“As iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens his fellow man.” (Proverbs 27:17).
The Joe Catholic blog is intended to provide Catholics and non-Catholics with resources to assist them in answering God's call to holiness. Our goal is to help people learn their faith, so they can live their faith and share their faith.
There's been a lot of buzz recently since the Supreme Court heard two cases involving the question of whether or not same-sex unions or so-called same-sex marriage should be constitutionally protected. I haven't written one line about the debate on this blog since the cases were heard, mostly because I feel others have articulated the arguments for traditional marriage much better than I ever could.
One thing, that has struck me in all of this is the absence of discussion about our roles in being witnesses to the world of the sanctity of marriage. If those of us who are married (especially Catholics) would start living our marriages like the sacrament they are, we could change the world. LITERALLY. I honestly believe that is where the fight will be won, by being witnesses of our faith. In other words, this means by sanctifying our ordinary lives, we witness to the Gospel truth, announcing it to non-believers and fortifying the faith of believers (AA, 5). The Council of Vatican II spurred the laity to use their particular gifts “to explain, defend, and properly apply Christian principles to the problems of our era in accordance with the mind of the Church” (AA, 6).
Feast of Divine Mercy
Today we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. During his homily for the canonization of St. Faustina on April 30, 2000, Blessed John Paul II declared that the Second Sunday of Easter, whose liturgy has always focused on God's mercy, would be recognized by the universal Church as Divine Mercy Sunday. He explained that "it is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church, will be called Divine Mercy Sunday."
Oceans of Graces
According to St. Faustina's diary, which recorded the events in which Christ appeared to her, this day pours out an "ocean of graces:"
I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy (1109).
Whoever approaches the Fount of Life on this day will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and punishment (300).
The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion will obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment (699).
Tabula Rasa
The promises of grace, Christ made to St. Faustina related to the Feast of Divine Mercy are more generous than a plenary indulgence and have been described as a "Second Baptism," as a tabula rasa or clean slate. Just in case, the Church has also associated a plenary indulgence (with all necessary requirements) to Divine Mercy Sunday. To learn more about the graces associated with this devotion, please visit The Divine Mercy by the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception.
Set your alarm to 3PM today, the Mercy Hour, and pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet and you can use this video to sing along:
Jimmy Akin has put together a short video that does a wonderful job of profiling our new pope. Watch the video all the way through for information on obtaining a free copy of a special report: Inside the Mind of Pope Francis.
St. Isidore lived from 560 – 636 and is referred to as the Educational Doctor because he was a teacher, reformer and prolific writer. His writings include a dictionary, a 20 volume encyclopedia that included all that was known at that time and a complete hisotry of the Goths. He was once described by the historian Montalember as "the last scholar of the ancient world."
Isidore was not always a great student. He actually struggled with his studies until he offered up his academic challenges to the Lord. After this, he became an acclaimed scholar who was also known for his holiness. He is role model for those who seek to learn and to become holy. I for one am going to include him in my "board of spiritual directors," especially for my IPT studies. Because of his dedication to education and the pursuit of knowledge, St. Isidore has been considered the Patron of the Internet since 1999.
St. Isidore wrote about the pursuit of knowledge in his Book of Maxims. In particular he distinguished between reading for knowledge and prayerful reflection for spiritual gain:
Prayer purifies us, reading instructs us. Both are good when both are possible. Otherwise, prayer is better than reading. If a man wants to be always in God’s company, he must pray regularly and read regularly. When we pray, we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us. All spiritual growth comes from reading and reflection. By reading we learn what we did not know; by reflection we retain what we have learned. Reading the holy Scriptures confers two benefits. It trains the mind to understand them; it turns man’s attention from the follies of the world and leads him to the love of God. The conscientious reader will be more concerned to carry out what he has read than merely to acquire knowledge of it. In reading we aim at knowing, but we must put into practice what we have learned in our course of study. The more you devote yourself to study of the sacred utterances, the richer will be your understanding of them, just as the more the soil is tilled, the richer the harvest. The man who is slow to grasp things but who really tries hard is rewarded, equally he who does not cultivate his God-given intellectual ability is condemned for despising his gifts and sinning by sloth. Learning unsupported by grace may get into our ears; it never reaches the heart. But when God’s grace touches our innermost minds to bring understanding, his word which has been received by the ear sinks deep into the heart.
A Familiar Reading
Today's Gospel reading from Luke 24:13- 35 portrays the encounter between two disciples and Jesus as they walked on the road to Emmaus. This is one of those Easter time readings that we are all so familiar with that we make take its meaning for granted.
Liturgy of the Word
If we reflect on the passage carefully, we will discover that the story is more than two sad disciples encountering the resurrected Christ. It is also depicts imagery of the Holy Mass. Jesus, still not revealed to them, chastises the disciples for being discouraged: "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!" (Luke 24:26, Navarre Bible). He then gives a recollection on salvation history by "beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." (Luke 24:27, Navarre Bible). In other words, he breaks open the Liturgy of the Word, which makes up the first part of the Mass.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
After concluding His homily, Christ then stays with the two disciples, whose hearts are now burning. "When He was at table with them, He took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him" (Luke 24: 29-31, Navarre Bible). This is clearly a depiction of the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Participation in the Mass
In 2008 while praying the Regina Coeli, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged us to encounter Christ in the Word and in the Eucharist through our participation in Mass:
Today too we can enter into dialogue with Jesus, listening to His Word. Today too He breaks the bread for us and gives Himself as our bread. And thus the encounter with the risen Christ, which is also possible today, gives us a more profound and authentic faith, tempered so to say by the fire of the events of Easter. A robust faith because it is nourished not by human ideas by the Word of God and His real presence in the Eucharist.
Eucharistic-Gospel Lives
St. Josemaria saw in this Gospel reading a demonstration that we are all on the road to Emmaus. When we partake of Our Lord in the Mass, we are sent out to proclaim the Gospel with our lives.
And Jesus stays. Our eyes are opened, as were those of Cleopas and his
companion, when Christ breaks the bread; and, though He vanishes once more
from sight, we too will find strength to start out once more -- though night is falling -- to tell the others about Him, because so much joy cannot be kept in one
heart alone.
The road to Emmaus--our God has filled this name with sweetness. Now the
entire world has become an Emmaus, for the Lord has opened up all the divine
paths of the earth (St. J. Escriva, Friends of God, 313f).
Google recently announced that it would shut down Google Reader effective July 1st. When I learned this last week, I wondered how I was going to keep track of all of my RSS feeds, especially all of the Catholic blogs I follow. Like others, I have relied on GR to help me skim, scan and sort my news feeds. (If you need a refresher on what I am talking about, review my tutorial post on RSS readers.)
The search for an adequate replacement app was quickly over. Many tech bloggers are calling the Feedly the heir to Google Reader,. According to TechCrunch, The Verge and CNET it is one of the closest apps to the reader. 3 million new subscribers in the last week can attest to that. According to TechCrunch, Feedly "became the No. 1 news app across all three top mobile platforms (iPhone, iPad and Android) this week." In response to all these new subscriptions, Feedly released a major upgrade to their app this morning.
I like that it can be integrated to Chrome and automatically syncs and updates across devices. For a more detailed review of Feedly and their recent upgrades, I recommend Sarah Perez' article on TechCrunch.
Freedly is currently available in iOS and Android platforms and can be downloaded at the Apple iTunes Store and Google's Play. The app is currently FREE.
