September 30, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Friday, September 30
ST. JEROME, Priest and Doctor
Bar 1: 15-22
Lk 10: 13-16

The hour of Visit, the adoration, should never be omitted…the great gift of the Institute to us is precisely that hour where we meet the Master, speak to Him and carry on a warm conversation with Him (VMC 857).

Father Tom: The founder was talking about the regular Pauline Religious, but if HFI members can make this Visit, so much the better. Let’s examine our schedule carefully. Can we say honestly we don’t have the time?


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. M. Vitoria De Benedetti FSP (1964)—Bro Innocenzo Mannolino (1967)—Fr. Antonio Bartoluci IJP (1984)—Fr. Gino Fornari SP (1988)—Sr. M. Maddalena Vinagre PD (2007)—Sr. M. Rita Ruffo FSP (2009)—Sr. M. Veronica Crevani PD (2009)—Michael Fernandez (2005)

September 29, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Thursday, September 29
SS. MICHAEL, GABRIEL, & RAPHAEL, ARCHANGELS
Dn 7: 9-10
Jn 1: 47-51

*** Feastday of the Gabrielites***

For the Visit choose your mose relaxed hyour…if you get bored, do an extra five minutes! (VMC 854).

Father Tom: And those may well be the best five minutes of the hour—because fruit of a strong act of the will and not sentiment only.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. M. Raffaella Rivetti PD (1975)—Fr. Ferdinando Sgambettera IJP (1982)—Sr. Silvia Ragone FSP (1992)—Sr. M. Girolama Modena PD (1993)—Sr. M. Teofania Mazzara PD (2001)—Fr. Mario Maresi IJP (2002)—Sr. M. Addolorata Piccari FSP (2003)—Antonietta Valenza (2004)—Virgil Halcomb (1980)

September 28, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Wednesday, September 28
OF THE DAY
St. Wencelaus, Martyr
St. Lawrence Ruiz, Martyr & Companions
Ne 2: 1-8
Lk 9: 57-62

The Visit is the great secret of our transformation into Christ and the guarantee of perseverance (VMC 854).

Father Tom: The guarantee of perseverance, and not, therefore, he guarantee of simply remaining in the Institute. There is a significant difference: one is marked by the passage of time, the other by spiritual progress.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. M. Lilia Nicola PD (1982)—Fr. Renato Dorio SSP (2001)

September 27, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Tuesday, September 27
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL, Priest
Zech 8: 20-23
Lk 9: 51-56

The Visit is the practice which most orients and influences our entire life and apostolate (VMC 854).

Father Tom: The main purpose of the Institute is not to “have vows and consecration” but to live this state. It can happen that our efforts to correct our defects stop soon after our Perpetuals. Let’s have a look back over our lives of recent years!


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Bro. Benedict Abrate SSP (1941)—Sr. Maddalena Dotta FSP (1978)—Sr. M. Beatrice Allocco PD (1982)—Sr. M. Patrice Rouillard PD (1989)—Sr. M. Irene Vinciguerra PD (1989)—Sr. Anna Deiana SGBP (1990)—Sr. M. Celina Mongo FSP (1991)—Sbastiano Corona HFI (2003)—Angela Romano HFI (2010)—George D. Hines Jr. (1985)—Henry Berlo (1951)

September 26, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Monday, September 26
OF THE DAY
SS. Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs
Zech 8: 1-8
Lk 9: 46-50

This is your mission: to bring as much as you can the word of God, the Good Word, becasuet he aim of the Pauline Family is to enlighten (MCS 452).

Father Tom: The important thing is that we bring the Word of God. This can happen only when we speak to God frequently, especially during the Visit and receive Him frequently in Holy Communion and so allow Him to be in us and to use our voice to speak. This little rule is easy to forget.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Cleric Francesco Frizzi SSP (1934)—Fr. Pio Baroni SSP (1945)—Sr. Mardonia Espanol FSP (1990)—Sr. Bruna Battistoni FSP (1992)—Jolanda Cecchetti HFI (2007)—Eleonora Boldrin SJBP (2007)—Sr. M. Cherubina Fernandez FSP (2008)—Sr. Giuliana Ianelli FSO (2009)—Sr. M. Eugenia (2009)

Will I Hear These Readings Next Year?

Will I hear these Readings next year? Suppose I am not alive to hear them ... what should I do?



Sept. 25th - XXVI Sunday in Ordinary Time


The First Reading this Sunday is also found on the first Friday of Lent - a useful reminder of the need to straighten out our lives as the penitential Seasons begins. Always there is the thought: is this the last time I will hear this Reading and, if so, what is my spiritual situation? The overall theme of the liturgy today is one of forgiveness and perhaps in situations where we would not quite expect it. On the other hand - ominously - we may have instances where people simply have forgotten the whole concept of sin and are in great danger of damnation. Looking out at today's confused world there is immense material suffering but, in the midst of this pain, there is a real danger that we will overlook the - allegedly - 20 million Catholics who have now calmly left the Church and seems quite happy about it. A victory for Satan? Well, you can bet he is not displeased. As I often say, if he had a face he's be smiling and,if he had hands, he'd be rubbing them!a,br />

The Responsorial Psalm is once again the prayer of the repentant sinner and, seeing that some of us at least are in that category, we might incorporate this Psalm into our daily prayers with significant gain in terms of variety.


The Second Reading offers a more positive slant: St. Paul wants our daily lives to be high-toned ones which have long since ruled out serious sin and have been changed into lives of serene repentance, humility and - as a result - compassion for ourselves first of all - no useless regrets about the past - and then love and compassion for all others. The Reading ends with an ancient hymn to the Lord which St. Paul made his own in this Letter.


"Actions, not just words," could be seen as the theme of the Gospel which offers a third aspect of sin and forgiveness as contrasted with the preceding Sundays. The Lord applies his words to the disbelieving religious leaders but they are relevant in a general sense: " Not those who say to me: 'Lord! Lord! But those who DO the will of my Father." Perhaps this is what happened to our modern Church: for too long there was observance without real commitment - doing things by rote or for fear of what the neighbors might say or simply because a number didn't quite know how else to pass the early hours on Sunday. All that has changed, shaky convictions have been toppled and we have the distressing picture of mature men and women - not just teenagers - living in situations they themselves would have condemned twenty years ago. God forgive them and God forgive all of us!


~ September 2011 Concord

September 25, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Sunday, September 25
XXVI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Ez 18: 25-28
Phil 2: 1-11
Mt 21: 28-32

Jesus is the Master of faith, morals and prayer and we attend his “school” in the Visit (VMC 834).

Father Tom: Which means that we “attend class” as often as is reasonable in our circumstances. The Mass allows us—in Communion—to join ourselves substantially with Christ and in the Visit we ask how we can best serve the Father with Him.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Maria Concetta Citarda IAM (1974)—Sr. Rosa M. Onofre FSP (1989)—Sr. M. Giovanna Nicosia FSP (1993)—Sr. Emiliana Miserere FSP (2008)

September 24, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Saturday, September 24
OF THE DAY
The Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday
Zec. 2: 5-9, 14-15a
Lk 9: 43b-45

When devotion to Mary has been implanted in a soul or in the Church generally, there is a transformation: spiritual, intellectual, vital (RSP p. 563).

Father Tom: We can begin with the 3 daily recitations of the Angelus—rising, midday, night—and continue with the Rosary. Better still are frequent invocations to the Queen of Apostles (using our specific title). A sincere effort on these lines—plus our Prayer Book items—will give a real and permanent change to our lives.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. M. Consilia Marello FSP (1983)—Fr. Francesco Cordero FSP (1985)—Bro Michele Lando SSP (1996)

September 23, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Friday, September 23
ST. PIO PIETRELCINA, Priest
Hg. 1: 15-2:9
Lk 9: 18-22

How can we love Jesus and not desire that His word reach the whole world? And how can we bear the hard work of the apostolate without the strength of the Eucharist.

Father Tom: Indeed. But this supposes that we Paulines believe in the Eucharist and so celebrate Mass properly, make the daily Visit and behave accordingly. To receive the strength of the Eucharist requires that we be open to receiving it. So also, making due allowances, for HFI members.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. m. Margherita Rabbia FSP (1990)—Fr. Mario Volini IJP (1996)—Sr. Maria do Rosario Sandi FSP (1997).

September 22, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Thursday, September 22
OF THE DAY
Hg. 1: 1-8
Lk 9: 7-9

The Visit is a vital current which influences everything and forms a spirituality which is lived and shared. It forms the spirit of prayer and this, when it is well-established, transforms every work into a prayer (VMC 854).

Father Tom: If we were to visit the President we would obviously feel changed in various ways afterwards… how much ore when we visit with the Divine Master.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. M. Riccarda Pasin PD (1970)—Sr. Mercede Migliardi FSP (2007)—Sr. M. Letizia Britti FSP (2008)—Dominic Vincenzo—Nancy Vincenzo (no dates)

September 21, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Wednesday, September 21
ST. MATTHEW, Apostle and Evangelist
Eph. 4: 1-7, 11-13
Mt 9: 9-13

The True Visit is a spirit that can be found subsequently in all the ours of the day, in our thoughts, contacts, etc. (VMC 854).

Father Tom: Interesting thought. Is there a real difference in my life and attitudes after I have been before the Blessed Sacrament, even for a brief time? A disturbing thought also!


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. M. Ermengilda Pasqualini PD (1941)—Savino Crema HFI (1993)—Fr. Renato Perino SSP (1995)—Sr. M. Elena Tezzele FSP (2007)—Sr. M. Adelia Moreira FSP (2007)—Sr. Concetta Marongiu FSP (2009)

September 20, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Tuesday, September 20
ANDREW KIM, priest and companions
Ezr. 6: 7-8, 12b, 14-20
Lk 8: 19-21

Let our Visit be a meeting of our whole selves with Jesus: the disciple before the Divine Master; the sick person seeking the Healer; the poor person seeking the help from the Rich One (VMC 854).

Father Tom: So we are not talking of “prayers”: but much more of dialog-- and this can be, and should be, continued during the day. Invocations don’t take time, but they are wonderfully helpful to cultivate friendship.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. M. Nazarena Tarico PD (1943)—Fr. Daniele Berardop SSP (1944)—Sr. M. Clelia Nakagawa PD (1985)—Sr. M. Bambinas Tramuta PD (1989)—Sr. M. Teresa Figher FSP (1992)—Bro. Cristino M. Rifici SSP (1994)—Fr. Dario Moauro IJP (1998)—Sr. M. Pia Delgado FSP (2008)—Reynold Feldman (2006).

September 19, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Monday, September 19
OF THE DAY
St. Januarius, Bishop and Martyr
Ezr. 1: 1-6
Lk 8: 16-18

Pauline life was born from the tabernacle, that is how it must live and that is how it must end in holy Viaticum. From the tabernacle everything, without the tabernacle, nothing.

Father Tom: Our duties can prevent us from being in church as much as we would like, but if we hear Mass well on Sundays and try to keep in touch with the Lord by constant invocations… He will recognize our good will and not fail us.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Fr. Luigi Rolfo SSP (1986)—Vincenza Vasallo HFI (1992)—Bro Modesto Gotelli SSP (1998)—Sr. Anastasia Da Ros FSP (2005)—Johnnie Gastin (2000)

September 18, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Sunday, September 18
XXV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Is 55: 6-9
Phil. 1: 20-24, 27
Mt 20: 1-6

The Visit is not a series of prayers, but is in fact a “Visit” as if we went to see a good friend, our mothers, for example. We would exchange greetings, news, perhaps little gifts and other tokens of friendship (VMC 848).

Father Tom: This is one suggestion. The Founder also recommends that we read Scripture and dialog with the Master. The main thrust seems to be to make the Visit personal rather than liturgical.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Bro. Angelo Bolzon SSP (2010)

Don't Worry About What Others Get...

Don't worry about what others get - thank God for all His gifts to YOU!



Sept. 18 - XXV Sunday in Ordinary Time


Trade Unions won't like the Gospel today - nor, if it goes to that, will whoever is giving the homily in your church! There are two points to keep in mind: a parable must not be pressed to the wall and parsed to its last sentence and, secondly, God's ways are not our ways and He does not have to conform to the logic of our thinking. He cannot do wrong . . . but He can do something we might not expect.


The First Reading expresses precisely this concept of the divine independence: "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways." And what is the essential difference? God is rich in mercy and, if you like, "lives to forgive." So even the greatest sinner can turn to Him for mercy. But, there is a catch: the sinner must convert, "forsake his way." All very obvious, isn't it?


The Responsorial Psalm reads like the joyful hymn of the forgiven sinner - and are we not all in that category? This is one more part of the Liturgy that we can incorporate into our daily prayer which - albeit with the larger Pauline Prayer Book -may become a bit monotonous even for the best of us.


Turning now to the Second Reading, we have once more a wonderful statement of love by our holy Patron: "for me, life is Christ and death is gain!" So Paul is not agonizing over his past but, as he says elsewhere, " forgetting the past I go forward to the future." Nor is he agonizing over what God does and if it is, or is not, correct by our standards. "For me, to live is Christ and death is a gain." Now if you and I could move closer to that mentality how much happier we would be!


This brings us to the "difficult" Gospel. There is a parallel here between the early workers and the second brother in the story of the Prodigal Son: the stay-at- home individual is not complaining - really - about his own situation but is filled with anger that the vagabond has received anything at all. So also the workers of the early hour became fixated on those who had come last.


Sometimes we ourselves fall into that mentality: X has done so much wrong that he/she cannot be forgiven. That is not what God says. The parable can be applied to the Jewish people who did not recognize the Messiah though they were " the workers of the early hours" and now we Gentiles - "the Church" are the favorite sons. Truly we and God think in different ways ... or perhaps He thinks and we just indulge in mind- wandering!


~September 2011 Concord

September 17, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Saturday, September 17
OF THE DAY
St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop, Doctor
Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday
1 Tim 6: 13-16
Lk 8: 4-15

Jesus in the Eucharist listens and speaks to us (VMC 840).

Father Tom: But not immediately—at least not always. It would be too easy if we heard a voice from the Tabernacle resolving our problems. The Lord normally helps us through people and events and so our question may be answered a week and even a month from the time we ask it, because the conditions of time and place are then right.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Cleric Silvio Albicini SSP (1938)—F.r Slavatore Carolla SSP (1958)—Sr. Anna Giuseppa Cane (FSP) 1969)—Giovanna Malvolti IAM (1991)—Bruno Pascalis HFI (1995)—Sr. Annziantina Guidi FSP (1996)

September 16, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Friday, September 16
SS. CORNELIUS, Pope & CYPRIAN, Bishop
1 Tim 6: 2-12
Lk 8: 1-3

One of the best ways of doing the Visit to the Blessed Sacrament is that which leads us to honor Jesus Master, Way, Truth and Life (VMC 839).

Father Tom: Our exam during the Visit can be divided into Truth—what have we been doing—Way—how have we been doing it—and Life—how we can improve.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. M. Emma Merlini PD (1991)—Msgr Vincenco IJP (1993)—Crescenza Brindisi HFI (2001)—Fr. Fedele Molino SSP (2006)—Bro. Susumu Uchino SSP (2008)—Ruth Hernandez (1989)

September 15, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Thursday, September 15
OUR LADY OF SORROWS
1 Tim 4: 12-16 or Heb 5:7-9
STABAT MATER (Sequence)
Lk 2: 33-35 or Jn 19: 25-27

Let the person who wants to resemble Mary share like her in the pains of Jesus. There is no love without mortification.

Father Tom: ”There is no LOVE, though there may be good feelings which come and go. That’s the animal in us. The real love, worthy of human beings, is mostly found in the WILL, which can drive us to do very painful things as long as they are correct and authentic.”


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Fr. Espedito Viconti IJP (1982)—Lina Savoldi IAM (1988)—Sr. M. Valentina Moser FSP (2005)—Eusetio Alban (1940)—Dominic Vincenzo—Nancy Vincenzo (no dates)—Guadalupe Morales (2000)

September 14, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Wednesday, September 14
THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS
Num 21: 4-9
Phil 2: 6-11
Jn 3: 13-17

Let us not be scared by the enormity of our sins, but let us raise up our eyes with confidence to the Crucified One (FSP 42, p. 402).

Father Tom: What are “enormous” sins? Well, in a sense, EVERY sin is because it offends an Infinite Being (= God). The enormity or otherwise varies according to the sinner, e.g. what sort of conscience has he or she. The world is full, not just of enormous, but of unspeakable sins…but, who knows what sort of awareness the sinners have?


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Dr. M. Innocenza Colombara FSP (1986)—Fr. Giuseppe Balasso SSP (1993)—Sr. Michelina Pomo FSP (1998)—Fr. Francesco Cappa SSP (2003)—Erminia Finotti IAM (2003)—Bob Vincenzo (1999)

September 13, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Tuesday, September 13
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, Bishop, Doctor
1 Tim 3: 1-13
Lk 7: 11-17

”The person who loves and feels his faith is zealous in making it known. The person who is not zealous does not have love (BM p. 178).

Father Tom: I suppose the obvious question here is: do we love the Institute, understand it and the blessings it conveys? If so, we will NEVER STOP REACHING OUT to families and individuals REGARDLESS OF OUR FAILURES. If you were getting $1000.00 per new member…think you could find some?


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Doris Osegueda Santin IAM (1999)—Sr. M. Tecla Quiroz Hernandez FSP (2001)—Art Brophy (1999)—James A Ducote Sr. (1978).

September 12, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Monday, September 12
THE MOST HOLY NAME OF MARY
1 Tim 2: 1-8
Lk 7: 1-10

”The name of Mary restores the tired, heals the languished, gives sight to the blind, softens the hard hearts, comforts the dying” (BM p. 361).

Father Tom:Especially, perhaps, comforts the dying. As we pray for a happy death we are confident that our devotion to Mary during life will bring her swiftly to our side in that final, all-important moment.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Fr. Kieran Hayes SSP (1973)—Sr. M. Giovanna Buniotto FSP (1981)—Bro Anania Rosso sSP (1982)—Sr. Lina Gozzo FSP (1984)—Sr. Lydia Manfro FSP (1998)—Herberto Santa Zuluaga HFI (1988)- Sr. M. Giuseppa Crisponi PD (2003)—Sr. M. Laurentana Carnevale PD (2008)

Banish It!

IT'S SUNDAY!



BANISH IT! - BANISH IT!BANISH IT! -BANISH IT! - or suffer the alternative!!



Sept. 11 - XXIV Sunday in Ordinary Time


The theme of our liturgy this week is similar to last week's but not exactly. Now we are talking not of the individual and "the Church" but simply of the brother or sister who has offended us.


How can we ever acquire the forgiveness outlined in the First Reading? Well, it's anything but easy and yet there is no real alternative: "Remember your last days, set enmity aside. Remember death and decay and cease from sin." In a word, all of us badly need to be forgiven for our many offences against the Lord and, fortunately, we can be and we will be .. . if we ourselves generously forgive others.


We have spoken about this before: a) as soon as a thought of how badly X has treated you enters your mind . . .BANISH IT! It is much more harmful than the well-known "bad thoughts." b) As soon as it enters your mind again . . . BANISH IT! And continue with that process until you don't have the thought any more or you begin to feel more serene about it. The alternative? A long and much more painful Purgatory.


The Responsorial Psalm: "the Lord is kind and merciful "... and you and I had better imitate him very closely! When we have managed substantially to get rid of our sense of outrage, then we begin to see the truth of what has been done to us and even if it is very harmful. . . God Himself was pinned to a cross by little creatures He was keeping alive as they pinned Him!" If we have sinned seriously we are one of those creatures.


The Second Reading finds St. Paul continuing the general message with a different slant: we are totally dependent on the same Lord with nothing of our own, so why do we spend so much time in condemning and refusing to forgive? Death will come for us all and would we want to spend our last moments turning the knife in our wound?


The Gospel finds Peter being very generous: the Rabbis said we should forgive three times but after that. . . Peter, generously, suggests to the Lord that perhaps twice that number of times would be more in line with Christian thinking . . . and he adds a seventh time for luck. What a surprise when the Lord tells this immortal parable which teaches a lesson rather than give an account of an actual happening - the amounts of money are rather improbable, for example, but this is precisely why they have shock value. The lesson is quite clear: without incessant prayer and an even more incessant effort to banish all thought of revenge from our hearts ... we may appear before our Judge still sadly fixated in considerations which will delay for far too long our entry into eternal happiness.


~September 2011 Concord

September 11, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Sunday, September 11
XXIV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Tenth Anniversary of 911
Sir 27, 30-28:7
Rom 14: 7-9
Mt 18: 21-25

Be careful not to become “colorless”. If that happens, the Congregation (read: the Institute”) loses its value. Remain firmly in the Pauline spirit. (VMC 827).

Father Tom:The Franciscans have Franciscan spirituality. The Jesuits have Jesuit spirituality. The Dominicans have Dominican spirituality. So what’s the problem in having Paulines have Pauline spirituality? Should we dialog about this?


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Fr. Pascasio Marsigli (1962)—Sr. Amalia Peyrolo FSP (1980)—Fr. Maggiorino Portaluppi SSP (1996)—Bro Pierino Panno SSP (2010)

Prayer: Lord Jesus, our Divine Master, please grant us, on this the tenth anniversary of the tragic terrorist attacks of 911, peace and healing. Console those who suffered directly or indirectly from the tragedy and grant eternal happiness with You to those who died so unexpectedly. We pray for the heroes of the day, may they rest in peace. We also pray for the conversion of our enemies and for the ability to release whatever hatred and animosity we may hold in our hearts against them – that we may know Your own peace. In all things we ask Your will be done. Amen.

September 10, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Saturday, September 10
WEEKDAY
Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday
1 Tim 1: 15-17
Lk 6: 43-49

The more perfect a religious institution the more it leads to living Jesus Christ to the maximum (VMC 822).

Question: does the HFI lead us to this result and, if not, why not? The fault of “you-know-whom,” or your fault? Am I living Christ to the maximum? Are you? Awkward questions for both of us.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Antonietta Cafaro IAM (1973)—Sr. Rosa Cummaudo SGBP (1985)—Fr. Alfonso Colaneri IMP (1996)—Sr. M. Ausilia Castillo PD (2007)—Fr. Antonio Mighita SSP (2010)

What is Eucharistic Adoration?

Sequence 03 from Vince Luckey on Vimeo.

This is a homily for children given by our pastor, Fr. Fassano,(at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Front Royal, VA), but it might be a nice refresher for the rest of us as well. God bless...

September 9, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Friday, September 9
ST. PETER CLAVER, Priest
1 Tim 1: 1-2, 12- 14
Lk 6: 39-42

The person who is convinced that by himself he can do nothing… how do we recognize him? Simple: he prays. The spirit of piety is born of humility: by myself I can do nothing… and so I have recourse to God (VMC 819).

Will I get the answer I want? Perhaps not, but I will get the answer God wants and what other answer do I really need?


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. Dorotea Marchisio FSP (1945)—Fr. Francesco Saverio Perina FSP (1946)—Sr. M. Lucia Gironelli PD (1977)—Sr. M. Angelina Bordino PD (1978)—Fr. Bernardo Kayaba SSP (1986)—Fr. Angelo Sonego SSP (1997)—Fr. Giuseppe Baratelli SSP (2000)—Sr. M. Gesualda Marin PD (2002)—Fr. Joseph Triano SSP (2007)—Sr. Anna Maria Rocca FSP (2009)—Denis Ozog (1999)

September 8, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

I found this image on the internet and will gladly give credit if the artist comes forward.


Thursday, September 8
NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Happy Birthday, Mother Mary!
Rom 8: 28- 30
Mt 1: 1-16, 18-23

What should be your individual and group virtues? The first virtue should be humility, the second humility, the third humility…and if you ask me this question a hundred thousand times my answer will always be the same: humility (VMC 817).

This hardly requires a comment except to explain what humility involves. That has to be our next project.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. M. Adele Dal Bello SGBP (1995)—Sr. M. Ignazia Lumini FSP (1996)—D. Donato Bianco IJP (200)—Luisa Loera (1971)—Colleen Kettly (1996)

September 7, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Wednesday, September 7
OF THE DAY
First Wednesday of the month—St. Joseph
Col 3: 1- 11
Lk 6: 20-26

Don’t have a complicated conscience with all sorts of plans for spiritual progress. All you have to do is obey the will of God with all your heart (VMC 803).

Which, however, is anything but simple. Try doing it consistently, day in, day out, for a lifetime—or even from one month to another!


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. Venanzia Galiffa FSP (1949)—Sr. M. Claudia Cruz FSP (1963)—Bro Paolo Zanatta SSP (1980)-- Sr. M. Lia Vegetti PD (1986)—Sr. M. Rosa Curcio SGBP (1993)—Sr. M. Rosaria Visco FSP (2005)—Ada Crapis IAM (2005)—Sr. Kathleen Hart FSP (2007)—Rosalia Ilardo HFI (2009)

September 6, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Tuesday, September 6
OF THE DAY
First Tuesday of the month—The Souls in Purgatory
Col 2: 6- 15
Lk 6: 12-19

Holiness is easy: stay united to Jesus. That’s all you need(VMC 677).

Yes, but also no. In addition, we have to stay united to all those non-Jesus’s we meet…and that’s not so easy. When was you last falling-out with someone? When was mine?


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. Delfina Destefanis FSP (1956)—Sr. M. Domenica Dolcini FSP (1963)—Sr. Guglielmina Toppino FSP (1980)—Sr. Pierpaola Garofalo FSP (1987)—Sr. Gabriela Zanuz SGBP (2007)

September 5, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Monday, September 5
OF THE DAY
First Monday of the month—St. Paul
Col 1: 24- 2:3
Lk 6: 6-11

A person is active in the measure of his or her prayer, produces fruits of sanctity to the extent that he or she prays, is worth exactly what his or her prayer is worth (VMC 673).

Nothing new in this statement…it is the Founder’s constant refrain. All we have to do is put it into practice.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. M. Cramine Nicolo PD (1943)—Sr. Giacoina Blunno FSP (1951)—Alberto Folcani HFI (1977)—Sr. Erminia Brunetti (1966)—Tony Suniga (1996)

The Good Shepherd Never Gave Up on the Sheep...

The Good Shepherd never gave up on the sheep ... neither should we.



Sept. 4 - XXIII Sunday in Ordinary Time


Once again we have a very unified set of texts all circling around the question of love of neighbor - real love, not just the sentimental kind - and the challenge of showing that love.


What we are talking about is perhaps a version of "tough love" - if I understand that phrase properly. "Gotta be cruel to be kind" attitude. The surgeon has to cut you open (or used to before they developed so many amazing new tricks), but that's a kindness, not an assault.


The practice we're talking about here is called "fraternal correction" which may be correction but is not always as fraternal as it might be. Yet it is an important value and the First Reading shows Ezekiel warning his countrymen that they have forgotten their obligations to the Lord. Like Jerome, the warning is probably unwelcome but the alternative is grim.


The Responsorial Psalm is a combination of joy in the service of the Lord with a warning of the consequence of disobedience.


In the Second Reading we find St. Paul offering a slightly- different slant on the question: true love does no evil - even the apparent evil of telling someone his or her faults in good faith.


The Gospel, finally, offers a three-tier method of correcting an erring individual, ending with a final condemnation. No one is disputing what is actually written in the Gospel but Matthew wrote not just for the ages but also for his local situation. The point some authors make is that Jesus himself never abandoned the sinner. It is true that "the Church" as we know it today did not exist at that time whereas it did in Matthew's time. True, sinners are lost (and we recall sadly and pray earnestly for those dying unprepared as you read this), but we also have the immortal parable of the Good Shepherd traveling over hill and dale for the Lost Sheep. One cannot compare one parable with another but perhaps the final conclusion is that there is no conclusion ... we must simply keep on pointing out the right path to our erring brother or sister and hoping that, in spite of all appearances, the crucified Savior will work one more miracle.


~September 2011 Concord

"Whoever Wishes to Come After Me..."

"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny him/herself."



It's Sunday!


August 28 - XXII Sunday in Ordinary Time


We scarcely need a commentary on this Sunday's liturgy - except to say that we have heard it all before . . . and we never want to hear to hear it again! Saying "no" to ourselves . . is there anybody who has NOT heard that rule? But are there many who practice it?


Jeremiah, who gives us the First Reading, was called early in the seventh century B.C. to proclaim a very unwelcome message to the priests of the Temple: things were going to get worse and the Temple would be destroyed. For this he was denounced, considered a traitor and thrown into cistern to die. Not surprisingly, he complains to the Lord in this very powerful statement of his suffering: even when he longs to get away and prophesy no more, his call becomes " like a fire burning in my heart." What a challenge - and yet what a blessing. If only all of us could feel this inextinguishable fire of zeal!


The Responsorial Psalm is very beautiful which we can make our own - perhaps not entirely but at least let's make a start!


The Second Reading from Romans could scarcely be clearer and, for once, it harmonizes totally with the remainder of the liturgy - we saw several times that this is not always the case. The hero this time, however, is not Jeremiah but Someone much
more noble whom Paul never ceases to admire and to highlight. The good Christian no longer owns himself but must surrender his or her life in order to do the will of God. This does not involve, however, an extraordinary lifestyle. The world and the society we live in today calls for almost endless sacrifices just to be a good Catholic, to oppose the common way of thinking and on occasion to bear the rebukes and sarcasm of those who are living their own version of Catholicism or perhaps have left the Church altogether.


We are happy to see from the Gospel that Peter remains his naive self. This incident follows his profession of faith at Caesarea Philippi: ("Whom do YOU say that the Son of Man is?") Perhaps forgetting that his answer is correct, not because he is a man of faith or learning but because God has inspired him, Peter then proceeds to lecture the Master on his future moves! We don't know whether to be amazed by the apparently very democratic relationship the Lord has with his followers - they treat him as one of themselves - or by the ever-present Satan who has failed to knock Jesus off course after his fast in the desert (= First Lent), but has not yet given up hope. (Not all commentators say that Satan was actually involved but it is at least likely. He will try for the last time in the Garden of Gethsemane).


~September 2011 Concord

Concord MagazineSeptember 2011

Best viewed in Google Chrome. You can view the magazine in another window (with larger print) by Pressing the icon in the far right hand corner of the gray border of this post.

September 4, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Sunday, September 4
XXXIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
First Sunday of the month—The Divine Master, Way, Truth and Life
Ez 33: 1, 7-9
Rom 13 8-10
Mt 18: 15-20

You see food on the table, but if you just look at it, you’ll starve. So also in the spiritual life: the grace is there, but you have to ask for it (VMC673).

And you have to believe that it’s there—often we SAY we believe, but we don’t—we just KNOW…


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. Vincenza Merlo FSP (1943)—Ven Bro Angera M. Borello SSP (1948)—Bro Paulo Viegas SSP (1987)—Sr. Domenica Bond SGBP (1991)—Sr. M. Fidelis Pulinas FSP (2000)—Bro Julian Villaizan SSP (2003)—Sr. M. Trinito Taricco PD (2008)—Sr. M. Emma Fornaro FSP (2008)—Frances Peral Baack (1985)

September 3, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Saturday, September 3
GREGORY THE GREAT, Pope, Doctor
First Saturday of the month—Mary, Queen of Apostles
Col 1 21-23
Lk 6: 1-5

*** FEAST OF THE PASTORELLE SISTERS- Mary, Mother of the Good Shepherd***

Sanctity is the fruit of the Holy Spirit and to work for our sanctity is the ideal correspondence with the work of the Spirit (VMC 672).

The Spirit—i.e. God – is working with us all the time; we just have to turn to Him frequently and ask His help.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. Saverio Boano SSP (1990)—Blanche Dollard—Fr. Bruce—Judy Pierce—James B. Helm--? Warren—Ann Brem (no dates for these).

September 2, 2011 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Friday, September 2
OF THE DAY
First Friday of the month—the Sacred Heart
Col 1 15-20
Lk 5: 33-39

What nobility all Paulines have as they dedicate themselves to an apostolate of Christianization (RSP 554)

True, but to grasp this requires faith. It is easy to see the importance of the food we give to needy people, but if society is not Christian…much less food will be given and the poor and sick will be ostracized.


Please Pray for Our Deceased: Fr. Gabriele Costa SSP (1949)—Fr. Giovanni Roatta SSP (1985)—Luigia Bosio HFI (1986)—Fr. Luigi Vidaano SSP (1993)—Sr. M. Irene Scarcalla PD (2001)—Bro. Lucas Araujo SSP (2003)—Sr. Annunziata Zuncheddu FSP (2007)—Fabrizio Gabriele HFI (2008)—Fr. Luizi Ranalli IJP (2009)