BIG C CATHOLICS

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH Photo of Eight-burst Nebula, Courtney Seligman   ( Click here for today’s readings ) One of the members of my La Salette religious community is Father Joe, who just turned 87. We get together often for an afternoon of “tea and computer.” He tells me what, in his insatiable curiosity, he needs to know, and I look it up on my laptop. But the first thing is always a visit to NASA’s website, APOD, i.e. “Astronomy Picture of the Day.” Fr. Joe loves science. Not rarely we find something like this (from June 7, 2015). “The Eight-Burst Nebula… originated in the outer layers of a star like our Sun… Neither the unusual shape of the surrounding cooler shell nor the structure and placements of the cool filamentary dust lanes… are well understood.” At which point Fr. Joe will say: “In other words, they haven’t got a clue!” We are meant to understand. That’s why we have a mind. Even children eventually come to rea...

Matthew Coffin Seven Saints for Seven Virtues (published 2014, by Servant Books, Cincinnati OH, 125 pages) by writer, speaker, psychologist, and award winning, Catholic blogger Jean M. Heimann M. A., examines seven saints and the virtue each personifies. As readers of her blog know, Ms. Heimann's writing is eloquent and accessible. Included is a thoughtful foreword by Lisa M. Hendey discussing how we, inspired by the saints' example, can overcome sin and temptation; act altruistically and persevere in love. Through the pursuit of virtue one acquires an habitual and firm disposition to do good. From the foreword: Faced alone, the ideal life of virtue may seem out of reach for a simple soul such as me. But the good news is that in this life and along this journey, I am never alone. I travel in the companionship of saints canonized, and those known only to their most intimate loved ones. I travel in the loving embrace of a Creator who made me, just as I am, to know, love...

Because I can't say this prayer enough in light of recent events. Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices. — St. Teresa of Avila

WARNING: The statements (in red) by women about their abortions are offensive to anyone with a conscience. The Daily Mail article contains many more.  A women who expresses no remorse after killing her unborn child has, in all likelihood, been misled and lied to. Please pray for these women and the innocent victims of abortion. Women the world over have opened up on their abortions using the sharing app Whisper. Whisper is an online community where anonymous users share and comment on each other's secrets. Revealing their true feelings on the termination of their pregnancies, the women's confessions varied from lack of remorse, to one woman admitting she visited a nightclub the very same day of her abortion procedure. Via Daily Mail : I had an abortion a week ago. I don't feel the slightest bit of guilt, I even went out to a club on the same day. I love getting pregnant but I'm not ready for kids. Sometimes I feel guilty over the fact that I feel no guilt a...

St. John Vianney, the Cure d' Ars Jean Baptiste Marie Vianney (1786 – 1859) was a French parish priest assigned to Ars, a town of 230 inhabitants (hence his designation as the  Curé d'Ars .) He became internationally known for his priestly work because of the spiritual transformation of the community. People traveled for miles to attend his Masses, hear him preach, and go to confession. Vianney was canonized by Pope Pius XI and is the patron saint of parish priests. St. John Vianney is remembered for extolling the sacrament of confession as indispensable to a life of virtue, for his personal piety, mortification, and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This collection of St. John Vianney quotations on prayer reflect his lifelong dedication to knowing and making known the ways of God and the mind of Christ. Man has a noble task: That of prayer and love. To pray and love, that is the happiness of man on earth. Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the so...

Mohandas K. Gandhi The following quote attributed to Mohandas Gandhi has been used as a rhetorical cudgel against Christians, portraying them as vain, materialistic, hypocritical disciples: "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." — Mahatma Gandhi Another version attributed to Gandhi elaborates on how Christians are unlike Christ: "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. The materialism of affluent Christian countries appears to contradict the claims of Jesus Christ that says it's not possible to worship both Mammon and God at the same time." Despite the ubiquity of this saying on the internet and elsewhere, I find no evidence that Gandhi uttered these words. First, whenever it is invoked, no source is provided. Second, Gandhi says, " your  Christ" and " your  Christians" as if he were addressing a follower of Jesus. Mohandas...

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH Jesus in the synagogue...   Greg K. Olsen ( Click here for today’s readings ) Have you ever known someone who “got religion”? In 1977 it was being reported that the famous publisher of a pornographic magazine had been converted through the efforts of Ruth Carter Stapleton, sister of President Carter. Many were skeptical, especially since the conversion resulted in no change to the publisher’s business or lifestyle. No one was surprised when he later said he was an atheist. Every year in Lent we see people returning to church, seriously intending to resume the practice of their Catholic faith. We rejoice to see them, we hope for the best, but we also know that in some cases the enthusiasm will fade. Of course, in many cases, the conversion is genuine. Still, for those who know the individuals in question, it is normal to take a wait-and-see attitude. That seems to be what happened to St. Paul, who was as ...