TUESDAY

November 25, 1997     vol 8, no.38

Front Page of Today's Issue
To print out entire text of Today's issue, go to SECTION ONE and SECTION TWO

      Coincidentally during National Puzzle Week, the Synod of America is struggling with another puzzle - the growing lure of sects that are confusing many of the young and the importance of evangelizing through love and example. For more, click on Daily Synod Synopsis to read what several of the bishops have to say about this puzzling predicament.

      Continuing with the theme of National Puzzle Week, we help steer the faithful through the mystifying maze liturgical commissions have created regarding the role of the laity in assisting the Priests at Mass. The sure guide to finding the right way is the 37-page Instruction guidelines released by the Vatican last week on Instruction on certain questions regarding the collaboration of the non-ordained faithful in the sacred ministry of the priest. It's the perfect compass for navigating through the rhetoric and obstacles liberal liturgists have constructed. Click on THE VICAR OF CHRIST SPEAKS for the seventh installment of these firm and clear instructions.

      It is also National Board Game Week and the pontiff we treat in the forty ninth installment of our on-going series on Church History was a master at working the board, so to speak...from England to the Eastern Church Pope Alexander III manuevered the pieces through the obstacles of kings and four antipopes to ensure that the Holy See would be forever strong both in stature and in jurisprudence with the many decisions he left that have been inscribed in much of our Code of Canon Law today. Click on History of the Mass and Holy Mother Church

      With Jesus our lives are nothing to play around with, nothing so trivial as a game, but rather very serious and He imparts His wisdom on the essence of a clean heart in our journey toward salvation in the sixty second Lesson/Meditation He imparted to the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate Heart on the Sixth Beatitude: "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.". That is the prize He offers to all who participate in the contest of life with His Will foremost in their hearts. Click on THE HIDDEN WAY

     The Holy Spirit doesn't deal in puzzles but so often we consider it a puzzle as to how the Holy Spirit does work in and through us. Father John Hampsch, C.M.F. illustrates how simple it is to allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us if only we let Him in his fifteenth installment of "Faith: Key to the Heart of God" in his column KEYS TO LIVING GOD'S WILL. Click on Becoming Faith-Fit

      That is what the Catechism does. By fitting each piece of our Catholic faith together we can better understand the teachings, doctrines, traditions, dogmas and sacred scripture and practice our faith more fully, more strongly. That strength is enhanced by the Sacrament of Confirmation which we continue this week. Click on CATECHISM CAPSULES

    Dear children: Today I invite you to comprehend your Christian vocation. Little children, I led and am leading you through this time of grace, that you may become conscious of your Christian vocation. Holy martyrs died witnessing: I am a Christian and love God over everything. Little children, today also I invite you to rejoice and be joyful Christians, responsible and conscious that God called you in a special way to be joyfully extended hands toward those who do not believe, and that through the example of your life, they may receive faith and love for God. Therefore, pray, pray, pray that your heart may open and be sensitive for the Word of God. Thank you for having responded to my call!
For more on Medjugorje, click on MEDJUGORJE

HEADLINES:

Sixty Million American Catholics can make a difference!

      Of that number the majority have paid taxes for pro-abortion agendas and the bishops have had enough. They are banding together for a renewed battle to conquer the all-consuming "Culture of Death" which is suffocating the world, choking the life out of so many. To do this they need to not only educate the faithful in a concentrated manner where all are in unison, but unite with the entire western hemisphere to stop this satanic scourge. Click on Solidarity to read more.

Liturgy comes full circle with 50th Anniversary of Pius XII's Mediator Dei

     This past Sunday, the Solemnity of Christ the King, was also a special occasion that many overlooked but not Pope John Paul II. Just a week after issuing corrective measures to bring the liturgy more in line with what Pope Pius XII intended and in the face of abuses throughout the world, the Holy Father spoke glowingly of his predecessor's work. Click on Pius XII to read more.

Synod Bishops to the Laity: It's your turn, have your say.

      Their say yes, not necessarily their way for the bishops will make the decisions as members of the Magisterium which the laity is not. Nonetheless, to tap into the pulse of the laity, the lay observers are being given the unprecedented opportunity to speak to the bishops later this week. Each of the forty one eligible lay men and women will have six minutes to speak. It's time to put Christ back in "Christ"mas but too many Christians pay more heed to worshipping at the cash registers of the malls then in their churches. That's the deduction a survey has just revealed about the time allotment devoted to worshipping and shopping. Click on Laity to read more.

As we wind down this final week of the Church year, we have all Weekday Masses in Ordinary Time for the rest of the Week, climaxing with the commemoration of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday before Advent begins the next day. Click on LITURGY OF THE DAY

"The king's wrath is like messengers of death, but a wise man can pacify it."

Proverbs 16: 14

For all other standard features, articles and columns, click on Archives

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November 25, 1997 volume 8, no. 38         DAILY CATHOLIC