BIG C CATHOLICS

Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) Today we continue our Christmas celebration with a consideration of the Holy Family. This feast has the same first two readings every year but one of three different Gospels. The first reading is always the reading from Sirach about the honor that children should extend to their parents. The second reading is always the reading from Colossians about respecting each other’s position within the family. It is not a divine decree that women should be subordinated to men any more than was St. Paul’s admonition to slaves to be faithful to their masters is a divine endorsement of slavery. In today’s Gospel Mary and Joseph present Jesus in Jerusalem’s Temple in fulfillment of their religious tradition. You parents can remember when your children were infants. You couldn’t wait to show them off to family and friends. You probably had a big celebration on that very special day when you went to your parish church a

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) Today we continue our Christmas celebration with a consideration of the Holy Family. This feast has the same first two readings every year but one of three different Gospels. The first reading is always the reading from Sirach about the honor that children should extend to their parents. The second reading is always the reading from Colossians about respecting each other’s position within the family. It is not a divine decree that women should be subordinated to men any more than was St. Paul’s admonition to slaves to be faithful to their masters is a divine endorsement of slavery. In today’s Gospel Mary and Joseph present Jesus in Jerusalem’s Temple in fulfillment of their religious tradition. You parents can remember when your children were infants. You couldn’t wait to show them off to family and friends. You probably had a big celebration on that very special day when you went to

Feast - August 26th The image of Our Lady of Częstochowa, also known as the Black Madonna, was traditionally believed to have been painted by Saint Luke the Evangelist on a cypress wood panel from a table used by the Holy Family in Nazareth. It was said to have been brought from Jerusalem by Saint Helen and was enshrined in Constantinople for 500 years. It was given to a Greek princess married to a Ruthenian nobleman and it was housed in the royal palace at Belz in the Ukraine for the next 600 years. Art historians believe it is a Byzantine icon of the Hodigitria type dating from the 6th - 9th Century. The image was brought to Poland in 1382 by Ladislaus of Opole who rescued the painting from Belz while escaping an attack by the Tartars who had damaged the painting with an arrow. On his way to Silesia, Ladislaus stopped to rest in the town of Częstochowa near the church on Jasna Góra (Bright Hill). He believed that it was Our Lady’s desire for her image to remain in Częstochow

A father's love reflects something of the infinite perfection of God. Like Joseph, who humbly accepted his role as guardian, husband and father in the Holy Family, a father should protect and provide. May fathers everywhere recognize their divine calling as models of selflessness love in their families and the world. _________________________________________________ Prayer for Fathers God our Father, you govern and protect your people and shepherd them with a father’s love. You place a father in a family as a sign of your enduring love and constant protection. May fathers everywhere be faithful to the example shown in the Scriptures: steadfast in love, forgiving and sustaining forces in their families by caring for those in need. Grant wisdom to fathers so that they may encourage and guide their children. Guide every father with the Spirit of your love that they may increase in holiness and draw their family ever closer to you. Amen. Happy Father's Day to all Fath

One of the Church’s most beloved saints is also one about whom we know relatively little. St. Joseph, whose feast day we celebrate on March 19, is mentioned only in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and even there his story goes no further than a pilgrimage to Jerusalem when Jesus was 12. However, that story is a remarkable one, full of great faith and love for both God and the Holy Family who were commended to his care. We do know a few important things about him. For instance, although he was a humble carpenter, he was nonetheless a descendant of the kingly “house and lineage” of David. We know, too, that he was a “righteous (or just) man,” a designation in Scripture which indicates his total openness to God and God’s will. And though certainly obedient to the law — we see this in his decision to divorce Mary because she was carrying a child he knew was not his — he was also a man of great compassion, because he also decided to do so quietly. To understand the true significance o

Saints Joachim and Anne where the parents of the most holy Virgin Mary. Sacred Scripture does not mentioned them. Much of what we know of them comes from pious tradition. Among holy parents Joachim and Anne are unique. By God's divine grace their daughter was born the Immaculately Conception. From them Mary received her training to be the Mother of God. Devotion to Ann and Joachim is an extension of the honor accorded our Blessed Mother. They serve as the consummate role models for parents. As the grandparents of Jesus, they have a direct bloodline to Christ Incarnate. In their devotion to God and Our Lady, they should be revered and emulated. By virtue of their intimacy with the Holy Family, Sts. Joaquin and Anne are the most powerful of intercessors. (See homily below.) The Lives of Sts. Joachim and Anne Who does not know about the great shrine of Ste. Anne de Beaupre in Canada, where miracles abound, where cured cripples leave their crutches, and where people come from th

Today is the second day of the Novena to St. Joseph, Husband of Mary. We pray especially for fathers, that they follow St. Joseph's example. Let us pray that they grow in holiness and grace. May they become ever more like St. Joseph, our Lady's protector, and foster father of our Redeemer. We also pray for couples struggling with infertility, widows, widowers, and all single people looking for a spouse. Day 2 - St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Novena (For an audio/video version of this prayer go here .) Saint Joseph, you are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you. You know that I have confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I come to you as an example for holiness, for you are especially close with God. Therefore, I humbly commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession. I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life and to assist me at the hour of my death.

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) What it means to be a family is undergoing a redefinition in our culture. No longer is the term “family” applied strictly to a household with mom, dad and the children all living together in the same home at the same time. As a matter of fact what is known as the nuclear family is now in the minority. We have now various arrangements found in single parent families, in families in which the parents are of the same gender, and in families in which one parent is simply living with a boyfriend or a girlfriend. One major consequence is that children now must relate to multiple sets of parents, multiple sets of grandparents, aunts and uncles, or other adults who are not related to them by birth or blood. The Fourth Commandment, “Honor thy father and honor thy mother” is now strained, to say the least. How is that divine commandment, handed down on Mt. Sinai to Moses and the Israelites, to b