Message from Pope Francis' Homily

"Ask God for the grace to love your enemies, Pope Francis said Sunday in a homily in the Italian city of Bari. “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. This is the Christian innovation. It is the Christian difference,” Pope Francis said Feb. 23. “Ask God for the strength to love. Say to Him: ‘Lord, help me to love, teach me to forgive. I cannot do it alone, I need you.’ … We need to pray more frequently for the grace to live the essence of the Gospel, to be truly Christian,” the pope said. Pope Francis offered Mass in Bari for the conclusion of the “Mediterranean, Frontier of Peace" meeting of bishops from 19 Mediterranean countries, which took place Feb. 19-23. An estimated 40,000 people attended the pope’s Sunday Mass in Bari’s Piazza Libertà. In his homily, the pope said that Christ on the cross perfectly lived out God’s command to Moses in the Book of Leviticus chapter 19: “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” “He did not point a finger at those who wrongfully condemned him and put him to a cruel death, but opened his arms to them on the cross. And he forgave those who drove the nails into his wrists,” Francis said. “If we want to be disciples of Christ, if we want to call ourselves Christians, this is the only way.” “Having been loved by God, we are called to love in return; having been forgiven, we are called to forgive; having been touched by love, we are called to love without waiting for others to love first; having been saved graciously, we are called to seek no benefit from the good we do,” he said. Pope Francis said that “the worship of God” contradicts the “culture of hatred.” He said one can fight this culture of hatred by not giving into the “cult of complaint.” “How many times do we complain about the things that we lack, about the things that go wrong! Jesus knows about all the things that don’t work. He knows that there is always going to be someone who dislikes us. Or someone who makes our life miserable. All he asks us to do is pray and love,” he said. “This is the revolution of Jesus, the greatest revolution in history: from hating our enemy to loving our enemy; from the cult of complaint to the culture of gift. If we belong to Jesus, this is the road we are called to take,” Pope Francis said. The only kind of “Christian extremism” is “the extremism of love,” he said. Pope Francis said that there is no getting around the Lord’s command to “love your enemies” because Jesus is “direct and clear … His words are deliberate and precise.” The pope said that some people may think that they cannot “survive in this world” if they love and forgive in a world where “the logic of power prevails and people seem to be concerned only with themselves.” “As Saint Paul told us in the second reading: ‘Let no one deceive himself... For the wisdom of this world is folly with God.’ God sees what we cannot see. He knows how to win. He knows that evil can only be conquered by goodness,” he said. He added: “Jesus, with his limitless love, raises the bar of our humanity.” “Today let us choose love, whatever the cost, even if it means going against the tide. Let us not yield to the thinking of this world, or content ourselves with half measures,” Pope Francis said. “Then we will be true Christians and our world will be more human.” https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-ask-god-for-the-strength-to-love-your-enemies-76369?fbclid=IwAR0v84O-ldR40lieuazRr0oM5yC01z8xItH6s3u2T9uJRzUtAwH6RMx2LrM

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PREPARING FOR LENT for the FAMILY

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PRYARE FOR INNER PEACE

Prayer For Inner Peace Lord, please put Your peace in my heart. I’m worried and anxious. My mind races and obsesses. I can’t help thinking about my problems. And the more I think about them, the more depressed I become. I feel like I’m sinking down in quicksand and can’t get out. Calm me, Lord. Slow me down, put Your peace in my heart. No matter what problem I have, Lord, You are bigger, You are more powerful than it is. So I bring my problem to You. I know what I want. I know my will. I do not know Yours. I do not know how You will use this problem for my salvation. I do not know what good You will workout at this evil. But I trust You. I trust Your Goodness and Your Wisdom. So I place myself in Your hands. Please fill my heart with peace. Amen.

PRAYER FOR RENEWAL

PRAYER FOR RENEWAL Lord, we are your people in need of your help. Heal those who are wounded. Comfort those who are sorrowful. Enlighten those who are confused. Refresh those who are weary. Bring back those who have gone astray. Forgive us all our sins. Help us to know the Father’s love. Through Jesus the shepherd And through the Holy Spirit. Help us lift up that love And show it all over this land. Help us to build love on justice And justice on love. Help us to believe mightily Hope joyfully Love divinely, Renew us, Renew your Church, Renew the face of the earth. Amen. Holy Mary, Mother of the Church. Pray for us!

PRAYER FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE FAMILY

PRAYER FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE FAMILY Lord, May no family begin by accident. May no family end because it lacks love. May all couples live for one another body and soul. May nothing in the world separate the couple that has a dream. May no family live in a makeshift shelter. May no one interfere in the home and life of a married couple. May no one force them to live without hope. May they live yesterday, today and in function of tomorrow. May the family begin and end knowing where it is going. And may the husband carry the grace of a father on his shoulders. May the wife be a heaven of tenderness, cordiality and warmth. And may the children know the strength that comes from love. Bless, Lord, the families, amen! Bless, Lord, my family, too! May man and woman have the strength to love without counting the cost. May no one go to sleep without asking or giving pardon. May children begin in the cradle to learn the meaning of life. May the family celebrate sharing in caring and breaking bread. May husbands and wives be faithful to one another and to their children. May jealousy not destroy the certainty of love between the couple. May the star in their heavens that shines the most be their determined hope in heaven here and now, and afterwards. Amen.

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The real origin story of St. Valentine's Day

Flowers, candy, red hearts, and romance. That's what Valentine's day is all about, right? Well, maybe not. The origin of this holiday for the expression of love really isn't romantic at all—at least not in the traditional sense. Father Frank O'Gara of Whitefriars Street Church in Dublin, Ireland, tells the real story of the man behind the holiday—St. Valentine. "He was a Roman Priest at a time when there was an emperor called Claudias who persecuted the church at that particular time," Father O'Gara explains. " He also had an edict that prohibited the marriage of young people. This was based on the hypothesis that unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers because married soldiers might be afraid of what might happen to them or their wives or families if they died." "I think we must bear in mind that it was a very permissive society in which Valentine lived," says Father O'Gara. "Polygamy would have been much more popular than just one woman and one man living together. And yet some of them seemed to be attracted to the Christian faith. But obviously, the church thought that marriage was very sacred between one man and one woman for their life and that it was to be encouraged. And so it immediately presented the problem to the Christian church of what to do about this." "The idea of encouraging them to marry within the Christian church was what Valentine was about. And he secretly married them because of the edict." Valentine was eventually caught, imprisoned and tortured for performing marriage ceremonies against command of Emperor Claudius the second. There are legends surrounding Valentine's actions while in prison. "One of the men who was to judge him in line with the Roman law at the time was a man called Asterius, whose daughter was blind. He was supposed to have prayed with and healed the young girl with such an astonishing effect that Asterius himself became Christian as a result." In the year 269 AD, Valentine was sentenced to a three-part execution of a beating, stoning, and finally decapitation all because of his stand for Christian marriage. The story goes that the last words he wrote were in a note to Asterius' daughter. He inspired today's romantic missives by signing it, "from your Valentine." "What Valentine means to me as a priest," explains Father O'Gara, "is that there comes a time where you have to lay your life upon the line for what you believe. And with the power of the Holy Spirit, we can do that —even to the point of death." Valentine's martyrdom has not gone unnoticed by the general public. In fact, Whitefriars Street Church is one of three churches that claim to house the remains of Valentine. Today, many people make the pilgrimage to the church to honor the courage and memory of this Christian saint. "Valentine has come to be known as the patron saint of lovers. Before you enter into a Christian marriage you want some sense of God in your life—some great need of God in your life. And we know, particularly in the modern world, many people are meeting God through his Son, Jesus Christ." "If Valentine were here today, he would say to married couples that there comes a time where you're going to have to suffer. It's not going to be easy to maintain your commitment and your vows in marriage. Don't be surprised if the 'gushing' love that you have for someone changes to something less "gushing" but maybe much more mature. And the question is, is that young person ready for that?" "So on the day of the marriage they have to take that into context," Father O'Gara says. "Love—human love and sexuality is wonderful and blessed by God—but also the shadow of the cross. That's what Valentine means to me."

Source: https://www1.cbn.com/st-valentine-real-story?cpid=socclub-fb

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Making A War Binder The Catholic Way

So recently, I've heard a lot about something that people are doing called a War Binder. After doing a little bit of research, I found out that it is a binder that you put your prayers and other inspirational things in that will help you grow closer to God. Now, also in my research, I haven't found one specifically Catholic Oriented so I decided to make one. I'll try to post a video about it in the coming days if I get the time. I honestly like the idea. Below is a simple to follow guide on how to make one for yourself.

  WHAT YOU NEED A large three-ring binder with or without the pockets on the cover (mine is the 2-inch binder but you can go bigger or smaller depending on what you want in your War Binder) Any Washi Tape that you want to decorate it with (I personally don't use Washi Tape in mine) Print outs of prayers such as the Rosary, Stations of the Cross, Saints Prayers, etc. Printed out or letter paper sized pictures Printed or written out Scriptures Page protectors (The more you want to add, the more page protectors you'll need) Notebook paper Subject dividers so you can keep your sections organized if you so choose to use them. (Personally, I don't but every War binder will be different)

NEXT STEP Decide how you want your War Binder organized. If you have a binder that has the pockets on the covers, you may wish to put a picture or even printed out Scriptures. Decide where you want your pictures to go. Are they going to be the beginning of a specific section or are they going to be in a section all by themselves? Put some notebook paper in each section so you can take down notes, prayer requests, write prayers that come to your heart, etc.

 REMEMBER TO HAVE FUN WHILE CREATING YOUR WAR BINDER. The War Binder that you design will be yours and yours alone, you get to decide what goes in it and what doesn't. Decorate and organize it the way you feel you would get the most enjoyment out of using it.