Today is Gaudete Sunday

The word "Gaudete" is Latin for "rejoice," and in the Latin version of today's Mass, it's the very first word. The third Sunday of Advent has been "Gaudete Sunday" ever since the time of Pope St Gregory the Great, in the sixth century. It's the reason for the rose-colored vestments and Advent candle.

And the reason the Church is inviting us to rejoice is because Christmas is coming closer. We have reached the halfway point of Advent. In just 14 days, we will celebrate once again the coming of our Lord and Saviour to earth, the source of all Christian joy. And yet, in the midst of life's hustle and bustle, and surrounded as we are by so many tinsel-joys of commercials and advertisements and of a society that thinks religion should be kept in the closet - in the midst of such a secular world, it is a good thing for us to remember exactly why Jesus came to earth. If we can keep fresh our awareness of this deep meaning of Christmas, we will also be able to keep fresh our experience of Christian joy, a joy is strong enough to shine out even in the middle of life's hardest trials,

The Catechism tells us that Jesus became man on Christmas Day for four reasons.

First, "The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God" . Ever since original sin, we needed to be saved. The human race, and every individual human being, was created in order to find lasting happiness by living in friendship with God. But original sin was the human race's rebellion against God. As a result of that rebellion, we became so lost and tangled up in the dense jungle of selfishness and sin, that there was no way we could find our own way back to the Father's house. So God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, into the jungle, to rescue us.

This is a reason for lasting joy because it is God's promise that evil will not have the last word. Just as Jesus came to Bethlehem two thousand years ago, so he will come again at the end of history, righting every wrong, wiping away every tear, and restoring every loss. Salvation began on the first Christmas, and it will continue growing and spreading until the last Christmas - no matter how dark the winter of history may get. As Isaiah put it in the First Reading: "As the earth brings forth its plants and a garden makes its growth spring up, so will the Lord GOD make justice and praise spring up before all the nations."

The second reason "the Word became flesh" was "so that thus we might know God's love" (Catechism #458). God didn't have to save the human race He could have crumpled it up like a bad rough draft and started his creation all over again. But his love wouldn't let him.

"God is love," the Bible tells us (1 John 4:8), and true love never gives up, it keeps on reaching out. God's love is like the sun: it just keeps on shining. When the clouds of selfishness obscure it, it is still shining above them. When we try to hide from it in the dark caves of sin, it keeps on shining, waiting for us to come out. When we find ourselves lost in the dark night of suffering, it is always there on the horizon, ready to shine out in the dawn of a new day.

This too is reason for lasting joy, because the deepest desire of the human heart is to be thoroughly known and thoroughly loved. Only God knows us through and through, all the good and all the bad. And by coming to earth as our Saviour, he shows that even while knowing us so well, he is still willing to sacrifice his own heavenly comfort to come and save us. That's how unhesitating his love is.

This is what Isaiah expressed so beautifully in today's First Reading: God's love for us is the "glad tidings to the poor," it is what "heals the broken-hearted," it is what gives "liberty to the captives" and "releases the prisoners" enslaved by sin and self-doubt

The third reason "The Word became flesh" was "to be our model of holiness" (Catechism #459). Holiness is a fancy word, but it means nothing other than the art of living. When someone is holy, like the saints, it means that they have learned the art of living - they know what life is about and how to live it. (They have learned, as St Paul puts it in today's Second Reading, to "Test everything; retain what is good," and to "refrain from every kind of evil".) Jesus came to teach us that, both by what he said and, most especially, by his own example. Jesus said the he is our truth and our life, but also our way (cf. John 14:6). Many times in the Gospels he says: "Follow me."

This too is a reason for joy, because we all need an example to follow in life.

Nothing would be more frustrating and saddening than to know that a treasure is within reach, but not to know how to get to it.
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The fourth and last reason that "The Word became flesh" was "to make us 'partakers of the divine nature'" (Catechism #460). Jesus doesn't want to just lead us back to the earthly paradise that Adam and Eve got kicked out of. Jesus actually wants to lead us into his own home in heaven; he wants us to share his own life with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Salvation isn't just a ticket to eternal life; salvation is grace, it's like a divine blood transfusion in which God's own life is poured into our souls, making us adopted children of God and members of his family.

Imagine a poor peasant girl who also happened to be an orphan. She turns to crime in order to survive. Then one day the King is passing by and sees her. He sees how unhappy the child is, how wounded, sad, and angry. And so he invites her to come and stay with the royal family in their palace. And when she gets there, he gives her a servant, new clothes, her own beautiful room, and treats her exactly like his own daughter. And then he legally adopts her, so that she becomes a princess.

That is a very pale comparison to what God has done for us through Christ and the sacraments. He hasn't just given us spiritual handouts that that we can survive; he has filled us with his own life, his grace, so that we can spend eternity in the divine palace, as princes and princesses of the eternal King.

This too is a reason for joy, because it means that we have much more to look forward to in heaven than we could ever imagine.

That's what Christmas is really about: Jesus becoming one of us, to save us, to prove God's love for us, to teach us the art of living, and to share his very life with us.
And those are the reasons for Christian joy.

But they will not fill our hearts with joy if we don't give them a chance to do so.

In the seven days remaining before Christmas, let's make sure we do give them a chance, by spending some quality time each day alone with God in prayer. St Paul wrote in today's Second Reading, "Rejoice always," and in the very next line he wrote, "Pray without ceasing." Prayer allows the motives for joy to blossom in our hearts. The devil wants to keep us so busy that we don't take time to pray, to read and reflect on the Gospels, to remind ourselves about the reason for the season.

But Jesus is stronger than the devil, and he will give us a share of that strength in this holy Mass.
When he does, let's thank him for coming to save us, and let's ask him to help us find the time to pray, so that we can experience true Christian joy.

Join the spiritual protest against blasphemous gay play Corpus Christi at the San Pedro Playhouse in San Antonio, Texas.

Please sign the Petition and join America Needs Fatima in protesting the blasphemous play Corpus Christi that is scheduled to start showing at the San Pedro Playhouse in San Antonio, Texas.
Oremus.Let us pray an Act of Reparation to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus



O Sacred Heart of Jesus, animated with a desire to repair the outrages unceasingly offered to Thee, we prostrate before Thy throne of Mercy, and in the name of all mankind, pledge our love and fidelity to Thee.
The more Thy mysteries are blasphemed, the more firmly we shall believe them, O Sacred Heart of Jesus!
The more impiety endeavors to extinguish our hope of immortality, the more we shall trust in Thy Heart, sole Hope of mankind!
The more hearts resist Thy Divine attractions, the more we shall love Thee, O infinitely amiable Heart of Jesus!
The more unbelief attacks Thy Divinity, the more humbly and profoundly we shall adore It, O Divine Heart of Jesus!
The more Thy holy laws are transgressed and ignored, the more we shall delight to observe them, O most holy Heart of Jesus!
The more Thy Sacraments are despised and abandoned, the more frequently we shall receive them with love and reverence, O most generous Heart of Jesus!
The more the imitation of Thy virtues is neglected and forgotten, the more we shall endeavor to practice them, O Heart, model of every virtue!
The more the evil labors to destroy souls, the more we shall be inflamed with desire to save them, O Heart of Jesus, zealous Lover of souls!
The more sin and impurity destroy the image of God in man, the more we shall try by purity of life to be a living temple of the Holy Spirit, O Heart of Jesus!
The more Thy Holy Church is despised, the more we shall endeavor to be her faithful children, O Sweet Heart of Jesus!
O Sacred Heart, through Thy powerful grace, may we become Thy apostles in the midst of a corrupted world, and be Thy crown in the kingdom of Heaven. Amen.

Novus Ordo Mass vs. Tridentine Mass

The Failure of Liberal Catholicism

High inspired essay about the failure of so called Liberal Catholicism ( a direct result of Second Vatican Council liberal reforms and modern theologies )
Quote:

Liberal Catholicism is replaying the history of the Reformation of the 16th century, beginning with calls for legitimate reform and ending in innumerable divisions. But whereas Luther and Calvin repudiated those who moved too far too fast, the concepts of heresy and schism are meaningless in the incoherent liberal Catholic ecclesiology, where each person’s judgment is held to be sacred, where people are Catholics simply because they claim to be.

[..]
John Henry Newman is extolled for upholding the authority of conscience, while his warning that “liberalism” (very much in the present meaning of the word) was the gravest threat to Christianity is ignored. An NCR reader objected to his beatification on the grounds that many Anglicans still “resent his conversion,” which seemed to imply that he should have ignored the promptings of his conscience. (Liberals demean the Anglican converts by treating them not as free people making responsible decisions but as naïve dupes.)

Jesus himself is finally inaccessible to liberals except insofar as he can be seen as a somewhat timid feminist, a self-fulfillment therapist, or a political revolutionary. Classical Christology is a barrier to their understanding.

Read more about this relevant essay on The Catholic World Report

Canonization Cause Opened for Opus Dei Priest, Father Joseph Muzquiz

Another Novus Ordo's saint !!! it's a kind of thirst in proving holiness .. I just wonder openly , why ??
Quote:
"All Christians are called to be saints and we are deeply grateful that the Archdiocese of Boston is undertaking this effort to see whether Father Joseph Muzquiz indeed truly lived a holy life," said Opus Dei spokesman Brian Finnerty.
All Christians are called to be saints . True.
But .. are they fulfilling the conditions ?!! Read more about canonization, , where is clearly specified :

Canonization occurs at the conclusion of a long process requiring extensive proof that the person proposed for canonization lived and died in such an exemplary and holy way that he or she is worthy to be recognized as a saint. The Church's official recognition of sanctity implies that the persons are now in heavenly glory, that they may be publicly invoked and mentioned officially in the liturgy of the Church, most especially in the Litany of the Saints.

On the case of the new and future Opus Dei saint : Father David Cavanagh, an Opus Dei priest who is the postulator for Father Muzquiz's cause, said after the opening prayer that the priest "may be one of those persons who has persevered to the end living a life of heroic virtue on the path to sanctity."

Several local members of Opus Dei who were in attendance had known Father Muzquiz, and reacted positively to the opening of his cause.

John Coverdale, a member of Opus Dei for over 50 years and author of "Putting Down Roots: Father Joseph Muzquiz and the Growth of Opus Dei," told The Pilot that the priest "was a very cheerful person, an extraordinarily dedicated person who clearly grasped God was calling him to do something. That was the focal point of his life."

Coverdale added that Father Muzquiz was "intelligent and hard working." Now , everything is quite clear !!

Regarding Assisi 3 and communion with the heretics

Pope Leo X, Fifth Lateran Council, Session 8, ex cathedra: "And since truth cannot contradict truth, we define that every statement contrary to the enlightened truth of the faith is totally false and we strictly forbid teaching otherwise to be permitted. We decree that all those who cling to erroneous statements of this kind, thus sowing heresies which are wholly condemned, should be avoided in every way and punished as detestable and odious heretics and infidels who are undermining the Catholic faith."
The Pope Leo X  just said infallibly that all heretics should be avoided in every way. Note that you can only know that someone is a heretic if you yourself have obtained this knowledge of the person in question.

III Council of Constantinople, 680-681: “If any ecclesiastic or layman shall go into the synagogue of the Jews or the meetinghouses of the heretics to join in prayer with them, let them be deposed and deprived of communion [excommunicated]. If any bishop or priest or deacon shall join in prayer with heretics, let him be suspended from communion [excommunicated].”

The Third Council of Constantinople just defined infallibly that any person who prays in communion with heretics are to be excommunicated and refused communion for praying with other heretics. Now let’s look at some other quotes:
Council of Laodicea, 4th century, (#Canon 6): "No one shall pray in common with heretics and schismatics… It is not permitted to heretics to enter the house of God while they continue in heresy."

Council of Carthage: "One must neither pray nor sing psalms with heretics, and whoever shall communicate with those who are cut off from the communion of the Church, whether clergy or layman: let him be excommunicated."

Pope Pius IX, Sept. 16, 1864, letter to the English Episcopate (CH 254): "That Christians and ecclesiastics should pray for Christian unity under the direction of heretics and, what is worse, according to an intention which is radically impregnated and vitiated with heresy, is absolutely impossible to tolerate!"

1917 Code of Canon Law, Canon 823: "Mass may not be said in churches of heretics or schismatics, even though they were in the past properly consecrated or blessed."

Pope Pius XI, Mortalium animos (# 10): "So, Venerable Brethren, it is clear why this Apostolic See has never allowed its subjects to take part in the assemblies of non-Catholics: for the union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it, for in the past they have unhappily left it. To the one true Church of Christ, we say, which is visible to all, and which is to remain, according to the will of its Author, exactly the same as He instituted it."

For people then to claim (in spite of all the quotations above saying otherwise), that an assembly presided over by heretics or an assembly that prays in communion with other heretics, to somehow be the Church of God or the Church of Catholics, is simply to deny God's revealed infallible truth.

This year we'll have ..

- New English translation of the Mass with the third typical edition of the Roman Missal.
- World Youth Day Madrid 2011 and a brand new Catechism - so called YouCath ..
- then the "great" Novus Ordo event : The Assisi Gathering - interfaith och interreligious "dialogue"

The Vatican made it absolutely clear what the "parameters" of the Assisi meeting will be:

“Every human being is ultimately a pilgrim in search of truth and goodness. Believers too are constantly journeying towards God: hence the possibility, indeed the necessity, of speaking and entering into dialogue with everyone, believers and unbelievers alike, without sacrificing one’s own identity or indulging in forms of syncretism. To the extent that the pilgrimage of truth is authentically lived, it opens the path to dialogue with the other, it excludes no-one and it commits everyone to be a builder of fraternity and peace. These are the elements that the Holy Father wishes to place at the centre of reflection.

For this reason, as well as representatives of Christian communities and of the principal religious traditions, some figures from the world of culture and science will be invited to share the journey – people who, while not professing to be religious, regard themselves as seekers of the truth and are conscious of a shared responsibility for the cause of justice and peace in this world of ours."

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The 2nd Epistle Of Saint Paul To The Corinthians :

[14] Bear not the yoke with unbelievers. For what participation hath justice with injustice? Or what fellowship hath light with darkness?
[15] And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath the faithful with the unbeliever?

Regarding all these I just once more to remember to all "new-liberal" "Catholics " that Non-Catholic religions are false / There is no Salvation Outside the Catholic Church – The Catholic Church teaches as a Dogma that there is only one true religion and one true God.

The Church teaches that all non-Catholic religions are false and belong to the evil. It is a dogma of the Catholic Faith that Outside the Catholic Church There is No Salvation (extra ecclesiam nulla salus).This has been defined seven times by popes speaking ex cathedra. Pope St. Gregory the Great, quoted in Summo Iugiter Studio, 590-604:

“The holy universal Church teaches that it is not possible to worship God truly except in her and asserts that all who are outside of her will not be saved.”6

Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, “Cantate Domino,” 1441, ex cathedra:

“The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans but also Jews or heretics and schismatics, cannot share in eternal life and will go into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the evil and his angels, unless they are joined to the Church before the end of their lives;

that the unity of this ecclesiastical body is of such importance that only for those who abide in it do the Church’s sacraments contribute to salvation and do fasts, almsgiving and other works of piety and practices of the Christian militia produce eternal rewards;

and that nobody can be saved, no matter how much he has given away in alms and even if he has shed blood in the name of Christ, unless he has persevered in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church.

YouTube - Red Church, Blue Church!

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