14 Catholic Things that Caught My Eye Today (Feb. 4, 2016)

1.

Image of St. Catherine de Ricci (celebrated today in the Dominican Order) from my church in New York City: https://t.co/JqWzP20w8r

— Innocent Smith, op (@InnocentOP) February 4, 2016

2. This is beautiful, based on her writings:

Canticum de Passione Domini from Province of Saint Joseph on Vimeo.

3. In English:

My friends and my kinsmen * have approach and stood against Me.
I was betrayed and I went not out; * My eyes have languished for weariness.
And my sweat has become like drops of blood, * trickling down and upon the earth.
Many dogs have surrounded Me * the council of the wicked has besieged Me.
I gave My body to the scourges * and My cheeks to smitten.
I turned not away My face from those who upbraided Me * and spat upon Me.
Because I am prepared for scourging * and My sorrow is continually before Me.
The soldiers, plaiting a crown of thorns, placed it upon My head.
They have pierced My hands and feet; * they have numbered all My bones.
And they gave Me gall for My food; * and in My thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.
They have looked and stared upon Me; * they divided My garments among them and upon My vesture they cast lots.

4. More here.

5.

Stained glass roundel of St Catherine de Ricci OP contemplating the Lord's Passion, doing penance for sinners #op800https://t.co/sfxooBfpKK

— Fr Lawrence Lew OP (@LawrenceOP) February 4, 2016

6. From a Dominican friend’s Facebook page:

Lord, you have told us that you live forever in the hearts of the chaste. By the prayers of the virgin Catherine de’ Ricci, help us to live by your grace and remain a temple of your Spirit. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

7. Today’s Mass readings.

8. From Fr. Steve Grunow’s homily:

Christ does not negotiate with us about the Church’s mission, he presents it to us and asks us to decide whether we will accept it or not. If we accept his mission, then we can become like him, and if we become like him, we then become the Church he desires for us to be.

9.

Learn to depend on the Providence of God. #homilytweet pic.twitter.com/WA2bdMMk8P

— Kathryn Jean Lopez (@kathrynlopez) February 4, 2016

10.

There is nothing more powerful than the prayer at the Eucharistic table. #homilytweet pic.twitter.com/esKXlUI4bk

— Kathryn Jean Lopez (@kathrynlopez) February 4, 2016

11. From a homily from Fr. Roger Landry:

I encourage people — all Catholics — to write a letter to the priest who will celebrate their funeral, whoever it may be, that can be given to him as he prepares, so that he will be able to know what was really in the heart of the person and be able to incorporate into his homily the person’s faithful love for God, so that the priest can in a sense echo the person’s holy valedictory. The more we prepare to pass on this inheritance to others when we die, the more we will lavishly share it in life.

12. Pope: Pope: The Faith is the greatest inheritance we can leave

13. A column I wrote on the presidential primaries in the year of mercy.

14. Today is also the feast of John de Britto, a missionary to India from Portugal. John Paul II celebrated Mass in honor of him there in 1986 and said:

Saint John de Britto, whom we are remembering in today’s liturgical celebration, was born in Lisbon in 1647. After entering the Society of Jesus he followed the footsteps of Saint Francis Xavier to India where he chose to work for the humble and needy in what was then called the Madurai Mission. His patient labours, selfless zeal and genuine love for the poor won for him their confidence. Like Jesus he was “a sign of contradiction” and his success created jealousy and opposition. As a result, John de Britto died a martyr on 4 February 1693, bearing witness to Christ.
These saints and innumerable men and women of various religious congregations and societies have made Jesus Christ known and loved in this land. We gladly remember all of them today – especially those who have served even to the extent of laying down their lives for the Gospel, witnesses and martyrs, after the example of the Son of Man, who “came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” .

He also said:

We are called to this task first of all through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. The Apostle says: ” If we have died with him, we shall also live with him” . And it is precisely through Baptism that each of us “dies”, together with Christ, to sin, in order to rise to new life with him: to the life of grace, to the life of divine sonship! After being “buried” in the waters of Baptism and purified by the power of the Holy Spirit, we emerge as bearers of the new life of Christ for the world.