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.

Priesthood: God's Gift

Today is the Feast of St Peter Chanel, a Marist priest and the first martyr of Oceania. It is also the third anniversary of my ordination to the sacred priesthood. These last three years have been the most fulfilling of my life. There is no greater joy than knowing that you are in God's will and that your vocation is exactly where God wants you. Celibacy is a difficult way of life, but with God's grace it can be very enriching. There have been many arguments about celibacy and that it has led to a shortage of priests in the Catholic Church. I have heard many men say that they would become priests if the church ever allowed them to marry as well. But it is a distinct vocation. If we look at the other churches that allow married priests and ministers, we can see that it is a difficult way of life for them and their wives. They do an admirable job of living married life and ministering to the flock, but many wives of ministers will be the first to say that the husband is being pulled into two different directions. The Catholic priesthood is offering an ordained man the possibility of being able to serve whole heartedly. There will be a shortage of priests, and by the way, there is a shortage of priests and ministers in every denomination, but we are called to pray for laborers for the harvest for the work is plenty but the laborers are few. Celibacy is a great treasure and a gift for the Catholic Church, and when it is lived well, it brings with it much fruit for the People of God. Please pray for your priests that they may find joy in their priesthood and pray for an increase in vocations, that more young men may find it in their hearts to give themselves to service in the vineyard.

Divine Mercy

Alleluia! The Lord is Risen! we have celebrated Easter Sunday and Divine Mercy Sunday, and I pray that your encounter with the Risen Lord was a blessed time and that He will continue to shower His graces and blessings upon you this Easter Season.

Divine Mercy Sunday is a powerful reminder to all of us that the mercy of God knows no limits. Our sins are like a drop in the ocean covered by His mercy so that it is never to be found again. The Father's mercy will change your life and bring you healing if you but open your heart to im and ask for His love and mercy to fall upon you and envelop you.

Many people, including deviout Catholics, are under the mistaken notion that Divine Mercy Sunday is optional and therefore can be dispensed with under the guise that it is a private revelation. It is true that St Faustina was given these revelations from our Lord Jesus Christ, but the message of these revelations come right out of the gospels. But if one wants to truly press the point, one can also claim that Our Lady of Guadalupe should be only an optional feast day as well since this is also private revelation, yet this great feast day is celebrated as a Feast in the United States.

In any event, I encourage you to pray the Divine Mercy chaplet and to foster a devotion to this wonderful devotion of the Lord's mercy. It can be prayed on regular rosary beads. You begin with the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Apostles' Creed. Then on the Our Father beads, you pray the following prayer: Eternal Father, I offer you the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. On the Hail Mary beads, you pray the following: For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. At the end of the fifth decade, you pray the following prayer: Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world (three times).

Chrism Mass

Today, Sean Cardinal O'Malley celebrated the Chrism Mass at the Holy Cross Cathedral. It was a wonderful sight to see so many priests gathered around the shepherd of our archdiocese. His homily spoke to the priests about how we must be fishers of men and have a missionary spirit. We are not called to be caretakers and keep the status quo. The successful priests will be those who through their call and their missionary spirit will lead all the Catholic faithful to become missionary in their own lives. Have you ever considered how you live your Catholic faith and how if you live it with joy and peace, you will be bringing others to Christ in a world that has forgotten Him. Secularism is hostile towards faith in God, let alone a living faith in Jesus Christ. Please pray for your priests that we may be faithful dispeners of the mysteries of God as well as images of Jesus Christ, casting our nets out into the deep to bring life and light to those in darkness and sin. And pray for yourselves that you may be lights of Christ in your daily living of your relationship with Jesus Christ. As we prepare for the Sacred Triduum, open your hearts to the message of sacrifice and suffering that Jesus Christ portrays in a very real way. God bless you.

Pope John Paul II

Today is the fourth anniversary of the death of our beloved Pope John Paul II. His long papacy brought with it many challenges in a world that has disintegrated due to a lack of morality. In fact, many people, especially the young adults who until recently have only known one pope and who call themselves JPII Catholics, do not hold to the traditional morality. And Mass attendance is still dropping. What are we to do? Pope John Paul reminded us of the power of the Eucharist and the power of prayer, especially prayer devoted to our Blessed Mother. With the Eucharist, the Blessed Mother, and a strong faith in the role of the papacy, the life of a Catholic can bring with it a joy and peace that this world does not give. Servant of God, John Paul II, ora pro nobis.

More Update

Please keep Paula in your prayers. She has been having a difficult time shaking this pneumonia and it has brought to a standstill our production. We will be moving forward with a new show on the Holy Eucharist shortly. We greatly appreciate your patience and your prayers.

In the meantime, as we prepare for Palm (Passion) Sunday next week, I encourage you to take some time to prepare yourself by reading a passion account in the Gospel of Mark. Of course, a viewing of Mel Gibson's powerful movie, The Passion of the Christ, is also a wonderful way to enter into the beginning of Holy Week, now only ten days away. Jesus Christ suffered and died for YOU! The depth of His love for you continues in his Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. It is here that he continues to suffer as so many people neglect or profane His Sacred Presence in the Blessed Sacrament.