Happy Feast of Saint Joan of Arc

2012 Meeting of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy (USA) 31 July – 3 August – CHICAGO (Mundelein) | Fr. Z's Blog – What Does The Prayer Really Say?

2012 Meeting of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy (USA) 31 July – 3 August – CHICAGO (Mundelein) | Fr. Z's Blog – What Does The Prayer Really Say?

On a lighter note… ‘Doctor Who’ fans hack a road sign

Fr. Z's Blog – What Does The Prayer Really Say? |

exterminate

40 Hours

 

please pray for my two parishes (Our Lady of Good Counsel & St. Bernadette) 

as we celebrate our annual Forty Hours Eucharistic Adoration.

Our preacher this year is Father Brian Wayne from St. Joan of Arc, Hershey

go on pilgrimage with Father Brighenti

      

Saint Philomena, pray for us

Rev. Fr. Kenneth Brighenti (Vice Rector of Mount St Mary Seminary), Luigi Falconieri (Fratelli and Co., Group Travel) and Pam Sielaff invite you to come to an "INFO GATHERING"  Saturday morning, June 2, 2012 at 11:00 AM at the St. Philomena Catholic Books and Gifts/Holy Grounds Cafe, 2 W. Main Street, Emmitsburg, MD 21727, Telephone: 301-447-3833

This gathering is for the purpose of learning about the up and coming pilgrimage trip to the Shrine of Santa Filomena, the Holy Shrines of Southern Italy and Rome.  If you or someone you know is interested in this trip to Italy, please come have a cup of coffee and we will have an informal discussion and information session.  Many times people have many questions before considering such a a trip.  Our aim is to give you some insight regarding this wonderful pilgrimage and answer as many questions as we can.

The trip is scheduled for a May 2013 departure, so this gives you a full year to plan.  Please stop in the Bookstore/Cafe and ask Pam for a full detailed brochure.

If you like we can also mail you a copy, just drop us a note at this email or go to the Trip's website at
www.fratelliandcompany.com/html/upcoming_tours___pilgrimages.html

We hope to see you on June 2nd.

Annual Conference Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy

Annual Conference | Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy

24th Anniversary of Priesthood

William Cardinal Keeler ordained me and my four classmates to the holy priesthood twenty-four years ago today.  Each year since then I have renewed my consecration of my priesthood to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of the Clergy and Mother of Priests.

ACT OF ENTRUSTMENT AND CONSECRATION OF PRIESTS TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

PRAYER OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Church of the Most Holy Trinity - Fátima,  Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Immaculate Mother, in this place of grace, called together by the love of your Son Jesus the Eternal High Priest, we, sons in the Son and his priests, consecrate ourselves to your maternal Heart, in order to carry out faithfully the Father’s Will.

We are mindful that, without Jesus, we can do nothing good and that only through him, with him and in him, will we be instruments of salvation for the world.

Bride of the Holy Spirit, obtain for us the inestimable gift of transformation in Christ. Through the same power of the Spirit that overshadowed you, making you the Mother of the Saviour, help us to bring Christ your Son to birth in ourselves too. May the Church be thus renewed by priests who are holy, priests transfigured by the grace of him who makes all things new.

Mother of Mercy, it was your Son Jesus who called us to become like him: light of the world and salt of the earth (cf. Mt 5:13-14).

Help us, through your powerful intercession, never to fall short of this sublime vocation, nor to give way to our selfishness, to the allurements of the world and to the wiles of the Evil One.

Preserve us with your purity, guard us with your humility and enfold us with your maternal love that is reflected in so many souls consecrated to you, who have become for us
true spiritual mothers.

Mother of the Church, we priests want to be pastors who do not feed themselves but rather give themselves to God for their brethren, finding their happiness in this. Not only with words, but with our lives, we want to repeat humbly, day after day, Our “here I am”.

Guided by you, we want to be Apostles of Divine Mercy, glad to celebrate every day the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar and to offer to those who request it the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Advocate and Mediatrix of grace, you who are fully immersed in the one universal mediation of Christ, invoke upon us, from God, a heart completely renewed that loves God with all its strength and serves mankind as you did.

Repeat to the Lord your efficacious word: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3), so that the Father and the Son will send upon us a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Full of wonder and gratitude at your continuing presence in our midst, in the name of all priests I too want to cry out: “Why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:43).

Our Mother for all time, do not tire of “visiting us”, consoling us, sustaining us. Come to our aid and deliver us from every danger that threatens us. With this act of entrustment and consecration, we wish to welcome you more deeply, more radically, for ever and totally into our human and priestly lives.

Let your presence cause new blooms to burst forth in the desert of our loneliness, let it cause the sun to shine on our darkness, let it restore calm after the tempest, so that all mankind shall see the salvation of the Lord, who has the name and the face of Jesus, who is reflected in our hearts, for ever united to yours! Amen!


© Copyright 2010 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
---

Parish Priest's Prayer to Mary Most Holy

O Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen,
Mother of the Church, a priestly people (1 Pet 2,9),
Mother of priests, ministers of your Son:
accept the humble offering of myself,
so that in my pastoral mission
the infinite mercy of Eternal High Priest
may be proclaimed:
O "Mother of Mercy".

You who shared the "priestly obedience" (Heb 10, 5-7; Lk 1, 38),
of your Son,
and who prepared for him a worthy receptacle
by the anointing of the Holy Spirit,
keep my priestly life in the ineffable mystery
of your divine maternity,
"Holy Mother of God".

Grant me strength in the dark hours of this life,
support me in the exertions of my ministry
entrust me to Jesus,
so that, in communion with you,
I may fulfil the ministry with fidelity and love,
O Mother of the Eternal Priest
"Queen of Apostles and Help of Priests".

Make me faithful to the flock
entrusted to me by the Good Shepherd,
You silently accompanied Jesus
on his mission to proclaim
the Gospel to the poor.

May I always guide it
with patience, sweetness
firmness and love,
caring for the sick,
the weak, the poor and sinners,
O "Mother, Help of the Christian People".

I consecrate and entrust myself to you , Mary,
who shared in the work of redemption
at the Cross of your Son,
you who "are inseparably linked to the work of salvation".

Grant that in the exercise of my ministry
I may always be aware of the "stupendous and penetrating dimension of your maternal presence"
in every moment of my life,
in prayer, and action,
in joy and sorrow, in weariness and in rest,
O "Mother of Trust".

Grant, Holy Mother, than in the celebration of the Mass,
source and centre of the priestly ministry,
that I may live my closeness to Jesus
in your maternal closeness to Him,
so that as "we celebrate the Holy Mass you will be present with us"
and introduce us to the redemptive mystery of your divine Son's offering
"O Mediatrix of all grace flowing from this sacrifice to the Church and to all the faithful"
O "Mother of Our Saviour".

O Mary: I earnestly desire to place my person
and my desire for holiness
under your maternal protection and inspiration
so that you may bring me to that "conformation with Christ, Head and Shepherd"
which is necessary for the ministry of every parish priest.

Make me aware
that "you are always close to priests"
in your mission of servant
of the One Mediator, Jesus Christ:
O "Mother of Priests"
"Benefactress and Mediatrix"
of all graces.

Amen.

Il Volo - Mamma "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY"

Il Volo - Mamma - YouTube

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Forest Murmurs: Confraternity of Catholic Clergy Northern Branch

Forest Murmurs: Confraternity of Catholic Clergy Northern Branch: Yesterday two of us from Hexham and Newcastle set of early to reach Leyland to attend the meeting of the Northern Chapter of the British branch of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy

Never underestimate the self-giving of the Catholic priesthood | CatholicHerald.co.uk

Never underestimate the self-giving of the Catholic priesthood | CatholicHerald.co.uk

Update

Mom is out of ER & in private room. Drs gave her glucose & lasix. Blood sugar back to safe range. Probably will B in hosp. over weekend. Please continue your prayers

Urgent prayers needed !!!

My mom was rushed to ER for extremely low blood sugar. Please keep her in prayer. Very serious.

North America - EWTN

ARCHBISHOP WILLIAM SKURLA ENTHRONEMENT ON EWTN

North America - EWTN

Cathedrals Across America:

Enthronement Of William C. Skurla As The 5th Metropolitan Archbishop Of The Archeparchy Of Pittsburg

Sun. May 6 at 1:30 PM ET, Mon. May 7 at 12 AM ET on EWTN television

Metropolitan Archbishop-elect William C. Skurla, D.D. has been appointed as the fifth Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh and head of the Byzantine Catholic (Ruthenian) Metropolitan Church sui iuris of Pittsburgh, the only Eastern Catholic Metropolitan Church sui iuris (self-governing) in the United States.

Regina Cleri (Queen of the Clergy) ora pro nobis

Our Lady

Queen of the Clergy

and

Mother of Priests

pray for us

Deacons and Priests of the

Confraternity of Catholic Clergy



Election 2012 (Official HD Version - Catholic)

Test of Fire: Election 2012 (Official HD Version - Catholic) - YouTube

Metropolitan Archeparchy of Pittsburgh

Noted priest: Come November, Catholics should vote for...

April 16, 2012

By Matt C. Abbott

I asked noted Catholic priest-author-EWTN personality — and president of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy — Father John Trigilio Jr. (who thankfully is recovering from a serious automobile accident he was involved in on March 16) to answer the following question:

Taking all things into consideration, would it be better for a Catholic to vote for President Obama or Mitt Romney?

Now, as you'll see, Father Trigilio won't say specifically who you should vote for, but I think, if you read between the lines, you'll know who he believes you shouldn't vote for. I'll even give you a hint as to who that candidate is (the one you shouldn't vote for): His last name rhymes with "Osama."

Here's Father's response (slightly edited):

Legally and morally speaking, as a Catholic priest and pastor, I cannot and will not tell my parishioners (or anyone, for that matter) who they should vote for in an election. I can say who I myself will choose in the voting booth, but I won't since we have a wonderful tradition in the United States of the secret ballot.

Nevertheless, as an ordained priest of the Catholic Church and as a pastor of two parishes, I can and must inform my people of the principles they need to know and use in their selection of a candidate. Pope Benedict XVI, while he was still Josef Cardinal Ratzinger and prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope John Paul II, issued a statement in June 2004. That document explicitly states that abortion and euthanasia are always grave and mortal sins. Furthermore, not only are politicians who support abortion guilty of formal cooperation in evil, voters are likewise culpable if [they] were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate's permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. This is found in the Nota Bene found at the end of the letter.

What happens, though, when the voter is pro-life and the candidate-politician is pro-abortion (alias 'pro-choice')? Cardinal Ratzinger continues: "When a Catholic does not share a candidate's stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons."

This sentence, like any verse in the Bible, must be taken in context with the entire document in order to be accurately understood and interpreted. The N.B. is attached to the entire letter, and specifically paragraph three states emphatically:


'Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.'
There it is in plain English. There is no legitimate diversity of opinion among Catholics with regard to abortion and euthanasia. Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia.

The 'proportionate reasons' is an essential qualifier. Hence, if there are only two candidates running for the office of president, senator, representative, governor, and so on, and both are pro-abortion, a Catholic may vote for one of them (1) as long as they do not personally agree (which would be formal cooperation in evil) and (2) they must choose the candidate who is more pro-life or less pro-abortion than his or her opponent.

In other words, Candidate A favors unrestricted abortions on demand at any time of pregnancy, and Candidate B only tolerates abortion in cases of rape, incest and when the life of mother is in jeopardy. Neither position conforms to the natural moral law or the magisterial teachings of the Church. Yet, the lesser of two evils can be tolerated when there is no alternative. Whether Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian or tea party, when the choice is between two candidates who are not 100 percent pro-life/anti-abortion, the one who is more pro-life and less 'pro-choice' must be selected over his or her opponent.

Even though there are many valid and important issues (like the economy, the environment, death penalty, war, health care, family and marriage rights), there is a hierarchy of values. The right to life trumps all other rights and privileges. The Declaration of Independence clearly states: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Notice that the inalienable right to life is mentioned first, even before liberty and the pursuit of happiness. There is no 'right' to an abortion. Abortion is legal, but so was slavery and racial segregation at one time in America. There is no 'right' to contraception, either. Both abortion and contraception are legal in the United States, but they do not and should not be financed by the government since the taxpayers are the ones who pay the bills.

Bottom line is that no priest, deacon or bishop needs to say who to vote for in any election. We do not and should not mention any names or political parties. On the other hand, we must and are obliged to inform our people of their moral duty to use a well-formed conscience in choosing a candidate. Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) and the CDF made it crystal clear: Not all moral issues are of the same moral weight. The right to life is paramount; economic, environmental, military, and social issues are secondary, if not tertiary. When the choice is between a candidate who manifests his or her pro-abortion position and a candidate who professes to be pro-life, the moral obligation is to choose life by choosing the pro-life politician.

It is not that we are single-issue voters, but there is a proportion, a hierarchy of values in which the right to life outweighs all other concerns. The unjust killing of innocent lives is not eclipsed or overshadowed by any other concern. When there are two candidates whose stand on abortion is basically the same, then other issues can and must be brought into the equation to make a prudent vote. When Election Day comes this November, we should know well who is more pro-life and who is more 'pro-choice.' Then our well-formed conscience should tell us to choose the former over the latter.