Daily Prayer for Priests 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 to naught all that might tarnish the sanctity of priest, for You can do all things. - St. Faustina (Diary, 1052)
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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.
My Dear People,
What is Your Primary Purpose as Parents?
Why would Jesus tell us in the Gospel of Luke this Sunday, that we need to hate our father, mother, and siblings, if we are to serve Him? As often happens in translating a language from one to another, it suffers in the exchange. “Hate” would better translated into being “dis-passionate” or emotionally free from unusual attachment. When Jesus called His Apostles, He asked them to leave their primary role as provider in worldly affairs, and to translate it into a focus on spiritual affairs.
Yes, parents are suppose to provide food, shelter, clothing and care for their offsprings; but their primary purpose is to prepare their children for HEAVEN. What good are parents who only provide children with temporary goods, when their real purpose is to teach their children the value of “eternal” gifts? As parents, you will not be judged on the level of education, wealth, or prestige that your children achieved, but on how well they lived Christian lives, and were readied for a good and holy death. How well have you taught your children to carry their crosses in this life, so that they might use them to reach Heaven?
Entrusting you to the care of Our Lady,
Fr. Mark Bozada
May we come to more fully realize that everything we have is a gift from God, and that we are called to generously share these gifts with all who are in need.
Let us know, leave a comment on how well
have you taught your children to carry their crosses in this life.
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted Letter Says Only a
Baptized Man Can Be Validly Ordained
Here is his letter posted in the Catholic Sun.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As reported in the news this week, a schismatic group in Tempe known as the Ecumenical Catholic Communion attempted to confer the Sacrament of Holy Orders upon a woman. It was also reported in the news that Fr. Vernon Meyer, a priest of our diocese, participated in the attempted ordination.
 Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted 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 attempted ordination of a woman is a grave offense against a sacrament and the structure of the Church. As it states in 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.”
The Church’s position on the Sacrament of Holy Orders, of course, does not mean that women are of any less value or dignity than men. We are all called to Christian service, and women have always played an instrumental role in the life and holiness of the Church. Women serve in various levels of Church leadership and hold nearly half of diocesan administrative and professional positions, including chancellor and school superintendent in our own diocese. Women serve as presidents of Catholic colleges and universities in our country, and nearly 80 percent of lay parish ministers are women.
However, it is of paramount importance to recognize that the Catholic Church teaches that only a baptized man can be validly ordained to the ministerial priesthood. The Catholic priesthood, today as in ages past, mirrors the actions of Christ, who lived as a celibate male and chose to ordain only men.
You or your parishioners may also have seen it reported in the news that the Holy See allegedly considers the attempted ordination of women to be on par with the sexual abuse of minors. This is simply not true. This portrayal arose following the release of a letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the public July 15, 2010, which concerns updates to norms related to grave crimes that were outlined in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. It expands the number of offenses to be referred to the Holy See and deals with such issues as sexual abuse of a minor, pornography, violations of the seal of the confession, and the attempted ordination of women.
Please pray for all involved in this divisive, scandalous act against the Catholic Church.
Grace and wisdom in the risen Christ,
+Thomas J. Olmsted
Bishop of Phoenix
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco – A Community Without Children Has No Future and is in a “Serious Cultural Catastrophe”
ROME, Italy (Zenit.org) – A culture without children and without elderly people is seriously warped and unable to function, says the president of the Italian Episcopal Conference.
 Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco Making His Point Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa, made this affirmation Sunday when he celebrated the solemnity of the Madonna della Guardia with a Mass at the shrine of Liguria at the top of Mount Figogna.
The prelate reflected on the beauty of fidelity and on the family as the “womb of life.”
Speaking of Italy’s negative birthrate (-0.047%), the cardinal asserted that “demographic balance is not only necessary for the physical survival of a community — which without children has no future — but is also a condition for that alliance between generations that is essential for a normal democratic dialectic.”
He said the Church’s long-time assertion that a demographic crisis points to a “serious cultural catastrophe” is because of this.
A lack of children creates not only a bleak future, the cardinal reflected, but also a “lack of balance between generations” and an “educational poverty.”
“Boys and girls and young people, in fact, constrain us to engage in discussions, make us come out of ourselves, we who, because of age and feebleness, tend to fall back on our own immediate needs,” the cardinal proposed. “It is not only parents that, having children, must change their points of view and styles, they must plan and organize themselves in relation to the children in their various ages.”
“A society without babies and children,” he continued, “just as a society without the elderly, is seriously mutilated and unable to function.”
Cultural shift
Cardinal Bagnasco observed that the issue of falling birthrates is linked to cultural values.
“If we look at the sacred image of Our Lady with the Child we do not have to make an effort to imagine the life of Nazareth: they lived in absolute simplicity, in the joyful toil of daily work, at home and in the carpenter’s shop; they lived the life of the village, relationships with their next door neighbors, participation in worship, the presence of God,” he reflected.
“Everything makes one think of a profound and positive adherence to life as a gift that is given and which is not our absolute property,” the cardinal said. “It makes one perceive the awareness of being within the history of generations, of a tradition that does not coerce but helps. In a word, we feel the breath of hope.”
On the contrary, Cardinal Bagnasco contended, in the cultural climate of today, couples and families seem to collapse before “the blows of life and of relationships.”
“The efforts of every day seem tedious and without meaning, hence unbearable,” he considered. “The future loses value and polish, the present is emphasized for what it promises of immediate satisfaction.”
In this context, the prelate said, “fidelity is understood as something repetitive, tedious, deprived of thrills.”
But fidelity is the condition of growth, Cardinal Bagnasco affirmed. Love in family life is transformed over time: “from the initial effervescence, it changes into something more profound and rooted, strengthened by joys and efforts.”
“In this growth, the daily repetition of so many little and great duties, of so many actions that seem grey, is like the tranquil and continuous rain that bathes the earth and fertilizes it,” he suggested. “It is not the storm of great passions and impetuous transports that make one grow or that measure the substance of love, but daily and humble fidelity in the sign of love.”
Learning to live
The Italian prelate affirmed that the family is a “school of humanity and faith.”
One learns to love by being loved, one learns to trust in oneself, one discovers “the beauty of the different ages,” he said. And in the family, one sees firsthand the values of acceptance, humility, reliability and the “miraculous power of forgiveness given and received, of the ability to endure.”
In the family there is also “prayer made together every day, participation in Sunday Mass, liturgical festivities with their traditions, pilgrimages to shrines, sacred images in the home,” the cardinal added. Every word is a lesson of faith, a “moment of that school that will leave a sign in the heart.”
“Can a mother turn away from the gaze of her children?” Cardinal Bagnasco reflected. “We know it is impossible, and this is sufficient to look ahead with trust.”
My Dear People,
How do You Behold the Beatific Vision?
True humility can only begin when our eyes are fixed upon Our Lord Jesus Christ. Gazing at many statues of Our Lady, we find her eyes downcast. Always in the presence of the Most Holy Trinity, Mary understood Her place within that Divine Glory. To behold the Beatific Vision constantly, we also would have our own eyes in a similar position. So when Jesus speaks to the Apostles concerning the grace of true humility, He uses the feast parable and assuming places of honor. In the end, Jesus models this behavior for His Apostles, by becoming the “servant” of all; the “footwasher”. “Go to the lowest place at the table….” Jesus tells them. Later on, you will be brought up higher.
 Jesus Washing the Disciples Feet Seek out the poor, crippled, and lame; all those who can never repay you. Let your light shine before them. Love them as you would love Me. Then, your heavenly Father will see your good deeds and reward you accordingly. Be pure. Be simple. Be humble in the Lord.
Entrusting you to the care of Our Lady,
Fr. Mark Bozada
Through our generous giving, may we allow those who are needy to share in the banquet of blessings that God has bestowed on us.
My Dear People,
Is Mary Your Mother and Queen?
 The Crowning of the Virgin Mary When you ask what does a “queen” do, one would typically answer, “she reigns with the king?” August 22nd is usually the feast day of the “Queenship” of Our Lady. If earthly queens reign with their kings, what might a Heavenly Queen do?
Mary’s Most Immaculate Heart beats in unison with Jesus’ Most Sacred Heart. She never misses a beat. Most every saint could tell you that the fastest route to the Heart of Jesus is through His Mother’s Heart. If you ever have struggles with your faith, or have a difficult time praying; ask Mary to lead you to Jesus. You will begin a roller coaster ride of grace, mercy and peace beyond description. Ask Mary to be your Heavenly Mother and Queen. You will never be disappointed, nor at a loss for prayers of thanksgiving and praise.
Entrusting you to the care of Our Lady,
Fr. Mark Bozada
May we always stay close to the Heart of Mary, so that we know the Heartbeat of Her Son, Jesus Christ.
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