Catholic Fire

Wednesday of Holy Week is traditionally known as "Spy Wednesday" because on this day Judas made a bargain with the high priest to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. In other words, Judas was spying on Jesus. Readings for Wednesday of Holy Week Meditation We are healed by His bruises! O heavenly Physician, who takes upon Himself the sufferings of those He comes to cure! But not only was He bruised for our sins, He was also slaughtered as a lamb; and this not merely as a Victim submitting to the inflexible will of His Father who hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all, but (as the prophet here assures us) because it was His own will. His love for us, as well as His submission to His Father, led Him to the great Sacrifice. Observe, too, how He refuses to defend Himself before Pilate, who could so easily deliver Him from His enemies: He shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearers, and He shall not open His mouth. Let us love and adore this divine silence, which...

Today is the memorial of St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552), one of the greatest missionaries of all times. The great missionary St. Francis Xavier was from a Basque noble family, like his beloved mentor St. Ignatius Loyola. When Francis met Ignatius in Paris he was a proud, autocratic, ambitious man wanting to accomplish great deeds in the world. For three years Ignatius patiently encouraged Francis to look at his life differently. “What profits a man,” Ignatius asked Francis, “if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Francis joined Peter Faber as the first of Ignatius’s companions. Francis Xavier was ordained in 1537. In 1541 King John of Portugal asked Ignatius for priests to send to the missions in India. Despite knowing he would never see his beloved companion again, Ignatius chose Francis Xavier for the mission. Francis left for India, arriving at the city of Goa in 1542. For the next ten years the missionary Francis Xavier traveled from Goa to Cape Comorin in sout...

Roman Catholic Spiritual Direction offers a digital retreat for Lent presented by Fr John Bartunek, LC, S.Th.D. Check it out here.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrates her being taken up body and soul into heaven when her earthly title was finished. It first began to be celebrated as a feast day in the Eastern Church after the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus (431) proclaimed Mary the Mother of God. By the sixth century, the feast celebrated Mary’s Dormition, “her falling asleep”. The western church began to celebrate this feast around 650. The Church’s teaching on the Assumption was formally proclaimed a doctrine by Pope Pius XII in 1950. In today’s society, many idolize sensuality, materialism, and self-indulgence. In contrast, the celebration of the feast of the Assumption Our Blessed Virgin Mary turns our eyes away from these temporary, earthly attachments and directs our focus on the dignity and destiny of our human body and the beauty and dignity of womanhood. It turns our eyes upon the true life which awaits us beyond the grave – eternal life. May we take heart that one day our bodies and souls...

Today is the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and last day of the Christmas season. It's now time to take down the decorations. There always seems to be such an emptiness and a void when this happens. I feel it when I go into church and when I look around our home. Something seems to be missing. Where is the joy -- the festivity? The joy is forever imprinted on our hearts because we are Christians. However, it should not remain hidden there, but be shared with everyone we know. We need to continue to celebrate the love that we have in our hearts at Christmas with those who so desperately need that love. Many around us crave that love. Those who are trapped in the culture of death and searching for love in "all the wrong places" are in desperate need of the hope and healing that Christ gives through us. For, we are the ones called to answer the prayers of our brothers and sisters. There are so many who are lost and lonely, crying out for help, but we remain deaf to their c...

This video is done as a decade of the rosary. Ten statements, each done so you can meditate on the Annunciation of Jesus to Mary. The rosary is a meditative prayer, and we meditate, and remember the moment as told in the bible, when the angel came to Mary, asking her if she would be the Mother of our Savior. The moment is very deep, as it teaches us about the humility of Mary, her obedience to God, and it reminds us that she was a part of Gods plan for our salvation. As you say the rosary, place yourself in the room with Mary, as the angel appears to her, telling her of Gods plan for her, and for us. This beautiful song is sung by my friend Maureen Hegarty, (Maureenderry) on youtube. Deus meus, adiuva me.. (My God come to my aid) Domine mi, exaudi me... (My God hear me) Video and Commentary via Steve Silvia.

"When you pray, go to your inner room." In those who have entered into the unity of the divine inner life, everything is one: rest and activity, contemplation and action, silence and speech, listening and communicating, loving receptiveness, and loving gift of self in thanksgiving and praise... We need hours of silent listening, when we allow the divine Word to work in us, until it craves to become fruitful in the sacrifice of praise and of action. We need the traditional forms and participation in the set forms of acts of regular worship, so that the inner life can be awakened and guided and find a suitable expression. The solemn divine praise must have its homes on earth where it is developed to the greatest perfection possible to human beings. From these it ascends to heaven for the whole Church and becomes effective in the members of the Church, quickening their interior life, inviting their participation. But it must itself be quickened from within even in these place...

Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church Poem: "En la cruz està la vida" "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. (Mark 8:34) Through the Cross both happiness and life are given, for there is no other road that leads to heaven. On the Cross there hangs "the Lord of heaven and earth" (Acts 17,24) and amid the stress of war peace comes to birth. All the evils of our life far off are driven; and there is no other road that leads to heaven. A "precious palm-tree" (Sg 7,9) is the Cross, so says the Bride, which her Beloved One has scaled, his arms stretched wide; and its fruit a savor sweet to God has given, for there is no other road that leads to heaven. The Cross is "like an olive-tree, fair" (Si 24,14) to the sight, whereof the holy oil provides healing and light. Wherefore, my soul, embrace the Cross, rejoice, be shriven, for there is no other road that leads to heaven. ...

A beautiful meditation on the rosary by Steve Silvia. The rosary is a combination of two kinds of prayer, usually called "vocal" and "mental." The "mysteries" of the rosary are key events in the lives of Jesus and Mary But these events did not touch only the lives of Jesus and Mary. They touch our lives, too; they have meaning for us today. It's been said the rosary is a 'place' and I agree with that. If I'm praying as I should and I'm not distracted, I get a sense of being in a place while praying the rosary, seeing myself right there in the mystery's and then I try to apply them to my life. Sometimes it's about perseverance but I can say with conviction, the rosary can change your life.

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter Image: Eucharist Today's Mass Readings "I tell you most solemnly, it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven, the true bread; for the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." "Sir," they said "give us that bread always." Jesus answered: "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never thirst." (John 6: 16 - 17) Meditation Saint of the Day: St. Julie Billart, Woman of Serenity Patronage: against poverty, bodily ills, impoverishment, poverty, sick people, sickness Prayer to St. Julie Billiart Saint Julie, through your great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, you were miraculously cured and favored by many graces. By your powerful intercession, obtain for us above all, great trust in God in all difficulties of life, the strength to accomplish in all things th...

Thursday of the Second Week of Easter Mass Readings Meditation Saint of the Day : SAINT RICHARD of CHICHESTER , Bishop(1197-1253) Saint Richard of Chichester was born in 1197 in a little town a few miles from Worcester, England. He and his elder brother were left orphans while still young, and his brother was imprisoned as a result of their property’s unpaid debts. Richard gave up the studies which he loved, to farm his brother’s impoverished estate. More Today's Special Prayer Intentions: 1. Thanksgiving for answered prayers for understanding how to work around my blogging problem. Lord, please bless Christine for helping to pinpoint the problem instructing me on how to work around it. Please bless all those who offered their prayers and help. Please reward them abundantly for their prayers, sacrifices, and words of encouragement. 2. For the repose of the soul of Tanja's mother and for comfort and peace for the family. 3. For Ebeth's special intentions . 4. For a respect ...

Today's Mass Readings Today's Meditation We understand the suffering of Jesus' heart, His sadness over one of His disciples, one of those He had chosen and therefore one of those whom He loves: "One of you will betray me." Here we see the two extremes: the disciple whom Jesus loves, John close to Jesus' heart, and Judas, who draws further and further away, who turns in on himself and closes himself in on his evil will. A division arose among those whom Jesus had chosen and loved and the cause of this division is Judas' jealousy towards John. Judas did not directly will Jesus' death, but he could not stand Jesus' love for John. Judas did not go to the end in his first love and he rejected this first love because he saw that another was first passing ahead of him. Let us ask Jesus for the grace to be faithful to the end in our love for Him and that nothing, absolutely nothing, make us stray from Him. May He always be the one we love above all things....

Beginning on St. Andrew the Apostle's feast day, November 30, the following beautiful prayer is traditionally recited fifteen times a day until Christmas. This is a very meditative prayer that helps us increase our awareness of the real focus of Christmas and helps us prepare ourselves spiritually for His coming. Hail and blessed be the hour and moment In which the Son of God was born Of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen. Image: Jesus in Manger

"Whereas few men are called upon to become priests, all women, without exception, are called upon to be mothers...In her book, The Eternal Woman, Gertrude von le Fort writes: 'To be a mother, to feel maternally, means to turn especially to the helpless, to incline lovingly and helpfully to every small and weak thing upon this earth.' The diabolical work that has taken place since the legalization of abortion is that it has destroyed, in those tragic women who have allowed their child to be murdered, their sense for the sacredness of maternity. Abortion not only murders the innocent; it spiritually murders women. Those who devote their loving attention to these victims of our decadent society know that the wound created in their souls is so deep that only God's grace can heal it. The very soul of the woman is meant to be maternal. Once this sublime calling has been trampled upon, such women become 'unsexed'; they are 'sick unto death.' Maternity is a s...