Homily #081213 ( 05min) Play – Fr. Bonaventure McGuire preaches on the gospel message of how John the Baptist is coming of Elijah before the Messiah.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
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“Who do you say that I am?”

Lord, who do I say that you are? The God of my heart and my eternal inheritance, the Infinite, the Word made Flesh, the Savior of my life, Jesus my beloved, my joy, my hope, and the only treasure of my heart. You are, Lord, the warmth of my existence, the light of my eyes, the breath of my mouth, the fire of my heart, the palpitations of all my being.

You are my realized ideal, the one I love with all the titles of tenderness that can exist such as father, mother, brother, spouse, friend, all mothers to their children, with the same fire a thousand times in each breath and heartbeat, in each moment multiplied ad infini­tum.

Help me to express “that you are” the only One worthy of all loves, the sovereign, thrice holy, who humbled himself because he willed to do so. You are the Jesus of the manger, of the desert, of Nazareth, the Jordan, Tabor, the one of the miracles, at the Cenacle, the Garden, the scourging, the insults, the thorns, the cross, the Resurrection, Emmaus, the Ascension, Jesus of the Eucharist.

My God and my Lord, all abnegation and love! You are all modesty, humility, purity, silence, martyrdom, obedience, “love” and in this last word all the rest is condensed.

I would like to say something and I say nothing, because your agonies and triumphs, your example and virtues can be felt but not explained. Jesus, you are … but why babble about “what you are”? You yourself with your human lips have told us in your holy Gospel “what you are.” Therefore, each time that I am asked, ‘Who is he?” I will give the same answer that I shall give to you. With your own voice I will respond, using some of the beautiful titles in the Gospel. ‘Who do you say that I am?” “You” are the Good Shepherd, the Vine, the Bread of Life, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the one who speaks with me (the Samaritan woman), You are the Son of God, the Resurrection, and the Life, the Beginning of all things, the Light of the World, the Door to Salvation, the King, Jesus whom men perse­cute, who has chosen us, the Teacher who is in the Father and in whom the Father is.

You are from above and I from below, the Messiah, seated at the right hand of the majesty of God, who will come on the clouds of heaven, the true Vine and your Father is the Vine Grower. You yourself have shown us your pierced hands and feet. You are the One crucified on high whom we have come to know as Savior. “You are who you are.” Who can say more?

Venerable Conception Cabrera de Armida (Conchita)

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Homily #090324 ( 05min) Play – The multitude that followed Jesus wondered if Jesus was the promised Messiah. Those that obeyed the commandments were able to discern this correctly. Those who did not, wanted to kill him.

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)
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Homily #091228 ( 10min) Play – Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Innocence who died in the place of Jesus when Herod tried to kill the messiah by killing all the male children under two years of age at Bethlehem. Father relates this to our own times and invokes their intercession for the protection of innocent life.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
1: 1 Jn 1:5-2:2
R: Ps 124:2-5,7-8
G: Mt 2:13-18

Audio (MP3)

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Homily #100329 ( 08min) Play – Mary Magdalene and the crowds of Jews at Bethany recognized Jesus as the Messiah and gave public witness to this in the Gospel today. Fr Bonaventure focuses on the need to give this public witness of our devotion to the King of Kings especially when he is hated by the powerful of the world.

Ave Maria! Mass readings
1: Isa 42:1-7
R: Ps 27:1-3,13-14
G: Jn 12:1-11

Audio (MP3)

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Homily #100604 ( 07min) Play – Fr. Bonaventure preaches on the need to recognize the divinity of Christ which Our Lord points to in the Old Testament in today’s Gospel. This is basis for holding onto our faith in a secular world.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
1: 2 Tim 3:10-17
R: Ps 119:157-168
G: Mk 12:35-37

Audio (MP3)

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Mary Vitamin for July 22nd
Feast of St. Mary Magdalen

Topic: Gaining the affection of Mary by practicing courtesy

Quote:
St. Alphonsus di Liguori
Saint Gregory Nazianzen assures us that there is nothing by which we can with
greater certainty gain the affection of Mary then by charity towards our
neighbor.
St. Alphonsus di Liguori, The Glories of Mary, (Tan Books), 479.

Meditation:
The charity and courtesy of St. Mary Magdalen

Why was St. Mary Magdalene unable to recognize the risen Christ? Why did she not
recognize the Messiah after the Resurrection if she was one of the few that
recognized the Messiah when “there was no beauty”? Was the Lord testing St. Mary
Magdalene’s charity? Did He want to leave a testimony of her great love? She
treated someone to whom she thought stole the body of her Lord with great
respect. After she spoke, Jesus revealed His identity to her.

But Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into
the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at
the feet where the body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have
taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.”
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know
it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you
looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you
carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,”
which means Teacher.
John 20:11-17

Resolution:
Today, I will work to win the affection of the Blessed Virgin Mary by speaking
with courtesy.

Marian Vow:
St. Claude de la Colombiere
We have no reason to despise anyone. A humble man sees only his own faults. It
is a sign of little virtue to notice the imperfections of others. A person may
be imperfect today who in a little while, recognizing this, may rise to great
sanctity.
Mother M. Philip, I.B.V.M., arr. & ed. The Spiritual Direction of Saint Claude
de la Colombiere,(

Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate

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Mary Vitamin is a daily Email support for Marian mental prayer. Each day (Monday through Friday) members will receive a brief Marian quote with a corresponding Marian meditation and resolution. The Mary Vitamin is designed to make mental prayer a little simpler and bring Our Lady into your day in a systematic way.

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Mary Vitamin for August 5th

Topic: The Woman of the Bible and Our Mother

Quote:

Father Stefano Manelli, FI, All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed, (Academy of the Immaculate: 1989), 356.

Meditation:

Fr. Stefano Manelli, FI

On this subject, a passage interesting and rich in insight, accurate as it is delicate, has been written by I. de La Potterie:

A very important insight of modern exegesis has brought to light how the mystery of Mary in some way forms a synthesis of all of the preceding revelation about the people of God, about all that which God, through his salvific action, wishes to realize for his people. In Mary are accomplished all of the important aspects of the promises of the Old Testament to the Daughter of Sion, and in her concrete person is anticipated that which will be realized for the new people of God, which is the Church. Now, the history of revelation regarding the theme of the Woman Sion concretized in the person of Mary, and extended to the Church, constitutes a doctrinal bastion, an unshakeable, well-structured ensemble for understanding the history of salvation, from its origins to the last times.

Father Stefano Manelli, FI, All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed, (Academy of the Immaculate: 1989), 361.

Resolution:

The simple devotion to the Mother of God opens the mysteries of the Old Testament, is a symbol of the church, encourages appreciation of the True God/True Man reality of the Messiah, sheds light on the profound mystery of the Blessed Trinity and finally provides one with a greater and more profound desire to worship the Blessed Sacrament, the Son of God who is also the Son of Mary.

I will try to cultivate a deeper love for my Heavenly Mother, the Queen of Heaven. The more childlike I become in her presence the more the mysteries of heaven and God will be revealed.

Today I will call upon the Queen of Heaven with the word "mother" and realize so much is contained in this one simple word.

Marian Vow:

St. Maximilian Kolbe

She is queen also of earth because she is the Mother of God himself, but she both desires and has a right to be freely acknowledged by every heart, be loved as the Queen of every heart, so that through her that heart might become immaculate, similar to her heart and more worthy of union with God, with the love of God, with the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Will to Love, (Marytown Press: 1998), 138.

I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Thanks be to God for graces received.

Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate

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Mary Vitamin is a daily Email support for Marian mental prayer. Each day (Monday through Friday) members will receive a brief Marian quote with a corresponding Marian meditation and resolution. The Mary Vitamin is designed to make mental prayer a little simpler and bring Our Lady into your day in a systematic way.

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Homily #110108 ( 06min) Play – Today we have the Gospel account of John the Baptist where he reaffirms that Jesus is the Christ and not himself when John’s disciples complain about how everyone is going to Jesus. He says “He must increase and I must decrease” and that he rejoices in this. Let us do the same, point to Him and rejoice.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Sat post Epiphany or Jan 12 – – Form: OF
Readings:
1st: 1jo 5:14-21
Resp: psa 149:1-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b
Gsp: joh 3:22-30

Audio (MP3)

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Homily #120730 ( 06min) Play – Fr. George on the life of St. Peter Chrysologus, the “golden-worded”, doctor of the Church who focused on the great gift of the coming of the Messiah that gave us redemption when we did not deserve it.
Ave Maria!
Mass: St. Peter Chrysologus – Opt Mem – Form: OF
Readings: Monday in the 17th Week in Ordinary Time
1st: jer 13:1-11
Resp: deu 32:18-19, 20, 21
Gsp: mat 13:31-35

Audio (MP3)

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