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January 21 2019 Memorial of Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr Reading 1 Heb 5:1-10 Brothers and sisters: Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, for he himself is beset by weakness and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people. No one takes this honor upon himself but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. In the same way, it was not Christ who glorified...

It's Apostasy, Not Schism – Cardinal Burke The present Church does find herself in apostasy from the Faith - not in schism, Cardinal Raymond Burke told TheWandererPress.com (January 17). Bishops, priests and laypeople “have effectively abandoned the Catholic Faith by espousing teachings and practices that are contrary to the Deposit of Faith”, he added. Burke criticises “the silence of so many cardinals and bishops” who should defend the Faith “vocally” because in the Church's tremendous confusion and growing division it “can never be right” to remain silent. Picture: Raymond Burke, #newsSiirnocwtl

Post by Franciscan Media Image: San Sebastiano | Pietro Perugino Saint Sebastian Saint of the Day for January 20 (c. 256 – January 20, 287) Saint Sebastian’s Story Almost nothing is historically certain about Sebastian except that he was a Roman martyr, was venerated in Milan even in the time of Saint Ambrose and was buried on the Appian Way, probably near the present Basilica of St. Sebastian. Devotion to him spread rapidly, and he is mentioned in several martyrologies as early as 350. The legend of Saint Sebastian is important in art, and there is a vast iconography. Scholars...

Catholic school board caves into LGBT pressure, allows book depicting two boys kissing OTTAWA January 17, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) -- Catholic schools in Ontario flip-flopped about a graphic novel depicting same-sex attraction between two boys, allowing the “Drama” graphic novel back on elementary school library shelves. Created by American author/illustrator Raina Telgemeier, the 2012 book released by Scholastic is about a girl who tries out for her middle-school stage production. A side story in the graphic novel delves into same-sex attraction and features two boys kissing each other onstage, one of whom is dressed in drag. Emails from officials at the...

Lahore (Agenzia Fides) - Maulana Muhammad Abdul Qadir Azad, who served the faithful as Grand Imam in the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore for about 30 years and died in January 2003, was considered "a great promoter of interreligious peace and harmony and above all of dialogue between Christians and Muslims. He was a great religious leader and a lover of peace. He was an ardent promoter of harmony between different Muslim communities and people of other religions": says the Dominican, Fr. James Channan, director of the "Peace Center" in Lahore, preaching in the Badshahi Mosque, the "Royal Mosque" in Lahore....

ORAN, Argentina (AP) — The Vatican received information in 2015 and 2017 that an Argentine bishop close to Pope Francis had taken naked selfies, exhibited “obscene” behavior and had been accused of misconduct with seminarians, his former vicar general told The Associated Press, undermining Vatican claims that allegations of sexual abuse were only made a few months ago. Francis accepted Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta’s resignation in August 2017, after priests in the remote northern Argentine diocese of Oran complained about his authoritarian rule and a former vicar, seminary rector and another prelate provided reports to the Vatican alleging abuses of power,...

Biblical Basics about Mother Mary – A Homily for the Second Sunday of the Year Msgr. Charles Pope • January 19, 2019 • Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes In this Sunday’s Gospel passage of the wedding feast at Cana, there is a theological portrait of both Mother Mary and prayer. Let’s look at the Gospel along five lines: I. The place that Mary has – The text says, There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. A fascinating thing about these opening...

Pre-Lenten Season Theme: Babylonian Captivity, Man’s Fallen State Color: Violet Mood: Penance Symbols: chains, tears, Jeremias Length: Septuagesima Sunday to Shrove Tuesday Septuagesima and Lent are both times of penance, Septuagesima being a time of voluntary fasting in preparation for the obligatory Great Fast of Lent. The theme is the Babylonian exile, the “mortal coil” we must endure as we await the Heavenly Jerusalem... The Sundays of Septugesima are named for their distance away from Easter: * The first Sunday of Septuagesima gives its name to the entire season as it is known as “Septuagesima.” “Septuagesima” means “seventy,” and Septuagesima...

January 20 2019 Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Is 62:1-5 For Zion's sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch. Nations shall behold your vindication, and all the kings your glory; you shall be called by a new name pronounced by the mouth of the LORD. You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD, a royal diadem held by your God. No more shall people call you "Forsaken, " or your land "Desolate,...

Post by Franciscan Media Detail from Saint John the Baptist, Saint Fabian and Saint Sebastian | Miguel Ximénez Image: Detail from Saint John the Baptist, Saint Fabian and Saint Sebastian | Miguel Ximénez Saint Fabian Saint of the Day for January 19 (c. 200 – January 20, 250) Saint Fabian’s Story Fabian was a Roman layman who came into the city from his farm one day as clergy and people were preparing to elect a new pope. Eusebius, a Church historian, says a dove flew in and settled on the head of Fabian. This sign united the votes of clergy...

ROME, January 17, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Vatican sources told Reuters that the disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick is almost certain to be laicized following widely published allegations against him last summer that include the sexual abuse of a minor and adult seminarians. The 88-year-old McCarrick, who now resides in a Carmelite monastery in Kansas, has responded to only one of the allegations, claiming he has "absolutely no recollection" of allegations that he sexually abused a 16-year-old boy more than 50 years ago. In 2018, Pope Francis ordered a "thorough study" of Vatican documents about allegations against McCarrick. In addition, the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In the thick of the clergy sex abuse crisis, thousands of American Catholics descended on the nation’s capitol in protest of abortion where Archbishop Joseph Naumann reminded them that the abuse of minors is antithetical to the Church’s pro-life witness. “For all Catholics, the last several months have been profoundly difficult,” he said. “We have been devastated by the scandal of sexual misconduct by clergy and of past instances of the failure of bishops to respond with compassion to victims of abuse and to protect adequately the members of their flock.” “The abuse of children or minors...

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The demolition of about 100 homes near Ho Chi Minh City, including one owned by the Catholic Church, has pitted the church against authorities in the latest such dispute over land in the Communist Party-ruled country. Residents in Tan Binh district received no warning of the demolitions earlier this month and were given little compensation, according to local media reports. Land conflicts have risen in Vietnam since the ruling Communist Party launched its economic reforms, or doi moi, in the late 1980s, which resulted in more farming land being taken over to build highways and...

Second marriages The Church does not gauge the validity of a union by the happiness of the people who have entered it Msgr. Charles Pope 1/9/2019 Question: Jesus says if you divorce your wife and marry another, you commit adultery. But we see many seemingly happy people in their second marriage. What is your perspective on this? — Paul VanHoudt, Erie, Colorado Answer: The implied premise of your question is that happiness and joy are determining criteria for what is right and wrong. Such a premise is flawed. Doing what is right does not always bring immediate happiness. Sometimes what...

Fear That Panama’s World Youth May Be Flop – Only 150.000 Registered Alessandro Gisotti, the Interim Director of the Holy See Press Office, admitted (January 18) that only about 150,000 people have signed up for World Youth Day in Panama (January 22 to 27). He hopes more to come who have not registered.The location for the main event has a capacity of 700.000 people. Gisotti excuses the small crowd explaining that students in North America and Europe are at school. At the last three World Youth Days in Spain (2011), Brazil (2013) and Poland (2016) there were between 2 and...

CDF assumes duties of Ecclesia Dei Commission With a new Apostolic Letter issued "motu proprio", Pope Francis has suppressed the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, which was established thirty years ago by Pope St. John Paul II. By Christopher WellsThe Holy See has published the text of an Apostolic Letter, issued motu proprio on 17 January 2019, by which Pope Francis suppresses the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei.Established by St John Paul II The Commission was established by Pope St John Paul II on 2 July 1988, with the “task of collaborating with the bishops, with the Departments of the Roman Curia...

We just returned from a visit to the city of Santiago de Compestela where we went to see the newly reopened Portico of Glory at the Cathedral. We stayed at the Hostal Dos Reis Catolicos, which is a treasure in its own right and steps away from the cathedral so we could easily take the first tour of the morning.There is good news and bad news about the Portico. The bad news is that you can no longer walk into it. It has been sealed off from the rest of the cathedral so other restoration work will not damage it...

Op-Ed - Anglican Nightmare in Rome: "Ordained" Female Deacons, First Step Towards "Women Priests" Father Richard G. Cipolla, DPhil (Oxon) “Consecrated women already work so much with the poor and the marginalized: teaching the catechism, accompanying the sick and the moribund, distributing communion, [and] in many countries conducting the common prayers in absence of priests and in those circumstances pronouncing the homily. In the church there is the office of the permanent diaconate, but it is open only to married and non-married men. What impedes the church from including women among permanent deacons, just as it happened in the early...

January 19 2019 Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Heb 4:12-16 The word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account. Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not...

Post by Franciscan Media Saint Charles from Sezze, Immaculate's church, Latina | Antonio Sicurezza Image: Saint Charles from Sezze, Immaculate’s church, Latina | Antonio Sicurezza Saint Charles of Sezze Saint of the Day for January 18 (October 19, 1613 – January 6, 1670) Audio Player Saint Charles of Sezze’s Story Charles thought that God was calling him to be a missionary in India, but he never got there. God had something better for this 17th-century successor to Brother Juniper. Born in Sezze, southeast of Rome, Charles was inspired by the lives of Salvator Horta and Paschal Baylon to become a...