Bishop Vann's Letter on Lent

David Jennings used Bishop Vann's letter in the North Texas Catholic as a guide to explain how to prepare for the Lenten Season.

Here is a link to that letter:

The Shepherd's Corner

Saint Talk: St. Joseph, No Ordinary Joe

St. Joseph and the Child, Michael O'Brien

St. Joseph was an ordinary sort of man on whom God relied to do great things. He did exactly what the Lord wanted him to do, in each and every event that went to make up his life. That is why Scripture praises Joseph as "a just man." (cf. Mt 1:19) And in Hebrew a just man means a good and faithful servant of God, someone who fulfills the divine will, (cf. Gen. 7:1, 18:23-32, Ez. 18:5, Prov. 12:10) or who is honorable and charitable toward his neighbor (cf. Tob. 7:5, 9:9). 

St. Josemaria describe a just man as follows:

So a just man is someone who loves God and proves his love by keeping God's commandments and directing his whole life toward the service of his brothers, his fellow me. (Christ is Passing By, #40).

Previous Post on St. Joseph

La Capilla San Jose

Here are images for the chapel David Jennings mentioned in Joe Catholic this morning. There is the full sketch of the chapel David made this week for submission for a permit and a poster he did back in 2007 announcing the project. It shows the building site and the cross that he made that will go on top of the front wall as shown in the sketch. David made the cross for the chapel on new year's day 2005. 

The pictures below are of the doors that he traveled to New Mexico between Christmas and New Years to pick up in Santa Fe and transport north to Abiquiú. These will be the double doors used for the entrance as shown in the sketch. The design is a very traditional New Mexican adobe church except that this one will have a vault running lengthwise which should make the interior more spacious feeling and very dramatic. David asks for all the men, especially us Joe Catholics, to pray for the project and those working on it, that it will remain a Holy and safe project for all those involved. 

The chapel will be dedicated to St. Joseph in memory of  David's mother, Isabel. It would be nice if the Joe Catholic group made a pilgrimage there someday and also to stop by the historic church at Chimayo.  Perhaps the group can plan the pilgrimage around the scheduled dedication of the chapel.

New Missal Explained on EWTN Tonight

A New Translation for the New Roman Missal

Wed. February 2 at 10 PM ET, Fri. February 4 at 1 PM ET, & Sat. February 5 at 3 AM ET

The Third Edition of the Roman Missal was announced by Pope John Paul II in the year 2000. After nearly ten years of work, an English-language translation of the Latin text was recently approved by the Holy See. In this presentation, Msgr. James P. Moroney provides an introduction to the translation and how it provides an opportunity for the renewal of the liturgy envisioned by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council.

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Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/tv/index.asp#ixzz1CoZRn6Pp

Saint Talk: St. John Bosco

St. John Bosco serves us as a great role model for many reasons. First, he was not afraid to use his unusual talents (magic and acrobatics) for the glory and service of our Lord. Additionally, he was a man of prayer. In particular, he called on the intercessory prayers of Our Lady and St. Francis de Sales. Constantly in need of raising money for his projects, he counted on God to provide in all his needs.

I chose this unique picture of St. John Bosco because it relates to a prophecy he had in a dream which may have recently come true.

Internet Sources & Media:

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Joe Catholic

2010: The Year in Review - Milestones

As we reign in the new year, I thought it appropriate to reflect on the year we leave behind.   This will be a three part post: Milestones, Statistics and Goals for 2011.

Milestones:

• We celebrated our One Year Anniversary in May by visiting Bishop Vann. The Bishop acknowledged us at the morning Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Afterwards, we were given a tour of the Bishop's residence. We concluded the morning with Bishop Vann by presenting a session for him.  He invited us back for a future visit.
• We successfully negotiated for the rights to purchase the domain name JoeCatholic.org. Tom Jaconette, Ken Wendel and Chuck Gura  have been helping to get the beta version of the site ready for approval. We still need to show the current owner (a Catholic publishing company) of the domain name our new site before we can launch. This was part of the agreement to purchase the rights as the current owner wanted to make sure we are an authentic Catholic organization.
• Our April gathering (Holy Saturday) marked the first time we broke the "twenty ceiling" on attendance. We had twenty-one men gather that weekend. To date, it marks the largest number we have had at one gathering.
• Ken Wendel completed the design of our official Joe Catholic logo. The wooden toolbox, hammer and ruler represent our homage to St. Joseph. The green book is meant to replicate the Catechism of the Catholic Church to demonstrate that we are loyal to the Church's teaching authority. Furthermore, it represents we are dedicated to learning our faith, so we can better share and defend it. The Bible represents we are men of the Word of God. The Rosary represents we are men of prayer and we are not ashamed to have devotion for our Blessed Mother Mary.
• On October 10th our most consistent attendee, Bob Durham died. Prior to his surgery, Bob had not missed a gathering since our inception. He spoke fondly of Joe Catholic to his family and friends. Many of the men of Joe Catholic attended his funeral mass. The men of Joe Catholic have sponsored several mass offerings for the repose of Bob's soul. While we may have lost a member on earth, we know we will have another saint in heaven to intercede for us.
• Ken Wendell  got the logo digitized so we could have shirts made. Those shirts were showcased for the first time at the December gathering.

Christ the King

Lindon Leners explained the significance of the Feast of Christ the King Sunday. In particular, he pointed out that it marks the end of the liturgical calendar and prepares us for the beginning of the Advent season.

Furthermore, the feast day reminds us that Christ should be King of all of our lives. That means every aspect of who we are and what we do.

I chose this image of Christ the King that appears in the National Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D. C.  I like this mosaic portrayal because Jesus has an intimidating look about him. He seems to be challenging any evildoers to "bring it on!"

RESOURCES FOR FURTHER STUDY:

Quas Primas - Encyclical on Feast of Christ the King

St. Josemaria on Christ the King
This point elaborates on Lindon's observation that Christ's throne on Earth was the cross.