Homily #130319b ( 10min) Play – On the solemnity of St. Joseph, Fr. Elias preaches on the close relationship between St. Joseph and St. Francis and therefore how appropriate that Pope Francis’ pontificate is being inaugurated today. The Franciscans connected with the devotion to St Joseph are:

• St. Bernadine of Sienna, a Franciscan, was instrumental in popularizing devotion to St. Joseph.

The following popes that were Third Order Franciscans:

• Bl. Pius IX  – made St Joseph the special protector of the Church in 1870.
• St. Pius X – endorsed the Litany of St. Joseph for public use
• Pius XI – designated him special protector against Communism
• Bl. John XXIII – added St. Joseph’s name to the canon of the Mass.

If we want reform we need to follow St Joseph’s example and humbly acknowledge our place in the holy presence of God.
Ave Maria!
Mass: St. Joseph Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Solemnity – Form: OF
Readings: 
1st: 2sa 7:4-5, 12-14, 16
Resp: psa 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29
2nd: rom 4:13, 16-18, 22
Gsp: mat 1:16, 18-21, 24

Audio (MP3)

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Fr. Alan describes St. John XXIII’s 1966 miraculous healing of Sr. Caterina Capitani, novice Sister of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. The miracle, accompanied by an apparition to her of the Holy Father less than three years after his death, confirmed his beatification. It should also dispel the doubts of those who have been led out of the Church by the sedevacantist error. The undeniable miracle is a sign from heaven of Pope John XXIII’s authenticity, an irrefutable contradiction to the sedevacantist hypothesis.

Ave Maria!

Mass: St. John XXIII – Opt Mem
Readings: Tuesday in the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
1st: Gal 5:1-6
Resp: Ps 119:41, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48 0
Gsp: Lk 11:37-41

Audio (MP3)

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Pope John XXIII Eucharistic Quotes:

“O Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, I would like to be filled with love for You; keep me closely united with You, may my heart be near to Yours. I want to be to You like the apostle John.”

” O Mary of the Rosary, keep me recollected when I say these prayers of yours; bind me forever, with your rosary, to Jesus of the Blessed Sacrament. Blessed be Jesus, my love, blessed be the Immaculate Virgin Mary.”

“To keep me from sin and straying from Him, God has used devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. My life vows destined to be spent in the light irradiating from the tabernacle, and it is to the Heart of Jesus that I dare go for the solution of all my problems,”

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From the Apostolic Letter of St. John XXIII on promoting devotion to the most Precious Blood of Our Lord, Jesus Christ:

Unlimited is the effectiveness of the God-Man’s Blood — just as unlimited as the love that impelled him to pour it out for us, first at his circumcision eight days after birth, and more profusely later on in his agony in the garden, in his scourging and crowning with thorns, in his climb to Calvary and crucifixion, and finally from out that great wide wound in his side which symbolizes the divine Blood cascading down into all the Church’s sacraments. Such surpassing love suggests, nay demands, that everyone reborn in the torrents of that Blood adore it with grateful love.

The Blood of the new and eternal covenant especially deserves this worship of latria when it is elevated during the sacrifice of the Mass. But such worship achieves its normal fulfilment in sacramental communion with the same Blood, indissolubly united with Christ’s Eucharistic Body. In intimate association with the celebrant the faithful can then truly make his sentiments at communion their own: “I will take the chalice of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. . . The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul for everlasting life. Amen.” Thus as often as they come worthily to this holy table they will receive more abundant fruits of the redemption and resurrection and eternal life won for all men by the Blood Christ shed “through the Holy Spirit.” Nourished by his Body and Blood, sharing the divine strength that has sustained count less martyrs, they will stand up to the slings and arrows of each day’s fortunes — even if need be to martyrdom itself for the sake of Christian virtue and the kingdom of God. Theirs will be the experience of that burning love which made St. John Chrysostom cry out:

Let us, then, come back from that table like lions breathing out fire, thus becoming terrifying to the Devil, and remaining mindful of our Head and of the love he has shown for us. . . This Blood, when worthily received, drives away demons and puts them at a distance from us, and even summons to us angels and the Lord of angels. . . This Blood, poured out in abundance, has washed the whole world clean. . . This is the price of the world; by it Christ purchased the Church… This thought will check in us unruly passions. How long, in truth, shall we be attached to present things? How long shall we remain asleep? How long shall we not take thought for our own salvation? Let us remember what privileges God has bestowed on us, let us give thanks, let us glorify him, not only by faith, but also by our very works.

If only Christians would reflect more frequently on the fatherly warning of the first pope: “Look anxiously, then, to the ordering of your lives while your stay on earth lasts.

You know well enough that your ransom was not paid in earthly currency, silver or gold; it was paid in the precious blood of Christ; no lamb was ever so pure, so spotless a victim. If only they would lend a more eager ear to the apostle of the Gentiles: A great price was paid to ransom you; glorify God by making your bodies the shrines of his presence.” Their upright lives would then be the shining ex ample they ought to be; Christ’s Church would far more effectively fulfill its mission to men. God wants all men to be saved, for he has willed that they should all be ransomed by the Blood of his only-begotten Son; he calls them all to be members of the one Mystical Body whose head is Christ. If only men would be more responsive to these promptings of his grace, how much the bonds of brotherly love among individuals and peoples and nations would be strengthened. Life in society would be so much more peaceable, so much worthier of God and the human nature created in his image and likeness.

The whole Letter can be read here: http://www.papalencyclicals.net/John23/j23pb.htm

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In the homily for the Feast of the Most Precious Blood (July 1, 2019), Fr. Alan explains that in the Precious Blood of Jesus shed on Calvary for our salvation, made present again at every Holy Mass, the mercy of God continues to be poured upon us. He Who shed His Blood and laid down His life that we might live calls us today to come back to Him, to seek and console Him as He waits patiently for us in the Tabernacle.

According to the private revelations of a Benedictine monk, published in the book In Sinu Jesu: When Heart Speaks to Heart — The Journal of a Priest at Prayer, all Our Lord asks in exchange for fixing every problem of the Church is a return to Eucharistic adoration, particularly by His priests.

Ave Maria!

Mass: The Feast of the Most Precious Blood – Feast

Readings: 
1st: Heb 9:11-15
Gsp: Mk 14:12-16, 22-26

– More on the Readings: http://catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/2002USL-Masses-Votives.htm

– Book referenced: In Sinu Jesu.: https://www.ignatius.com/In-Sinu-Jesu-P2750.aspx

– Constant Prayer of St. Catherine of Siena to the Precious Blood of Jesus: https://www.catholiccompany.com/content/prayer-catherine-siena-blood-jesus.cfm

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On the Feast of Our Lady of Loreto (Dec 10, 2019), Fr. Andre explains the history and significance of the Holy House of Loreto. The displaced house is believed to be the home of Mary, from Nazareth, where she was praying when the Annunciation of Archangel Gabriel and subsequent Incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, took place. It was the home occupied by the Holy Family during the time prior to Jesus’ public ministry.

The simple stone structure which appeared mysteriously in Loreto in the 14th Century has ever since been a site of pilgrimage and devotion. It is a place of particular significance for Franciscans because St. Francis visited the Holy House in Nazareth less than 100 years before it was transported to Loreto. Even before it arrived, St. Francis, demonstrating apparent foreknowledge, prophesied that Loreto would be known as “the holiest place on earth.”

Reference: “The Miraculous Holy House of Loreto” by Bob and Penny Lord (https://bobandpennylord.store/blogs/news/the-holy-house-of-loreto)

Ave Maria!

Mass: Our Lady of Loreto – Feast

Readings: 
1st: 1 Ch 15:3-4, 15-16, 16:1-2
Resp: Ps 84:3, 4, 5-6, 8, 11
Gsp: Lk 1:26-38

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Fr Matthias gives the homily at Bloomington, IN on Oct 11, 2022, on how Pope St. John XXIII had a great devotion to Mary and the first miracle for his canonization was related to Our Lady of the Rosary.

Ave Maria!

Mass: St. John XXIII – Opt Mem
Readings: Tuesday in the 28th Week in Ordinary Time – http://usccb.org/bible/readings/101122.cfm
1st: gal 5:1-6
Resp: psa 119:41, 43-45, 47, 48
Gsp: luk 11:37-41

More on the Readings: http://dev.airmaria.com/r?m=725&r=968

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and YouTube: https://youtu.be/IXooYM8tZo0

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Holy Immaculate Mary, help all who are in trouble. Give courage to the faint-hearted, console the sad, heal the infirm, pray for the people, intercede for the clergy, have a special care for nuns; may all feel, all enjoy your kind and powerful assistance, all who now and always render and will render, you honor, and will offer you their petitions. Hear all our prayers, O Mother, and grant them all. We are all your children: Grant the prayers of your children.
Amen forever.

O Mary, your name has been on my lips and in my heart from my early infancy. When I was a child I learned to love you as a Mother, turn to you in danger, and trust your intercession. You see in my heart the desire to know the truth, to practice virtue, to be prudent and just, strong and patient, a brother to all.

O Mary, help me to keep to my purpose of living as a faithful disciple of Jesus, for the building up of the Christian society and the joy of the holy Catholic Church. I greet you, Mother, morning and evening; I pray to you as I go on my way; from you I hope for the inspiration and encouragement that will enable me to fulfill the sacred promises of my earthly vocation, give glory to God, and win eternal salvation. O Mary! Like you in Bethlehem and on Golgotha, I too wish to stay always close to Jesus. He is the eternal King of all ages and all peoples. Amen

Pope St. John XXIII (feast day is October 11^th)

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Fr Matthias gives the homily at Bloomington, IN, on Jan 22, 2023, on how Jesus in today’s gospel told us to “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand” and how this relates to penance as taught by St. John XXIII and St. Paul VI.

Notes:

John XXIII penance 1962 Jesus begins with the message of penance, not of doctrine, we must do penance to prepare our souls, to remove all obstacles to be open to the message of salvation.

Paenitentiam Agere – On Doing Penance – https://www.vatican.va/content/john-xxiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_01071962_paenitentiam.html

Paul VI – 1966 – Paenitemini – https://www.vatican.va/content/john-xxiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_01071962_paenitentiam.html

Purposes of penance – fasting, abstaining, prepares oneself to encounter God, prepare our souls for prayer.

Penance’s is a personal religious exercise with the aim to love and surrender to God, and the need to mortify the flesh that is at enmity to the spirit liberates the human spirit from the demands of essential passions. Fortifies the spirit against the flesh. Makes body obedient to soul and the soul to God.

Not just for those outside trying to get into the Church, but those in the

John XXIII for repentance, first interior, detestation of sin, then outward penance to make amends for their and others’ sins.

Penances we should not waste.

Accepting the difficulties of life is a penance we should not waste, accepting that we are not God and that we have insecurities. Unite our sorrows and pain with that of Christ.

Offer voluntary suffering by willful fasting and such

Ave Maria!

Mass: 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sunday
Readings:  – http://usccb.org/bible/readings/012223.cfm
1st: isa 8:23-9:3
Resp: psa 27:1, 4, 13-14
2nd: 1co 1:10-13, 17
Gsp: mat 4:12-23

More on the Readings: http://dev.airmaria.com/r?m=761

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