Catholic Fire

Gospel: Lk 1:26 - 38 When the angel speaks to Mary, she is "greatly troubled", anxious, but this is so she may receive these words with a totally new heart ... to be as little as possible before the Father, before the Will of the Father for her. She doesn't argue, Mary must teach us this littleness. To perfectly observe all the rules is fine, but we want to have the heart of a child, instead of seeking and measuring our perfection. Our perfection is not so much! We must be like little children, always starting afresh, and live by the Word of God. God's Word allows us to be truly children of God totally docile to what He is expecting from us. Let us consider the docility of the Virgin Mary: she does not look at her perfection. It is very beautiful to see the Holy Virgin as a very little child before the Father, with only one desire: to fulfill perfectly what the Father requires from her and not her own project. Mary has no project: she is too poor, too little, ...

Via EJGcatholi at Love To Be Catholic. Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent Today's Mass Readings Advent Meditation: The Daily Gospel with Fr. Philippe, O.P. Today is Day Four of the Christmas Novena. On This Day in Catholic History 401 - Pope Anastasius I died. American History Highlight 1998 - President Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives for perjury and obstruction of justice. Birthdays 1933 - Cicely Tyson , Award - wining American actress ( Because of Winn-Dixie (2005), The Rosa Parks Story (2002) (TV), The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974) (TV), "Roots" (1977) 1944 - Tim Reid , American actor ( WKRP in Cincinnati ) 1944 - Zal Yanovsky , Canadian guitarist ( The Lovin' Spoonful ) (d. 2002 ) 1956 - Tom Lawless , baseball player 1957 - Kevin McHale , American basketball player 1972 - Alyssa Milano , American actress ( Who's the Boss? ) 1974 - Jake Plummer , American football player

Gospel: LK 1: 5 - 25 Today we are reminded of the annunciation made to Zechariah. Zechariah is too concerned with the accomplishment of the Word of God; he is not contemplative enough. Zechariah doubts and in doing so wants to rely on the accomplishment of the promise. We do this so easily. We have such a hard time remaining in the divine light of God's Word. We want to see results right away so we can confirm what we've understood. The results become our security, and we are no longer fully confident in God's Word. And so we lose the grace of contemplation; we withdraw into what is connatural to our human knowledge. This is what Zechariah does. He wants to be sure, certain. he doesn't have a faith that is loving enough. God loves him and wants to make him a contemplative, and so He punishes him. Zechariah becomes mute -- he can no longer argue to reflect on or to analyze what the angel has said. He must fully adhere to the mystery in absolute purity and truth. And beho...

Video via Love To be Catholic. Today's Liturgy: Monday of the Third Week of Advent Today we begin the O Antiphons, the seven jewels of our liturgy, dating back to the fourth century, one for each day until Christmas Eve. These antiphons address Christ with seven magnificent Messianic titles, based on the Old Testament prophecies and types of Christ. Today's Mass Readings Today's Advent Meditation with Fr. Philippe Today is Day Two of the Christmas Novena. On This Day in Catholic History 1187 Pope Gregory VIII died (b. ca. 1100). 1999 Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) told an international symposium, “Today, on the eve of the Great Jubilee, I feel the need to express deep regret for the cruel death inflicted on Jan Hus.” Birthdays 1807 - John Greenleaf Whittier , American poet and abolitionist (d. 1892) 1894 - Arthur Fiedler , American conductor (d. 1979) 1937 - Art Neville, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, vocalist, Neville Brothers 1953 - Barry Livingston , an American acto...

Gospel: Mt 7:21, 24-27 Jesus said to his disciples:“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’will enter the Kingdom of heaven,but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came,and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.” Reflection To build our house on rock we must always be more deeply rooted in Jesus. Each of us has to construct this house. To find the rock it is necessary to find the wound of Christ's heart; one must find His love and live from it. There we are no longer content with saying, "Lord, Lord." Christ's love...

Mt. 15: 29 - 37 At that time: Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee,went up on the mountain, and sat down there. Great crowds came to him,having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute,and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he cured them. The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking,the deformed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind able to see,and they glorified the God of Israel. Jesus summoned his disciples and said,“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry,for fear they may collapse on the way.” The disciples said to him,“Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place to satisfy such a crowd?” Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” “Seven,” they replied, “and a few fish.” He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to...

Wednesday in the Octave of Easter Mass Readings Daily Gospel Saint of the Day Divine Mercy Novena - 6th day Today's Catholic History 1079 Polish bishop of Krakow St. Stanislaus was martyred (b. 26 July 1030). 1506 The foundation stone of the new Saint Peter's Basilica was laid under the patronage of Pope Julius II. Birthdays 1906 - Dale Messick , American cartoonist (d. 2005) 1928 - Ethel Kennedy , wife of Robert F. Kennedy 1964 - Johann Sebastian Paetsch , American cellist and musician 1978 - Josh Hancock , baseball player

Tuesday in the Octave of Easter " This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. Alleluia!" Divine Mercy Novena - 5th Day Today's Mass Readings Daily Gospel Today in Catholic History 428 Nestorius (ca. 386–ca. 451) was consecrated bishop of Constantinople. 1585 - Pope Gregory XIII , best known for his reformation of the Gregorian calendar, dies at the age of 83. Culture of Death History 1996 President Bill Clinton vetoed a bill that would have outlawed "partial-birth" abortion. Birthdays 1755 - Samuel Hahnemann , German physician (d. 1843) 1847 - Joseph Pulitzer , American journalist and publisher (d. 1911) 1882 - Frances Perkins , American politician (d. 1965) 1938- Don Meredith , American football player and broadcaster 1950 - Ken Griffey, Sr. , baseball player 1960 - Steve Bisciotti , owner of the Baltimore Ravens

Lenten Reflections for Tuesday, 4th Week of Lent Today's Scripture Readings Daily Gospel Today in Catholic History 1897 Frank Sheed , Roman Catholic lay theologian and founder of Sheed and Ward, publishers of books in the areas of biography, history, philosophy, theology and literature, was born (d. 20 November 1982).