BIG C CATHOLICS

In the January 2016 issue of First Things , Ethics and Public Policy Center Distinguished Senior Fellow George Weigel offers a close examination of this fall’s Synod on the Family in Rome. Here is an excerpt from Mr. Weigel’s essay: The contest over the Catholic Church’s response to the sexual revolution, which involves basic questions of the Church’s self-understanding and the Church’s pastoral approach to mission, will continue long past the most recent Synod on the Family. Nonetheless, the arguments abroad in Rome during the meeting, and the way the great majority of them were resolved in the final report, reinforced the doctrinal and theological foundations on which that contest must be fought, claims to the contrary from those who lost most of what they were seeking in Rome notwithstanding. To put all of that into a clearer focus than was available in October through the smog of the mainstream media and blogosphere, attention must be paid to what actually happened. Game Cha

Today the Church in the United States celebrates the optional memorial of St. Juan Diego , an Indian convert, to whom the Virgin Mary appeared as he was going to Mass in Tlatlelolco, Mexico. Our Lady asked him to tell Bishop Juan de Zumárraga that she desired a shrine to be built on the spot to manifest her love for all mankind. She left a portrait of herself on the mantle of Juan Diego as a sign for the Bishop. This miraculous image has proved to be timeless, and is kept in the shrine built in Mary's honor, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas . The Life of St. Juan Diego Little is known about the life of Juan Diego before his conversion, but tradition and archaelogical and iconographical sources, along with the most important and oldest indigenous document on the event of Guadalupe, "El Nican Mopohua" , [written in Náhuatl with Latin characters, 1556, by the Indigenous writer Antonio Valeriano] give information on the life of the saint

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the solemn dogma defined by Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1854 [ Ineffabilis Deus ]. As Our Lady Immaculately Conceived is the patroness of the United States of America, this is a holy day of obligation in the United States. Catechism of the Catholic Church [491] Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin. The Immaculate Conception of Mary "Hail Mary, full of grace". For thousands of centuries, millions of times per day the Virgin Mary is greeted by

St. Ambrose (340-397) was born in Gaul, a territory that included modern France, Britain, Spain, and part of Africa. He studied in Rome and later became governor of Liguria and Aemelia. While supervising the election of a new bishop of Milan in 374, Ambrose  himself was suddenly acclaimed the bishop [despite being only a catechumen at the time]. Ambrose was ordained a priest and consecrated a bishop on Dec. 7. He wrote extensively on the Scriptures and Fathers, preached a homily every Sunday, resisted the interference of the secular powers with the rights of the Church, opposed heretics and was instrumental in bringing about the conversion of St. Augustine. Ambrose composed numerous hymns, promoted sacred chant and took a great interest in the Liturgy. [Video below.] [Picture: Detail, Altarpiece of St Ambrose , Alvise Vivarini, c. 1503.] The Life of St. Ambrose Around the year 333 Ambrose was born in Trier, Gaul, the child of a noble Roman family. After his father's death

The Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy begins Dec 8. As with other jubilee years, Pope Francis has instructed that special indulgences be available for the faithful. They may be obtained for oneself or for individuals who have died. For able-bodied Catholics ◗ Take a pilgrimage. Make a journey to your local Holy Door (a physical portal in your local cathedral, shrine or other designated Church) or to one of the Holy Doors in the four papal basilicas in Rome. Crossing through a Holy Door is a spiritual journey that signals, as the Holy Father said, "the deep desire for true conversion." ◗ Go to confession. ◗ Receive the Holy Eucharist "with a reflection of mercy." ◗ Make a profession of faith. ◗ Pray for the pope and for his intentions. For the elderly, confined and the sick ◗ Pope Francis said that they may obtain the indulgence by "living with faith and joyful hope this moment of trial." ◗ Or by attending Mass and community prayer, &quo

The Apotheosis of St. Thomas Aquinas, (alterpiece) Francisco de Zurbarán, 1631 One of the most brilliant minds in the history of the Church was St. Thomas Aquinas, born 790 years ago. He dedicated his life to creating a complete synthesis of Catholic philosophy and theology. But when he was 48 years old, he stopped writing. When asked why, he answered: "The end of my labors has come. All that I have written appears to be as so much straw after the things that have been revealed to me." What had happened was this. On the feast of St. Nicholas (December 6) he had a vision of Christ, who said to him, “You have written well of me, Thomas. What reward would you have for your labor?” Thomas answered, "Nothing but you, Lord." Jesus gave him what he asked, and Thomas seems to have recognized how infinitely superior this new wisdom was to anything he had ever known. Three months later he passed into eternal life. From Fr. René Butler's homily .

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) There is a hidden theme in today’s Liturgy that reverberates deep within us, a quality to the readings in this Mass that speaks to things at work deep within our hearts and souls. It is, I think, the vision that in a world filled with chaotic and terrible things there still exists the possibility of a good life, a life filled with justice, peace, goodness, wholesomeness, beauty and the things of God. Godliness is possible in a world where it seems to be almost impossible. At a time when the Jews were being held in captivity far distant from their homeland and Jerusalem we hear in today’s first reading the Prophet Baruch proclaim: Up, Jerusalem! Stand upon the heights; look to the east and see your children gathered from the east and West at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that they are remembered by God. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be leveled.