BG1 Mark Hart the Bible Geek “Answers from the Word” – Advent

Mark answers

1. Why do we celebrate Advent? What does it mean and what’s it all about?
2. What is the significance of the Advent Wreath, the nativity set, the different colors, etc. we see in Church?

Mark Hart is an author, speaker, director and teacher, Mark’s work both written and spoken, is known across the country and world. While he serves as the Vice President of LIFE TEEN, he is known to tens of thousands simply as the “Bible Geek ®” Mark passionately echoes the gospel to all he encounters. He is as deep as he is funny, and his love for his wife and daughters is second only to his immense love for Jesus Christ.

Visit Mark at www.lifeteen.com

Our Lady of Guadalupe

 

Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

Dear Mother, we love you. We thank you for your promise to help us in our need. We trust in your love that dries our tears and comforts us. Teach us to find our peace in your Son, Jesus, and bless us every day of our lives.
Help us to build a shrine in our hearts. Make it as beautiful as the one built for you on the Mount of Tepeyac. A shrine full of trust, hope, and love of Jesus growing stronger each day.
Mary, you have chosen to remain with us by giving us your most wonderful and holy self-image on Juan Diego’s cloak. May we feel your loving presence as we look upon your face. Like Juan, give us the courage to bring your message of hope to everyone.
You are our Mother and our inspiration. Hear our prayers and answer us.
Amen.

St. Clement of Rome, first of the Apostolic Fathers of the Church with Mike Aquilina – Discerning Hearts

mikeaquilina

The story and history of Saint Clement.

Mike Aquilina First, start with the podcast above featuring the son of the Fathers, Mike Aquilina  talking about St. Clement, then…

Clemens Romanus was born in Rome in Italy during the time that the Christian faith was being spread and Christians were being persecuted by the Roman Emperors. He is believed to be of Jewish descent and a freeman of Rome. He worked as a tanner Scs-Clemens-pope-of-Romeduring the early part of his life. He was then converted to Christianity and became a disciple of St. Peter and of St. Paul. Following the death of Saint Peter he took over his position and became the fourth Pope and Bishop of Rome continuing to convert Romans from the religion of the old Roman gods to Christianity.

Saint Clement was banished from Rome during the reign of the Emperor Trajan (September 18, 53 – August 9, 117) due to his beliefs and unpopularity with the Roman rabble. He was banished to Chersonesus, which was an ancient Greek colony under Roman rule, in the south western part of Crimea (part of the Ukraine). In Chersonesus he was sentenced to work with other prisoners in a stone quarry where he continued to convert people. The number and success of his conversions attracted the attention of the Roman prefect who sentenced him to death. Clement was he was bound to an anchor and cast into the sea. He died in A.D.100.

How blessed and amazing are God’s gifts, dear friends Life with immortality, splendor with righteousness, truth with confidence, faith with assurance, self-control with holiness And all these things are within our comprehension. Clement of Rome

 


Basilica of Saint Clement

The Basilica di San Clemente is an early Christian basilica in Rome dedicated to Pope St. Clement. Its beautiful interior is especially notable for its three historical layers.

The main upper church is one of the most richly decorated churches in Rome. The vast majority of its architecture and art dates from its construction in the early 12th century. The entrance is on the left aisle.

The most striking sight is the 12th-century apse mosaic, in a golden-bronze color and featuring a large cross in the center. In the center of the apse is a throne, whose back is part of a martyr’s tomb.

The high altar contains the relics of St. Clement of Rome and St. Ignatius of Antioch. Faded frescoes decorate many of the walls, and date from the 6th to 11th centuries. They depict New Testament scenes and lives of several saints.

Faith Check 1 – The Keys of the Kingdom

Keys of the Kingdom

Many of our separated brothers and sisters ask where we find a “pope” in the Bible.  One example is in St. Matthew 16, where Jesus says to Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”1

In the ancient world, kingdoms would have a leader underneath the king who was responsible for the administration of the government—we might call them the prime ministers.  We find an example of this in Isaiah 22,2 when God declares that Shebna, the Prime Minister of Israel, will be deposed for his sins and replaced by Eliakim, whom God says will be a father to Israel and will carry the key of the house of David—“what he opens none shall shut; and what he shuts none shall open.”

When Jesus gave Peter the keys in Matthew 16, the apostles already understood their significance.  Peter was to be their leader, the prime minister that will shepherd Christ’s Church.  “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”3

What a gift we have in Pope Benedict, who still carries the keys today.

1 –  Mt. 16:19

2 –  see Is. 22: 20-25

3 –  Mt. 16:19

 

Ave Maria (Verdi’s Otello) – Renee Fleming

The Ave Maria aria is sung by Desdemona (Otello’s wife) in Act 4, as she kneels in prayer with a troubled mind before going to bed.

Here is the English translation

Ave Maria, overflowing with grace,
Blessed be the fruit of thy womb.

Blessed are you above all women
for delivering to us Christ Jesus.

Pray for the one
who kneels in prayer before you,

Pray for the wrongdoer
…and for the innocent,

Pray for the weak and oppressed,
…and for those in power,

For the wretched, likewise,
show your mercy.

Pray for the one suffering
cruel misfortune,

Pray for the one who bows his head
under injustice and cruel fate.

And for us… pray for us,
pray always…

…and in the hour
of our death.

Pray for us…
Pray for us…
for us.

Ave Maria . . .
…In the hour of our death.

Ave…
Amen.

St. Francis de Sales, restoring the “universal call to holiness”

Denver, Colo., Jan 23, 2011 / 07:09 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Jan. 24, during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that runs from Jan. 18-25, Catholics will celebrate the life of St. Francis de Sales. A bishop and Doctor of the Church, his preaching brought thousands of Protestants back to the Catholic fold, and his writings on the spiritual life have proved highly influential.

The paradoxical circumstances of Francis’ birth, in the Savoy region (now part of France) during 1567,  sum up several contradictory tendencies of the Church during his lifetime. The reforms of the Council of Trent had purified the Church in important ways, yet Catholics and Protestants still struggled against one another – and against the temptations of wealth and worldly power.

Francis de Sales, a diplomat’s son, was born into aristocratic wealth and privilege. Yet he was born in a room that his family named the “St. Francis room” – where there hung a painting of that saint, renowned for his poverty, preaching in the wilderness. In later years, Francis de Sales would embrace poverty also; but early in his ministry, the faithful chided him for having an aristocratic manner.

In many ways, Francis’ greatest achievements – such as the “Introduction to the Devout Life,” an innovative spiritual guidebook for laypersons, or his strong emphasis on the role of human love in Christian devotion – represent successful attempts to re-integrate seemingly disparate “worldly” and “spiritual” realities into one coherent vision of life.

Few people, however, would have predicted these achievements for Francis during his earlier years. As a young man, he studied rhetoric, the humanities, and law. He had his law degree by age 25, and was headed for a political career. All the while, he was keeping the depths of his spiritual life – such as his profound devotion to the Virgin Mary, and his resolution of religious celibacy – a secret from the world.

Eventually, however, the truth came out, and Francis clashed with his father, who had arranged a marriage for him. The Bishop of Geneva intervened on Francis’ behalf, finding him a position in the administration of the Swiss Church that led to his priestly ordination in 1593. He volunteered to lead a mission to bring Switzerland, dominated by Calvinist Protestantism, back to the Catholic faith.

Taking on a seemingly impossible task, with only one companion – his cousin – the new priest adopted a harsh but hopeful motto: “Apostles battle by their sufferings, and triumph only in death.” It would serve him well as he traveled through Switzerland, facing many Protestants’ indifference or hostility, and being attacked by wild animals and even would-be assassins.

Some of Francis’ hearers –even, for a time, John Calvin’s protege Theodore Beza– found themselves captivated by the thoughtful, eloquent and joyful manner of the priest who implored their reunion with the Church. But he had more success when he began writing out these sermons and exhortations, slipping them beneath the doors that had been closed against him.

This pioneering use of religious tracts proved surprisingly effective at breaking down the resistance of the Swiss Calvinists, and it is estimated that between 40,000 and 70,000 of them returned to the Church through his efforts. He also served as a spiritual director, both in person and through written correspondence, with the latter format inspiring the “Introduction to the Devout Life.”

In 1602, Francis was chosen to become the Bishop of Geneva, a position he did not seek or desire. Accepting the position, however, he gave the last twenty years of his life in ongoing sacrifice, for the restoration of Geneva’s churches and religious orders. He also helped one of his spiritual directees, the widow and future saint Jane Frances de Chantal, to found an order with a group of women.

Worn out by nearly thirty years of arduous travel and other burdens of Church leadership, Francis fell ill in 1622 while visiting one of a convent he had helped to found in Lyons. He died there, three days after Christmas that year. St. Francis de Sales was canonized in 1665, and honored as a Doctor of the Church in 1877.

Because of the crucial role of writing in his apostolate, St. Francis de Sales is the patron of writers and journalists. He is also widely credited with restoring, during his own day, a sense of what the Second Vatican Council would later call the “universal call to holiness” – that is, the notion that all people, not only those in formal religious life, are called to the heights of Christian sanctification. – CNA/EWTN News

A Prayer of St. Frances de Sales

Founders statue at St. Peter’s in Rome

Lord, I am yours,
and I must belong to no one but you.
My soul is yours,
and must live only by you.
My will is yours,
and must love only for you.
I must love you as my first cause,
since I am from you.
I must love you as my end and rest,
since I am for you.
I must love you more than my own being,
since my being subsists by you.
I must love you more than myself,
since I am all yours and all in you.
AMEN.

 

Meditations from the Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales

 

YFFC Show 6 – Dr. Thomas Hilgers with Your Fertility Care Consult hosted by Kris McGregor

Show 6 – Cerebrocentric vs. Genitocentric Sexuality

“Your Fertility Care Consult”
with Dr. Thomas Hilgers, founder of the Pope Paul VI Institute
for The Study of Human Reproduction
hosted by Kris McGregor

http://www.popepaulvi.com/


IP#62 Debra Herbeck – Safely through the Storm on Inside the Pages

Debra Herbeck has compiled a compelling selection of reflections from saints and writers who have suffered, who were tempted to depair, and who were tested in everyway, but through grace and faith, they never gave up. Hope, a viture we can’t live without.  If you or someone you know is suffering through hard times, “Safely Through the Storm” is for you.

Check out the book here