FEAST OF THE DEDICATION OF ST. JOHN LATERAN

Posted on by Cassie

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. John Lateran Basilica.  It is the oldest and the highest ranking of the four major Basilicas in Rome.  This Basilica is the Cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, the official ecclesiastical  seat of the Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome.

In ancient Rome this was the Church where everyone was Baptized.  It is the oldest Church in the Roman Church.  It was built in the time of Constantine and was consecrated by Pope Sylvester in 324.

At first the observance of the Feast was confined to the city of Rome, but beginning in 1565 it was extended to all the Churches of the Roman rite.

As we honor the Basilica of St. John Lateran, we honor all the Churches of our faith, including our beautiful Church of St. Cyril of Jerusalem.  We have been blessed with our beautiful Church for over twenty-one years.

We thank God for His blessing of our Church and ask Him to continue to bless our parish and our Roman Catholic Faith.

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell

 

all saints – all souls day

Posted on by Cassie

November is the month set aside by the Church for us to remember our beloved dead.  We begin this month-long celebration with two very important Feasts; All Saints Day and All Souls Day.

Saturday was the Feast of All Saints.  We believe that every Christian is called to be a Saint (holy person).  In the Acts of the Apostles the membership of the Church is actually referred to as “the saints”.  The Church teaches that if we follow the teachings of Christ, we will enter Heaven.

Heaven is being with God for eternity, those people who are in heaven are Saints.  When the Church has proof that someone is in heaven, she declares them a Saint and places their name in the Book of Saints.  They are then canonized Saints.  Those who are in heaven, but have not yet been listed in the official canon of the Church are called Saints, but they are un-canonized.

Sunday is All Souls Day.  On this day we remember all the Souls in Purgatory.  Purgatory is the place where the soul of a person is prepared for heaven.  A person can not enter heaven with any stain of sin on their soul.  If we have the stain of sin on our soul when we die, we go to Purgatory to be prepared for eternal existence with God in Paradise.

When we pray for the Souls in Purgatory, we are helping them to be prepared for heaven.  My mother use to tell me that if we were able to help someone in Purgatory enter Heaven, that person would never forget us as we struggle here on earth.

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell

 

thirtieth sunday in ordinary time

Posted on by Cassie

Being convinced of one’s own righteousness seems to lead inevitably to despising others.  The faults of others are so easy to see.  Jesus, knowing that some of His disciples are caught up in this problem, addresses today’s parable to them.

He presents the Pharisee in the parable as praying about himself.  He himself, more than God, is the subject of his prayer.  He exalts himself rather than God.

Social pressure leaves the tax collector less susceptible to self-deception.  His profession meant that he was regarded as a public sinner.  He knows he does not measure up to the law, and so he pleads for mercy.  Jesus proclaims that he, of the two, went away justified.

The law was given as a moral guide for God’s people.  But God also meant the law to reveal to everyone how far short they fall.  Therefore, God’s intention in the law was better achieved in the tax collector than in the Pharisee.

The Pharisee did do things he could brag about, his problem was he bragged about them, esteeming himself and disdaining others.  The tax collector was a sinner, and his saving achievement was that he admitted it.

Discipleship apart from prayer is impossible; but not just any prayer.  In the parable the Pharisees prayer is self – serving and prideful, while the tax collector embodies the humble servant attitude by the simple prayer.    “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”    The secret of effective prayer is the mercy of God.

Effective prayer seeks and finds the mercy of God.  God in His mercy, gave the tax collector what the Pharisee strove for through all his own efforts:  Justification, which means proper standing in the eyes of God.  The tax collector received what the Pharisee did not achieve.

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell