Hundreds of people who rushed to the scene of the 9/11 terrorist attack have died from the effects of the toxins present at the site. The new memorial remembers their sacrifice.Nearly 3,000 people died in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Towers 18 years ago today, but a newly installed memorial on the Ground Zero site remembers the first responders, survivors, and their families who continue to suffer and die as a result of the attack.
September 11
"The Blessed Sacrament is the first and supreme object of our worship. We must preserve in the depths of our hearts a constant uninterrupted adoration of this precious pledge of Divine Love.'"
-St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier
Today’s Reflection:
One way to preserve constant uninterrupted adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is by making spiritual communions throughout the day, turning our hearts and minds toward the Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. One favorite prayer for spiritual communion is as follows:
An Act of Spiritual Communion My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
In the wake of Hurricane Dorian, which devastated the tiny island nation of the Bahamas, Catholics are struggling to cope with the massive destruction of their property and lifestyle, but are relying on their faith to carry them through this dark time.
Dr. Lisa MarinoLisa Marino is a young doctor of physical therapy and devout Catholic woman, wife and mother who is using her feminine genius to transform the health of families – body and soul – in an authentically Catholic way. In the following blog, she tells the poignant story of how Our Lady laid out her mission in life to be a wife, a mother, and a faithful Catholic healthcare provider.
September 10
"Our sensible appetites, inclined to sensuality and to sloth, need to be vivified by contact with the virginal body of Christ, who endured most frightful sufferings for love of us. We, who are always inclined to pride, to lack of consideration, to forgetfulness of the greatest truths, to spiritual folly, need to be illumined by contact with the sovereignty luminous intellect of the Savior, who is 'the way, the truth, and the life.'"
-Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, The Three Ages of the Interior Life
Today’s Reflection:
What do we do if our faith in the Eucharist isn't very alive? Make one resolution today that you will carry through this week to increase your love and devotion.
MP writes: "On Veritas, an Irish Catholic site, I found an advertisement for Caroline Myss' book Anatomy of the Spirit. Isn't she New Age? The book "describes a seven-step process for promoting physical, emotional, and spiritual healing, offering a detailed introduction to the new field of energy medicine."
After 30 years, the church in Ireland has recognized the miraculous healing of a woman who was cured of multiple sclerosis 30 years ago.
September 8
"...Fourteen years later, God opened my heart to consider the claims of the Catholic Church. The Church taught that Jesus meant what He said to the Jews in John, Chapter 6: 'Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed' (John 6:53-55). I finally realized that if the Eucharist is Christ, there is no where else on earth to be but the Church our Savior established and for which He gave His life, and through which He gives us His very self -- Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity -- as our Food."
-Rosalind Moss, Mother Miriam of the Lamb of God, O.S.B.
Today’s Reflection:
Rosalind Moss was a Jewish convert to Christianity. Now she is Mother Miriam. How does her account enhance your appreciation of the Holy Eucharist?
DH asks: "Have you investigated any information about drum circles that are "popping up" in Catholic Churches and at women religious retreats? We have some very devout people in our parish who are musicians and they have latched onto the idea that Christian praise and worship can occur within drum circles. They have organized a drum circle and the group alternates meetings between our Catholic Church and a local Protestant denomination. Our Youth Ministry members also participate now. The drum circle is advertised as "musical worship, family fun, includes the children , and, as an appealing way to praise God. . .
