With Lent and Ash Wednesday (February 22) right around the corner, Catholics around the world will begin to prepare for what they will “give up.” The penitential practices of our Catholic faith are in contrast to the values of our American culture. Some Catholics may recall the times when every Friday meant not eating meat. What many faithful Catholics don’t realize is that the obligation of some form of penance on Fridays throughout the year has not been dispensed. In November of 1966, our US Bishops did allow for more meaningful penance other than just meat on Fridays. However, after 40-plus years the plan has back-fired and we have lost the practice of Friday penance. Let’s look at what the Church says:

 

• Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1438: The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent, and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the Church’s penitential practice.
  
• Canon 1250: The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.
  
• Can. 1251: Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
  
• Can. 1253: The conference of bishops can determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence as well as substitute other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety, in whole or in part, for abstinence and fast.

The Grace available from following the practices of our faith add to our Christian life. Many who have returned to the practice of “no meat” (or some other deliberate sacrifice) on Fridays profess how it has helped them fully appreciate the sacrifice that Christ made on Good Friday. As you and your family prepare for Lent 2012, consider returning to the practice of every Friday being a day of penance.  

Practical tips/suggestions:

• Set the alarm on your watch/smart phone to go off at 3pm every Friday to remind yourself of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and say a prayer for yourself or someone in need.
  
• If you don’t give up meat, fast from something else: sweets, soda, coffee, etc.
  
• Do an act of charity every Friday: drop off food for St. Vincent de Paul or visit a shut-in.
  
• Make it a rule: On Fridays no TV or other electronic devises, or have your kids give up that one toy that they really enjoy.
  
• Take time with your kids and share about Christ’s love and sacrifice for us on the cross: pray the chaplet of divine Mercy or the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.

Every Friday in the church from 6:30pm- 7:30pm we have Adoration & Confession, 
the first Friday is Children’s Adoration. 

Make it a priority to participate in the rich tradition of the Church by remembering every Friday the Passion & Death of our Lord Jesus. 

Meditations on the Eucharist

"Receive in this bread that which was hanged on the cross; receive in this cup that which was poured from Christ's side."
- St. Augustine on the Eucharist

"Dear young people, the happiness you are seeking, the happiness you have a right to enjoy has a name and a face: It is Jesus of Nazareth, hidden in the Eucharist."
- Pope Benedict XVI, World Youth Day 2005

"What a great privilege to be able to live and work in the shadow of His Presence, such a powerfully magnetic Presence!"
- Pope John Paul II, on having a personal chapel and tabernacle, Rise Let Us Be On Our Way, p. 147

"If love for the Eucharist dies out in a heart, faith vanishes therein, indifference holds sway, and into this night of the soul vices come forth like wild beasts seeking their prey."
- St. Peter Julian Eymard

"Near the tabernacle the soul finds strength, consolation and resignation."
- St. Katherine Drexel

"Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: The Blessed Sacrament....There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth."
- J.R.R. Tolkien

"What does it matter where we go? Wherever we go, won't we be serving God there? And wherever we go, won't we have Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament there? Isn't that enough to make us happy?"
- Venerable Solanus Casey

"When you approach the tabernacle remember that he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries."
- St. Josemaria Escriva

Taken from the Archdiocese of Denver website

Sunday Masses:
   Saturday (Vigil): 5:30pm - English 
   Sunday: 7:30am - English 
                 9:00am - Extraordinary (Latin) Form 
               10:30am - English 
                 12noon - English 
                 1:30pm - Español 
                 5:30pm - English 
                 7:30pm - English 
Daily Mass:
   Weekdays M-F: 8:00am & 5:45pm
   Fridays: 12noon - Extraordinary (Latin) Form
   Saturdays: 8:00am
 

Confessions 6 days per week!
   Monday - Thursday - 5:00pm 
   Fridays: 6:30pm (Holy Hour) 
   Saturdays: 8:30am & 4:00pm 

   Homebound please call 551-4973
   for a priest to visit you by
   appointment.
 

Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration
   Holy Hour in the Church: 
   Fridays 6:30pm-7:30pm
   Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration
   chapel access code available at 
   the parish office.
 

No one is allowed to borrow from the Vatican Library, except the pope.  And no wonder: the archive holds some of the oldest and most precious works of art and treasure known to man. Watch the video below to see the best of the best. 

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7362330n&tag=related%3Bphotovideo%3Ftag%3Dfacebook#ixzz1JKbC9l9I

Special thanks to Richard Braun for the tip on these videos!  :-)

Proclamation of the Kingdom of God

In the Third Luminous Mystery, Jesus proclaims the Kingdom of God saying; “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Jesus calls all of us to conversion in the same way that He called His first disciples and they immediately followed Him. He expects us to leave the things of the world behind and begin anew. Conversion, a separation from sin, is the first step in our journey to God as His disciples. Repentance or Metanoia in Greek, literally means “change of mind”, turning away from sin and walking toward God. This comes when we find ourselves humbly facing God Almighty and recognizing His Kingship and our dependence on Him, and we embrace His mercy in the Sacrament of Confession. His admonition to “believe in the gospel” is not an intellectual exercise, but deems a “fiat” to following His commandments. “Duc in altum. Put out into deep water! Throw aside the pessimism that makes a coward of you. Et laxate retia vestra in capturam. And let down your nets for a catch!” (Holy Rosary–Appendix, The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God). "The kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence and the violent are taking it by storm (Matthew 11:12)." In the words of St. Josemaría Escrivá, “This violence is not directed against others. It is a violence used to fight your own weaknesses and miseries, a fortitude which prevents you from camouflaging your own infidelities, a boldness to own up to the faith even when the environment is hostile.” (Christ is Passing By, 82) During our conversion, we might receive the gift of tears or repentance “compunction,” and begin the Purgative process from sin; and as we are liberated from the chains of mortal sin, the scales of our eyes fall and we begin to see reality, and view the world as we have never seen it before. Our love affair with the living God begins, and the garden of our soul is made ready to be tilled by the Lord to make room for His visits. Pruning and pulling of weeds might for a time be painful, but this pain gives way to a unique joy, one that makes us want to share the Good News with everyone. After all, we have found the most beautiful pearl-the Way, the Truth and the Life-Jesus. God is calling, do not delay! (Rosarium Virginis Mariæ 21, John Paul II)

By Maria F. Delgado-Braun