I am so pleased to personally invite you to attend our 4th
Women of Grace Retreat to be held at Malvern Retreat Center, Malvern PA the weekend of July 31st. A flyer is available via download on our website under "Conferences." Not only will this weekend be inspiring, butI know it will also be a time to be blessed.
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Well, a few weekends ago I "bit the bullet." I dug into two areas of storage in my home that have been desperately in need of a clean out. I have been avoiding these two areas for two different reasons.
The one area seems all but overwhelming because of the amount of stuff amassed there. The other area holds many memories and sentiments that promise a difficult moment.
The place with all of the stuff is still pretty much full. However, I did manage to get four large garbage bags of items relegated to new locations -- two to the curb for trash pick-up and two to the local Goodwill. In addition, two rolls of carpeting and one large recliner found new homes.
The memory trove was another matter entirely. I became immersed. For hours. Pouring over family pictures dating all of the way back to the twenties of the last century.
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Today is the Feast of Corpus Christi. This celebration, which commemorates the Body of Christ given to us in Holy Eucharist, is celebrated following Trinity Sunday and was formally established in the 13th Century.
St. Juliana of Mont Conillon, also known as St. Juliana of Liege, was the champion of the feast. From her early youth, she had a great love of the Blessed Sacrament and longed to have a feast day set aside to honor Our Lord's presence in the Eucharist.
The saint's desire grew after a vision she reportedly had of the Church represented by the full moon. In this vision, the moon had one dark spot, supposedly representing the absence of such a feast day.
Juliana expressed her desires to the Bishop of Liege, Robert de Thorete, to the Dominican Hugh who later became the Cardinal Legate in the Netherlands, and to Jacques Pantaleon, at that time Archbishop of Liege who was to become Pope Urban IV.
Favorably impressed, Bishop Robert Thorete instituted the feast day in his own diocese in 1247 as bishops were permitted to do at that time, and Pope Urban IV ordered the annual celebration of Corpus Christi on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday in 1264. Though the celebration remains on this day in Rome, here in the United States it is now celebrated the Sunday following Trinity Sunday.
The feast offers all of us an opportunity to appreciate more deeply the rich treasure of grace offered to us through the Holy Eucharist. It is a day that begs us to enter into the Sacred Mystery of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divintiy of Our Lord Jesus Christ given to us and for us in every Eucharistic celebration. It reminds us of the divine sacrifice made on our behalf while beckoning us to be infused ever more completely by the Author of Life Himself.
Following are five ways we can enhance our appreciation of the Blessed Sacrament and mine the rich treasure that is ours. It is taken from my book,
Full of Grace: Women and the Abundant Life.
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David Letterman's recent outrageous display of poor taste and insensitivity regarding Sarah Palin's daughter, Willow, and the liberal press' defense of it, points to a larger cultural issue -- our nation has grown hard of heart.
Civility has been bartered for crudeness, courtesy for contempt, and politeness for self-aggrandisement. In the end, hardness of heart leads to a complete disregard for the human person and reduces him to nothing more than a joke's punchline -- or much worse.
Consider the incident involving the teens who attacked another teen this week, beat her up, and cut and torched her hair. Or the unconscionable murder of the Holocaust museum security guard, Stephen Johns, by James von Brunn.
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Some years ago I overheard a father talking to his child. It seems the little tyke had done something he shouldn't have done and the father was reprimanding him for his disobedient choice. What struck me about the conversation was the dad's choice of words, his gentle tone of voice and his loving disposition. It was clear that in the midst of the admonition this father was communicating to his son love, encouragement, faith, and hope.
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Seems like just about everybody in the Catholic world has his or her own definition of what "modesty" is.
If we look it up in the dictionary, we discover that modesty is
"the state or virtue of being unassuming and of humble behavior; lacking excess or pretentions; moderation, decency, decorum."
Father Peter Stravinskas agrees. In his
Catholic Dictionary he defines modesty as
"the virtue promoting manners and harmony with others, enabling one to control conversations, dress, and external actions. A defect of modesty causes boorishness and coarseness, while excess in this virtue leads to excessive delicacy and fastidiousness."
Another Catholic lexicographer concurs as well.
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Recently, I received an email from a person suffering from depression. She wrote this:
I am on medicine for depression and anxiety. I finally got to know Jesus [but] I still feel left out of the spiritual world. I love being charitable and doing for others…but feel at a dead end. I read somewhere that depressed people lead a life of low spirituality. Is this correct?
Following is my reply to this dear woman:
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I am pleased to announce a brand new service offered through Women of Grace® and Living His Life Abundantly® called
Grace Alerts. We are committed to bringing you important and relevant information that can help you live your faith in our day and time, and these "alerts" will help to do just that.
Grace Alerts will inform you of video presentations available to view free of charge on our website.
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I have come to believe that God is always about the business of revealing His will to us. He is always speaking to us. All we need do is have ears to hear. Today, He spoke through our radio broadcast.
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Today we honor all of the men and women who valiantly gave their lives for the freedom and privileges we enjoy as citizens of the United States of America. We honor as well, all of those men and women who served us without falling victim to the battlefield, and those who continue to serve our nation here at home and abroad.
I especially remember my two vets: my son, Simon Benkovic, who served in both Korea and Iraq, and my husband, Anthony, who served during the Vietnam era. Both were proud to be veterans of the United States Army.
May those who gave their lives for the principles and truths expressed in the Constitution of the United States be at peace, and may they be experiencing the joy of eternal happiness in the presence of the Triune God.
Thank you for your service. Thank you for your lives.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And may the perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.
Note: The above image is a photograph of the six American soldiers who hoisted our nation's flag on Mount Suribachi, the highest point on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima and the key battleground in the Pacific War. This historic photo renewed national morale and rapidly became the public symbol of the US WWII war effort. It remains a symbol of hope, freedom, inspiration, and national sovereignty.
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