St. John's Adoration Chapel

St. John's Adoration Chapel
"Do Not Fear: I am with you. From here I will cast light Be sorry for sin."

Sunday, January 31, 2016

February 1, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Monday, February 1
FIRST MONDAY OF THE MONTH-
ST PAUL
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
2 Sm 15:13-14; 16: 5-13
Ps 3: 2-7
Mk 5: 1-20

MONTHLY INTENTION:
For the conversion of those who, in the use of the instruments of social communication, refuse to acknowledge the Magisterium of Christ and of the Church, thus harming human minds, hearts and activities.

Actually, we all need to convert and not just the media people. Do we ever realize hat there is a two-fold responsibility?

Each soul has her own story, her own difficulties, her own aides, her own graces, her own circumstance (MCS 149)

FROM FATHER TOM And over them all presides the infinite love and care of the Creator, offering us always the correct way to behave if we ask Him.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Luningning Lopez IAM (1994)--Corradina Adamo HFI (2004)--S.r M. Virginia Tenore PD (2006)--Giancarlo Mancinforte HFI (2006)--Emetrio Adriano (1976)

Papal Intentions: February 2016



Pope’s Intentions for February 2016

Universal Care for Creation.  That we may take good care of creation—a gift freely given—cultivating and protecting it for future generations.


For Evangelization.   Asia. That opportunities may increase for dialogue and encounter between the Christian faith and the peoples of Asia

And the Greatest of These...

Today's second reading is one of my favorites. This passage always has something more to say, if only we have eyes to see and ears to hear. Jesus, Divine Master, please open our hearts and our minds and strengthen our wills to be open to and correspond in loving obedience to Your call for us and to Your teachings and example. Amen.

God bless...







1 Corinthians 13



1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful;

5 it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

6 it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.

7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

9 For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect;

10 but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.

11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.

13 So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.


From our Parish bulletin this week. Something to think about.

Stewardship Reflections—4th Sunday in Ordinary Time
 “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous.” (1 Corinthians 13:4) Do you get jealous? Do you focus more on the things that other people have than on the gifts that God has given to you? Are you pompous? Do you acquire more possessions to impress others? At times we are all guilty of all these things? Pray for more humility. Pray to become less self-centered and more God-centered.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

January 31, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Sunday, January 31
FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Jer 1: 4-5, 17-19
Ps 71: 1-17
1 Cor 12: 31-13: 13
Lk 4: 21-30

Charity among us is very precious, but it is also the most difficult one. Fraternal charity requires what Saint Paul says in his hymn: that it be patient, kind, know how to bear other's burdens, forgiving (RSP p. 130).

FROM FATHER TOM As the years pass, the practice of Charity--as happens for everything else--becomes problematic: should I correct that erring confrere or pray for him? Are the accusations made against me, true or the fruit of false judgment? Do I just rashly and hastily (act? judge?) when it is none of my business...the list goes on and on.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Fr. Renato Canciani SSP (1976)--Vita Sorrento IAM (1981)--Fr. Gaetano Kucich SSP (1984)--Sr. M. Lorenzina Flores Yanez FSP (1997)--Sr. M. Angelica BondadFSP (1997)--Fr. Vincenzo Iannuzzi SSP (1999)--Franca Marchina IAM (2015)

Friday, January 29, 2016

January 30, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Saturday, January 30
BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
2 Sm 12: 1-7, 10-17
Ps 51: 12-17?
Mk 4: 35-41

The will is often proudly independent. It wants happiness but looks for it where it does not exist. Very often it allows itself to be dominated by the passions and by the sentiments (BM p. 124).

FROM FATHER TOM And very often this domination is not recognized: how easily we judge ourselves to be objective and balanced when in fact others are afraid to approach us to avoid a brusque rejection or even a lecture.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. Anthony Colella FSP (1985)--Sr. Assunta Gagliardelli SGBP (1987)--Fr. Desiderio Costa SSP (1989)--Sr. Provvidenza Arrigo FSP (1992(00Fr. Paolo Salomoni I (1997)--Fr. Christopher Toppo SSP (2001)--Hernando Hurtato HFI (2003)--Fr. Ugo Zecchin SSP (2004)--Fr. Paulus Jate SSP (2005)---Sr. Teresa Gai FSP (2008)--Sr. M. Alfonsina Mascolo FSP (2010)--Fr. Ferino Ulmert SSP (2012)--Sr. Ferdinanda Sperti FSP (2014)--Sr. Maria Park FSP (2014)--Sr. Giuseppina Randini SGBP (2014)--Mons. Giovanni Giallombardo IJP (2014)--Maria Martina IAM (2014)

Thursday, January 28, 2016

January 29, 2015 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Friday, January 29
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
2 Sm 11: 1-17
Ps 51: 3-11
Mk 4: 26-34

Jesus is the Teacher of the most necessary science; He is the sure guide to eternal life; and He has grace, which is absolutely necessary for the spiritual life (UPS IV, 191).

FROM FATHER TOM The problem is to feel with the Master on these aspects of our vocation. The Master indeed has everything but it is up to us to relate to Him in various ways, depending on the grace we need most at that time.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Fr. Michele Trappolini SSP (1978)--Fr. Eugenio Turci SSP (1986)--Sr. M. Pasqualina Colorizio FSP (1999)--Fr. Antonio Turci IJP (2002)--D. Angelo Segato SSP (2005)--Sr. Annette Margaret Boccabello FSP (2012)

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

January 28, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Thursday, January 28
ST THOMAS AQUINAS, PRIEST, DOCTOR
OF THE CHURCH
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
2 Sm 7: 18-29
Ps 132: 1-14
Mk 4: 21-25

The apostle must so possess and love sacred science as to feel th e need to communicate it (SP Jan 1955).

FROM FATHER TOM True, but it may need a certain temperament "to feel the need to communicate it." Writers are born, not made; and we can feel the need but not be quite capable of doing much about it. So we will pray and do what we can when we can.  The Master does not expect the impossible.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. M. Clara Capelletti SGBP (1973)--Fernanda M. Da Costa IAM (1973)--Fr. Gaetano Tedeschi IJP (1985)--Sr. M. Bertilla Francheti PD (1987)--Sr. Maria Cucchi SGBP (2001)--Luis Spalla HFI (2005)--Geraldine Bretchko (1987)--Hilario Zuniga (1972)

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

January 27, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Wednesday, January 27
ST ANGELA MERICI, VIRGIN
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
2 Sm 7: 4-17
Ps 89: 4-5, 27-30
Mk 4: 1-20

Fervor means to love the Lord with all your heart, not with just one half; with all your mind, not  with just one half; with all your forces, not with just one half (AP 1959, p. 55)

FROM FATHER TOM Can we discern if in fact we are giving all? Possibly the best answer might be: we can discern if we are not giving all; and that is all we need to know: not giving all? Not to worry: let's try harder and leave the Master to judge.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Mons. Alfred Fernandez IJP (1983)--Sr. Anna Rinaldi FSP (1996)--Fr. Giuseppe Manzo IJP (2002)--Sr. M. Lia Chirone FSP (2003)--Sr. Amabile Zuppardo FSP (2004)--Sr. M. Rosalia Bovo FSP (2010)--Fr. Hernan Perez Etchepare SSP (2012)--Andrea Caforno HFI (2013)--Charles Piampiano (1978)

Monday, January 25, 2016

January 25, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Tuesday, January 26
SS TIMOTHY AND TITUS, BISHOP
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
2 Tm 1: 1-8
Ps 96: 1-10
Mk 3: 31-35

The priesthood ignites in priests and new and ardent flame of love and immolation, like the one burning in the heart of the Eucharistic Master that you handle in your hands (SP Aug-Sep 1949).

FROM FATHER TOM This is the idea, the theory. Have you assisted at any Mass recently in which the celebrant seemed to be thinking on these lines and not rather to get finished as quickly as possible?

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Fr. Francesca Masala FSP (1980)--Amabile Grando HFI (2987)--Fr. Anselmo Viano SSP (1996)--Sr. M. Oliva Catapan PD (1998)--Pietro Secchiaroli HFI (2000)--EMile Brunelle HFI (2009)--Anna Accossu HFI (2013)--Sr. M. Tarcisia Marchisio FSP (2014)--Joseph (1970) & Mary Dwojacki (1976)--Douglas Patton (2011)

Sunday, January 24, 2016

January 25, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom



Monday, January 25
CONVERSION OF ST PAUL, APOSTLE
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
Acts 22: 3-16
Ps 117: 1-2
Mk 16: 15-18

Damascus, the fatherland of repentant hearts, the start of great ascensions, and the dawn of a radiant apostolate: the Pauline Family looks at it with symbolic eyes (SP May 1949)

FROM FATHER TOM Yes, if we see it as a major element in St. Paul's life. Otherwise it is mostly to be thought of as a modern city torn apart by war and violence.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Fr. Giuseppe Chiesa SSP (1991)--Fr. James De Feo SSP (2000)--Sr. M. Emiliana Sartor PD (2000)--Fr. Valentino Gambi SSP (2002)--Sr. Margherita M. Gergolet FSP (2008)--Sr. M. Elisabetta Moreale FSP (2010)--Sr. M. Norberta Zini FSP (2010)--Sylvester Teterycz (no year given)--Ralph Mennella (2010)

Everyone You Meet...


The Prayer of One's Total Being






The Prayer of  One's Total Being

The life of a Congregation does not depend on its activities but on the charismatic spirituality inherited from its Founder. This is the historical-theological reason which justifies the presence of a Congregation in the Church.

It is inescapably true that the attitude which keeps spirituality alive is prayer, understood not just as prayers" or "emotional practices" but as that way of life which consciously puts Christ at the center of one’s existence and makes every thought, decision and gesture begin with Christ, even those we might consider quite commonplace.

The distinction between "spiritual Christians" and "psychic Christians" is based on this truth. The difference between the two categories is not to be found in the fact that one has been baptized and the other not, but in the lifestyle the believer leads after baptism.

They have "psychic" Christian lives as if the Spirit did not exist. The Spirit of Jesus is in no way a point of reference for his thought, his decision, or his choices. He believes in God but lives "as if" God did not exist. He is a practical atheist.

The spiritual Christian lives in a conscious commitment to refer himself continually to the Spirit of Jesus and makes conscious decisions as he keeps the Spirit of Jesus in mind.

This method of linking oneself to God becomes the prayer of one’s total being, a living prayer. And this is why one author says that the Christian commitment is not just to bring prayer into one's life but to put one’s life into one's prayer.

"The prayer of one's total being" is a typical expression of Fr. Alberione. For this very reason he always admired St. Paul's spirituality: not just to "say" prayers but to "be" prayer.
Here are some statements found in two meditations given to the Rome community on November 16 and December 31, 1963.

1. How are we to understand the prayer of one’s total being?  Prayer, no matter of what degree, must always be living prayer, that is a prayer which encompasses our whole life, concentrates all our activities and puts all our faculties in motion. All our life: the present life and eternity. Prayer must always include mind, feeling, will and the day's activities.

2. Such a prayer is not an option but an indispensable way of looking at things. Prayer is like the blood which leaves the heart and goes through all the members, nourishing and enlivening the whole organism. It must influence the apostolate, the recreation, study, everything we do and all our relationships, just like blood which must flow to every part of the organism to enliven it and make it active.

3. The Bible is the foundation of such prayer.  Prayer must engage our entire day and our whole being, because the whole person must be made holy. Whoever finds his spirituality in the Bible clearly has a complete prayer, a wholistic and God-pleasing one . . . From it we draw leaching and piety, reform of life and of the apostolate, everything.


4. We need to examine ourselves often on the totality of our prayer: is our prayer total? Separating apostolate from prayer is like have a member paralyzed, an important member which does not receive its blood-supply. This point is so important that it should be considered in a month of meditations.

~Dec. 2015 Concord

Saturday, January 23, 2016

January 24, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Sunday, January 24
THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Neh 8: 2-10
Ps 19: 8-15
1 Cor 12: 12-30
Lk 1: 1-4, 14-21

To carry the Gospel with us is a sign of our love for the teaching of Jesus Christ and merits for us special heavenly lights (SP Oct 1954).

FROM FATHER TOM The final words of Jesus leave no doubt: "Go out to all the world and bring the Gospel to everyone."

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Beato Giuseppe Timoteo M. Giaccardo SSP (1948)--Fr. Angel Fenoglio SSP (1980)--Sr. M. Gabriela Raccosta PD (2001)--Sr. Giulia Fontana FSP (2005)--S.r M. Cristina Gamez FSP (2009)--Fr. Umberto Giacinto Oggero SSP (2011)--Sr. M. Angela Serpieri PD (2011)--Marisa Andreotti IAM (2013)--Fr. William Ignatius Staniszewski SSP (2015)

Friday, January 22, 2016

January 23, 2015 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Saturday, January 23
BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
ST VINCENT, DEACON, MARTYR
ST MARIANNE COPE
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
2 Sm 1: 1-4, 11-27
Ps 80 2-3, 5-7
Mk 3: 20-21

On Saturday I approach the Blessed Virgin so that she may guide me to her Son.  May Jesus purify me and make me worthy to celebrate in a holy way the day of the Lord (BM pp 719-720).

FROM FATHER TOM What a stunning reminder of the meaning of Sunday--and of Sunday Mass! How far people generally have fallen from a correct idea of what happens in church! How much reparation we need to make!

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. Gabriella Ambrogio FSP (1944)--Sr.Maria della Croce Cavalleris PD (1949)--Fr. Mario Eustquio Da Fonseca SSP (1995)--Fr. Ramiro Morales SSP (2004)--D. Alessandro Marengo SSP (2006)--Sr. M. Clotilde Gianusso FSP (2008)

Thursday, January 21, 2016

January 22, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom



Friday, January 22
DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE LEGAL 
PROTECTION OF UNBORN CHILDREN
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
1 Sm 24: 3-21
Ps 57: 2-6, 11
Mk 3: 13-19

Zeal to make known to others our Divine Master will give us the possibility and the capacity to know Him more and to love Him more (Ven. Thecla Merlo, Vi porto nel cuore, p. 329)

FROM FATHER TOM I suppose we might say: "Practice makes perfect."

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Fr. Vincenzo Bernardini IJP (1990)--Sr. Giovanina Deano FSP (1991)--Sr. M. Gabriella Massariol PD (1996)--Sr. M. Marcelina Monticelli FSP (2002)--Sr. M. Stella Degni FSP (2006)--Fr. Realino Mazzotta IJP (2007)--Sr. Raffaela Grazio SGBP (2010)

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

January 21, 2015 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Thursday, January 21
ST AGNES,VIRGIN, MARTYR
1 Sm 18: 6-9; 19: 1-7
Ps 56: 2-3, 9-13
Mk 3: 7-12

Men and women Religious need to give a sense and purpose to their life, so as to be blessed this world and in the next: holiness and apostoalte.

FROM FATHER TOM The two things go together. If we are trying to live our vowed life well we are getting results, even if we will never see them on earth. If we are not trying, any "results" we get are debatable--to say the least.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. M. Annita Firmo FSP (1974)--Sr. M. Franca Janniello FSP (1987)--Sr. Francesca Trettel SGBP (1993)--Fr. Giuseppe Bistolfi SSP (1999)--Sr. Gesuina Quaranta FSP (2001)--Fr. Jaoa Manuel Filipe Gomes SSP (2011)--Fr. Fruto Rosales SSP (2014)--Sr. M. Rachele Vegetti PD (2015)--Rose Teterycz (1985)--Fr. Francis Ledbar (no year given)

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

January 20, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Wednesday, January 20
ST FABIAN, POPE, MARTYRORDINARY WEEKDAY
1 Sm 17: 32-51
Ps 144: 1-10
Mk 3: 1-6

Can those who seek shelter in a form of "religious amateurism"--a poverty on the wane, a chastity wedded to comfort and freedom, an obedience that is so personal as to be no more than nominal--can they consider themselves Religious before God and the world? (UPS, IV, 187).

FROM FATHER TOM "The old days were better"..and how! What distinguishes many of today's Religious from the laity? Habit? Not always, and anyway anybody can wear a special dress. Poverty? 12 cars for 20 men? (*) Obedience? If it suits the individual. No wonder some groups are dying out.

(*) statistic from AMERICA magazine, Aug 3-10, 2015.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. M. Giuditta Benzo PD (1972)--Sr. Teresa Maria Hernandez FSP (1977)--Sr. Assunta Moyano FSP (1978)--Sr. Panacea Bragliola FSP (1993)--Sr. M. Edilma Franco Quitiaqn FSP (1999)--Fr. Humberto Aguilar SSP (2001)--Fr. Cirilo Penas SSP (2001)--Morena Landini IAM (2015)

Monday, January 18, 2016

January 19, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Tuesday, January 19
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
1 Sm 16: 1-13
Ps 89: 20-28
Mk 2: 23-28

People look for so many things, whether in books, or in advices!...But why don't we want, instead, to listen, in the first place, to the Divine Master? Of course, we must reflect because the Lord has given us our intelligence, but there are supernatural things that are inspired directly by the Divine Master (APD 1962, 517).

FROM FATHER TOM This thought hardly needs comment. What it needs is action. When did I last involve the Master in my problems? When did you?

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. M. Margherita Gerlotto PD (1965)--Sr. Massima Sternelli PD (1990)--Sr. Maria Ines Cavagnolli SGBP (1993)--Matteo Zaccaria IAM (1994)--Fr. Dino Pacini IJP (1995)--Fr Giovanni Piscopo IJP (1995)--Sr. M. Salvatoris Rosa PD (1998)--Fr. Florindo D;Ascenzo SSP )+(2001)--Fr. GabrieleScionti SSP (2003)--Sr. Alessanddra Salvade FSP (2005)--Maria Assunta Giudice IAM (2005)--Augusta Bernardini FSP (2008)--Angelo Calandra IAM (2014)--Francesco Losito IAM (2015)--Ador Diosomito (2015)

Sunday, January 17, 2016

January 18, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Monday, January 18
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
1 Sm 15: 16-23
Ps 50: 8-9
Mk 2: 18-22

The esteem of men is like a charm that at times wins over even those who seem almost to despise he judgment of men (NOV 62).

FROM FATHER TOM Esteem is founded on divine love for every human being and eventually triumphs over the hardest of hearts. What about me and you?  Have we, as the saying goes, "a positive attitude" to people and events?

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Fr. Tito Della Bartola SSP (1972)--D. Armando Gualandi SSP (1982)--D. Armando Giovannini SSP (1991)--Benito Filemon Villa HFI (1996)--Mario Pietrofeso HFI (2004)-Sr. M. Luisa Fallado PD (2006)--Vincenza Lionetti IAM (2009)--D. Egidio Spagnoli SSP (2014)--Sr. Ida Mazzucato FSP (2015)--Angelo Mazzia IJP (2015)--Maria Librada Gonzalez Rodriguez IAM (2015)

January 17, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Sunday, January 17
SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Is 62: 1-5
Ps 96: 1-10
1 Cor 12: 4-10
Jn 2: 1-11

From the holiness of their wedding depend many graces for couples and the family they form (BM p 554)

FROM FATHER TOM Brief exam: If your married life has had blessings or sufferings, to what extent are you to take praise or blame? The challenges of married life today are many--some completely new in our time.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. M. Alfonsa Marello PD (1984)--Sr. M. Stella Signorini FSP (1986)--Fr. Vito Frassanito IJP (1998)--Sr. Anna Foschi SGBP L(1999) Sr. Rachele Binello FSP (2005)--Sr. M. Amabilis Casarotto FSP (2009)--Olga Falbo IAM (2010)--Sr. M. Giovannina Sacchetto FSP (2014)--S.r Anna Maria Collarini SGBP (2014)--Sr. M. Vernonica Pinto Pasten FSP (2015)

Friday, January 15, 2016

January 16, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Saturday, January 16
BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
1 Sm 9: 1-4, 17-19; 10: 1
Ps 21: 2-7
Mk 2: 13-17

A person who does not want to become a saint does not live the religious life (APD 1959, 84).

FROM FATHER TOM Indeed. And what are we to say about our living the Pauline life--not quite as exacting but nevertheless challenging? The exam of conscience should always ask: am I living a good life, or a Pauline life?

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. M. Michelina Perbellini PD (1962)--Fr. Luigi Fago IJP (1985)--Fr. Gregorio Delpogetto SSP (1996)--Fr. Francesco Sirito SSP (1997)--Giuseppina Pauluzzi HFI (1998)--Sr. M. Pierluisa Vidano PD (2000)--Fr. Paolo Maeda SSP (2002)--Lucia Laghetto HFI (2009)--Sr. Domenica (Mimma) zagara FSP (2011)--Cosimo Pierri HFI (2011)--Sr. Maria Pia Marcazzan FSP (2012)--Anthony J. Madeline, Sr. (1980)

Thursday, January 14, 2016

January 15, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Friday, January 15
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
1 Sm 8: 4-7
Ps 89:16-19
Mk 2: 1-12

Pride is a stumbling block to faith, a source of irrational stubbornness in one's ideas, a cause of divisions and discord (BM, p 255).

FROM FATHER TOM And what colossal damage it has done to God's plan! In fact we will never know until Judgment Day even though its evil is everywhere: in the family in the Church, in Government and in everywhere else.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. Consolata Binello FSP (1948)--Sr. Paol Magnani FSP (2000)--Sr. M. Valentina Bedino PD (2000)--Fr. Vincenzo Marseglia IJP (2002)--M. Irene Gianfrieda HFI (2011)--BAldini Dario HFI (2013)--Sr. M. Boguslawa soltys PD (2014)--Bro Harry Morgan FSC (2005)--Peter M. Murphy (1978)

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

January 14, 2015 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Thursday, January 14
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
1 Sm 4: 1-11
Ps 44: 10-25
Mk 1: 40-45

Family spirit is that kind of charity which is outstandingly tender, full of dedication and more caring, as must reign in a religious family (UPS, IV, 214).

FROM FATHER TOM These are words of the Founder taken from one of his 1960 talks given in the Ariccia Retreat House to pioneering confreres from all over the world. Those were great moments for him and for us. Not so great these days, but his guidelines are unchanged. 

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. M. Teresa Congius FSP (1961)--Sr. M. Leonilde Torrengo PD (1971)--Sr. Anna Caterina Tagliani FSP (1997)--Fr. Roberto Nunez IJP (2004)--Sr. M. Teresina Pallavicino FSP (2005)

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

January 13, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Wednesday, January 13
ST HILARY, BISHOP, DOCTOR
OF THE CHURCH
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
1 Sm 3: 1-10
Ps 40: 2-10
Mk 1: 29-39

Benevolence is the flowering of charity (BM, p. 101).

FROM FATHER TOM Or, if you like, the external manifestation of interior peace and goodwill. However, it must be combined with justice to ensure that we have (the) right attitude toward evil. 

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. Bernardetta Ferraris FSP (2002)

Monday, January 11, 2016

January 12, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Tuesday, January 13
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
1 Sm 1: 9-20
Ps 104
Mk 1: 21-28

God is a good Father even when He allows affliction; He guides in an invisible way even if the darkness is thick; He is close even if we don't see Him or hear Him; He supports us even if it seems that He has abandoned us (BM p. 377)

FROM FATHER TOM In fact He CAN'T abandon us...or disappear entirely! We think God created us and then left us to fend for ourselves...not so. If He were to leave us even for an instant...we'd disappear!

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Fr. Agide Pasotti IJP (1995)--Sr. M. Teresa Castro PD (2011)

Sunday, January 10, 2016

January 11, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Monday, January 11
ORDINARY WEEKDAY
1 Sm 1: 1-8
Ps 116: 12-19
Mk 1: 14-20

The heavenly Father watches over His good children: He alternates for them pains and consolations, trials and victories, darkness and lights (BM p. 377).

FROM FATHER TOM In fact it is sometimes challenging to discern just what part of our lives is ours and what part is God's. So the thing is to take Him at His word, trust Him absolutely, and --in moments of joy or sorrow--remember to say: "Thank You, Jesus."

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. M. Celestina Giglione FSP (1949)--Sr. M. Lidia Zago FSP (1950)--Fr. Alfonso Panaro SSP (1972)--Sr. M. Carmelina Lamberti PD (2000)--Fr. Franco Pierini SSP (2001)--Sr. Blesilda Ganalon FSP (2004)--Sr. Vittoria Magni FSP (2005)--Fr. Marcello Krebel IJP (2008)--Sr. Lucia Irene Vazquez Martinez FSP (2012)--BErnardo Dato (2013)

Keep a Tight Grasp...



"Keep a tight grasp of Christ's hand. Whenever you find yourself with more than you can handle, do not panic,  but look to Christ."
~ St. Francis de Sales

Saturday, January 9, 2016

January 10, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Toom

Sunday, January 10
BAPTISM OF THE LORD
Is 40: 1-5, 9-11
Ps 104: 1-4, 24-30
Ti 2: 11-14; 3: 4-7
Lk 3: 15-22

At our baptism we were given the name of a saint who will protect us. Our life and salvation were placed under his or her custody and protection. We owe them our admiration, imitation and prayers (BM, pp 423-424).

FROM FATHER TOM And also, I suppose some awareness of who they were plus their life and miracles--there are many "Thomases" but mine is Thomas Aquinas who worked no miracles and was--it is said--grossly overweight.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. M. Bernardita Arcila FSP (1987)--Cesarino Carlini HFI (2006)--Sr. M. Veronica Varona FSP (2007)--Sr. Veronica Kovalski FSP (2011)--Mary Kennedy (2005)

Friday, January 8, 2016

January 9, 2015 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Saturday, January 9
CHRISTMAS WEEKDAY
1 Jn 5: 14-21
Ps 149: 1-9
Jn 3: 22-30

Every Institute is a society of souls that want to help one another to attain sanctification (APD 1961, 22).

FROM FATHER TOM These words were--it seems--addressed to the P.D. (Sister Disciples) whose mission is essentially contemplative. But not on(ly) in the sense of prayer and ordinary actions: rather in the sense of actions infused with invocations and the intense desire to serve that Lord in that time and place.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. M. Orsola Gattei PD (1947)--Lucia Melotto HFI (1994)--Michele Budetta HFI (1997)--Maria da Assuncao Pereira Pinto IAM (2001)--D. Antonio Tacconi SSP (2008--D. Giuliano Zoppi SSP (2009)--Sr. M. Giustina Larcher PD (2009)--Sr. M> Gesuina Mocci FSP (2010)--S.r Rosa Maria De Jesus FSP (2011)--Sr. M. Gregorina Ceccon PD (2014)

Thursday, January 7, 2016

January 8, 2015 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Friday, January 8
CHRISTMAS WEEKDAY
1 Jn 5: 5-13
Ps 147: 12-20
Lk 5: 12-16

May our hearts become like the Divine Heart: meek, humble, pious, generous, burning with love for God and men (BM p 709).

FROM FATHER TOM But also strong and proactive! When we realize how much the world--and the Church--has changed since these words were written, we should feel a deep desire to 'share the word (= the Institute) with others so as to add to the modest number who are doing something for the Lord instead of praying about it.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Fr. Manuel Marques SSP (1990)--Sr. M> Guglielmina Butano PD (1995)--Sr. M. Cristina Barbgieri FSP (1995)--EMilia Desiato HFI (1995)--Fr. Crisostomo Canclini SSP (2000)--Angelo Falchi GABRIELITE  (2004)--Sr. M. Angeles Lopez PD (2006)--D. Ermenegildo Botti SSP (2006)--Sr. M. Gianpaola Zucchetti PD (205)--Luigi Patat GABRIELITE (2015)--Ruth Helline (1986)

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

January 7, 2015 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Thursday, January 7
FIRST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH—
THE GUARDIAN ANGELS
ST RAYMOND OF PENYAFORT, PRIEST
CHRISTMAS WEEKDAY
1 Jn 4: 19-5:4
Ps 72: 1-2, 14-17
Lk 4: 14-22

Love of God can only be ignited in one who repudiates the desires of the senses and knows how to dominate his passions (SP May 1951).

FROM FATHER TOM In a word: we cannot serve two masters, and there is little doubt that when "the desires of the senses" and the "passions" take over, the life of that individual has lost all connection with vows or virtues. In our day, however, there is another possibility; no serious sin...but no real virtue either, all sorts of "concessions" made until :vows" is just one thing we did on a day long ago.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. M. Ambrosina Vargas Suena FSP (1996)--S.r M. Oliva Garcia Allende FSP (1997)--Fr. Vincenzo Caterino IJP (1997)--Fr. Giovanni Scalone IJP (2002)--Fr. Luigi Cristofani IJP (2009)--Sr. M> Sebastiana Miki FSP (2010)--Sr. M. Gregorina Padrigon FSP (2011)--Teresina Collotto HFI (2013)--Charles W. Basquestte(1992)

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

January 6, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Wednesday, January 6
FIRST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH—
ST JOSEPH
ST ANDRE BESSETTE, RELIGIOUS
CHRISTMAS WEEKDAY
1 Jn 4: 11-18
Ps 72: 1-2, 10-13
Mt 6: 45-52

Gold, incense and myrrh: faith, prayer, repentance (APD 1967, 35).

FROM FATHER TOM Understand these gifts...and give them to the infant.  The first is basic, the other two proceed from that. Faith is the foundation of  everything.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Fr. Giblerto Aldaco SSP (1985)--Esuperanzio Sdrubolini HFI (1987)--F.r Gilberto Zanchin SSP (1990)--Sr. Marta Prinotti FSP (1993)--F.r Giuseppe Cuva IJP (2002)--Sr. Antida Labrettini FSP (2004)--Sr. M. Cleofe Fazio FSP (2012)--Sr. Serafina Dellai SGBP (2014)

Monday, January 4, 2016

January 5, 2015 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Tuesday, January 5
FIRST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH—
THE SOULS IN PURGATORY
ST JOHN NEUMANN, BISHOP
1 Jn 4: 7-10
Ps 72: 1-8
Mt 6:34-44

The Holy Spirit, when operating in the soul of the just, also produces some fruits. They are listed down by Saint Paul: charity, joy, peace, patience, meekness, benignity, goodness, longanimity, fidelity, gentleness, temperance [Gal 5, 22] (BM p 161).

FROM FATHER TOM I suppose the most obvious comment here involves asking how many of these we possess--or even understand. If you have the CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, you might like to check them out.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. Giacinta Cocciolone FSP (1945)--Fr. Antonio Mollo SSP (1989)--Sr. Cristina Bertello FSP (1990)--Paterniano Falcioni HFI (1995)--Alfonso Romano HFI (2000)--Sr. Elena Roallos FSP (2002)--Sr. Monica Lunkes FSP (2002)--D. Leonardo Zega SSP (2010)--Fr. Mario Prando SSP (2011)--Henry J. Berlo (1994)--Charles A. Bujol (1939).

Sunday, January 3, 2016

January 4, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Monday, January 4
FIRST MONDAY OF THE MONTH—
ST PAUL
ST ELIZABETH ANN SETON, RELIGIOUS
1 Jn 3: 22-4-6
Ps 2: 7-12
Mt 4:12-17, 23-25

It is very good that, every evening each priest, after having done his case with God , bless the entire Pauline Family (SP Nov 1934)

FROM FATHER TOM This pious thought goes back to the early days when in the whole Church and in the Pauline family the special dignity of the priest was recognized. We have to pray that all of us--priests and others--wake up to the realization of who we are.


PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. M. Luignia Grandi FSP (1974)--Sr. Maria Agostina Agnetti FSP (1988)--Sr. M. Emanuella Pintus FSP (1989)--Fr. Remo Anselmi IJP (1990)--Fr. Alfredo Bordon IJP (1996)--Sr. cristina Leonardo FSP (1997)--Sr. Adriana Monti FSP (2008)--Sr. M. Ernesta Bearzotti PD (2011)--Angelo Santoro HFI (2012)--Sr. M. Federica Bonazza FSP (2013)--Sr. Delfina Kessler FSP (2014)--Amalia Tomasello HFI (2000)

Does Your Star Lead You To Jesus?




EPIPHANY



This morning as my family was getting ready to go to Mass, someone noted that it was the Solemnity of the Epiphany.  This led to the question of why the Solemnity is called the Epiphany. We’ve all heard the word epiphany used in conversation, but what exactly is it and what does it have to do with the Magi and the Christ Child? What is Epiphany?
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, online, epiphany (plural epiphanies) is:
1.   1capitalized :  January 6 observed as a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles or in the Eastern Church in commemoration of the baptism of Christ
2.   2:  an appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being
3.   3a (1) :  a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something (2) :  an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) usually simple and striking (3) :  an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosureb :  a revealing scene or moment
                       ~ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epiphany

Now, here are a few thoughts of my own, just sort of thinking out loud.

I have to admit, I was surprised to see the Church celebration given the primary place in the definition.  Usually when I think of epiphany, I think of an epiphany, a revelation…an ‘aha’ moment.  Unless it is the Christmas season, I don’t usually think about it in terms of the coming of the Magi to pay honor to the Christ Child.

Still, upon closer examination, that idea is not all that far removed from what The Epiphany is.  The three Magi were Gentiles, not of the Chosen people and yet they undoubtedly knew of the Messianic prophecies given to the Hebrews.  When the star appeared, these Magi were given a great grace by God; the grace by which to recognize the star when it appeared and to know what it heralded-- the birth of a very important person, perhaps a king.  They knew they were to follow the star until it stopped, and to pay homage to the person it led them to, with kingly gifts.  They were given their ‘aha’ moment by God because of their openness to God’s grace, while Herod and the Pharisees were denied that gift because, although they knew of the prophecies, they did not receive them with joy, but with fear and jealousy.

We see another ‘aha’ moment when the Magi are told not to return to Herod but to continue on home by another route.   In case that isn’t enough to qualify as an ‘aha’ moment, or epiphany in itself, it is said that these Magi were baptized into the faith by St. Thomas, signifying that their moment of grace and clarity took root and changed their lives.   

But I’m meandering. 

What I’m getting at is that the Epiphany is a revelation by God to men of good will, who are open to it,  an ‘aha’ moment, if you will and so the secular and the religious meanings aren’t all that different after all.  And we can still have such ephiphanies, such 'aha' moments today, if we are open to them.

More information on the Solemnity of the Epiphany can be found here:

and here:


More information on the Magi can be found here:



God bless and Happy Epiphany!


Saturday, January 2, 2016

January 3, 2016 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Sunday, January 3
FIRST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH—
THE DIVINE MASTER, WAY, TRUTH AND LIFE
EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
Is 60: 1-6
Ps 72: 1-14
Eph 3: 2-6
Mt 2: 1-12

May the month of January, in honor of the Divine Master, make us grow in wisdom, age and grace (SP Jan 1936).

FROM FATHER TOM No problem with growing in age...So the challenge often is to struggle against the weaknesses that age brings. I often think that Jesus never knew anything except perfect health and so we can live our last days for Him in a unique type of suffering and atonement.


PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Fr. Davide Cordero SSP (1958)--Fr. Antonio Sabarino SSP (1963)--Sr. M. Domenica Bassi FSP (1984)--Cleric, Jairo Enrique Gaitaqn Aguilar SSP (1987)--Fr. Benedetto De Stefano IJP (1989)--Fr. Nicola Cavotta IJP (1993)--Sr. M. Santos Gamez PD (2000)--Ganna Panico HFI (2006)--Robert Walton Cadenhead III (1995)--Emily Renda (2008)

Friday, January 1, 2016

January 2, 2015 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Saturday, January 2
FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH—
MARY QUEEN OF APOSTLES
SS BASIL, THE GREAT AND GREGORY
NAZIANZEN, BISHOPS, DOCTORS OF
THE CHURCH
1 Jn 2: 22-28
Ps 98: 1-4
Jn 1: 19-28

 Because she is God's Mother, Mary has a special union and kinship with the Lord. She is blessed among women; she is in a unique and lofty position; she is more deeply united to God (Maria Regina degli Apostoli, 280-281).

FROM FATHER TOM And, like a good mother and spouse, she leads us, her children, to honor, love and obey our Father..


PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED:  Sr. Rosaria Nazzari SGBP (1950)--F.r Jozef Labedz SSP (1967)--S.r Aloisia M. Acciarri FSP (1977)--Sr. Quirina Angeli FSP (1999)--Sr. M. Matilde Garzitto FSP (2000)--M. Cristina Canfarotta HFI (2000)--Sr. Nathalia Martins Assis FSP (2006)--Sr. Leonarda Lorial FSP (3009)--Ulderico Serafini HFI (2010)--Sr. M. Veronica Castillo PD (2014)--Mateo Albano (1945)--Marie Mennella (2014)