Free Republic

Franciscan Media Image: Virgin of the Deliverance | Ernest Hébert Queenship of Mary Saint of the Day for August 22  The Story of the Queenship of Mary Pope Pius XII established this feast in 1954. But Mary’s queenship has roots in Scripture. At the Annunciation, Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever. At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary “mother of my Lord.” As in all the mysteries of Mary’s life, she is closely associated with Jesus: Her queenship is a share in Jesus’ kingship. We can also recall that in the Old...

August 22, 2018 Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1 Ez 34:1-11 The word of the Lord came to me:Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,in these words prophesy to them to the shepherds:Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the shepherds of Israelwho have been pasturing themselves!Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep?You have fed off their milk, worn their wool,and slaughtered the fatlings,but the sheep you have not pastured.You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sicknor bind up the injured.You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost,but...

Pittsburgh, Pa., Aug 14, 2018 / 02:27 pm (CNA).- A redacted grand jury report on clerical sexual abuse in six of Pennsylvania’s Catholic dioceses was released Tuesday, following an 18-month investigation into thousands of alleged instances of abuse spanning several decades. The report, detailing allegations made in the dioceses of Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and Scranton, was released Aug.14. It reported on evidence of systematic abuse and cover-ups going back seven decades within these dioceses. About half of Pennsylvania’s nearly 3 million Catholics live within these six dioceses. The 884-page report was written by 23 grand jurors, who spent...

Franciscan Media Image: Detail | Ceiling of the Assumption of Mary in Santa Maria Immacolata a via Veneto, Rome | photo by LivioandronicoSolemnity of the Assumption of Mary Saint of the Day for August 15  The Story of the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith: “We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to...

August 15, 2018 Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Mass during the Day Reading 1 Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab God's temple in heaven was opened,and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,with the moon under her feet,and on her head a crown of twelve stars.She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.Then another sign appeared in the sky;it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns,and on its...

July 26, 2018 Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1 Jer 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13 This word of the LORD came to me:Go, cry out this message for Jerusalem to hear! I remember the devotion of your youth,how you loved me as a bride,Following me in the desert,in a land unsown.Sacred to the LORD was Israel,the first fruits of his harvest;Should any presume to partake of them,evil would befall them, says the LORD. When I brought you into the garden land to eat its goodly fruits,You entered and defiled my land,you made my...

July 16, 2018 Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Is 1:10-17 Hear the word of the LORD,princes of Sodom!Listen to the instruction of our God,people of Gomorrah!What care I for the number of your sacrifices?says the LORD.I have had enough of whole-burnt ramsand fat of fatlings;In the blood of calves, lambs and goatsI find no pleasure. When you come in to visit me,who asks these things of you?Trample my courts no more!Bring no more worthless offerings;your incense is loathsome to me.New moon and sabbath, calling of assemblies,octaves with wickedness: these I cannot bear.Your new moons...

June 9, 2018 Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1 2 Tm 4:1-8 Beloved:I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,who will judge the living and the dead,and by his appearing and his kingly power:proclaim the word;be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient;convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrinebut, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity,will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truthand will be diverted to myths.But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances;put up...

May 31, 2018 Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1 Zep 3:14-18a Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!Sing joyfully, O Israel!Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!The LORD has removed the judgment against you,he has turned away your enemies;The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,you have no further misfortune to fear.On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!The LORD, your God, is in your midst,a mighty savior;He will rejoice over you with gladness,and renew you in his love,He will sing joyfully...

April 9, 2018 Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord Reading 1 Is 7:10-14; 8:10 The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying:Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God;let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!But Ahaz answered,"I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!"Then Isaiah said: Listen, O house of David!Is it not enough for you to weary people,must you also weary my God?Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,and shall name him Emmanuel,which means "God is with us!" Responsorial...

February 11, 2018 Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Lv 13:1-2, 44-46 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,"If someone has on his skin a scab or pustule or blotchwhich appears to be the sore of leprosy,he shall be brought to Aaron, the priest,or to one of the priests among his descendants.If the man is leprous and unclean,the priest shall declare him uncleanby reason of the sore on his head. "The one who bears the sore of leprosyshall keep his garments rent and his head bare,and shall muffle his beard;he shall cry out, 'Unclean, unclean!'As long as the...

January 1, 2018 The Octave Day of ChristmasSolemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God Reading 1 Nm 6:22-27 The LORD said to Moses: "Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites.Say to them:The LORD bless you and keep you!The LORD let his face shine uponyou, and be gracious to you!The LORD look upon you kindly andgive you peace!So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them." Responsorial Psalm Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8. R. (2a) May God bless us in his mercy.May...

On The Hidden Mercy of the Tilma of Guadalupe Msgr. Charles Pope • December 11, 2017 • On the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, it is a chance for us to rejoice in the great mercy of our divine Lord and our blessed Lady. I am drawn to mediate on the miraculous quality of our Lady’s eyes on the tilma.As many of you know, recent discoveries using modern magnification and ophthalmological equipment have shown the seemingly miraculous reflection of as many as a dozen persons in her eyes. How such tiny and accurate reflections could occur in both...

December 12, 2017 Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Reading 1 Zec 2:14-17 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,and they shall be his people,and he will dwell among you,and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,and he will again choose Jerusalem.Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD!For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling. Or Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab...

December 8, 2017 Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1 Gn 3:9-15, 20 After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree,the LORD God called to the man and asked him, "Where are you?"He answered, "I heard you in the garden;but I was afraid, because I was naked,so I hid myself."Then he asked, "Who told you that you were naked?You have eaten, then,from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!"The man replied, "The woman whom you put here with meCshe gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it."The...

November 21, 2017 Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1 2 Mc 6:18-31 Eleazar, one of the foremost scribes,a man of advanced age and noble appearance,was being forced to open his mouth to eat pork. But preferring a glorious death to a life of defilement,he spat out the meat,and went forward of his own accord to the instrument of torture,as people ought to do who have the courage to reject the foodwhich it is unlawful to taste even for love of life. Those in charge of that unlawful ritual meal took the man aside privately,because...

October 7, 2017 Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary Reading 1 Bar 4:5-12, 27-29Fear not, my people!Remember, Israel,You were sold to the nationsnot for your destruction;It was because you angered Godthat you were handed over to your foes.For you provoked your Makerwith sacrifices to demons, to no-gods;You forsook the Eternal God who nourished you,and you grieved Jerusalem who fostered you.She indeed saw coming upon youthe anger of God; and she said: "Hear, you neighbors of Zion!God has brought great mourning upon me,For I have seen the captivitythat the Eternal God has broughtupon my sons and daughters.With joy I...

September 15, 2017 Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows Reading 1 1 Tm 1:1-2, 12-14Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our saviorand of Christ Jesus our hope,to Timothy, my true child in faith:grace, mercy, and peace from God the Fatherand Christ Jesus our Lord. I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord,because he considered me trustworthyin appointing me to the ministry.I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man,but I have been mercifully treatedbecause I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.Indeed, the grace of our Lord...

September 12, 2017 Tuesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Col 2:6-15Brothers and sisters:As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him,rooted in him and built upon himand established in the faith as you were taught,abounding in thanksgiving.See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophyaccording to the tradition of men,according to the elemental powers of the worldand not according to Christ. For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily,and you share in this fullness in him,who is the head of every principality and power.In him you were...

Reparation to Mary Msgr.Charles Pope Question: In the Fatima devotions, we are told to make the five First Saturdays in reparation to Mary. But, though I am devoted to Mary, I wonder how I can make reparation to Mary for my sin when the sins I have committed have been against God and those around me? Is it not to God that reparation needs to be made? — Margaret Mantia, St. Louis Answer: The word “reparation” means to repair damages that we or others have inflicted. Even in secular language the word is used when one nation or group is...