Fr. Pablo: Vote Pro-Life #13 ( 02min) Play – Prayer is not enough – we must pray and act.? Catholics and Protestants alike must pray for God’s will to be done in our election…and then they must both vote pro-life.
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Homily #090924 ( 05min) Play – Commemoration of the founding of the Mercedarian Order and the apparition of Our Lady of Ransom which was established to raise donations to ransom Christians who were held prisoner by the Moors.
Ave Maria!  Readings EF – 1st: ecc 24:14-16 – Gsp: luk 11:27-28

Audio (MP3)

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MaryCast Specials #76 ( 08min) Play – Dr. Mark Miravalle reports how Pope Benedict XVI at Fatima invokes Our Lady as “Advocate and Mediatrix of Grace” when consecrating all priests to her and then calls all Christians to be “Redeemers in the one Redeemer” and what this means.

To ask questions regarding Mary, email Dr Mark Miravalle: marycast@airmaria.com

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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The post Video – Benedict XVI Invokes Mediatrix – Dr. Miravalle: Mcasts76 first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #101202 ( 05min) Play – In today’s Gospel Our Lord says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” Fr. Dominic preaches on how doing the will of the Father, to act on the words of Jesus, is the test that shows whether we are truly Christians.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Thursday in the 1st Week in Advent – – Form: OF
Readings:
1st: isa 26:1-6
Resp: psa 118:1, 8-9, 19-21, 25-27
Gsp: mat 7:21, 24-27

Audio (MP3)

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The post Dec 02 – Homily – Fr Dominic: Litmus Test for Christians first appeared on AirMaria.com.

http://www.archdioceseofcolombo.com/news.php?id=851

In July 2008 a severe persecution of Christians broke out in the Indian state of Orissa. A 22 year old nun was burnt to death when angry mobs burnt down an orphanage in Khuntpali village in Barhgarh district, another nun was gang raped in Kandhamal, mobs attacked churches, torched vehicles, houses of Christians destroyed, and Fr. Thomas Chellen, director of the pastoral center that was destroyed with a bomb, had a narrow escape after a Hindu mob nearly set him on fire.  The end result saw more than 500 Christians murdered, and thousands of others injured and homeless after their houses were reduced to ashes.  Recently a strange and dramatic event took place in Orissa, which has many people talking and wondering.

In recent months, herds of wild elephants have begun to storm villages that are home to some of the worst persecutors of Christians during the troubles.  In one village, where in August a year ago the Christians had to run for their lives while their homes were being destroyed by rioters, a herd of elephants emerged from the surrounding jungle exactly one year later, in July 2009, at the same time of the day of the attack.

These elephants first attacked a rock crusher machine owned by a key leader of the persecution movement.  They then went on to destroy his house and farms.

Hundreds of villagers have been forced to take shelter in camps in the Indian state of Orissa after repeated attacks by a herd of elephants.

Seven people have been killed and several others injured in attacks by a herd of 12-13 elephants over the past few weeks in Kandhamal district.

Over 2,500 people living in 45 villages have been affected by the attacks, district chief Krishen Kumar said.

It is, however, unclear why this herd of elephants migrated from the Lakheri sanctuary in a neighbouring district. He said the herd had travelled some 300km into Kandhamal, and even entered a town in the district. Wildlife officials were camping at the site of the attacks and trying to find out why the elephants had come out of their sanctuary. The villagers say elephants attack their areas in herds, causing heavy destruction.

Gaining momentum, they rampaged through other non-Christian homes, demolishing gardens and singling out the home of persecutors, leaving Christian homes untouched.

These strange attacks have spread, and according to a report, the elephants have already destroyed more than 700 houses in 30 villages, and killed five people.  Nobody in this area has seen or even imagined the unique appearance of a herd of wild elephants such as this. The elephants are not ordinary elephants; they appear to be on a mission.

Typically, smaller elephants enter a village first, appearing to survey the community.  They then rejoin the larger herd, and larger elephant soon follow and get the job done.

The ministry partner in India stated “We think that it might have something to do with the avenging the blood of martyrs.  In fact the fear of God has fallen on the local people, who have labeled these elephants “Christian elephants.”

With little help coming from the administration, the villagers have taken to road blockades. “The elephants have destroyed crops and selected houses. But officials too express helplessness. “There is no permanent habitat of elephants in Sundargarh. They came rom Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand where their habitats have shrunk. But is not clear how and why these elephants reached Orissa.

The post Elephants Single Out Persecutors of Christians first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #111105 ( 07min) Play – On this First Saturday of the month we celebrate the Mass, Mary Help of Christians and Fr. Dominic preaches on the need to ask for God’s help in becoming holy, overcoming our sins and growing in virtue, and to ask Our Lady to pray for us in this regard.

Ave Maria!
Mass: The BVM, Help of Christians – Opt Mem – Form: OF
Readings:
1st: rev 12:1-3, 7-12
Resp: jth 16:13, 14, 15
Gsp: joh 2:1-11

Audio (MP3)

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The post Nov 05 – Homily – Fr Dominic: Mary, Help of Christians first appeared on AirMaria.com.

“Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.

And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others, they marry and have children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not their wives.

They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven. Obedient to the laws, they yet live on a level that transcends the law. Christians love all men, but all men persecute them. Condemned because they are not understood, they are put to death, but raised to life again. They live in poverty, but enrich many; they are totally destitute, but possess an abundance of everything. They suffer dishonor, but that is their glory. They are defamed, but vindicated. A blessing is their answer to abuse, deference their response to insult. For the good they do they receive the punishment of malefactors, but even then they, rejoice, as though receiving the gift of life. They are attacked by the Jews as aliens, they are persecuted by the Greeks, yet no one can explain the reason for this hatred.

To speak in general terms, we may say that the Christian is to the world what the soul is to the body. As the soul is present in every part of the body, while remaining distinct from it, so Christians are found in all the cities of the world, but cannot be identified with the world. As the visible body contains the invisible soul, so Christians are seen living in the world, but their religious life remains unseen. The body hates the soul and wars against it, not because of any injury the soul has done it, but because of the restriction the soul places on its pleasures. Similarly, the world hates the Christians, not because they have done it any wrong, but because they are opposed to its enjoyments.

Christians love those who hate them just as the soul loves the body and all its members despite the body’s hatred. It is by the soul, enclosed within the body, that the body is held together, and similarly, it is by the Christians, detained in the world as in a prison, that the world is held together. The soul, though immortal, has a mortal dwelling place; and Christians also live for a time amidst perishable things, while awaiting the freedom from change and decay that will be theirs in heaven. As the soul benefits from the deprivation of food and drink, so Christians flourish under persecution. Such is the Christian’s lofty and divinely appointed function, from which he is not permitted to excuse himself.”

From a letter to Diognetus

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Homily #120829b ( 13min) Play – Today we commemorate the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist and Fr. Elias preaches on how St. John was precursor of Christ not only in what he said in his life but how he died for what he preached just like Christ. Thus, he also makes the perfect precursor of an exemplary Christian.
Ave Maria!
Mass: The Beheading of St. John the Baptist – Mem – Form: OF
Readings: 
1st: jer 1:17-19
Resp: psa 71:1-6, 15, 16
Gsp: mar 6:17-29

Audio (MP3)

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The post Aug 29 – Homily – Fr Elias: St John, Precursor to Baptized Christians first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #130303b ( 17min) Play – Fr. Elias on the symbolism of the Burning Bush in the desert and how it represents Our Lady, the fruitful Virgin, in that it burns, and so is productive, yet is not consumed and the word of God comes from it. He  relates this to the fig tree in today’s Gospel which did not produce fruit.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Sunday 3rd Week of Lent – Sunday – Form: OF
Readings: 
1st: exo 3:1-8, 13-15
Resp: psa 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11
2nd: 1co 10:1-6, 10-12
Gsp: luk 13:1-9

Audio (MP3)

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The post Mar 03 – Homily – Fr Elias: Being Fruitful Christians first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #130430b ( 13min) Play – Fr. Elias on the life of Pope St. Pius V who called all the Christians to prayer at the threat of a huge Muslim invasion. He also implemented the Council of Trent that had just been concluded in response to Protestant Reformation, including the liturgical reforms.
Ave Maria!
Mass: St. Pius V – Opt Mem – Form: OF
Readings: Tuesday 5th Week of Easter
1st: act 14:19-28
Resp: psa 145:10-11, 12-13, 21
Gsp: joh 14:27-31

Audio (MP3)

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