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Homily for 3rd Sunday of Easter: "We Are All Witnesses of These Things"

We Are All Witnesses of These Things

Custodia Terræ Sanctæ

Custodia Terræ Sanctæ Franciscans in the Holy Land

'You are witnesses to this.' Sunday Reflections, 3rd Sunday of Easter Year B

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  Supper at Emmaus , Rembrandt, c.1629 Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)   Gospel Luke 24:35-48 (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) The disciples told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised Jesus at the breaking of bread. They were still talking about this when Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you! ' In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, 'Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.' And as he said this he showed them his hands and feet. Their joy was so great that they could not believe it, and they stood dumbfounded; so he said to them, 'Have you anything here to eat? ' And they offere

Image & Likeness: And Many More!!

Image & Likeness: And Many More!! : A s Easter soars along with it’s thousands upon thousands of Alleluias, we give a great ‘Alleluia’ for the life we celebrate today,...

Ælfheah of Canterbury - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Ælfheah of Canterbury - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Click here to join

Vatican considers healing attributed to death camp ‘archangel in hell’ | CatholicHerald.co.uk

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Vatican considers healing attributed to death camp ‘archangel in hell’ | CatholicHerald.co.uk Click here to join

View from the Domestic Church: First and Foremost Responsibility to Educate Our Children

View from the Domestic Church: First and Foremost Responsibility to Educate Our Children

Parents' wishes count on denominational schools

Read Senator Ronan Mullen defending our Catholic Schools. Parents' wishes count on denominational schools

View from the Domestic Church: "Food for the Family's Soul" radio today!

View from the Domestic Church: "Food for the Family's Soul" radio today!

First Communion Day

It pains me to say that the only thing I remember about my first communion is that I got to wear open-toed shoes for the first time and that I did NOT want to walk down the aisle with Phillip, another boy in the group, for fear it would appear we were getting married. It was after reading St. Thérèse of Lisieux's "Story of a Soul" in her account of her first communion, that I realized it  is  possible for a child to understand the magnitude of this great gift (to a certain degree) and make ready their heart to receive Him with great reverence, excited anticipation, and joy. Read More...

Father Thomas Byles

Father Thomas Byles Catholic martyr priest of the Titanic

Prayer petions of members of ACWB

Dear St Joseph, present our prayers to God.       Father,   Please aid a daughter facing a terminal illness and her family  For a return to the Faith of lapsed family members for healing of a family rift for a sufferer from alcoholism and their loved ones for candidates for First Holy Communion for Nick in Afghanistan   Trusting in the Divine Mercy of Your Only Begotten Son   and in the Holy and Undivided Trinity Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thy Will Be Done O God, Amen

LAST WELSH MARTYR: SIX OF THE FORTY

LAST WELSH MARTYR: SIX OF THE FORTY : The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales were selected from among the hundreds of Catholics who gave their lives for the faith during the dar...

View from the Domestic Church: Embracing Motherhood!

View from the Domestic Church: Embracing Motherhood!

From a Fellow Carmelite: On Beauty

I belong to the Carmelite Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary.  They have recently revamped their website.  It still has some kinks, but it is very attractive and informative.  This link is part of their prayer page.  It is an inspiring essay on beauty as a way of access to God.  Enjoy! On Beauty - Order of Carmelites | Order of Carmelite

'My Lord and my God!' Sunday Reflections, Second Sunday of Easter Year B

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From The Gospel of John (2003)   Directed by Philip Saville. Jesus played by Henry Ian Cusick; narrator, Christopher Plummer. Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)   Gospel John 20:19-31 (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, 'Peace be with you,' and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again,      Peace be with you. 'As the Father sent me,  so am I sending you.' After saying this he breathed on them and said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.' Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve

Crisis Facing catholic Education in Ireland

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A report into the the future of primary school patronage in Ireland was delivered on Tuesday. It does not make for pleasant reading. A recent census indicates that 84% of the population are Catholic, but 89% of the primary school are Catholic. The Government wants to divest schools, (remove schools from the patronage of the Catholic Church) to cater for other groups within Irish society. But the recommendations within this report which will effect these newly divested schools, as well as our existing schools, are extremely anti-catholic in their sentiment. Yet they seem to have been greeted with relative silence by our Church leaders.  I ask all readers and bloggers here at the Association of Catholic women Bloggers to pray for struggling Catholic Ireland.  I have posted more on this issue on the St Genesius Blog

Estefanio Argall Luceño RIP, the father of a Columban missionary

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 Estefanio Luceño with his wife Teresita, 60 years married, taken in Dahilayan, Bukidnon, last year Please pray for the repose of the soul of Estefanio A Luceño who died in Pagadian City on Holy Saturday, 7 April, and will be buried there on Easter Saturday, 14 April. He was 85 and the father of Aurora Luceño, a long-term Columban lay missionary who has spent much of her time in Pakistan. Many of us have read stories, including vocation stories, about and by missionaries and been inspired by them. We don't hear quite as often from the parents of missionaries, about their part in the vocation stories of their sons and daughters or of what it costs them. Below is an article we published in Misyon , the Columban magazine I edit here in the Philippines, in January-February 2004 by the late Estefanio: We had to let her go . Now God has asked his wife and family to let him go. As the Irish prayer for the dead goes, 'May the light of heaven shine upon him'. Aurora Luceño, kno

View from the Domestic Church: Mother's Day book sale!

View from the Domestic Church: Mother's Day book sale!

An April Devotion

A group of my friends recently started a facebook group with a monthly novena and prayer. For April we are doing the Divine Mercy Novena. Here's a link to the novena  http://www.praymorenovenas.com/divine-mercy-novena#axzz1qPx9fwHg And our Prayer of the Month is: The Divine Praises Blessed be God. Blessed be His Holy Name. Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man. Blessed be the name of Jesus. Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart. Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the paraclete. Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy. Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception. Blessed be her glorious Assumption. Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother. Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse. Blessed be God in His angels and in His Saints. May the heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world,

View from the Domestic Church: Radio today: Chatting about "Embracing Motherhood!"

View from the Domestic Church: Radio today: Chatting about "Embracing Motherhood!"
Dear St Joseph,  present our prayers to God. Please aid a daughter facing a terminal illness and her family  For a return to the Faith of lapsed family members for healing of a family rift for a sufferer from alcoholism and their loved ones for candidates for First Holy Communion for Nick in Afghanistan Trusting in the Holy and Undivided Trinity Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thy Will Be Done O God, Amen

Home - Society of Our Lady of Penrhys

Home - Society of Our Lady of Penrhys Our local Shrine here in South Wales (Anglican group)

View from the Domestic Church: Fourth day of the Divine Mercy Novena

View from the Domestic Church: Fourth day of the Divine Mercy Novena

O filii et filiae

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Stations of the Cross meditation

Triduum Stations of the Cross meditation It’s Good Friday, we read the Stations of the Cross together as a family, except our middle child whom I discovered asleep.   I was disappointed, but didn’t disturb her.   We read from the Lent 2012 edition from The Magnificat, what a beautiful interpretation, with Genesis references.    We read it at 3:00pm this afternoon with everything off and we traded off reading each station.   Then my knight read the Passion account from John and we discussed how the gospels differ.   I still like Luke’s version for the story of the two thieves and the forgiveness at the last minute.   Forgiveness at the last possible moment of life on this side of eternity is mercy of an amazingly inconceivable degree; only divinely instituted, taught, and expected from us.   It touches me completely and gives me, this lowly sinner, hope.  As Jesus sets out on His Passion, He is not alone; he is together with His Father.   Christ prays constantly, looking to His fath

View from the Domestic Church: Second day of the novena

View from the Domestic Church: Second day of the novena

"Mommy Why? Part Deux, Good Friday

(Priest and deacons enter, and lie prostrate before the altar and cross for several minutes) Whispering... "Mommy, why are we here?" "Because we want to show Jesus how thankful we are for the wonderful thing he did for us on the cross." "Oh, yea!! Wait, what did he do?" "He suffered and died so you could go to heaven." "Mommy why are there no candles?" "Because we are fasting today, not just from food, but anything that gives us comfort. Jesus is suffering and sad, so we are loving him by being sad with him." "Why is he sad?" "Because there are people who don't love him, and he died for them." Read More

'Resurrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia - He is risen as he said, Alleluia!' Sunday Reflections, Easter Sunday

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From TheGospel of John (2003)   Directed by Philip Saville. Jesus played by Henry Ian Cusick; narrator, Christopher Plummer . Readings for Mass on Sunday (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel John 20:1-9 (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb' she said 'and we don't know where they have put him.'  So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter who was following now came up, went right into the tomb,

Holy Saturday

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Day 2 of Divine Mercy Novena  " Today bring to Me the Souls of Priests and Religious, and immerse them in My unfathomable mercy. It was they who gave me strength to endure My bitter Passion. Through them as through channels My mercy flows out upon mankind." Most Merciful Jesus, from whom comes all that is good, increase Your grace in men and women consecrated to Your service,* that they may perform worthy works of mercy; and that all who see them may glorify the Father of Mercy who is in heaven. Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the company of chosen ones in Your vineyard -- upon the souls of priests and religious; and endow them with the strength of Your blessing. For the love of the Heart of Your Son in which they are enfolded, impart to them Your power and light, that they may be able to guide others in the way of salvation and with one voice sing praise to Your boundless mercy for ages without end. Amen. * In the original text, S