A BETTER WAY OF LIFE FOR US

NEW HOPE, NEW HEART

“Within a short few weeks we will celebrate once again the birthday of Jesus Christ, Our Saviour. We do so with great joy and happiness because His life gives meaning, purpose and hope to our lives. His coming among us means that we can now make sense of our lives.

WE CAN NOW MAKE SENSE OF OUR LIVES

‘A Light in our darkness’ He teaches us how to live, speaks to us about the kingdom of God and the happiness we will find in it. He comes to us in love, and He tells us about our eternal destiny in Heaven. Because He took on our human flesh, He understands our weaknesses, our fears, our hopes – what pleases us – what makes us happy – everything about us. So if he asks us to follow Him – if He says He knows a better way of life for us, a way of life which will give us peace and happiness, we listen to Him and trust Him because He knows what human beings need, what is best for us.

OUR GREAT DIGNITY

In becoming one of us He reveals to us that we have a loving Father, that we are all God’s children. That is our great dignity. He shows us the respect of accepting each one of us as we are and calls on us to extend to all those we meet in life the respect and love they merit as the children of God they are.

GOOD NEWS

God becoming man is good news, news which should give us new hope, new heart, new courage, the strength to continue struggling to live as He has called us to live. Lord, we welcome you with joy into our hearts and homes this Christmas.
A happy and blessed Christmas to all our readers.”
– This article was published in “Saint Martin Magazine” issue December 2012. For subscriptions please visit http://www.stmartin.ie (external link).

 

“WATCHING, WAITING, HOPING, PRAYING”

Lord,
bless those who await
the birth of their own child.
Bless those who long for a child
but endure pain or disappointment.
Bless us as we answer God’s call
in ways we do not expect.

Bless those who are called
to a life they did not plan.

Bless our Advent preparations,
watching, waiting, hoping, praying.
Amen.

 

FEAST DAY OF ST ANDREW, GOSPEL READING (MATTHEW 4:18-22)

AND THEY LEFT THEIR NETS AT ONCE AND FOLLOWED HIM.

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast in the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” And they left their nets at once and followed him.

Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. At once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.

V. The Gospel of the Lord.
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

 

FEAST DAY OF ST ANDREW, RESPONSORIAL PSALM (PSALM 18)

R. Their span goes forth through all the earth.

1. The heavens proclaim the glory of God
and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands.
Day unto day takes up the story
and night unto night makes known the message. (R.)

2. No speech, no word, no voice is heard
yet their span goes forth through all the earth,
their words to the utmost bounds of the world. (R.)

ALLELUIA

Alleluia, alleluia!
Follow me, says the Lord,
and I will make you fishers of men.
Alleluia!

 

FEAST DAY OF ST ANDREW, BIBLE READING (ROMANS 10:9-18)

FAITH COMES FROM WHAT IS PREACHED, AND WHAT IS PREACHED COMES FROM THE WORD OF CHRIST.

If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. By believing from the heart you are made righteous; by confessing with your lips you are saved. When scripture says: those believe in him will have no cause for shame, it makes no distinction between Jew and Greek: all belong to the same Lord who is rich enough, however many ask his help, for everyone who calls his name will be saved.

But they will not ask his help unless they believe in him, and they will not believe in him unless they have heard of him, and they will not hear of him unless they get a preacher, and they will never have a preacher unless one is sent, but as scripture says: The footsteps of those who bring good news are a welcome sound. Not everyone, of course, listens to the Good News. As Isaiah says: Lord, how many believed what we proclaimed? So faith comes from what is preached, and what is preached comes from the word of Christ.

Let me put the question: is it possible that they did not hear? Indeed they did; in the words of the psalm, their voice has gone out through all the earth, and their message to the ends of the world.

V. The word of the Lord.
R. Thanks be to God.

 

“IS MY HUSBAND IN HEAVEN? WILL I SEE HIM AGAIN? WILL HE STILL BE MY HUSBAND?”

“QUESTION: My husband died recently and I am finding it hard to cope. Is there a place called Heaven? Will I see my husband again when I die? Will he still be my husband?

ANSWER: Please accept my deepest sympathies on your husband’s death. I recommend him to the prayers of all our readers. Of course there is a heaven.

Christ tells us that all those who believe in Him will never die. ‘He who believe in me has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day,’ Christ told his disciples. ‘I am going to prepare a place for you… I shall return to take you with me’ (Jn:14). The Catholic Catechism (CCC 1023 and CCC 1028) speaking about Heaven says – ‘Those who die in God’s grace and friendship… live forever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for they ‘see him as he is, ‘face to face. The Church calls this… the Beatific Vision.’

So heaven is living for ever with the God who created us and sent his Son to die for us. St Paul writing about heaven (1 Cor 2:9-10) has this to say: ‘We teach what scripture calls: the things that no eye has seen and no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him.’ Will you see your husband again when you die? If, as we believe, Heaven is perfect happiness, then we will of course be with the people we loved in this life, especially our family and all those who travelled with us on the road of life. St Catherine tells us that our departed loved ones long for our coming to join them just as our heavenly Father does.”
– This article was published in “Don Bosco’s Madonna” issue July 2010. For donations and subscriptions please visit http://www.donboscosmadonna.org (external link) or http://www.dbmshrine.org (external link).

 

PRAYERS TO ST ANDREW, APOSTLE

Brother of Simon Peter, you heard John the Baptist say: “Behold the Lamb of God,” and you chose to follow Jesus. Leaving your nets, you became a successful fisher of souls. Lover of the Crucified Christ, you too were crucified like him. Teach us to live and suffer for Him and to win many souls for Christ. Amen.

O glorious St Andrew, you were the first to recognise and follow the Lamb of God. With your friend, St John, you remained with Jesus for that first day, for your entire life, and now throughout eternity. As you led your brother, St Peter, to Christ and many others after him, draw us also to Him. Teach us to lead others to Christ solely out of love for Him and dedication in His service. Help us to learn the lesson of the Cross and to carry our crosses without complaint so that they may carry us to Jesus. Amen.

 

“EXCELLENT MEDICINE FOR THE HEART, NO SIDE EFFECTS”

59 LITTLE PILLS

“Pope Francis admitted he wasn’t a pharmacist, but he didn’t hesitate in being the spokesman for the heart-healthy benefits of 59 little pills strung together: the rosary. ‘I want to recommend some medicine for all of you,’ the Holy Father said at the end of his Sunday Angelus address. ‘It’s a spiritual medicine.’

‘DON’T FORGET TO TAKE IT’

Holding up a white medicine box with an anatomical drawing of the human heart on it, Pope Francis told some 80,000 people gathered for the midday prayer that the boxes contained a rosary. ‘Don’t forget to take it,’ he said, ‘It’s good for your heart, your soul, for your whole life.’

Praying the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet will help people reap the fruits of the Year of Faith, he said, because they are ‘a spiritual aid for our soul and for spreading love, forgiveness and brotherhood to everyone’.

NO NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS HAVE BEEN REPORTED

Volunteers, led by Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, director of papal charities, gave away about 20,000 boxes containing a rosary, a Divine Mercy holy card and a medical-style instruction sheet. In addition to describing how to pray the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet, a devotion begun by St Faustina Kowalska, the information sheet states categorically that no negative side effects have been reported.

FOR ADULTS AND CHILDREN

The sheet recommends daily use of the beads for adults and children, but adds that it can be repeated as often as necessary. It also notes that receiving the sacraments increases the efficacy of the prescription and that further information and assistance can be received from any priest. The Swiss Guards, their family members and the Albertine Sisters who work in their barracks spent weeks in October, the month of the Rosary, preparing the boxes and inserting instructions. Archbishop Krajewski got the idea from Archbishop Slawoj Glodz of Gdansk, Poland; a seminarian in Gdansk had made similar boxes for youths attending a retreat.”
– This article was published in “The Catholic Universe” issue Sunday 24th November 2013. For subscriptions please visit http://www.thecatholicuniverse.com (external link).

 

NOVENA PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL

THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL; DECEMBER 8

Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Mother, penetrated with the most lively confidence in your all-powerful and never-failing intercession, manifested so often through the Miraculous Medal, we, your loving and trustful children implore you to obtain for us the graces and favours we ask during this Novena, if they be beneficial to our immortal souls, and the souls for which we pray:

(mention your petition).

You know, Mary, how often our souls have been the sanctuaries of your Son Who hates iniquity. Obtain for us then a deep hatred of sin and that purity of heart which will attach us to God alone so that our every thought, word, and deed may tend to His greater glory. Obtain for us also a spirit of prayer and self-denial that we may recover by penance what we have lost by sin and at length attain to that blessed abode where you are the Queen of Angels and of People. Amen.

 

29th NOVEMBER, GOSPEL READING (LUKE 21:29-33)

WHEN YOU SEE THESE THINGS HAPPENING, KNOW THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NEAR.

Jesus told his disciples a parable, “Think of the fig tree and indeed every tree. As soon as you see them bud, you know that summer is now near. So with you when you see these things happening: know that the kingdom of God is near. I tell you solemnly, before this generation has passed away all will have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

V. The Gospel of the Lord.
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.