They have sincerely sought Truth and the Lord has led them to this day. Please pray too for Jan and Mario who were also received into full communion today.
Laura's passing and Anne and Gwyn's reception remind us that this life is but a pilgrimage... and a brief one at that. Jesus Christ opened His arms and His heart on the cross so that the doors of His Church could be opened to you and I. Come home to Christ and His Catholic Church this day - in Him will you find the only lasting hope; the only true rest for your souls, and that peace which the world cannot give.
Login 
