AUGUST 15 -- FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

 Today we celebrate one of the oldest Christian feasts, the very fact that the the Blessed Virgin's body was taken into heaven to be united with her soul and to reign in heaven with her king, Jesus Christ.

In 1950 this was declared to be a DOGMA, a belief that is required of everyone.  If you do not believe it you are outside of Christ's Body, the Catholic Church.

Your can read it here:  Pius XII (1950 MUNIFICENTISSIMUS DEUS)

or your can hear it by watching this video:

WHO'S MORE POWERFUL, SATAN OR THE VIRGIN MARY?

I would like to have written this, but it is a very well put together article, so here's the link:
https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/is-satan-more-powerful-than-mary

From the article:

So this raises the question: who’s more powerful, the Virgin Mary in heaven or the devil in hell?Strangely, some Protestants seem to believe it’s Satan. Of course, this is rarely something that Protestant Christians consciously or explicitly profess, but consider some of the objections to Catholics praying to Mary. We’re told, for example, that Mary can’thear our prayers because she’s a finite creature, and so she can’t hear everyone’s prayers at once, and she can’t understand the different prayers uttered in different languages. Michael Hobart Seymour (1800-1874), an anti-Catholic polemicist, put the objection neatly:
It seems difficult to understand how she or any saint in heaven can know the wishes, the thoughts, the devotion, the prayers of the millions, who are praying to them in so many different parts of the world at the same time. If she or they were omnipresent—if omnipresent as the Godhead, all would be easy to conceive, all would be intelligible; but as they are no more than finite creatures in heaven, this cannot be.
We find the same argument used today. In A Woman Rides the Beast, for example, Dave Hunt objected to the line, “Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us” from the Salve Regina on the grounds that “Mary would have to be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent (qualities of God alone) in order to extend mercy to all mankind.”
So Mary and the saints, being “finite creatures in heaven,” are too limited and weak to hear your prayers. Satan, on the other hand . . .

The Binding Force of Tradition - Fr. Chad Ripperger

The Extraordinary Synod on the Family -- some observations

 

I came across this tonight and I thought is very appropriate at this time:

"Again, family change and religious change go hand in hand."

That's from 

How the West Really Lost God: An Interview with Mary Eberstadt

- Crisis Magazine

  We really need to pray for our bishops.  The report, blasted by Cardinal Burke, has many non-Catholic errors in it.  

Cardinal Burke: Synod's mid-term report "lacks a solid foundation in the Sacred Scriptures and the Magisterium"

 From the above:

" Cardinal Raymond Burke, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura   ...   has expressed concern over several aspects of the Synod, including the push for changes in the handling of Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics and the waky that information about the Synod is being, in his words, "manipulated." 

Cardinal Burke responded late yesterday to questions from Carl E. Olson, editor of Catholic World Report, about his concerns, his view of the mid-term report, and why he thinks a statement from Pope Francis is "long overdue." "

 From what I'm hearing there is (little or) no talk of salvation and what we are being saved from.  Sinners need to be called to repentance, not have there sins blessed.  To receive Our Lord in Holy Communion without turning from our sin brings us further to perdition.  Do many of these bishops even believe in sin and hell anymore?

Here's a commentary.  Skip ahead to the 35 second mark. (At times the style can be off-putting to some, but it is worth watching for information.)

Satin is hard at work here, just as he was when Our Lord walked this earth ... even causing one of the original bishops to betray Jesus.

 Rev. Dwight Longenecker  has this to say:

" The Holy Father has been very good in lecturing priests and telling us what to do. We are to go out into the world and “make a mess.” We are to “smell like the sheep.” We are to welcome all with compassion, forgiveness and mercy. We are to be good and kind pastors who administer the sacraments with care and concern. We are to seek out the poor, castigate the rich, side with the unfortunate, heal the sick, support the immigrants and reach out to the lowly. We are to welcome the divorced and remarried, not judge those with same sex attraction and open the doors of the church to all with a warm hearted and affirming form of evangelization by attraction.

This is a message I endorse and embrace. I want to be that kind of priest. I want to be Jesus to the world. I long to care for the poor and hungry, minister to their needs, welcome all to the church as the father welcomes the prodigal. I wish to have the open heart Pope Francis has. I want to show the attractiveness of Christ, the radiant truth of the gospel and the joy of the abundant life that Jesus brings to the world. I long to celebrate the sacraments with love, care, hope, joy and compassion. I want to be the persona Christi, the image of God and the face of the Father not only to my flock, but to all who I meet.

I have heard the words of my Holy Father and taken them to heart. I sincerely want to be that kind of priest.

However, I can only do this if the timeless truths of the Catholic faith are firmly defined and defended. The dogmas, doctrines and disciplines of the Catholic faith are the tools of my trade. They provide the rules for engagement, the playbook for the game, the map for the journey and the content for the mercy and compassion I wish to display. The historic teachings of the Catholic faith, founded on the teachings of Christ the Lord, revealed by divine inspiration and developed through the magisterium of the Catholic Church provide the method for my mercy, the content for my compassion and the only saving truths I have to share. "

  [ Image from http://www.abouttherosary.com]

Glorious St. Michael,
guardian and defender of the Church of Jesus Christ,
come to the assistance of His followers,
against whom the powers of hell are Unchained.
Guard with special care our Holy Father, the Pope, and our bishops, priests,
all our religious and lay people, and especially the children.
St. Michael, watch over us during life,
defend us against the assaults of the demon,
and assist us especially at the hour of death.
Help us achieve the happiness of beholding God face to face for all eternity. 
Amen.

Why love God?

Why love God?  Because He loved us first and even became one of us to give all and die as a mortal.

Image from http://uploads0.wikipaintings.org/images/jacopo-bellini/the-crucifixion.jpg


I must say, the longer I am a Catholic the more I am "blown away" (as said 'back in the day'...) by what our Lord has done for us, especially through the Church He established.

Not only did he create the entire universe and time itself, he chose to become one of us for our salvation.  God has never been an angel.  He has never been any of the other heavenly hosts.  But he became a human being, and after his death his human body was glorified and ascended into heaven.  The Word of God has a human body in heaven.

Can you imagine that?  God himself thinks so highly of us, who he created in his image, that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity sits on his throne with his crucified then glorified human body!

God condescended to become a humble man, born of a virgin, and mixed with us sinners.

Although sinless, he took our sins upon him and suffered and died for us. He died for us sinners.  Wow.

In 1996, at the age of 38, I came home to the Catholic Church.  I grew up as an Anglican and in university I had a lot of contact with evangelical Christians.  What I began to realize was that Jesus did not leave us a bible.  He established a Church.  He left the deposit of faith with his Church.  
This Church is a Church that teaches with Divine Authority.  There is no 'wiggle room' in the Church established by God!
His Church wrote the books of the New Testament and eventually, through the Holy Spirit, compiled the Canon of Scripture.

The early Christians had the Jewish scriptures and the oral teachings of the Apostles.   The written teachings and the oral teachings/traditions are what the Holy Spirit uses to communicate Truth to the Body of Christ.  Never scripture alone.  That idea is a somewhat 'modern' invention, largely thanks to a former disobedient priest named Martin Luther.

Since we have both the Scriptures and Tradition the Holy Spirit has taught us more.
We now know that God crowned a mere human as the Queen of heaven.  
Oh how God loves us!!! 

Image from:  https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsmM7-6ffKfgmG7h-DF_wi_F0S7q-uko_D1iSfHN-phPQbRKabw0Yeoh6jBaix7nhk5wPDFbriVz0k0Gz48eb4ff4UJOCCrMFVUGopkiwcrkN-4xr8Cuv2y1bVk-DLYzsNzEFTmOPi0Ls/s1600/CoronationMary.jpg

Through Apostolic succession, this Church, the Body of Christ, has as its earthly head the successor of Peter, the Pope.  Jesus did not leave us alone.  Through the succession of his Apostles the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is still offered every day on all Catholic and Orthodox altars.  Jesus is still present in his Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity here on earth.

God gave the power to his Apostles and their successors to forgive sins.

When I assist at Mass I witness a genuine miracle.  A time where God intervenes with nature.  Mere bread and wine, through the power of the Holy Spirit and by the actions and words of the successors of the Apostles, become the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord and Saviour.  We are "re-present" and the one sacrifice that Jesus made for us at Calvary.

Image from my computer; originally from somewhere on the Internet ...

We have so much to be thankful for.  So many reasons to love God with all our hearts, souls, and with all our actions.
The saints learned to hate sin ... to prefer death to committing even one mortal sin.

Let us remember daily to direct all our thoughts, words and actions heavenward.

To start your day you can use the 'morning offering' that I've been using for years:

Most Holy and adorable Trinity, One God in three Persons, I adore You with the most profound humility.  I praise you and give you thanks for the favours you have bestowed on me.
Your goodness has brought me safely to the beginning of this day.

Behold, O Lord, I offer you my whole being, together with such crosses and contradictions as I may meet with in the course of this day.
Give them, O Lord, Your blessing.  May Your Divine Love animate them, and may they tend to the greater honour and glory of your Holy Name.   

   [One of the things I love about this prayer is the line "May Your Divine Love animate them".]

God be with you!

Dominus vobiscum, Reg. 

Pope Francis: "The Word of God Precedes the Bible and Surpasses It"

That title comes from Scott P. Richert's blog and is the truth as proclaimed by our new holy father.

More is expressed at MARY, OUR MOTHER .  

 

From  the Pope's address:

 “Sacred Scripture,” he reaffirmed,“ is the written testimony of the divine Word, the canonical memory that attests to the event of Revelation. However, the Word of God precedes the Bible and surpasses it. That is why the centre of our faith isn't just a book, but a salvation history and above all a person, Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh. It is precisely because the Word of God embraces and extends beyond Scripture that, in order to properly understand it, the Holy Spirit's constant presence, who guides us “to all truth”, is necessary. It is necessary to place ourselves within the great Tradition that has, with the Holy Spirit's assistance and the Magisterium's guidance, recognized the canonical writings as the Word that God addresses to his people, who have never ceased meditating upon it and discovering inexhaustible riches from it.”

As Catholics we do not believe in Jesus because we believe in the bible.  We believe in the bible because we believe in Jesus, the Word of God incarnate.
Oral Tradition predates the bible by hundreds of years.  The Catholic Church did not decide what writings were canonical until almost 400AD. From TRUE CHURCH and BIBLE:

In 397 AD, the Catholic Church gave a definitive decision as to which writings and books should be admitted into the Bible and which should be rejected, and every book which is in the Protestant New Testament today, was put there by Pope Siricus and the Catholic Bishops in the year 397 AD

We cannot even begin to think that we can understand the true meaning of Scripture if it is divorced from Tradition.  Jesus established a Church to record His words that one day would become the Gospels.  If you really want to know the meaning of Scripture go to its source: the Catholic Church.  The Holy Spirit continually guides the Church. 
 For Truth we need BOTH Scripture AND Tradition.

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