BIG C CATHOLICS

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH The angel visits Joseph ( Click here for today’s readings )  In the famous balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet , Juliet asks, “What’s in a name?” It is true enough that the name is not the same as the reality. And yet some names do matter. There are many names in today’s readings: Ahaz, Isaiah, Paul, Mary, Joseph. Two others really stand out: Emmanuel, and Jesus. About the name Jesus, St. Peter says in chapter 4 of Acts: “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” Jesus means God Saves, or God is salvation. This is why the angel tells Joseph, “You are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Then, of course, there is the magnificent prophetic name Emmanuel: God with us. Another name for Jesus also appears in today’s Gospel: Christ, which means Anointed, which translates the...

If you need a break from all the holiday cheer, take the US Religious Knowledge Quiz , sponsored by Pew. Afterwards, you can look up the results of the actual survey and see how you compare with the American public. (H/T: Perry Dane.)

This list is by no means definitive. It is impossible to give an exact number of saints. The majority are known only to God. The Virgin Mary has been omitted out of respect. The Mother of the Savior has a significant place in the divine economy of salvation. Contrary to popular imagination, the saints lived lives remarkably similar to our own. Living ordinary lives in extraordinary ways they were able to achieve heroic virtue. Such a life is possible for us today, with grace, unrelenting prayer, the sacraments and the saints as our guides. The number next to some saints is not intended as a rank. We have tried to include individuals who reflect the depth and scope of a universal Church that spans two millennia. 1. St. Peter - first pope, apostle, martyr 2. St. Paul of Tarsus -  missionary, author of scripture, martyr 3. St. John - apostle, evangelist, bishop 4. St. Thomas - apostle, missionary, martyr 5. St. Andrew - apostle, missionary, martyr 6. St. James...

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH ( Click here for today’s readings )  We are in Cycle A of the Sunday readings, in which the majority of the Gospel readings are from Matthew. In a few weeks we will be reading his account of Jesus’ Baptism. “Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” That was chapter 3 of Matthew. Today’s Gospel is from chapter 11. John needs to know: “Are you the one?” Strange, isn’t it? He knew him then. How can he now have doubts? What has changed is that John is now in prison! It would appear that this was not what he expected. Jesus’ answer is in two parts: Look around you. Everything prophesied in Isaiah 35 is being fulfilled—and more besides! Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me. What we have here is a beatitude! (There are many beatitudes in the Bible besides the...

Andrea Tornielli of Vatican Insider shows us what a day in the life of Pope Francis is like.  It begins early at quarter to five in the morning.  Not many details but interesting nonetheless.  Go here for her article.

By Fr. Tommy Lane John the Baptist is a powerful image placed before us every Advent. We might want to say John the Baptist preparing for Christ is our model during Advent. In the Gospel today John announces judgment, and next Sunday’s Gospel tells us of Jesus bringing salvation. John’s first word announces his theme, “Repent.” In other words, John asks his listeners to turn their minds and hearts away from whatever they had as their goal and look only to God. The reason is because “the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” In other words, Jesus the Messiah has already arrived. Everything about John shows that he himself has repented and turned away from everything to look only to God. He has nothing in the desert; he only has a garment of camel hair and whatever food he could find in the desert. John is living the very message he proclaims, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Because John is obviously radiating God’s word, we heard that Jerusalem, all Judea and th...