We are called to be "brides of Christ"
"To be loved by Christ and to love Him with a spousal love is constitutive of the mystery of the Church. At the source is a free act of love that flows from the Father through Christ and the Holy Spirit. This love molds the Church, radiating on all creatures."
That was the heart of Pope John Paul II's General Papal Audience this past Wednesday in Paul VI Hall as reported by the ZENIT News Agency. Speaking in the Paul VI Auditorium, the Pope recalled that in the Book of Apocalypse Saint John speaks
of the Heavenly Jerusalem as "'a bride adorned for her husband'.
The feminine symbol portrays the face of the Church in her
various aspects of betrothed, bride, and mother, thus
emphasizing a dimension of love and fruitfulness."
For his weekly catechetical message, see THE VICAR OF CHRIST SPEAKS
  Outside the Healing Baths of Lourdes
Special Prayer for the Sick
Dearest Mother Mary, we confidently invoke you as the Health of the Sick. You are the loving Mother especially of those who are blessed with a cross, particularly illnesse. We humbly plead for this favor: (MENTION YOUR REQUEST) Mother of Perpetual Help, we beg you to present our petition to your Divine Son. If you will pray for us, we cannot be refused, for your prayers before God are powerful. With childlike trust we abandon ourselves to God's Holy Will concerning our requests. Pray for us, Out Lady, Health of the Sick. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
 
"The only path to peace is pardon" Holy Father asserts in his Lenten Message for 2001
Conversion is at the heart of the Holy Father's Lenten Message for 2001 that was written on January 7th and released Friday. We will carry the entire message on Ash Wednesday for more impact. He pointed out that the only way for the world to change, for the world to achieve peace is through the conversion of hearts that begins with each one of us. Just as the Blessed Virgin Mary has said so many times in her apparitions around the world, the only way to true peace is through conversion of the heart in returning to her Divine Son Jesus and living all He asks. The Pope reflected on the state of society today as a rejection of Him and the consequences that follow. To change minds and behaviors, hearts must come first.
For more, see News from ROME
ALSO:
US gaining on the world in Catholic population
From the small acorns of evangelization, planted by the missionaries of Columbus and the early explorers, great oaks have grown in the United States. That fact is manifested today because, according the the latest statistics released by the Catholic Almanac for 2001, the US now ranks third in the world in Catholic population, trailing only her southern neighbors Brazil and Mexico. California, Texas and New York compose nearly 23% of the total Catholic population with little Rhodes Island registering 64.3 % Catholics out of the total population of the state. For more, see USA News
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Clinton and FDA were in cahoots in steamrolling throught the abortion pill!
Just as we suspected, now proof has surfaced that indeed Bill Clinton and his cronies railroaded through the abortion pill by abusing regs. The National Review has uncovered evidence that the FDA and the Clinton administration were in bed together and passed it through on the "fast track" in record time under the clause that it was safe and effective for "serious of life-threatening illnesses." Indeed it is "life threatening" to the unborn, but the Clinton administration cared nothing for them, only the militant women's groups like NARAL, NOW and Planned Parenthood who funded his campaign and supported his immoral behavior. For more, see Pro Life News
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Questions surface as to the Church's role in attention to the Indians in Mexico and Latin America
Is "Indian Theology" or "Liberation Theology" more in line what Christ calls for or is it the approach the Church has fostered for centuries in evangelization? This sticky issue surfaced on Thursday in Mexico City during the 11th Conference for Indian Pastoral Agents when a liberal priest who is president for Mexico's National Center for Support to Indian Missions (CENAMI) criticized the Church for the way she has evangelized to the Indians over the past half a millennium. The Bishop of Zamora strongly disagreed, defending the Church's evangelization measures as the two sides remain divided in ideology. For more, see Universal News
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For More Daily News, we recommend the following available news sources:
All the above News Agencies are not affiliated with the DAILY CATHOLIC, but the DAILY CATHOLIC provides this service to keep our readers up-to-date with what's truly happening in our world, especially considering all the misinformation the secular media circulates.
Liberation Theology: Was Romero Right?
Following up the news story above about "liberation theology" and the Holy Father's words, we heard recently from someone who disagreed with our profile on Archbishop Oscar Romero in our Top 100 Catholics of the Twentieth Century. Since this ties in with the above story and has merit we provide it here. While we don't always agree with all the points readers submit, we provide this section to allow them to air their side in open dialogue. However, we warn all that this is the only place in this entire publication where we cannot always guarantee 100% Catholic Doctrine. All other material we can assure you is solid. As for content at times in this section... well, as the title of this section says - "Take it with a grain of salt." For another view of the story above that ties in with liberation theology, see Another Viewpoint
Today is the SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME. This supersedes liturgically the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes this year. However, World Day of the Sick is be observed throughout the world with the focus today on Sydney, Australia. Tomorrow we return to Weekday in Ordinary Time. For more on these liturgies, see Daily LITURGY
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Green vestments
SUNDAY February 11:
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First Reading: Jeremiah 17: 5-8
Psalms: Psalm 1: 1-4, 6
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15: 12, 16-20
Gospel Reading: Luke 6: 17, 20-26
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"Woe to you who are filled! for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now! for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when alI men speak well of you! In the selfsame manner their fathers used to treat the prophets." Luke 6: 25-26
 
Healing for the World began 143 years ago today at Lourdes
Today is the 143rd anniversary of the First Apparition at Lourdes to a young peasant girl - Saint Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. The apparitions at this forsaken spot led the way for the Church to acknowledge the authenticity of the visions, to canonize the holy visionary, for millions to be healed by the miraculous waters at the grotto which flows unceasingly today below a massive church honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Immaculate Conception along with many other shrines and churches in this flourishing oasis in the Pyrennee Mountains of Southern France. For other Time Capsule events that happened Today in Church history, see Daily TIME CAPSULES in Church History
Humility fosters great beauty in the little things
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the words of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen have been known to launch a thousand images in one's mind, one of the ways this late luminary did so much to evangelize the faith. Because of the urgency of the times and because few there are today who possess the wisdom, simplicity and insight than the late Archbishop who touched millions, we are bringing you daily gems from his writings. The good bishop makes it so simple that we have dubbed this daily series: "SIMPLY SHEEN".
"Those who have swallowed their pride, confessed their inability to perform great tasks, from that moment on grow in the esteem of men. The sporting world traditionally loves the 'underdog.' The lowly violet that grows close to the earth is more praised by poets than the sunflower that always turns its head to the spotlight."
Monthly Medjugorje Message for January 2001
For Our Lady's January 25th message for 2001 and more on Medjugorje, see MEDJUGORJE AND MORE
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February 11, 2001 volume 12, no. 42
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