The Sunnday Reading

November 29
Sunday

1st Sunday of Advent



1st Reading : Jer 33:14-16
The Lord says, “The days are coming when I shall fulfill the promise that I made in favor of Israel and Judah ..

“In those days and at that time I will cause to sprout the shoot of righteousness from David’s line; he will practice justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will experience salvation and Jerusalem will live in safety. He will be called Yahweh-Our-Righteou sness.”

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14

R. (1b) To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior,
and for you I wait all the day.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him,
and his covenant, for their instruction.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.

2nd Reading : 1 Thes 3:12-:2
May the Lord increase more and more your love for each other and for all people, as he increases our love for you. May he strengthen you internally to be holy and blameless before God, our Father, on the day that Jesus, our Lord, will come with all his saints.
For the rest, brothers, we ask you in the name of Jesus, the Lord, and we urge you to live in a way that pleases God, just as you have learned from us. This you do, but try to do still more. You know the instructions we gave you on behalf of the Lord Jesus.



Gospel: Lk 21:25-28, 34-36
Jesus said, “Then there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth anguish of perplexed nations when they hear the roaring of the sea and its waves. People will faint with fear at the mere thought of what is to come upon the world, for the forces of the universe will be shaken. And at this time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
“Now, when you see the first events, stand erect and lift up your heads, for your deliverance is drawing near.”
“Be on your guard; let not your hearts be weighed down with a life of pleasure, drunkenness and worldly cares, lest that day catch you suddenly as a trap. For it will come upon all the inhabitants of the whole earth. But watch at all times and pray, that you may be able to escape all that is bound to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Yadda Yadda.

Hope everyone is doing well. Today at my parish it is the feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Unfortunately we have to pass on the lunch as things are hectic at home. To date we still have no new Parish Priest all we know is he is coming and those in charge of the parish keep telling us there is all kinds of paperwork etc that is holding this up. Me thinks the poor guy figured out where he was coming and now does not want to come here. Although I pray every week that he does.

Today we will be meeting with a parishioner who will be helping us as he will do the video of my daughter's audition to the National Dance School of Hungary. I know it will be a long shot for her to make it but I think the whole experience as she has been working on this since September will help her even if she is unsuccessful, but this is another thing on my prayer list.

Today though I will be saying a special prayer for a young man who played soccer for me when I coached youth soccer. I had him for 3 seasons and have become good friends with his parents and my son and him are best friends. The young man is in hospital after collapsing due to shortness of breath. It seems he has some heart problems and they have him in for a barrage of tests. It was strange to hear this as he is only 19. Plus I never questioned his heart as he always played hard and gave it his all and never quit and was a quick learner. In fact he ended up coaching his high school team one season! I certainly will pray to the lord for his health and to get well again.

The irony in this is that 3 years ago my whole life changed, this is the time my journey to the hospital started with the collapsed lung for unknown reasons. Then my heart going bonkers which landed me in ICU all in all I was in for a good 2 weeks with a 5 day break at home in between. Since then my life has changed and I have lost 30lbs, quit smoking learned to eat better and have started to deal with diabetes setting in. But with this all said the hardest thing but best that I have ever done is start my journey back into my faith. Step by step with a long way to go.

Everyday I thank God for allowing me to be healthy enough to be around but also for allowing me back to be close to him and for him to guide me along this road.

Well that is it for now. Take care and God Bless!

The Sunday Reading

November 22
Sunday

Solemnity of Christ the King

1st Reading : Dn 7:13-14
I continued watching the nocturnal vision:
One like a son of man came on the clouds of heaven. He faced the One of Great Age and was brought into his presence.
Dominion, honor and kingship were given him, and all the peoples and nations of every language served him. His dominion is eternal and shall never pass away; his kingdom will never be destroyed.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 93:1, 1-2, 5

R. (1a) The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.
The LORD is king, in splendor robed;
robed is the LORD and girt about with strength.
R. The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.
And he has made the world firm,
not to be moved.
Your throne stands firm from of old;
from everlasting you are, O LORD.
R. The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.
Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed;
holiness befits your house,
O LORD, for length of days.
R. The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.

2nd Reading : Rev 1:5-8
Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has washed away our sins with his own blood, making us a kingdom and priests for God his Father, to him be the glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
See he comes with the clouds and everyone will see him, even those who pierced him; on his account all the nations of the earth will beat his breast. Yes. It will be so.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, he who is, who was and who is to come: the Master of the universe.

Gospel: Jn 18:33b-37
Pilate then entered the court again, called Jesus and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “Does this word come from you, or did you hear it from others?”
Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingship does not come from this world. If I were king like those of this world, my guards would have fought to save me from being handed over to the Jews. But my kingship is not from here.”
Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” And Jesus answered, “Just as you say, I am a king. For this I was born and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is on the side of truth hears my voice.”

More on the Crucifix Removal

Sorry I have not written since my last rant but I was a bit lazy and busy at times. I have found a good article at Catholic News Agency about the removal of the crucifix from Italian schools. The comments are from the Archbishop of Sevilla Spain. Simple response with very logical points.

To a quick aside here. In my rocky and bumpy journey back into my faith the one of the things that has stood out and been refreshing is just exactly how smart and how well versed our clergy really is. The Priest's ability to analyze a problem and provide solutions no matter how big or small the problem is. As opposed to most of the law makers, politicians who just seem to have no common sense anymore. Really to me this is just another indicator our society overlooks as we become less and less tied to our roots of God, schools removing crucifixes no Lord's prayer, Christmas now being a Happy Holiday. Just a few illustrations of our foundation crumbling!

So there is my little rant for today and now the article from CNA;

Madrid, Spain, Nov 14, 2009 / 02:55 am (CNA).- Archbishop Juan Jose Asenjo of Sevilla in Spain said this week the crucifix is “the sign and emblem of the greatest values: commitment, solidarity, piety, mercy and universal brotherhood.” His comments came in the wake of a ruling by the EU Human Rights Court ordering crucifixes to be removed from all classrooms in Italy.

In an interview given to the COPE Radio Network, the archbishop said the ruling “denies the right of parents who want crucifixes to remain in the classroom.”

“Yesterday we read that 84% of Italians want to keep them, and the right to religious freedom of a majority is being denied, and the Christians roots of Europe are being forgotten,” he said.

Archbishop Asenjo went on to say, “More than ever, Europe is in need of these human values, and therefore I cannot help but lament this ruling.”

Referring later to the fall of the Berlin Wall, which happened 20 years ago on Nov. 9, the archbishop said the historic event also signified the “collapse of those regimes founded upon the denial of God and on ideologies that trample the dignity of persons and that unfortunately continue to do so.”

The fall of the Berlin Wall took place without a single drop of blood being shed and with the influence of Pope John Paul II, the archbishop noted. “My desire is that no more walls that divide man be raised and that others that divide Europe fall down, such as the wall of secularism, of moral relativism, of scorn for life in the womb or in its twilight, and the wall of forgetting our own history and the Christian roots of Europe.”

Sunday Reading

First Reading: Daniel 12:1-3

In those days, I Daniel,
heard this word of the Lord:
"At that time there shall arise
Michael, the great prince,
guardian of your people;
it shall be a time unsurpassed in distress
since nations began until that time.
At that time your people shall escape,
everyone who is found written in the book.
Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake;
some shall live forever,
others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.
But the wise shall shine brightly
like the splendor of the firmament,
and those who lead the many to justice
shall be like the stars forever."

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11

R./ You are my inheritance, O Lord!

O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R./ You are my inheritance, O Lord!

Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
R./ You are my inheritance, O Lord!

You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
R./ You are my inheritance, O Lord!

Second Reading: Hebrews 10:11-14, 18

Brothers and sisters:
Every priest stands daily at his ministry,
offering frequently those same sacrifices
that can never take away sins.
But this one offered one sacrifice for sins,
and took his seat forever at the right hand of God;
now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool.
For by one offering
he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.
Where there is forgiveness of these,
there is no longer offering for sin.

Gospel Reading: Mark 13:24-32

Jesus said to his disciples:
"In those days after that tribulation
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from the sky,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
"And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds'
with great power and glory,
and then he will send out the angels
and gather his elect from the four winds,
from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.
"Learn a lesson from the fig tree.
When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves,
you know that summer is near.
In the same way, when you see these things happening,
know that he is near, at the gates.
Amen, I say to you,
this generation will not pass away
until all these things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.
"But of that day or hour, no one knows,
neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

Sunday Reading

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

1st Reading : 1 K 17:10-16
Elijah went to Zarephath. On reaching the gate of the town, he saw a widow gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel that I may drink.”
As she was going to bring it, he called after her and said, “Bring me also a piece of bread.” But she answered, “As Yahweh your God lives, I have no bread left but only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am just now gathering some sticks so that I may go in and prepare something for myself and my son to eat - and die.”
Elijah then said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you have said, but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me; then make some for yourself and your son. For this is the word of Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of meal shall not be emptied nor shall the jug of oil fail, until the day when Yahweh sends rain to the earth.”
So she went and did as Elijah told her; and she had food for herself, Elijah and her son from that day on. The jar of flour was not emptied nor did the jug of oil fail, in accordance with what Yahweh had said through Elijah.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 146:7, 8-9, 9-10

R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
Alleluia.
The LORD keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
Alleluia.
The LORD gives sight to the blind.
The LORD raises up those who were bowed down;
the LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
Alleluia.
The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or: Alleluia.

2nd Reading : Heb 9:24-28
Christ did not enter some sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven itself. He is now in the presence of God on our behalf. He had not to offer himself many times, as the High Priest does: he who may return every year, because the blood is not his own. Otherwise he would have suffered many times from the creation of the world. But no; he manifested himself only now at the end of the ages, to take away sin by sacrifice, and, as humans die only once and afterwards are judged, in the same way Christ sacrificed himself once to take away the sins of the multitude. There will be no further question of sin when he comes again to save those waiting for him.

Gospel: Mk 12:38-44
As Jesus was teaching, he also said to the people, “Beware of those teachers of the Law who enjoy walking around in long robes and being greeted in the marketplace, and who like to occupy reserved seats in the synagogues and the first places at feasts. They even devour the widow’s and the orphan’s goods while making a show of long prayers. How severe a sentence they will receive!”
Jesus sat down opposite the Temple treasury and watched the people dropping money into the treasury box; and many rich people put in large offerings. But a poor widow also came and dropped in two small coins.
Then Jesus called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all those who gave offerings. For all of them gave from their plenty, but she gave from her poverty and put in everything she had, her very living.”

Interesting Story

The one or two of you who read my blog will know I am having difficulty with the way society operates today. So for your reading pleasure another article I have found online. This one comes from Catholic Culture and is about removing the crucifix from class rooms as this violates rights. Maybe I am thick but whose rights are being violated? More from me after the article,

Christ’s death, in Italy and IllinoisBy Dr. Jeff Mirus | November 04, 2009 3:49 PM

It comes as no surprise that the European Union’s European Court of Human Rights has ruled that crucifixes in Italian schools violate student rights and must be removed. TheItalian government will appeal, however, and that at least is a breath of fresh air. When a sign of God’s love for all humanity, a sign that has played an integral role in the formation of European civilization, is interpreted as an infringement of personal liberty, the interpreter may be assumed to be fleeing not only from God but from himself. Christ dying for sins he did not commit: What line does that cross?

Similarly, it was bound to happen (and I feel sure that it has happened before in other religious communities) that a nun should serve as an escort into an abortion facility. If this were effectively impossible, it is unlikely that there would be an Apostolic Visitation of women religious in progress in the United States. So when Dominican Sister Donna Quinn served as a volunteer escort for an Illinois abortion clinic, it may have been one of those shocking things that did not really surprise veteran observers of the American Church. But a funny thing happened on the way to a fashionable new age: Sister Quinn’s superiors in the Dominican Congregation of Sinsinawa said they won’t tolerate support of abortion by one of their members.

Chirst’s dying for sins he did not commit? It doesn’t cross a line, but it does draw one, for those who take it seriously.

Violated rights now first do you think a grade 2 student went to the principal to complain that his or her rights were violated? No some liberal bleeding heart parent who has nothing better to do then complain instead of least teaching the child what this is and symbolizes and even if not reinforcing but eventually allowing the child to grow with this knowledge and form their own decision later in life. Should the parent and the school not be more worried about the quality of education they should be receiving and providing than a crucifix? Stuff like this just boggles my mind.

I guess I am not having my rights violated when this child grows up and wears his pants down below his butt, spits on the sidewalk and all over and probably attacks me for kicks, destroys public property for fun and then probably does not finish school because the teacher and his parents were not pushing him or her as to not upset there mental balance and were not interested in education and discipline. Then they become a burden for the working folk of the world. No but his or her rights are violated by one of the most powerful symbols in the world. I guess I am missing it. I look around and see these kids makes me shake my head but I guess the seeds you palnt you have to also accept the harvest!

Violated rights? Yes mine and yours when the Catholic Church comes under attack!

Words to Live By!

Here is the first reading for today but some wonderful words for all of us to live by!

Rom 13:8-10
Do not be in debt to anyone. Let this be the only debt of one to another: Love. The one who loves his or her neighbor fulfilled the Law. For the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not covet and whatever else are summarized in this one: You will love your neighbor as yourself. Love cannot do the neighbor any harm; so love fulfills the whole Law.

Sunday Reading

November 1
Sunday

All Saints Day

1st Reading: Rev 7:2-4, 9-14
I saw another angel ascending from the sunrise, carrying the seal of the living God, and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels empowered to harm the earth and the sea, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads.”
After this I saw a great crowd, from every nation, race, people and tongue, standing before the throne and the Lamb, and they cried out with a loud voice, “Who saves but our God who sits on the throne and the Lamb?”
All the angels were around the throne, the elders and the four living creatures; they then bowed before the throne with their faces to the ground to worship God. They said, Amen. Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen!
At that moment, one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these people clothed in white, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, it is you who know this.”
The elder replied, “They are those who have come out of the great persecution; they have washed and made their clothes white in the blood of the Lamb.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6

R. (see 6) Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

2nd Reading : 1 Jn 3:1-3
See what singular love the Father has for us: we are called children of God, and we really are. This is why the world does not know us, because it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God’s children and what we shall be has not yet been shown. Yet when he appears in his glory, we know that we shall be like him, for then we shall see him as he is. All who have such a hope try to be pure as he is pure.

Gospel: Mt 5:1-12
Jesus sat down and his disciples gathered around him. Then he spoke and began to teach them:
“Fortunate are those who have the spirit of the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Fortunate are those who mourn, they shall be comforted.
Fortunate are the gentle, they shall possess the land.
Fortunate are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.
Fortunate are the merciful, for they shall find mercy.
Fortunate are those with a pure heart, for they shall see God.
Fortunate are those who work for peace, they shall be called children of God.
Fortunate are those who are persecuted for the cause of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Fortunate are you, when people insult you and persecute you and speak all kinds of evil against you because you are my followers. Be glad and joyful, for a great reward is kept for you in God.