O - it's an important letter

December 17th began the week-long countdown until Christmas - during the final days of Advent you find the 'O' Antiphons present in the liturgy (an antiphon is basically a repeated verse - think of the Responsorial Psalm at Mass - the verse that the congregation repeats is an antiphon).  These are the antiphons that begin and end the Magnificat in Vespers during the final days of Advent and are called the 'O' Antiphons simply because they all begin with 'O', and are verses invoking titles of Christ as you can see from the Breviary:

Dec. 17th:  O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care.  Come and show your people the way to salvation.

Dec. 18th:  O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain:  come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.

Dec. 19th:  O Flower of Jesse's stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you.  Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.

Dec. 20th:  O Key of David, O royal power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of heaven:  come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom.

Dec. 21st:  O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:  come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Dec. 22nd:  O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart; O Keystone of the mighty arch of man, come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust. 

Dec. 23rd:  O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, Savior of all people, come and set us free, Lord our God.

In Latin the titles are Sapientia (Wisdom), Adonai (Lord), Radix Jesse (Root of Jesse), Clavis David (Key of David), Oriens (Dawn), Rex Gentium (King of the nations).

Here is a resource with scriptural citations of each of the titles and the Latin text of the antiphons followed by a good English translation - and you can hear the Latin antiphon chanted (which is awesome!) by clicking on the speaker icon.
Fr Z. has more detailed info on the O Antiphons here.

After reading the O Antiphons, you see the significance of a familiar hymn:


Come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.

Chorus: Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, Thou Wisdom, from on high,
and order all things far and nigh;
to us the path of knowledge show,
and teach us in her ways to go.

O come, o come, Thou Lord of might,
who to thy tribes on Sinai's height
in ancient times did give the law,
in cloud, and majesty, and awe.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse's stem,
from ev'ry foe deliver them
that trust Thy mighty power to save,
and give them vict'ry o'er the grave.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
and open wide our heav'nly home,
make safe the way that leads on high,
that we no more have cause to sigh.

O come, Thou Dayspring from on high,
and cheer us by thy drawing nigh;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night
and death's dark shadow put to flight.

O come, Desire of the nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind;
bid every strife and quarrel cease
and fill the world with heaven's peace.
 
Hymn lyrics from fisheaters.

Congrats to our graduates!

When the Saints Go Marchin' In...

Pope Benedict will soon be declaring seven new saints of the Holy Church, two of which lived in the United States: Bl. Maria Anna Cope and Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha.

The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and authorised the promulgation of decrees concerning the following causes:
MIRACLES
 - Blessed Giovanni Battista Piamarta, Italian priest and founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth and of the Congregation of the Humble Sister Servants of the Lord (1841-1913).
 - Blessed Jacques Berthieu, French martyr and priest of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) (1838-1896).
 - Blessed Maria del Carmen (born Maria Salles y Barangueras), Spanish foundress of the Conceptionist Missionary Sisters of Teaching (1848-1911).
 - Blessed Maria Anna Cope, nee Barbara, German religious of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in Syracuse U.S.A. (1838-1918).
 - Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, American laywoman (1656-1680).
 - Blessed Pedro Calungsod, Filipino lay catechist and martyr (1654-1672).
 - Blessed Anna Schaffer, German laywoman (1882-1925).

Read it all here.

Bl. Maria Anna (or Marianne) Cope was a religious sister who travelled from Syracuse, N.Y. to Molokai, HI to care for the lepers who were once under the care of St. Damian of Molokai.  Apparently Hawaii is a holy place to be. :)  Read the Vatican biographical listing of Bl. Marianne Cope here.

Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha is a Native American who converted to Catholicism and became a consecrated laywoman in upper New York - huh, both of these women are from from upper NY, apparently New York is also a holy place to be.  Who'da thunk? :) Read more about Bl. Kateri here.

Fr. Barron on the Today Show

Need a Retreat?

Click here to register for this retreat with the Sisters.

Mark Your Calendar for WYD 2013

From EWTN News:

The Pontifical Council for the Laity has confirmed that World Youth Day 2013 will take place in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro from July 23-28.

The announcement was made on the official website for the event, http://www.rio2013.com/, and by Archbishop Orani Joao Tempesta of Rio de Janeiro via Twitter, after organizers met with members of the council Rome on Dec. 12.

Read the rest here.

Go Sheen Go!

Exciting news from just over the river (I mean, I can basically see Illinois from my office, ha):

Official tribunal documents were sealed at the Mass by Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of Peoria and Monsignor Stanley Deptula. Msgr. Deptula is the executive director of the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation, which is the official promoter of the archbishop’s cause for sainthood.

The documents will now be shipped to the Vatican for consideration.

If the alleged miracle is approved by the Pope, U.S. Catholics could witness the first ever beatification on American soil in the Diocese of Peoria, said the foundation.

Read the whole article here.

This guy is one of my heroes.  He was able to explain the faith in a compelling, attractive, beautiful and simple manner that drew people to love being Catholic - and he was hilarious and laughter is a great way to evangelize. He had an amazing blend of being light-hearted yet when it came to truth he was absolutely unwavering.  I think of this as 'uncompromising joy of the Lord'.  He was very passionate in preaching and catechizing - you can hear in his voice how much he truly believed every word he was saying.  Here are clips from an episode of one his tv shows that demonstrates both his humor and his zeal:






Check out this clip too from when he appeared on a game show in the 50s.

I highly encourage you to read his books as well. I love reading Sheen - he is easy to understand but writes some really profound material at the same time.  My favorite book by him is The World's First Love which is about the Blessed Mother.  Another favorite is Three to Get Married.  You can go here for a further listing of books.  Learn more about Archbishop Sheen at this website.

Wisdom from Papa B

"A candle can only give light if it lets itself be consumed by the flame. It would remain useless if its wax failed to nourish the fire. Allow Christ to burn in you, even at the cost of sacrifice and renunciation. Do not be afraid that you might lose something and, so to speak, emerge empty-handed at the end. Have the courage to apply your talents and gifts for God’s kingdom and to give yourselves – like candlewax – so that the Lord can light up the darkness through you. Dare to be glowing saints, in whose eyes and hearts the love of Christ beams and who thus bring light to the world.... “You are the light of the world”. Where God is, there is a future! Amen." - Address of Pope Benedict XVI to young people, September 24, 2011 in Germany

More awesomeness about JPII the Great (created by a fellow Steubie alum) :)


John Paul II: The Man, The Pope, And His Message - DVD series trailer from Tim Evans on Vimeo.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas.  She is amazingly awesome! The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe is truly miraculous in many different ways.  On December 9th, 1531 she appeared to a humble convert, St. Juan Diego, whose feast day was last Friday, on Tepeyac hill near what is now Mexico City. She requested that a chapel be built at the site. She appeared to Juan Diego four times.  When he went to the bishop to make Our Lady's request known, the bishop was skeptical and requested proof from Juan Diego.  Juan Diego then saw Our Lady on December 12th and as proof for the bishop she told him to gather some nearby roses - this is significant because roses should not have been blooming during this time of the year. Our Lady arranged the roses in Juan Diego's tilma, similar to a tunic or cloak, and Juan Diego went to the bishop to show him the roses.  When Juan Diego opened his tilma to reveal the roses the miraculous image of Our Lady was on his tilma. 

Today you can travel to Mexico City with millions of other pilgrims to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe to pray in the church which Our Lady requested be built and to see the actual tilma, which has lasted 480 years.  The image itself has had many scientific tests proving that the image is not painted on nor is it embedded into the fibers.  The image is rich in meaning.  During the time of the apparitions most of the people of Mexico were indigenous who worshipped false gods.  Many worshipped the sun, the moon, the stars, etc. and performed human sacrifice.  Our Lady stands in front of the sun and upon the moon with a cloak of stars signifying to the people that she is greater than all these.  She is the crown of all God's creation.  She also stands with her head bowed and hands folded in prayer showing that there is One greater than she - the true God.  The ribbon around her waist is a sign to the Aztec people that she is with Child. All of these are signifcant not only as signs to the Aztec culture, but also to all the world as we read the following from the Book of Revelation:

And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery...And the dragon stood before the woman who was brought about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron...

In a very short time following the apparitions, Mexico was converted and human sacrifice as they knew it ceased.  For this reason, Our Lady of Guadalupe is also known as the patroness of the unborn.  There are many more miraculous things associated with the image itself - for example, if examined closely you can see reflections of St. Juan Diego, the bishop and others reflected in her eyes.  Our Lady of Guadalupe is loved by many - this is certainly one of my favorite titles of Our Lady.

Our Lady said to Juan Diego:

Listen, put it into your heart, my youngest and dearest son, that the thing that frightens you, the thing that afflicts you, is nothing: do not let it disturb you.  Am I not here, I, who am your Mother?  Are you not under my shadow and protection?  Am I not the source of your joy?  Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms?  Do you need something more?  Let nothing else worry you or disturb you.

Jesus listens to the prayers of His Mother and we can fly to her for intercession, confident that she will bring our petitions and praises to her Son.

I barely skimmed the surface of the story, so if you want to learn more please check out the following resources:

Pierced Hearts
Catholic Education Resource Center
Franciscan Friars of the Renewal
Book: Our Lady of Guadalupe: Mother of the Civilization of Love

Advent and the Lordship of Jesus

The Talking Eagle

Today is the feast of St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (don't ask me how to pronounce it). :)
St. Juan Diego is the native to whom Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared in 1531.  The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is on Monday, so I'll wait til then to highlight information about her specifically.  St. Juan Diego was a convert and was a simple and humble man.  Here is a part of his biographical listing from the Vatican:

Juan Diego was born in 1474 with the name "Cuauhtlatoatzin" ("the talking eagle") in Cuautlitlán, today part of Mexico City, Mexico. He was a gifted member of the Chichimeca people, one of the more culturally advanced groups living in the Anáhuac Valley.

When he was 50 years old he was baptized by a Franciscan priest, Fr Peter da Gand, one of the first Franciscan missionaries. On 9 December 1531, when Juan Diego was on his way to morning Mass, the Blessed Mother appeared to him on Tepeyac Hill, the outskirts of what is now Mexico City. She asked him to go to the Bishop and to request in her name that a shrine be built at Tepeyac, where she promised to pour out her grace upon those who invoked her. The Bishop, who did not believe Juan Diego, asked for a sign to prove that the apparition was true. On 12 December, Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac. Here, the Blessed Mother told him to climb the hill and to pick the flowers that he would find in bloom. He obeyed, and although it was winter time, he found roses flowering. He gathered the flowers and took them to Our Lady who carefully placed them in his mantle and told him to take them to the Bishop as "proof". When he opened his mantle, the flowers fell on the ground and there remained impressed, in place of the flowers, an image of the Blessed Mother, the apparition at Tepeyac.

With the Bishop's permission, Juan Diego lived the rest of his life as a hermit in a small hut near the chapel where the miraculous image was placed for veneration. Here he cared for the church and the first pilgrims who came to pray to the Mother of Jesus.

Much deeper than the "exterior grace" of having been "chosen" as Our Lady's "messenger", Juan Diego received the grace of interior enlightenment and from that moment, he began a life dedicated to prayer and the practice of virtue and boundless love of God and neighbour. He died in 1548 and was buried in the first chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe. He was beatified on 6 May 1990 by Pope John Paul II in the Basilica of Santa Maria di Guadalupe, Mexico City.

Read the rest here.

Bl. Pope John Paul the Great canonized Juan Diego on July 31, 2002.  This is a fascinating account of the  miracle that propelled Juan Diego to sainthood. 

Knights of Columbus Street

Congrats to the Knights of Columbus on their new street in Rome:

The Knights of Columbus now have a street to call their own in the Eternal City after Largo Cavalieri di Colombo was inaugurated on Dec. 6.

“It is indeed an honor to share this wonderful occasion of the groundbreaking of the Largo Cavalieri di Colombo,” said Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson at the unveiling ceremony for Rome’s newest street sign.

The Knights do an amazing amount of generous work and charity for those in need from disaster relief, defending the unborn, and supporting the Church to building orphanages, assisting the sick and disabled, cultivating cultural renewal and much more.  They have a very far-reaching effect both in the United States and beyond including Mexico, Europe and many third world countries.

The naming of the street, which is situated next to Rome’s historic Baths of Caracalla, recognizes over 90 years of charitable involvement by the Knights in the Italian capital.

In the wake of the First World War, Pope Benedict XV asked the Knights to provide activities for the children of Rome. Today, the Knights still run five free sports centers for kids across the city.

The historic bond between the Knights and Rome “is a strong one,” explained Carl Anderson, “precisely because it has been tested and because it has survived each test.”

“It has been able to do this because it has been based on faith, on our common Catholic faith shared on both sides of the Atlantic,” he said. 

Read the rest here.

Please support your parish Knights of Columbus Council and, for all you men out there, consider becoming a Knight.  We are blessed to have college Knights of Columbus Council here at CCM, so we thank all our college Knights from Council #15294! 

Glorious things are spoken of you, O Mary...

Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception in which we celebrate the singular grace of God in the life of Our Lady, keeping her free from the stain of original sin from the moment of her conception and free from personal sin her whole life. 

St. Irenaeus said, "The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience..." 
But isn't our salvation brought about through Christ, you may ask.  The answer is yes. Then how does the above quote from St. Irenaeus make sense?  I'm glad you asked - it's actually quite simple and I direct you here to the post about this feast day from last year to read more.

I briefly want to mention a part of Fr. Suresh's homily from the Vigil Mass tonight because it was so awesome.  I'm paraphrasing, but this was the gist of what I would like to highlight:
Eating of the fruit of the tree in the Garden of Eden brought death to humanity, but eating of the fruit of the tree of the cross brings life, eternal life; and the fruit of the cross is none other than the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and so he commands, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink." - John 6: 53-55. 

Wow, God knows what He's doing.

May the Sacrament we have received, O Lord our God, heal in us the wounds of that fault from which in a singular way you preserved Blessed Mary in her Immaculate Conception.  Through Christ our Lord. (Today's Prayer after Communion)

The Real "Santa Claus"

The story of "Santa Claus" has its roots in a real person, real bishop and real saint - St. Nicholas of Myra. St. Nicholas was a Catholic bishop in the 4th century and was persecuted under the emperor Diocletian.  He was known for many miracles, his generosity and his defense of the Incarnation.  He possibly participated in the Council of Nicaea in 325 from which the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed was developed. His feast day is December 6th.

Here are some websites with further information about St. Nicholas:
New Advent
EWTN
St. Nicholas Center

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas!

Christ Counts On You

"...your lives cannot be lived in isolation, and even in deciding your future you must always keep in mind your responsibility as Christians towards others. There is no place in your lives for apathy or indifference to the world around you. There is no place in the Church for selfishness.

You must show a conscientious concern that the standards of society fit the plan of God. Christ counts on you, so that the effects of his Holy Spirit may radiate from you to others and in that way permeate every aspect of the public and the private sector of national life. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good”.

Do not let the sight of the world in turmoil shake your confidence in Jesus....Remember his words: “Be brave: I have conquered the world”. Let no temptation discourage you. Let no failure hold you down. There is nothing that you cannot master with the help of the One who gives you strength."

- Bl. Pope John Paul II the Great to the young people of Scotland, May 31, 1982

Are Doctrines and Ethics Connected?

Fr. Barron on Conscience and Morality

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1776 "Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment....For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God....His conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths."

1783 Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened. A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator. The education of conscience is indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative teachings.

1789 Some rules apply in every case:
- One may never do evil so that good may result from it;
- the Golden Rule: "Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them."
- charity always proceeds by way of respect for one's neighbor and his conscience: "Thus sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience...you sin against Christ." Therefore "it is right not to...do anything that makes your brother stumble."

To get the full scope on the conscience and morality you can read the Catechism 1776-1802, but to sum it all up: God often speaks to us through our conscience and we are obliged to follow our conscience, but because we are fallen human beings our decision-making is often clouded from sin, temptation and other harmful things, therefore we must allow our consciences to be well-formed so as to be better able to hear God and make decisions in conformity with His Holy Will and for the true good.  This is one of the many reasons that is it good to learn as much as you can about the teachings of the Church, read Scripture, pray, surround yourself with friends also seeking holiness - because all these things will help to form your conscience well so that you can make good decisions, especially if you find yourself faced with a moral dilemma.

All Saints & All Souls: Highlighting the Body of Christ

Tuesday we celebrated the Solemnity of All Saints' - a holy day of obligation giving us the opportunity to glorify God through all His holy saints who constantly intercede for us; a day to celebrate the Church Triumphant.

Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of All Souls' - a day to intercede for the Church Suffering, the holy souls in Purgatory. 

To what are the terms Church Triumphant, Church Suffering and Church Militant referring and what is significant about these holy days and the doctrine of Purgatory?

The Church is the Body of Christ - Christ is the head and we are the members of the body.  The Church is made up of both those who are living on earth and those who have passed on and are awaiting the resurrection.  The 'Church Triumphant' are those members of the Body of Christ, the Church, who have entered into the glory of God in heaven and who pray to God for us that we may also enter into the joy of eternal happiness with Him:

"And another angel came and stood  at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God." - Rev. 8: 3-4

The saints have triumphed over sin and Satan through the holy 'blood of the Lamb' and therefore are referred to as the 'Church Triumphant':

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. - Rev. 12: 11

Then we have the 'Church Suffering', who are the holy souls in Purgatory.  Purgatory is often a misunderstood doctrine - and, yes, Purgatory is a doctrine of the Holy Church - always has been, always will be.  Doctrines and dogmas of the Church are unchanging because Truth does not change.  Purgatory is not something the Church just 'made up' - it is a part of the sacred deposit of the Faith given by Christ to the Apostles and handed on to us by them as well as having Scriptural basis.  The Catechism #1030 says this about Purgatory:

All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

Purgatory does not mean that Christ's sacrifice for us was not sufficient.  Purgatory is actually a great grace of God and reinforces the fact that Christ's redemptive act is effective.  When we sin we incur a dual punishment: eternal and temporal.  Eternal punishment is hell; temporal punishment is repairing the damage our sin has caused.  Again, this does not mean that we are working our way toward heaven apart from Christ or that Christ's sacrifice was not sufficient.  Let's look at the words of St. Paul:

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church... - 1 Colossians 1: 24

Does Paul mean that Christ's sacrifice was not good enough?  No, of course not.  The sacrifice of Jesus was perfect and complete.  But God loves us so much that He wants us to be in a relationship with Him, uniting our imperfect sufferings to the perfect suffering of Jesus, thereby, echoing St. Paul's words, "I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions..."  In Revelation 21, St. John describes the "the holy city, new Jerusalem", heaven.  At the end of the chapter he says, "But nothing unclean shall enter it...".  Purgatory is a part of the redeeming blood of Jesus having its effect in cleansing us that we may be clean to enter heaven. 

In the whole land, says the Lord, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive.  And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested.  They will call on my name, and I will answer them.  I will say, 'They are my people'; and they will say, 'The Lord is my God.'.  - Zech. 13: 8-9

Purgatory is a cleansing fire from which all our impurities and disordered attachments are purified as gold in the fire that we may be clean through the blood of the Lamb to enter into the joy of heaven.  Contrary to many misconceptions, Purgatory is not a permanent state.  Those who are being cleansed in Purgatory are assured of heaven but are simply being purified before entering.  We speak of this in terms of space of time, because that's how we experience life, so we say things like 'in' Purgatory and 'how long' someone is in Purgatory, but God is not limited by space and time, so how that actually all looks we don't know because it has not been revealed. 

We have the opportunity to pray for the holy souls in Purgatory and offer our sufferings on earth to God in union with the sacrifice of Christ on their behalf, just as St. Paul mentions in 1 Colossians.  So All Souls' Day is a day particularly set aside for that very purpose, though we are called to pray for the holy souls often.  An example of praying for those who have died is provided in 2 Maccabees 12 in which the leader of the army brought his dead soldiers to be buried and he and all with him prayed for those who had died:

In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection.  For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead.  But if he was looking to the splendid reward that  is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought.  Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.  - 2 Maccabees 12: 43-45

One saint who was particularly devoted to the holy souls in Purgatory was St. Gertrude.  She composed the following prayer for the holy souls:

Eternal Father, I offer You the most precious Blood of Your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with all  the Masses said throughout the world today, for the holy souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, for those within my home and within my family.

Read more about Purgatory from Catholics United for the Faith here.  I highly recommend reading it.

The 'Church Militant' are those of us still here on earth fighting the good fight so as to win the prize:

For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. - 2 Tim. 4: 6-7

Each day, because of concupiscence (the tendency to sin) and the temptations of Satan, we engage in a battle to choose Christ over sin.  This is why we are called the 'Church Militant' because we are engaged in a battle.  Thanks be to God that Jesus has won the ultimate victory over sin and death - we must, however, choose to partake in that victory by His grace.

This charge I commit to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophetic utterances which pointed to you, that inspired by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. - 1 Tim. 1: 18

So the Solemnity of All Saints and the Feast of All Souls are important because they remind us that we are all one body in Christ and have an initimate connection to one another and can assist each other in being holy children of God and guide one another on the path to the new Jerusalem, the holy city: heaven. 

May the saints intercede for us to our God, may we pray for each other and encourage one another in living holy lives pleasing to the Lord and may we pray for the holy souls in Purgatory who no doubt pray for us as well: May perpetual light shine upon them and may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Why Do We Use Holy Water When Entering a Church?

Holy Water recalls the waters of the Sacrament of Baptism through which you entered the Church and became a member of the family of God by being 'born again of water and the Spirit'. When you enter a church and dip your finger in the font, you are invited to remember that you are a son or daughter of God; that you are part of His family and are called to a life of beauty, truth and goodness, rejoicing in the grace of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the Father spoke saying, 'This is My Son, with whom I am well pleased.' When we make use of holy water, we too are reminded that we are called to live lives pleasing to the Lord, not in servitude as a slave, but as children of a loving and merciful Father. Holy water reminds us that death does not have the last word. We die with Christ in order to rise with Him and that is exactly what happens in Baptism. We die to sin, to live in Christ. Water is life-giving - without water, no living thing or person can survive, therefore, holy water is also a reminder that without the grace of God, who gives us the true living water that will allow us to never thirst again, we cannot live. Through the waters of Baptism we are given new life that by the grace of the Holy Spirit we may one day enter into the joy of eternal life. "...whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." ~ John 4:14