BIG C CATHOLICS

Optional Memorial - January 20th  Openness to the Holy Spirit is integral to the selection of the supreme pontiff. The Third Person of the Trinity guides the solemn proceedings. Indeed, the Mass that opens a papal conclave is meant, not merely to mark the start of a momentous decision and most serious process, but to prepare the hearts and minds of the participants to hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit in selecting the new pope. So imagine a conclave in which a dove literally lands upon the head of someone—and a layperson at that—who has journeyed to Rome to see who will become the next pope. Such was the case in 236 A.D. when a simple farmer named Fabian was unanimously chosen to be pontiff because everyone present took the actions of the dove to be a sign from God. The dove is also the symbol of peace, and the first part of Fabian’s papacy was in fact marked by peace. Under Emperor Philip, Fabian was able to expand the Church of Rome without fear of persecution. All

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Provincial Superior, La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for today’s readings ) All three readings today contain a proclamation. Jonah: “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed.” St. Paul: “The time is running out.” Jesus: “The kingdom of God is at hand.” The kingdom of God is a major recurring theme in the New Testament, making its appearance well over fifty times. Its equivalent, “the kingdom of heaven,” occurs over thirty times. There are several other variants as well, such as: “Of his kingdom there shall be no end,” near the beginning of Luke’s Gospel and, near the end of the same Gospel: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” A very famous instance, of course, is in the Our Father, where Jesus teaches us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come.” We might ask ourselves two questions. 1) What does this petition in the Lord’s Prayer mean in general? 2) What does it mean to me, to each of us

Feast Day – January 18th  According to popular piety, Saint Prisca, also known as Priscilla, was a child martyr of the early Roman Church. Born to Christian parents of a noble family, Prisca was raised during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius. While Claudius did not persecute Christians as fervently as other Roman emperors, Christians still did not practice their faith openly. Prisca's parents went to great lengths to conceal their faith, and thus, were not suspected of being Christians. Prisca, however, did not feel the need to take precaution. The young girl openly professed her dedication to Christ, and eventually, she was reported to the emperor. Claudius had her arrested, and commanded her to make a sacrifice to Apollo, the pagan god of the sun. Tradition tells how, Prisca refused, and was tortured for disobeying. Suddenly, a bright, yellow light shone about her, and she appeared luminous like a little star. Claudius ordered that Prisca be taken away to pris

The theme of this year's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is "Your Right Hand, O Lord, Glorious in Power." (Exodus 15:6). The octave of prayer for the promotion of Christian unity takes its impetus from Exodus 15:1-21, the words of Moses: Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my might, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he cast into the sea; his picked officers were sunk in the Red Sea. The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power— your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you overthrew your adversaries; you sent out your fury, it consumed them like stubble. At t

Memorial - January 17th  It is interesting that someone who once hoped to be a martyr would instead live to be 105 years old — thus it was with Saint Anthony (or Antony) of Egypt. Born in the year 251, he would not only live through the last of the persecutions of Christians by the Roman Empire, but he would then go on to fight the heresy of Arianism and eventually become known as “the father of monasticism.” Anthony was born in Coma, Egypt, to affluent parents who died when he was only 20 years old.  Left with a substantial material inheritance, it would be the spiritual foundation that his family had impressed upon him which would have the greatest influence on his life. Not long after their death, Anthony heard a Gospel reading at church that he felt was spoken directly to him: “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven.”  (Mt 19:21) Much like St. Francis of Assisi, Anthony took this Scripture passage qui

January 16th is historically the feast of Saint Honoratus, the 4th century French bishop and hermit. He was born in Gaul (present day France) about the year 350, into a distinguished Roman family. After a pilgrimage to Greece and to Rome, he became a hermit on the isle of Lerins, devoting himself to pious works, together with Sts. Lupus of Troyes, Eucherius of Lyons, and Hilary of Arles, among others. _____________________________________________________ Saint Honoratus was of a consular Roman family settled in Gaul. In his youth he renounced the worship of idols, and gained his elder brother, Venantius, to Christ. Convinced of the hollowness of the things of this world, they wished to renounce it with all its pleasures, but a fond pagan father put continual obstacles in their way. At length, taking St. Caprais, a holy hermit, for their director, they sailed from Marseilles to Greece, with the intention to live there unknown in the desert. Venantius soon died happily at Methon