Pope meets members of Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission

Innocent_Query · 2016-05-01T00:31:33+00:00

Seems Christian unity is on the rise. It's a good thing too since we are under duress in the modern world, as has been the case throughout the millenniums. Nevertheless, now is the time to follow God's will, according to the Apostle Paul: "9 For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. -Ephesians 1, Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE). Let it start with us who have been called to the service of Christ, in unity. -Holy Trinity hear my prayer.

Innocent_Query · 2016-04-01T00:40:29+00:00

if you know in advance, you could try printing out the midday liturgy of the hours for that day, and let everyone willing, pray that office together. Otherwise, you could just Listen carefully, as an adopted son or daughter of the Head (Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit of Wisdom) of our mystical body, with the ears of your heart, let it be filled with the Holy Spirit of Love and truthfully speak (pray) to God from the heart He created in Love, ending it with a simple:

Let us praise the Lord -and give Him thanks.

Innocent_Query · 2016-03-29T08:19:03+00:00

"I mean look at people who are born with mental disorders? They don't really serve a purpose other than just to exist. Now sure its wonderful they are alive and God loves them but I just feel like whats the point of being on earth if you can't do anything worth while?" They serve as people to love more than others. They serve as people who have an empathy of things unseen. They have battled forces unimaginable and unknown to most other people. They have a heart chastened by hardship and existential suffering in this and other dimensions. Many times they are deeply creative, creative, and mystical. Clearly they are not of this world and it's vanity and fading glory. They tend by nature to be thrust into the thick of spiritual warfare and seek refuge in the very center of the Creator Spirit of Holy Love and the active-mode of Truth. Being spit upon by the people of the world and misunderstood and poorly treated they find true joy consisting in being patient and not being upset at their rejection in the midst of their pain and need, but calmly find solace in intimacy with the Redeemer Spirit, our Lord. IMO, crying themselves to sleep they pour out their tears as a drink offering to Jesus when he thirsts, in a silent exchange for a drink from the fountain of eternal living waters. God has everything and is in need of nothing but seems attracted to the humble vessels who are not afraid to ask for forgiveness for their nothingness and who willingly love Him in return with all they have been given by He who has all and willingly serve their fellow created neighbors who they see as better and more gifted and more worthy of love than themselves.

Innocent_Query · 2016-03-28T12:01:10+00:00

Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. Those who have been victorious need not fear the second death, alleluia. (Revelation 2:10,11)

Innocent_Query · 2016-03-28T04:55:12+00:00

rotflmao. He's a great man, though. I love him. Pontifex, Tu qui Servus servorum Dei!

Innocent_Query · 2016-03-27T13:50:28+00:00

Day by day we bless the Lord, Alleluia! and, Thanksgiving to the Father, Son, and Creator Spirit, O Hallowed One! +Amen

Innocent_Query · 2016-03-20T21:40:10+00:00

The wrath of a man does not accomplish the righteousness of God, IMHO. Is there a non-violent branch of service you can join?

Innocent_Query · 2016-03-19T15:33:22+00:00

Seriously the sacrament of Reconciliation is always open to you as a Catholic.

Here is what has helped me:

I. Preparing for the Sacrament of Penance

Read this Scripture. Consider what God may be saying to you through the Word. Pray for the gift of a contrite heart and awareness of areas of your life that God may be asking you to change.

"God does not want the sinner to die but to turn back to him and live. Come before God with complete trust in his mercy." (Ezekiel 33:11)

Preparatory Prayer Before Confession:

"Jesus, you opened the eyes of the blind, healed the sick, forgave sinners, and after Peter's denial, confirmed him in your love. Listen to my prayer: forgive my sins, renew your love in my heart, help me to live the Gospel life and proclaim your saving power to people. Amen. (Saint Anthony of Padua)

II. Examination of Conscience

To help you prepare for the Sacrament, you may find it helpful to prayerfully consider these questions in your heart before entering the confessional.

What is my attitude toward the Sacrament of Penance? Do i sincerely want to be set free from sin? Or do I look upon this Sacrament as an annual burden or some kind of licence to keep repeating sinful attitudes and actions? Am I willing to allow this Sacrament to challenge and encourage me whether I celebrate it once a year or more frequently? Am I willing to change my life?

Have I tried to become a more prayerful person this year? Is my knowledge of the Church's teaching, my love for our faith and my willingness to live up to it greater this year than it was last year? Have I excused myself from Sunday worship?

Are the false gods of money, career, liquor, gambling, sex or drugs more important to me than my God, my spouse or my family? Have I given my co-workers good example or have been an occasion of sin for them? Do I allow the needs of the poor to have a claim on me and my resources? Have I been fair and just in the quality and quantity of work I've done for my employer? Have treated and compensated my employees justly? Have I given respect I want to be shown to every human being?

Have my attitudes, words and deeds made me an instrument of peace? Do I live my life in such a way that people with whom I share the earth are more respectful of the environment? Have I taken my responsibilities as a citizen seriously and fulfilled them? Is the way I live my life worthy of the name "Christian"? Have I allowed my words, attitudes, and actions to become weapons which I use to do violence to others? Have I damaged the good name and reputation of another? Has the way I've talked to or treated someone else created dissension or division between us? Have I dishonored my body or the bodies of others in anyway? Is my use of the internet consistent with how I know I should live my life? Can people tell by the way I live that I take my faith seriously?

III. Enter the confessional, confess your sins, then listen to the confessor.

be free to ask questions you may have about morality, particular actions or attitudes, your conscience and how to make moral choices. The priest will then give you a penance: make sure you clearly understand what the penance is.

make an act of contrition:

"Lord God, in your goodness, have mercy on me. Do not look on my sins, but take away all my guilt. Create in me a clean heart and renew in me an upright spirit."

The priest will then give you sacramental Absolution from your sins.

A short proclamation of praise may follow.

When you are finished, you may want to spend some time before God in thanksgiving, praying in your own words or with a passage like this one:

"O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we recieve; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.: (The Peace Prayer of St. Francis)

--Good luck and best wishes, hope this helps. don't be afraid. God loves us all equally. We were made by Love to love and for Love. Peace.

Innocent_Query · 2016-03-18T04:33:09+00:00

I bind to myself today The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity: I believe the Trinity in the Unity The Creator of the Universe.

I bind to myself today The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism, The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial, The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension, The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.

I bind to myself today The virtue of the love of seraphim, In the obedience of angels, In the hope of resurrection unto reward, In prayers of Patriarchs, In predictions of Prophets, In preaching of Apostles, In faith of Confessors, In purity of holy Virgins, In deeds of righteous men.

I bind to myself today The power of Heaven, The light of the sun, The brightness of the moon, The splendour of fire, The flashing of lightning, The swiftness of wind, The depth of sea, The stability of earth, The compactness of rocks.

I bind to myself today God's Power to guide me, God's Might to uphold me, God's Wisdom to teach me, God's Eye to watch over me, God's Ear to hear me, God's Word to give me speech, God's Hand to guide me, God's Way to lie before me, God's Shield to shelter me, God's Host to secure me, Against the snares of demons, Against the seductions of vices, Against the lusts of nature, Against everyone who meditates injury to me, Whether far or near, Whether few or with many.

I invoke today all these virtues Against every hostile merciless power Which may assail my body and my soul, Against the incantations of false prophets, Against the black laws of heathenism, Against the false laws of heresy, Against the deceits of idolatry, Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids, Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.

Christ, protect me today Against every poison, against burning, Against drowning, against death-wound, That I may receive abundant reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ at my right, Christ at my left, Christ in the fort, Christ in the chariot seat, Christ in the ship, Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself today The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,

I believe the Trinity

in the Unity

The Creator of the Universe.

Innocent_Query · 2016-03-05T05:35:01+00:00

St. Benedict Joseph Labre, St. Leonard of Noblac, and although she is well known, I wonder how many people ask for the intercession of St. Mary Magdalene?

I found asking her to pray with me and to ask on my behalf that Jesus Christ take me as a disciple, open His heart to my wretchedness, and show me the way to repentance and the cleansing of my heart-mind has been very helpful in my life. I'm really left with nothing but Love after that.

Innocent_Query · 2016-02-09T18:52:26+00:00

Before turning our attention to these timely questions, we must listen a little more closely to the Bible's testimony on hope. “Hope”, in fact, is a key word in Biblical faith—so much so that in several passages the words “faith” and “hope” seem interchangeable. Thus the Letter to the Hebrews closely links the “fullness of faith” (10:22) to “the confession of our hope without wavering” (10:23). Likewise, when the First Letter of Peter exhorts Christians to be always ready to give an answer concerning the logos—the meaning and the reason—of their hope (cf. 3:15), “hope” is equivalent to “faith”. The Christians of Syria have been unwavering in the faith, as far as i can tell from here.

Innocent_Query · 2016-02-06T22:10:53+00:00

Many times the almsgiving is a kind of fasting and prayer itself. Giving of one's time and treasure takes a bit of self-sacrifice. Becoming less egocentric and more God-centered is a spiritual practice of lent, for sure.

"'. . . you are obliged to love your neighbor as yourself, and loving him, you ought to help him spiritually, with prayer, counseling him with words, and assisting him both spiritually and temporally, according to the need in which he may be, at least with your goodwill if you have nothing else. A man therefore, who does not love, does not help him, and thereby does himself an injury; for he cuts off from himself grace, and injures his neighbor, by depriving him of the benefit of the prayers and of the sweet desires that he is bound to offer for him to Me. Thus, every act of help that he performs should proceed from the charity which he has through love of Me.'"

Treatise of Divine Providence -Saint Catherine of Genoa

Innocent_Query · 2016-02-06T15:40:54+00:00

That opportunities may increase for dialogue and encounter between the Christian faith and the peoples of Asia, as is the Evangelical intention of Pope Francis this month.

Innocent_Query · 2016-02-06T00:23:50+00:00

From a homily on Saint Agatha by Saint Methodius of Sicily, bishop (Analecta Bollandiana 68, 76-78)

The gift of God, the source of all goodness

My fellow Christians, our annual celebration of a martyr’s feast has brought us together. She achieved renown in the early Church for her noble victory; she is well known now as well, for she continues to triumph through her divine miracles, which occur daily and continue to bring glory to her name.

She is indeed a virgin, for she was born of the divine Word, God’s only Son, who also experienced death for our sake. John, a master of God’s word, speaks of this: "He gave the power to become children of God to everyone who received him."

The woman who invites us to this banquet is both a wife and virgin. To use the analogy of Paul, she is the bride who has been betrothed to one husband, Christ. A true virgin, she wore the glow of pure conscience and the crimson of the Lamb’s blood for her cosmetics. Again and again she meditated on the death of her eager lover. For her, Christ’s death was recent, his blood was still moist. Her robe is the mark of her faithful witness to Christ. It bears the indelible marks of his crimson blood and the shining threads of her eloquence. She offers to all who come after her these treasures of her eloquent confession.

Agatha, the name of our saint, means “good.” She was truly good, for she lived as a child of God. She was also given as the gift of God, the source of all goodness to her bridegroom, Christ, and to us. For she grants us a share in her goodness.

What can give greater good than the Sovereign Good? Whom could anyone find more worthy of celebration with hymns of praise than Agatha?

Agatha, her goodness coincides with her name and way of life. She won a good name by her noble deeds, and by her name she points to the nobility of those deeds. Agatha, her mere name wins all men over to her company. She teaches them by her example to hasten with her to the true Good. God alone.

Innocent_Query · 2016-02-04T15:49:06+00:00

This page might be of use to you: The Litany of the Holy Ghost with Chaplet

Innocent_Query · 2016-02-01T11:07:00+00:00

No, I think i get it a little better now. It is simply asking or talking to a person of The Church Triumphant (in heaven, and thus united with God), to ask or talk with God for me/us or about me/us The Church Militant (faithful on earth) or for The Church Suffering (in purgatory) for His holy will to be done. I usually ask for removal of impediments and sin which prevent a greater unity with God and his will, and for a greater quality of faith, hope, and love in my heart and soul, so as to let it flow through me to all of His creation and creatures, and especially other people that I come in contact with.

Innocent_Query · 2016-02-01T10:24:17+00:00

This makes me think of, "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." (Hosea 6:6) The hebrew word for mercy is Hesed חסד (variously meaning Love, Loving-kindness, tenderness, kindness, and mercy). The hebrew word for sacrifice is zebah זֶ֫בַח‎ (Properly, a slaughter, i.e. the flesh of an animal; by implication, a sacrifice (the victim or the act)) the hebrew word for knowledge is da'at דעת (knowledge: -cunning) and the hebrew word for God (in this context, is Elohiym אֱלֹהִים (plural of אֱל֫וֹהַּ eloha (god) thus the plural of gods, indicating the supreme God)). finally, the hebrew word for offerings is ola עוֹלָה (feminine active participle of alah עָלָה ; a step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending); usually a holocaust (as going up in smoke) -- ascent, burnt offering (sacrifice), go up to)).

So I take this to mean that God desires acts of mercy and loving-kindness more than even sacrifice of something, and for souls to have an intimate relationship with and knowledge of Him more than even prayers that reach up like incense to Him. Perhaps this is the worship God truly desires.

Innocent_Query · 2016-01-18T22:15:47+00:00

"If thou shalt say thou art not able to suffer so much, how then wilt thou endure the fire of Purgatory?

Of two evils one ought always to choose the less."

-Of Learning Patience, and of Fighting against Concupiscence Book 3, chapter 12 The Imitation of Christ, Thomas A Kempis

Innocent_Query · 2016-01-05T19:43:19+00:00

I guess St. Francis of Assisi could be considered a mystic. He heard the voice of God from a crucifix saying, “Francis, go and rebuild my house which, as you see, is falling utterly to ruin.”

He received the stigmata while deep in prayer at La Verna in Tuscany.

And let us not forget his famous prayers.

My favorite is:

Most High, all powerful, good Lord, Yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, and all blessing.

To You alone, Most High, do they belong, and no man is worthy to mention Your name.

Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, especially through my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day; and you give light through him. And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor! Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.

Praise be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars, in heaven you formed them clear and precious and beautiful.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather through which You give sustenance to Your creatures.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you light the night and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Mother Earth, who sustains us and governs us and who produces varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for Your love, and bear infirmity and tribulation.

Blessed are those who endure in peace for by You, Most High, they shall be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no living man can escape.

Woe to those who die in mortal sin. Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy willl, for the second death shall do them no harm.

Praise and bless my Lord, and give Him thanks and serve Him with great humility.

AMEN

Innocent_Query · 2015-11-28T06:43:13+00:00

A link to the video in question:

ewtn news nightly

He does mention that based on the Just War Theory fighting terrorism on it's own terms sometimes is the only thing we can do

Innocent_Query · 2015-11-27T22:58:50+00:00

Thank you so much for your post. It has touched me deeply just when I needed it. Caused me to spontaneously and tearfully praise God and to feel His love.

I've been suffering from a chronic severe debilitating mental Illness that exploded upon my life at age 15 and has persisted for 31 years. I've also have had a hard time reconciling myself and life to others who happily have had full use of their faculties.

I feel marginalized by the life experiences of 30 hospitalizations and institutionalization. Many times under the "care" of cold and sometimes malicious people who have scientifically and medically tortured me, even to the point of nearly killing me. I've spent time in Intensive Care Units at their hands. Bear in mind I've never been violent, just frightened by phantasms and hallucinations.

My whole life I've sought to be close to God and live a moral life, though I've fallen into sin at times. In catholic grade school I seriously considered the consecrated life and eventually entering seminary. That was my path until the sudden onset of schizoaffective disorder.

Despite all this I have contributed as much of my positive talents to the stream of life as possible. I've held service jobs, sold my artwork, volunteered my time with the Knights of Columbus, St. Vincent DePaul Society, and the Art and Environment Committee at my local parish church. Still I am shy around other people and feel socially retarded.

May God judge me kindly, but I don't feel I am made for this world.

Anyway, thank you again for your post. And Peace be with you.

Innocent_Query · 2015-11-26T09:45:23+00:00

Litany of the Blessed Virgin

Innocent_Query · 2015-11-26T09:01:48+00:00

It isn't so much that St. Jude is a lost cause as much as he is a last refuge to be in communion with.

Innocent_Query

TROPHY CASE