BIG C CATHOLICS

Father Lance Harlow As we mature, we gain experience in enduring the reality of changing events. The change in our own person is called aging. In society, change is called progress. In architecture, it is called development. However we categorize the experience of movement from one thing to another and its emotional effect upon us, St. Paul puts into blunt perspective that the minor changes in the human condition pale before the one fundamental life changing event, which is called death. He states in his letter to the Corinthians: “Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility, and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality” (1 Cor 15:51-53). St. Paul is speaking about the second coming of Christ at w

August 6, 2017 Our divine Redeemer, being in Galilee about a year before His sacred Passion, took with him St. Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, Sts. James and John, and led them to a retired mountain. Tradition assures us that this was Mount Thabor, which is exceedingly high and beautiful, and was anciently covered with green trees and shrubs, and was very fruitful. It rises something like a sugar-loaf, in a vast plain in the middle of Galilee. This was the place in which our Lord the Man-God appeared in all His heavenly glory. Whilst Jesus prayed, he suffered that glory which was always due to his sacred humility, and of which, for our sake, He deprived it, to diffuse a ray over His whole body. His face was altered and shone as the sun, and his garments became white as snow. Moses and Elias were seen by the three apostles in his company on this occasion, and were heard discoursing with him of the death which he was to suffer in Jerusalem. The three apostles were wonderful

On Sundays when homilies by Fr. Butler and Fr. Irvin are not available, we will feature homilies by Fr. Thomas Lane. Fr. Lane is a Professor of Sacred Scripture at Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD on the campus of Mt. St. Mary’s University. He previously ministered in Ireland. (Originally delivered in 2013). Fr. Thomas J. Lane S.T.D. Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture Mt. St. Mary's Seminary Emmitsburg, MD  Fr. Lane's website Jesus is the Promised Messiah Listen to Him even as He predicts His Passion What a grace for Peter and James and John to see Jesus transfigured. They got a preview of the glory of Jesus risen from the dead and his glory in heaven. It was also a preview of the glory we all hope to share in heaven. This was a very special grace for Peter and James and John. It was not the only special grace Jesus shared with Peter, James and John. Earlier in the Gospel (Mark and Luke) we read that Jesus only allowed Peter and Jam

July 25th, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Saint James the Greater, the Apostle and martyr. Both his parents, Zebedee and Salome were people of affluence and well-respected. His father was a fisherman of the Lake of Galilee, who lived in or near Bethsaida, perhaps in Capharnaum who had several hired men in his employ. His mother was one of the pious women referenced by Scripture who followed Christ and “ministered unto Him of their substance.” James is called “the Greater” to distinguish him from the Apostle James “the Less,” who was probably shorter of stature. We know little of St. James’s early life. He was the eldest brother of John, the beloved disciple. According to the social rank of their parents, they were certainly men of ordinary education, in the common walks of Jewish life. They had opportunity of coming in contact with Greek culture and language which flourished on the shores of the Galilean Sea. The Galilean origin of St. James in part explains the ene

June 28th, the Church observes the memorial of Saint Irenaeus, the 2nd century Father of the Church whose brilliant theology refuted heresy, affirmed the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and helped to establish the Scriptural canon. Born in Asia Minor around the year 130, he studied with the great saint, Polycarp of Smyrna, who was himself formed in the faith by the Apostle John. Thus, Irenaeus was steeped in both Scripture and the apostolic tradition, a background that prepared him thoroughly for the ministry he would eventually undertake. Irenaeus became a priest and later, bishop of the Church of Lyons, province of Gaul (present-day France) in 177, during the persecutions of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. His greatest struggle, however, would not be against Rome, but against the heresy known as Gnosticism, which denied Christ’s humanity and promoted instead "secret knowledge" as key to salvation. His five-volume work, Against Heresies , effectively ended the

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Provincial Superior, La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for today’s readings ) All of us know people who have retired to Florida or Arizona or California, or even people from points south who have retired to New Hampshire or Vermont. But none of them moved because God told them to. Here we have Abram—at the age of 75, by the way—being told, by the Lord, to do what was unthinkable in his world, to leave country and family behind and go he knew not where. This was nothing like retirement. It was starting all over again. But he did it, because God made him a promise. The trade-off was this: God would gain a people who would worship him exclusively, and  Abraham, still childless at this point, would have more descendants than could ever be counted. God didn’t say it would be easy, and in fact it wasn’t easy for him or his descendants, down to this very day. In Lent perhaps more than at other times we think of “doin

February 23th, the Church celebrates the optional memorial of Saint Polycarp (69 – 155 AD), the 1st century bishop, martyr and renowned Apostolic Father. Polycarp was widely venerated largely through the accounts of his heroic martyrdom as recorded by the Church in Smyrna. Tradition holds he was born a pagan before being befriended by Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist who catechized Polycarp in the Faith. As Bishop of Smyrna, (a city in Turkey) Polycarp defended orthodoxy and was a staunch opponent of heresy, most notably the Gnostic sects of Marcionism and Valentinianism. He is honored in both the Eastern and Western Church as one of the three chief Apostolic Fathers (together with Saint Clement of Rome and Saint Ignatius of Antioch). His pupil Saint Irenaeus of Lyons praised his personal holiness and great devotion to God. Some scholars contend that Polycarp may have been responsible for compiling, editing and publishing the New Testament. Whatever the case, there is no doubt

Then I saw standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and the elders a Lamb that seemed to have been slain. He had seven horns and seven eyes; these are the [seven] spirits of God sent out into the whole world. — Revelation 5:6  The first and fundamental vision of John, in fact, concerns the figure of the Lamb who is slain yet standing (cf. Rv 5: 6), and is placed before the throne on which God himself is already seated. By saying this, John wants first of all to tell us two things: the first is that although Jesus was killed with an act of violence, instead of falling heavily to the ground, he paradoxically stands very firmly on his own feet because, with the Resurrection, he overcame death once and for all. The other thing is that Jesus himself, precisely because he died and was raised, henceforth fully shares in the kingship and saving power of the Father. This is the fundamental vision. — Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, August 23, 2006

December 27th, is the feast of Saint John the Apostle, Evangelist and "beloved disciple". He wrote the Gospel bearing his name, three Epistles and the Book of Revelation. A fisherman by trade, he was born in Galilee, the son of Zebedee and Salome, and younger brother of Saint James the Great. Together with his brother and Saint Peter, he was singled out to witness the raising of Jairus’ daughter, the Transfiguration and Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane. Standing at the foot of the cross, Jesus entrusts His Mother to John’s care. John is the only Apostle (besides Judas) spared from martyrdom, despite several attempts on his life. James and John, whom Christ called the "sons of thunder" were mending nets with their father when the Savior asked them to follow Him. This epithet applies in a particular way to John, who courageously proclaimed the most sublime mysteries of Christ’s divinity. He was the youngest of all the Apostles, probably about 25, at the time of his c

December 15th, the feast of St. Virginia Centurione Bracelli, a 16th century Italian lay woman who founded the Sisters of Our Lady of Refuge on Mount Calvary and the Daughters of Our Lady on Mount Calvary, is celebrated in Italy. She was born in Genoa, Italy to a noble family, the only daughter of Giorgio Centurione, and Lelia Spinola, and forced into marriage at 15. She bore two daughters and was widowed in 1607 aged 20. She refused another marriage and made a vow of chastity. She devoted her life to helping the needy and the sick and died in 1651. She was canonized by Saint John Paul II on May 18, 2003. At her canonization Mass, St. John Paul praised her selfless devotion in these words: "In response to the exhortation of the Apostle John, [Virginia Centurione Bracelli] wanted to love not only "with words", "or with her lips", but "with deeds and in truth" (I Jn 3:18). Disregarding her noble origins, she devoted herself to assisting the lowlies

The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew , Caravaggio, c. 1603–1606. Feast of Saint Andrew, November 30, 2016 By Msgr. Bernard Bourgeois Romans 10:9-18; Psalm 19; Matthew 4:18-22 “ Come after me . .... ” (Mt 4:19) The calling of Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John, all fishermen, fascinates today’s Christians. Could it really be true that Jesus could just walk along and expect these four men to abandon their families and careers? From all that is found in the Gospels, it seems so. They were overwhelmed by the aura and power of Christ. They had no choice but to follow Him; they knew it in the depths of their hearts and souls. Following Jesus wholeheartedly was not unique to these four apostles; you and I are called in much the same way. Leaving everything behind and following Christ unencumbered by worldly concerns is the journey of every Christian. So what specifically needs to be left behind? And what does it mean to follow Christ? Let’s begin with the later questi

Question 45 in the Summa theologiae : 1. In St. Matthew's Gospel (chap. 17) we read that our Lord was transfigured in the sight of his apostles Peter, James,and John. "And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun, and his garments became white as snow." Thus the three apostles had a glimpse of such glory as would come to them after their life of fidelity to God, through hardships and trials. Our Lord had told the apostles of his coming Passion before he gave them this encouraging experience of seeing the Transfiguration. Christ as man had the glory of the beatific vision from the first instant of his existence in Mary's womb. But he was not to have the "overflow of heavenly glory into his body" until his Resurrection from the dead. 2. In the Transfiguration, our Lord showed by way of anticipation the clarity of his bodily glory. This was the essential clarity of true heavenly glory, here manifested in a new mode, that is, as

August 6th, is the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord. It was declared a universal feast by Pope Callixtus III in 1456 to commemorate the victory of Christian forces at the Siege of Belgrade. The Transfiguration is found in all three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 17:1–9, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28–36 describe it, and 2 Peter 1:16–18 refers to it). It is the only miracle involving Jesus exclusively. Prefiguring His Ascension and manifesting His Divinity, Jesus, is transfigured, becoming resplendent in glory upon Mt. Tabor. At that moment, Christ's interior Divinity and Beatific soul overflowed His body, so that Jesus shone as bright as the sun. The apostles Peter, who according to Aquinas, loved Jesus the most, James, who was the first of the Apostles to die for his faith, and John, who the Lord loved especially, were the only eyewitnesses. From the Gospel of Mark: Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transf

Learning to Love With the Saints: A Spiritual Memoir , (published 2016, by Mercy Press, Wichita, KS, 122 pages) the second book from writer, speaker, psychologist and blogger, Jean Heimann, M. A., is an intimate account of her life’s search for authentic love. Coming of age at a time of social upheaval, widespread religious questioning, and great personal difficulties, she looked everywhere but the Church to find it. Professional success did nothing to quell her heart’s deepest longing for purpose and meaning. For fifteen years she followed the zeitgeist , not the Gospel, distinguishing, but not fulfilling herself. Slowly, through divine serendipity and the Sacred Heart of Christ, she would reaffirm her faith in God and the Church. Along the way, the saints she had venerated in her childhood reemerged to remind her of God’s boundless love. Like her blog, Catholic Fire , her spiritual biography features men and women of heroic virtue who speak to us today. Learning to Love With the

Due to technical difficulties, [no internet over the weekend] we were unable to post the following on Sunday. The Feast of Saint John the apostle is commemorated each December 27th. This liturgical year, the evangelist’s feast fell on a Sunday and was thus superseded by the Feast of the Holy Family. John’s prominence in the spread and development of the Church is undeniable. We therefore present to you this summation of his life and contributions. ____________ St. John, the apostle and evangelist, is the only apostle [excluding Judas Iscariot] not to be martyred; having survived at least one attempt on his life . Born in Bethsaida, he was called while mending his nets to follow Christ. He would become Jesus’ beloved disciple. John wrote the fourth Gospel, three Epistles and the Apocalypse [Book of Revelation]. His passages on the pre-existence of the Word, who by His Incarnation became the light of the world, and the life of our souls, are among the finest spiritual reflections in

EMPTY IS BEAUTIFUL Fr. Rene Butler Usually we think of emptiness as not good, when something that is supposed to fill that space is gone. That was the reaction of most of the disciples who found the tomb of Jesus empty. One important exception was the Beloved Disciple, who ran to the tomb with Peter after Mary Magdalene told them that Jesus’ body was missing. When he entered the tomb after Peter, the Gospel says, “He saw, and he believed.” In other words, he understood what had really happened, and for him that empty tomb became one of the most beautiful places in the world. You can just imagine him thinking the biblical equivalent of “cool!” “awesome!” “wow!” We make our churches as beautiful as possible for Easter. And that beauty is enhanced by the fact that our churches are fuller than usual. Ideally the fruit of the empty tomb is a full church, people of faith gathered together to celebrate the Risen Christ, week after week after week. How wonderful it would be if all