THERE IS A CORRECTION DATE FOR THE SUNDAY CHOSEN WATCH PARTY!

CATHOLIC FAITH AT HOME RESOURCES

FOR ST. THOMAS MORE PARISHIONERS

JAN. 16

QUIZ! FOR THE WEEK

Why do we make the sign of the cross on our forehead, lips and chest before reading the Gospel?

Scroll down to find the answer!

ATTENTION: CORRECTED DATE!!

The January, the Sunday Watch Party for THE CHOSEN

is moved to January 23

for conflict with a sacramental meeting.

Join Us - Jan. 23rd for

the 3rd Chosen Watch Party

PARISH DINING HALL

AFTER 10:00 MASS, Jan. 23rd

FREE DONUTS AND COFFEE!

* Feel free to bring a soft cushion to sit on *

Two options are still available for

Wednesday, January 19th, at 7pm,

in person at the Faith Formation Room

or via Zoom.

In Person: Wednesday, Jan. 19, 7:00 pm

- OR -

Online: Wednesday, Jan. 19, at 7:00 pm

Contact Rubio.Charisse@gmail for Zoom link.

THE CHOSEN WATCH PARTIES

ANNUAL, IMPORTANT & SUCCESSFUL!!!

PRAYER VIGIL FOR LIFE

ST. THOMAS MORE CHURCH

Monday, January 17, 2022 at 7 PM

Vigil Includes

Eucharistic Exposition

Chaplet of Divine Mercy

Benediction

Bring your family for this ONCE A YEAR event

(Less than an hour - Bring the children!)

to pray for our most precious

Unborn babies, disabled, seriously ill, and elderly

in support of the 49th annual March for Life.*

*Did you know-> March For Life is consistently the largest march in D.C., is peaceful, prayerful, and barely reported in the news.

Help those who think their lives are worthless

see how many people recognize

that EVERY human life has special value,

regardless of physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual place or health.

CHOOSE COURAGE

OVER FEAR

How do we as Catholics

grow in courage...

as human beings,

as disciples of Jesus,

and as those summoned to live, defend and spread our faith?

Courage is not the absence of fear,

but the capacity to do what we ought despite our fear —

because of the strength that we receive from God.

Hear Fr. Landry explain ways we can grow in:

COURAGE OVER FEAR

Fr. Landry serves both the Fall River archdiocese and

Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations

#1 CATHOLIC APP FOR MEDITATION

Are you looking for Silence and Spiritual Growth

in this new year?

For many Catholics looking to jump start a new life of

prayer and meditation, "Hallow" was the answer!

Click below to discover more about this awesome Catholic app:

Hallow: A Popular Catholic App

GOSPEL READING REFLECTION

For January 16, 2022

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year C

John 2:1-11

******************************************************************************

God wants to give us

every good thing!

“Everyone serves good wine first,

and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;

but you have kept the good wine until now.”

Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee

and so revealed his glory,

and his disciples began to believe in him."

When Jesus received John’s baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon him and the Father declared him to be his beloved son in whom he was well pleased. Then Christ went into the desert where he fasted for forty days and overcame the temptations of the devil. Now, at the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus attends a wedding feast with his disciples and his mother.

When Our Lady points out to Jesus that they have run out of wine, Jesus addresses his mother as “woman”: “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” By calling her woman, Our Lord is linking the Blessed Virgin Mary to Eve. In the Protoevangelium in Genesis, God revealed that the demonic serpent would be defeated by the seed of the woman:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. (Gn 3:15)

Christ, as the “seed” of Mary, “the woman,” had the mission of defeating Satan, the serpent. The next time Christ will refer to his mother as “woman” will be when he is on the Cross, when his death accomplishes the defeat of Satan. At that moment, his hour will have fully come. Yet in Cana, Christ acted in obedience to this woman and turned the water into very good wine (Jn 2:10).

Why would Christ begin his public life with a miracle like this?

One reason is that since only God can instantaneously turn water into wine, Christ was revealing that he was God.

Another reason can be seen if we interpret this miracle in the anagogical sense, that is, to view it “in terms of [its] eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland” in heaven (CCC 117). Wine is an invention in which human beings transform grapes into something new that “gladdens the heart” (Ps 104:15). In this miracle, Christ provided the bride and groom, the host, and all the guests with a superabundance of gladness. Though Christ had just suffered hunger and thirst in the wilderness, he began his public ministry not just by announcing joy but also by giving it in copious gallons of very good wine. This is an anticipation of the wedding feast of heaven where God will give us every good thing forever. Indeed, the Catechism tells us that heaven is “wholly communion and feast” (1136).

ANSWER TO QUIZ

There's a simple answer!

It is a way of praying,

“May the Lord be in my mind,

on my lips and in my heart.”

Also prayed prior to the Gospel reading at Mass,

we prayerfully invite Christ to come to us in these ways as His sacred Word is proclaimed.

Hearing the Gospel must

change our minds,

be proclaimed by our lips, and

affect our heart.*

*By heart we especially mean

our will, affections, emotions and passions.

So next time you sign yourself with the Cross before the Gospel, be sure it’s more than just an external gesture.

Make it also a prayer and an invitation to Christ.

DOES THIS ALL SOUND SO GREAT

YOU WISH THERE WAS MORE?

THERE IS!

Click the link below to find more:

FAITH FORMATION ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS

OUR LADY OF HOPE

NOVENA

O Blessed Virgin Mary,

Mother of Grace,

Hope of the world.

Hear us, your children, who cry to you.

Let Us Pray:

O God, Who by the marvelous protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary has strengthened us firmly in hope,

grant we beseech You,

that by persevering in prayer at her admonition,

we may obtain the favors we devoutly implore.

Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Prayer to Our Lady of Hope

O Mary, my Mother, I kneel before you with heavy heart.

The burden of my sins oppresses me. The knowledge of my weakness discourages me. I am beset by fears and temptations of every sort.

Yet I am so attached to the things of this world that instead of longing for Heaven I am filled with dread at the thought of death.

O Mother of Mercy, have pity on me in my distress.

You are all-powerful with your Divine Son.

He can refuse no request of your Immaculate Heart.

Show yourself a true Mother to me by being my

advocate before His throne.

O Refuge of Sinners and Hope of the Hopeless,

to whom shall I turn if not you?

Obtain for me, then, O Mother of Hope,

the grace of true sorrow for my sins,

the gift of perfect resignation to God’s Holy Will,

and the courage to take up my cross and follow Jesus.

Beg of His Sacred Heart the special favor that I ask in this novena.

(Make your request.)

But above all I pray, O dearest Mother,

that through your most powerful intercession

my heart may be filled with Holy Hope,

so that in life’s darkest hour I may never fail to trust

in God my Savior, but by walking in the way of His commandments

I may merit to be united with Him,

and with you in the eternal joys of Heaven.

Amen.

Mary, our Hope, have pity on us.

Hope of the Hopeless, pray for us.

Say three (3) Hail Marys

(To be said for nine consecutive days)

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF HOPE

(Feast Day, January 17)

For the Novena: Pray 9 times - Once each day for 9 days or once each hour for 9 hours, or... whatever consecutive 9 works for you!

Missed a day or an hour, no worries! The prayer was created for you, not you for the prayer.

Pray when you remember, and continue until prayed 9 times. Mary understands!