BIG C CATHOLICS

Tradition holds that the medieval saint Thomas Aquinas levitated and had visions of our Lord. He was greatly concerned with explaining the mind of God, and he continues to matter because he helps us with a problem which still confounds us today; how we can reconcile religion with science and faith with reason. Aquinas’ monumental contribution was to teach Western civilization that any person could have access to great truths whenever they made use of God's gift of reason. Aquinas broke a log jam in Christian thinking over the question of how non-Christians could have both wisdom and at the same time no interest in or even knowledge of Jesus. Aquinas universalized intelligence. He opened the Christian mind to the insights of all of humanity from across the ages and the continents. The modern world insofar as it insists that good ideas can come from any quarter regardless of creed or background remains hugely in Aquinas’ debt. As a young seminarian, Aquinas went to study at th

The following seven saints Buonfiglio dei Monaldi (Bonfilius), Alexis Falconieri, John Bonagiunta, Benedict dell'Antella, Bartholomew Amidei, Gerard Sostegni, and Ricoverus Uguccione were the founders of the Servite Order, a religious community dedicated explicitly to helping foster the practice of reparation and contemplating the Passion of our Lord and the Blessed Mother's Seven Sorrows. The Servites accomplishments are not widely known, due to the spirit of humility cherished by its members. Their work in home missions promoting reverence for Christ’s suffering on Calvary and inspiring devotion to the Mother of Sorrows has benefited innumerable souls. Their divine ministry began in a period of turmoil. When Florence and all Italy was beset by civil strife, during the 13th century, God called seven men from the nobility of Florence. In 1233, they met together and prayed for guidance. The Blessed Mother appeared to each of them individually and extolled them to pursue liv

Marriage properly understood, is the conjugal union of a man and woman for life, of exclusive and mutual fidelity, for the procreation and education of children. The dual purpose of sexual union is unitive: the bonding of spouses in greater love and intimacy, and, procreative: to collaborate freely and responsibly with God in the transmission of human life so as to be open to the blessing of children. Pope Paul VI’s seventh and last encyclical, Humanae Vitae affirms the Church’s long held prohibition against artificial contraception. Therefore, "any action which, either in anticipation of the conjugal act or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible" ( Humanae Vitae 14) is a sin against "the wise institution of the Creator to realize in mankind His design of love." Here is an excellent explanation of the Church's teaching on Contraception. Annie D

February 15th is the feast of St. Claude de la Colombiere (1641-1682), the 17th century Jesuit priest, preacher and missionary to England. He is best known as the confessor and spiritual advisor to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque to whom our Lord revealed the treasures of his Sacred Heart. In the course of Christ’s appearances to her, Margaret Mary was overcome with anguish and uncertainty. Jesus promised her "my faithful servant and perfect friend" to assist her in carrying out her divine mission. That "faithful servant" would arrive a short time later in the person of Father Colombiere. He would reassure Margaret Mary as to the vision’s authenticity. Due to his support, Margaret Mary’s superior came to believe, and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was soon promulgated throughout France. Claude de la Colombière was born the third child of Bertrand and Margaret de la Colombière in in St. Symphorien d'Ozon, France. His family was pious and of high standin

The Rebuke of Adam and Eve , Domenichino, 1626. Editor's note: Each Tuesday we will feature posts discussing Saint John Paul the Great's Theology of the Body; his reflection on our nature and life as persons made in the image and likeness of God, conjugal love, the meaning of celibacy, and the eternal beatitude to which every human being is called. ____________________________________________________ Those in the teaching profession are most certainly familiar with the concept of "natural consequences." The same idea is found in Sacred Scripture. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command to not eat of the forbidden fruit, all hell broke loose, quite literally. In " Why Satan Hates the Ascension of Christ " we wrote: "Satan’s lie in the garden condemned humanity to lives of sin, drudgery and inexorable physical death. Prior to the Fall, the created world and everything in it functioned precisely as God intended. It was in short, Paradise. W

One of the most dangerous errors is that civilization is automatically bound to increase and spread. The lesson of history is the opposite; civilization is a rarity, attained with difficulty and easily lost. The normal state of humanity is barbarism, just as the normal surface of the planet is salt water. Land looms large in our imagination and civilization in history books, only because sea and savagery are to us less interesting. — C. S. Lewis ____________________________________________________ Prayer to the Holy Spirit Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful And kindle in them the fire of Your love V: Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created R: And You shall renew the face of the earth Let us Pray: O God, Who instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, Grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen. The reference to fire reminds us of the Holy Sp

One of the major changes that occurred as a result of the Second Vatican Council was the celebration of the Liturgy in the vernacular; for many, that meant that going from a Mass in Latin to one in English. At the time, such a move seemed (and indeed was) very innovative. It might be surprising, therefore, to learn that this was not the first time such a thing had happened in the history of the Church. Mass in the vernacular was a contentious topic in 9th century Moravia, and it was championed by two missionary brothers, Saints Cyril and Methodius. Methodius, the older of the two, and his brother Constantine (who took the name Cyril shortly before his death in 869) were born to a prominent Christian family in a part of Greece that bordered Slavic territory. For a while, Methodius served as an important civil official and would thus have been quite familiar with the language of the Slavic people who lived within his jurisdiction. His younger brother, who eventually earned the sobri

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A By Msgr. Bernard Bourgeois Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48 "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Mt 5:43-44) These are some of the most challenging words of the Bible! Compared to these verses, the rest of the Christian journey is not too difficult. I can go to Mass, pray, give to others, and in general be kind to those around me. Jesus wants His followers to go beyond what is easy and convenient—He wants us to love and pray for our enemies and those who persecute us. You may or may not have enemies as such; worry not, this reading also applies to you! Undoubtedly you have someone in your life with whom there are at least struggles, obstacles, disappointments, harsh words, long periods of silence, on and so forth. By now you have named that person; keep t

The Sermon on the Mount , Fra Angelico, 1436 - 1443. Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) Yogi Berra once said: “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.” Way back in 1865 Lewis Carroll published a novel for children. Alice in Wonderland was its name. In that novel we find Alice one day wandering around in a dream world. She stops and asks a cat: “Would you tell me, please, which way I should go from here?” The cat replies: “That depends a good deal on where you want to be.” Alice said: “Oh, I don’t much care.” With that the cat responds: “Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.” But Alice persisted: “But I want to get somewhere.” Whereupon the cat, with a wry grin, said: “Oh, you are sure to do that!” We can be a lot like Alice, saying “Oh, it doesn’t much matter” to a whole lot of things. Like it doesn’t much matter which church you go to. It does

Via Greater Fitchburg For Life .   Right to Life of Michigan created a special video project for Black History Month in February that exposes the devastating impact of abortion on the black community. The 1-minute video uses statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and the Guttmacher Institute to show how abortions killed more African Americans than all other causes combined. The number is staggering: 19 million abortions since 1973 in the black community, according to the group’s research. Pro-life leader Walter B. Hoye II of the Issues 4Life Foundation found similar results when he compared abortion data to other leading causes of death in the black community from the U.S. Statistical Abstract for 2013 and the National Vital Statistics Report from 2015. According to the statistics: Heart Disease: 72,010 Abortion kills 5.9 times as many Blacks as heart disease. Malignant Neoplasms: 67,953 Abortion kills 6.3 times as many Blacks as cancer. Cerebrovascular D