BIG C CATHOLICS

Holy See press office director Fr. Federico Lombardi issued the following statement regarding the terrorist attacks Friday evening in Paris: Here in the Vatican we are following the terrible news from Paris. We are shocked by this new manifestation of maddening, terrorist violence and hatred which we condemn in the most radical way together with the Pope and all those who love peace. We pray for the victims and the wounded, and for all the French people. This is an attack on peace for all humanity, and it requires a decisive, supportive response on the part of all of us as we counter the spread of homicidal hatred in all of its forms. Saturday, in a telephone interview with the Italian Bishops Conference’s television network , Pope Francis was asked about the tragedy: Your Holiness, what are your thoughts concerning the carnage in Paris? I do not understand. Such things are hard to comprehend when they are perpetrated by human beings. I am moved and I am saddened. I pray for t

Jesus, you made Blessed Teresa an example, of humility, charity and selflessness. She taught us that every human life has value and dignity. May we follow her in heeding Your cry of thirst from the Cross, and in loving the poorest of the poor.  Grant us, by her intercession, and according to Your will, the graces we implore..., hoping that she will soon be numbered among Your saints. We ask this in Your name,  through the intercession of Mary,  Your Mother and the Mother of us all. Amen.

The Feast of Christ the King was established by Pope Pius XI to remind the world, that Jesus Christ is Lord of the Universe. It occurs on the last Sunday of the liturgical year. The feast was instituted on December 11, 1925 with the encyclical Quas Primas . The Holy Father was responding to the fact that the world was becoming increasingly nationalistic and secular. Governments were claiming more and more allegiance from their citizens and attempting to replace God. Sign up for daily reminders to pray the Christ the King Novena . Pius XI expected three blessings to flow from the celebration of the feast: first, that "men will doubtless be reminded that the Church, founded by Christ as a perfect society, has a natural and inalienable right to perfect freedom and immunity from the power of the state"; second, that "Nations will be reminded by the annual celebration of this feast that not only private individuals but also rulers and princes are bound to give public

  The Lamentation of Christ , (detail) Giotto di Bondone, Scrovegni Chapel, c. 1305. As we continue to pray for the faithful departed in this month of November, here is another funeral homily (reprinted with permission) by Father Daren Zehnle, delivered February 23, 2008. Fr. Daren J. Zehnle, K.H.S. Pontifical Gregorian University Diocese of Springfield The readings for the funeral were Isaiah 25:6a, 7-9; I Corinthians 15:51-57; and Matthew 5:1-12a. So very often in his earthly ministry, Jesus went up the side of a mountain - as he does in today’s Gospel - to teach his disciples. He still sits as a teacher today and teaches us from the mountainside about death and about life. It is here on this mountain at which we have gathered - here at this sanctuary of the Lord - that “the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples. On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations; he will destroy death forever,” (Isaiah 25:6-8)

Today the dioceses in the United States celebrate the memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, virgin, born in Lombardy, Italy, one of thirteen children. She came to America as a missionary, founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart to care for poor children in schools and hospitals. She is the first American citizen to be canonized. I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know Him or have forgotten Him. — St. Frances Xavier Cabrini The day of her confirmation on August 1, 1858, Frances experienced an epiphany. When anointed with the chrism oil she felt transformed. She said later, "From that moment, I was no longer of the earth... I knew the Holy Ghost had come to me." Having heard the stories of the missionaries all her life, she now wanted to become a missionary in China. When she brought up the idea to Rosa, (out of concern for her frail and sickly sister) Rosa scolded Frances saying "You, so l

Today the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Josaphat, a Catholic of the Ruthenian rite. (Video below.) Born in the then Polish region of Lithuania of Orthodox parents, he became a Catholic and a Ukrainian Basilian monk. Chosen bishop, he worked faithfully for the unity of the Church until he suffered martyrdom at the hands of an angry mob in Russia (1623). As the mob moved in to kill him, Josaphat said: You people of Vitebsk want to put me to death. You make ambushes for me everywhere, in the streets, on the bridges, on the highways and in the marketplace. I am here among you as your shepherd and you ought to know that I should be happy to give my life for you. I am ready to die for the holy union, for the supremacy of Saint Peter and of his successor the Supreme Pontiff. Read Pius XI's Encyclical Ecclesiam Dei on St. Josaphat. St. Josaphat Josaphat Kuncewitcz was born about the year 1580 at Vladimir, Volhynia, [part of the Polish province of Lithuania at the time] a

A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman Imperial Army. Most centurions commanded groups of centuries of around 80-100 men. Senior centurions commanded cohorts (the basic tactical unit of a Roman legion) or took senior staff roles in their legion. They were soldiers of renown, greatly respected by their fellow citizens. Two centurions figured predominately in the life of Jesus. The gospels render them nameless. In one instance, a centurion beseeched Jesus to cure an ailing servant who was critically ill. The story is related in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Luke writes: When he had finished all his words to the people, he entered Capernaum.  A centurion there had a slave who was ill and about to die, and he was valuable to him. When he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and save the life of his slave. They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying, "He deserves to have you do this for him, for he loves our na