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

Physician-Assisted Suicide | LIVE Town Hall forum

Join Cardinal Seán O'Malley, Father Tad Pacholczyk, M.C. Sullivan, Janet Benestad, and John Howland, and John Monahan at
8pm ET, 10/3
  for a LIVE town hall forum on Physician-Assisted Suicide and Massachusetts Ballot Question Number 2, which seeks to legalize assisted suicide in the commonwealth of Massachusetts.


    You can sumbit questions for our panel by leaving them on the facebook event page, by tweeting them to @CatholicTV with the hashtag #PASlive, or by emailing them to townhall@catholictv.com.

The CatholicTV® Network to Provide Live Coverage of the Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention

The Knights of Columbus will hold its 130th annual Supreme Convention in Anaheim, CA from August 7-9, 2012. The CatholicTV Network will provide live coverage of the event on Tuesday, August 7, 2012.

CatholicTV will broadcast the Opening Mass (12:30 PM ET), Opening Session (4 PM ET) and States Dinner (10:30 PM ET) live from the Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention site in Anaheim, CA.

Visit CatholicTV.com/Knights-of-Columbus, where videos of this year’s events will be added to the archive of past Supreme Conventions and where celebrations of feast days and other special events and documentaries can be found. President of the CatholicTV Network, Father Robert Reed, and host Kevin Nelson will offer live event commentary on Tuesday.

The Knights of Columbus was formed to render financial aid to members and their families. Mutual aid and assistance are offered to sick, disabled and needy members and their families. Social and intellectual fellowship is promoted among members and their families through educational, charitable, religious, social welfare, war relief and public relief works.

The history of the Order shows how the foresight of Father Michael J. McGivney, whose cause for sainthood is being investigated by the Vatican, brought about what has become the world's foremost Catholic fraternal benefit society. The Order has helped families obtain economic security and stability through its life insurance, annuity and long-term care programs, and has contributed time and energy worldwide to service in communities.

The Knights of Columbus has grown from several members in one council to more than 14,000 councils and 1.8 million members throughout the United States, Canada, the Philippines, Mexico, Poland, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Cuba, Guatemala, Guam and Saipan.

Tune in to CatholicTV and join the Knights and their families for this annual international gathering of fraternity and faith on Tuesday, August 7, 2012.

Installation of Bishop Richard Malone

Bishop Richard Malone will be installed as the 14th bishop to head the Diocese of Buffalo on Friday, August 10. The CatholicTV Network will broadcast the Mass live at 2:30 PM ET from Saint Joseph's Cathedral.

Bishop Richard Joseph Malone is the 11th Bishop of Portland, Maine and will remain the administrator of the Diocese of Portland until a new diocesan bishop is named by the Holy Father. He was installed as Bishop of Portland in 2004 after serving as auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Boston, South Region, following his Episcopal ordination in 2000.

Bishop Malone was born in Salem, MA, and graduated from St. John’s Preparatory School, Danvers. He studied at Cardinal O’Connell Seminary in Jamaica Plain and graduated from St. John Seminary, Boston, with a bachelor’s in Philosophy, a bachelor’s in Divinity and a master’s in Theology. Bishop Malone subsequently earned a Doctorate in Theology (Th.D.) at Boston University and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) at Weston Jesuit School of Theology.



Bishop Malone was ordained a priest in 1972 and was assigned to St. Patrick parish, Stoneham, as Associate Pastor. He served on the faculty of St. Clement High School, Somerville, MA; Xaverian High School, Westwood, MA; and his alma mater St. John Seminary. Concurrent with his time at St. John Seminary, he was part-time chaplain at Wellesley and Regis Colleges and taught at Emmanuel College in Boston. Later he was assigned as Chaplain to the Harvard-Radcliffe Catholic Student Center. In 1993, he accepted the position of Director of the Office of Religious Education for the Archdiocese of Boston and subsequently was named Secretary for Education.

Bishop Malone currently chairs the Evangelization and Catechesis Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He serves on other USCCB committees as well as sitting on the Boards of two Seminaries. Bishop Malone was elected to the Board of Catholic Relief Services in 2010 and serves on the U.S. Operations Committee.

The Diocese of Buffalo is made up of 170 parishes and 1 mission, utilizing 197 worship sites. They have 54 Catholic elementary schools, 15 Catholic high schools, and 7 Catholic colleges and universities. The diocese is also home to a major seminary, Christ the King Seminary, in East Aurora and five Catholic hospitals.

The CatholicTV® Network to Air Special Coverage During Fortnight for Freedom

The US Bishops have called for “Fortnight for Freedom,” a 14-day period of prayer, education and action in support of religious freedom, from June 21-July 4. The bishops of the United States have recommended that Catholics focus "all the energies the Catholic community can muster" to heightening people’s awareness of the most cherished liberty: Religious Freedom.

The fourteen days from June 21—the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More—to July 4, Independence Day, are dedicated to this “Fortnight for Freedom”. Culminating on Independence Day, this special period of prayer, study, catechesis, and public action emphasizes Christian and American heritage of liberty.

The CatholicTV® Network will participate in the Fortnight for Freedom with special programming from June 21 to July 4, to rally support for the protection of religious freedom in the United States.

Throughout the two week period called for by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Father Robert Reed, president of CatholicTV will offer a daily reflection on the theme of religious freedom in a series of Blinks.

In support of this call to action the CatholicTV® Network has arranged a special hour-long discussion with Cardinal Seán O’Malley and a group of young Catholics in a live forum on the evening of Monday, June 25, 2012 from 8-9PM ET. The event will include a discussion panel, and will be moderated by ClearVoice's John Monahan.

CatholicTV President, Father Robert P. Reed, commented on the Fortnight:

This summer, the bishops of the United States have recommended that we focus "all the energies the Catholic community can muster" to heightening people’s awareness of our most cherished liberty: Religious Freedom. When our freedoms are threatened, we need to speak frankly and with courage and now is such a time... As American citizens, we need to be on guard, for religious liberty is under attack. Join us here on The CatholicTV Network between June 21 and the 4th of July as we celebrate Religious Liberty and pray urgently for a new birth of freedom in our beloved country.

Coverage will be available on CatholicTV and CatholicTV.com. Comments and questions will be addressed LIVE during the event on CatholicTV’s Facebook. Viewers can also join the conversation by tweeting @CatholicTV (#fortnight4freedom). The event will also be simulcast on Relevant Radio across the US and on WQOM in Boston, MA.