Category: Inspiration

Pope John Paul II canonized St. Maria Faustina in 2000 and instituted the Feast of the Divine Mercy to be observed on the first Sunday after Easter. It is no coincidence that John Paul the Great’s beautification celebration falls on the Divine Mercy Sunday, May 1st, 2011.

Given to the Church through St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, the Divine Mercy Novena, begins on Good Friday, April 22, 2011. It’s all going to be quite amazing this year as the rundown of events fall together with a overwhelming feeling of Divine Providence. As it says at Marytv.tv,  “Just nine days of praying the chaplet of Divine Mercy, plus celebrating the Feast of Divine Mercy with Holy Mass, confession, and prayer for the Pope.  And yet, through this Novena and Feast, we are promised that all temporal consequences of sin will be wiped away, and anything we ask of God (that is in harmony with His will) will be granted!”

Read more from this article “Divine Mercy Novena” posted at Marytv.tv

Go “live” at 3:00 pm EST every day from April 22 to April 30, and pray the Divine Mercy Novena with Cathy and Denis at Marytv.tv. We believe it will bring about a part of Our Lady’s plan. Learn more at www.marytv.tv!

The Hill of Crosses is a site of pilgrimage. The precise origin of the practice of leaving crosses on the hill is uncertain, but it is believed that the first crosses were placed on the former Jurgaiciai or Domantai hill fort after the 1831 Uprising. Over the centuries, not only crosses, but giant crucifixes, carvings of Lithuanian patriots, statues of the Virgin Mary and thousands of tiny effigies and rosaries have been brought here by Catholic pilgrims. The number of crosses is unknown, but estimates put it at about 55,000 in 1990 and 100,000 in 2006.

“It is the great Christian mystery of the divinity that is within humanity….a seat of hope in the future after death…There is a second dimension of the Holy Week and it is the liturgical dimension. So these ceremonies have great wealth from the point of view of culture because its the sedimentation of the Great Quest.” ~Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi (President, Pontifical Council for Culture)

Happy Birthday Pope Benedict XVI. We are so lucky to have you you!

Think about it: Jesus himself didn’t only associate with the religious, in fact it was some of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day who were the first to condemn Him.

Father Barron’s take on this makes me think of when Jesus was questioned as to why he dines with sinners:

“When the scribes of the Pharisee party saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard this he said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I came to call not the upright, but sinners.'” Mark 2:16-17

The point is that it’s easier to reach those who otherwise might never consider Scripture or Christianity by referencing sources that a wider audience can identify with.

This doesn’t mean we are to exemplify rock stars in the same light as saints, but the saints themselves had open minds and weren’t quick to condemn other ways of perceiving God and the universe. We are all in this together, and we can all learn from each other.

As a huge Bob Dylan fan myself, there’s also something to be said for Bob’s wide range of Christian songs being testimonials for the faith in and of themselves. (Side note: Contrary to popular belief, Bob didn’t given up his faith, in fact he continues to sing and write songs that delve in the spiritual, even if he isn’t still in the fervent “born-again” phase of years’ past).

There’s also something to be said for not passing judgement and assuming every rock star is some kind of raging evil-doer. Heck, we all sin. So to paraphrase Jesus, let the person without any sin cast the first stone.

A new series, CATHOLICISM, is being produced and released in the Fall 2011 by WordonFire’s, Father Barron. It is a groundbreaking documentary series presenting the true story of Christianity and the Catholic faith. It is a ten episode program with a vision that seeks to explore through a global journey, the living culture of the Catholic Church.