Marriage

Marriage between a man and a woman is a sacrament in the Catholic Church. Marriage is the joining of two who become one flesh, a man who leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife. There are many issues that surround marriage as well as the preparation for marriage. If you are planning a life long commitment to another person, what are some of the things you would need to discuss? There are issues such as finances, where you are going to live, the kinds of careers or jobs that you will undertake, the decision to have children and how many. If you are a person of faith, the role of your faith will also play an important role in your planning for the ceremony, what church you will have the wedding ceremony, the kind of music and the priest or minister who will receive your vows. There are rules and guidelines in all faith traditions and our Catholic faith is no exception. We will be discussing some of these issues in our upcoming shows. If you have any questions or comments about Catholic marriages or mixed marriages ( a marriage between a Catholic and a non-Catholic, whether they be baptized Christian or non-baptized person) please feel free to leave some comments or email us at feedmylambs@ymail.com

St John Vianney

Today we celebrate the feast of St John Vianney, the Cure of Ars and the patron saint of all priests. Through his intercession, may all priests continue to administer the sacraments with love and fidelity.

We have been talking about reverence in our Catholic faith, most especially reverence in speech, actions and clothing while at Mass. There has been a survey that shows that 74 percent of the Catholic faithful believe the biggest problem in their parishes is the lack of reverence. This entails the lack of reverence in clothing as well as the lack of reverence before and after Mass. The noise within church makes it difficult for people to pray before Mass or to make an act of thanksgiving after Mass.

What is it you are looking for when you go to Mass? What are the things that help to make it a prayerful time for you and your family? And what do you feel to be appropriate clothing for a Sunday Mass? There are many considerations, and only you know if you are truly wearing your best clothes for Mass. There are no directives in Canon Law or the Catechism, but some parishes and some dioceses have mandated a dress code. For example, in Rome, you are not able to go into a church if you are wearing shorts or sleeveless shirts/dresses. And in Manila, the priests are encouraging you to dress in a respectful manner. Ask the Blessed Mother in prayer what you should wear for Mass. She'll let you know.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

One of our great treasures in the Catholic faith is our devotion to Our Lady. Mary is called upon under many different titles to pray for us, her children, and today, we call upon her as Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Unfortunately, many Catholics have been neglecting her, believing that devotion to Our Lady is outdated and old fashioned. Some even say that she takes away from the worship due her Son, Jesus Christ. But every authentic devotion to Our Lady will ultimately lead you to her Son. Mary is to be honored as the mother of Our Lord, as it says in the fourth commandment, and she is only too happy to bring all of us who honor her to Jesus Christ. You do not have to be traditional or conservative to give honor to Mary. in fact, there are many Catholics that would be considered progressive or liberal that pray the rosary and honor Mary in many other ways as well. Mary transcends all labels, but Mary aslo keeps Catholics honest about the teachings of the Church. Mary would never encourage dissent from any teaching. To honor Mary as the Mother of Jesus Crhist, our Lord and God, you would necessarily seek to live and to accept all the teachings of Holy Mother Church.

Join us this Sunday for a new feed my lambs show. We will be discussing how to properly receive Holy Communion and the difference between receiving Communion in the hand and receiving Communion on the tongue.

Liberal/Conservative?

Why do we find it so easy to place labels on others? Within our Catholic Church, there has been an attempt to politicize our teachings and to place labels on those with whom we disagree. Pope Paul VI himself was characterized as a leading progressive (read: liberal) bishop before he was elevated to the papacy. He continued the Second Vatican Council, begun by Blessed Pope John XXIII, and soon after the council, the "smoke of Satan" entered the church. Yet, people on both sides of these labels were denoucning Pope Paul VI, especially in 1968 when Pope Paul issued his famous and prophetic encyclical, Humanae Vitae. Others accused him of being heretical because of the promulgation of a new missal, which changed many of the prayers of the Sacrifice of the Mass. This led to a mass defection of many priests and some bishops, and it has carried over today with many "traditional" sects, some of which have entered into schism. The best way to avoid being labeled liberal or conservative, progressive or traditional, is to think with the Church, and you think with the Church when you give assent to the teachings handed down through the popes and the magisterium. Doctrine cannot change.

Corpus Christi

This Sunday is Corpus Christi Sunday, a day of devotion and celebration for the Body and Blood of Christ. This Solemnity, which was encouraged by Blessed Juliana of Liege and the Archdeacon Jacques Pantaleon, who later became Pope Urban IV, and in 1264, Pope Urban issued a Bull, called Transiturus, which made Corpus Christi a feast throughout the Latin Church. We, as Catholics, believe that the bread and wine offered at Mass are transubstantiated into the body and blood of Jesus Christ; in effect, the substance of bread and wine cease to be as the bpdy and blood of Christ miraculously appears as food for the Christian, but God, in his infinite wisdom, knowing that it would repuslive to eat flesh and drink blood, decreed that the body and blood of his Son, would appear under the appearance of bread and wine, whereby the accidents of bread and wine remain even as the substance has been changed into our Lord and Savior.

There are many wonderful prayers, hymns and devotions that surround this great mystery of our faith. One such devotion is Eucharistic Adoration, whereby you are invited to pray and just be in the presence of our Lord, who is exposed for the benefit of the faithful in what is called a monstrance. There are many blessings that come to a parish that supports and encourages and offers times for adoration, most especially perpettual adoration. It is in adoring our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament that is a remedy for the evils in the world and in our own Church. It is in the heart of the Eucharist that we will find the priestly vocations. On June 19th, the Solemntiy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, will open the Holy Year for Priests and declare the saintly Cure of Ars, John Mary Vianney, the patron saint of all priests. Please continue to pray for your priests that they will most especially be devoted to our Lord present in the Holy Eucharist.

Pentecost

Pentecost Sunday is here!! This is the day we commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and we also commemorate the birthday of the church. The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity, is the Lord and Giver of Life. we are able to pray only in and through the Holy Spirit. He has the power to change you, to transform you, to divinize you. he bestows upon you the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are wisdom, counsel, knowledge, piety, understanding, fortitude and fear of the Lord. How amazing that our God loves us so much that he would send these gifts to us. If you give your beloved a gift, would you not expect your beloved to use it? How would you feel if that gift, something that you really thought long and hard about, was placed in the closet and collected dust? Gifts are meant to be used. God does not want you to put these gifts of the Spirit in the closet so that they may collect dust. Ask for the Spirit to help you to use them properly.

The Holy Spirit is very real. He brings order to your chaotic life. He showers you with his love. He is the very breath of God, the ruah Adonai, and he revivifies your soul, dead to sin but now alive in Christ. You are a temple of the Holy Spirit. Keep that temple pure and make it a worthy home for the God who loves you. Come Holy Spirit, come Creator blest, kindle in the hearts of thy faithful the fire of thy love.

Motherhood and Celibacy

Mothers Day was a week ago. Women have a great privilege to be able to share in God's creative power when they, with the help of God, form the child in the secret of their womb. Mothers and motherhood have been under attack in our society, but this is to be accepted since fatherhood and family life have also been under attack for years. Satan has always and continues to try to destroy the family. We must be vigilant in our prayer life and in our own relationships with our families and loved ones in order to counter the attack on families. Pray the family rosary. Go to Mass together as a family. Parents are the first teachers of their children. Do not give control over to the school, especially the public schools, and think that your children are learning good values. Keep abreast of what they are learning and get involved.

There is also a connection between a disparagement of marriage with the disparagement of priestly celibacy. When one suffers, both are suffering. Despite the failures of priests in the news, especially the most recent one in Miami, allowing priests to be married is not the answer. What our priests need is our prayers. I think we do a disservice to priests when newspapers and news shows write about the priests' sins for the purpose of sensationalism. Priests are human and they sin. What they need is prayer, not sensationalism.

Join us this Sunday, May 24th, as we discuss the Catholic Church's teaching on so called same sex marriage.