Ave Maria!

Update: Notes and Explanations have been added. See the viewing page.

Using Christmas and the adoration of the magi and shepherds as a starting point, Fr. Peter outlines the key to Christian thinking according to John Duns Scotus, that is, contemplation of Truth. This is opposed to the modern mentality that says ‘I can’t believe unless I can analyze it.’ It is Mary who makes it possible for finite creatures like us to see the infinite God, for in the person of Jesus, Truth is made flesh. And in adoring our Lord, Mary and St. Joseph teach us to think like Christians and so enable us to be happy.

Ave Maria!

The post Video – Fr. Peter – The Golden Thread #5: Scotus and the Key to Christian Thought first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Ave Maria! Fra Joseph Mary gives his first show on apologetics with no apologies. This series will have a Marian emphasis and be geared for beginners, that is, the youth and young adults to help them learn to defend their faith. But with his clear and pleasing delivery, Fra Joseph should gather a large following from all ages and walks of life. In this episode Fra Joseph gives a quick explanation of the series, a definition of apologetics and then discusses how Charity and Humility needs to be combined with knowledge of doctrine in order for us to become effective apostles of the truth. Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

+++

The post Video – Fra Joseph – No Apologies #1: Pilot first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #080312 ( 14min) Play – What is truth? Fr Bonaventure explains that everything is rooted in Jesus Christ, who is the Truth. The Gospel is the Good News because it is the revelation of Jesus Christ, Truth Incarnate, to us.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
+++

The post Mar 12 – Homily – Fr Bonaventure: The Truth Will Set You Free first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #080326 ( 05min) Play – By faith in the Word of God the disiples were able to recognize Christ, the Word of God Incarnate, on the road to Emmaus so too by faith we will be able to see him; and this will be the antidote to recent, false interpretations of Scripture, to read it with the eyes of faith and so be able to see truth.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
+++

The post Mar 26 – Homily – Fr Ignatius: On the Road to Emmaus first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Very clever video from YouTube for our troubled times.

The post From the Web – The Truth first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #080518 ( 15min) Play – The Father who sent the Word of Truth and the Spirit of Holiness into the world in order to reveal the life giving and glorious doctrine of Trinity and Unity, revealing God Himself. This Trinity Sunday Fr Angelo contrasts this Trinitarian doctrine to the old Paganism that it displaced.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
+++

The post May 18 – Homily – Fr Angelo: Trinity Sunday first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #080616 ( 08min) Play – In today’s Gospel Our Lord tells us to turn the other cheek when we are struck. Fr. Bonaventure explains that this does not mean that we should be pacifists, doormats, that should compromise everything, even truth, rather than defend ourselves but rather that we should put away the old natural law of vengeance and replace it with patience out of love of neighbor.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
+++

The post Jun 16 – Homily – Fr Bonaventure: Patience not Pacifism first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #080622 ( 22min) Play – The greatest paradox of our faith is the Cross. Foolishness? St Paul says that the foolishness of men is the wisdom of the Cross! Without an appreciation of Original Sin we will never understand the world we live in. People are slaves of their vices because they have learned to rationalize their choices. We use our mind to convince ourselves that good is evil and evil is good. The only way out of this pattern is Christ.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
+++

The post Jun 22nd – Homily – Fr Angelo: Original Sin and Truth first appeared on AirMaria.com.

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.

The post July 25th: The Anniversary of a Prophetic Encyclical first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Prayers to St. Clare of Assisi
(Patroness of Television Workers
Patroness of Sore Eyes)

O Glorious St. Clare! God has given you the power of working miracles continually, and the favor of answering the prayers of those who invoke your assistance in misfortune, anxiety, and distress. We beseech you, obtain from Jesus through Mary His Blessed Mother, what we beg of you so fervently and hopefully, (mention your petition) if it be for the greater honor and glory of God and for the good of our souls.?? Amen.

God of Mercy, You inspired?Saint Clare with the love of poverty. By the help
of her prayers, may we follow Christ in poverty of spirit and come
to the joyful vision of your glory in the kingdom of heaven. We ask this
through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You
and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Dear St. Clare, inspired by St. Francis, you became a poor nun for the sake of Jesus, and established the “Poor Clares.” We are told how greatly you cherished Christ present in the Sacrament of the Altar. Is the Mass not a kind of television of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross? Help all television workers to broadcast the truth and draw away from falsehood and evil. Amen.

NOVENA TO SAINT CLARE

Dear St. Clare, as a young girl you imitated your mother’s love for the poor of your native Assisi. Inspired by the preaching of St. Francis, who sang enthusiastically of His Lord Jesus and Lady Poverty, you gave your life to Jesus at nineteen years of age, allowing St. Francis to cut off your beautiful hair and invest you with the Franciscan habit. All through your life you offered your great suffering for your Sisters, the Poor Clares, and the conversion of souls. You greatly aided St. Francis with his new order, carrying on his spirit in the Franciscans after his death. Most of all you had a deep love of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament, which fueled your vocation to love and care for the poor. Please pray for me (mention your request) that I will seek to keep Jesus as my first love, as you did. Help me to grow in love of the Blessed Sacrament, to care for the poor, and to offer my whole life to God. Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of St. Clare. Through her intercession, please hear and answer my prayer, in the name of Jesus Your Son. Amen.

Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be you, my God, for having created me.???????? – Saint Clare of Assisi

?

O wondrous blessed clarity of Clare!
In life she shone to a few;
after death she shines on the whole world!
On earth she was a clear light;
Now in heaven she is a brilliant sun.

O how great the vehemence of the
brilliance of this clarity!
On earth this light was indeed kept
within cloistered walls,
yet shed abroad its shining rays;
It was confined within a convent cell,
yet spread itself through the wide world.

-Pope Innocent IV

St. Clare was born in Assisi on July 16, 1194 and died on August 11, 1253. She is a Founder of the Second Order of St. Francis, the Poor Clares.? Once when her convent was about to be attacked, she displayed the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrace at the convent gates, and prayed before it; the attackers left. thus her patronage of television. She was ever the close friend and spiritual student of St. Francis.

Toward the end of her life, when the was too ill to attend Mass, an image of the service would display on the wall of her cell:;

The post A Clear Light of Faith: St. Clare of Assisi first appeared on AirMaria.com.