The Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” (Lk 17:5) By the time the Apostles have gotten to the 17th Chapter of Luke’s Gospel, they’ve seen Jesus do a lot of things. They’ve seen a miraculous catch of fish. They’ve seen Jesus expel demons. They’ve seen Him heal a mother-in-law, a leper, a paralytic, a man with a withered hand, a servant, a woman with a hemorrhage, a crippled woman and a man with dropsy. They’ve seen Jesus calm a storm, feed 5000 people and raise two children from the dead. At this point, they realize that Jesus has some pretty serious authority. And out of all the things they can ask for, they ask him for one thing: “increase our faith.” What is it about “faith” that is so important to the Apostles? There are two ways that we understand faith in the … [Read more...]
Archives for September 2022
Knights of Columbus Silver Rose Program
Monday and Tuesday, October 3-4 In December 1531 the Blessed Mother appeared to Juan Diego in Mexico asking him to have the Bishop Juan de Zumarraga to build a church in her honor. The Bishop was reluctant to just take his word and asked for sign from Juan. He returned with a cloak of roses which were not native to the area. The Blessed Virgin had arranged the roses in his cloak and she told him to bring them to the Bishop. When he showed the bishop and even more wondrous sign appeared; a remarkable portrait of Our Lady was imprinted on the coarse fabric of his cloak. The image and the cloak are displayed for the veneration of the faithful to this day at Our Lady of Guadalupe Basilica of Mexico City. The Knights of Columbus have over the years had 7 Silver Roses made. One Rose … [Read more...]
Our Lady of the Rosary
October 7 In 1571 Pope Pius V instituted “Our Lady of Victory” as an annual feast to commemorate the victory of Lepanto, where Christian forces successfully thwarted an attempted invasion of Western Europe by the Muslim forces of the Ottaman Empire. The victory was attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, as a Rosary procession had been offered on that day in St. Peter's Square in Rome for the success of the mission of the Holy League. In 1573, Pope Gregory XIII changed the title of this feast-day to “Feast of the Holy Rosary". This feast was extended by Pope Clement XII to the whole of the Latin Rite, inserting it into the Roman Catholic calendar of saints in 1716, and assigning it to the first Sunday in October. Pope Pius X changed the date to 7 October in 1913, as part of his effort to … [Read more...]
St. Francis of Assisi – Blessing of the Pets
October 9 at Noon Feast Day - October 4 Many of the stories that surround the life of St. Francis of Assisi deal with his love for animals. Part of his appreciation of the environment is expressed in his Canticle of the Sun, a poem written in Umbrian Italian in perhaps 1224 which expresses a love and appreciation of Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Mother Earth, Brother Fire, etc. and all of God's creations personified in their fundamental forms. Francis' attitude towards the natural world, while poetically expressed, was conventionally Christian. He believed that the world was created good and beautiful by God but suffers a need for redemption because of the primordial sin of man. He preached the universal ability and duty of all creatures to praise God (a common theme in the Psalms) and … [Read more...]
Rosary Congress Basilica of St. Stephen October 3-4, 2022
The first Rosary Congress was held in Poland. Pope John Paul II wanted to visit his native country in 1979. The government with sanctions made the visit impossible. A prayer group went to God in prayer. Through inspiration they came to pray 7 days and nights, with Masses, Eucharistic Adoration and the Rosary hourly at their National Shrine to Our Lady of Czestochowa. On the seventh day, all government sanctions were dropped. The Pope was allowed to visit his native country. In 1988, The Rosary Congress came to the United States. John Downs, a quadriplegic, was inspired to organize the first Rosary Congress at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, in Washington, D.C. Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is patroness of the United States. Imitating the Polish people who … [Read more...]
Religious Education
We offer C.C.D. (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) classes for grades 1 – 3. Classes meet on Sunday mornings 9:20-10:20, beginning September 18, and follow the academic calendar. Please register with the parish office or Phillip Bellini at pbellini@archdiocese-no.org. What We Believe: The Beauty of the Catholic Church Adult education classes begin Wednesday, September 14 at 6:30pm. The Catholic Church is extraordinary. Founded by Christ himself, the Catholic Church is where we encounter God in his Word, his sacraments, and his saints. The Church faithfully proclaims the fullness of faith, leaving no truth out. It proclaims the fullness of life, leaving no person out. It calls all to repent and to believe in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the source of all life … [Read more...]
From the Pastor – September 25, 2022
He said, “Then I beg you, father, send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.” But Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.” He said, “Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.” Then Abraham said, “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.” (Lk 16:27-31) What is faith? How do we get it, and where does it come from? St. Thomas classically defined faith as: “the act of the intellect assenting to a Divine truth owing to the movement of the will, which is itself moved by the grace of God.” But sometimes things are made easier by … [Read more...]
