Catholic Fire

October 22 is the feast of Saint John Paul II. Here are my all-time top twenty favorite quotes from Saint John Paul II: 1.  "Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." 2. "True holiness does not mean a flight from the world; rather, it lies in the effort to incarnate the Gospel in everyday life, in the family, at school and at work, and in social and political involvement." 3.  "When the cross is embraced it becomes a sign of love and of total self-giving. To carry it behind Christ means to be united with him in offering the greatest proof of love … the choice is between a full life and an empty existence, between truth and falsehood." ~ Pope St. John Paul II, World Youth Day, February 2001. 4.  "As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live." 5.  "It is Jesus you seek when you dream of happiness. He is waiting for y...

Pray this prayer for nine consecutive days. PRAYER FOR INTERCESSION OF POPE ST JOHN PAUL II O Blessed Trinity, we thank you For having graced the Church with Saint John Paul II and for allowing The tenderness of your fatherly care, The glory of the Cross of Christ And the splendor of the Spirit of love To shine through him. Trusting fully in your infinite mercy And in the maternal intercession of Mary, He has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd. He has shown us that holiness Is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life and is the way of Achieving eternal communion with you. Grant us, by his intercession, And according to your will, The graces we implore, Through Christ our Lord. Amen. If you do not have a specific intention to pray for, please join in praying this prayer for Brittany, a 29-year-old newlywed  who has terminal brain cancer and plans to utilize the die with dignity” law in Oregon to end her life on November 1. I hav...

A Pope and a family woman. They're the saints chosen as the patrons of the 8th World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. The first is St. John Paul II, canonized on April 27, and the founder of these events. FR. SLAWOMIR ODER Postulator, Sainthood cause of John Paul II "He himself said he wanted to be remember, if the Church ever remembered him... he wanted to be remembered as the Pope of life and of family. He promoted a revaluation of the family as the place where a person develops humanely, and grows spiritually.” St. Gianna Beretta was a pediatrician and mother of four, who passed away in 1962. During her fourth pregnancy, doctors discovered a tumor in her uterus. She decided to delay surgery to remove it until after the birth of her child, but by then it was too late. Beretta is considered the patron saint of pregnant women. John Paul II canonized her on May 16, 1994. The 8th World Meeting of Families will take place from September 22-27, 2015. Although it...

"The sign of the Scapular points to an effective synthesis of Marian spirituality, which nourishes the devotion of believers and makes them sensitive to the Virgin Mother's loving presence in their lives. The Scapular is essentially a "habit". Those who receive it are associated more or less closely with the Order of Carmel and dedicate themselves to the service of Our Lady for the good of the whole Church Those who wear the Scapular are thus brought into the land of Carmel, so that they may "eat its fruits and its good things" (cf. Jer 2: 7), and experience the loving and motherly presence of Mary in their daily commitment to be clothed in Jesus Christ and to manifest him in their life for the good of the Church and the whole of humanity." "Therefore two truths are evoked by the sign of the Scapular:  on the one hand, the constant protection of the Blessed Virgin, not only on life's journey, but also at the moment of passing into the fu...