BIG C CATHOLICS

The news of the universal prayer for Nascent life on the evening of 27th November was unprecendented in the Church's history. Pope Benedict has asked all dioceses to organise local prayer vigils around the world. How exciting a development this is. This excellent website allows people to write a letter of thanks to Pope Benedict for organising such a great initiative. It states that without God's help you cannot win this battle and highlights the great need for this initiative. How true, that the author of life will guide us towards victory in defending our most vulnerable brothers and sisters. H/T Love Undefiled

From "Mary the Ark of the New Covenant by Steve Ray (Editor's note: As explained below, the Ark of the Covenant contained the Ten Commandments the sign of the Covenant God made with Moses. The Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, has been compared to a new Ark of the Covenant in carrying Christ in her womb. Just as the Ark of the Covenant bore the Ten Commandments; Mary bears Christ within her. Parallels between the Ark of the Covenant and Mary are found throughout Scripture. Any first century Jew would recognize the similarities.) God loved his people and wanted to be close to them. He chose to do so in a very special way. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, "The prayer of the people of God flourished in the shadow of the dwelling place of God’s presence on earth, the ark of the covenant and the temple, under the guidance of their shepherds, especially King David, and of the prophets" (CCC 2594). God instructed Moses to build a tabernacle surrounded by heav...

The Ark of the Covenant is a container described in the Bible as containing the tablets of stone on which were inscribed the Ten Commandments as well as Aaron’s rod and manna. According to the Pentateuch, the Ark was built at the command of God in accord with Moses’' prophetic vision on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 25: 10-16). God communicated with Moses "from between the two cherubim on the Ark's cover (Exodus 25:22). The Ark and its sanctuary were "the beauty of Israel" (Lamentations 2:1). The Biblical account relates that during the exodus of the Israelites, the Ark was carried by the priests (Numbers 35:5; Joshua 4:5) in advance of the people and their army or host (Num. 4:5-6; 10:33-36; Psalms 68:1; 132:8). When the Ark was borne by priests into the bed of the Jordan, the river was separated, opening a pathway for the whole of the host to pass over (Josh. 3:15-16; 4:7-18). The Ark was borne in a seven-day procession around the wall of Jericho by seven priests sou...

Thought of the Day If we have any natural defect, either in mind or body, let us not grieve and feel sorry for ourselves. Who can tell whether, if we had been given a larger share of ability or stronger health, or greater wealth, we would have possessed them to the destruction of our soul! -- St. Alphonsus Liguori

St.   Damien of Molokai Joseph de Veuster was a Belgian missionary priest working among the islanders of Honolulu. His bishop had trouble finding a priest to work in the leper settlement of Molokai. Joseph, better known as Father Damien, volunteered to go and work in the “living graveyard that was Molokai.” His solidarity with the lepers was so complete that he contracted the disease himself and died at the age of forty-nine in service to the poorest and most abandoned. Some of his contemporaries accused him of imprudence and foolhardiness. Today, however, he is recognized worldwide as a hero of the faith: Damien the Leper. Father Damien made a total life commitment to the poor long before the church recognized the preferential option for the poor as a pillar of the church”s social teaching. The Gospels teach us that as Christians we should give priority to the poor in the way we administer and dispense our resources. This is what we see in today’s gospel reading. Some...

All SOULS DAY REFLECTION If you were to collect all the passages about death and the afterlife in the Bible, you would still not have a clear picture about what the experience of death is like or what we can expect life to be like after we have died. Obviously God has had no intention of revealing very much about these two basic experiences, even though humans have speculated and written much about them. Death is an impenetrable wall or abyss that exists between us and the afterlife, at least as our knowledge is concerned. We are, however, asked to reflect on what precedes and what follows the experience of death itself. With regard to what precedes death, we are encouraged to reflect on God's mercy and goodness, not on our failures, torments, and trials of the past. The prophet Jeremiah rejects the thoughts that bring despair, regret, and depression; instead he fills his heart with the positive qualities of God: "His mercies are not spent; they are...