June 1, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

June is the month of the Sacred Heart

Friday, June 1

ST. JUSTIN, Martyr

First Friday of the month—the Sacred Heart

1 Pt4: 7-13

Mk 11:  11-25

MONTHLY INTENTION

That we may never fail to nourish ourselves with the bread of life, both at the table of the Word and with the Body of Christ so as to be nourished by these pure and perennial sources.

Fr. Tom: Very True, but we have to follow up Mass and Communion with an effort to keep in touch during the day and to eliminate to the maximum all deliberate venial sin.

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. M. Spes Marengo PD (1958)—Sr. Giudita Pagliana FSP (1995)—Fr. Stefano Lamera sSP (1997)—Fr. Giorlamo Sgambettera IJP (1999)—Sr. Rosalia Ciccarello FSP (2002)—Sr. M. Giovanna Grandi FSP (2003)—Sr. M. Fiorentina Cecconi PD (2006)—Sr. M.Alfonsina Anzalone FSP (2006)—Fr. Estanislao Conde SSP (2008)—Sr. M. Celsa Taricco PD (2008)

June 2012 Papal Intentions

June 2012

General Intention: Christ, Present in the Eucharist. That believers may recognize in the Eucharist the living presence of the Risen One who accompanies them in daily life. 

Missionary Intention: European Christians. That Christians in Europe may rediscover their true identity and participate with greater enthusiasm in the proclamation of the Gospel. 

May 31, 2012 With the Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Thursday, May 31

THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Rom 12: 9-16

Lk 1:  39-56

In passing from House to house, I frequently recite and meditate on the Second Joyful Mystery.

Fr. Tom: Interesting practice if and when we visit at certain times of the year.  We can bring good news, encourage those we meet, if needed change their outlook. Mary go rather spectacular results. Let’s see what we can do!

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. M. Margherita Imparto PD (1963)—Sr. M Luisa Laurenti FSP (1967)—Sr. M. Vittorina Vellone PD (1976)—Fr. Giovanni Ev. Robaldo SSP (1977)—Sr. M. Nives Ferrari FSP (1998)—Sr. Pierina Columbro FSP (1999)—Fr. Angelo Bellanzon SSP (2003)—Raimondo Orrul HFI  (2003)—Alfred Vance Ducote (1949)

May 30, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Wednesday, May 30

OF THE DAY

1 Pt 1: 18-25

Mk 10:  32-45

Ambition pushes us to claim attitudes and boast of qualities we do not have (BM 532).

Fr. Tom: One solution to this problem is to remember St. Paul’s words”  “What have you that you have not received?” and surely the answer is: our sins, our misuse of the gifts of God.

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. Lorenzina Ligari FSP (1935)—Sr. M. Alessandrina Migliardi FSP (1973)—Fr. Aldo Varaldo SSP (1997)—Sr. Pacis Ferrero PD (2000)—Sr. M. Veritas Grau FSP (2004)—Sr. M. Amalia Bertolusso PD (2007)—Maria Ascanio IAM (2009)—Anna Maria Cocci HFI (2009)—Armida Primavera (1999)—Philip Smelka (1995)

May 28, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Tuesday, May 29

OF THE DAY

1 Pt 1: 10-16

Mk 10:  28-31

The life of perfection requires greater sacrifices and greater struggles and mortifications but there is then the hundredfold reward and life eternal (WPS II 28.59).

Fr. Tom: We spoke about “perfection” several times.  It involves being “fully finished” and so varies from a Mars Rover to a human being:  the first does not allow for defects, the second allows for them and uses them to gain a higher reward—which might not have happened if there were no defects!

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. Gemma Magno FSP (1945)—Fr. Adolfo Lotta IJP (1998)—Sr. Veronica Glassman FSP (2008)—Elvira Targa IAM (2008)

May 27, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Monday, May 28

OF THE DAY

1 Pt 1: 3-9

Mk 10: 17-27

St. Paul was teacher of the Gentiles but the real doctor and teacher was Mary by rason of her unspeakable holiness and motherhood of the Savior (VMC 618).

Fr. Tom: True, but how can we understand this?  Example: the nuclear power station makes life better for millions while itself having no direct contact with them.  The direct contacts come from the men who actually install power in people’s houses (that would be the Paulines or other Church ministers).

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. Sofia Jiminez FSP (1998)—SR. M. Beatrice Dante PD (2004)—Rosanna Paoloni HFI (2007)—Sr. M. Ecclesia Gastaldo PD (2009), Vincenzo Rossi IJP (2009)

Happy Birthday, Holy Mother Church!

Happy Pentecost, Everyone!

I hope you are having a wonderful time celebrating the birthday of our wonderful Catholic Church!

I think I may have mentioned or linked to a tradition of having a birthday cake for this feast day already, but thought I'd share a recipe I received from a friend in an e-mail in case you'd like to try it.

I am quoting almost the entire e-mail so you can get a sense of the history of this practice for my friend and her friend. I hope you enjoy it.



PENTECOST CAKE, very easy and quick, do with the kids or for your friends...Or bring it to a family for Sunday dessert...

I usually send this reminder ahead of time but I'm in the US this weekend for my son' s soccer game so I've had no time to look up my usually yearly email about this. I send it every year. Since I cannot find it now I took the info below from the web...

Some friends and I started a bit if tradition as this is a very important feast and little is done for it because there is no money to be made like at Christmas and Easter...but we decided to get our families aware of its importance by praying to the Holy Spirit as a family after mass before the Blessed Sacrament. One year we decorated candles with Christian symbols and printed the cake idea and info about the prayers to the Holy Spirit rolled it up and gave it to our neighbors with a decorated candle so they could join in the new family tradition.

Another year a catechism teacher got the Confirmandi to bake the cakes at the church, one was fully decorated and placed on a table for showing....the rest were given out to the parishioners after each mass with coffee...The cake could be done gluten free with a potato flour cake recipe. You can use cool whip or any icing you like. The red ribbons could have the 7 gifts written on them with gold marker or paint...you can reuse them each year...


Pentecost Sunday, also known as Whitsunday, ranks among the great feasts of Christianity. "It commemorates not only the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and Disciples, but also the fruits and effects of that event: the completion of the work of redemption, the fullness of grace for the Church and its children, and the gift of faith for all nations."

To Celebrate, we will be baking and decorating a cake! I just love all the symbolism in this cake. It provides such a wonderfully yummy way to teach the children more about this feast.


Pentecost Cake

Directions:

Start with a white cake representing "Whitsunday." The cake can be home-made or store-bought, which ever you choose. To keep it simple, I usually just use a white cake mix.

Now for the decorations:
White Frosting - For "Whitsunday"
Large Candle in Center - represents Christ our Light, who promised to send the Holy Ghost.
12 Birthday Candles - represent the 12 Apostles and the tongues of fire.
7 red hearts - made of candy or icing, represent the 7 gifts of the Holy Ghost
12 strawberries - represent the 12 fruits of the Holy Ghost
Before cutting the cake, let the children blow out the candles representing the "mighty wind."

Serve with vanilla ice cream and even more strawberries!!

Enjoy!!

God bless and have a wonderful Pentecost Sunday!

May 27, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Sunday, May 27

PENTECOST SUNDAY

Acts 2: 1-11

Gal 5: 16-25

Jn 15: 26-27, 1: 12-15

The sacred unction of the Holy Spirit gives to the soul gifts like those communicated to the apostles on the day of Pentecost:  enlightened faith, apostolic courage, ardent zeal and joyful dedication to Jesus (BM p. 160).

Fr. Tom: No speaking in tongues?  How disappointing!  But what good would tongues do if we had no apostolic courage or ardent zeal?  We have a tongue in our head already, but could use more courage and zeal—all of us could!

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Fr. Giovanni Casuccio IMP (1982)—Fr. Felice Carosso SSP (1985)—Antonio Pigiona HFI (1985)—Sr. M. Flores Marsili FSP (1985)—Sr. Sabina Meneghelli FSP (1998)—Sr. Vincenzina M. La Pio FSP (2001)00 Illuminato Dainotto HFI (2001)—Sr. Annunziata Desogus FSP (2002)—Mary Knefler (1999).

Filled With the Spirit...

Filled with the Spirit...not the "spirits"!

May 27   -   Pentecost

There was a time when mention of "the Spirit" was accepted in good faith but with a certain attitude which said: "Maybe you know what you are talking about but it's just a bit too deep for me." No more. The tremendous Charismatic movement in the sixties put the Spirit very much first in the lives of countless "ordinary" people - many of them hardened simiers - and the whole Church woke up as did the disciples. This is what we find in the First Reading today. Suddenly a group of very ordinary men - the Apostles - are stirred to their depths and, throwing caution aside, go out to tell people from all over such incredible news and in such a dramatic fashion that at first they are written off as having imbibed too much of the other type of "spirits"!

The Responsorial Psalm needs no special commentary. It expresses perfectly how you and I feel on those rare occasions when some good news, or regained health, or a dear friend save from a terrible fate, moves us to tears of joy and then to cries of gratitude. Is this an anticipation of Paradise when we will cry continually with joy and admiration at the sight of the glories of God infinitely renewed?

This idea of variety is expressed also in the Second Reading where St. Paul remarks that individual Christians may have - and have in fact - different gifts, but that, properly used, all of them will lead to a unity just as the many faculties of the human body all work for the good of the person. This Reading is from First Corinthians, 12, and it culminates in Paul's wonderful hymn to charity, the supreme gift and the very essence of God.  Elsewhere he is less positive and suggests that the gift of tongues, deriving from a spirit but perhaps not the Spirit, can be less than helpful.

The  Apostles received the Spirit in two different ways, but for the same purpose:   that they go out to tell the Good News to all they meet.   In the First Reading we find them doing this very visibly and making a huge impression. In the Gospel things are more low-key but the message is the same: " As the Father has sent me, so I send you."    This is the essential message of the Master.  Christianity can never be just a personal possession bringing peace and consolation.    It must instead be a "fire" burning in our hearts and which we cannot resist sharing.

True, this is not always the case - we might regretfully say it is the exception in our time as the old joke says: " We have kept the faith . . .to ourselves."  The reason is mostly historical: the growth of the clergy down the centuries and the subsequent reducing of the laity to   the role of acceptance:   "Pray, pay, obey." That time has most surely passed and the Church today has little alternative but to be a laity-inspired Church, destined to rise or fall by reason of its members rather than its ministers. For our part we will seek every opportunity to share our special "Good News" - the gift of the Institute. " Come, Holy Spirit, fill our hearts with your zeal and drive us out to "convert" our friends and neighbors!"

~ May 2012 Concord

~

May 26. 21012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Saturday, May 26

BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, QUEEN OF APOSTLES

Mass & Liturgy in CEREMONIES OF THE HOLY FAMILY INSTITUTE OR ST. PHILIP NERI, priest

Acts 28: 16-31

Jn 21: 20-25

Devotion to Mary, Queen of Apostles, is increasingly needed because the fundamental problem among Catholics and in the Church is vocations, following the example and prayer of Jesus (SP May ’49).

Fr. Tom: Haven’t we heard this statement—or one like it—many times?  Have we thought of enlisting our Queen as Vocations Director?

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Cleric Artemio Valenti SSP (1935)—Sr. Crocifissa Benvenuti FSP; Sr. M. Agata Rizzo PD (1964)—M. Teresa Alcibar HFI (1989)—Sr. Angela M. Pavesi FSP (1990)—Sr. M. Virgilia Romnelli FSP (1991)—Giuseppe Corona HFI (2001)—Fr. Vincenzo Buongiorno SSP (2009)—Sr. M. Teresina Melis FSP (2010)—Br. Mario Celestino Rizzo SSP (2011).

Mary Our Mother

Mary Our Mother

I thought this might be a nice meditation for Mary's month, even though the month is almost over.  It can also be used at any other time.  The video is put out by the Daughters of St. Paul's own Sister Ann.

God bless....

May 25, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Friday, May 25

EASTER WEEKDAY

SS Bede priest, Gregory Pope, Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, virgin

Acts 25: 13-21

Jn 21: 15-19

Before giving Peter the full power to administer, govern and judge, Jesus wanted from him a threefold declaration of love (LS 138).

Fr. Tom: We also make a three-fold declaration of our special commitment to the Master  and of our special love for Him.  Every day we must examine ourselves on our vows which make our lives more meritorious, but also more responsible if we fail to observe them.

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. Flaminia Di Nezza FSP (1947)—Joseph Kilencheril SSP (1997)—Fr. Valerio Cascia IJP (1997)—Fr. Giovanni Basigli IJP (1999)—Sr. M. Gesualda Aureli FSP (2004)—Salvatore Iannelli HFI (2004)

May 24, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

I'm sorry I' m so late with this.  My day got away from me.

God bless...

Thursday, May 24

EASTER WEEKDAY

Acts 22: 30, 23: 6-11

Jn 17: 20-26

Jesus prayed that the Church “be one.  That prayer for unity must be ours also as we strive to conform our life to the Statute in every House and nation (UPS 1, 51).

Fr. Tom: Re-reading the Statute perhaps once a week or at most once a month is the sure way to be united around our ideals.  (And also to remind ourselves what the ideals are!).

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Bro. Serafino Bertolotti SSP (1979)—Sr. M. Rosa Giardino FSP (19878)—Sr. M. Silvia Mangiarotti FSP (1999)—Bro Pietro Pisani SSP (2001)—Maria Caforio HFI (2006)—Sr. M. Consilia Spedaliere FSP (2009)—Rev Fr. Fidel (1976)

May 23, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Wednesday, May 23

EASTER WEEKDAY

Acts 20: 28-38

Jn 17: 11-19

Jesus prayed in a special way to his Father for the Apostles.  We, too, should remember to pray for our brothers and sisters “on the front lines.”

Fr. Tom: Could you say we must be their “kitchen staff” and “medical personnel”?  Very essential in every army!

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. M. Columba Crepaldi FSP (1997)—Lina Minerva AIM (1997)—Sr. M. Angela Sanino PD (2002)—Irene Osorio IAM (2008)—Sr. Pierina Marras FSP (2009)—Sr. Sylvia George FSP (2011)—Dr. James Glosser (2000)

May 22, 2012 With Blessed James Alberione and With Father Tom

Tuesday, May 22

EASTER WEEKDAY

St. Rita da Cascia, Religious

Acts 20: 17-27

Jn 17: 1-11

The prayer of Jesus is apostolic.  He desires the glory of God in the salvation and sanctification of souls (BM 323).

Fr. Tom: If this statement seems simple and self-evident, let’s try examining ourselves carefully and honestly on the motives behind our prayer!  Frequently a selfish motive or even… no special motive at all!

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. M. Giovanna Liverani PD (1974)—Sr. Gesuina Baschirotto PD (1979)—Sr. M. Felicina Belli FSP (1994)—Sr. M. Benedetta Marigliano PD (1996)—Pietro Monaldi HFI (1998)—Fr. Alfonso Tsukamoto SSP (2003)—Fr Attilio Tempra SSP (2003)—Sr. Costanzo Castagnolo FSP (2006)—Sr. Elena Marsiglia FSP (2008)—Sr. M. Loredana Vito PD (2009)—Sr. Bernarda Vicario FSP (2010)—Escolastica Garcia (1988)—John Tomaso (2011)

May 21, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Monday, May 21

EASTER WEEKDAY

SS. Christopher Magallanes, priest, and comps, martyrs

Acts 19: 1-8

Jn 16: 29-33

** Novena to the Holy Spirit or to the Queen of Apostles (prayer at choice).

If today we have the Church, the Sacraments, the Religious life, the priesthood, the Eucharist….to whom do we owe our thanks?  First to Jesus, but then also to Mary (VMC 615).

Fr. Tom: That seems to say it all. Now the question is: what role has the Queen of Apostles in my life and in yours?

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Fr. Francisco Villena SSP (1983)—Sr. Nair De bona FSP (1983)—Teresa Ugenti HFI (1984)—Sr. M. Pia Crosio FSP (1990)—Sr. M. Albina FAsolo FSP (2001)—Sr.M. Pierina Vicari FSP (2007)—Sr. M. Olimpia Tuninetti FSP (2008)—Lt. James A Ducote Jr USMC (1995).

The "Chosen" (Us?)-- Not Necessarily the 'best'.

The "Chosen" (us?)

not necessarily the "best"

- useful thought.

May 20   - Seventh Sunday of Easter

In the midst of the tense expectation of the Spirit, the First Reading introduces a practical note: Judas made his choice. Now we must find someone to replace him. Interesting the criterion that Peter suggests: the new apostle must have known Jesus even though he has not been among those originally called. That is still a very good rule: unless we acquire some awareness of the Master in prayer and reflection, much, if not
all, of our activity will be ineffective. A surprise is that the man called "Justus" or "the Just One" is not the choice of God. The other man was holier? Not necessarily. He simply must have had better qualities for missionary work. So the "chosen ones" must always remain humble: perhaps there are better spiritual people out there but who lack practical qualities.

There is an exception to every rule, in this case the rule that the Responsorial Psalm will normally confirm the thought in the First Reading. Instead we have cries of joy and anticipation of the Supreme Event for which the Apostles - and, indeed, the whole of humanity - are waiting: the Descent of the Holy Spirit.

What is the main gift of the Spirit ? Tongues? Prophecies? Special insights? Wild joy? No. These are secondary and this point is made in the Second Reading. How, in fact, do we see or understand the Holy Spirit? We see Him as an infinite stream of love flowing from Father to Son and from Son back to Father.
John sounds his usual theme: if we love one another we are loved by God and we possess His Spirit, meaning a substantial desire to think, speak and act in charity in spite of human weaknesses now and then.

The Gospel is a wonderful song of joy and love and all the more admirable when we realize that Jesus was on his way to a horrible Passion and death. He is human and could not have been overjoyed, humanly-speaking. The Last Supper had not gone well: Judas had walked out to betray him and the others had received the astonishing Gift of his Body and Blood with their usual ignorance and failure to understand, and were dismayed and dispirited as it finally dawned on them that the Master was really going to be mocked and scourged and spat upon and put to death. In the midst of all this negativism, Jesus turns to his Father with joy and satisfaction as he gives an account of what he has done for these unworthy men and for all of us till the end of time. The Spirit still has to arrive publicly but He is very much there in the Divine Master who gives us a striking example of how to react to so many negative situations all of us face in these difficult times.

~ May 2012 Concord

May 20, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Sunday, May 20

THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD

Acts 1: 1-11

Eph 4: 1-13

Mk 16: 15-20

** WORLD DAY OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS

The world needs Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life and Mary gives Him through the apostolates and through the apostles whom she forms, assists and crowns with results and eventual glory in Paradise (VMC).

Fr. Tom: Here we have an additional heavenly assist:  the queen of Apostles. Wise are we if we make her part of every day through the Rosary, the Angelus (3 times) and the practice of the True Devotion (an old Pauline custom).

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. M. Immacolata Panero PD (1976)—Sr. M. Gisella Mercanti PD (1998)—Fr. Magiorino Testi SSP (2001)- Mario Bonati, Gabrielite (2003)—Serafin Santiago (1988),  Pilar Albano HFI (2000)

The Feast of the Ascension 2012

I found this image on the internet and will gladly give credit to the artist.

May 17 - The Ascension

A Reflection

The message of this Feast is always pretty much the same, but to get the full picture we can usefully take a look at the Gospel for each of the three cycles.

The message this year is: " Go out into the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation ..." and then, importantly. " he who believes and is baptized will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned."

Then we have: "... Make disciples of all the nations ... and teach them to observe all the Commandments I gave you."

Finally: "... repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations."

When the Apostles went out to convert the world, they were quite clear that the world needed to be converted and they said, to the pagans, if not in so many words: " Reform, see where you are going wrong and correct your ways." The message was not always well received but nobody had any doubt about what the preachers meant; before preaching the GOOD NEWS of the Lord's love and forgiveness, they had to preach the BAD NEWS - "you are living sinful lives and need to change.' And they were right. If we are not clear about the Bad News, the Good News doesn't make sense.

What has happened in our Church for the past 40 or 50 years is that the Bad News has been, we might almost say, systematically soft-pedaled and we have all become " Easter People."

And so the bad news of the need for Confession has been almost forgotten while the good news about the Eucharist has been Underlined — forgetting that without regular examination of conscience and regular confession we easily slide into serious sin and to receive the Eucharist while in serious sin is REALLY bad news.

And so the bad news of the need for total fidelity in marriage has been ignored in favor of the good news of living without marriage, forgetting that this practice IS bad news.

And so the bad news of the need for chastity before marriage has been ignored in favor of the need for young people to grow up and this has led to the VERY bad news of AIDS and abortions.

You don't hear the bad news much any more. What we hear is the soothing news, the consoling news, the comforting news . . and this sort of news is needed. But not this only. You can't cure appendix by massaging the individual's abdomen with oil - you have to open it an cut out the diseased organ. You can't cure the diseases of the spirit by saying that nobody knows what's right or wrong any more. Now, that's REALLY bad news!

We have to ascend into Heaven. But when? When we die? No! Too late! We must :"ascend" every day of our lives, constantly striving to live better today than we did yesterday. That is the real ascension . . . and we can be called to ascend any time. So the time to begin preparation is ... NOW!

~ May 2012 Concord

May 19, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Saturday, May 19

EASTER WEEKDAY

Acts 18: 23-28

Jn 16: 23b-28

Energy is the source of light and of power to move machinery.  Your power comes from the Divine Master, that is, your piety and your spirit (VMC).

Fr. Tom: From the Divine Master…”  Do we always think of this or does it seem that everything begins with us?”  How many bright ideas seem to be exclusively ours when in fact the Master is continually whispering into our ear if we could just get the wax cleared out!

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Giovanna Deidda FSP (1987)—Sr. Dionisia—Sr. M. Scolastica Chisari PD (1960)--Sr. M. Ave Garuti FSP (1972)—Sr. Capeci FSP ( 1998)—Sr. M. Lorenzina Ellena PD (2003)—Sr. M. Rosetta Polloni PD (2006)—Sr. Lucia Lestuzzi SGBP (2006)—Sr. M. Elisa Comi FSP (2008)—Franca Portella IAM (2008)

May 18, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Friday, May 18

EASTER WEEKDAY

St. John I, Pope and Martyr

Acts 18: 9-18

Jn 16: 20-23

Our little consolations should remind us of eternal joy and our little pains be offered to merit and acquire heaven (BM p600)..

Fr. Tom: We can probably talk of “little” consolations thought that might mean that we are very selfish and unaware that, as sinners, we don’t deserve ANY consolations.  But when it comes to “pains” then most of us have quite an idea of how we suffer and (hopefully) of how useful our suffering is!

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. M. Rosita Diez PD (1966)—Sr. Angelina Valsania FSP (1974)—Fr. Marco Grossi SSP (1988)—Fr. Francisco Sierra SSP (1990)—Sr. M. Palma Rigoni PD (1999)—Piergiorgio Guerreschi HFI (1996)—Sr. M. Regina Caro FSP (1999)—Sr. Franceschina Colavecchio FSP (2008)—Enza Alalmo IAM (2009)—Fr. Rui Prates SSP (2010)—SR. Marcellina M. Dal Corso FSP (2010)—Minnie Madeline (1965)—Jeannette Downey, HFI (2007)

May 17, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Thursday, May 17

EASTER WEEKDAY

Acts 18: 1-8

Jn 16: 16-20

(In most Dioceses the Ascension is observed on Sunday: if in doubt, please check with your local church).

Jesus absented Himself when He ascended into Heaven, but He stayed when He instituted the Eucharist (BM p. 600).

Fr. Tom: What a simple sentence and what a world of meaning it contains!  How many books could be written on all the facets of the Eucharist!  One of the most moving is the last Encyclical of Pope John Paul II __ “Ecclesia de Eucharistia”.  The Daughters  (Note: Fr. Tom is referring to the Daughters of St. Paul) have copies.

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Ann Grub, IAM (2003)—Giovanni Giove HFI (2004)—Fr. Giuseppe Perna IJP (2009)—Wilfred Waltz (2009)

May 16, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Wednesday, May 16

EASTER WEEKDAY

Acts 17: 17-22

Jn 16: 12-15

Devotion to the Divine Master is not something secondary: it should affect all our spirituality, our studies, our apostolate and all our external activities (VMC 587).

Fr. Tom: No hope of summarizing this thought in a few brief lines!  But we can say that wew try to imitate the Master as WAY by our behavior, as TRUTH by our thoughts and speech and as LIFE by giving life, i.e. spreading the Good News of the Institute. How are YOU in this context?

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Loreto Mari HFI (1995)—Fro. Giovanni Carrano IGS (1996)—Bro Angelico Abrate SSP (1999)—Sr. M. Casta Menoncini PDI (2007)—SR. Paola Macalli FSP (2008)—Sr.M. Amabilis Esposito FSP (2011)

May 15, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Tuesday, May 15

EASTER WEEKDAY

Acts 16: 22-34

Jn 16: 5-11

Jesus said to His disciples:  “I go to Him Who sent Me.”  Let our thoughts often turn to heaven where our fatherland and dwelling is (APD  App. 95).

Fr. Tom: I tend to me more practical:  is my present lifestyle leadingme to heaven and, if not, what am I doing to correct it?  What is your approach to heaven?

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. M. Marta Altomani PD (1964)—Sr. James Marie Ros FSP (2001)—Sr. M. Redenta Campana FSP (2005)—Sr. Clara Boffi FSP (2007)—Bertha T. Sipos (2004/7 ?).

May 14, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Monday, May 14

ST. MATTHIAS, Apostle

Acts 1: 15-17, 20-26

 Jn 15: 9-17

The Lord knows everything and it is He Himself Who not only creates us but give us our work (BM p. 518).

Fr. Tom: An(d) important thought – as I have often reflected – especially in those moments when we feel totally incompetent and the future ahead of us hold absolutely no outlets for our legitimate desires.  Hold on!  God loves you as a mother loves her infant:  not for what you DO but for what you ARE.

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. Mary Alfonsa Maliakel FSP (1988)--  Sr. M. Adodolorata Boffa PD ( 1985)--  Fr. Giovanni Chiesa SSP (1990)—Sr. M. Lucia Osorio FSP (1994)—Sr. M. Fedele Pellizzoni FSP (1997)—Maria Sara Leite IAM (1997)—Giovanni Patera HFI (2000)—Sr. Raffaella Gravina FSP (2008)—Rose Piampiano (1988)

The Gospel is a Flash-back

The Gospel is a flash-back to the Last Supper and to a display of divine love... can we match it?

May 13 - Sixth Sunday of Easter

The First Reading for today tells of Peter's . . . conversion. Faithful follower of the Master, he had, nevertheless, still not grasped the great truth that this new Faith was for everyone, not just for the Jewish people. In Acts 10, we read of his vision of a sheet let down from heaven containing animals Jews were
forbidden to eat, and of the voice pointing out that things in the future were going to be different. The Reading then tells of the conclusion of this incident and the descent of the Holy Spirit on the new converts and all the others present. The general theme is the ongoing growth of the Church in an atmosphere of joyful
celebration.

The Responsorial Psalm also sounds a note of joy at the remarkable new developments. There will be less-joyful days as in all human life but for a brief moment at least all is well.

In the Second Reading there is a change of subject but not of tone: St. John, the great apostle of the love of God, is heard here and also in the Gospel. In the long run the whole story of humanity, its existence, its short-term failure but its final, glorious success, is a story of divine love - how else can we explain the great facts we know? Did the Almighty, perhaps, gain something from His creation and His work of redemption? What gain?! He has, or is, everything and so the only avenue of action open to Him is to give! But not to give because humans are very fascinating, but because His love moves Him internally to bless and to benefit us without restraint. "You did not choose Me, it was I who chose you."

Finally, the Gospel, once more written by John and once more centering on his favorite theme: God's love for us.    But the circumstances here are very different from the  Readings.   The speaker now is our Divine Master sitting with his disciples, not by the Lake of Galilee or in some pleasant bower fanned by the summer breeze, but at what we call the Last Supper and just before he is taken and  - we might well say - torn to pieces by the very creatures for whom he is giving his life! The Lord is - almost ecstatic about   his Love for everyone, even for these undependable followers who will in a few days leave him to die on the cross - with the noble exception of the writer. It is an extraordinary display of sublime confidence    in the superiority of love over hatred, of courage over fear, of life over death. If in our lives we have moments of near-despair - and in this day and age such moments are ail-too frequent - we will turn to these chapters of St. John,  certain to find in them the courage we need to keep the right priorities no matter what.


~ May 2012 Concord

May 13, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Sunday, May 13

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Acts 10: 25-48

1 Jn 4: 7-10

 Jn 15: 9-17

* Mother’s Day

The one who loves, lives in God—“God is love.”  And His children, the true children of God, should love one another and love God (RSP p. 185).

Fr. Tom: The problem is to define: what IS “love”.  For some, a pleasant emotion.  For others “being good to everyone” (yes, but does this include letting sinners go their merry way?).  For others again it is leading a good personal life and leaving others to live theirs.  What is YOUR definition and practice?

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. Immacolata Satriani FSP (2002)—Sr. Tecla Zillianti FSP (2007)—Sr. M. Bianca Sepulveda PD (2011).

May 12, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Saturday, May 12

EASTER WEEKDAY

SS. Nereus & Achielleus, Martyrs

S.  Pancras, Martyr

Acts 16: 1-10

 Jn 15: 18-21

Obedience works miracles.  When God sends us, let us hold fast to this thought: He does not send us alone but accompanies us with His grace (RSP p. 571).

Fr. Tom: This applies not only to a very challenging work given us but to everything, every day.  So it is more important to follow the Statue than to do all sorts of good works not mentioned in it.  It is more important to say our Prayers than to say others, etc.

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. Tommasina Simonato FSP (1940_-- Fr. Giovanni Gramaglia SSP (1981)—Sr. Serafina Milani Giovanni Chiavarino SSP (1994)—Sr. M. Piera Giarrizzo FSP (2004)—Bro Giuseppe Omodei SSP (2011)—Rev. James F. Redding (1960)—Dale Baldwin (2000)

May 11, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Friday, May 11

EASTER WEEKDAY

Acts 15: 22-31

 Jn 15: 12-17

Vocation is a gift and one who possesses it has also the grace to correspond to it (UPS I 216).

Fr. Tom: Does this apply also to us?  Why not?  We are part of a uique brance of the Pauline Family, truly vowed and consecrated as married couples or the widowed—not laity, but consecrated laity.  This imposes real obligations. How does our life now compare with how we lived before we met the HFI?

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. M. Imelda Marianni FSP (1971)—Sr. M. Gesualda Rota FSP (1974)—Sr. M. Brigida Perron FSP (1977)—Aldo Antonelli HFI (1991)—Luis Harnan Luna HFI (1999)—Fr. Lamberto Schiatti SSP (2002)—Fr. Manfredi Caroli IJP (2004)—Bro Luke Bedard SSP (2006)—Sr. M. Leonzia Manera FSP (2007)—Sr. M. Adalgisa Tozzi PD (2010) Sr.  Celestina M. Delpoggetto FSP (2010)—Maria Sciarratta IAM (2010)

May 10, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Thursday, May 10

EASTER WEEKDAY

St. Damien Veuster, priest

Acts 15: 7-21

 Jn 15: 9-11

Like St. Paul, we are “debtors to all people”, meaning we must lover them without distinction and reach out to everyone (SP March 1951).

Fr. Tom: We can do this quite easily with our activity because we do not actually know whom it reaches.  More difficult is to preach the word in public (or in private giving a word of advice).  We need plenty of prayer for those we reach in both ways.

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Fr. Ilario Formento SSP (1934)—Olimpia Colombo IAM (1968)—Bro. Daniele Parisella SSP (1979)--  Sr. M. Angela Brigo (FSP) (1984)—Sr. M. Germana Lazzarotto PD (1997)—Fr. Edoardo Molina IJP (2005)

May 9, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Wednesday, May 9

EASTER WEEKDAY

Acts 15: 1-6

 Jn 15: 1-8

The goodness of God tends to “spread out” when it is received with humility by the good, but the proud person puts up fences against it, preferring evil to good (BM 231).

Fr. Tom: True.  And even in our own lives we may have allowed our pride to hold back the hand of God because we preferred something else to Him. Let’s think: What was that impediment and, more important, do we still have it?

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Domenico Nuccio HFI (1995)—Maria Onesto HFI (1995)—Sr. Alberta Scalet SGBP (2004)—M. Guadalupe G. de Montauriol HFI (2010)—Anna Marciante (2003)

May 8,2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Tuesday, May 8

EASTER WEEKDAY

Acts 14: 19-28

 Jn 14: 27-31

Reconciliation with God, the ability to love and forgive, the gift of new spiritual life:  these are the wonderful joys the Word of God brings to us (BM 538)

Fr. Tom: And what gifts they are! What a great world we would have if at least a majority of human beings lived as God wants!  It would be so good that we would be even more reluctant to leave it than we are now!  Lord, help me to do something today to make life easier  for someone else.

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. Rita Credico FSP (2009)—Prima Juntilla IAM (2009)—Sr. M. Elisabetta Ragoso PD (2011)—Margaret Di Fazio (2007)

May 7, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Monday, May 7

EASTER WEEKDAY

First Monday of the month—St. Paul

Acts 14: 5-8

 Jn 14: 21-26

Jesus entrusted the Holy Spirit with the formation of the Apostles and they became strong, learned and full of zeal (BM 312).

Fr. Tom: Most of us don’t pray enough to the Holy Spirit—or don’t pray to Him at all.  And yet He is the Third Person, true God like the rest and the One who makes our words and actions effective:  “Come, Holy Spirit.  Tell me what to say, tell me ow to say it and bless my words.”

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Bro Matteo Cattazzo SSP (2001)—Michele Miraglia HFI (2004)—Sr. M. Chiara Sergi FSP (2005)—Fr. Ivo Pazzaglini SSP (2007)—Francesco Accosso HFI (2007)—Bro Marion Santoro SSP (2009)--  Assunta Atzori HFI (2010—Francesco Dattilo IJP (2011)

The Greatest Value of Time

I found this image on my friend Benning's FB page.  It is not mine and I will gladly give credit to the photographer.

"The greatest value of time is that in it, we have started living in Eternity" (Szent-Gály Kata)

May 6, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Sunday, May 6

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

First Sunday of the month—the Divine Master, Way, Truth and Life

Acts 9: 26-31

 1 Jn 3: 18-24

 Jn 15: 1-8

United with God, my life is spiritually fruitful—apart from Him, it is nothing! (BM p. 117).

Fr. Tom: Nothing spiritually, that is, though it is easy to be blinded by material success which of course is fine—but you can’t take it with you!

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. Innocenza Bottaro PD (1945)—Sr. M. Monica Battajello PD (1976)—Msgr Luigi Liverzani IJP (1995)—Sr. M. Dominika Conciarz PD (2008)—Sr. Maria Brazia Mannini FSP (2009)—Bro Paolino Camparno’ SSP (2010)—Sr. M. Raffaella Magsarili FSP (2011)—Caroline Guggio (May 6, 2002)

A Special Prayer

I found this video prayer on YouTube, but it was originally shown on EWTN.  It is a prayer directed toward those families with children autism or disabilities in the autistic spectrum, but could be modified for any challenge or illness.

God bless, and have a wonderful day.

May 5, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Saturday, May 5

EASTER WEEKDAY

First Saturday of the month—Mary, Queen of Apostles

Acts 13: 44-52

 Jn 14: 7-14

Nothing can take the place of the word of God preached with zeal every Sunday, every day and every hour (LDS 90).

Fr. Tom: True, but without prayer it may degenerate into “tinkling cymbal”.  We have to pray that our pastor be not only eloquent, but a man of God—not always the same thing.

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. Paulina Campos FSP (1964)—Sr. Imelda Bianchi FSP (1987)—Bro Vincenzo Tommasini SSP(1994)—Sr. M. Pasqualina Giaccardi PD (1998)—Fr. Lorenzo Rossno IJP (2004)—Sr. M. Paola—Sr. Gisella Codias FSP (2011) Delores Bressier (1997)—Ruth Ann Baker (1975)

May 4, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Friday, May4

EASTER WEEKDAY

First Friday of the month—the Sacred Heart

Acts 13: 26-33

 Jn 14: 1-6

The public ministry of Jesus and His mission as priest, teacher and king is summarized by the words: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”

Fr. Tom: And we try to be Way for others (good example), Truth for others (saying the right thing) and Life (praying for them).  Is this how we relate to those we usually meet or perhaps live with?

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Sr. M. Giacomina Adriano PD (1967)—Sr. Bertila Lorenzi FSP (1991)—Franceca Kipcho IAM (1997)—Sr. M. Emanuela Sauro FSP (1998)—Sr. M. Elisa Baggio PD (2008)—Maria José Raposo IAM (2008)—Sr. Leontina Facchiano FSP (2009)—Sr. Letizia Turra SGBP (2011)—Daniel McParland (1997)

May 3, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Thursday, May3

Sts. Philip and James, Apostles

First Thursday of the month—the Guardian Angels

1 Cor. 14: 6-14

 Jn 12: 44-50

Make God your model.  Jesus has shown us the way:  “Philip, he who sees Me, sees the Father.”  If we imitate the virtues of Jesus, we imitate the Father (RSP p. 113).

Fr. Tom: Interesting thought.  Can we really imitate the Father?  Well, yes, when we do the best we can in each time and place.  That us (is?) our best and in that sense we imitate the Father who always does His best.

Please Pray for Our Deceased:Fr. Giuseppe Ronconi SSP (2006)—Marie Ducote Smelka (1995)—Joseph Mahoney—Winnie Williams—Darrell Locker  (no years).

May 2, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Wednesday, May 2

St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor

First Wednesday of the month—St. Joseph

Acts 12: 24-13:5

 Jn 12: 44-50

Vocation is a sign of God’s special choice—like the choice the Holy Spirit made in Antioch calling Paul and Barnabas (RSP 514-515).

Fr. Tom: We are not in the Paul and Barnabas category—are we?  WE make these distinctions but each human being is the result of God’s total creative power and when you put out everything you’ve got then the product HAS to be good.

Please Pray for Our Deceased: Sr. M. Silvestrina Rustico PD (1946)—Sr. Elena Montemezzo FSP (1983)—Columba Pennesi HFI (1997)—Antoni Szulcek, Gabrielite (1999)—Sr. M. Lourdes Rodriguez PD (2000)—Aurelio Bellavista HFI (2004)—Imogene Kozak (2006)

May 1, 2012 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Tuesday, May 1

EASTER WEEKDAY

St. Joseph the Worker

First Tuesday of the month—the Souls in Purgatory

Acts 11: 19-16

 Jn 10: 22-30

MONTHLY INTENTION

Let us invoke the Holy Spirit in union with Mary the mother of Jesus and Queen of Apostles that she may lead us to an ever deeper knowledge of the word of God and guide us in sharing it with the new means of communication.

Fr. Tom: In the Institute we do not normally use the means of communication but it is vitally necessary that we PRAY and make sacrifices for a blessing on those who do.

Please Pray for Our Deceased: Angela Losito HFI (1994)—Alfred Edlmair, Gabrielite (1998)—Fr. Pasquale Casillo SSP (2001)—Sr. M. Gabriella Munoz FSP (2008)—Sr. Maurizia Sartorado FSP (2009)—Elizabeth Marie Beattie (2001)—Ella Friloux—John Stevens (no years).