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Apr 12 – Homily – Fr Angelo: I am the Bread of Life

apostolate — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 11:51:01 +0000

Homily #080412 ( 09min) Play – In John 6, the reading today, Our Lord proclaims that He is the Bread of Life and so announces the future institution of the Eucharist. Fr. explains how the acceptance of this point is linked to belief and even fidelity to Him in general, for it is here that the Gospel mentions that Jesus knew who would betray Him.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
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Humanae Vitae

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:00:24 +0000

July 25th: The Anniversary of a Prophetic Encyclical

Ave Maria Meditations

In our present world where the embracing of intrinsic evils, which are the compromises with the devil, are becoming more and more mainstream and even mandated, a courageous voice spoke out in 1968. He was publicly denounced for this even by some high ranking clergy. Society was warned but did not heed the warning and never has human life become so cheapened and the dignity of a human being so debased. The consequences of the embracing of moral evils has yet to be fully realized. God help us.

ENCYCLICAL LETTER
HUMANAE VITAE
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
PAUL VI

some excerpts from the Encyclical Letter which can be found at:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html

Honored Brothers and Dear Sons,
Health and Apostolic Benediction.

The transmission of human life is a most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator. It has always been a source of great joy to them, even though it sometimes entails many difficulties and hardships.

The fulfillment of this duty has always posed problems to the conscience of married people, but the recent course of human society and the concomitant changes have provoked new questions. The Church cannot ignore these questions, for they concern matters intimately connected with the life and happiness of human beings.

Faithfulness to God’s Design

13. Men rightly observe that a conjugal act imposed on one’s partner without regard to his or her condition or personal and reasonable wishes in the matter, is no true act of love, and therefore offends the moral order in its particular application to the intimate relationship of husband and wife. If they further reflect, they must also recognize that an act of mutual love which impairs the capacity to transmit life which God the Creator, through specific laws, has built into it, frustrates His design which constitutes the norm of marriage, and contradicts the will of the Author of life. Hence to use this divine gift while depriving it, even if only partially, of its meaning and purpose, is equally repugnant to the nature of man and of woman, and is consequently in opposition to the plan of God and His holy will. But to experience the gift of married love while respecting the laws of conception is to acknowledge that one is not the master of the sources of life but rather the minister of the design established by the Creator. Just as man does not have unlimited dominion over his body in general, so also, and with more particular reason, he has no such dominion over his specifically sexual faculties, for these are concerned by their very nature with the generation of life, of which God is the source. “Human life is sacred?all men must recognize that fact,” Our predecessor Pope John XXIII recalled. “From its very inception it reveals the creating hand of God.”

Consequences of Artificial Methods

17. Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings?and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation?need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.

Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone. It could well happen, therefore, that when people, either individually or in family or social life, experience the inherent difficulties of the divine law and are determined to avoid them, they may give into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife.

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Our present Holy Father also mentions this encyclical in his new encyclical writing:

15. Two further documents by Paul VI without any direct link to social doctrine — the Encyclical Humanae Vitae (25 July 1968) and the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (8 December 1975) — are highly important for delineating the fully human meaning of the development that the Church proposes. It is therefore helpful to consider these texts too in relation to Populorum Progressio.

The Encyclical Humanae Vitae emphasizes both the unitive and the procreative meaning of sexuality, thereby locating at the foundation of society the married couple, man and woman, who accept one another mutually, in distinction and in complementarity: a couple, therefore, that is open to life. This is not a question of purely individual morality: Humanae Vitae indicates the strong links between life ethics and social ethics, ushering in a new area of magisterial teaching that has gradually been articulated in a series of documents, most recently John Paul II’s Encyclical Evangelium Vitae.

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Pope: The fullness of life lies in radical choices

Carol Girard — Sat, 08 May 2010 09:00:53 +0000

St. Charles’ Square was the setting for Benedict XVI’s meeting with young people in Turin, his first apostolic trip in Italy in 2010. The enthusiasm and joy of the thousands of young people welcomed the Pope, who spoke of happiness and the fullness of life, which is achieved by radical and definitive choices that are lived with fidelity.

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May 22 – Homily – Fr Angelo: Waiting for Pentecost

apostolate — Sat, 22 May 2010 11:56:49 +0000

Homily #100522 ( 06min) Play – Today in the extraordinary form of the Mass we celebrate the Vigil of Pentecost. Fr. Angelo preaches on the readings which focus on the expectation of the coming of the Holy Spirit to give us inspiration, courage and fidelity. Let us ask Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, to give us this gift.
Ave Maria! Vigil Mass of Pentecost – Mass: EF, Cum Sanctificatus – Readings: 1st: act 19:1-8 – Gsp: joh 14:15-21

Audio (MP3)

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Video – Conferences #147: Bp. Olmsted – Faith and Fidelity Today

apostolate — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 14:17:30 +0000

Conferences #147 – Bp. Olmsted on the elements of faith needed for courage today ( 57min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

Bishop Timothy L. Olmsted of Phoenix, AZ gives a talk called “Blessed are Those Who Believe: Faith and Fidelity Today” at the Courage Annual Conference. He covers the virtues in general and then focuses on Faith in particular and how to stay strong in this virtue when today’s world is so discouraging. He does this by examining the life of Blessed John Paul II whom he personally knew. Of the many virtues that the Blessed Pope had, Faith is what stands out the most and this is based on his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary who as St. Elizabeth proclaimed “Blessed is she who believed”. He grew in faith despite having experienced many personal and national tragedies in Poland in World War II and the communist aftermath. This Faith involves three elements 1. Trust in God completely, 2. Ascent, a free ascent to the whole truth, 3. Obedience, to what God asks us to do.

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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Feb 27 – Homily – Fr Ignatius: Don’t be Discouraged by Your Faults

Griswold Friars — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:36:10 +0000

Homily #130227 ( 05min) Play –

Fr. Ignatius encourages us to never be discouraged when we see our failings, for today’s Gospel shows that even after several years of being with Our Lord, the apostles were still more interested in power and prestige than service and suffering for the Gospel. Also, today’s saint, St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, was so vain and attached to the pleasures of life that his decision to enter the Passionists was met with incredulity. But, in a few short years, by faithful observance of his duties, he became a great Saint.Ave Maria!
Mass: Wednesday of the Second Week in Lent – Ferial – Form: EF, Ne Derelinquas Me
Commemoration of St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

Readings:
1st: est 13:8,15-17
Gsp: mat 20:17-28

Audio (MP3)

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May 09 – Homily – Fr Joseph M.: Fidelity to Truth

apostolate — Sat, 09 May 2015 11:03:57 +0000

Homily #150509b ( 04min) Play – Fr. Joseph McShane on how we must be faithful in spreading the truth even when facing persecution.
Ave Maria!
Mass: St. Catherine of Bologna – Opt Mem – Form: OF
Readings: Saturday 5th Week of Easter
1st: act 16:1-10
Resp: psa 100:1-2, 3, 5
Gsp: joh 15:18-21

Audio (MP3)

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Nov 05 – Homily – Fr Dominic: The Franciscan Departed

Griswold Friars — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 11:07:10 +0000

Today we pray for deceased Franciscans of the Immaculate. Father Dominic tells us if we always remember death like St. Francis did, then we will live more worthy of heaven. Other ways to avoid purgatory is to be loving and merciful to others, to accept the sufferings that come to us, and to trust in God’s mercy. Finally, meditating on those who persevered until the end is a great encouragement for our own fidelity to our vocations.

Ave Maria!

Mass readings

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Jan 23 – Homily – Fr Matthias: The Family Formed By God Himself

apostolate — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 15:53:32 +0000

Mary and Joseph were united together by true, though virginal, marriage. God Himself wanted it that way, to be born in a family based on holy matrimony. Ave Maria!

Mass: Espousal of BVM with Joseph – Feast

Readings:

1st: Prov 8:22-35
Resp: Ps 45:11-12, 14-15, 16-17, 18
Gsp: Mt. 1:18-23

References:

Pope Francis, General Audience, St. Peter’s Square, Wednesday, 17 December 2014 (https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20141217_udienza-generale.html)

Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation “On Love in the Family”, 19 March 2016 (https://w2.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20160319_amoris-laetitia_en.pdf)

Audio (MP3)

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May 27 – Homily – Fr Angelo: Jesus Tells It Plainly

Griswold Friars — Sat, 27 May 2017 11:03:39 +0000

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is speaking with His disciples, His ‘inner circle,’ at the Last Supper. He tells them that He is about to stop speaking in parables and tell them clearly about the Father, the completion of His mission. But was not His teaching ministry over? Rather, His “telling plainly” will be His suffering, death, and Resurrection. And while He did speak to the people in parables, He would explain them to His disciples. Why? They asked, they wanted to know, and they were open to what He would say.
We too must be open to Christ and let His light penetrate our mind and heart, thus His teaching will be enlightened, but those who approach Christ with pride find only darkness and obscurity. The disciples accepted Jesus as Lord and Teacher, but only with difficulty as the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. We must be open to the teaching of Christ and His leading even if it leads us to where we do not want to go. We must read the Scriptures in humility, for the Gospel was spread by humble, uneducated men who were close to Christ, and not through proud and powerful intellectuals with Ph.D.’s and all the right connections.
We proceed by steps, and not by leaps. There is an order in our ascent, we must first humble ourselves to understand the Scripture with the mind of Christ, and then be his witnesses in the world. For we too, by gathering around the altar, are Jesus’ beloved inner circle.

Ave Maria!

Mass: St. Augustine of Canterbury – Opt Mem
Readings: 0

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