Holy Comforter Parish Blog

Excerpt from the Catechism: Mary's Motherhood with regard to the Church, Part 2

2008-08-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

The Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated on August 15th. This week's excerpt from the Catechism continues last week's topic on our Lady's complete union with her Son. Part 1 can be read by clicking on the link.

967   By her complete adherence to the Father's will, to his Son's redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church's model of faith and charity. Thus she is a "preeminent and . . . wholly unique member of the Church"; indeed, she is the "exemplary realization" (typus) of the Church.

968   Her role in relation to the Church and to all humanity goes still further. "In a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the Savior's work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace."

969   "This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation .... Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix."

970   "Mary's function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin's salutary influence on men . . . flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it." "No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source."

Catechism of the Catholic Church

This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

Devotion: The Daily Offering to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

2008-08-19T07:30:00.000-04:00

The month of August is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The Daily Offering to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and suffering of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world.

I offer them for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls, reparation for sins, the reunion of all Christians;

I offer them for the intentions of our Bishops and of all Apostles of Prayer and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month.

Amen.

This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)

2008-08-16T08:30:00.000-04:00

This Sunday's Gospel reading from St. Matthew's Gospel shows the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy that those from outside of Israel would come to the Lord's holy mountain. In the first reading, Isaiah prophesies that foreigners will offer burnt offerings and sacrifice at the altar in the Lord's house of prayer.

In the Gospel reading, the Canaanite woman's faith compels her to persist in her request for our Lord to heal her daughter despite our Lord's replies that test her faith. Each time, in response to Jesus, she replies with humility and tremendous faith. After testing her faith, our Lord heals her daughter and remarks upon her great faith.

As St. Paul explains in the second reading from Romans, the Lord desires that all receive His mercy. The Lord's plan from all eternity was that all may be one with the Lord. This is demonstrated in the call to Abraham who was called to be the father of many nations. In Christ, salvation comes from the Jews, but it is offered to all people.

Today we see the further fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy when in the Church at mass, all peoples from many nations come to the Lord's house of prayer in order to offer of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Readings:

Isaiah 56:1, 6-7
Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
Romans 11:13-15, 29-32
Matthew 15:21-28

Here are a few commentaries on these readings:

St. Charles Borromeo Lectionary Site (PDF)

A Foreigner's Faith (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology

Link of the Week: What the Cardinals Believe

2008-08-15T09:00:00.001-04:00

What the Cardinals Believe seeks to give users insight into the Cardinals of the Catholic Church. By providing news articles on an individual cardinal, it helps Catholics track his key pronouncements, decisions and actions in order to understand who he is and what can be expected from him. The site's main resource comes in the form of an article and a picture for over 150 cardinals, both living and deceased.

From Catholic Culture

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The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

2008-08-14T09:00:00.000-04:00

The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Solemnity is celebrated on August 15th. Holy Comforter's mass for this day of Holy Obligation will be at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 14th.

Although probably not unknown in the early Church, the earliest references to the Assumption of Mary appear in the 4th (or possibly late 3rd) century in Liber Requiei Mariae (The Book of Mary's Repose), and in the writings of a Bishop Meliton. Some of the Church Fathers believed that the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) was assumed while still alive, others that she was assumed after she had died. Both views are permitted under the infallible definition of Pius XII. St. John of Damascus relates a tradition where, during the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451), the emperor Marcian and his wife wished to find the body of Mary. He tells how all the apostles had seen her death, but her tomb was empty upon inspection.

Festivals commemorating the death of the Blessed Virgin Mary were common from the 5th century onwards, although the exact dates were never universally fixed. In AD 556 the patriarch of Alexandria, Theodosius, attests to two popular Marian feasts in Egypt: Mary's death (January 16) and Assumption (August 9). Theodosius understood Mary to have died before being assumed, and according to the feast dates in Egypt at the time, she was assumed 206 days after her death. In AD 600, the emperor Mauricius decreed that the Assumption was to be celebrated on August 15. Soon, the Church in Ireland adopted this date, and it was later introduced in Rome. As the cult of Mary grew in the West, there was more pressure for the Catholic Church to define the exact nature of the Assumption. Pope Pius did this in 1950, in terms that are still rather general, and can be accepted by Western Catholics, Eastern Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox. (Source: Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church).

The Orthodox Church teaches that the Virgin Mary died a fully human death, and celebrates the feast accordingly. According to various traditions known in the East, St. Thomas was not around when Mary passed away, just as he was absent when Jesus was raised from the dead. Because he was three days late to Mary's funeral, he requested to see Mary's body. However, when her tomb was opened, her body was not found. This is not viewed as a resurrection like her Son's, but rather as the first fruits of our own bodily resurrection. In one of the most complicated of Christian Hymns (utilizing all 8 tones) the Orthodox are shown the story of her journeying to heaven as her funeral procession. The apostles act as her pall-bearers. As she arrives at heaven she is the first given the task of all the glorified saints, that of praying for us to her Son and our Lord. As a part of the interior mysteries of the Orthodox Church, the Assumption is not a point of dogma or debate, yet it is a commonly accepted belief among Orthodox Christians. Even as the faithful bury the Theotokos and see her translated to a life of intercession, we are reminded that it is through her that the Word was made flesh (many thanks to Steven Clark for this information).

Protestants have rejected the Assumption of Mary (except for some, mostly Anglicans, who hold the opinion privately and devotionally), probably because it is not explicitly biblical. It is, however, an ancient belief certainly fitting the honor of the one chosen to bear the Son of God. It is also solidly within the biblical tradition of holy and unique individuals being taken bodily to heaven (like Elijah and Enoch). She who is "Mother of the Lord," "full of grace," and whom "all generations shall call blessed" is certainly worthy of this honor. Many Reformation denominations (like Anglicanism and Lutheranism) have set aside August 15th as a day commemorating the Blessed Virgin Mary, although without the explicit context of the Assumption.

From ChurchYear.net

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Pope John Paul II and Humanae Vitae, Part 3

2008-08-14T08:30:00.000-04:00

This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

Excerpt from the Catechism: Mary's Motherhood with regard to the Church, Part 1

2008-08-13T07:30:00.000-04:00

The Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is a Holy Day of Obligation, is celebrated on August 15th. This week's excerpt from the Catechism focuses on our Lady's complete union with her Son that is demonstrated in her life and assumption in to Heaven.

964 Mary's role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. "This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death"; it is made manifest above all at the hour of his Passion:

Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross. There she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, joining herself with his sacrifice in her mother's heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim, born of her: to be given, by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross, as a mother to his disciple, with these words: "Woman, behold your son."

965 After her Son's Ascension, Mary "aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers." In her association with the apostles and several women, "we also see Mary by her prayers imploring the gift of the Spirit, who had already overshadowed her in the Annunciation."

966 "Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death." The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians:

In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

Devotion: Exaltation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

2008-08-12T07:30:00.000-04:00

The month of August is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Exaltation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, in this tragic hour of the world's history, we entrust and consecrate ourselves to your Immaculate Heart, our only refuge, our hope, our salvation. Have pity on this world, torn by the most terrible conflicts, burning with the fires of hate, victim of its own sins. May your Heart be moved at the sight of so much ruin, pain and sorrow.

We consecrate to your maternal heart our persons, our families, our country--the whole of humanity. Protect and save us!

O Heart of Mary, source of true love, fill our selfish hearts with divine charity and with that true brotherly love without which there can never be peace. Grant that men and nations may understand and fulfill the precept of your Divine Son, LOVE ONE ANOTHER, in order that true peace may be firmly established in the Justice and Truth of Christ.

Amen.

--Venerable Pope Pius XII

This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

This Week's Bulletin: August 10, 2008

2008-08-10T10:30:00.000-04:00

The bulletin for August 10, 2008 is available by clicking here to view it.

Listed below are a few of the items from this week's bulletin. See the bulletin for more details and to read all of the announcements.

NEWS FROM HAITI: While many of us are busy planning and taking vacations, we can still take a minute or two to reflect on the desperate needs of the children and elderly in Saltadère. Remember only 48 cents per day or $5.76 per month will provide three meals a day for a child. You can assist a needy older person for 70 cents or $21.10 per month. Please make your checks payable to Holy Comforter Church with "Haiti Food" on the memo line. Your donations are always welcome, regardless of size. Even if you are unable to assist financially, please help by praying for the people of Saltadère.

PANTRY: It is Reverse Collection time again. If the parish continues to open hearts, grocery bags, and wallets, we will be able to help our neighbors through these tough economic times. Each of us helping just a little makes a big difference.

IMPACT: IMPACT has become a powerful force for justice in this area because the 28 member congregations were able to bring 2,000 people to the Nehemiah Action where we asked people who could make changes for the better to make those changes. There are still unfinished justice issues, and there will be new justice issues. Please plan to become a part of IMPACT.

THE LORD NEEDS YOU: How can you do this? Become a Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. As individuals have left this ministry, the need for new ministers at all masses has become urgent. Training will be provided. PLEASE contact Margaret McElroy at 973-6429 or mdm1909@embarqmail.com.

CATECHISTS UPDATE:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Catechists Orientation will be Saturday, August 16th from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Lunch will be served.
There is STILL a need for additional catechists for Christian Formation classes. Please contact Teresa Ritzert.
Parents, please register your children for Christian Formation classes!
Christian Formation classes begin Sunday, August 24th

HOLY COMFORTER 'HELPING HANDS': The Pastoral Care Committee wants to develop a program where our parishioners can demonstrate their giving spirit by ministering to each other. There are times when we can use extra help due to illness, surgery, or birth of a child. If you are able to prepare a meal or provide a ride, you qualify to be part of this giving ministry. What can we do to help our Holy Comforter family? Sign up on the sheet on the table in the Commons to make a meal, provide a ride, or help coordinate this program. Making a few phone calls is all the coordination this program needs. There are no age or gender restrictions--all are welcome to join this giving group. You will truly be spiritually rewarded.

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS: Installation of Father Louis A. Rowen Council 3670 Officers for 2008-09 will be held on Monday, August 18th, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. at the Stone Chapel of the Church of the Incarnation (off Route 29N behind Toys "R" Us.) Dinner will follow. Council 3670 will supply the main dish. Families are encouraged to attend and are asked to bring the following based on the last name: A-L to bring a vegetable, and J-Z to bring a dessert. Reservations are required. Call Bill Phillips at 973-6726, Jim Morrisard at 973-6570, Tom O'Rourke at 244-2852, or Ernie Sardi at 980-4180.

This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)

2008-08-10T10:00:00.000-04:00

In this week's Gospel, St. Matthew records an incident that is a clear revelation of our Lord's divinity. As the disciples are being tossed in their boat on the sea, Jesus walks out on the water to them. Jesus identifies Himself to the disciples and encourages them to not be afraid. Peter boldly asks Jesus to command him to come out on the water. Peter, too, walks on the water until he focuses on the storm. Jesus reaches out to save him. After Jesus returns Peter to the boat, the storms ends and the disciples acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God.

Jesus identifies Himself as God by alluding to passages from the Old Testament that are connected with God. First, it is God who can walk on the waters (Job 9:8). Second, it is God who commands the seas (Psalm 89:9-10). Finally, Jesus' words, "It is I" are the same words that God uses to identify Himself to Moses (Exodus 33:18-33).

Readings:

1 Kings 19:9, 11-13
Psalm 85:9-14
Romans 9:1-5
Matthew 14:22-33

Here are a few commentaries on these readings:

St. Charles Borromeo Lectionary Site (PDF)

Sinking Fear (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology

The Walking on the Water (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from The Crossroads Initiative

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary

2008-08-10T09:38:00.001-04:00

In this Sunday's Gospel, we have St. Matthew's account of the our Lord's feeding of the five thousand. The account is ripe with allusions to the Old Testament in order to show how our Lord fulfilled the prophesies of long ago. For example, Jesus, the Son of David, is the one who fulfills Isaiah's prophesy of all being satisfied by the Lord in both food and drink. All those who come to the waters of baptism will be satisfied even as the five thousand had their hunger and thirst satisfied.

The reading also hints at the Eucharist by our Lord's actions which foreshadows the Last Supper. He takes bread, gives a blessing, breaks the bread, and gives the bread to the apostles who actually are the ones who distribute the fish and the bread. The last detail indicates how the Eucharist will be continued at the hands of the apostles who will do this in memory of Jesus. Finally, there are twelve baskets of leftovers which is one for each of the Twelve whom Jesus had earlier asked to give the people something themselves. Through Jesus, they will be able to give the Bread from Heaven which will satisfy all who hunger and thirst for God.

Readings:

Isaiah 55:1-3
Psalm 145:8-9, 15-18
Romans 8:35,37-39
Matthew 14:13-21

Here are a few commentaries on these readings:

St. Charles Borromeo Lectionary Site (PDF)

Food in Due Season (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology

The Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from The Crossroads Initiative

Link of the Week: Dominican Order Province of St. Joseph

2008-08-08T07:30:00.000-04:00

One of the other parishes in Charlottesville, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, is a Dominican parish. In honor of St. Dominic, whose feast is celebrated on August 8th, the Link of the Week is featuring the Web site of the Province to which St. Thomas Aquinas parish belongs--St. Joseph Province. The Web site was recently redesigned and reorganized. It includes wonderful pictures and a wealth of information about the Dominican Order including information about vocations, formation, and Dominican life. The site also includes information about the Lay Order of Dominicans and audio and video presentations on various topics of interest.

This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

Pope John Paul II and Humanae Vitae, Part 2

2008-08-07T07:30:00.000-04:00

This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

Excerpt from the Catechism: The presence of Christ by the power of his word and the Holy Spirit, Part 3

2008-08-06T08:30:00.000-04:00

Click on the links to read Part 1 and Part 2.

1380 It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to his Church in this unique way. Since Christ was about to take his departure from his own in his visible form, he wanted to give us his sacramental presence; since he was about to offer himself on the cross to save us, he wanted us to have the memorial of the love with which he loved us "to the end," even to the giving of his life. In his Eucharistic presence he remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave himself up for us, and he remains under signs that express and communicate this love:

The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease.

1381 "That in this sacrament are the true Body of Christ and his true Blood is something that 'cannot be apprehended by the senses,' says St. Thomas, 'but only by faith, which relies on divine authority.' For this reason, in a commentary on Luke 22:19 ('This is my body which is given for you.'), St. Cyril says: 'Do not doubt whether this is true, but rather receive the words of the Savior in faith, for since he is the truth, he cannot lie.'"

Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.

Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived;
How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed;
What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do;
Truth himself speaks truly or there's nothing true.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

Devotion: Novena to St. Maximilian Kolbe

2008-08-05T08:00:00.002-04:00

Novena to St. Maximilian Kolbe
Novena Dates August 6 - 14, Feast Day August 14

Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "greater love than this no man has that a man lay down his life for his friends," through the intercession of St. Maximilian Kolbe whose life illustrated such love, we beseech you to grant us our petitions.

(here mention the requests you have)

Through the Militia Immaculata movement, which Maximilian founded, he spread a fervent devotion to Our Lady throughout the world. He gave up his life for a total stranger and loved his persecutors, giving us an example of unselfish love for all men - a love that was inspired by true devotion to Mary.

Grant, O Lord Jesus, that we too may give ourselves entirely without reserve to the love and service of our Heavenly Queen in order to better love and serve our fellowman in imitation of your humble servant, Maximilian.

Amen.

This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.-

Devotion: A Solemn Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

2008-08-05T07:30:00.000-04:00

The month of August is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Most Holy Virgin Mary, tender Mother of men, to fulfill the desires of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the request of the Vicar of Your Son on earth, we consecrate ourselves and our families to your Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and we recommend to You, all the people of our country and all the world.

Please accept our consecration, dearest Mother, and use us as You wish to accomplish Your designs in the world.

O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and Queen of the World, rule over us, together with the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, Our King. Save us from the spreading flood of modern paganism; kindle in our hearts and homes the love of purity, the practice of a virtuous life, an ardent zeal for souls, and a desire to pray the Rosary more faithfully.

We come with confidence to You, O Throne of Grace and Mother of Fair Love. Inflame us with the same Divine Fire which has inflamed Your own Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. Make our hearts and homes Your shrine, and through us, make the Heart of Jesus, together with your rule, triumph in every heart and home

Amen.

--Venerable Pope Pius XII

This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

This Week's Bulletin: August 3, 2008

2008-08-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

The bulletin for August 3, 2008 is available by clicking here to view it.

Listed below are a few of the items from this week's bulletin. See the bulletin for more details and to read all of the announcements.

UPCOMING HAITI IMMERSION TRIPS: (1) The Haitian Health Care Foundation (HHCF) is planning a Haiti Medical Professionals trip October 17-25, 2008. The deadline to register is August 15th. For more information, contact Susan Pleasants at vabatt@aol.com. (2) Diocesan Haiti Immersion Retreat Applications are now being taken for the immersion retreat to Haiti, November 29 through December 6, 2008. This trip is to learn about Haiti's history, culture, economics, politics, and religion. Contact Patrice Schwermer at pschwermer@richmonddioces.org or at (804) 622-5129.

PANTRY: The August Reverse Collection will take place next weekend. There are several good reasons to support the Reverse Collection: 1. More of our neighbors are suffering in these difficult economic times. 2. There is still no government food. 3. As Christians, we are required to take care of our neighbors. Thank you for your past and continuing support.

IMPACT: The IMPACT listening sessions will take place later this month. The purpose of the sessions is first to get opinions from parishioners of justice issues in the area that need to be addressed. Second, the sessions help the parish to understand just how important the support of EVERYONE is to the success of the Nehemiah Assembly next spring. It is never too early to plan to do justice.

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS: NOTE CHANGE IN MEETING: The Knights of Columbus Father Louis A. Rowen Council 3670 will hold its next meeting on Monday, August 4, 2008. Please note the change in meeting night for August only. The Rosary will be at 7:15 p.m. followed by the meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the Stone Chapel of the Church of the Incarnation (Route 29N behind Toys "R" Us.) Installation of Council Officers for 2008-09 is scheduled for Monday, August 18th at 6:30 p.m. at the Stone Chapel. Families are encouraged to attend. Details to follow.

CATECHISTS UPDATE:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Catechists Orientation will be Saturday, August 16th from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Lunch will be served.
There is STILL a need for additional catechists for Christian Formation classes. Please contact Teresa Ritzert.
Parents, please register your children for Christian Formation classes!
Christian Formation classes begin Sunday, August 24th

THE LORD NEEDS YOU: How can you do this? Become a Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. As individuals have left this ministry, the need for new ministers at all masses has become urgent. Training will be provided. PLEASE contact Margaret McElroy at 973-6429 or mdm1909@embarqmail.com.

HOLY COMFORTER 'HELPING HANDS': The Pastoral Care Committee wants to develop a program where our parishioners can demonstrate their giving spirit by ministering to each other. There are times when we can use extra help due to illness, surgery, or birth of a child. If you are able to prepare a meal or provide a ride, you qualify to be part of this giving ministry. What can we do to help our Holy Comforter family? Sign up on the sheet on the table in the Commons to make a meal, provide a ride, or help coordinate this program. Making a few phone calls is all the coordination this program needs. There are no age or gender restrictions--all are welcome to join this giving group. You will truly be spiritually rewarded.

This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)

2008-08-02T19:00:00.000-04:00

Readings:

Isaiah 55:1-3
Psalm 145:8-9, 15-18
Romans 8:35,37-39
Matthew 14:13-21

Here are a few commentaries on these readings:

St. Charles Borromeo Lectionary Site (PDF)

Food in Due Season (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology

The Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from The Crossroads Initiative

Link of the Week: Bible Christian Society

2008-08-01T07:30:00.000-04:00

The Bible Christian Society is a non-profit organization which is committed to providing free, quality apologetics resources for Catholics. The resources emphasize Sacred Scripture to explain the Catholic faith in order to provide materials which can answer common objections against the Catholic faith which are based on various interpretations of scripture.

This post is from the Holy Comforter Catholic Church eNewsletter which is sent out once a week via email. If you would like to subscribe to the eNewsletter, click here.

Prayer Intentions for August

2008-08-01T07:00:00.002-04:00

For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy. - St. Thérèrse of Liseaux

The Holy Father's prayer intentions for August are:

General: That the human family may learn to respect God’s plan for the world and become ever more aware that Creation is God’s great gift.

Mission: That the answer of the entire people of God to the common calling to holiness and mission may be promoted and fostered by means of careful discernment of charisms and constant commitment to spiritual and cultural formation.

Pro-Life Prayer Intention

For the healing of fathers of aborted children.

Pope John Paul II and Humanae Vitae, Part 1

2008-07-31T07:30:00.001-04:00

July 25, 2008 marked the fortieth anniversary of the promulgation of the encyclical Humane Vitae which was written by Pope Paul VI. The encyclical addresses issues related to the sanctity of life, but it is best known for its clear enunciation of the Church's teaching against the use of any forms of artificial birth control.

Pope John Paul II, then Archbishop Karol Wojtyla, was involved in the work that was done prior to the writing of Humane Vitae. The following is an excerpt from Chapter 6, Successor to St Stanislaw, which is found in George Weigel's biography of Pope John Paul II, Witness to Hope.

First established by Pope John XXIII, the Papal Commission for the Study of Problems of the Family, Population, and Birth Rate was reappointed by Pope Paul VI to advise him on the tangle of issues indicated in its title. For much of the world, though, this was the "Papal Birth Control Commission" and the only issue at stake was whether Catholics could "use the pill." In the highly politicized atmosphere of the immediate post-Vatican 11 Church, "birth control" became the litmus-test issue between theological "progressives" and "conservatives," even as the issue got entangled in ongoing arguments about the nature and scope of papal teaching authority. When one adds to this volatile ecclesiastical mix the cultural circumstances of the sixties in the West, including the widespread challenge to all established authority and the breakout into mainstream culture of the sexual revolution, it becomes apparent that a thoughtful public moral discussion of conjugal morality was going to be very difficult at this point. In 1968, Paul VI, who thought himself obliged to give the Church an authoritative answer on such a highly charged question, issued Humanae Vitae, which instantly became the most controversial encyclical in history and the cause of even further disruption in the Church, particularly in North America and Western Europe. The controversy was inevitable, but it might not have been so debilitating had the Pope taken Cardinal Wojtyla's counsel more thoroughly.

According to the familiar telling of this complex tale, Pope Paul's Papal Commission was divided between a majority that argued for a change in the classic Catholic position that contraception was immoral, and a minority that wanted to affirm that teaching. A memorandum sent to the Pope in June 1966—and journalistically dubbed the "Majority Report"—argued that conjugal morality should be measured by "the totality of married life," rather than by the openness of each act of intercourse to conception. In this view, it was morally licit to use chemical or mechanical means to prevent conception as long as this was in the overall moral context of a couple's openness to children. Another memorandum, dubbed the "Minority Report," reiterated the classic Catholic position, that the rise of contraceptives violated the natural moral law by sundering the procreative and unitive dimensions of sexuality. In this view, and following the teaching of Pope Pius XII, the morally legitimate way to regulate conception was through the use of the natural rhythms of fertility, known as the rhythm method.

Pope Paul VI spent two years wrestling with these opposed positions and with the pressures that were being brought to bear on him to take a side. Proponents of the "Majority Report" (which was leaked to the press in 1967 to bring more pressure on the Pope) argued that the Church would lose all credibility with married couples and with the modern world if it did not change the teaching set forth by Pius XII. Some opponents argued that adopting the "Majority Report" position would destroy the Church's teaching authority, as it would involve a tacit admission of error on a question of serious moral consequence. Paul VI eventually rejected the conclusion and moral reasoning of the "Majority Report," and on July 25, 1968, issued the encyclical letter Humanae Vitae, section 14 of which began as follows: "Thus, relying on these first principles of human and Christian doctrine concerning marriage, we must again insist that the direct interruption of the generative process already begun must be totally rejected as a legitimate means of regulating the number of children." A maelstrom of criticism followed, as did the most widespread public Catholic dissent from papal teaching in centuries.

Archbishop Karol Wojtyla, well-known to the Pope as the author of Love and Responsibility, had been appointed by Paul VI to the Papal Commission, but had been unable to attend the June 1966 meeting at which the majority of the commission took the position later summarized in its memorandum. The Polish government had denied him a passport, on the excuse that he had waited too late to apply. Wojtyla played an important role in the controversy over contraception and in the development of Humanae Vitae, nonetheless. The encyclical, however, was not crafted precisely as Wojtyla proposed.

Next Week: Part 2 from the excerpt

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Excerpt from the Catechism: The presence of Christ by the power of his word and the Holy Spirit, Part 2

2008-07-30T07:30:00.000-04:00

The month of July is dedicated to the Precious Blood of Jesus. This excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks about the our Lord's presence in the Holy Eucharist.

1376   The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation."

1377   The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ.

1378   Worship of the Eucharist. In the liturgy of the Mass we express our faith in the real presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord. "The Catholic Church has always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession."

1379   The tabernacle was first intended for the reservation of the Eucharist in a worthy place so that it could be brought to the sick and those absent outside of Mass. As faith in the real presence of Christ in his Eucharist deepened, the Church became conscious of the meaning of silent adoration of the Lord present under the Eucharistic species. It is for this reason that the tabernacle should be located in an especially worthy place in the church and should be constructed in such a way that it emphasizes and manifests the truth of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

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Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)

2008-07-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

This week's Gospel reading continues our Lord's teaching about the Kingdom of God. He tells three parables in order to help us understand His Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is compared to treasure buried in a field, a pearl of great price, and a net which is cast into the sea to catch fish.

The first two parables challenge us to consider how valuable is the gift of God's Kingdom which He has bestowed upon us. Many, even those who lived while Jesus was on earth, did not see the value in His life, death, and resurrection and the Kingdom He established. We must be like the disciples who valued the Kingdom to the point that they eventually gave their lives for Jesus.

The third parable echoes last week's parable of the wheat and the tares. The net catches fish both good and bad. At the end, the good are separated from the bad, just like the wheat was separated from the tares after the harvest.

Readings:

1 Kings 3:5, 7-12
Psalm 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-130
Romans 8:28-30
Matthew 13:44-52

Here are a few commentaries on these readings:

St. Charles Borromeo Lectionary Site (PDF)

Treasures of the Kingdom (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology

Liberal vs. Conservative - Old vs. New (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from The Crossroads Initiative

Link of the Week: Fr. John Corapi

2008-07-25T07:30:00.002-04:00

Father John Corapi is what has commonly been called a late vocation. In other words, he came to the priesthood other than a young man. He was 44 years old when he was ordained. His experiences prior to ordination have been termed simply astounding, but that is probably somewhat of an overstatement. They might be called extreme, however. From small town boy to the Vietnam era US Army, from millionaire businessman in Las Vegas and Hollywood to drug addicted and homeless, to religious life and ordination to the priesthood by Pope John Paul II, to a life as a preacher of the Gospel who has reached millions with the simple message that God's Name is Mercy!

Father Corapi's academic credentials are quite extensive. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Pace University in the seventies. Then as an older man returned to the university classrooms in preparation for his life as a priest and preacher. He received all of his academic credentials for the Church with honors: a Masters degree in Sacred Scripture from Holy Apostles Seminary and Bachelor, Licentiate, and Doctorate degrees in dogmatic theology from the University of Navarre in Spain.

Father is a perpetually professed priest member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity.

The pillars of father's preaching are basically three:

Love for and a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary which leads us into a vibrant and loving relationship with Jesus Christ.

Great love and reverence for the Most Holy Eucharist--from Holy Mass to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

An uncompromising love for and obedience to the Holy Father and the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church.

Father Corapi's audio and video series on the Catechism of the Catholic Church entitled The Teaching of Jesus Christ has been widely acclaimed and is used throughout the world as a course in religious education and catechesis.

The essence of Father's message is the essential message of Jesus Christ. It is Good News: a message of truth and goodness, love and mercy. It is above all else a message of hope. (From the Web site)

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Devotion: Novena to St. Alphonsis Liguori

2008-07-24T07:30:00.001-04:00

Novena to St. Alphonsus Liguori
Novena Dates July 24 - August 1, Feast Day August 1

Glorious St. Alphonsus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, devoted servant of our Lord and loving child of Mary, I invoke you as a Saint in heaven. I give myself to your protection that you may always be my father, my protector, and my guide in the ways of holiness and salvation. Aid me in observing the duties of my state of life. Obtain for me great purity of heart and a fervent love of the interior life after your own example.

Great lover of the Blessed Sacrament and the Passion of Jesus Christ, teach me to love Holy Mass and Holy Communion as the source of grace and holiness. Give me a tender devotion to the Passion of my redeemer.

Promoter of the truth of Christ in your preaching and writing, give me a greater knowledge and appreciation of the Divine Truths.

Gentle father of the poor and sinners, help me to imitate your charity toward others in word and deed.

Consoler of the suffering, help me to bear my daily cross patiently in imitation of your own patience in your long and painful illness and to resign myself to the Will of God.

Good shepherd of the flock of Christ, obtain for me the grace of being a true child of Holy Mother Church.

St. Alphonsus, I humbly implore your powerful intercession for obtaining from the Heart of Jesus all the graces necessary for my spiritual and temporal welfare. I recommend to you in particular this favor: (Mention your request).

I have great confidence in your prayers. I earnestly trust if it is God's holy Will, my petition will be granted through your intercession for me at the throne of God.

St. Alphonsus, pray for me and for those I love. I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, do not abandon us in our needs. May we experience the peace and joy of your holy death. Amen.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, You continually build up Your Church by the lives of Your Saints. Give us grace to follow St. Alphonsus in his loving concern for the salvation of people and so come to share his reward in heaven. Walking in the footsteps of this devoted servant of Yours, may we be consumed with zeal for souls and attain the reward he enjoys in Your Kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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