Tonight brings to a close the 4th day of Christmas, 8 days remain!! And if we are using the Church's liturgical calendar, we still go all the way to January 10th this year!
How can we keep this season alive for us personally. Of course some easy things would be to make sure we keep our Christmas tree up, the outside lights and decorations too and naturally our home nativity scenes. If possible, and time permits, schedule a visit with good friends or that family member you did not get to see on Christmas Day. Even better, how about arranging a visit to a senior citizens home bearing some Christmas goodies. This will take some coordination so make a plan and do it soon. Practice the Church tradition of praying the morning or evening(or both) prayers during the whole Christmas season from the Liturgy of the Hours.
Practice charity, mercy and compassion so it can take hold and remain our practice all year long!
Do something nice for/with your spouse before the Christmas season ends and the same goes for us parents with the kiddos.
With all the extra toys and maybe even clothes, take some time during Christmas to thin out some of the old stuff, provided it is in good condition and donate to an appropriate charity. Again for parents, actively involve the children in this endeavor.
Even if you did this before Christmas Day, find someplace that still has beautiful decorations and lights still going and take the family or that someone special to see them. Maybe you could invite an elderly widow or widower you know for a Christmas ride along!
Do something special for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day; remember Catholics, January 1st is a Holy Day of Opportunity!
And if you are an LSU fan, and why would you not be, watch the Tigers tomorrow night in their annual trip to a postseason bowl game taking on Texas Tech from Houston.
Add your ideas and feel free to share with me!
Monday, December 28, 2015
Who is calling? The Pope!!
Pope Francis Surprises 7-Year-Old Boy With Telephone Call at Christmas
Aleteia speaks with the boy's parish priest
Franco Origlia/Getty Images
According to Italian media reports, a seven-year-old boy from the southern Italian parish of St. Nicholas of Bari in Mendicino, in the Calabrian city of Cosenza, was distressed over the poor health of his aunt. So he decided to send a letter to the Vatican asking Pope Francis to pray for her.
And then, a few days before Christmas, the pope personally called the home of the little boy to comfort him and assure the boy of his prayers.
The boy’s mother answered the phone. After the initial shock and stammering at realizing who was on the other end of the line, the mother explained that her son wasn’t home. According to reports, the pope spent 15 minutes talking with her.
The news was made known at Holy Mass on Christmas Eve by Don Enzo Gabrieli, the parish priest of St. Nicholas of Bari. The parents, who wish to remain anonymous, described the conversation as “warm and familiar,” saying the pope “was asking about them as though he were one of the family.”
“It was the most beautiful Christmas gift we have ever received, and it came at a time of trial,” the boys’ parents said.
On Monday, Aleteia spoke with Don Gabrieli. He said, “It was a gift for the community. The pope continues to surprise us with his simplicity and closeness. The great kindness of the family was to want to share the news with the community. The Calabrese people share their joys and sorrows with one another. They live in community as a family. Even though they wished to remain anonymous, they wanted to share with the community the joy of the gift they received.”
Don Gabrieli added: “The pope is teaching us what is important, even us priests, i.e., staying close to those who are suffering and sick, going out to the least ones.”
Asked if he’s spoken with the little boy, Don Gabrieli responded, “I spoke with the whole family before the Mass, when the told me about what had happened.
“All three of them — the mother, the father and the little boy — are so happy, even though they are going through a time of suffering over the illness of their relative,” he said. “Now they are experiencing it as a cross but also as a consolation, as the pope’s caress for them.”
He added: “The beautiful thing the family confided to the community was they felt the pope was truly interested in them.
“Oftentimes we’re in a hurry when we call others. But they felt the pope was truly interested in them. At that moment, they were at the center of his attention. This is what really struck them. He was asking about them; they felt he really wanted to know how they were doing. In short, they felt he was thinking of them.”
How is the pope’s gesture being interpreted at the beginning of the Year of Mercy? “It was a caress for them, but also for the community, for the faithful who were there for Christmas Mass,” Don Gabrieli said. “We are a small town, on the periphery of Calabria. The pope isn’t distant. This was the perception. It was truly a gift.”
Indeed, as the boy’s parents told their parish priest, the pope’s call to their home was “a gift too great” to keep to themselves.
Diane Montagna is Rome correspondent for Aleteia’s English edition.
And then, a few days before Christmas, the pope personally called the home of the little boy to comfort him and assure the boy of his prayers.
The boy’s mother answered the phone. After the initial shock and stammering at realizing who was on the other end of the line, the mother explained that her son wasn’t home. According to reports, the pope spent 15 minutes talking with her.
The news was made known at Holy Mass on Christmas Eve by Don Enzo Gabrieli, the parish priest of St. Nicholas of Bari. The parents, who wish to remain anonymous, described the conversation as “warm and familiar,” saying the pope “was asking about them as though he were one of the family.”
“It was the most beautiful Christmas gift we have ever received, and it came at a time of trial,” the boys’ parents said.
On Monday, Aleteia spoke with Don Gabrieli. He said, “It was a gift for the community. The pope continues to surprise us with his simplicity and closeness. The great kindness of the family was to want to share the news with the community. The Calabrese people share their joys and sorrows with one another. They live in community as a family. Even though they wished to remain anonymous, they wanted to share with the community the joy of the gift they received.”
Don Gabrieli added: “The pope is teaching us what is important, even us priests, i.e., staying close to those who are suffering and sick, going out to the least ones.”
Asked if he’s spoken with the little boy, Don Gabrieli responded, “I spoke with the whole family before the Mass, when the told me about what had happened.
“All three of them — the mother, the father and the little boy — are so happy, even though they are going through a time of suffering over the illness of their relative,” he said. “Now they are experiencing it as a cross but also as a consolation, as the pope’s caress for them.”
He added: “The beautiful thing the family confided to the community was they felt the pope was truly interested in them.
“Oftentimes we’re in a hurry when we call others. But they felt the pope was truly interested in them. At that moment, they were at the center of his attention. This is what really struck them. He was asking about them; they felt he really wanted to know how they were doing. In short, they felt he was thinking of them.”
How is the pope’s gesture being interpreted at the beginning of the Year of Mercy? “It was a caress for them, but also for the community, for the faithful who were there for Christmas Mass,” Don Gabrieli said. “We are a small town, on the periphery of Calabria. The pope isn’t distant. This was the perception. It was truly a gift.”
Indeed, as the boy’s parents told their parish priest, the pope’s call to their home was “a gift too great” to keep to themselves.
Diane Montagna is Rome correspondent for Aleteia’s English edition.
A reflection from Msgr. Pope: pondering abortion on this Feast of the Holy Innocents
Pondering Abortion on the Feast of the Holy Innocents
We know well that Holy Innocents continue to be killed in our world through abortion. The Feast of the Holy Innocents is an often over-looked feast on the Church’s Calendar coming is the busy week of the Christmas Octave. And yet there is something very astonishing and even dangerous to consider on this feast.
I’ll explain what I mean by dangerous in a moment. But for now consider some biblical facts with me.
- When God was drawing close to liberating his chosen people from slavery in Egypt there occurred the order to murder of the all the baby boys among the Hebrews. It is almost as though Satan sensed that God was up to something good and Satan raged through Pharaoh in murderous anger and fear. Thankfully the actual numbers were reduced since the Egyptian midwives engaged in civil disobedience, refusing to allow the practice to continue.
- At the time of Jesus, when God was preparing to liberate his People from sin, there also occured the murder of innocent baby boys. Here too it was almost as though the Devil sensed that God was up to something good and he once again raged, this time through Herod in murderous anger and fear. Thankfully too this infanticide also ended at some point.
- Notice the pattern. When God prepared a great liberation the Devil went after the babies. In our time, on a scale as never before, the Devil is going after our babies in murderous anger and fear. What is he afraid of? Is God planning something big in the near future? Is there a great liberation at hand? Is there a great advancement of evangelization and conversion in the offing? We can only speculate. But patterns are patterns and Scripture has a way of repeating its patterns and echoing down through the centuries.
Why is this a dangerous reflection? Because I want to make it clear that abortion, the killing of the innocents in our age, is NOT and never can be considered something good, or a “positive sign.” Such a speculation as this might cause some to wrongly conclude that abortion is part of God’s plan or something we should see “positively.” We should not. It must be fought. It is of Satan. I want to conclude by reminding you that the great liberation that followed the past infanticides did not occur until AFTER those murderous rages were stopped. Hence, to follow the pattern established in Scripture and to see a potentially great and liberating act of God we must first see an end to the slaughter. Work and pray to end abortion. May the Holy Innocents pray for us!
World famous Globetrotter has died
Harlem Globetrotters star Meadowlark Lemon dies at 83
Dec. 7, 2010: Former Harlem Globetrotter and Basketball Hall of Famer Meadow "Meadowlark" Lemon poses for a portrait in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Reuters)
Meadowlark Lemon, who became known as the "Clown Prince of Basketball" during a run of more than two decades as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters, died Sunday. He was 83.
Lemon's death was first reported by The New York Times, who cited his wife, Cynthia.
A North Carolina native who played college basketball at Florida A&M, Lemon first applied to join the Globetrotters in 1954, after a stint in the Army. He became a full-fledged team member two years later.
Over the next 22 years, Lemon was the most visible member of the Globetrotters during an era when their popularity rivaled that of most NBA teams. Their barnstorming tour took them across America and around the world. Those who couldn't get tickets could watch their habitual appearances on ABC's "Wide World of Sports."
Lemon left the Globetrotters in 1978 amid a contract dispute. He later formed his own barnstorming teams, with names like the Bucketeers and the Shooting Stars. He continued to play the sport well into his 70s.
As his basketball career wound down, Lemon became an ordained Christian minister, creating his own self-named evangelistic organization in 1994. Lemon was inducted in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.
In addition to Cynthia, Lemon is survived by his ten children.
Click for more from The New York Times.
Lemon's death was first reported by The New York Times, who cited his wife, Cynthia.
A North Carolina native who played college basketball at Florida A&M, Lemon first applied to join the Globetrotters in 1954, after a stint in the Army. He became a full-fledged team member two years later.
Over the next 22 years, Lemon was the most visible member of the Globetrotters during an era when their popularity rivaled that of most NBA teams. Their barnstorming tour took them across America and around the world. Those who couldn't get tickets could watch their habitual appearances on ABC's "Wide World of Sports."
Lemon left the Globetrotters in 1978 amid a contract dispute. He later formed his own barnstorming teams, with names like the Bucketeers and the Shooting Stars. He continued to play the sport well into his 70s.
As his basketball career wound down, Lemon became an ordained Christian minister, creating his own self-named evangelistic organization in 1994. Lemon was inducted in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.
In addition to Cynthia, Lemon is survived by his ten children.
Click for more from The New York Times.
Good morning, wake up
21 readers in 6 hours overnight; even a new low for you blogger!
Wake up, get reading. It's way too exciting a time to not learn all we possibly can about our faith. We are still in the beginning days of our Christmas Season, having celebrated the Birth of Our Lord, the Feast of St. Stephen, the wonderful celebration of the Holy Family and now today the soul full remembrance of the Holy Innocents,
We are also in the first 3 weeks of this incredible Jubilee Year of Mercy!
Wake up, read up, we are here to help you in your walk with our glorious Catholic faith!
Wake up, get reading. It's way too exciting a time to not learn all we possibly can about our faith. We are still in the beginning days of our Christmas Season, having celebrated the Birth of Our Lord, the Feast of St. Stephen, the wonderful celebration of the Holy Family and now today the soul full remembrance of the Holy Innocents,
We are also in the first 3 weeks of this incredible Jubilee Year of Mercy!
Wake up, read up, we are here to help you in your walk with our glorious Catholic faith!
Catholics misunderstood Pope Francis throughout 2015
2015: The Year Catholics Misunderstood the Pope
Four seasons of Francis rocking our world
Antoine Mekary/ALETEIA
If 2014 was the year of media misunderstandings of the pope, 2015 was the year Catholics got him wrong.
It should have been a defining year for Pope Francis as a defender of Catholic doctrine. It was the year of many papal pro-life statements, the year the pope denounced “gender theory” within a week of Caitlyn Jenner’s debut, the year of a strong synod document on the family.
But it seemed that each season brought a new occasion for Catholics to feel deep suspicions about the pope.
It began with winter and rabbits
On the plane back from his Jan. 15–19 trip to the Philippines, Pope Francis told a reporter: “Some think that — excuse the language — that in order to be good Catholics, we have to be like rabbits. No. Responsible parenthood.”
Of course he was right — responsible parenting is absolutely essential. But the phraseology left many Catholics feeling like the pope had just slighted large families.
The pope clarified his remarks a few days later. Speaking to a meeting with large families, he praised large families in several different ways.
So what was the “rabbits” comment all about?
He was answering a journalist’s objection to his outspoken comments against contraception in the Philippines — comments that led one American writer to proclaim: “The news that Pope Francis has strongly defended the Church’s ban on artificial birth control left me, in a word, devastated. I had hoped for so much more from this man.”
Pope Francis’ rabbits message was not intended for those who embrace Church teaching but those who reject it. He wasn’t saying, “Too many people are having too many babies,” he was saying “Too many people dismiss the Church’s teaching on contraception as impractical.” And that needed to be said.
With spring came global warming
The May 24 environmental encyclical, Laudato Si, starts out being very careful to say that “a scientifically determinable cause cannot be assigned” to global warming (No. 23). But then it seems to throw caution to the wind in its denunciation of “The warming caused by huge consumption on the part of some rich countries” (No. 51).
Catholics rightly wondered: Wait — isn’t it a bad idea for the Church to make pronouncements on scientific issues? That hasn’t worked out well for us in the past.
Maybe so, but Pope Francis’ urgency about global warming is nothing new. Both of his predecessors issued similar warnings. And it is important to note that he left a significant escape hatch for the Church in the encyclical, saying: “On many concrete questions, the Church has no reason to offer a definitive opinion; she knows that honest debate must be encouraged among experts while respecting divergent views” (No. 6).
I have always been a global warming agnostic: There are people who are smarter than me on both sides of the question. If the threat is real, then thank God the popes are raising the alarm. If it isn’t, Laudato Si’s central point about the West’s self-destructive hyper-consumerism is nonetheless a point well taken.
Then came summer and South America
It should have been a defining year for Pope Francis as a defender of Catholic doctrine. It was the year of many papal pro-life statements, the year the pope denounced “gender theory” within a week of Caitlyn Jenner’s debut, the year of a strong synod document on the family.
But it seemed that each season brought a new occasion for Catholics to feel deep suspicions about the pope.
It began with winter and rabbits
On the plane back from his Jan. 15–19 trip to the Philippines, Pope Francis told a reporter: “Some think that — excuse the language — that in order to be good Catholics, we have to be like rabbits. No. Responsible parenthood.”
Of course he was right — responsible parenting is absolutely essential. But the phraseology left many Catholics feeling like the pope had just slighted large families.
The pope clarified his remarks a few days later. Speaking to a meeting with large families, he praised large families in several different ways.
So what was the “rabbits” comment all about?
He was answering a journalist’s objection to his outspoken comments against contraception in the Philippines — comments that led one American writer to proclaim: “The news that Pope Francis has strongly defended the Church’s ban on artificial birth control left me, in a word, devastated. I had hoped for so much more from this man.”
Pope Francis’ rabbits message was not intended for those who embrace Church teaching but those who reject it. He wasn’t saying, “Too many people are having too many babies,” he was saying “Too many people dismiss the Church’s teaching on contraception as impractical.” And that needed to be said.
With spring came global warming
The May 24 environmental encyclical, Laudato Si, starts out being very careful to say that “a scientifically determinable cause cannot be assigned” to global warming (No. 23). But then it seems to throw caution to the wind in its denunciation of “The warming caused by huge consumption on the part of some rich countries” (No. 51).
Catholics rightly wondered: Wait — isn’t it a bad idea for the Church to make pronouncements on scientific issues? That hasn’t worked out well for us in the past.
Maybe so, but Pope Francis’ urgency about global warming is nothing new. Both of his predecessors issued similar warnings. And it is important to note that he left a significant escape hatch for the Church in the encyclical, saying: “On many concrete questions, the Church has no reason to offer a definitive opinion; she knows that honest debate must be encouraged among experts while respecting divergent views” (No. 6).
I have always been a global warming agnostic: There are people who are smarter than me on both sides of the question. If the threat is real, then thank God the popes are raising the alarm. If it isn’t, Laudato Si’s central point about the West’s self-destructive hyper-consumerism is nonetheless a point well taken.
Then came summer and South America
Sunday, December 27, 2015
The Feast of the Holy Innocents; they died for Christ perhaps in the place of Christ
HOLY INNOCENTS
MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2015
The Holy Innocents are the children mentioned in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 2:16-18.
Herod, perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry, and sent his soldiers to kill all male children ages two and under that were in Bethlehem and on the boarders, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled the prophesy of Jeremiah: A voice in Rama was heard, of lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailed her children, and would not be comforted, because they were not.
The Greek Liturgy asserts that Herod killed 14,000 boys, the Syrians speak of 64,000, and many medieval authors speak of 144,000, according to Rev. 14:3. Modern writers reduce the number considerably, since Bethlehem was a rather small town. Knabenbauer brings it down to fifteen or twenty (Evang. S. Matt., I, 104), Bisping to ten or twelve (Evang. S. Matt.), and Kellner to about six (Christus and seine Apostel, Freiburg, 1908).
This cruel deed of Herod is not mentioned by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, although he relates quite a number of atrocities committed by the king during the last years of his reign. The number of these children was so small that this crime appeared insignificant amongst the other misdeeds of Herod. Macrobius relates that when Augustus heard that amongst the boys of two years and under Herod's own son also had been massacred, he said: "It is better to be Herod's hog, than his son" alluding to the Jewish law of not eating, and consequently not killing, swine. The Middle Ages gave faith to this story, and Abelard inserted it in his hymn for the feast of Holy Innocents.
It is impossible to determine the day or the year of the death of the Holy Innocents, since the chronology of the birth of Christ and the subsequent Biblical events is most uncertain. All we know is that the infants were slaughtered within two years following the apparition of the star to the Wise Men (Belser, in the Tubingen "Quartalschrift," 1890, p. 361). The Church venerates these children as martyrs (flores martyrum); they are the first buds of the Church killed by the frost of persecution; they died not only for Christ, but in his stead (St. Aug., "Sermo 10us de sanctis").
The Latin Church instituted the feast of the Holy Innocents at a date now unknown, not before the end of the fourth, and not later than the end of the fifth century.
The Roman Station of December 28 is at St. Paul's Outside the Walls, because that church is believed to possess the bodies of several of the Holy Innocents. A portion of these relics was transferred by Sixtus V to Santa Maria Maggiore. The church of St. Justina at Padua, the cathedrals of Lisbon and Milan, and other churches also preserve bodies which they claim to be those of some of the Holy Innocents.
Herod, perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry, and sent his soldiers to kill all male children ages two and under that were in Bethlehem and on the boarders, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled the prophesy of Jeremiah: A voice in Rama was heard, of lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailed her children, and would not be comforted, because they were not.
The Greek Liturgy asserts that Herod killed 14,000 boys, the Syrians speak of 64,000, and many medieval authors speak of 144,000, according to Rev. 14:3. Modern writers reduce the number considerably, since Bethlehem was a rather small town. Knabenbauer brings it down to fifteen or twenty (Evang. S. Matt., I, 104), Bisping to ten or twelve (Evang. S. Matt.), and Kellner to about six (Christus and seine Apostel, Freiburg, 1908).
This cruel deed of Herod is not mentioned by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, although he relates quite a number of atrocities committed by the king during the last years of his reign. The number of these children was so small that this crime appeared insignificant amongst the other misdeeds of Herod. Macrobius relates that when Augustus heard that amongst the boys of two years and under Herod's own son also had been massacred, he said: "It is better to be Herod's hog, than his son" alluding to the Jewish law of not eating, and consequently not killing, swine. The Middle Ages gave faith to this story, and Abelard inserted it in his hymn for the feast of Holy Innocents.
It is impossible to determine the day or the year of the death of the Holy Innocents, since the chronology of the birth of Christ and the subsequent Biblical events is most uncertain. All we know is that the infants were slaughtered within two years following the apparition of the star to the Wise Men (Belser, in the Tubingen "Quartalschrift," 1890, p. 361). The Church venerates these children as martyrs (flores martyrum); they are the first buds of the Church killed by the frost of persecution; they died not only for Christ, but in his stead (St. Aug., "Sermo 10us de sanctis").
The Latin Church instituted the feast of the Holy Innocents at a date now unknown, not before the end of the fourth, and not later than the end of the fifth century.
The Roman Station of December 28 is at St. Paul's Outside the Walls, because that church is believed to possess the bodies of several of the Holy Innocents. A portion of these relics was transferred by Sixtus V to Santa Maria Maggiore. The church of St. Justina at Padua, the cathedrals of Lisbon and Milan, and other churches also preserve bodies which they claim to be those of some of the Holy Innocents.
To be a Holy Family; follow these 8 steps!
Eight Ways to Become a Holy Family
Culture of Life Feature
by Joseph Pronechen, Staff Writer Sunday, Dec 27, 2015
Concluding World Meeting of Families 2015, Pope Francis said, “Holiness is always tied to little gestures. They are the quiet things done by mothers and grandmothers, by fathers and grandfathers, by children. They are little signs of tenderness, affection and compassion. Love is shown by little things, by attention to small daily signs which make us feel at home. Faith grows when it is lived and shaped by love. That is why our families, our homes, are true domestic churches. They are the right place for faith to become life and life to become faith.”
So how can a family grow in holiness in daily life?
Do works of mercy. “That’s something the Pope stressed for the jubilee year,” said Father Jeffrey Kirby, author and vocation director for the Diocese of Charleston, S.C. “In terms of the spiritual works of mercy,” we can show works of “mercy in the home, asking for forgiveness, telling other family members they are forgiven when there is an offense.”
“Lead a life of faith by doing faith-based things,” added Father Dwight Longenecker, frequent Register contributor and pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary in Greenville, S.C. The family can help at a local food pantry or soup kitchen or attend the March for Life, for example, always “standing up for the faith in small ways.”
“Parents can take their children to nursing homes,” Father Kirby said. One family he knows who enjoys singing brings joy to nursing homes through song.
Eat meals together. In his Nov. 11, 2015, general audience, Pope Francis said, “A family that almost never eats together, or that never speaks at the table, but looks at the television or the smartphone, is hardly a family.”
He added that family dinnertime and other time spent together is a lesson for the littlest family members: “In family life, we learn about togetherness from a young age, which is a very beautiful virtue: The family teaches us to share, with joy, the blessings of life.”
“Make it a point to eat together,” Father Kirby explained. “The family dinner table is a table of gathering, the altar of the domestic church.”
For parents to live their Christian vocation, “they have to make time to be with their children,” counseled Father Kirby, by carving out family time amid other activities and duties.
Pray. Father Kirby pointed out the need to seek out times throughout the day for prayer.
“If a parent is dropping a child off at a sport or school event, before the child gets out of the car, they should say a prayer together, especially if the child is nervous about the sport or the event,” he said. “Pray, ‘I want God to bless you so that you will be successful.’”
He cited a mother who listened to her daughter tell of breaking up with her boyfriend and then said, “Let’s pray now for God to heal your broken heart.”
Praying in the midst of daily life shows “it’s very important to realize God is involved in everything we do, and everything we do in life is important,” Father Kirby explained.
Steve and Kim Platte know the importance and value of daily prayer in their own family. In their Aiken, S.C., home, the Plattes, who have six girls and five boys, ages 2 to 19, start their day by reading about the saint of the day and the readings for daily Mass, as well as praying the Morning Offering, guardian angel prayer and a Hail Mary for the eldest daughter, 19, who entered a Carmelite convent, and their eldest son in college; they then pray for the intercession of their patron saints. The Plattes close the day with night prayer.
The family celebrates liturgical seasons, Steve Platte added. “We’ll say the Rosary in October; throughout the year, we do the Divine Mercy Chaplet and Stations of the Cross. That variety really helps our younger children, and they learn something new.”
Bless your children. “Parents should bless their children every evening,” advised Father Kirby. “Trace a Sign of the Cross on their foreheads. It’s so important and a powerful exercise of the parents’ vocation. The children know that their parents are asking God to bless them and that they love them. The awareness of the children that their parents can bless them, do bless them and want to bless them is powerful.”
The Plattes do so. “They do look forward to the blessing,” Steve said of their children. “If we forget for some reason, they come back and ask that we do that for them. Oftentimes, they’ll trace the Sign of the Cross back on our foreheads.”
Tithe. Father Longenecker points out that one of the most important things to foster holiness in family life is for parents to consistently witness their faith and practice what they preach. “One of the most concrete ways children can see their parents acting out faith is putting their money” toward the Church, he said.
Enthrone the Sacred Heart. “The Sacred Heart has a powerful place in the home,” Father Kirby said, “a symbol of love, warmth and acceptance.” Families should try to have a priest or deacon do the enthronement.
Encourage Christian living. The Plattes seek out ways to spark interest in and teach the faith, through use of quality media and life in the parish.
Practicing faith outside the home in the Christian community is essential. Said Kim, “We have them be part of the parish life so they learn to help others.” The boys are altar servers and involved in scouting, and their 16-year-old daughter teaches second-grade CCD. “They also help with Francis, Clare and Companions — a group of second- to fifth-graders who are taught by our Secular Franciscan,” promoting faith and fellowship, Kim said. They also help with a Little Flowers group and join in church activities to help the poor.
“Our goal is to try to get them to do what God wants them to do, whether they might have a vocation to the religious life or not,” Steve said of exposing their children to a variety of faith-filled activities.
He reflected, “We try to provide an environment of faith that also represents the Church. It’s really our responsibility to teach them the catechism and to grow up to be strong Catholics in their faith and be able to live out their faith in the way the Church tells us to.”
Remember our Blessed Mother. As Pope Francis said upon opening the Jubilee of Mercy, look on the Immaculate Conception “with trusting love, to contemplate her in all her splendor (and imitate) her faith.” One practical way to do so, besides time-honored prayers like the Rosary and Memorare, is to practice St. John Paul II’s prayer in Familiaris Consortio: “May the Virgin Mary, who is the Mother of the Church, also be the Mother of ‘the church of the home.’ Thanks to her motherly aid, may each Christian family really become a ‘little Church.’”
Joseph Pronechen is a
Register staff writer
Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/eight-ways-to-become-a-holy-family/#ixzz3vZwBQvwY
A Sunday afternoon at Christmas time
Just passing time on a Sunday afternoon looking forward to assisting at the 6 pm Mass this evening. There is a Saints game on the TV but seriously, who cares? They stink and even a win against a bad team matters little. Wendy is sleeping; how I wish I could do that and all is well with the world.
I checked on this blog a little while ago and was shocked to see no visitors in over 75 minutes. Today it could be Christmas hang-over but then I always wonder about the mechanics of this blog thing.
Just some random thoughts. I hope you and your family are still immersed in all things Christmas. It truly is the Christmas season and we should celebrate it well into the New Year. Keep that tree, decorations and lights up at least until January 6th! Also, stay safe during these holidays. Some things we can control; others we cannot. I am saddened at the number of people who have lost homes and worse, have died over these Christmas holidays from bad weather; mostly because of this unseasonably warm weather and winter's attempt to march something cooler across the nation. Again, heed warnings and stay safe.
And today, give some extra thanks to God for the gift of family. Even if our family is separated by miles or problems, even if our family is broken or challenged, our families are a gift. And our families include those people in our lives that help us experience love and life and forgiveness and support. Whoever your family may be, give thanks!
And remember, Merry Christmas!
I checked on this blog a little while ago and was shocked to see no visitors in over 75 minutes. Today it could be Christmas hang-over but then I always wonder about the mechanics of this blog thing.
Just some random thoughts. I hope you and your family are still immersed in all things Christmas. It truly is the Christmas season and we should celebrate it well into the New Year. Keep that tree, decorations and lights up at least until January 6th! Also, stay safe during these holidays. Some things we can control; others we cannot. I am saddened at the number of people who have lost homes and worse, have died over these Christmas holidays from bad weather; mostly because of this unseasonably warm weather and winter's attempt to march something cooler across the nation. Again, heed warnings and stay safe.
And today, give some extra thanks to God for the gift of family. Even if our family is separated by miles or problems, even if our family is broken or challenged, our families are a gift. And our families include those people in our lives that help us experience love and life and forgiveness and support. Whoever your family may be, give thanks!
And remember, Merry Christmas!
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