Blogposts

That Sin? Again??

04-30-2023Weekly ReflectionBr. Luke VanBerkum O.P. (edited for the bulletin)

Have you ever confessed a sin and then, no matter how earnestly you intended to amend your life, had the desire to commit that sin again? Why aren’t we simply fixed after Confession?

Jesus instituted the sacrament of Confession that our sins may be forgiven and that we may return to friendship with him. He renews our souls, again filling them through the Holy Spirit with the many spiritual gifts first given to us at Baptism. Yet a certain inclination to sin—not the sin itself—remains.

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What we must do when we are wounded

04-25-2023From the desk of Fr. Villafrom Chapter 26 of The Spiritual Combat by Lorenzo Scupoli

When you feel yourself wounded, from having through your weakness, or even through willfulness it may be, fallen into some sin, do not be discouraged nor be over-anxious, but turn at once to God, and say unto Him:—"Behold, O Lord, what of myself I have done; what else could be expected of me but falls?" Then, pausing a little, humble yourself in your own eyes, bewail the offence which you have committed against your Lord, and without discouragement rouse your indignation against your vicious passions, and especially against that one which caused your fall.

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Contraception: the 'common ground' that devastates family life by Phil Lawler

04-23-2023From the desk of Fr. Villa

[In his commencement address at Notre Dame, (years ago), President Obama suggested that advocates and opponents of abortion should find common ground in a campaign to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Although he did not flesh out that suggestion, he clearly intended to suggest more aggressive promotion of contraceptives. That option should be recognized as unacceptable-- not just by Catholics, but by anyone attuned to the prescripts of natural law and indeed the realities of modern life. More than a decade has passed since I published the op-ed below; it originally appeared in several US newspapers as the world marked the 30th anniversary of the prophetic encyclical Humanae Vitae.

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Christ is risen, death is now conquered….and dystopia too!

04-23-2023Weekly Reflection

Dystopia(from the Greek meaning a “bad place): an imagined world or society which makes war on reality in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives.

Man was created to know, love, and worship God. Here he finds his true self, the order of God’s love. …whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10:39

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“There is no peace to be compared with that of the souls in purgatory, save that of the saints in paradise”

04-16-2023Weekly Reflection

As far as I can see, the souls in purgatory can have no choice but to be there; this God has most justly ordained by his divine decree. ...They retain no memory of either good or evil respecting themselves or others which would increase their pain. They are so contented with the divine dispositions in their regard; and with doing all that is pleasing to God in that way which he chooses, that they cannot think of themselves, though they may strive to do so.

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On the Third Day He Rose from the Dead

04-09-2023Weekly Reflection

The Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ, a faith believed and lived as the central truth by the first Christian community; handed on as fundamental by Tradition; established by the documents of the New Testament; and preached as an essential part of the Paschal mystery along with the cross: Tradition means the faithful handing down of the truths of Jesus Christ, His words and deeds by the Apostles and their successors.

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Words Every Catholic Should Know and Meditate on About the Eucharist

04-06-2023From the desk of Fr. Villa

Transubstantiation: The Church makes use of this word in the Catechism to help us understand the meaning of the Holy Eucharist. A substance is what something is. Material substances have an outward appearance: color, weight, size, etc. In the Holy Eucharist bread stops being bread and wine stops being wine. At the Consecration bread becomes Jesus Christ: Body, Blood, Soul, Divinity; wine becomes Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. The appearances (species) of bread and wine remain. Only God can do this. The changing of water into wine by the Lord at the wedding in Cana was a manifestation that Jesus is God who brings things into being through His Word but also it was preparing the disciples for the power of Christ’s word at the Last Supper changing bread and wine into Himself.

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Attempts to Re-Define Marriage, Change Gender, Transhumanism

04-02-2023Weekly Reflection

….“(I)n the attempt to create a new type of human being one can recognize an ideological element in which man tries to take the place of his Creator”
— Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith

"'Man,'" I cried, "'how ignorant art thou in thy pride of wisdom!'"
— Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus

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What Does Damnation Mean?

03-26-2023Weekly Reflection

Therefore, Lord, we pray: graciously accept this oblation of our service, that of your whole family; order our days in your peace, and command that we be delivered from eternal damnation and counted among the flock of those you have chosen

— The Roman Canon/Eucharistic Prayer I

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Station Days/Station Churches

03-19-2023Weekly Reflection

Station days were days of fasting in the early Christian Church, associated with a procession to certain prescribed churches in Rome, where the Mass and Vespers would be celebrated to mark important days of the liturgical year. Although other cities also had similar practices, and the fasting is no longer prescribed, the Roman churches associated with the various station days are still the object of pilgrimage and ritual, especially in the season of Lent.

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The Help of the Guardian Angels

03-12-2023Weekly Reflection

From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. “Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.” Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God.
—Catechism of the Catholic Church #336

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Keep Holy the Lord’s Day, 3rd Commandment

03-08-2023From the desk of Fr. Villa

453. How does one keep Sunday holy? Christians keep Sunday and other days of obligation holy by participating in the Eucharist of the Lord and by refraining from those activities which impede the worship of God and disturb the joy proper to the day of the Lord or the necessary relaxation of mind and body. Activities are allowed on the Sabbath which are bound up with family needs or with important social service, provided that they do not lead to habits prejudicial to the holiness of Sunday, to family life and to health. (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church)

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The Existence of the Devil and his Activity

03-05-2023Weekly Reflection

The devil exists and acts in people and society…Some people are inclined towards a superficial optimism and think evil is merely an incidental imperfection in a world which is continually evolving towards better days. Nevertheless the history of mankind has been adversely affected by the devil’s influence. We find in our day all the features of an intense evil which cannot be explained in terms of human behavior alone.

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The Meaning of “INRI” On the Cross of Jesus

02-22-2023From the desk of Fr. Villa

In Exodus 20.2 God reveals his name to Moses: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt". The word translated with “the Lord” is the famous Tetragrammaton (Greek for “four-letter”) that the Jews cannot even pronounce and Christians should reverence: “YHWH“, vocalized in various ways including “Yahweh“. The four Hebrew letters that compose it are these: “יהוה “, yod-he-waw-he. Remember that Hebrew is read from right to left.

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But the Mass is not a supper...

02-19-2023Weekly Reflection

Vatican news commentator, Sandro Magister, recently commented on Pope Benedict’s book , which came out after his death, called What Christianity Is and its comments on the sacrifice of the Mass. Here are some bullet points from Magister’s essay and then from an excerpt from Benedict’s book. You can read the whole commentary and essay here.

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Where Are the Children? The Death-Cult of Eco-Feminism

02-12-2023Weekly Reflection

“The end of the family is threefold: to provide its members in body and mind with the necessities for an ordered life; to bring up the children; to be the cell of society. Upon these individual social existential ends rests the primacy of the family among all other social units, including the state…(T)he family is prior to the state and holds natural rights which the state is bound to recognize…”

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Reading the Bible

02-05-2023Weekly Reflection

For the Fathers* (of the Church), tradition** presents first the content of the Scriptures, which contain in one way or another all that is necessary to live as God wishes us to, and it interprets the meaning of the Scriptures. In fact, this meaning is not given clearly by Scripture itself and is found, in a certain way, outside it. To understand this fully, it would be necessary to develop the traditional conception of how the sacred texts should be read for a true perception and enjoyment of God’s Word. The divine Scriptures are regarded as a kind of sacrament: a grace-bearing sign that effectively realizes communion with God, and salvation, when it is used in the right conditions.

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Lent, Ash Wednesday, and Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus

--All

The devotion that characterizes the Tuesday preceding the Ashes (beginning of Lent) can help us to intensify our adoration and trust in the Lord Jesus. The devout practice was born from the invitation addressed by the Blessed Virgin Mary in May 1938 he appeared with a scapular in his hand to Sister Pierina De Micheli who was praying before the Blessed Sacrament in her convent in Milan.

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