Bringing Jesus to the streets

The friar's reading:

“Jesus Christ is in every book of the Bible.

In Genesis, Jesus is the Seed of the Woman.
In Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb.
In Leviticus, He is the Priest, the Altar, and the Lamb of Sacrifice.
In Numbers, He is a Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by Night.
In Deuteronomy, Jesus is the Prophet, like Moses.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Joshua, Jesus is the Captain of Our Salvation.
In Judges, He is our Judge and Lawgiver.
In Ruth, He is our kinsman Redeemer.
In 1 and 2 Samuel, He is our Trusted Prophet.
In Kings and Chronicles, He is our Reigning King.
In Ezra, He is the rebuilder of the broken down walls of human life.
Come and kneel before Him now.
In Nehemiah, Jesus is our Restorer.
In Tobit, He is the Messenger of New Life.
In Judith, He is Weakness Turned into Victory.
In Esther, He is our Advocate.
In 1 and 2 Maccabees, He is the Leader who dies for God’s law.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Job, Jesus is our Everliving Redeemer.
In Psalms, He is our Shepherd.
In Proverbs, He is our Wisdom.
In Ecclesiastes, He is our Hope of Resurrection.
In the Song of Songs, He is our Loving Bridegroom.
In Wisdom, He is the emanation of God’s thought.
In Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), Jesus is our security.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Isaiah, Jesus is the Suffering Servant.
In Jeremiah, He is the Righteous Branch.
In Lamentations, He is our Weeping Prophet.
In Baruch, He is the Mercy from the Eternal One.
In Ezekiel, He is the One with the Right to Rule.
In Daniel, Jesus is the Fourth Man in the fiery furnace.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Hosea, Jesus is the Faithful Husband forever married to the sinner.
In Joel, He is the One who Baptizes with the Holy Spirit of Fire.
In Amos, He is the Restorer of Justice.
In Obadiah, He is Mighty to Save.
In Jonah, He is our great foreign missionary.
In Micah, He is the feet of one who brings Good News.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Nahum, Jesus is our stronghold in the day of trouble.
In Habakkuk, He is God my Savior.
In Zephaniah, He is the King of Israel.
In Haggai, He is the signet ring.
In Zechariah, He is our Humble King riding on a colt.
In Malachi, Jesus is the Son of Righteousness.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Matthew, Jesus is God with us.
In Mark, He is the Son of God.
In Luke, He is the Son of Mary, feeling what you feel.
In John, He is the Bread of Life.
In Acts, Jesus is the Savior of the World.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Romans, Jesus is the Righteousness of God.
In 1 Corinthians, He is the Resurrection.
In 2 Corinthians, He is the God of all comfort.
In Galatians, He is your liberty. He sets you free.
In Ephesians, Jesus is the Head of the Church.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Philippians, Jesus is your Joy.
In Colossians, He is your Completeness.
In 1 and 2 Thessalonians, He is your Hope.
In 1 Timothy, He is your Faith.
In 2 Timothy, Jesus is your Stability.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Titus, Jesus is Truth.
In Philemon, He is your Benefactor.
In Hebrews, He is your Perfection.
In James, He is the Power behind your Faith.
In 1 Peter, He is your Example.
In 2 Peter, Jesus is your Purity.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In 1 John, Jesus is your Life.
In 2 John, He is your Pattern.
In 3 John, He is your Motivation.
In Jude, He is the Foundation of your Faith.

In Revelation, Jesus is your Coming King.

He is:
The First and the Last.
The Beginning and the End.
He is the Keeper of Creation and the Creator of All.
He is the Architect of the Universe and the Manager of All Time.
He Always Was, He Always Is, and He Always Will Be Unmoved, Unchanged, Undefeated, and Never Undone.

He was bruised and brought healing.
He was pierced and eased pain.
He was persecuted and brought freedom.
He was dead and brought life.
He is risen and brings power.
He reigns and brings peace.

The world can’t understand Him.
The armys can’t defeat Him.
Schools can’t explain Him and the leaders can’t ignore Him.
Herod couldn’t kill Him.
The Pharisees couldn’t confuse Him.
The people couldn’t hold him. [This is where the clapping begins]
Nero couldn’t crush Him.
Hitler couldn’t silence Him.
The New Age can’t replace Him.
And Oprah can’t explain Him away.

He is Life, Love, Longevity, and Lord.
He is Goodness, Kindness, Gentleness and God.
He is Holy, Righteous, Mighty, Powerful, and Pure.
His Ways our Right, His Words Eternal, His Rules Unchanging, and His
Mind is on me.
He is My Redeemer, He is My Savior, He is My God, He is My Priest, He is My Joy, He is My Comfort, He is My Lord, and He rules my life.”

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/every-knee-shall-bow-flash-mob

Bringing Jesus to the streets

The friar's reading starts with:

“Jesus Christ is in every book of the Bible.

In Genesis, Jesus is the Seed of the Woman.

In Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb.

In Leviticus, He is the Priest, the Altar, and the Lamb of Sacrifice.

In Numbers, He is a Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by Night.

In Deuteronomy, Jesus is the Prophet, like Moses.

Come and kneel before Him now."

National Catholic Register's page has a transcript of the words said - click here

The Pope tweets!

I've not signed up for Twitter. But if the Pope did.  I can't think of one stinkin' thing important enough that I'd have Twitter followers, but I wouldn't mind following the Pope.

And, the Pope uses an iPad!

Click here



Actually, the Pope was also announcing the news website for all things Catholic - www.news.va

New Daily Prayer Book

Liturgical Press has a new prayer book subscription.  It contains Mass scripture readings, morning and evening prayer, a reflection, a lesson about a saint, the Order of the Mass and more.  The first edition is August 2011, you can order a free sample.

It's entitled Give Us This Day.  Looks like it's worth the free sample and then some!  It's available as a print or digital subscription (print subscribers have access to the digital subscription, also).  Have a look!  A paid subscription includes an 11x14 print of the Lord's Prayer from the St. John's Bible ($20 value and beautiful!)

The "once called Father" Corapi

Egad.  Can we find any more information at all about this topic?  Sad, it's a sad deal.  Yet, something doesn't feel right.

He trademarked Black Sheep Dog in April 2010.  He's just made his big announcement, yet his autobiography is almost ready for purchase.  I won't be spending money on it.

I am not the only one who's going to let things sift through before I jump on his bandwagon.  But he's a brave man, maybe he's thinking of heading down a political path to set this country aright.  I pray he stays true to the Catholic faith.  Holy Orders aren't just given to anyone.

Here's an interesting article about the whole mess and why some of what's been said just doesn't hold water.  http://markshea.blogspot.com/2011/06/analysis-of-holes-in-fr-corapis-story.html

Discern everything.

Prayers, please

While you're at it, please pray for Susan and her family.  Susan had been suffering from brain cancer and passed away this evening.  Susan was a great mom and will be missed by her husband and two sons, ages 21 and 17.

Her family was a Mass every weekend, she got her boys off to a good start.   Thank you, Susan, for being such a good example of a good mom.
Rest in peace.

And life goes on

It happened Friday.  You know the call -  the "this is the call you knew you'd get but didn't want to get today" call.  My sister called to say that our father had been admitted to a hospital in Sioux Falls and wasn't expected to live through the day.  Yeah.  That kind of call.

I knew that the 3 hour drive was too long - I'd never make it in time and he probably didn't want anyone there.  I did know that the most good I could do was to go to church and pray and my sister agreed.  (Remember, I'm the lone Catholic in this clan.)  Then, God's miracles happened one after another.

The man had not been a part of our family for almost 30 years.  My sisters and I got married, he didn't come.  Perhaps alcohol, pride and guilt kept him away.   There was no contact information on his charts.  The hospital did some searching through paperwork, found my sister's name and googled her to find a number to call to see if she was family.  My sister called his brother, who gathered the other siblings.  They met my sister at the hospital.  But he passed before family arrived.  That's when we found out that he'd been diagnosed with cancer a year and a half ago but refused treatment and hadn't told anyone.

I asked my sister about the time of his death, and naturally, it was about the time I started praying at church.  I prayed the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet and still felt restless.  So, I stayed and prayed.  And wished that Father would come, I really wanted to visit with him.  Within minutes Father came in the sacristy door, and after our visit, I left the church with a smile on my face.  All was well.

Saturday I had a commitment to speak at a prayer cenacle.  There's absolutely nothing more comforting that joining other women in prayer.  I knew as we prayed the Rosary together, that God had placed me in the right place and at the right time.  When I got home, I called a great-aunt back home to make sure that someone had called her.  We had nice talk and set up a date to see her when we're back home next month.  Another blessing - I'll get to reconnect with family I haven't seen in a very long time.  (My great-aunt is the closest Catholic relative I have!  She's 88 years old, can't let this chance pass me by.)

Today (Sunday) I asked Father to add my Mass intention to his list.  In a way, the Mass on this Holy Trinity Sunday and Father's Day, became like his funeral service.  Remember the readings?  The Old Testament reading was about Moses and his stiff-necked people.  The New Testament reading was from John 3.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

I believe in God's powerful and unending mercy.  Saint Faustina's diary reads that Jesus told her He would promise victory over enemies especially at the hour of death.

Our father was a holy man many years ago.  He left this earth a broken man.  And I'm thinking that Heaven is even more appreciated by those who live alone and die alone after years and years of hurt, anger, guilt, and disease.

A small private service will be at the family farm in a couple weeks.  His ashes will remain where he grew up.

Eternal rest grant to him, O Lord.

Here's the radio interview

Wow.  A great interview, indeed.  You can find the mp3 file here.

A word of warning:
This is a 2-hour file.  It will take some time to load.
The first part is with Heather, who works for the Diocese.  (Met her, she's great!)
Next they interview Tucker, who, at 17 is discerning the priesthood.  (Met his mom, she's great, too!)

The last part is our diocese's newest deacon, Deacon Patrick Behm.  A powerful interview, worth the time to be sure.

A new deacon is ordained

It was a life-changing day for everyone there.  Lois and I went to Sioux City last Saturday, June 5, to attend the ordination of a seminarian to become a transitional deacon.

Patrick has been special to the CCW as he was installed as an acolyte at our retreat in August 2010.  It's not the HE is special, (even though he is!) but what was special was how that 2010 Mass made us so much more aware of seminarians, the price they and their families pay, and the blessings that they and their families receive and give.

What really was thought provoking at the ordination Mass was the vows.  A transitional deacon is not a permanent state, it's just practice for his new role as a priest, which, for Patrick, will come to fruition next June.  Vows for a transitional deacon are a permanent vow to live a life of obedience, celibacy and prayer for the church.

They are consecrated, or set apart (which I think is totally cool), to be sacred ministers for the worship of God and for the sanctification of all people.  Bishop Nickless laid his hands on him - I cried.  Not tears of sadness, but tears of joy for a young man who has chosen a life that holds so much more than what the world offers.  Tears of joy and gratefulness for parents who have raised such a fine man.

Congratulations, Patrick!  I hope you're my priest some day.

p.s.  I'm waiting for the archive of Patrick's radio interview.  I'll post that link as soon as it's up!