The Book of the Dead will be out for the entire month of November. Please list all your loved ones who have died this past year. They will all be remembered fondly in our prayers!
The book will be available in the front of the Church at
St Joseph. The book will be available on a table in the back of the Church at St Mary.
We are asking all Catholics in Stephenson County to join together with us, The Knights of Columbus of Stephenson County, on Facebook. Only through unification can all Catholic men, women and children join together to build and strengthen our church and beliefs.
Joining with us provides a platform where you can see how we are impacting our community at each council, each church and school. We are asking you to help make our Catholic Family strong and it only takes two minutes to like and follow us on The Knights of Columbus of Stephenson County Facebook page.
We are inviting you as Catholics to post what you do for volunteering: births, to baptisms, and marriages, from church and school events to information which impacts Catholics in our community. Our strength comes from our God, our Church, our Catholic families, our Catholic community, and sharing what we do, as Catholics in action.
APOSTOLIC LETTER
ISSUED “MOTU PROPRIO”
BY THE SUPREME PONTIFF
FRANCIS
“APERUIT ILLIS”
INSTITUTING THE
SUNDAY OF THE WORD OF GOD
1. “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Lk 24:45). This was one of the final acts of the risen Lord before his Ascension. Jesus appeared to the assembled disciples, broke bread with them and opened their minds to the understanding of the sacred Scriptures. To them, amid their fear and bewilderment, he unveiled the meaning of the paschal mystery: that in accordance with the Father’s eternal plan he had to suffer and rise from the dead, in order to bring repentance and the forgiveness of sins (cf. Lk 24:26.46-47). He then promised to send the Holy Spirit, who would give them strength to be witnesses of this saving mystery (cf. Lk 24:49).
The relationship between the Risen Lord, the community of believers and sacred Scripture is essential to our identity as Christians. Without the Lord who opens our minds to them, it is impossible to understand the Scriptures in depth. Yet the contrary is equally true: without the Scriptures, the events of the mission of Jesus and of his Church in this world would remain incomprehensible. Hence, Saint Jerome could rightly claim: “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ” (Commentary on the Book of Isaiah, Prologue: PL 24,17B). Continue reading
The round windows up high in the sanctuary are from left to right: a Chalice and the cross, a skull, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a scale in the center, a harp, a dove with the olive branch and an ominous eye. Continue reading
La trampa saducea, es decir la pregunta con la que los saduceos querían dejar en ridículo a Jesús, suponía dos cosas: la primera, que ellos no creían en la resurrección de los muertos y la segunda, que pensaban que Jesús tenía un concepto totalmente equivocado de lo que realmente era la resurrección. Jesús no creía que los que resucitan vayan a vivir en la otra vida como habían vivido en esta. En la otra vida no hay tiempo, ni espacio, y, consecuentemente, el que vive en la eternidad, ya no puede morir nunca, porque allí no habrá ni un antes, ni un después, todo es un eterno ahora. Dios está siempre vivo, porque la esencia de Dios es ser, Dios es “el que es”. Toda persona que practica conscientemente una religión –y somos millones de personas los que practicamos alguna religión- cree en la resurrección. Creer o no creer en la resurrección es una cuestión de fe, no es producto de un argumento racional y empírico. Lo que está claro es que los que creemos en la resurrección creemos que Dios es un ser vivo, eternamente vivo, y que da y otorga vida a los que creen en él. Si resucitamos en Dios, en el ser eternamente vivo, resucitamos para siempre, viviremos para siempre. Continue reading
Fr. Dwight Longenecker
It is a little-known fact that Father Damien labored to established perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament among his lepers.
There’s a beautiful little scene in the film about St. Damien of Molokai. The saint has volunteered to be the one priest to serve the lepers on the island colony of Molokai.
Knowing that he is likely to contract the disease, Father Damien sails to the island and enters the village. He finds the lepers are abandoned, depressed, alcoholic and fighting among themselves. Then he goes into the tiny church only to find that it is a wreck. …
A California church is standing up against a state law that forces churches to fund the killing of unborn babies in abortions.
On Monday, lawyers for Skyline Wesleyan Church in La Mesa urged the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold religious freedom and stop the government from forcing the church to cover abortions in its employee health insurance plans, City News Service reports. …
Church Fights in Court to Stop California Mandate Forcing Churches to Fund Abortions
Serving Those Who Serve