Catholic Fire

Quote for the Day When Fox WFLD reporter Darlene Hill asked Mike Ditka about smoking in restaurants he responded, "You talk about banning smoking. Okay, why don't we ban abortion? Let's talk about things that are really important. You know you talk about, well, you think one thing can harm your health; the other one takes a life."

Quote of the Day "The judgment of one's state of grace obviously belongs only to the person involved, since it is a question of examining one's conscience. However, in cases of outward conduct which is seriously, clearly and steadfastly contrary to the moral norm, the Church, in her pastoral concern for the good order of the community and out of respect for the sacrament, cannot fail to feel directly involved. The Code of Canon Law refers to this situation of a manifest lack of proper moral disposition when it states that those who “obstinately persist in manifest grave sin” are not to be admitted to Eucharistic communion." ~ Pope John Paul II, "ECCLESIA DE EUCHARISTIA", April 17, 2003

Quote for the Day "At this time, some Catholics may feel politically homeless, sensing that no political party and too few candidates share a consistent concern for human life and dignity. However, this is not a time for retreat or discouragement. We need more, not less engagement in political life. We urge Catholics to become more involved." ~ USCCB Administrative Committee, Faithful citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility, page 3.

Quote for the Day "We always have to remember that it's objectively wrong to vote for a pro-choice politician. People could be in ignorance of how serious this is. But once they understand and know this and then willingly do it, vote for a pro-choice candidate, then they need to confess that." Archbishop Raymond Burke, Diocese of St.Louis

A Prayer For Our “Catholic” Pro-Death Politicians Lord, we come before You seeking Your mercy and forgiveness for our brothers and sisters who have fallen away from the Truth of Your teachings and Your commandments. We pray for a purification of their hearts, minds, and souls. We ask You to change their hearts, to conform their minds and will to Yours, to help them accept Your graces to reject evil, to repent of their sins, and to come back Home to You. Help them, Lord, to become acutely aware of the sanctity of all human life and to preserve, protect, and defend it in all circumstances and all situations. Amen. Quote of the Day "To claim the right to abortion, infanticide and euthanasia, and to recognize that right in law, means to attribute to human freedom a perverse and evil significance: that of an absolute power over others and against others. This is the death of true freedom..." (Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae 20) ~ Jean M. Heimann, ®June 8, 2004...

HAPPY 84th BIRTHDAY, HOLY FATHER! Today is Pope John Paul II's 84th birthday. I heard on the news today that he is the third longest living pontiff in history. To send him a birthday card, go to http://www.vatican.va . The Holy Father has been the inspiration for my life -- nothing stops him -- gunshot wounds from an assassin, Parkinson's -- from preaching the gospel message. He has been a playwright, an actor, a poet, a factory worker, an author, a priest, a bishop, a skier, a swimmer, a hiker, a world traveler, a child of Mary, and a true disciple of Jesus Christ. He loves as Jesus loved -- seeking out others and sharing his gifts with the children of the world. I pray that the Lord will bless him abundantly this day for being the genuine hero we can all look up to and attempt to emulate. I thank God for him and his holy leadership today during these trying times in the Church. I will always remember him as the bearer of hope in my life. During difficult times, I often...

Our Lady of Good Counsel On April 25, 1467, the feast of St. Mark, the people of Genazzano, Italy witnessed a miracle. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when they heard exquisite music – the sound of angelic voices singing. Then, as they gazed upward at the clear blue sky, they saw a mysterious cloud appear and descend upon an unfinished wall of their church dedicated to Our Lady of Good Counsel. When the cloud disappeared, a beautiful image of Our Lady and the Child Jesus was revealed which had not been there before. The church bells rang of their accord and many people from the countryside rushed into the city to investigate the reason for the ringing. Many miracles occurred shortly after the appearance of the image, which were attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Consequently, Pope Paul II ordered an investigation of the image. The same image had been seen in a church dedicated to the Annunciation in Scutari, Albania. The image in this chu...

Prayer to Our Lady, Mother of Mercy Blessed Virgin Mary, who can worthily repay you with praise and thanks for having rescued a fallen world by your generous consent! Receive our gratitude, and by your prayers obtain the pardon of our sins. Take our prayers into the sanctuary of heaven and enable them to make our peace with God. Holy Mary, help the miserable, strengthen the discouraged, comfort the sorrowful, pray for your people, plead for the clergy, intercede for all women consecrated to God. May all who venerate you feel now your help and protection. Be ready to help us when we pray, and bring back to us the answers to our prayers. Make it your continual concern to pray for the people of God, for you were blessed by God and were made worthy to bear the Redeemer of the world, who lives and reigns forever. Amen. -- Saint Augustine of Hippo

The First Step in Changing Society How do we change the society we live in to be more in tune with the laws of God? What is the secret of motivating people to become more virtuous? These are questions that I continually ask myself. In these times of constant unrest in the world where the prevailing attitude is "an eye for an eye" and "a tooth for a tooth", where innocent human beings are slaughtered in the womb daily, and our disabled and elderly are treated as burdens on society, I ask myself what can I as one person do to promote change? The answer I consistently receive in my conversations with God are to come before Him daily and to surrender my life to Him and to His Holy Mother. This begins with offering up all my thoughts, words, actions, joys, and sufferings to Jesus and Mary. A prayer as simple as, "All for You, Mary" will suffice. A morning offering and more formal consecration prayers to Jesus and to Mary are part of my usual routi...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOTHER ANGELICA! Mother Angelica, you have been an angel to me. You have brought Jesus into my heart and soul when I have been homebound and too ill to go out. You have taught me how to love and laugh in the midst of pain. You have helped me to learn how to offer up my pain, my sufferings, and trials to the Lord. Thank you for strengthening my faith and for teaching me how to handle my suffering and trials by your wonderful example. Every time I hear your name or see your smiling face, a deep joy fills my heart. I am praying for an abundance of graces for you today, Mother. Happy Birthday, Mother! "Unless we are willing to do the ridiculous, God will not do the miraculous." -- Mother Angelica

FEAST OF ST. JOSEPH IN HONOR OF SAINT JOSEPH, SPOUSE OF MARY by Saint Louis de Montfort Let’s sing a hymn in honor Of Saint Joseph, the protector And spouse of Mary. Humble Joseph is little known. No one on earth truly understands him But he ravishes the blessed. May earth unite with heaven May everything glorify him! Great saint, God found only you Worthy to be the spouse Of His admirable Mother. Spouse of the Queen of heaven, This privilege is marvelous; Witness of her holiness Guardian of her purity, O incomparable glory! The Eternal Father chose you To nourish His Son on earth, To be His vicar. You have carried in your arms He who holds everything in His hands, By a most special choice You have been the nurturer Of your own Father. Oh! to have seen Him caress you Smile at you and embrace you With extraordinary love. His smiles pierced your heart And filled it with tenderness. Embraced by His love. You told Him, in your turn, My dear ...

ST. PATRICK'S BREASTPLATE I bind unto myself today The strong Name of the Trinity, By invocation of the same The Three in One and One in Three. I bind this today to me forever By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation; His baptism in Jordan river, His death on Cross for my salvation; His bursting from the spicèd tomb, His riding up the heavenly way, His coming at the day of doom I bind unto myself today. I bind unto myself the power Of the great love of cherubim; The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour, The service of the seraphim, Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word, The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls, All good deeds done unto the Lord And purity of virgin souls. I bind unto myself today The virtues of the star lit heaven, The glorious sun’s life giving ray, The whiteness of the moon at even, The flashing of the lightning free, The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks, The stable earth, the deep salt sea Around the old eternal rocks. I ...

CHARITY If we worry too much about ourselves, we won't have time for others...We should learn how to give, but we should not regard giving as an obligation, but as a desire. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

SAINT JOHN OF GOD St. John of God was born on March 8, 1495 in a small village in the south of Portugal called Montemor-o-Novo. At the age of eight, he left home and was raised by a Spanish family in Oropesa. John spent most of his life as a wanderer, working as a shepherd, soldier, bookseller and laborer, travelling in Europe and North Africa. When St. John of God finally settled in Granada around the age of forty he was so deeply moved by the preaching of Blessed John of Avila, that he gave away all his worldly possessions to the poor and went about the city beating his breast, begging for God’s mercy. His conversion experience was so dramatic in its intensity that he was placed in a psychiatric hospital. His brief experience of this kind of treatment resulted in a deep compassion for the afflicted and gave him a personal and profound understanding of the real needs of the sick. He devoted the rest of his life to caring for those in need. John's work was motivated b...

St. Katherine Drexel “The patient and humble endurance of the cross – whatever nature it may be – is the highest work we have to do.”

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST I have just seen The Passion of the Christ. What a powerful movie! Never in my life (of 50+ years) have I witnessed a film that had such a powerful impact on me! And, I already knew the story line, the plot, and the outcome before I went in to see it. The Passion of the Christ has the power to open hearts to abundant grace and to convert souls. It will draw each of us closer to Jesus Christ and to His Holy Mother, if we permit it. The movie is violent -- even more so than I expected it to be --but I believe that it is still probably not as violent as the real crucifixion was. It is that violence that makes us commiserate with Jesus Christ in His agony and motivates us even more to fully unite our pain with His. We are so spoiled in our society today that if we cut our finger or get a headache, then we're complaining about our pain and immediately have to take something to relieve of us of the discomfort. If you watch this film, you get a taste of w...

Quote For the Day "If a politician can't respect the life of a little baby, how is he supposed to respect yours?" Father Frank Pavone, Priests For Life

Humility “If then, Your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” John 13: 14 “ He humbled Himself, becoming obedient, even to death on a cross.” Philippians 2:8 “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also everyone for those of others. Have among you the same attitude that is also yours in Jesus Christ.” Philippians 2: 3-5 A Prayer for Humility Lord, teach me to be humble As you were humble When you washed the feet of your followers, When you permitted others to scourge and mock you, When you persevered in the midst of pain, And united your will with that of the Father’s. Teach me the truth that is humility, The foundation of faith, hope, and charity Empty my heart of pride And fill it with Your love. ~ Jean M. Heimann, Copyright 2004 “True humility makes no pretence of being h...

Lent "Lent is the time for entering into oneself. It is the period of the particular intimacy with God in the secrecy of one’s own heart and conscience… Lent is essentially an invitation to conversion. The 'works of mercy' spoken of in the gospel open the way to it." "Let ourselves be reconciled with God, for He has done so much for this reconciliation." ~ Pope John Paul II Lent begins today on Ash Wednesday. Lent is a time when we are called as Catholics to a deeper conversion and cleansing of our hearts. It is a time where we are called to give ourselves totally to God and to remove any obstacles that prevent Him from drawing nearer to us. Lent reminds me of the spring-cleaning that I do each year. Each spring, I clean my house thoroughly and throw out or give away the items in my home that I no longer use. I rid my house of the clutter and make room for the necessary items or create new space so I can move about more freely without st...

My Favorite Quotes on Materialism and Attachment The soul that is attached to anything, however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine union. For whether it be a strong wire rope or a slender and delicate thread that holds the bird, it matters not, if it really holds it fast; for until the cord be broken, the bird cannot fly. -- Saint John of the Cross Simplicity is a narrow road of self-discipline, but the alternative -- money and materialism-- is only another master. ... Jesus never said material things in themselves are evil, but rather warned that they threaten our freedom. In this context, simplicity is not restriction, sacrifice, or denial. It is emancipation. -- Living More with Less We can not become whole in a culture of materialism, in a culture with so much junk on television, in movies, so much crassness, so much sordidness, so much self-absorption. This is exactly the opposite of wholeness. There is grave danger that we can permi...