BIG C CATHOLICS

Optional Memorial - September 17th (In 2017, this feast is superseded by the Sunday liturgy.) It is fitting that the month that heralds the beginning of a new school year is also the time in which the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Robert Bellarmine. A Jesuit priest during the Catholic Reformation, he won renown for his scholarship and theological insights. Bellarmine was a "Spiritual Father" to many, including Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. He was a consequential figure in the Church's renewal. He was born in Italy in 1542. His mother, Cinthia Cervini, was sister to Cardinal Marcello Cervini, who later became Pope Marcellus II. Educated by the then "new" order in the Church—the Society of Jesus—the young Bellarmine entered the Jesuits in 1560 at the age of 18. He was ordained 10 years later and became the first Jesuit professor at the Catholic University at Louvain, Belgium, where he taught theology. He remained until 1576, when he was appointed to t

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) The classic format for writing a drama is to present it in three acts. So let’s look at today’s Gospel account in that format. Act I – Balancing the Books. We have here a debtor who owes his master ten thousand talents. Now a talent was an amount of money equal to one thousand denarii, and a denarius was a Roman silver coin equal to one day’s labor. Doing the arithmetic, the amount of the debt equaled ten million days’ wages. Responding to the debtor’s request the king, in an act of subtle sensitivity, changes the obligation from a debt to a loan. Did you notice that in the reading? It tells us: “Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.” What is striking is that the debtor didn’t ask for forgiveness, he asked only for time to pay it back. Was he nuts? He must have been! How could he possibly think he could pay back the huge obligation he owed

September 16th, the Church celebrates two holy friends who received the crown of martyrdom in their imitation of Christ and in service to Christ's Church. Saint Cornelius, (251-253) a Roman was elected Pope in 251 amid the persecutions of the Emperor Decius. Little is known of his life before the papacy. Besides the danger posed by Roman authorities in opposition to the Church, he also had to contend with a deep schism occasioned by Novatian, the first anti-pope. The issue in contention resulting from the Decian persecution was whether those who had apostatized could be absolve and receive back into the Church. Novatian held that those who had apostacized must be rebaptized, and that some sins were so grave they could not be forgiven by the Church. (Such sins could only be forgiven at the Last Judgment.) Cornelius had the support of St. Cyprian, St. Dionysius, and most African and Eastern bishops convened a synod of bishops to confirm him as the rightful bishop of Rome and e

Memorial - September 15th Devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady has its roots in Sacred Scripture and in Christian piety, which always associates the Blessed Mother with her suffering Son. Today's feast was introduced by the Servites in order to intensify devotion to Our Lady's Sorrows. In 1817, Pius VII — suffering grievously in exile but finally liberated by Mary's intercession — extended the feast to the universal Church. This feast is dedicated to the spiritual martyrdom of Mary, Mother of God, and her compassion with the sufferings of her Divine Son, Jesus. In her suffering as co-redeemer, she reminds us of the tremendous evil of sin and shows us the way of true repentance. As Mary stood at the foot of the Cross on which Jesus hung, the sword Simeon foretold pierced her soul. Here are the seven sorrows of Our Lady: 1. The prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35) 2. The flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15) 3. Loss of the Child Jesus for three days (Luke 2:41-

Three days set apart for fasting, abstinence, and prayer during each of the four seasons of the year. They were the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after St. Lucy (or Lucia, d. 304) (December 13), the First Sunday of Lent, Pentecost, and the feast of the Holy Cross (September 14). Since the revision of the Roman calendar in 1969, Ember Days are to be observed at the discretion of the National Conference of Bishops. Moreover, their observance may be extended beyond three days and even repeated during the year. Possibly occasioned by the agricultural feasts of ancient Rome, they came to be observed by Christians for the sanctification of the different seasons of the year, and for obtaining God's blessing on the clergy to be ordained during the Embertides. (Etym. Anglo-Saxon oemerge , ashes.) [Ember days draw us closer to God and His universal Church.] Source: Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ, Doubleday, 1980. An Ember Day Prayer Almighty and eternal God, h

Feast Day - September 14th The feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, recalls the retrieval of the Holy Cross, which had been found and preserved by Saint Helena. It commemorates three distinct historical events: the finding of the True Cross, its return in the 7th century, and its ineffable power as the instrument of Christ’s redemptive sacrifice and our salvation. Regarding the later, our Savior's crucifixion imbues human suffering with dignity and divine purpose. Here is a reflection by Father René Butler, M.S., from his homily on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross: Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Provincial Superior, La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for today’s readings ) What do Judas, and the leaders of the Sanhedrin, and Pontius Pilate, all have in common with God the Father? You might find the question confusing, even bizarre, if not downright blasphemous, but the idea came to me when reading a comm

The late Fr. Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican’s former chief exorcist, once observed: "God never rejects his creatures. Therefore, even though they broke with God, Satan and his angels maintain their power and rank (thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, and so on) even if they use them for evil purposes. Saint Augustine does not exaggerate when he claims that, if God gave Satan a free hand, 'no man would be left alive.' Since Satan cannot kill us, he tries to 'make us into his followers in opposition to God, just as he is in opposition to God.'" Make no mistake, Satan's diabolical scheme continues apace. To wit: "Missouri has reportedly doubled its abortion capacity this year 'thanks to the Satanic Temple and Planned Parenthood,' who have worked in tandem to fight the state’s restrictions on abortion… Planned Parenthood has battled against [popularly enacted pro-life] state regulations requiring abortion clinics to meet the same surgica

Saint John Chrysostom, a brilliant theologian and powerful orator, was born in Antioch about 347 A.D. His eloquence earned him the surname of Chrysostom, or golden mouthed. With St. Athanasius, St. Gregory Nazianzen and St. Basil, he is one of four great doctors of the Eastern Church. As Archbishop of Constantinople, his courageous stance in defense of the Faith caused him to be exiled several times. The quotations below evidence his great knowledge of the ways of God. The love of husband and wife is the force that welds society together. *** No matter how just your words may be, you ruin everything when you speak with anger. *** There is nothing colder than a Christian who does not seek to save others. *** The rich man is not one who is in possession of much, but one who gives much. *** To destroy the fetus 'is something worse than murder.' The one who does this 'does not take away life that has already been born, but prevents it from being born.'

Memorial - September 13th John Chrysostom was the son of a Latin father and a Greek mother; his mother, Anthusa, was widowed at the age of twenty, soon after his birth. Putting aside all thought of remarriage, Anthusa gave all of her attention to her son: she gave him the best classical education of the day, and enrolled him as a catechumen when he was eighteen. He was mentored by Meletius, patriarch of Antioch, who sent him to the monastic school of Diodore, then baptized and ordained him lector. At this time, St. John Chrysostom decided to take his future into his own hands and became a monk-hermit, living in a cave, studying the Scriptures, and putting himself under the discipline of an old hermit named Hesychius. However, his health broke under this austere regimen and he returned to Antioch, was ordained a priest, and began his remarkable career as a powerful preacher. During the next twelve years, he electrified Antioch with his fiery sermons, filled with a knowledge a

Salesian Indian missionary Father Thomas Uzhunnalil, seized more than eighteen months ago in Yemen by a group of ISIS guerrillas, has been released. According to Indian media, the Salesian priest is now in Muscat, Oman on his way to India. Indian Foreign Minister, Sushma Swaraj, announced his freedom in a Sept. 12th tweet reading: "I am happy to inform that Fr Tom Uzhunnalil has been rescued." The Catholic Herald reporting on his release, recalled the attack : "Fr Tom was kidnapped when his care home in the Yemeni city of Aden was attacked in March 2016. Four gunmen posing as relatives of one of the residents killed four Indian nuns, two Yemeni staff members, eight elderly residents and a security guard." His international profile increased when rumors spread that he was to be crucified on Good Friday, which were later discredited. For many months, following his capture, Fr. Uzhunnalil's martyrdom seemed imminent. Since then, numerous photos and videos