Reporting news connected to Christianity and Catholicism with biblical insight.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Monday, January 27, 2014
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Our Lady's Messages of January 2014
Medjugorje Today - Apparitions of Virgin Mary
The Virgin Mary's message of January 25, 2014 given during apparition to Medjugorje visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti
“Dear children! Pray, pray, pray for the radiance of your prayer to have an influence on those whom you meet. Put the Sacred Scripture in a visible place in your families and read it, so that the words of peace may begin to flow in your hearts. I am praying with you and for you, little children, that from day to day you may become still more open to God’s will. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
The Virgin Mary's Message of January 2, 2014 to Medjugorje visionary Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo
“Dear children! For you to be able to be my apostles and to be able to help all those who are in darkness, to come to know the light of the love of my Son, you must have pure and humble hearts. You can not help for my Son to be born in, and to reign in, the hearts of those who do not know Him, if He does not reign – if He is not the King – in your heart. I am with you. I am walking with you as a mother. I am knocking on your hearts. They can not open because they are not humble. I am praying, and you my beloved children also pray, that you may be able to open pure and humble hearts to my Son and to receive the gifts which He has promised you. Then you will be led by the love and strength of my Son. Then, you will be my apostles who everywhere around them spread the fruits of God’s love. My Son will act from within you and through you, because you will be “one”. My motherly heart yearns for this – for unity of all of my children – through my Son. With great love I bless, and pray for those who are chosen by my Son – for your shepherds. Thank you!”
Monday, January 20, 2014
Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
Quoting the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: "So I say to you, seek God and discover Him and make Him a power in your life. Without Him all of our efforts turn to ashes and our sunrises into darkest nights. Without Him, life is a meaningless drama with the decisive scenes missing. But with Him we are able to rise from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope. With Him we are able to rise from the midnight of desperation to the daybreak of joy. St. Augustine was right - we were made for God and will be restless until we find rest in Him."
Dr. king also said, "Love is the most durable power in the world. This creative force, so beautifully exemplified in the life of our Christ, is the most potent instrument available in mankind's quest for peace and security."
Read more: Tribute to King: Signs from God's Heavenly Kingdom
Friday, January 17, 2014
Pope's Mass: To seek path of worldliness is to reject the Lord
News from RomeReports.com
In his Friday morning Mass, Pope Francis said that Catholics who try to be blend into a "worldly uniformity,” are in fact rejecting their role as children of God.
Citing a reading from the Old Testament, he described how the Jewish people asked an elderly Samuel to choose a king for them, so they could be like other nations. The Pope said they chose the path of worldliness, effectively rejecting God.
POPE FRANCIS
"A normal life for Christians demands loyalty to their choices, and to not exchange it for the path of worldly uniformity. That is the temptation of the people, and also ours. Many times, we forget about the Word of God, what the Lord tells us, and we take up fashionable words, right? Even those from soap operas are fashionable, and we use them, they're more enjoyable.”
The Pope added that worldliness makes the heart soft, but opening their heart to God makes it stronger.
SUMMARY FROM THE POPE'S HOMILY
Source: Vatican Radio
We must not sell out the gift of being God’s children for a distorted sense of normality. These were the words of Pope Francis at Mass on Friday morning in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta. As Christians, Pope Francis said, we must actively strive against the normality of our everyday lives to remain faithful to God’s choosing. We must not sell out to the temptation of worldliness, of living as if God didn’t exist.
We often forget the Word of God, Pope Francis continued, we forget what the Lord says, and we listen instead to whatever word is more fashionable, more fun. This temptation, the Pope said, is more dangerous than an outright renouncing of faith, because it is more subtle, and less clear. It is true, he recognised, that Christians must be normal people, but they must also bear in mind the Word of God which says to them ‘you are my people, I have chosen you, I am by your side’.
We must resist the temptation of feeling inferior to normality, Pope Francis explained, because this temptation hardens the heart, and when the heart is hardened, the Word of God cannot enter. This was the temptation of the Jewish people in the Old Testament, he added, referring to the daily reading taken from the First Book of Samuel. Neither must we allow our hearts to be softened by worldliness, the Pope said: our hearts must simply be open to the Word of God, open to receiving it, in order not to move away from being chosen by God.
Let us ask, Pope Francis concluded, for the grace to overcome our own selfishness, our own desire to do as we please: let us listen instead to the Word of God, which will lead us on the path of truth.
Verse of the Day for January 17, 2014
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| Photograph by Loci B. Lenar |
“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.”
(Philippians 2:14-16)
From BibleGateway.com
Monday, January 13, 2014
Join us at St. Mary's Church for an evening of prayer for the Dignity of Human Life
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| Photo by Loci B. Lenar |
On Thursday, January 16, 2014, St. Mary's Catholic Church will come together for an evening of prayer for the Dignity of Human Life. Please join us with Fr. Richard Tartaglia as we remember all the victims of crime.
Join in prayer for God's grace as we pray for an end to human trafficking, genocide, abortion, violence, poverty and injustice committed against the gift of life.
St. Mary's Church holds a monthly service for prayer with Fr Richard Tartaglia including special prayer intentions which are submitted through the website of www.Christian-Miracles.com.
If you live in the area or plan on visiting New Jersey, please consider attending and joining in the evening prayer service. The service begins with singing of hymns and prayers and then reading of the gospels. After the reading, Fr. Tartaglia gives his homily which is followed by the Lord's Prayer and Special Prayer Intentions (prayer requests). There is a closing prayer with a blessing given by Fr. Tartaglia. The prayer service is concluded with a closing song.
St. Mary's Catholic Church is located on 15 Myers Avenue in Denville, New Jersey. Fr Martin Glynn is the head pastor of the church. For directions to St. Mary's Church, please visit the following link: http://www.stmarys-
Regarding prayer, Jesus said, "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." (Matthew 18:19-20)
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)
Prayer requests can be submitted with the online form at the following link: http://www.christian-miracles.com/prayerrequest.htm
Wednesday, January 08, 2014
Tribute to Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
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| By Stephen B. Whatley |
By Stephen B. Whatley | Flickr.com
A new tribute drawing of the first native-born citizen of the USA to be made a Saint by the Roman Catholic Church: Elizabeth Ann Seton (New York, 1774 –1821).
She established the first Catholic school in the nation, at Emmitsburg, Maryland, where she founded the first American congregation of Religious Sisters, the Sisters of Charity; which would go on to open orphanages in Philadelphia & New York City.
Elizabeth Ann Seton suffered many trials in her life including the early loss of her mother; and her tenderness and love for All God's Creatures is symbolized in this work, one of several baby birds she was said to have saved in childhood.
Her sainthood was ensured by three miracles of healing she performed: two of cancer and one of encephalitis. She is the Patron Saint of Catholic Schools.
Elizabeth Ann Seton was beatified on March 17, 1963, by Pope John XXIII who said on the occasion, “In a house that was very small, but with ample space for charity, she sowed a seed in America which by Divine Grace grew into a large tree.”
When she was canonized on September 14, 1975 in a ceremony in St. Peter’s Square, Rome, Pope Paul VI said, “Elizabeth Ann Seton is a saint. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is an American. All of us say this with special joy, and with the intention of honoring the land and the nation from which she sprang forth as the first flower in the calendar of the saints. Elizabeth Ann Seton was wholly American! Rejoice for your glorious daughter. Be proud of her. And know how to preserve her fruitful heritage.”
Peace.
23.4 x 16.5in/59 x 41cm
Stephen B. Whatley Gallery
Saturday, January 04, 2014
Daily Devotional Prayers
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| Photograph by Loci B. Lenar |
Prayer Before Surgery
Loving Father, I entrust myself to your care this day; guide with wisdom and skill the minds and hands of the medical people who minister in your Name, and grant that every cause of illness be removed, I may be restored to soundness of health and learn to live in more perfect harmony with you and with those around me. Through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Into your hands, I commend my body and my soul. Amen.
Read More Prayers
Are you in need of prayer: Prayer Requests
Signs, Wonders, and Miracles: www.Christian-Miracles.com