Essentials and Expressions February 3, 2021
St. Mary Star
of the Sea
St. Edward
the Confessor
St. Benedict
Labre
St. James the
Greater
Deacon Ward Nolan
Happy New Year!...Belated!
(I apologize for the delay!)
To all our parishioners and friends I pray that this coming New Year, 2021, will bring blessings upon you and your families.
At this time in history there is much strife and consternation throughout the world, our communities and even in our families.
There is also much good in our world, communities and families. All goodness comes from God. It is through our goodness that we can bring the world closer to the Providential design of God the Father.
In our own difficult situations of life, Christ wants us to seek consolation through Him. Our daily goal is to seek His guidance and strength through our prayerfulness and living our lives according to the teachings of the Holy Gospel.
As we begin a new year the intent of this blog will be to bring you important announcements of the parish or the diocese, and also to offer reflections, and prayers that hopefully will bring you and I closer to God.
“Eternal Father, we lift up to you these and all the priests and deacons of the world.
before our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ....Starting at 7:00 PM!
St. John Paul II's formula for defeating evil in the world
He firmly believed that evil and violence in the world could only be defeated with goodness.
It is tempting to “fight fire with fire,” especially when dealing with violence or injustice in the world.
However, St. John Paul II believed that fighting evil with more evil would only create problems.
In a message for the Word Day of Peace in 2005, the Polish pontiff explained his reasoning.
For the theme of this 2005 World Day of Peace I have chosen Saint Paul’s words in the Letter to the Romans: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (12:21). Evil is never defeated by evil; once that road is taken, rather than defeating evil, one will instead be defeated by evil. The great Apostle brings out a fundamental truth: peace is the outcome of a long and demanding battle which is only won when evil is defeated by good.
This can be a challenging message, especially when we feel threatened by evil in the world.
Yet, St. John Paul II remains steadfast in his message to combat evil, in all its forms, with good.
If we look to the present state of the world, we cannot help but note the disturbing spread of various social and political manifestations of evil: from social disorders to anarchy and war, from injustice to acts of violence and killing. To steer a path between the conflicting claims of good and evil, the human family urgently needs to preserve and esteem that common patrimony of moral values bestowed by God himself. For this reason, Saint Paul encourages all those determined to overcome evil with good to be noble and disinterested in fostering generosity and peace (cf. Rom 12:17-21) … This fight can be fought effectively only with the weapons of love. When good overcomes evil, love prevails and where love prevails, there peace prevails.
If we desire peace in the world and an end to division and violence, we must counteract it with charity and goodness. Otherwise we will be only adding fuel to the flames.
There are so many ways to strengthen one's faith; one way is to hear or view (video) the perspective of others.
I will be offering these different views/perspectives in the light of their Catholicity and current relevance to living our faith well.
Pope Francis proclaims
“Year of St Joseph”
Missionaries, exorcists and satanists all attest to the power of St. Joseph's intercession against demonic foes.
When reciting the Litany of St. Joseph, many are surprised to see an invocation that states, “St. Joseph, Terror of Demons, pray for us.”
Why does that title mean?
St. Joseph’s intercession against demons is not well-documented, but has been largely been proven by experience.
For example, in the early 20th-century book Go to Joseph, Our Unfailing Protector, the author gives a brief summary of how missionaries invoked his intercession to drive out demonic influences.
Sacred writers agree in saying that the intercession of St. Joseph is an efficacious means of overthrowing the tyranny of Satan and propagating the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Indeed this fact is borne out by numerous evidences a result of which is that the holy Patriarch has come to be invoked by Holy Church with the title terror of demons. Missionaries in [pagan] countries are unanimous in acknowledging the help they have derived from St. Joseph to that effect.
Fr. Donald Calloway affirms this connection by showing how St. Joseph played a pivotal role in the life of Bl. Bartolo Longo, a former Satanic priest. Calloway writes in an article for FOCUS that, “He was also very devoted to St. Joseph, prayed to him every day, and was particularly fond of his title ‘Terror of Demons.’ Bartolo had such a great love for St. Joseph that he told everyone to go to Joseph in their fight against temptations of any kind.”
Longo is reported to have said, “It is a great blessing for souls to be under the protection of the saint whose name makes demons tremble and flee.”
According to exorcist Msgr. Stephen J. Rossetti, St. Joseph has proven to be a powerful aid in his ministry, as he notes in his Exorcist Diary.
If you are looking for a saint to help overthrow a demonic influence, go to St. Joseph!
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