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Category Archives: catholic faith

Peter at a Distance

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Here is a post from Brian.

Peter at a Distance
by Brian

Imagine the scene: Jesus has just been arrested by the crowds and is being taken to the High Priest Caiphias along with the scribes and elders. Following the crowd, but from afar, moving from one shadow to the next so as not to be detected, is St. Peter.
According to Mt. 26:57-58, St. Peter “followed at a distance.” This is the same man who earlier in the Gospel declared before the other Apostles that Jesus was the Messiah, “the Son of the living God.” Because of this Jesus named Peter, “Rock.”
When Jesus performed his miracles and the crowds were thronging to listen to Him, Peter’s faith was strong and firm. However, when the crowd came with clubs to arrest Jesus, Peter’s faith and allegiance, as Jesus predicted, wavered.
As I reflected on St. Peter following Christ from a distance, I couldn’t help but relate to him. When things are going well, how easy it is to walk side by side with Christ, but when the cross over shadows you or when you are called to exercise your faith in a heroic way, which will cause you to be ridiculed or persecuted, it becomes easy to follow Jesus from a distance.
As Lent winds down and the shadow of the cross on Good Friday gives way to light of the resurrection on Easter Sunday, let us pray for one another and ask the Holy Spirit for the courage and strength necessary to respond to Jesus’ invitation to “come follow me.” Not from a distance, but stride for stride.
Let us also look to St. Peter, who after experiencing the risen Lord, followed Jesus so closely that he chose to die by way of the cross, as His Master did.
God bless!

Prayer for Healing the Family Tree

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I’ve been thinking a lot about my extended family lately, especially those who are far from God. God has been tugging at my heart to pray for them more fervently. This morning I came across the following prayer and I think Lent would be a perfect time to start praying it. Although I don’t have all the hurts mentioned in this prayer, I pray for those in my family who are hurting and struggling, that they will find peace and healing in God’s love and mercy.

Prayer for Healing the Family Tree
By Rev. John H. Hampsch, CMF
Heavenly Father, I come before you as your child, in great need of your help; I have physical health needs, emotional needs, spiritual needs, and interpersonal needs. Many of my problems have been caused by my own failures, neglect and sinfulness, for which I humbly beg your forgiveness, Lord. But I also ask you to forgive the sins of my ancestors whose failures have left their effects on me in the form of unwanted tendencies, behavior patterns and defects in body, mind and spirit. Heal me, Lord, of all these disorders.
With your help I sincerely forgive everyone, especially living or dead members of my family tree, who have directly offended me or my loved ones in any way, or those whose sins have resulted in our present sufferings and disorders. In the name of your divine Son, Jesus, and in the power of his Holy Spirit, I ask you, Father, to deliver me and my entire family tree from the influence of the evil one. Free all living and dead members of my family tree, including those in adoptive relationships, and those in extended family relationships, from every contaminating form of bondage. By your loving concern for us, heavenly Father, and by the shed blood of your precious Son, Jesus, I beg you to extend your blessing to me and to all my living and deceased relatives. Heal every negative effect transmitted through all past generations, and prevent such negative effects in future generations of my family tree.
I symbolically place the cross of Jesus over the head of each person in my family tree, and between each generation; I ask you to let the cleansing blood of Jesus purify the bloodlines in my family lineage. Set your protective angels to encamp around us, and permit Archangel Raphael, the patron of healing, to administer your divine healing power to all of us, even in areas of genetic disability. Give special power to our family members’ guardian angels to heal, protect, guide and encourage each of us in all our needs. Let your healing power be released at this very moment, and let it continue as long as your sovereignty permits.
In our family tree, Lord, replace all bondage with a holy bonding in family love. And let there be an ever-deeper bonding with you, Lord, by the Holy Spirit, to your Son, Jesus. Let the family of the Holy Trinity pervade our family with its tender, warm, loving presence, so that our family may recognize and manifest that love in all our relationships. All of our unknown needs we include with this petition that we pray in Jesus’ precious Name. Amen.
+++++++++++++++
St. Joseph, Patron of family life, pray for us.

Feast Day: St. Francis de Sales

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Here is an article Brian wrote for RoL.

St. Francis de Sales: A Man of Courage
(1567-1622)


January 24th marks the feast day of a great saint and doctor of the Church, Francis de Sales, (1567-1622).
I always viewed St. Francis de Sales as a humble and gentle man, a man who practiced kindness to a heroic degree. I am sure many would agree with this. However, after learning more about his life, I discovered that he was also a man of great courage. This courage is beautifully illustrated during his stint as a missionary from 1594-1598.
Born in the later half of the sixteenth century amidst the Protestant Reformation, Francis was not expected to become a religious. Being the eldest son of the de Boisy family, Francis was expected to marry, take over and manage the family estate and hold a seat in the local government. Of course none of this came to pass. Instead, Francis heard and responded to His Master’s call and was ordained a priest in 1593.
After serving the people of his diocese for roughly a year, Francis volunteered to be a missionary. His mission territory was the region of the Chablias, located near Lake Geneva. This region was considered mission territory for two reasons. First, it was densely populated with Calvinists who were vehemently anti Catholic. Second, those Catholics who lived in the region were few in number and were unable to practice their faith openly for fear of persecution.
Before accepting the assignment, Francis knew the trials and dangers that awaited him. Nevertheless, with the Bible and Rosary in one hand and the Catechism in the other, he entered the Chablias on foot. His resolve and courage to bring the Catholic faith to the people of the region, even when his life was threatened, reminds me of the passage from St. John’s Gospel, “…zeal for my Father’s house will consume me.” (Jn 2:17).
At first, Francis met a great deal of resistance and had little success in converting the Calvinists, but that soon changed. Guided by the light of the Holy Spirit, Francis decided that the best way to reach the Calvinists was by writing and distributing tracts. These tracts explained and defended the Catholic faith and quickly became his chief tool of evangelization.
Overtime, Francis converted the population of the Chablias from Calvinism to Catholicism. In fact, when Francis first started his missionary apostolate there were towns with fewer than ten Catholics. When his missionary apostolate was near its completion, there were towns with fewer than ten Calvinists.
The four years of missionary activity shows how even a gentle and kind man, can be a saint of enormous courage. Let us ask St. Francis de Sales to intercede for us and help us practice the virtue of courage in our daily journey with God.
God bless.