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Mar
31
Doubt and Mercy
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The Gospels tell an incredible story. A virginal conception. Miraculous healings. Even people coming back from the dead. How are we to know that it’s not all just a fanciful fabrication?
There is much evidence for the reliability of the Gospels, but here is one of the strongest bits of evidence I know. Think for a minute. If you were part of a group who decided to perpetrate an elaborate hoax, what would be your motive? Wouldn’t you want to gain some significant benefits from such a risky business? Maybe fortune, fame, and privilege? And if you were to be aprominent figure in this tall tale, wouldn’t you at least want the story to make you look good?
But in the story told by the apostles, virtually all of them look really bad. During Jesus’ public ministry they repeatedly fail to “get it.” In fact Jesus wears himself out trying to hammer the truth through their thick skulls. After witnessing three years of miracles, one of them betrays Jesus and the leader of the group denies Him. All but one run away when He’s crucified, and no one believes Mary Magdalene when she brings them the news of His resurrection. Continue reading here…
Mar
31
Cardinal calls overturned death sentence in U.S. victory for life
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By Cindy Wooden Catholic News ServiceVATICAN CITY (CNS) — A U.S. appeals court decision to overturn the death sentence of Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of killing a police officer in 1981, is a victory for human life, said Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
A panel of judges from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia upheld Abu-Jamal’s murder conviction March 27, but also upheld a lower court ruling vacating his death sentence.
In an interview published on the front page of the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, March 28, Cardinal Martino said: “Justice is not accomplished by punishing with another crime. For this reason, every death sentence not carried out is a victory for man and for life.”
Cardinal Martino said the basis of all human rights is the right to life.
“Therefore, even the criminal who committed a crime has the right to live” and to have the possibility to make amends for his crime and to be rehabilitated, he said.
Pope Benedict XVI publicly has expressed his opposition to the death penalty on several occasions, the cardinal said.
Mar
31
Luke 1:26-38
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26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!”
29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be.
30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How shall this be, since I have no husband?”
35 And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
36 And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”
38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Mar
31
St. Theresa of Avila
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When the Lord knows that good health is necessary for our soul’s welfare, He sends it to us; and when we need sickness, He sends that too. Sickness makes us discover who we are.
– St. Theresa of Avilaa
Mar
30
John 20:19-31
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19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”
22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.
25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.”
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing.”
28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
Mar
30
St. Francis of Assisi
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Here is one of the best means to acquire humility; fix well in mind this maxim: One is as much as he is in the sight of God, and no more.
– St. Francis of Assisi
Mar
29
As the Father Sent Me
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Pope John Paul II dedicated the Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday in 2001. This day is very fitting for such a celebration because of the Church’s long standing practice of turning to the Gospel involving Jesus’ first appearance to the Apostles as a group following the resurrection.
After greeting the 10 (Judas and Thomas were missing) and twice offering the great gift of His peace, Jesus commissions them, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Our Lord passed on to the Apostles the authority to oversee the Church’s mission, which was an extension of the mission that He Himself had received from the Father.
Next, Our risen Lord breathed on them, and said to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them and whose sins you retain are retained.” The first time that God breathed His Spirit into man was at creation when He gave life to Adam. The second time was this night when God gave new life to the world and to the Church by bestowing upon the Apostles the authority and power to offer God’s forgiveness.
Jesus, the eternal Word present at the creation of the world, came down to earth to re-create it through the gift of His mercy and the reconciliation with God Our Father that flows from His mercy. The Church, in a unique way through her ministerial priesthood, shares in this great work of healing and reconciling the world. Continue reading here…
Mar
29
The Mystery of Divine Mercy
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“Do all you possibly can for this work of My mercy. I desire that My mercy be worshiped, and I am giving mankind the last hope of salvation; that is, recourse to My mercy” (The Diary of St. Faustina, 998).
Contemplating the Divine Mercy of Jesus Christ means pondering a sublime mystery. When we consider His proposal of forgiveness and His promise of mercy, we can barely approach an understanding of His perfect goodness and love.
In our sinfulness, even the most pious of us can not fathom such perfect mercy. We’re unable to practice it ourselves and have never been recipients of it through human nature. It is more than we can believe that such a treasure, unmerited, would be ours through the merits of God Himself.
What is the Divine Mercy? It is a special devotion to Jesus that calls us to a deeper understanding of God’s unlimited love and forgiveness. This mercy is available to everyone who seeks it with a repentant heart, even the greatest sinners.
The message of the Divine Mercy is based on the writing of St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun who, in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary recording revelations she received about God’s mercy. In her meditations, and during mystical experiences with Christ, St. Faustina, though poor and uneducated, became the instrument of communicating the salvific knowledge of the Divine Mercy of Jesus, and spreading its devotion to a world weary in sin.
Mar
29
Mark 16: 9 - 15
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9 Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.
10 She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept.
11 But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.
12 After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country.
13 And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.
14 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.
15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.
Mar
29
St. John Vianney
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All our religion is but a false religion, and all our virtues are mere illusions and we ourselves are only hypocrites in the sight of God, if we have not that universal charity for everyone - for the good, and for the bad, for the poor and for the rich, and for all those who do us harm as much as those who do us good.
– St. John Vianney
