CATHOLIC FAITH AT HOME RESOURCES
FOR ST. THOMAS MORE PARISHIONERS
FEB. 6
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HOW DO WE LOVE IN
TOUGH TIMES?
In the month of February, our culture takes a moment
to celebrate Valentines' Day.
It is always good to focus on love and its effects
especially because
Jesus summarized the 10 Commandments in these two phrases:
Love God!
Love your neighbor!
But what do we do
when bitter, demanding people
activate our desire to hide or throw something?
Or when we watch the news and feel
fear, anxiety and anger fill our heart?
Or when we see acts of injustice, crime and corruption
repeated incessantly?
Do we feel like hiding, screaming or throwing something?
Our Catholic faith teaches us that these impulses fade
when we take the time to listen to the still, small voice of the Lord.
Click below to see a few ways God helps us to love our enemies
and deal with the negative consequences resulting from tough times.
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Do Catholics Really
Pray to Statues?
Scroll down to find the answer!
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TRANSFORMATION: A LENTEN DAY RETREAT
When: SAturday, February 26
Where: ST. PETER IN CHAINS CATHEDRAL BASILICA
REGISTER BY FEB.15
Hosted by: The Young Adults of the Cathedral
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Join Fr. Mike Schmitz & Jeff Cavins
LIVE
for the first-ever...
Bible in a Year Retreat
February 18-20, 2022!
From the comfort of your own home...
Be immersed in a one-of-a-kind, three-day, virtual retreat experience
to help you
cultivate a lifelong relationship
with the Word of God
by learning directly from these two hosts of The Bible in a Year Podcast.
Receive and Enjoy:
- Exclusive LIVE talks from Father Mike and Jeff Cavins
- Q&A sessions - Submit your questions to these hosts!
- Devotional Experiences
- Scriptural Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet, & Lectio Divina, led by special guests
- Adoration with Father Mike
- Time for personal prayer and reflection
- Attend Sunday morning Mass in person, for those who are able
- Pre-recorded Sunday morning Mass with Father Mike
- Participate in small group discussions with other attendees, optional
-
Meet other Bible in a Year listeners
- Hear amazing testimonies of miracles and conversions
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Click below to sign up for this :
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Join Us February 13th
for the 4th Chosen Watch Party
PARISH DINING HALL - AFTER 10:00 MASS, Feb. 13
FREE DONUTS AND COFFEE!
* Feel free to bring a soft cushion to sit on *
Other Options: In-person and online Watch Parties Feb. 16
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If you haven't yet registered for a Watch Party
Click the link below:
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CELEBRATION OF WORLD MARRIAGE DAY |
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A special blessing of all married couples
Feb. 12 and 13
At all St. Thomas More masses
Sacramental dignity, with all the special graces
that adhere to any sacrament,
was conferred on marriage by Christ.
St. Paul calls marriage “a great sacrament” placing it above others.
When Christ wished to give a sign of the union
that exists between Him and His Church,
he chose the sacred union of a married couple.
No higher dignity could be attached to any relationship.
Through the sacrament of matrimony,
husband and wife receive graces which
join them in the bonds of mutual love,
aid them to share affection for one another,
strengthen them to avoid illicit attachments and passions,
fortify them to become worthy parents,
and help them to keep their marriage honorable in all things.
A marriage entered into with such proper dispositions
will be blessed in many ways.
Please join us in celebrating this wonderful sacrament of love!
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THE EUCHARIST IN THE EARLY CHUCH
Did the early Church believe
that the Eucharist was
the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity
of Jesus Christ ?
Was that the belief of the Catholic Church - since the Last Supper?
In this new eBook, learn:
- Did the early Christians believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
- Did they view this as a theologically important question for Church communion?
- Did they view the Mass as a sacrifice?
- Did they have open or closed Communion (i.e., permit those outside full communion to receive Communion?)
Click below to read this free E-book:
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NEWS FLASH!!!!
Science Confirms Saintly Wisdom!!!
Reading Books (not the internet) Helps us to Pray
Because...
1. Like other parts of the body, our brain is a muscle that
physically changes based on how it is used – or isn’t used.
2. The mind is immaterial – it is a power of the soul
– but it works upon the physical reality of the brain.
3. We sometimes (wrongly) think the brain doesn’t develop beyond childhood,
but it actually is more agile than we think.
Scientists call this agility “neuroplasticity,” which means
the brain physically changes to accommodate what is asked of it.
4. Just as a muscle grows in strength or weakness based on
what is asked of it – resistance or ease – so too
areas of the brain grow in strength and weakness.
In his book The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains
Nicholas Carr suggests that
the brain is more settled while reading
so that reading is “intellectually rewarding.”
Reading allows us to filter out distractions and
to quiet the problem-solving functions of the frontal lobes,
such that deep reading becomes a form of deep thinking.
The collective wisdom of Catholic culture
ceaselessly
points to our use of books to
learn, contemplate, and pray with the truth.
Click below to read more about how to strengthen your brain and
become more spiritually advanced through reading books:
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GOSPEL READING REFLECTION
For FEBRUARY 6, 2022
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Year C
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God Chooses His Messengers, including Us
"Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men.”
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him."
- This Gospel reading is Christ’s call of Simon to be an Apostle, to go from his normal life of catching fish to his supernatural calling of catching men.
- Simon was not there on the seashore to hear somebody teach. He was washing his net with his crew after a disappointing night of catching nothing.
- Jesus violated a boundary, getting into Peter’s boat, and then he made a request to Peter, to put out a ways. Peter complied.
- Jesus demonstrated his mastery of natural forces in acoustics by getting in a boat on a lake with a hillside behind it and using the surface of the water to carry his voice to the crowds, filling the natural amphitheater of the hillside.
- Whether Peter had already known something about Christ or whether this was his first encounter with him, by the end Peter regarded the Lord as somebody you addressed as “Master,” one who makes commands.
- Jesus rewards Peter for letting him use his boat as a pulpit. Now Christ demonstrates his supernatural mastery over nature by making Simon take a phenomenal catch of fish, even though Simon, a professional fisherman, thought it was pointless since they had been fishing all night and caught nothing.
- Like at the wedding feast of Cana, this was a miracle of abundance: not just some wine for the wedding feast but lots and lots of very good wine; not just a few fish but so many that two boats were filled almost to sinking for the previously unsuccessful fishermen.
- Simon is cut to the heart when he meets the incarnate “Law” of God, Jesus Christ the Messiah:
- like the remnant of Jews who return to Jerusalem under the leadership of Nehemiah and Ezra, who wept when they heard the Law of God read to them;
- like Isaiah when he experienced the holiness of God in his vision;
- like Paul on the road to Damascus.
- Peter didn’t have a chance. He was caught more surely than any fish in a net or with a hook in his mouth.
- The call is to all of us, too, to put out into deep water and to do apostolate.
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ANSWER TO QUIZ
NO!!! Catholics don’t
worship statues or pray to them.
That is idolatry or, at best, just a silly thing to do.
Catholics use statues and images as visual reminders of the people they represent, to help connect with God.
Like keeping a picture of our family in our wallet or on the wall, we don't treat the photo as being the actual people.
We may touch the image fondly, or even kiss it—but that touch or kiss is intended for the absent person,
not the image itself.
So too do we statues as reminders of
God, Our Lady, and the saints when we pray.
Because we are creatures of physical senses,
physical representations help us focus
our thoughts and prayers on God
or the person from whom we ask intercession.
Images also convey for us critical aspects of the Faith.
An image of Our Lady and her Child
illustrates their closeness and love.
Michelangelo’s magnificent Pietá pulls us into the sorrow of this Mother and the awful concept of the dead Son of God.
Crucifixes help us to meditate in a profound way on Our Lord’s terrible sufferings.
Additionally, beautiful depictions of holy people and events are good for our imaginations,
which, in this age,
are constantly besieged by ugly and sinful images.
Sacred art fortifies our imaginations
with holiness and beauty,
providing a crucial antidote to the assaults of the world.
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DOES THIS ALL SOUND SO GREAT
YOU WISH THERE WAS MORE?
THERE IS!
Click the link below to find more:
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OUR LADY OF LOURDES FEAST DAY
FEBRUARY 11
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Blessed be the Holy and Immaculate Conception of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Mother, have mercy on us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, heal us for the greater glory of the Holy Trinity.
Our Lady of Lourdes heal us for the greater glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Lady of Lourdes, heal the sick, convert sinners.
Health of the sick, help of the suffering, pray for us.
Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us!
Amen.
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