The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today, August 15, is the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

What does this mean? The Church teaches that, “the immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.” In other words, God raised Mary up, body and soul, to be with Him in heaven forever.

Pope Pius XII pointed to the Book of Genesis (3:15) as scriptural support for the dogma in terms of Mary's victory over sin and death as also reflected in 1 Corinthians 15:54: “then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”
Revelation 12 also speaks of a woman, clothed with the sun, who is caught up in the battle between good and evil. Many see this woman as a symbol both of Mary and of all God’s people. Since Mary best embodies the people of both Old and New Testament, her Assumption can be seen as an exemplification of the woman’s victory.


What does this mean for us? Mary is understood as “the first among the disciples of the Lord.” Thus, she is a sign of what God wants to do for us, and will do for us, if we follow her direction given to the servants at the wedding of Cana: “Do whatever He tells you.”

Feast of Saint John the Baptist

SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

Feast Day: June 24

Patron of Baptism

Zechariah was the husband of Elizabeth, who was the Virgin

Mary’s cousin. Elizabeth and Zechariah were very old, and

had never been able to have any children.

One day the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and said,

“Do not be afraid! Your wife Elizabeth will bear a son, and

you shall call his name John. Many will rejoice at his birth.

He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will turn the

hearts of many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.

He will prepare the way for the Lord.”

John grew and became strong in spirit, and he lived in the

desert until God called him to begin his ministry. John

preached the coming of the Savior and baptized many

repentant converts in the waters of the Jordan River. The

people thought that John might be the coming Messiah, but

he told everyone that he was sent to prepare the way for one

who “is mightier than I.”

Finally, John baptized Jesus. He said, “Behold the Lamb of

God, who takes away the sin of the world.” After that, King

Herod arrested John and then had him beheaded. Saint John

the Baptist gave his life for Jesus, his Lord.

The Church celebrates the birth of John the Baptist 6 months before the birth of Jesus, as is recorded in Luke’s Gospel. We have just passed the summer solstice; hence, the days grow shorter in the Northern Hemisphere, until around Christmas, where the days grow longer. This illustrates John’s prophetic words about Jesus: “He must increase, and I must decrease” (John 3:30).

Even so, Jesus said of John,  “I tell you, among those born of women, no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:28).

We are given these enigmatic words to ponder, as we stand at the halftime of 2013....

Feast of Saint Anthony of Padua

Feast Day: June 13

Patron of Lost Things and Missing Persons

Saint Anthony was born in Portugal in 1195 and became a

Franciscan at the age of 26. God gave him the gift of preaching

to touch the hearts of his listeners. When Saint Anthony spoke

about Jesus and his Mother Mary, many people returned to Jesus

and the Catholic faith. Saint Anthony asked Mary to help him

when he preached, and God worked many miracles through him.

One night, a friend saw a beautiful little Child standing upon the Bible,

coming up as it were out of the very Word of God,

and clinging with both of His little arms around

Anthony’s neck. It was the Infant Jesus! Saint Anthony died at

the age of 36, and the very next year he was canonized a saint.

Prayer to Saint Anthony to Find Lost Articles

Dear Saint Anthony, God has made you a powerful patron and

helper to find lost or misplaced objects. We turn to you today

with confidence and love. Through your prayer, may God help us

to find what we have lost. Dear Saint Anthony, help us also be

close to Jesus this day, and to always find Him in our hearts.

Amen.

Saint Anthony, pray for us.

Excerpt taken from RS887S, Ilustrated Lives of the Saints

Feast of the Sacred Heart

Born in 1647, Margaret Mary Alacoque was crippled by a disease at age 8.  After promising to give her life to Jesus’ service, she was miraculously healed through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At 23, she entered the Visitation Order of Nuns.

Sister Margaret Mary loved our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament—the consecrated Body of Christ from Holy Communion, which is kept in the tabernacles of Catholic churches—very much. The world had grown cold and unresponsive to God and His offer of salvation through the grace His Son won for us all on the Cross. Over the course of a few years, Jesus appeared to Margaret, revealing to her His Sacred Heart.

The flames coming forth from Jesus’ Heart remind us of His burning love for us and His desire that we love Him in return. The crown of thorns around His Heart reminds us of His sacrifice for us and His invitation that we offer our sufferings to Him, as Saint Paul teaches us: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church” (Colossians 1:24).

Jesus made at least twelve promises to Sister Margaret Mary, revealing the abundance of His love and telling her how He would help those who honor His Sacred Heart. He said, “Behold this Heart which has loved men and women so much, and yet they do not want to love Me in return. Through you My divine Heart wishes to spread its love everywhere on earth.” He further promised, “I will bless every home in which an image of My Heart will be honored.”

Sister Margaret Mary died in 1690, and was canonized a saint in 1920.

Feast of Saint Rita of Cascia

Saint Rita was born at Spoleto, Italy, in 1381. From her early youth, Rita liked to visit the Augustinian nuns at Cascia, and begged her parents’ permission to enter the convent.  However, when she was 12, they betrothed her to the town watchman, a man who struggled with a violent temper. Rita obediently married him and bore twin sons.

     Rita put up with her husband’s mistreatment as best she could, praying and receiving the sacraments frequently. Unfortunately, her sons learned from their father’s violent ways. After eighteen years of marriage, her husband was stabbed to death by an enemy, but repented on his deathbed, thanks to Rita’s prayers. Rita’s sons were determined to avenge their father, but through Rita's prayers, they forgave his murderers, and shortly thereafter died themselves.

Rita then applied for admission to the convent of Saint Mary Magdalene at age 36. However, the mother superior was reluctant to admit her as she had been married and was no longer a virgin. After some delay, Rita was admitted to the convent, but to test her faith and loyalty, the mother superior asked her to tend a dead stick planted in the ground. Rita obediently watered the dead stick daily. Many years the stick sprouted a grape vine, which to this day continues to supply the grapes used to make the wine for the Pope!

Rita lived 40 years in the convent, in great prayer and charity, working for peace in the area. She had a deep devotion to the Passion of Christ, and begged to suffer for others as Jesus had. One day, a thorn from the crucifix pierced her forehead, causing a deep wound which did not heal. After suffering 15 years, Saint Rita died on May 22, 1457.  Amazingly, her body did not decay and has remained incorrupt to this day in Cascia, where  it can be seen in a glass coffin in the basilica of Saint Rita.

Saint Rita is a patron of desperate, seemingly impossible causes and situations. This is because she lived through so many stages of life—wife, mother, widow, and nun—but always as a beloved child of God. J

Saint Rita, Pray for Us

Feast of Our Lady of Fatima

In a mountainous region near the town of Fatima, Portugal, the Mother of God appeared six times between May 13th and October 13^th, 1917, to three shepherd children: Lucia Santos and her cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto. Mary told the children that she had been sent by God with a message for every man, woman, and child in our century. Coming at a time when civilization was torn asunder by war and violence, Mary promised that Heaven would grant peace to the entire world if her requests for prayer, reparation, and consecration were heard and obeyed.

Mary explained that war is a punishment for sin. She warned that if people continued to disobey God’s Will, they would suffer consequences of war, hunger, and persecution of the Church. She also prophesied that Russia would “spread her errors” of atheism and materialism across the earth. Our Lady of Fatima repeatedly emphasized the necessity of praying daily, especially the Rosary, of wearing the Brown Scapular, and of performing acts of reparation and sacrifice. She also promised a sign as proof of her messages.

On October 13, 1917, a crowd of 50,000 people at Fatima, including many noted skeptics, saw the sun rotating and spinning in the heavens; then, leaving its orbit, it plunged toward the earth. The “Miracle of the Sun” is fully documented. On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot in the chest and in the abdomen at point blank range in St. Peter’s Square. He credited his miraculous escape from death to the intervention of Our Lady of Fatima. One year later he traveled to Fatima, and placed the bullet in the crown resting upon the statue of Mary. He said, “One finger fired the bullet, but another guided its path.”

Seven years later, the Berlin Wall fell without a bullet being fired, and Communism collapsed across the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

     Finally, last month, in the first weeks of his new pontificate, Pope Francis consecrated his papal ministry to Our Lady of Fatima.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

Be Beautiful, Be You!

Lizzie, Be Beautiful Be You
by Lizzie Valasquez

"After spending years wanting to look like everyone else, I realized I needed to love and accept myself just as I am. When I stopped listening to other people and started making a life for myself, I discovered my purpose in life, my passion. Is someone or something hurting you? Are you feeling alone or lonely? Afraid? Misunderstood? Do you wish even just one person would listen to you? Do you have a decision to make and need help choosing a path? I want to give you the tools to figure out what to do about each of those problems." —Lizzie Velasquez, Be Beautiful, Be You

When an Internet video calling her "The World’s Ugliest Woman" went viral, Lizzie Velasquez set out to discover what truly makes us beautiful. Now she shares what she learned on that faith-filled journey. In Be Beautiful, Be You, Lizzie uses anecdotes and exercises to teach readers to recognize their own unique gifts and blessings, talk to God in their own words, deal with disappointment, make and maintain healthy friendships, and set realistic goals.

In a world filled with airbrushed celebrity photos and plastic surgery, Lizzie Velasquez is a refreshing force of nature whose story will inspire anyone who has ever felt singled out, misunderstood, or afraid—and who hasn’t? 

Lizzie Velasquez is a communications major at Texas State University in San Marcos. She is one of only three known people in the world with a medical syndrome that doesn't allow her to gain weight or create muscle. Lizzie has appeared as a motivational speaker at more than 200 workshops. Her story has been featured in both national and international media, including The Today Show, Inside Edition, Australia's Sunday Night, Germany's Explosive and Dr. Drew. This is her second book.

  http://www.catholicgiftsandmore.com/lizzie-be-beautiful-be-you/p/W4140/      

Paperback
5 1/2" x 8 1/4"
144 pages