Friday, June 24, 2016

June 24 - John the Baptist


John the Baptist was a contemporary of Christ who was known for evangelization and his baptizing of Jesus Christ.

John the Baptist was born through the intercession of God to Zachariah and Elizabeth, who was otherwise too old to bear children. According to scriptures, the Angel Gabriel visited Elizabeth and Zachariah to tell them they would have a son and that they should name him John. Zachariah was skeptical and for this he was rendered mute until the time his son was born and named John, in fulfillment of God's will.

When Elizabeth was pregnant with John, she was visited by Mary, and John leapt in her womb. This revealed to Elizabeth that the child Mary carried was to be the Son of God.

John began public ministry around 30 AD, and was known for attracting large crowds across the province of Judaea and around the Jordan River. When Jesus came to him to be baptized, John recognized him and said, "It is I who need baptism from you."

Jesus told John to baptize Him anyway, which he did, whereupon the heavens opened, and the Spirit of God was seen like a dove. The voice of God spoke, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

John instructed his followers to turn to Christ, calling Him the "Lamb of God" and these people were among the first Christians.

Following his baptism of Christ, John's popularity grew so much that he alarmed King Herod. Herod ordered him arrested and imprisoned.

John spoke with Herod on several occasions and condemned his marriage to his half-brother's wife.

This condemnation would be his downfall as King Herod promised to grant a wish to his daughter. In revenge for John the Baptist's condemnation of her mother's scandalous marriage to Herod, she asked for John's head. King Herod reluctantly obliged. John the Baptist died sometime between 33 and 36 AD.

John the Baptist's feast day is June 24, and the anniversary of his death is August 29 and is sometimes celebrated with a second feast. John the Baptist is the patron saint of Jordan, Puerto Rico, French Canada and many other places.

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Jim Caviezel Testimony (Actor who played Jesus in the Passion of Christ Film)

Amazing testimony and words of Jim Caviezel, the actor who played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ film, which is the highest grossing R-rated film in history (and rightly so) just like the Holy Bible is the world’s best-selling book (and rightly so). Jim Caviezel is being interviewed by Dave Cooper.

This interview is highly inspiring. He talks about how God's Providence allowed him to suffer several very painful injuries and illnesses when filming which allowed him to participate in and portray Christ's Passion in a deep and real way. He tells about the shocking fact that he was struck by lightning at one point in the production. He gives advice to all Catholics about the seriousness of living the Faith, not trying to "fit in" with our neo-pagan society, and the necessity, joy, and honor of suffering for Jesus Crucified for the salvation of souls. His testimony is amazing and real.

The first commenter for the above video wrote: “Truly profound and breathtaking!”

Please Note: At one point in his talk, Jim said, “You are all going to Heaven.” A critic might object, “What if there was someone in the audience who hates Christ and will never repent. So is Jim saying that he is going to Heaven too?” Of course such an unrepentant person who hates God chooses Hell with their free will (as Jim said in his talk, “God doesn’t send anyone to Hell, they choose that place”) and Jim’s statement cannot apply to them. So how are we to understand Jim’s sentence? First off, it is obvious from the context that Jim was addressing those among the audience who are of good will who desire to repent, live a virtuous life, and to take the necessary actions to reach Heaven. Furthermore, Jim expanded or qualified this statement later in his talk where he said that “God is asking for more conversion” and he reminded the audience that Heaven or Hell is a choice (on a related topic, he said that those in the production of the movie who were “fence-sitters” with regards to God who claimed they hadn’t made a choice were in reality making a choice by the mere fact that they were fence-sitting). A person chooses Heaven or Hell with their free will and manifests their choice by the way they lead their life and by their actions, words, thoughts, and prayers. One must want Heaven to reach there and to reach it requires effort just like anything worthwhile in the natural world. Our Lord told us in the Gospels that arriving at Heaven requires the person to receive sanctifying grace through baptism (which of course is ordinarily sacramental baptism by water, but in rare cases can include baptism of blood or authentic baptism of desire), repenting of their sins, and living a virtuous life where they preserve this grace. Hence, Jim’s statement must be understood with these qualifiers for his statement to be correct.

Monday, June 13, 2016

June 13 - St. Anthony of Padua



Called the Wonder Worker because of the numerous miracles attributed to him while he was living and since his death. He is one of the most popular saints in the Catholic Church and is implored as the patron of lost things and a hundred other causes. He was a preacher and theologian and was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XII.

Monday, June 6, 2016

The Eucharistic Miracle

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world." The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying:

"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

Then Jesus said to them:

"Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day." (Jn 6.51-55)

Saturday, June 4, 2016

June 4 - Sacred Heart of Mary



In the midst of the second world war Pope Pius XII put the whole world under the special protection of our Savior's Mother by consecrating it to her Immaculate Heart, and in 1944 he decreed that in the future the whole Church should celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is not a new devotion. In the seventeenth century, St. John Eudes preached it together with that of the Sacred Heart; in the nineteenth century, Pius VII and Pius IX allowed several churches to celebrate a feast of the Pure Heart of Mary. Pius XII instituted today's feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the whole Church, so as to obtain by her intercession "peace among nations, freedom for the Church, the conversion of sinners, the love of purity and the practice of virtue" (Decree of May 4, 1944).

Friday, June 3, 2016

June 3 - Sacred Heart of Jesus

"Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist, I place my trust in you".

Thursday, June 2, 2016

June 2 - You are more beautiful than you think - 3 mins

In one of the most famous Dove films, Real Beauty Sketches explores the gap between how others perceive us and how we perceive ourselves. Each woman is the subject of two portraits drawn by FBI-trained forensic artist Gil Zamora: one based on her own description, and the other using a stranger’s observations. The results are surprising…

Watch and see why...

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

June 1 - Month of the Sacred Heart



The month of June is dedicated to The Sacred Heart of Jesus. This month falls within the liturgical season of Ordinary Time, which is represented by the liturgical color green.
This symbol of hope is the color of the sprouting seed and arouses in the faithful the hope of reaping the eternal harvest of heaven, especially the hope of a glorious resurrection. It is used in the offices and Masses of Ordinary Time. The last portion of the liturgical year represents the time of our pilgrimage to heaven during which we hope for reward.

The Holy Father's Intentions for the Month of June 2016
Universal: That immigrants and refugees may find welcome and respect in the countries to which they come.
Evangelization: That the personal encounter with Jesus may arouse in many young people the desire to offer their own lives in priesthood or consecrated life.