BIG C CATHOLICS

All life has inestimable value even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God’s creation, made in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect. — Pope Francis

St. Joseph the Worker, Andre Prevost , 2013   Today is Father's Day. This post is dedicated to my father and to fathers everywhere. St. Joseph is the patron saint of fathers. As the stepfather of Jesus and the husband of Mary – it was an indescribable honor for him to bring up the Son of God. Fathers who want to live their vocation well should look to him for guidance and inspiration. Prayer to St. Joseph  Dear St. Joseph, the Creator of the universe entrusted his Only-Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and the Virgin Mary, the Mother of his Son, to your loving care and watchful protection. Your humble labor in the workshop of Nazareth, reflected the creative work of God the Father and his provident guidance of all things. Intercede now for God’s Holy Church. May we hear the word of God in faith, respond with hopeful hearts to God’s plan for us, and work and pray in loving communion. Help us to make our homes into a new Nazareth, the Church into a Holy Fa

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee , Rembrandt , 1633 Fr. Butler is away on retreat. I submit to you Fr. Charles Irvin's homily on Jesus calming the storms in our lives and the value of suffering: Fr. Charles Irvin ( Click here for today's readings ) Your doctor informs you that you have cancer. Your wife tells you she has been seeing another man. Your husband tells you he’s found a younger woman and is going to marry her. You son announces that he has AIDS. Your employer tells you that your job as been outsourced and your services will no longer be needed. Any number of events can bring your life crashing down. People of faith do not necessarily have trouble free and painless lives and people with little or no faith at all can be found living wonderful, prosperous, and problem free lives, or so it seems on the surface. Life’s blows come to us all no matter what things may seem like on the surface.If you look deeply into the lives of the rich and famous

Aleteia has a symposium online which you should consult for an even handed consideration of the pontiff's second encyclical. From Aleteia: Reaction to Pope Francis’s encyclical letter Laudato Si’ (Praised Be) , on care for our common home, is anything but "monolithic." The encyclical, dated May 24 (Pentecost Sunday) and released June 18, has 246 paragraphs and six chapters, with themes such as “The human roots of the ecological crisis” and “Integral ecology.” It is giving critics much fodder for commentary and environmentalists much to rejoice about. Aleteia solicited comment from several experts in academia, think tanks and the mission field. They will be adding to the symposium  as more comments are made.

St. James the Greater James, son of Zebedee : Killed by Herod (Acts 12:2). The Acts of the Apostles records that "Herod the king" (traditionally identified with Herod Agrippa) had James executed by sword. He is the only apostle whose martyrdom is recorded in the New Testament.  Eusebius says James’ calm demeanor at trial so sufficiently impressed that one of his accusers converted. St. Peter Peter (Simon Peter) : Crucifixion, as implied by Jesus in John 21:18-19 in Rome, as mentioned by second-century sources such as Tertullian. According to Christian tradition, Peter was crucified in Rome under Emperor Nero Augustus Caesar.  It is traditionally held that he was crucified upside down at his own request, since he saw himself unworthy to be crucified in the same way as Jesus. Tradition holds that he was crucified at the site of the Clementine Chapel. His mortal remains are said to be those contained in the underground Confessio of St. Peter's Basilica, where

Vatican officials have revealed that the nation of Mexico received a rarely used special rite of exorcism, an Exorcismo Magno , last month in the cathedral of San Luis Potosí. High levels of violence, drug cartels and abortions in the country precipitated the rite. Courtesy of CNA/ EWTN News : Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, the archbishop emeritus of Guadalajara, presided at the closed doors ceremony, the first ever in the history of Mexico. Also participating were Archbishop Jesús Carlos Cabrero of San Luis Potosí, Spanish demonologist and exorcist Father José Antonio Fortea, and a smaller group of priests and lay people. The event was not made known to the general public beforehand. According to Archbishop Cabrero, the reserved character of the May 20 ceremony was intended to avoid any misguided interpretations of the ritual. But how can an entire country become infested by demons to the point that it’s necessary to resort to an Exorcismo Magno? “To the extent sin increas

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH  Christ preaching to his disciples and others , Willian Brassey Hole , c. 1900's ( Click here for today’s readings ) When a child asks you what an unfamiliar word or expression means, you may well find yourself beginning the explanation with, “Well, it’s something like...” You start with something the child already knows, in hopes of providing the appropriate insight. This is a natural and quite universal teaching method; recognizable images and interesting stories have always sparked understanding. It should not amaze us, therefore, that Jesus used this approach so often, thirty-two times that we know of, in three Gospels. Surprisingly, there are no parables in John, and only four of Jesus’ parables occur in all three of the other Gospels. Some of the parables have a moral, such as, “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart,” at the end of the par