Building a Culture of Life

Cardinal Seán delivered an excellent homily at last week's March for Life opening Mass about the changes we must all undertake to foster a culture of life.

Check it out, and share it!

Wisdom from... Elizabeth Ann Seton

This week we celebrate our Catholic schools with Catholic Schools Week, and in doing so we remember the patroness of Catholic Schools, Elizabeth Ann Seton, who founded the first Catholic school in America in Emmitsburg, MD.

In the words of St Elizabeth Ann Seton,

"The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly to do it because it is his will."

I think Catholic schools teach this as their first lesson. Students of Catholic Schools uniquely learn that the daily work they undergo--whether it be science, english, or religion--is to God's glory. It is worth celebrating that we have such a strong network of Catholic Schools that teach children to do God's will, and to do their work in the way that God wills it be done.

Father Flynn, from St Mary's in Lynn, MA, came into Mass yesterday with a group of students from St Mary's high school, and gave a wonderful homily on discerning God's will. Check it out here, and, if you're a graduate of a Catholic school, take a moment to thank Elizabeth Ann Seton.

2013 Telethon | A message from Jay

This week, as we busily prepare for the 2013 Telethon here at CatholicTV, I'd like to thank you for your affirmation and support, and ask you to consider how you might be able to help us continue our important ministry.

Here at CatholicTV, we bring the Mass daily to the sick and homebound, to active Catholics and to Catholics who, for whatever reason, have been away from the Church. We bring them the Mass as well as our other 23 hours of faith-filled programming, and we couldn't do it without you. So thank you, and please tune into the Telethon on February 1st and 2nd. If you can't, you can still make a pledge! Find out here:

Wisdom from... Scripture

Lluís Borrassà, St Peter's Altar  (15 c)

In today's epistle John tells us:

There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)

While we shouldn't presume our own merit, we also shouldn't fear what God has in store for us. Our fears of punishment from God often betray a lack of confidence in God, or a lack of confidence in our own love. But when we truly remain in love, we remain in God (1 John 4:16), and we have no need of fear.

Paul offers us three theological virtues: faith, hope and love; not scrupulosity, fear and self-loathing. Let yourself love God and neighbor freely, and take some time to explore where your life is rooted. Do you act morally out of fear of punishment? Or do you act out of love in all things? Where do you remain?

Loving perfectly can seem like no easy task, but in reality it is no task at all, since Jesus has already completed the task for us. By offering of himself and His Spirit, he has made it possible for us to exist in love, rather than making an effort to love. By acknowledging that he is the Son of God, we allow him to remain in us and root our lives in love (1 John 4:15).

It can be hard to hear this simple message of hope through the noise of the everyday. We can allow ourselves to stray from love and move into fear when we get distracted by judging other people or by the judgments of other people, or by the well-meant, but sometimes misguided urgings of our friends and neighbors.

Today, take a moment to speak to God in prayer and examine where you remain. God can help you tune out the complicated messages of the world, and turn up the simple message of the gospel: do not be afraid! (Mark 6:50b)

Forgiveness | A message from Jay

This week I would like to talk about forgiveness. Now, I imagine that most of you can find it in your hearts to forgive someone who has caused you any type of pain. It is not always easy, but a great burden is lifted when you forgive someone and leave the hurt behind. To forgive is a blessing that can heal the world.

But forgiving someone else is not the type of forgiveness that I would like to talk about today. I believe that it is hardest to forgive yourself. In my life I constantly remember things that I may have done or said to someone and wish that I had another opportunity to change decisions that I had made. The guilt that you carry can be like a heavy chain wrapped around you always weighing you down. Much of this comes from caring how your actions may have hurt a person’s feelings. Maybe you were selfish or made a hurtful comment out of anger. Unfortunately it is impossible to reverse what has been done. But through our faith and the beautiful sacrament of confession we know that God forgives us. So we need to understand that if God can forgive us than we should forgive ourselves

What I am saying is please let go of the pain that you can cause yourself by being unable to forgive past transgressions. Reach out to those you may have hurt with love and understanding. Talk to God about your guilt, take a deep breath and live your life in a peaceful way. Forgive yourself and feel the love and comfort of God. You are not alone.

Wisdom from... John

In today's readings we hear from the first letter of John, in which he offers us the ultimate wisdom: remain in the Lord, and reap life from the Lord's annointing.

"Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life. I write you these things about those who would deceive you. As for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, so that you do not need anyone to teach you. But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false; just as it taught you, remain in him." 1 John 2:24-27

John's attention to the dichotomy of deceit and truth in these verses and the verses around them serves to identify the truth with Christ, and deceit with the antichrist. Jesus not only offers us the truth; he is the truth. The truth we heard "from the beginning" must remain in us, but John has already told us (in 1 Jn 1:1) that Jesus is the Word of Life, and the Word (which is also referred to by the Church fathers as the Logos, Wisdom, and Reason itself) is "what was from the beginning". In other words, it is Jesus himself that must remain in us, in addition to the words he has spoken to us, because he is the Word that is spoken.

Prayer Box | A Message from Jay

Every Friday on This is the Day we add letters from viewers into our prayer box. The prayers can be for the person who sent in the letter or for someone they know. When we thought about adding the prayer box, we weren't sure how many people would send in requests. The response has been overwhelming.

Every day, letters are delivered to my office to be included into the prayer box. The prayers requested can tug at your heart. There are prayers for young children suffering from difficult diseases. People ask for prayers because they are lonely or feel all alone. They write about their parents or their children. These are letters from individuals asking to be remembered in a special way.

You play an integral role in all of this. We are fortunate at CatholicTV to have a powerful prayer community. I know that there are many times that I have asked for prayers. It is comforting to know that I am not alone in my prayers and am joined by you and many others in lifting our voices to God. I am convinced that prayer works. I have learned that it is not always what we had hoped but it God’s will.

I ask today that you set aside a few moments from your busy day and ask God to remember all those who have sent in prayer requests. Thank you for all you do for our parish of the airwaves and please do not hesitate to send us any prayer request you may have. You can send them to us on Facebook or Twitter, or email them to thisistheday@catholictv.com.

Focus on Jesus | A message from Jay

I would like to wish all of you a happy and blessed Christmas. I have to be honest: I am sometimes overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of December. There are so many parties and presents that need to be bought... it seems there is never enought time in the day.

When Christmas is over, I take a deep breath and prepare to hunker down for the rest of the winter. With all that being said, there are several things I enjoy. I get to see my family more often. People seem to be in a better mood. Finally, it is a time when more people focus in on Jesus and what He has meant to their lives. There is one other "occasion" during the Christmas season that most of you may not be familiar with - it is the time of year when CatholiCTV gets the most donations.

I am asking you to consider a gift to CatholicTV this Christmas. I have set a personal goal of 4,000 donations for the month. Most of the people at CatholicTV think that this will be a difficult goal to achieve, but I trust in you! For years, you have supported the station and allowed us to bring Masses, The Rosary, and all our fine programs into the homes of so many people.

By donating online, you will help CatholicTV continue to change lives. What a gift you would be giving to those who need to hear the loving message of Jesus and know that they are not alone in this difficult world. I know 4,000 in a large number, but it all starts with one - and that could be you. Thank you for anything you can do, and know you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Jay Fadden,  from this month's CatholicTV monthly

Wisdom... from the Church Fathers

[Christ] is called Man... that by Himself He may sanctify humanity, and be as it were a leaven to the whole lump; and by uniting to Himself that which was condemned may release it from all condemnation, becoming for all men all things that we are, except sin; --body, soul, mind and all through which death reaches--and thus He became Man, who is the combination of all these; God in visible form, because He retained that which is perceived by mind alone. He is Son of Man, both on account of Adam, and of the Virgin from Whom He came; from the one as a forefather, from the other as His Mother, both in accordance with the law of generation, and apart from it. He is Christ, because of His Godhead. For this is the Anointing of His Manhood, and does not, as is the case with all other Anointed Ones, sanctify by its action, but by the Presence in His Fulness of the Anointing One; the effect of which is that That which anoints is called Man, and makes that which is anointed God. He is The Way, because He leads us through Himself.
 

                                                                              -St. Gregory Nazienzen, Orations 

For the past few days, the liturgical readings have been emphasizing a few important things:

1) Christ is truly human, and the meaning of the Incarnation is that the second person of the Trinity truly did assume human flesh, and not the appearance thereof. We see this especially in the geneology of Matthew heard on Monday (Matthew 1:1-17), which seeks to confirm the veracity of Christ's humanity.

2) That Christ is truly God-- we hear in today's readings the proclamations of the angel Gabriel announcing the conceptions of Samson and John, who are called "consecrated to God", and how this is distinct from Gabriel's annunciation of the conception of Jesus (in tomorrow's reading), who is called "Son of the Most High". We know that Jesus is no mere judge or prophet.

and

3) That though we are deserving of condemnation, the Incarnation--the true humanity of our God who is the Word made flesh--serves to remove the condemnation against us. On Sunday we heard the following from the prophet Zephaniah:

Shout for joy, daughter Zion! sing joyfully, Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, daughter Jerusalem!h 15 The LORD has removed the judgment against you. (Zep 3:14-15a)

Gregory Nazienzen's words, quoted above, remind us of how important it is to ponder the Incarnation, the means by which God descended to make Godself The Way for us, and in so doing sanctified all of humanity.

Christmas grows closer and closer as we near the end of the last full week of Advent. Join us at 8:30pm EST for the 3rd installment of Wait and See, a special Advent journey with Father Richard Erickson.

God is always at your side | A message from Jay

A few years ago I was enjoying a day off, and no matter where I went my four year old son Ethan was one step behind me. If I sat down, he would sit on my lap. If I went outside he was by my side. I went to brush my teeth and he stood next to me holding his toothbrush. I was tired and just wanted a little down time but Ethan was everywhere!

During this time his mom, Shirley, gave him a candy snack. I thought that maybe this would distract him and I would be able to sit alone and watch the news. I was wrong! He took the package, poured it in his hand and with a big smile said “here dad.” I looked down at him and didn’t say a word. I took the candy and he said, "that's what best buds do. They share.” It made me realize that Ethan’s need to be around someone he loved was more important than my need for free time.

Ultimately in life we are all seeking to be loved and sometimes we don’t see it right in front of us. As Catholics we are blessed with a God who loves us. He is always by our side and only waits for us to welcome Him into our lives. There are times in our lives when we want to be left alone and yet by doing this we can miss a great gift.

Ethan was not going to give up following me and I am grateful for his persistence because he taught me a valuable lesson. When love is involved nothing else is as important. Don’t miss the opportunity to receive God’s love because you're too busy. I know he will never give up on you.


Jay Fadden