January 4
“Prayer gives us strength for great ideals, for keeping up our faith, charity, purity, generosity; prayer gives us strength to rise up from indifference and guilt, if we have had the misfortune to give in to temptation and weakness. Prayer gives us light by which to see and to judge from God’s perspective and from eternity. That is why you must not give up on praying!”
-St. Pope John Paul II
RM asks: “Is it okay for a Catholic to use practices such as Reflexology and Reiki when they are doing so in order to help people?”
Born Elizabeth Ann Bayley in New York City, Mother Seton is a saint of firsts: first American-born saint, leader of the first Catholic girls' school (and the first free Catholic school of any kind) in the United States, and foundress of the first American order of religious sisters -- the Sisters of Charity.
Elizabeth was born into a prominent Anglican family and was married in the Anglican Church. With her sister-in-law, Rebecca, she tended to the poor around New York, earning a reputation for her compassion and mercy. In 1803, she traveled to Italy with her ailing husband in the hope that the climate would aid his recovery.
William Seton died in Italy later that year, but in her grief Elizabeth discovered a new love: the Catholic Church. She scandalized her Protestant family and friends by being received into the Church in New York City on Ash Wednesday, 1805.
Finding N
ew York no longer hospitable to her Catholic zeal, Elizabeth suffered through some trying years before finding a haven in Baltimore. I twas there that she channeled her passion for service into girls' education. She also pursued her dream of religious life, fashioning a rudimentary habit in the style of nuns she had seen in Italy. Other women were drawn to her, and in 1809 the Sisters of Charity was born, based on the example of St. Vincent de Paul.
Mother Seton died in 1821 in Emmitsburgh, Maryland, where her school still sands. In her refusal to let the social pressures of her station restrain her witness to the Catholic Faith -- in word and deed -- she is a wonderful example for us in a secularizing world.
This is an excerpt from Graceful Living. To purchase your copy, click here.
January 3
“A person’s prayer often keeps step with his moral life. The closer our behavior corresponds to the Divine Will, the easier it is to pray; the more our conduct is out of joint with Divinity, the harder it is to pray.”
-Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
March for Life 2018 is only weeks away and in addition to an impressive line up of speakers, local bishops have extended a plenary indulgence to anyone attending the March who meets the usual requirements.
The fact that there are still an estimated 25 million people in this world who are victims of human trafficking is why our country has once again declared January as a month to recognize this sad statistic and pledge to do more to stop these crimes.
January 2
“When prayer is humble, trusting, and persevering, it obtains for us a more lively faith, a firmer hope, a more ardent charity. Thereby we see how fruitful mental prayer can be; how it draws God strongly toward us that He may give Himself intimately to us and that we may give ourselves to Him.”
Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.
January 1
"We never give more honour to Jesus than when we honour his Mother, and we honour her simply and solely to honour him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek - Jesus, her Son."
--Saint Louis Marie de Montfort
It’s that time of year when we make resolutions to shore up our health, our finances, our relationships. Why not do the same for your spiritual life in 2018?
What wisdom Holy Mother Church has in dedicating the first day of the year to Mary, Mother of God!Mary is the Mother of God and she is our mother, too. Her fiat is the genesis of every fiat given to God. And every fiat given to God is enriched by hers. The fathers of the Second Vatican Council state it simply, succinctly, and profoundly: she is our Mother in the order of grace.
This poem, written by Giovanni Domini (1356-142), expresses the maternal beatitude we find so dear. May it elevate our hearts in gratitude to God for the gift of the Blessed Virgin. And may it elevate our hearts to the reality of our salvation which comes through the gift of her Son, Jesus Christ Savior of the World.
