If we truly strive to be saints as God wills, we can easily bypass Purgatory and go straight to Heaven!
In her inspirational column today, Cyndi Cain begins a three part series on the differences between Presumption and Trust in the Lord as well as seeking to live the teachings of the Little Flower Saint Therese of Lisieux. Too many assume they're not good enough to get into Heaven right away and so accept the "second class' status, resigning themselves that no matter what they do, they'll spend a good deal of time in Purgatory. Cyndi reminds us that we can easily live our Purgatory here on earth by taking up our crosses daily as Jesus asks and, by living His Holy Will and striving towards sanctity, we can set the bar higher, much higher and attain our goal. We can bypass Purgatory and go directly to Heaven. All we need to do is realize it and live it. If we understand this, then the hell we may have been living can give us tremendous hope, a hope that can be equated to "Heaven on earth" - for we have the realization that we can attain Heaven. For her column Purgatory doesn't need to be a prerequisite see SYMPHONY OF SUFFERING
Holy Father sympathizes with the sick in "brothlerly solidarity;" reaffirms Ukraine trip on schedule at Sunday Angelus
After a special Mass for the Sick in St. Peter's Basilica, celebrated by Cardinal
Camillo Ruini, the Pope's vicar for the Diocese of Rome, the Holy Father met with 10,000 from the congregation and shared his concern, love and prayers for those universally who, like him, suffer from some sort of earthly illness. He also brightened the smiles of a group in the audience from the Ukraine by assuring him he was still on schedule to travel to this satellite country of the former Soviet Union. For more, see News from ROME
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Capitalism grows stronger and is of much more value when we use our means to help others Archbishop Chaput tells business leaders
The Shepherd of Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap. reached out to business leaders in Denver in encouraging them to use their wealth and business acumen for good. "Where does God belong in the marketplace? He belongs
in the hearts and the actions of the people who make the market
succeed… Each of us becomes 'powerful' by becoming free, and we
become free by mastering ourselves and living for others," he
said. The Archbishop also stressed that "there's a wonderful dignity in financial success rightly
earned. But we never lose responsibility for those around us.
When we do lose sight of that responsibility -when we
reduce others to statistics or stereotypes or impersonal social
problems- the bonds that hold a nation together begin to
unravel." For more, see USA News
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Major Victory for Pro Life in Florida as Appeals Court upholds Law
Finally, a Florida Court got it right! In a major victory for pro-life advocates, a Florida Appeals court Friday unanimously upheld a state law requiring that parents
or a judge be notified before a minor gets an abortion. Pro-life advocates hailed Friday's ruling, although the battle over the law looks certain to shift to the Florida Supreme Court. We all know how tenuous that scenario can be after the election fiasco a few months ago. The law, which pro-aborts are appealing, requires abortion practitioners to notify one of the parents or a legal guardian if anyone younger than 18 seeks an abortion. The notice
would have to be made at least 48 hours before the abortion, either in
person, by phone or by certified mail. Teenagers looking to avoid such
notice could seek a court order from a judge. For abortion practitioners,
failing to provide notice could result in civil fines and penalties,
including loss of license. Abortion advocates said they hope to keep the law from being enforced
while it is being appealed. For more, see Pro Life News
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Month of Prayer for Peace and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka to begin this Saturday
After eighteen long years of civil war between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tiger Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Catholic Church is signaling that the only answer is prayer and, beginning February 17th, the bells will ring out in every church to sound the beginning of an intense month of prayer to bring the bloodshed to an end. Sri Lanka's Bishop Rayappu Joseph has appealed to the country's president Chandrika Kumaratunga to peacefully settle the embargo issue in face of the serious lack of basic necessities and medical assistance, afflicting mainly the children and elderly. 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.
Weekday in Ordinary Time
Today is Weekday in Ordinary Time, while tomorrow, the traditional Feast of Saint Valentine, we celebrate the Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius, "Apostles to the Slavs." For their profiles and liturgies, see Daily LITURGY
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Green vestments
TUESDAY February 13:
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First Reading: Genesis 6: 5-8; 7: 1-5, 10
Psalms: Psalm 29: 1-4, 9-10
Gospel Reading: Mark 8: 14-21
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"Why do you argue because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive, not understand? Is your heart still blinded? Though you have eyes do you not see, and though you have ears do you not hear? And you do not remember?" Mark 8: 17-19
Death of a Pope forced onto the throne and exiled by his own to die
Today is the 871st commemoration of the death of Pope Honorius II, the 163rd successor of Peter who died on this day in 1130. His pontificate began quite stormy for on December 21, 1124, as the Cardinal of Ostia he was forcefully by sword put on the throne by the faction of the Frangipani family in connivance with the chancelor Almeric. This had happened after Pope Celestine II had been elected by a majority of the cardinals. Celestine was deposed as the Frangipani's bought off the rest of the Conclave during a time of corruption. Honorius himself was not touched by this corruption and sought to renew friendly relations with all European courts in uniting against the sword of Islam. Yet, it is also true that he was really a "puppet pope" for the wily Almeric and this led to the formation during Honorius' six-year reign of the famous pro-papal Guelphs and the pro-emperor/anti-papal Ghibbelines which would cause great consternation and bloodshed as these extremist groups sought to influence both the political scene and the Church. Honorius, on the brink of death in January of 1130, was stolen away to a monastery under the protection of the Frangipani family by Almeric to prevent the rival Pierleoni family from gaining control. For other Time Capsule events that happened Today in Church history, see Daily TIME CAPSULES in Church History
Twisting words of virtue for vice
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".
"Certain words pass out of our vocabulary until some incident or writer digs them up as forgotten treasures. One such word is 'Humility.' But often it happens that when words signifying great forgotten virtues are resurrected, they are used in an entirely new sense. For example, in China those who refuse to accept the domination of the government are accused of being wanting in 'humility.' The cat that rebels against being devoured by the mouse is also labelled as failing in that virtue."
Monthly Medjugorje Message for January 2001
For Our Lady's January 25th message for 2001 and more on Medjugorje, see MEDJUGORJE AND MORE
February 13, 2001 volume 12, no. 44
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