Catholic Fire

Vatican City, 4 December 2013 (VIS) - “I believe in the resurrection of the flesh” was the theme of the Holy Father's catechesis during this Wednesday's general audience. “It is a truth that is neither simple nor self-evident”, he said, “as, living immersed in this world, it is not easy to understand what will happen in the future. But the Gospel enlightens us”. This vigil, for the “glorious kingdom, which we anxiously await” is “the source and the reason for our hope; a hope which, if cultivated and preserved, becomes a “light to illuminate our personal and communal story”. The Pope emphasized that “we must always remember we are disciples of He who came, who comes to us every day and who will come to us again at the end”, and reiterated that if we were able to keep this fact present in our minds, we would be less overwhelmed by daily life, less imprisoned by the ephemeral and more willing to walk the path of salvation with a merciful heart”. Pope Francis recalled that...

April 3, 2013. ( Romereports.com ) After a few days of rest from a busy Holy Week schedule, Pope Francis returned to the public eye with an inclusive message of the Resurrection, tasking women to become the messengers of faith and hope. Retelling the story of how a group of women were the first to find Christ's tomb empty, he highlighted the fact that instead of keeping the news of his Resurrection to themselves, they spread it. POPE FRANCIS “The first witnesses of the Resurrection are women. This is beautiful, and this is the mission of women, of mothers and grandmothers, to give witness to their children and grandchildren that Christ is Risen! Mothers go forward with this witness!” During his speech, he referred to that message of hope and faith that comes from the Resurrection, as mankind's greatest treasure, which must be shared with others. In addition to his outreach to women, he also called on the youth to do their part to spread faith and hope among their pe...

Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels! Exult, all creation around God’s throne! Jesus Christ, our King, is risen! Sound the trumpet of salvation! Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor, radiant in the brightness of your King! Christ has conquered! Glory fills you! Darkness vanishes for ever! Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory! The risen Savior shines upon you! Let this place resound with joy, echoing the mighty song of all God’s people! ~ from the Exsultet sung at the Easter Vigil Wishing you all a very happy Easter, dear friends!

Children, have you any fish?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" Over the charcoal fire, Peter is given the opportunity to tell Jesus he loves Him, three times, repairing for his triple denial of Christ at His Passion. More at Catholic Culture. Daily Readings (on USCCB site): April 17, 2009 Collect: Father, you gather the nations to praise your name. May all who are reborn in baptism be one in faith and love. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Gospel continues to relate the story of Christ's resurrection — how Mary Magdalene and the other Mary meet Jesus. Jesus tells them "Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me." During the Easter Season, first reading is from the Acts of the Apostles. Today is Acts 2:36-41. Peter is preaching on the day of Pentecost to the Jews: "The whole House of Israel can be certain that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ....You must repent and....be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." They repended, and 3000 were baptized that day. Our Easter joy should be overflowing. A wonderful Ukrainian (and Polish and Slovakian) custom is the greeting of one another with the words: Khrystos Voskres (Christ is risen). The answer to this greeting is Voistynu Voskres (He is risen, indeed or He is truly risen). Let us adopt this custo...

by Jean M. Heimann How are you celebrating the Easter Season? How can you fully participate in the joys of Easter this year? While those in the secular world are putting away their Easter decorations and finishing up their Easter candy, the celebration for Christians has just begun as we rejoice in the glory of His resurrection. My family began the celebration by attending the Easter Vigil Mass, where many were baptized, confirmed, and received their First Holy Communion. It was a beautiful and touching celebration of faith. On Easter Sunday, we shared in conversation with family members the joy of the miracles that the Lord has worked in our lives recently and thanked God for them. God has provided for all of us so bountifully in these difficult times and has shown us the power of prayer and His love for us in so many ways. Yes, miracles can and do happen, if we open our eyes and hearts to them. I want to continue to share my Easter joy and bask in the light of his love. How can we co...

"Jesus rises to glorify the Father and to save us. The mystery of the Resurrection is therefore for us; it is our mystery, it is our glory, it is our burning fire of love, it is our light." ~ Fr. Marie - Dominique Philippe, OP, priest, professor, philosopher, founder of the Community of St. John

I hope you enjoy this beautiful Easter video from Esther as much as I do.

"Alleluia! Christ is truly risen! We can make absolutely no qualification of this fact whatever. Christ has really, truly, and substantially risen, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, from the dead. The whole Christ has risen indeed for the completion of the work of our redemption. "For just as by dying He endured all evil to deliver us from evil, so was He glorified in rising to advance us to good things, according to Romans 4:25 which says that 'He was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification' ~St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, III, q. 53, a. 1, c. "After the resurrection, when our bodies will be reunited to our souls, they will be incorruptible; and the carnal passions which disturb us now will not be present in those bodies; we shall enjoy a peaceful equilibrium in which the prudence of the flesh will not make war upon the soul; and there will no longer be that internal warfare wherein sinful passions fight against the law of the mi...

1. Testimony of the texts. Scripture, Tradition and the Church thereafter all agree that Christ rose. 2. Testimony of the Twelve. Cowardly apostles fleeing became courageous Christians preaching, and they unanimously said it was because they saw Christ alive. 3. Transformation of Saul. St. Paul went from persecutor to believer after seeing Christ alive. 4. No early Church debate. The early Church debated many fundamental things, but not the Resurrection. 5. Centuries of martyrs. Christians, from the Church’s first days to our own day, have been willing to die for their conviction that Christ rose from the dead. 6. Diverse sources. Gospel writers included different details, and material from different sources — all of which agreed on the fact of the Resurrection. 7. Eyewitnesses. St. Paul spoke of how Christ appeared, alive, to 500 at once — and he was writing not long after the event occurred. 8. Non-Christian historical accounts. Tacitus and Josephus mention Christ — and describe how ...