July 3
"They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father, in his goodness, raised up again.”
-St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to Smyrnaeans (110 AD)
July 2
"I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
-John 6:51
July 1
"Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died."
-1 Corinthians 11:23 - 30
June 30th
“Jesus and Mary themselves obey and offer their homage to Joseph, for the reverence what the hand of God has established in him, namely, the authority of spouse and the authority of father.”
-Pope Pius XI
HL writes: “Can you please help me with information about Aztec dancing and whether it’s a concern. Our parish hosts a yearly feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and our bishop comes every year to celebrate. Aztec dancers, some very immodestly dressed, would dance during the offertory and incense the image of Our Lady. I don’t feel that it’s appropriate that they participate at our Mass and I spoke to my pastor about it. Our pastor felt he needs more substantial information because the one that he sent me is in favor of the dancers. I personally don’t feel edified or pious when the Aztec dancers participate at mass because their dancing and music are distracting. Could you please help me with this? I have young and impressionable sons and I’m not sure I feel right having them see barely clothed people dancing in rather mesmerizing ways.”
June 29th
At a difficult time in the Church's history, Pope Pius IX, wishing to place her under the powerful patronage of the holy patriarch Joseph, declared him "Patron of the Catholic Church."(42) For Pius IX this was no idle gesture, since by virtue of the sublime dignity which God has granted to his most faithful servant Joseph, "the Church, after the Blessed Virgin, his spouse, has always held him in great honor and showered him with praise, having recourse to him amid tribulations."(43)
What are the reasons for such great confidence? Leo XIII explained it in this way: "The reasons why St. Joseph must be considered the special patron of the Church, and the Church in turn draws exceeding hope from his care and patronage, chiefly arise from his having been the husband of Mary and the presumed father of Jesus..., Joseph was in his day the lawful and natural guardian, head and defender of the Holy Family.... It is thus fitting and most worthy of Joseph's dignity that, in the same way that he once kept unceasing holy watch over the family of Nazareth, so now does he protect and defend with his heavenly patronage the Church of Christ."(44)
“This patronage [of St. Joseph] must be invoked as ever necessary for the Church, not only as a defense against all dangers, but also, and indeed primarily, as an impetus for her renewed commitment to evangelization in the world and to re-evangelization in those lands and nations where-as I wrote in the Apostolic Exhortation Christideles Laici - "religion and the Christian life were formerly flourishing and...are now put to a hard test."(45)
In order to bring the first proclamation of Christ, or to bring it anew wherever it has been neglected or forgotten, the Church has need of special "power from on high" (cf. Lk 24:49; Acts 1:8): a gift of the Spirit of the Lord, a gift which is not unrelated to the intercession and example of his saints.”
After a New Jersey mother of two complained on Facebook about inappropriate posters detailing various kinds of sexuality being displayed at her children’s school, she was branded a “terrorist” by local police and military. She is now suing those involved for violating her right to free speech.
June 28th
“Joseph found happiness not in mere self-sacrifice but in self-gift. In him, we never see frustration but only trust. His patient silence was the prelude to concrete expressions of trust. Our world today needs fathers. It has no use for tyrants who would domineer others as a means of compensating for their own needs. It rejects those who confuse authority with authoritarianism, service with servility, discussion with oppression, charity with a welfare mentality, power with destruction.
Every true vocation is born of the gift of oneself, which is the fruit of mature sacrifice. The priesthood and consecrated life likewise require this kind of maturity. Whatever our vocation, whether to marriage, celibacy or virginity, our gift of self will not come to fulfillment if it stops at sacrifice; were that the case, instead of becoming a sign of the beauty and joy of love, the gift of self would risk being an expression of unhappiness, sadness and frustration.”
APOSTOLIC LETTER “PATRIS CORDE” OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS ON THE 150th ANNIVERSARY OF THE PROCLAMATION OF ST JOSEPH, PATRON OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH
LAR writes: “While researching books on St. Joan of Arc recently, I came across a volume called 'Joan of Arc at the Stake' written by Seeds & McMoneagle, the latter employed by the US military and known for 'consistent accuracy in psy-functioning known by the Intelligence & Security Command (INSCOM) as Controlled Remote Viewing.' The book purports to describe how Joan looked and how her military manuevers really happened, via 'Remote Viewing.'
