A found this great quote yesterday from St. Thomas Aquinas.

"Humilty orders your relationship with God.
Justice orders your relationship with others.
Purity orders your relationship to yourself."

If you have no peace in your own heart how can you be a peacemaker for others.

Ephesians 4:29-32
No foul language should come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the holy Spirit of God, with which you were sealed for the day of redemption. All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. John 6:54

St. Thomas Aquinas says, "The Lord feeds his faithful ones, that they may not fail in the way of righteousness; but in their strength they may come to the table of heavenly glory."

The Eucharist strenghtens us on the journey to heaven. Just as the Israelites were given manna in the desert so God gives himself to us in the Eucharist. The good life is not one of pleasure but the life that is leading to our ultimate good which is life with God in heaven. In the Eucharist we become one with Jesus in his suffering, in his death, and in his victory over death.
When we participate fully in the mass we enter into the life of Jesus, we receive his grace into our lives and we receive a pledge of future glory. The Eucharist brings the past and the future into our lives in the present moment.

I just returned from our clergy conference. It was a lot better than I anticipated. I work hard to cover it, but I am a pessimist.

Six of us played pitch Monday evening. My parter and I were ahead 29 to 0. The other team shot the moon, scored 10 twice and then 7. So the score was 32 to 47. They came back from being totally out of the game. They thought they were going to win and then I shot the moon. It was great! We won 52 - 47. They were so dejected. Hahahahaha! What a great birthday present. I turned 36 on the 22nd.

The conference was about the liturgy. We, priests, are supposed to help people enter into the reality of the Mass and the other sacraments. i hope to comment on this for the next couple of days. The sacraments are the source of our life. If we cut off from the source then we will surely die.

More later,
Fr. Weldon

It is early Sunday morning. I can't sleep. It is 4:30 AM. Why are there so many fallen away Catholics? Is there anything I can do to help them?

I am leaving today for the week. I am going to my sisters for a birthday party and to celebrate her husband being home from Iraq. He has to go back in a couple of days. Lord, Please bring him home safely.

Monday -Thursday I'll be at a clergy conference. It will be goood to be with all the priests. I'll post agin on Thursday.

Have a good week.

I just ran across this great website. It has good articles on how to think like a Catholic. It is important to study the faith. The world is constantly teaching us how to think in a secular way, to live as if there is no God and no heaven or hell. When we embrace the faith and feed our intelligence with the truths of the faith it keeps our eyes on what truly matters. Truth is the food of our souls. If we do not feed the soul it will die.

http://www.catholicculture.org/

I hope you enjoy it.

ONE MINUTE EACH NIGHT
In WWII, there was an advisor to Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every night at a prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England , its people and peace. This had an amazing effect as bombing stopped. There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America . If you would like to participate: each evening at 9:00 PM Eastern Time(8:00 PM Central, 7:00 PM Mountain, 6:00 PM Pacific), stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens and for peace in the world. If you know anyone who would like to participate, please pass this along.

"The center of every man's existence is a dream. Death, disease, insanity, are merely material accidents, like a toothache or a twisted ankle. That these brutal forces always besiege and often capture the citadel does not prove that they are the citadel."

For more profound quotes from G.K. Chesterton go to: http://www.chesterton.org/acs/quotes.htm

St. Ignatius of Antioch
Today's saint is very important. He wrote several letters before the year 110 AD. These letters reveal the faith of the Christians in the time immediately after the apostles. Ignatius is believed to have been a convert and disciple of St. John the Apostle.

His letters show that the Christianshave believed in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, the authority of Bishops to teach the faith, and the celebration of the Mass, since the year 100. This is so close to the time of the Apostles that Ignatius and the Christians of his generation must have received these teachings from the Apostles.

For more information go to: http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/IGNATIUS.htm

The world will never starve for want of wonders, but for want of wonder.
G. K. Chesterton

There are no boring subjects there are only bores who are not interested in learning more.

St. Teresa of Avila

St. Teresa (virgin and Doctor) was born in Avila, Spain, in 1515 and was raised in a warm and loving family. She was personally known for her engaging personality: She was beautiful, outgoing, enthusiastic and courageous.
At the age of twenty, though reluctant to give up family life, she entered the Carmelite convent in Avila. For a time she became seriously ill, but she persevered in her vocation and over the years she had many deep mystical experiences. Teresa was capable of very deep meditation and she did much writing on the subject, but she remained a very practical, down-to-earth person.
The Carmelite Order had originally followed a very strict rule, but it had gradually fallen away from this. Teresa, encouraged by St. Peter Alcantara and others, resolved to establish a new branch of the order and to observe the original rule. After many difficulties, a convent was opened in Avila in 1562.
Teresa and her followers became known as "Discalced" (barefooted) Carmelites, as they observed the rule's original prohibition against shoes. Teresa established other convents and promoted religious reform. She managed to unite a life of deep spirituality and prayer with constant activity and writings.
The best known of St. Teresa's writings is The Interior Castle, in which she describes different stages of spiritual growth. Teresa was canonized forty years after her death in 1582. In 1970, along with St. Catherine of Siena, she became one of the first two women to be declared a Doctor (an eminent and reliable teacher) of the Church.

Why is the Church hated?

Why should men love the Church?
Why should they love her laws?
She tells them of Life and Death, and of all that they would forget.
She is tender where they would be hard, and hard where they like to be soft.
She tells them of Evil and Sin, and other unpleasant facts.
They constantly try to escape
From the darkness outside and within
By dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good.
But the man that is will shadow
The man that pretends to be.

–T. S. Eliot, “Choruses from ‘The Rock’”

What is a mortal sin?
A mortal sin has 3 qualities.
1. Grave matter: the act or omission must be serious matter. A violation of the ten commandments is considered to be grave matter. The grey area is when does stealing become a mortal sin, or gossip against one's neighbor. I will treat these specific questions in later posts.
2. Knowledge: the person must know that the action is grave matter. A person's ignorance can lessen his or her guilt.
3. Freedom: the person must freely choose to commit the gravely wrong act. If someone is coerced to do something this lessens their guilt. If the coercion is very strong the person might have no guilt at all. A child is not responsible for misding mass on Sunday if his parents fail to take him. The child has no freedom in the matter.

Did you know that the Catholic Church has 7 sacraments? One of those sacraments is called reconciliation. It is more commonly known as confession. In this sacrament a person confesses his sins to a priest. The priest gives the person a penance and prays the words of absolution. Catholics believe that confession is necessary for all mortal sins committed after baptism. A Catholic who does not believe this is like an American citizen who does not believe that Texas is a state. You might not like that it is a state; you may not want to admit it; but no amount of wishful thinking will change the fact that Texas is one of the 50 states. You may not like confession; you may not think that it is necessary to go to confession. However, no amount of wishful thinking will change the fact confession is the necessary and normal way for a person to receive the forgiveness of sins.
St. Patrick Catholic Church offers the Sacrament of Confession 30 minutes before each weekday mass and from 4:30 to 5:30 every Saturday.

The three enemies of our spiritual life are the world, the flesh, and the devil.

1. The world consists of those who attack the faith and make fun of those who believe and practice the faith. Jesus assured us that the world would hate us for following him. "Blessed are you when you are persecuted for righteousness sake." "Where I am there also will my servent be." Jesus was mocked and killed; his followers should expect the same.
2. The flesh is the weakness that each one of us esperiences in our own souls. We want to do good, but we find ourselves doing what is wrong. "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Self-denial and penance are the best ways to overcome the flesh. It is the soul that gives life to the body not the other way around. The soul should always govern the body.
3. The devil exists. Many people deny the existence of the devil, but all the great evils in the world indicate otherwise. Pretending he doesn't exist will not make him go away. Jesus told Peter, "The devil has asked to sift you all like wheat, but I have prayed so that your faith may not fail." Jesus has conquered the evil one. as long as we place our trust in Jesus we can have victory over the devil.

We have nothing to fear from these three enemies of our journey towards God if we keep our eyes on Jesus (Faith) if we always trust that God will be faithful (Hope) if we delight in God with all of our soul and strength (Love).

Battle of Lepanto
On October 7, 1571, a great victory over the mighty Turkish fleet was won by Catholic naval forces primarily from Spain, Venice, and Genoa under the command of Don Juan of Austria. It was the last battle at sea between "oared" ships, which featured the most powerful navy in the world, a Moslem force with between 12,000 to 15,000 Christian slaves as rowers. The patchwork team of Catholic ships was powered by the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Knowing that the Christian forces were at a distinct material disadvantage, the holy pontiff, St. Pope Pius V called for all of Europe to pray the Rosary for victory. We know today that the victory was decisive, prevented the Islamic invasion of Europe, and evidenced the Hand of God working through Our Lady. At the hour of victory, St. Pope Pius V, who was hundreds of miles away at the Vatican, is said to have gotten up from a meeting, went over to a window, and exclaimed with supernatural radiance: "The Christian fleet is victorious!" and shed tears of thanksgiving to God.
What you may not know is that one of three admirals commanding the Catholic forces at Lepanto was Andrea Doria. He carried a small copy of Mexico's Our Lady of Guadalupe into battle. This image is now enshrined in the Church of San Stefano in Aveto, Italy. Not many know that at the Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Spain, one can view a huge warship lantern that was captured from the Moslems in the Battle of Lepanto. In Rome, look up to the ceiling of S. Maria in Aracoeli and behold decorations in gold taken from the Turkish galleys. In the Doges' Palace in Venice, Italy, one can witness a giant Islamic flag that is now a trophy from a vanquished Turkish ship from the Victory. At Saint Mary Major Basilica in Rome, close to the tomb of the great St. Pope Pius V, one was once able to view yet another Islamic flag from the Battle, until 1965, when it was returned to Istanbul in an intended friendly token of concord.
The Rosary
At Lepanto, the Victory over the Moslems was won by the faithful praying the Rosary. Even though they had superior numbers, the Turks really were overmatched. Blessed Padre Pio, the Spiritual Father of the Blue Army, said: "The Rosary is the weapon," and how right he was!
The Battle of Lepanto was at first celebrated liturgically as "Our Lady of Victory." Later, the feast of October 7th was renamed "Our Lady of the Rosary" and extended throughout the Universal Church by Pope Clement XI in 1716 (who canonized Pope Pius V in 1712).

Today the Knights of Columbus (Council 1269) celebrate 1oo years of service and fraternity in the city of Kingman. The Knights provide a great way for men to come together in friendship and service. I became a Knight in 1997. The people of our parish are very grateful for all the work they do for our parish and the whole community. May God grant them another 100 years.

If you would like to learn more about the Knights of Columbus go to the following link. http://www.kofc.org/un/index.cfm

St. Francis is worth writing about for two days. When I had been a priest for about two years I was at my mom's house and when it was time to go I said, "I need to get home." I could tell by the look on her face that she was not pleased that I referred to the rectory as home and not the place where I grew up. This happens to most people. It makes me think about the meaning of home. St. Francis left his father's housein a very radical way. As much as he loved his family his true home was in heaven and his true father was our heavenly Father. For the rest of his life he was a mendicant, one who travels from place to place calling no place home. We are not all called to this form of life, but it is an excellent reminder that our true home is in heaven and we are on a journey. Francis always strove to live a life of poverty so that he would never be tied down to any earthly thing. This gave him the freedom to always be moving forward to his true home. While we all struggle against hunger and the needs of the body we should always remember that these things are passing away.
Fr. Jim

Today is the feast of St. Francis! He was born in Assisi in 1182 . After a carefree youth, he renounced his paternal wealth and committed himself to God. He led a life of poverty and preached the love of God to all. He established a rule which a number of his companions followed and which gained the approval of Pope Innocent III. He also founded an order of nuns with his friend St. Clare. He died in 1226.