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CATHOLIC FAITH AT HOME RESOURCES
for our STELLA MARIS
Family of Parishes
including:
St. Thomas More, St. Bernadette,
St. Mary & St. Peter
November 26
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SACRED STILLNESS
Presents to wrap!
Parties to attend!
Last minute shopping to do!
Decorations to put up!
Guests to prepare for!
The list goes on.
Want to find peace amidst the chaos?
Click the link below to join "Sacred Stillness: a Catholic Advent Retreat:"
SACRED STILLNESS
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THE WHY,
WHAT AND
HOW OF PRAYER
While the world’s in full holiday swing,
we, as a Church, are preparing for Advent—
and that’s a very different kind of preparation.
We are preparing our hearts to receive our King.
Making room and making space.
Seeking silence and surrendering expectations.
Carving out time for prayer, looking for ways to linger with our Lord.
Click below to access the FREE Into the Deep Advent Retreat:
INTO THE DEEP RETREAT
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LOTS OF ADVENT BOOKS
TO GUIDE YOU
Looking for a book of guided prayer and meditation for this Advent?
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of books written for Advent.
Advent is a very popular time of year to enter more
deeply into prayer.
Click the link below to find a list of recommended Advent books
for your personal spiritual journey:
DEVOTIONAL BOOKS FOR ADVENT
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REDISCOVER ADVENT
WITH
"HERE AM I"!
Our culture specializes in overstimulation and empty productivity.
Once again, our Faith proposes a revolutionary
game-changer: Advent.
We get 4 weeks of waiting and preparation
to receive the revelation of our Lord made flesh!
Sometimes we start Advent with good, solid intentions,
but…In the end, we fill that time with extra shopping and checklists.
We rush into Christmas with the same frantic busyness
that dominates the rest of our lives.
This year, let’s live Advent the way the Church intended it!
Click the link below to discover "HERE AM I"
a four week Advent program:
HERE AM I!
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NOVENA PRAYER
ADVENT
START NOVEMBER 24
1st SUNDAY OF ADVENT: DECEMBER 3
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O Lord Jesus Christ, who for our sake descended from
the throne of glory to this world of pain and sorrow;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary, and was made man;
Make our hearts a fit habitation for you.
Beautify and fill us with all spiritual graces,
and possess us wholly by your power.
Give us grace to prepare for your coming with deep humility,
to receive you with burning love,
and to hold fast to you with a firm faith;
that we may never leave nor forsake you.
Who lives and reigns, world without end.
Amen!
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What is the St. Andrew’s Novena?
The St. Andrew’s Novena
—which begins on this Apostle's feast day—
consists of a short, beautiful prayer that is
recited fifteen times a day in honor of Our Lord’s Nativity.
It is not a novena in the literal sense of the word,
because it lasts much longer than nine days—
beginning on November 30th and finishing on Christmas Eve,
which makes it 25 days long.
(If you’re a numbers person,
that means this novena prayer is recited
a total of 375 times!)
The prayer is as follows:
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment
in which the Son of God was born of the
most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight,
in Bethlehem, in piercing cold.
In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee,
O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires,
through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ,
and of His blessed Mother.
Amen.
You can pray the fifteen repetitions all at once,
rosary-style, or you can break
them up throughout the day.
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GIVE THANKS TO GOD FOR OUR SEMINARIANS!! | |
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It has been a special year at MTSM so far,
with 100 seminarians from seven sending dioceses
making up the largest class in 45 years!
This year, God willing, 17 men from MTSM
will be ordained to the priesthood,
finalizing their education and lifelong
commitment to providing the sacraments
to you and your families and becoming
shepherds of your parishes and communities for years to come.
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For Peace in the Middle East
Lord Jesus Christ,
Thank you for your love and guidance in all our lives each day. You give us the grace to live in your love in peace. Lord, on this day, we lift our hearts and minds to all those who suffer because of violent conflicts in the world. We think of those families whose hearts ache because of war. Those who are forced to leave their homes and their families due to brute force and destruction. Those who cannot sleep, eat, or live happily because of warfare and fighting all around them. We offer our prayers for the children, families, the young and the old, the sick, and the abandoned who do not have resources, food, and shelter for daily living. We pray for mothers, fathers, grandparents, and all those deeply concerned for their family members and friends.
Lord, help us to offer our time, our sacrifices, and our deepest prayers at each moment for those affected by war. We pray that we can model after you, Lord Jesus, as one who offered yourself for the sake of others and for their welfare. We pray for our enemies the same way you did when you gave your life for the salvation of the world.
At this moment, Lord, we pray for those who suffer greatly at the hands of those who cause ruination to others and to the world. We pray for the conversion of their hearts. We understand conversion is possible for everyone who is alive, and we pray for peace in their hearts to turn to you and away from the brutality of war. We lift our prayers for those who protect others from violence and who stand for justice through service.
Jesus, we love you above all, and we trust you with every aspect of our lives. Help us to entrust you more both in this present moment and for the future of the world as we pray for peace. Most of all, help us to continue our prayers at each moment through the intercession of your Mother Mary and all the angels and saints.
We ask this in the Name of Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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Click the link below for several prayers for Israel
and also a list of the names of the hostages!!
PRAYERS FOR ISRAEL AND HOSTAGES NAMES
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NATIONAL EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL
NEW WEEKLY INFO
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SCHEDULES, SCHOLARSHIPS AND WEEKEND PASSES
The U.S. bishops have announced that scholarships
and single-day and weekend passes
will be available to make it possible for more
Catholics to attend the National Eucharistic Congress.
The event will be held next July in Indianapolis.
Nearly 30,000 tickets have already sold.
Click the link below for information on schedules,
scholarships and weekend passes:
NATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS INFO UPDATE
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How Do You Become a Disciple of Jesus?
Becoming Jesus’ disciple begins with an encounter,
and the Eucharist is the most powerful way
we can experience the living Christ today.
Bishop Andrew Cozzens shares what he believes
is the heart of Christianity and the reason
why Jesus left us his Real Presence in the Eucharist.
“This is really the great gift of the Eucharist:
it’s the encounter that never ends.
It’s the encounter that keeps transforming us.”
Click below to watch an inspiring short video from Bishop Cozzens:
BISHOP COZZEN VIDEO
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In the Streets
Another major moment in the Revival:
National Eucharistic Pilgrimage
one of the largest Eucharistic pilgrimages in history!
We will process with our Eucharistic Lord on 4 routes,
departing from our nation's north, south, east, and west edges.
These branches will meet in Indianapolis in July 2024
for the National Eucharistic Congress.
To see the four routes, and intercessor for each, click below:
NATIONAL EUCHARISTIC PILGRIMAGE ROUTES
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If you see a link on your device's screen that says,
"View entire message”,
please click that link to continue seeing the entire newsletter.
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REGISTRATION INFO FOR THE CONGRESS
WILL YOU BE THERE, TOO?
You can join us!
July, 2024
for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress.
Directly experience the fruits of your intercession and
see its impact around the country.
Click the link below to REGISTER:
REGISTRATION FOR 10TH
NATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONFERENCE
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QUIZ! FOR THE WEEK
WHY DO WE BLESS SALT?
Scroll down to find the answer!
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HUMOR
HIGHLIGHT
Little Boys Prayer
"Dear God, please take care of my daddy
and my mommy and my sister and my brother
and my doggy and my cat and me.
Oh, please take care of yourself, God.
If anything happens to you,
we're gonna be in a big mess."
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GOSPEL READING REFLECTION
For November 26, 2023
THE SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Gospel: Mt. 25:31-46
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THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE LAST JUDGMENT
- In Ezekiel’s vision, there are some people who are sleek and strong while their fellow men are lost, in need of rescuing, hungry, tired, injured, and sick. In that prophecy, God himself will tend to those in need, while he will “destroy” the sleek and strong.
- It must be that God negatively judges the sleek and strong because they did nothing for their brothers in need when they could have. This comes into focus in the parable of the sheep and the goats. Those of us who do nothing for the hungry, thirsty, naked, ill, and imprisoned will be condemned while those who do something for them will have eternal life.
- Most broadly, if you love your neighbor, giving what you are able to give that he needs, you are helping God’s kingdom come and you “belong to Christ.”
- When we pray, thy kingdom come, “the Church looks first to Christ’s return and the final coming of the Reign of God. It also prays for the growth of the Kingdom of God in the ‘today’ of our own lives.” (CCC 2859)
- When we pray, thy will be done, “we ask our Father to unite our will to that of his Son, so as to fulfill his plan of salvation in the life of the world” (CCC 2860).
- “Christ the Lord already reigns through the Church, but all the things of this world are not yet subjected to him” (CCC 680).
- “On Judgment Day at the end of the world, Christ will come in glory to achieve the definitive triumph of good over evil which . . . have grown up together in the course of history” (CCC 681).
- “When he comes at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, the glorious Christ will reveal the secret disposition of hearts and will render to each man according to his works and according to his acceptance or refusal of grace” (CCC 682).
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ANSWER TO QUIZ
It’s fairly easy to understand why we bless water.
Water is cleansing, hydrating, and full of symbolism.
We use it in Baptism, etc.
Water is a necessity of life.
Blessed salt is a sacramental that is strongly associated
with protection from demonic influences.
Demons hate it.
It is thus used in exorcisms,
as protection in homes and living spaces,
is often added to holy water,
and is used in the older rite of baptism.
But why salt?
Salt in the ancient world was a valuable substance.
Roman soldiers were, in fact, often paid in salt (Latin: sal),
which is where we get the word “salary” from.
Because it has a preservative effect, it was used to preserve food
and also used medicinally to prevent infections.
In a related way, it symbolized immortality
and preservation from spiritual corruption.
There is a scriptural basis for our use of salt.
Check out Elisha’s blessing of the sickening waters of Jericho
in the second book of Kings.
Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it,
and said, “Thus says the Lord, I have made this water
wholesome; henceforth neither death nor miscarriage
shall come from it.”
So the water has been wholesome to this day,
according to the word which Elisha spoke.
This event is recalled in the present-day blessing of salt.
—2 Kings 2:21-22
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BOOK
RECOMMENDATION
We need to be armed for battle!
At all times, and especially during these crazy times in this vale of tears,
we need to lay our foundation in Christ Jesus.
Spiritual reading helps us build and strengthen that foundation.
Order through your favorite book dealer.
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This week's recommendation is:
THE ADVENT OF CHRIST
By
Edward Sri
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Perhaps the Christmas story has become almost too familiar.
A virgin giving birth.
A child laid in a manger.
Shepherds greeted by angels.
The Christmas story has become so familiar that the
profound, even shocking, nature of the
incarnation might be overlooked.
But what if we had never heard the story before?
What if we were hearing it for the first time, like the first-century Jews?
These events certainly would not be taken for granted—
they would signal something new:
the dawning of the long-awaited Messiah.
Containing an entry for each day of Advent
and continuing through the Christmas season,
Dr. Edward Sri will help you to discover spiritual treasures
in the Gospels and gain a new understanding of the coming of Christ.
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We pray you will be excited to embark on purposeful
spiritual reading as a way to build a more prayer-filled,
Christ centered life.
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