Daily Prayer for Priest O my Jesus, I beg You on behalf of the whole Church ... give us holy priests. You yourself maintain them in holiness.
O Divine and Great High Priest, may the power of Your mercy accompany them everywhere and protect them from the devil's traps and snares, which are continually being set for the souls of priests.
May the power of Your Mercy, O Lord, shatter and bring the naught all that might tarnish the sanctity of priest, for You can do all things. - St. Faustina (Diary, 1052)
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My Dear People,
 Lazarus and the Rich Man What does Lazarus represent for us in the Gospel? He images the invisible poor who are always present in our midst. On street corners begging for money, at Agape House looking for furniture, with St. Vincent de Paul asking for rent money; the poor we will always have among us. But how much do we allow are hearts to be touched by the poor? It is easier to pretend we don’t see them? Are we praying for the needs of the poor; and how are we meeting the challenge to assist them? These are difficult questions.
It is much easier to say that we have “enough” problems of our own. Why add more to the list? Even Our Lord kept money aside to aide the poor. Judas was accused of stealing from the kitty for them. So what can we do? The extra clothes we never wear, the furniture stuffed in the garage, the extra canned goods on our shelves; could not these be shared with the needy in our midst? If we make a habit of caring for the poor, we will never be outdone by our generosity in God’s eyes. Please pray that you may grow in love for the poor in our midst.
Entrusting you to the care of Our Lady,
Fr. Mark Bozada
May we open our eyes to the needs of the poor around us. Our hands and hearts may be open to sharing our gifts to make this world a better place for all of us.
Bishop Thomas G. Doran – “Procured Abortion May Well Be
the Death Knell of Our Society”
The Observer, Rockford Diocese – An old story has it that a priest/professor once mounted his pulpit to preach on suicide and he began: “Suicide is not only a mortal sin, but is very dangerous.” One could say with some justification the same thing about procured abortion; it is a mortal sin and is very dangerous. At least practicing Catholics know that it is sinful and many other Christians do as well.
 Bishop Thomas G. Doran In our devolving and decaying morally relativistic society, there are many people who regard the killing of a pre-born child as of no consequence whatever. What is hidden from the eyes of the unsuspecting, however, is that not only for its victims but also for its perpetrators and for societies that permit it, allow it and license it, it is extremely dangerous.
All of us are aware of the perilous financial condition into which corrupt politicians of both parties have cast our country. Particularly vexing to our congressional overlords are the so-called entitlements: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other such things as unemployment compensation and various types of government relief. What we are never told is that the reason these entitlements are becoming unbearable for the taxpaying public is that there are fewer and fewer people contributing funds by way of their taxes to support these needed benefits upon which many people in our society have come to rely. Ours is a rapidly aging population because the number of children born into it becomes smaller and smaller and smaller, relative to the size of our country.
Since a pagan Supreme Court, overriding the Christian conscience of centuries, chose to kill children in 1973, millions of them have been butchered without ever seeing the light of day, even for a moment. Abortion also coarsens our moral discourse and brutalizes our people.
It is said that even Nazi Germany was not quite as callous with regard to nascent infant life as our unelected judges have made our country. Abortion has also contributed to the treatment of women as objects, rather than as subjects, of rights and duties, has made us more callous as regards the commission of lesser crimes and is a bullet aimed at the heart of marriage and family life. It has ruined the trust we used to have in doctors, nurses and the health care business. In short, procured abortion may well be the death knell of our society.
As with other forms of wrongful activity sanctioned or winked at by the government, procured abortion is for the killers and those who support them, immensely profitable. Abortuaries are gold mines for their operators. Killer physicians and surgeons, distaining the Hippocratic Oath, travel hundreds of miles to assassinate a few children, and you may be sure that that kind of doctor or nurse does not work for nothing.
Many courageous people have taken up the pro-life cause, and one of the things that we have found that is most helpful in dissuading mothers who are on the way to killing their children are ultrasound images of their children recumbent in the womb. To that end, Rockford advocates of pro-life causes, braving the harassment of those paid to protect the abortuaries from suffering financial ills, have arranged for ultrasound procedures at no cost to the mothers of the condemned children in the hope that some, and indeed as many as possible, might be dissuaded from that purpose.
Speaking of children, in the 18th Chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel, we read that He called a child over, placed it in their midst and said: “Amen I say to you, unless you turn and become like children you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven . . . and whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me . . . see that you do not despise one of these little ones,” and then He adds the frightening phrase, “I say to you that their angels in Heaven, always look upon the face of my Heavenly Father.” (Mt 18:10) Foolhardy indeed are those who would court the wrath of angels.
We pray then for the pro-life people of the Diocese of Rockford to bless and encourage all their efforts to remove from our midst and indeed from society at large the peril of procured abortion. We pray for their safety and for God’s choicest graces for all of them.
HT - Thaddeus M. Baklinski of LifeSiteNews
Hell Is A Real Consequence For Our Selfish Actions.
Father James Farfaglia –Many times people become quite offended when priests preach about the reality of hell. A number of years ago during another parish assignment, I gave a very clear teaching on the existence of hell. One parishioner suggested that it was not productive to talk about negative things at Mass. He thought that I was actually frightening people. He said that it was enough for good people to simply focus their attention on doing good projects that would benefit the local community. I kindly explained to my parishioner that the Gospel is very clear that we need always to love our neighbor and to promote works of charity and social justice for the good of the community. But, the Gospel is also clear that all of our acts do have eternal consequences and that our good acts have true meaning only in the light of eternity.
The teachings of Jesus on the existence of hell are clear. If we deny the existence of hell or fail to talk about it from our pulpits or in our catechism classes, then we are denying an essential part of Christianity.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, ‘eternal fire’. The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs” (#1035).
In his book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, John Paul II is asked by his interviewer, Vitorrio Messori, if the Catholic Church still believes in the existence of hell and why so many pulpits and classrooms are silent on the subject. The Holy Father answers the question by affirming the teaching of the Catholic Church on the existence of hell and goes on to say that preachers, catechists and teachers “no longer have the courage to preach the threat of hell” (176). Moreover, the Pope goes on to say that “perhaps even those who listen to them have stopped being afraid of hell” (176).
“In fact, people of our time have become insensitive to the Last Things. On the one hand, secularization and secularism promote this insensitivity and lead to a consumer mentality oriented toward the enjoyment of earthly goods. On the other hand, the ‘hells on earth’ created in this century which is now drawing to a close have also contributed to this insensitivity. After the experience of concentration camps, gulags, bombings, not to mention natural catastrophes, can man possibly expect anything worse from this world, an even greater amount of humiliation and contempt? In a word, hell?” (176).
The reality of hell and the possibility of eternal condemnation constitute for us a daily call to conversion. The sin of the rich man in this Sunday’s gospel narrative proceeded from his gross self-indulgence and self-absorption. Therefore, let us all repent of our own sins and believe in the gospel.
(Read entire article here)
My Dear People,
Jesus asks us in the Gospel to identify who our true master is. We can only have devotion for one Lord. Unfortunately, because of the fall of Adam and Eve, we are unable to turn our complete attention to God. Sin has divided our minds and hearts. It is a constant battle to follow Jesus completely. So, the spiritual ascent to the Father is slow and difficult, but not impossible with His grace. A full cup cannot be filled, if the cup of your heart is stuffed full with the things of this world, it leaves no room for Our Lord. This requires us to be empty for the sake of being filled up by God. Once full of the Most Holy Spirit, we can then focus on pleasing and serving Him alone.
Thus, the Lord then becomes the Master of our house. Ask the Lord for the grace of conversion. Plead with Him to know and love Him. Beg Him to stand by you in times of weakness. And know that He will never abandon you. Pray to stay close to the Lord!
Entrusting you to the care of Our Lady,
Fr. Mark Bozada
May we find more time to pray, to thank God for all of His gifts, and to ask God how He wishes us to use those gifts to glorify Him.
Fr. Vernon Meyer Formally Rejects the Catholic Church
and Becomes a United Church of Christ Minister
By John Quinn
Phoenix, AZ, September 20, 2010 (Courageous Priest) -
 Fr. Vernon Meyer Fr. Vernon Meyer, automatically excommunicated himself when he rejected the teachings of the Catholic Church concerning women ordination. Meyer participated in the “ordination” of Elaine Groppenbacher in Tempe, AZ last month. For Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, this is the fifth priestly excommunication for serious refusal of faithful obedience to the Catholic Church, according to The Arizona Republic.
Referring to Meyer, Bishop Olmsted states: “Actions such as these are extremely serious and carry with them profoundly harmful consequences for the salvation of the souls participating in this attempted ordination. To feign the conferral of the Sacrament of Holy Orders results in the penalty of excommunication. This penalty applies both to the person attempting the ordination and the person attempting to be ordained.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1577: “Only a baptized man validly receives sacred ordination. The Lord Jesus chose men to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry. The college of bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes the college of the twelve an ever-present and ever-active reality until Christ’s return. The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord himself. For this reason the ordination of women is not possible.”
This is not the first disagreement between Fr. Meyer and Catholic Doctrine. In 2004 Fr. Meyer was under obedience to Bishop Olmsted to recant a joint declaration Meyer signed which supported “full acceptance” of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered individuals in churches.
Fr. Meyer apparently told The Arizona Republic that he signed the declaration “after making sure it did not conflict with Catholic positions.” This statement contradicts the actual declaration, which states: “Homosexuality is not a sickness, not a choice, and not a sin.” Two sentences later, the declaration proclaims that all aspects of the homosexual lifestyle should have “full acceptance and inclusion.”
Despite the pastoral efforts of Bishop Olmsted, Fr. Meyer is now a United Church of Christ minister and is the Director of the Arizona Center for Theological Studies, which he founded. Fletch Wideman, local president of the pro-homosexual group P-FLAG reports “the United Church of Christ, has taken a strong pro-gay stand.” This comment would be supported by high percentage of United Church of Christ clergy signing the petition.
The Arizona Center for Theological Studies reportedly values “a deep respect and appreciation for the various interpretative traditions within Christianity.” And has courses on Ecumenical Methods of Theology and studies the Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian and Islamic religions among other diverse topics.
The center has two sponsors. One is John Chuchman, who authored the book “I Love My Church, BUT, OH MY GOD!” In the book, Chuchman states why he is “so excited about Organizations like Call to Action and Voice of the Faithful,” organizations known to be active in their support of abortion, homosexual rights, contraception and women’s “ordination.”
 Bishop Thomas Olmsted Bishop Olmsted has been under attack for requesting his clergy and religious to remain faithful to the vows of obedience they took when they dedicated their lives to serving the Catholic Church. Many people are calling Bishop Olmsted intolerant and unpastoral. This is not true. He has exhausted every resource to bring his sheep back to the flock. How truly sad it is that some of his priests choose tolerance as their supreme pillar and foundation of truth.
2 Timothy 3:12-13 “And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall grow worse and worse: erring, and driving into error.”
With This Weapon!
The Hidden Secrets of the Rosary
By St. Robert Bellarmine
With This Weapon! The Hidden Secrets of the Rosary – This is a free book by St. Bellarmine which I edited. Share and enjoy. It is really a good read. Click on the link for the full download.
Here is a sample.
The Fruit of the Rosary
I can recall a little chapel where you may often see a royal queen and a lowly peasant addressing the same prayers to the same Mary, Queen of the Rosary. We find instances in history where the Christian soldier, defeated in his struggle for faith and fatherland, has turned the tide of battle by an appeal to Mary of the Rosary. We see the great O’Connell wincing under the fiery eloquence of his opponent, but preparing himself by reciting the Rosary for that grand effort of his which procured hope for the country he loved full well, and freedom for the Church he loved better still. Besides these victories, who will recount its spiritual conquests, the hardened hearts moved to repentance, the despairing souls it has snatched from the edge of hell and returned to God! Ultimately, it is the badge of the noblest of God’s creatures, of the gentle Sisters of Charity on the battlefield and in the hospital, and of the intrepid missionaries in the wilderness.
The Rosary; Friend or Foe
Brethren, do we appreciate the full value of this devotion? Are we its friends or are we its enemies? We are, you say, its friends, But alas! as many a man will say: “I am a Catholic, but I cannot say I practice my religion.” So many of us will have to say: “I approve of the Rosary, but I cannot say I practice it.” To each I say equally: “Stuff and nonsense; there is no Catholic but a practical Catholic, and there is no friend of the Rosary but he who practices it often and well.” “He that is not with me is against me,” is not less true of Christ than it is of the Church and the Rosary.
St. Robert Bellarmine, Pray for us.
First Priest Since Archbishop Sheen to Have a Regular TV Show.
CNA – Fr. Robert Barron of the Archdiocese of Chicago will begin broadcasting a weekly national television show on WGN America to reach Catholics and others searching for Christ. He will be the first priest since Archbishop Fulton Sheen to have a regular, national program on a commercial television network.
Fr. Barron, a professor at University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, runs the global media ministry called “Word on Fire.”
His WGN America show will be titled “Word on Fire with Father Barron.” It will premier at 8:30 a.m. Central Time on Sunday, Oct. 3. It will also run on WGN Chicago at 9:30 a.m.
“Now is the time to reach out to Catholics and others who are searching for meaning in their lives or who have left the Church because they are disillusioned,” Fr. Barron said. “In each episode, our mission will be to encourage believers and bring the transformative power of the Gospel to the culture.”
The priest, who was ordained in 1986, has also been producing a ten-part documentary titled “Catholicism,” telling the story of the Church through travels to 16 countries. He will preview highlights of the series in his weekly broadcasts.
“The faith of the Church is our strength,” Fr. Barron continued. “Our program will strive to show viewers the richness of the Catholic faith and how it is a treasure to be shared now and with future generations. The faith imbues our life with meaning and imparts to all a renewed sense of purpose.”
My Dear People,
Pray, Pray, Pray for the Lost Sheep
Who are the lost sheep? Jesus describes them as sinners, those who have lost their way in this world. To these Our Lord directs His attention. Today’s parable in Luke’s Gospel tells us that Jesus is willing to drop everything to seek out the lost. When found, Our Lord rejoices exuberantly. Even the saints and angels rejoice in Heaven over one repentant sinner.
Do you have parents, siblings, cousins, or friends who no longer practice their Catholic Faith? Instead of criticizing them, or condemning them: Pray for their return! Your intercession might be all they need to come back to the Lord. What great joy we can cause Christ to have, when the “lost sheep” of our own families come home. Never cease praying. Your persistence does make a difference.
Entrusting you to the care of Our Lady,
Fr. Mark Bozada
May we never fail to pray for those in our families who have stopped practicing their faith. PRAY, PRAY, PRAY.
But Like The Prodigal Son, We Must Seek Forgiveness From Him.
Father James Farfaglia-The parable of the prodigal son is by far one of the most beautiful narratives of the Holy Bible. The conduct of the father in the parable reveals to us the love and mercy of God. The father not only welcomes his prodigal son, but also celebrates his return with immense joy. “But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15: 20).
The prodigal son’s decision to leave the father’s house and to immerse himself into a life of rebellion, clearly illustrates the nature of sin. Every sin is an abuse of human freedom. When we sin, we defy God who loves us unconditionally. The consequences of sin are always disastrous. Every sinner always experiences profound sadness. “So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine” (Luke 15: 15).
The hunger that the prodigal son experiences indicates the anxiety and emptiness that we feel when we are far from God. We can never be ourselves when we sin. Sin will always bring us to our lowest state and cause us to even become perverted if we were ever to persist in a life of sinfulness.
Like the father of the parable, God is always waiting for our return. We are filled with profound emotion as God always runs to us in order to forgive, heal and sustain us. As we experience the embrace of the unconditional love of God, we cry out with immense joy and gratitude: Abba, Father! “But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15: 20).
The robe, ring, sandals and the celebration are all symbols that Jesus brilliantly uses to explain the reality of our union with God through sanctifying grace. Sin is the separation from the father’s house. Adam and Eve realize that they are naked when they are expelled from Eden. Joseph’s coat is removed when he is sold into slavery. The prodigal son is dressed with the finest robe when he is restored to his father’s house.
Biblically, a ring is always a symbol of union, covenant, love, and commitment. Just as marriage joins a man and a woman, and they become one, sanctifying grace joins us to God and we become one with him. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of the Trinitarian life. By Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an adopted son he can henceforth call God ‘Father’, in union with the only Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes clarity into him and who forms the Church”.
During the time of Jesus, slaves and servants never wore footwear. Their relationship was essentially different to the household that they served. Only members of the family wore sandals. The prodigal son is given sandals because through his conversion, he is no longer a slave to sin.
The celebration takes place because of the immense joy that the father experiences due to the return of his son. At the same time, our union with God is the only source of true and lasting joy. Augustine famously wrote: “You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace” (Confessions, Book 7).
What can we say about the older brother? His response to the father’s mercy indicates that his years of obedience had been years of duty and not filial service. Perhaps he was simply going through the motions, remaining at home simply to enjoy the benefits of a comfortable life.
Like the Pharisees, he is self-righteous, incapable of love, and therefore, incapable of forgiving anyone. His mind is dark and calculating. It is quite possible that his anger is rooted in the fact that he too would like to leave the father’s house and live a life of sin. His life may be pure and noble, but his heart is attached to things that he would like to do, but does not do them because of his vanity and superiority complex.
God’s love is far greater than man’s capacity to love. God can forgive what man refuses to forgive. The love, mercy and compassion of God can overcome the rebellion of the human heart. Nevertheless, there are many who refuse his love and prefer to live far from the father’s house.
God patiently seeks the conversion of every person. God will do everything that he can do to save us. We are objects of God’s infinite love and can personally experience his love. However, God’s infinite wisdom respects our freedom. We can accept or reject God’s invitation to experience eternal joy and peace.
This Sunday’s Gospel passage serves as a reminder of the Sacrament of Confession. As we humbly kneel and recognize our sin, God celebrates our repentance and dresses us with the finest robe, a beautiful ring, and lovely sandals. It is through our union with God, that we experience true joy and peace.
In Order To Heal From The Sex Abuse Scandals!
The solution to the problem of clerical sex abuse lies in a spirit of penitence and conversion, rather than a radical change of church structures, said Pope Benedict.
Using an indirect historical analogy, the Pope recalled the words of XII century Saint Hildegard, according to whom “a true renewal of the ecclesiastic community is the result less of structural changes than of a sincere spirit of repentance and an active path towards conversion”, said an AFP report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
St Hildegard at the time was fighting the criticism by German sects “proposing a radical reform of the Church in order to fight abuses by clergy,” Benedict said.
However, she “bitterly reproached demands to subvert the very nature of the church” and she urged the faithful, especially the clergy and monastic communities, to live holy and virtuous lives, said the Catholic News Service.
“This is a message we must never forget,” he said.
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