CATHOLIC FAITH AT HOME RESOURCES
FOR ST. THOMAS MORE PARISHIONERS
DEC. 31
|
|
REMINDER: CHRISTMAS IS 12 DAYS LONG!!
The full Christmas season gives us all a little extra time
to relax, perhaps enjoy a good movie with family and friends.
We should all try to set some time aside to let God speak to us,
and watching at least one good movie that puts you in the holiday spirit!
could be just the thing.
From comedies to dramas, this list of heartwarming films
is sure to have you and your friends full of Christmas cheer -
and joy is the hallmark of those who carry Jesus within!
Click below to see the great list of movies:
|
|
THOUGHTFUL QUESTIONS ABOUT CHRISTMAS
- Why was Christmas named a public holiday in 1870?
- How does a public observance of Christmas unite Americans today?
- How is the Declaration of Independence linked to America’s
celebration of Christmas?
Click below to hear Mary FioRito's reflections on these questions:
|
|
|
|
Was Mary an Unwed Mother?
Scroll down to find the answer!
|
|
|
|
Fr. Mike Schmitz
on Times Square Billboard in NYC!!!
His #1 podcast, Bible in a Year continues to appear there until Jan. 9, 2022!!
(on 7th Ave. and 48th St. in New York City).
Click below to see a preview:
Click on the link below to listen to his Bible in a Year Podcasts:
|
|
INVASION ON!!
Fr. John Riccardo reminds us
why we celebrate Christmas,
...and provides updates on the Rescue Project.
Click below for his 3 minute explanation of the RESCUE PROJECT:
|
|
SOON! - Join Us - Jan. 16th for
the 3rd Chosen Watch Party
PARISH DINING HALL
AFTER 10:00 MASS, Jan. 16th
FREE DONUTS AND COFFEE!
Note: Feel free to bring a soft cushion to sit on.
|
|
OR...Choose another day to watch with a party!!
In Person: Wednesday, Jan. 19, 7:00 pm
- OR -
Online: Wednesday, Jan. 19, at 7:00 pm
Register at the Faith Formation Website link below:
|
|
BEACONS OF LIGHT - UPDATES!
Final Families of Parishes
on Beacons of Light Website
Evangelization is one of the guiding principles in Beacons of Light.
Each Family of Parishes will form an evangelization team
that will create and implement an evangelization plan
specific to their Family.
The goal is for
each Family of Parishes
to become a center of missionary outreach in its community.
This Evangelization will be an active ministry
enabling the lay faithful
to fulfill their baptismal mission.
The Center for the New Evangelization
will support Families of Parishes in these efforts.
|
|
AFTER CENTURIES,
NUNS ARE BACK TO BREWING BEER!
Monastic brewhouses have existed across Europe
since at least the 5th century.
The Rule of St. Benedict
(His book of precepts written in 516 for monks
living communally under the authority of an abbot)
clearly states that:
Monks should earn their own keep
and donate to the poor by the work of their own hands.
Thus, monasteries produced a diversity of different goods.
First and foremost, beer!
Popular in part because it was one of the few safe drinking options
- unlike their water supply.
Click below to read more about these nun-made beers:
|
|
GOSPEL READING REFLECTION
For January 2, 2022
The Epiphany Year C
Matthew 2: 1--12
******************************************************************************
The Epiphany reveals
that salvation is
for all peoples!
"After their audience with the king they set out.
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage."
- These magi understood the Christ child to be the king of the Jews. Learned Jews testified that this Messiah would be sent by God to shepherd and rule Israel.
- As Peter would say to the upright and God-fearing pagan, Cornelius, “God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34-35). These pagan magi were acceptable to God because they feared God and did what was right. They were led by God’s power to Christ and brought gifts to him and his family—to Mary and Joseph—as Isaiah and the psalmist foresaw.
- Even though we are not pagans but members of God’s family through Baptism, we too bring our gifts, whatever they are, and lay them at the feet of Christ and his family, the Church.
- We do this out of gratitude, because of the good that God has done for us. And we bring our gifts in a spirit of service for anyone in need.
- As the Psalmist foresaw, “he shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save.
- Christ gives to the world what the world needs but he gives it through human instruments. We are those instruments.
- The Church is the sacrament of human unity. This means the Church is both a sign of human unity and the means by which this unity is realized. This unity is the community or communion or friendship or fellowship or family or even marriage among the human beings joined to Christ through his Church.
- God’s will is to “gather all his children into the unity of the Church.” These children of God are first the Jews and then later the Gentiles. (CCC 60)
- This human unity is the work of the Holy Spirit acting through the Church. “As the ‘convocation’ of all men for salvation, the Church . . . is . . . sent by Christ to all the nations to make disciples of them.” (CCC 767)
- “The seven sacraments are the signs and instruments by which the Holy Spirit spreads the grace of Christ the head throughout the Church which is his Body. The Church, then, both contains and communicates the invisible grace she signifies.” (CCC 774)
|
|
ANSWER TO QUIZ
“In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2-3). When Jesus says this, look for its marital imagery - He, the Bridegroom, is telling His Church that she’s already his bride, and that this life is the short space between the kiddushin and the nisuin—the wedding ceremony and the marital homecoming.
Thus do we also encounter Mary and Joseph on their journey toward Christmas. Mary being “betrothed” to Joseph (Matt. 1:18, Luke 1:27) is a poor translation, unlike modern “engagement.” They’re legally married and could licitly have sexual relations. That’s why Joseph considers a quiet divorce: because he’s “unwilling to put her to shame” (Matt. 1:19). There was no shame in becoming pregnant by your husband in the time between the kiddushin and the nisuin! People would assume that Mary’s child was the son of Joseph (Luke 3:23).
And so Mary and Joseph were free to have sexual relations.
But, for some reason, they don’t.
Both Mary and Joseph refer to this. While the RSVCE translates Mary's question to Gabriel as, “How can this be, since I have no husband?” (Luke 1:34), she does have a husband. What she actually asks is, “How will this be, since I know not a man?”
She is saying that she doesn’t have sex with the husband she has. That’s a much more unusual statement, but consistent with Joseph’s response. Remember that he knew both
a) Everyone would assume Mary's child was his because they were married
b) The child couldn’t possibly be his, a fact Joseph only knew if he weren’t having relations with his wife.
Early Christian texts claimed that Mary had taken a vow of perpetual virginity in the temple. Whether true or not, we do know: Mary and Joseph were free to engage in licit marital relations, but weren’t when the angel Gabriel showed up and after the nisuin, when they start living together.
Want to know more? Click the link below:
|
|
DOES THIS ALL SOUND SO GREAT YOU WISH THERE WAS MORE?
THERE IS!
Click the link below to find more
STM FAITH FORMATION ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS
|
|
A PRAYER TO THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD |
|
O God, who,
through the fruitful virginity of
Blessed Mary,
bestowed on the human race
the grace of eternal salvation,
grant, we pray, that we may
experience the intercession of her,
through whom we were found worthy
to receive the author of life,
our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen!
January 1: Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
