"one nation under God. indivisible.." - Pledge of Allegiance
Did you know that in Utah, many Catholic and Jewish schools are attended by students of different faiths? Here's a link of one of the articles that intrigued me and perhaps it will interest you as well. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/55657969-80/catholic-diego-faith-family.html.csp
"one nation under God. indivisible.." - Pledge of Allegiance
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About this time last year I wrote about the Chrism Mass at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. (This year it will be Thursday, April 10th at 7pm.) While reflecting on the incredible procession for the Chrism Mass, I noticed a group of people that I definitely got my attention. I remembered the ladies in long black capes with black veils on their heads and the men wore white capes with black velvet berets. They were the Utah Knights and Ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. My curiosity peaked as I wondering what the order was all about. So being a researcher, I found a few sites rather captivating. Instead of rewriting or quoting the best, I am going to share those links with you and encourage you to visit them. The first one is easy to understand and a wonderful explanation of the order by the Editor of the Intermountain Catholic, Marie Mischel. http://www.icatholic.org/article/utah-hosts-equestrian-order-meeting-5916067. The next one is the Official Website for the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. http://www.holysepulchre.net/. I am sharing this knowledge because, there's a great big world out there waiting to be explored. May God bless you with peace, patience and understanding. - Gracemarie These are the 2013 statistics for Utah (quoted from The Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City 2014-2015 Directory) and I am comparing some of them to a 2010 report found at http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dsalt.html. The 2010 statistics are noted in parentheses. As we celebrate Thanksgiving this year and as we conclude the Year of Faith, I encourage us all to thank God for his wonderful gifts in our lives. And in so doing, to peel back the veil and realize that material gifts pale in comparison to God’s love, a love that guarantees us the gift of eternal life. Thank God for our faith, a gift that allows us, like the thankful man cured of leprosy, to enter more deeply into our relationship with Christ, a relationship of thanksgiving that is meant to last an eternity. The above paragraph is a part of Bishop John C. Wester's Thanksgiving Message that can be found at: http://www.icatholic.org/article/thanksgiving-message-3156184
For the last while I've been ill and have been fortunate enough to receive communion at home. Communion at home is something I take very seriously and have a hard time resigning to not being able to Sunday attend mass. I've had to learn that it is not a sign of weakness, but a reality of a necessity. You can't make your body do something it is not able. Because in many cases it will make the situation worse. So patience I learn and learn again. I've researched the subject "Receiving Communion at Home" and came across a wonderful website with good information for the patient/parishioner. Instead of paraphrasing the article, here's a link for your viewing: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/prayers/circumstantial-prayers-and-blessings/communion-of-the-sick/ St. Francis de Sales once wrote: “The Prayer of the sick person is his patience and his acceptance of his sickness for the love of Jesus Christ. Make sickness itself a prayer, for there is none more powerful, save [except] martyrdom!” Summer is underway and so is vacation time. Many of us have planned weekends or weeks away from home. These travels might include missing mass at our home churches. This situation happened to me last weekend. Instead of going to church at my home church or a pilgrimage church, I was at a special retreat. So, mass was held at a conference room in the hotel by a priest. It was my first mass outside a church building. I wondered, if a priest is allowed to hold mass anywhere? I researched this and found out that according to Canon Law: THE TIME AND PLACE OF THE CELEBRATION OF THE EUCHARIST Can. 931 The celebration and distribution of the Eucharist can be done at any day and hour except those which the liturgical norms exclude. Can. 932 §1. The eucharistic celebration is to be carried out in a sacred place unless in a particular case necessity requires otherwise; in such a case the celebration must be done in a decent place. §2. The eucharistic sacrifice must be carried out on a dedicated or blessed altar; outside a sacred place a suitable table can be used, always with a cloth and a corporal. Can. 933 For a just cause and with the express permission of the local ordinary, a priest is permitted to celebrate the Eucharist in the place of worship of some Church or ecclesial community which does not have full communion with the Catholic Church so long as there is no scandal. I've once again realized that no matter how many years I've been Catholic, there's always more to learn! .•*´♥`*•. Whatever your family plans are this summer, please be safe, have fun and don't forget to offer your joyful heart to the Lord! Have you ever wanted to meet other Catholic women in Utah? If you answered yes, then you should attend the Annual DCCW Convention (not for dating purposes please). In case you don't know, DCCW stands for Diocesan Council of Catholic Women. Since the state of Utah has only one diocese, we have also only one council and the convention covers the entire state. What a beautiful reunion of State-wide Catholic Women. Registration began first thing Saturday morning at 7:30am followed by a continental breakfast and a beautiful opening prayer service at the Sheraton in downtown Salt Lake City. The meeting or general session started promptly at 9am with the president, Amy Kennedy welcoming everyone to the event. Amy seems to have it all together because she didn't miss a beat and was well versed in public speaking. Her welcome was followed by a talk from Rev. Msgr. Robert R. Servatius, who is the Spiritual Adviser for the DCCW board. Although very informative, he has a sense of humor and had the ladies laughing quite a lot, including myself. Judy Powers, president of the NCCW, was one of the speakers. She spoke of religious discrimination, the altering church structure, religious liberties, information from the USCCB and child slavery in the United States. Prior to this last weekend, I did not know who or what the NCCW is and this is what I found according to: http://home.catholicweb.com/NCCW/index.cfm/about The National Council of Catholic Women consists of more than 3,000 affiliated Catholic women's organizations in parishes and dioceses throughout the U.S., representing hundreds of thousands of Catholic women, and almost 3,000 individual Catholic women.
Followed by Judy Powers speaking was an elderly lady from what used to be East Germany. She spoke of her childhood and what she was a witness too. Then she spoke of when she arrived in America and was given $50 from the DCCW and didn't know what they were until much later in her life. She then became a member of the same organization that helped her. It was a beautiful story of paying it forward. Later on in the day there were four ladies in in a panel who shared their stories of Catholicism in their lives. Their stories were passionate, historical, happy, sad and sometime humerus, but all unique. I felt honored to have heard each of their stories and to know the ladies a little bit better. Their talk was followed by a meal, centerpiece drawing and a spirituality talk, more amazing guest speakers, a rosary and then a mass at the Cathedral of the Madeleine before the evening banquet. There are plenty of breaks throughout the days events which made it easy to sit for a long period. The timetable allowed for plenty of time to use restrooms, get up and stretch and mingle. The Sheraton provided incredible table service and we did not go without beverages and the food was fantastic. If you happen to have special dietary needs, they accommodate, as they did with a few of those in attendance. There is no need to bring extra food, because there was plenty to eat. The evening banquet is to honor the Women of the Year that are nominated at each church throughout the diocese. The presiders were Bishop John C. Wester and Msgr. Robert Servatius. Each Woman of the Year is given a corsage upon check-in to the convention and wears it the duration, as a badge of honor. They are also called up to shake hands with the bishop and monsignor for a thank you and photo. While they are walking up individually, a letter is read describing all they've accomplished to become their parish's Woman of the Year. I must say, after a few of these letters, it's rather humbling to think all the years and hours these woman have worked and how they have changed their church for the better. If you don't think woman do much, then you must come to this banquet to see and listen, for it's a testament to stewardship. It's hard not to leave this convention without a special sense of sisterhood, spirituality, awareness, understanding and love. Thanks to the DCCW board and the hostesses who were the Northern Deanery, the convention was a huge success. For information regarding the DCCW: http://home.catholicweb.com/slcdccw/ There are many pivotal masses that happen throughout the year. Being Catholic in Utah, we experience Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Holy Week and such. One of those pivotal masses is the Chrism Mass. Up until this evening, I had never had the privilege of attending a Chrism Mass. What a blessing it was and one I shall not soon forget. For our Diocese and State of Utah, Bishop John C. Wester celebrated the annual Chrism Mass at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City. The mass started with a processional of all involved, such as the Utah Knights and Ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, 4th Degree Knights of Columbus, the children and adult choirs, deacons, priests and then the bishop. Mass was started and went as usual until Bishop Wester asked the priests to reaffirmed their commitment to serve the Lord as well as the deacons and the congregation. Then the oils are brought up in three separate parts and blessed separately and the Chrism is consecrated (an ointment consisting of a mixture of oil and balsam) for the entire diocese took place at this mass. From that point, mass continued as usual with communion, except for the incredible recessional (which was a reverse of the amazing processional) as everyone sang “Lift High the Cross”. The whole mass lasted about two hours, but seemed like much less time, probably because I felt so blessed to be there. I urge anyone who has never attended a Chrism Mass to please make an effort and go. Beauty, humility, reaffirmation & the Holy Spirit must be experienced to be appreciated. You may ask yourself, “What is a Chrism Mass?” It is an annual Mass, before Easter, con-celebrated in the cathedral by the bishop and priests of a diocese in communion with their people. It is meant to publicly express the unity of the diocese, the unity of the deacons, priests and their bishop, and to celebrate clergy vocations and other ministries. Let us join as one body & pray for all those who will be anointed with the oils that will be blessed at the Chrism Mass for use this year: the elect who will commence their faith journey; the sick to be healed; the infants; children & adults who will be baptized; the young & old who will be confirmed; those who will be ordained priest & bishop. Amen. While completing some research on Utah's Catholics living among Mormons, I was fascinated by many articles found on the internet. One article published in October of 1997 really caught my attention; the article was titled "Catholics Among the Mormons." It was written by Carol Ann Morrow, a former St. Anthony Messenger staff member, now residing in Union, Kentucky, with her husband. http://www.americancatholic.org/messenger/oct1997/feature1.asp.
If you don't know the guy on the other side of the world, love him anyway because he's just like you. He has the same dreams, the same hopes and fears. It's one world, pal. We're all neighbors. - Frank Sinatra The following is a story courtesy of Godvine.com -- After living what I felt was a "decent" life, my time on earth came to the end. The first thing I remember is sitting on a bench in the waiting room of what I thought to be a court house. The doors opened and I was instructed to come in and have a seat by the defense table. As I looked around I saw the "prosecutor." He was a villainous looking gent who snarled as he stared at me. He definitely was the most evil person I have ever seen. I sat down and looked to my left and there sat My Attorney, a kind and gentle looking man whose appearance seemed so familiar to me,I felt I knew Him. The corner door flew open and there appeared the Judge in full flowing robes. He commanded an awesome presence as He moved across the room I couldn't take my eyes off of Him. As He took His seat behind the bench, He said, "Let us begin." The prosecutor rose and said, "My name is Satan and I am here to show you |
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