Moira Noonan's Testimony {From New Age to Christ and His Church}

If you can't take time to listen to the whole talk, please hear the first 10 minutes~
Powerful.

Holy Week or Hell Week?

God truly gives us freedom to choose.

Life or death. 

Good or evil.

Each day.

Each minute of each day.

We either choose to follow God, or we choose to reject Him and follow His adversary, the enemy.

Choose well, friends!

Confession Explained

  

For any who may need a little refresher (or who have always wondered) on why we confess our sins to a priest, this little 6 minute video from the Diocese of Richmond is my gift to you on this Second Sunday of Lent.

Remember to keep today (and every Sunday) holy and visit our Lord at His place!

Ash Wednesday

A frozen lake in Michigan; Zachary sent this image home from his retreat with Notre Dame's Knott Hall.

Catholics line up for ash application today, aware of our need to humble ourselves, repent and return to the Lord.  Some of us return to the Church on Ash Wednesday after lengthy absences and waywardness, and many who don't faithfully attend Mass on Sundays do come to Church on Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of Obligation (unlike each and every Sunday), however many Catholics feel called to attend Mass today and receive ashes as an outward sign of a new beginning of inner conversion.  Today is a good day to go to confession.  If for some reason you don't go to confession today, make a sincere confession in your heart, asking God's forgiveness for your sins against His love, and please confess your sins to a priest very soon.

Our Holy Church gives us a short list of Precepts.  These 'non-negotiables' guide our external behavior as faithful Catholics; our obligation to follow the Ten Commandments and all teachings of Christ assumed.  On Ash Wednesday one of these external precepts, or rules, is in effect ~ the requirement to fast and abstain.  Only one other day ~ Good Friday ~ carries this strict requirement to fast and abstain.

Somehow the teaching of these rules, or precepts, fell through the cracks for many of us post Vatican II Catholics.  This partially explains why so many Catholics today do not faithfully attend Sunday Mass, and when they do return, approach Holy Communion without any thought as to their spiritual readiness to receive our Lord.  Just like me, these Catholics either were never properly taught, or they do not really understand the gravity of receiving Holy Communion in a state of mortal (deadly) sin.  These teachings on preparing for Holy Communion come directly from Sacred Scripture:

"Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup" (1 Cor. 11:27–28)

Catholics in a state of mortal (deadly) sin should (are obliged to) attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days.  However, receiving Our Lord in Holy Communion while knowingly in this state is a grave offense.  Christian writings from as far back as A.D. 70 make these teachings abundantly clear. Catholics raised without a proper understanding of Church teachings are now raising their children and the cycle of un-knowing continues; or they fall away completely, unaware of the treasure they have abandoned.  Some of us have had the incredible fortune of being taught the faith by our children, and/or by zealous orthodox priests and evangelists, whose hunger for truth and desire to follow and share it have sparked our appetite for the fullness of faith.

Precepts of the Church:

I. To attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, and resting from servile works.

II. To observe the days of abstinence and fasting.

III. To confess our sins to a priest, at least once a year.

IV. To receive Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist at least once a year during Easter Season.

V. To contribute to the support of the Church.

A wise and holy priest once told me that my concern for the souls of my loved ones who no longer attend Mass or confess their sins, would be better directed toward fervent prayers for the healing of their inner dispositions (an increase in faith and a greater Love for God) than simply focused on a change in their outward behavior.  I myself am proof positive that prayers for the conversion of souls are answered!

Pray without ceasing...

Calling Down Fire {New Priest}

 

Opening with fire, Father Altenhofen hit it out of the park Sunday in his first weekend Masses at Sacred Heart.  Father Altenhofen commenced his sermons by sharing his life-long love of Sacred Scripture and admitting that he was always known as a "religious little character."  Father conveyed his particular fascination with the prophets, heroes from his youth. The image of the Prophet Elijah calling down fire upon the soaking wet altars in the 'prove your God' contest against the false prophets of Baal inspired and intrigued Father as a young boy.

"I knew this was the business for me!" Father exclaimed, revealing the first promptings toward his call to the priesthood from the early age of seven flowing from his relationship with the Word.  He reminded us that the roles of priest, prophet and king were conferred upon each one of us at our baptism. He exhorted each of us to courageously take up our role as a prophet in our daily lives, giving hope to the hopeless and rebuking wickedness while always sharing the love of Christ.  As a prophet represents God in the midst of the world, so are we to be the light of Christ as we fulfill the particular mission given to us by God.  Reminding us to be like St. Paul, who lived out his difficult ministry by relying upon God's grace, with which all things are possible, Father Altenhofen gave us quite a powerful pep talk.

Each hearing a call to the priesthood in his childhood and showing his profound reverence for the Holy Eucharist, our new priest and our outgoing priest have much in common.  Continuing to keep the confessional open for an hour daily, Fr. Altenhofen takes care of our souls in this sacrament of healing reconciliation as Fr. Qui Thac so lovingly did in his six years as our pastor.  This bears mentioning, as many parishes -even with thousands of registered Catholics- only hold the confessional open for one hour per week on Saturday afternoons.  We are extremely fortunate and grateful for the availability of confession at our little Church and praise God for sending us a priest willing to continue this life saving ministry despite the personal sacrifices involved.

The priestly height difference is worth mentioning, as our altar servers are learning to stretch and extend their reaches to hold the weighty Roman Missal up several inches higher for Father Altenhofen. Our new priest is off to a fine start in his ministry at Sacred Heart, and we look forward to being his students in the school of growing closer to Christ. 

Italy Day 19 {Loreto}

View of the basilica from our balcony at the Hotel Loreto

Moon over Hotel Loreto, from our balcony

Outside view of the marble chapel encasing the Santa Casa in Loreto

 Following in the footsteps of many holy men and women, (including our friend, Paul, from Sacred Heart who loaned us the book, "Catholic Shrines of Western Europe," which guided many of our stops along our Italian pilgrimage), we visited the Holy House in Loreto.   St. Therese of Lisieux made a momentous pilgrimage to Loreto before entering the Carmelites (described at length in her autobiography); St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Frances Cabrini, Blessed John Henry Newman, St. John Neumann, and St. Francis de Sales also made pilgrimages to this holy site.  Our friend from San Giovanni Rotondo, Father Michael Pio, having lived there as a Capuccin priest, sent detailed descriptions of some of the artwork in the basilica, the times of the friars' prayers in the Church, and notes about the Holy House:

"...there are inscriptions by the first Judeo-Christians who visited the Holy House when it was still a part of the original dwelling of the Holy Family in Nazareth. There is notably one which combines Greek and Hebrew signs and means "O Jesus Christ, Son of God". It is matched by an identical invocation which is still to be found in a grotto in Nazareth close to the Grotto of the Annunciation." 

Dozens of priests sat in the various side chapels and in the old fashioned wooden box confessionals offering the healing sacrament of reconciliation (confession).  So many people were lined up, by languages (posted on each station) in order to be freed from sin in this special sacrament.   The feeling of repentance and healing in this holy place was both overpowering and inspiring.   Inside the Holy House, prayers, petitions, thanksgiving and praise were offered up to our Lord through our advocate and Blessed Mother, Mary.   A hushed silence filled the Holy House even as it was completely packed with pilgrims of every age, from all over the world.

Peter and Joseph play competitive coin rolling games at the fountain in the square at the basilica in Loreto.

Angels and saints and unbelievable beauty on the ceiling at the basilica in Loreto

A patron saint looks down from above.

Noteworthy:

• I forgot to mention that Tim was able to repair the damaged camera (on day 2 or 3)!
• The AA battery camera, previously used by Peter (on the days he had finger injuries from all the shutter action) burns through batteries at a rate we could not have foreseen, and has thus been retired for the time being. 

• We are continually entertained by the different methods used by the Italian police to keep order, including using little hand-held stop signs to pull over cars in traffic.

Italy Day 13 {Last Day in Rome}

Bernini's Elephant Obelisk at

Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Rome, Italy

 

Stained glass masterpiece in Santa Maria Sopra Minerva

Santa Maria Sopra Minerva

Waking up at 5am to the sound of Joseph groaning in pain, Tuesday was a day to forget in some respects. Vomiting for about 7 hours, Joseph stayed in bed most of the day. By the grace of God, none of the rest of us fell ill (until Zac arrive home to the US, sick). Zachary theorized that Joseph contracted the sickness while rolling around on the hotel floor when the 3 boys jammed onto one double bed (really two twin beds pushed together) sleeping arrangement hadn't worked out so well. He WAS the only one to roll around on the hotel floor... who knows? We were also in a "non potable" water area on our journey into the mountains, so perhaps he picked up a bug there? Or was it the chicken at the Autogrille?

Devoted father, Tim opted to stay at the flat with Joseph as he slowly recovered Tuesday; reflecting on the bitter Passion of Christ and the terrible sword that pierced the heart of Mary at the sight of her Son's terrible suffering. Joseph's temporary discomfort was by comparison minuscule; never the less, Tim recognized his own sadness at seeing Joseph sick in light of the sadness of a our Blessed Mother as she watched her child in agony.

Tomb of St. Philip Neri; Chiesa Nuova, Rome, Italy

Daily and Sunday Mass and confession times posted on the door of Chiesa Nuova, Rome

On his final day in Italy, Zac joined Peter and I for another blazing tour of the city. We didn't get going until after 10:30AM, due to the poor night's sleep, but we hit the ground running... rather sitting on a bus in a maddening urban traffic jam. Our route had been marked out the night before by our friend, Oana, who gave us a list of final must sees in Rome: a 5 basilica route, visiting and praying at the tombs of St. Augustine, St. Philip Neri, St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Clemente, St. Cyril, and many others. The three of us walked, bussed, rode the Metro and then jogged to make it back to the flat by 5:30PM for our reunion with Tim and Joseph.


Packed up and ready to vacate our flat, our friend, Pietro, called a cab and arranged that the fee would not exceed e50. Four of us across the back seat of a small sedan, one up front, our prayers for a safe journey to the airport Marriott were answered; though we panicked a bit when the driver sped past a Marriott (which we thought was our hotel). Arriving safely and under the e50 agreed upon cost, our next adventure into Italian accommodations began. "Your reservation is for two, but I can see that you are more than two..." followed by a bit of red tape and added expense. This night's reservation was a Christmas gift from Grandpa Cliff & Grandma Billie. The eve of Zac's departure at the Marriott was by far our most comfortable, pampered night thus far in Italy, and the extra charge for the extra people (the US reservations center could not take a 5 person reservation for Italian hotels) was money well spent.

Noteworthy:

• Total number of postcards purchased so far: 25+
• Total number of postcards written so far: 4 or 5
• Chances that most of our Italian postcards will be mailed in the US: 100%

Prepare the Way

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

Peter, Joseph, Zachary 

December 2004

One of the most important ways we prepare for Christmas, and in fact for each and every Mass at which we receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, is by cleaning our souls through confessing our sins.
Near the beginning of Mass we participate in a Penitential Rite, during which each person examines his/her conscience before praying as an assembly for forgiveness from our sins.
Then the priest, In Persona Christi, forgives us our (venial) sins.  Mortal sins are not forgiven in this way, but require sacramental confession.

If you would like help cleaning your internal house before Christmas, here's a great resource from Father Corapi:  Examination of Conscience


Have you ever wondered what the early Christians believed and taught about confession and penance?

“It is necessary to confess our sins to those to whom the dispensation of God’s mysteries is entrusted. Those doing penance of old are found to have done it before the saints. It is written in the Gospel that they confessed their sins to John the Baptist [Matt. 3:6], but in Acts [19:18] they confessed to the apostles” ~ Basil the Great (Rules Briefly Treated 288 [A.D. 374]).

“Confess your sins in church, and do not go up to your prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life. . . . On the Lord’s Day gather together, break bread, and give thanks, after confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure” ~The Didache (Didache 4:14, 14:1 [A.D. 70]).




Happy cleaning!