Friday, February 26, 2010
Embrace Life: Wear Your Seatbelt
Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Pax Christi,
phatcatholic
Friday, February 19, 2010
On the Stations of the Cross

Priest: "We adore you, oh Christ, and we praise you."
All: "Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world."
Pax Christi,
phatcatholic
- How Did the Stations of the Cross Begin?
- Way of the Cross
- The Family and the Cross
- John Henry Cardinal Newman: The Stations of the Cross
- John Paul II: Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum
- Short Meditations on the Stations of the Cross
- Exposition During Stations of the Cross
- Via Crucis: Mirror of the Cross
- The Way of the Cross
- Hope for All Springs from the Cross of Christ
- The Cross Is Victory and Salvation
- May Jesus Become Our Traveling Companion
- This Is the Wood of the Cross: Come Let Us Worship
- Eucharistic Stations of the Cross
- Candelabrum for Stations of the Cross
- Stations of the Cross at Home
- Stabat Mater (At the Cross Her Station Keeping)
- The True Cross
- Why Do the Stations of the Cross?
- How to Do the Stations of the Cross
- Mary Takes Us Through the Stations of the Cross
- Wikipedia: Stations of the Cross
- Stations of the Cross: With Reflections by Mother Angelica
- Stations of the Cross for Children
- Virtual Stations of the Cross
Thursday, February 18, 2010
The Way of the Cross
Below is a popular form for this devotion, composed by St. Alphonsus Ligouri:
OPENING SONG: O Sacred Head by Paul Gerhardt
O Sacred Head, surrounded
By crown of piercing thorn!
O Bleeding head, so wounded
Reviled and put to scorn!
No comeliness or beauty
Thy wounded face betrays,
Yet angel hosts adore thee
And tremble as they gaze.
O Love, all love transcending,
O wisdom from on high!
O Truth, unchanged, unchanging,
Surrendered up to die!
Was e'er a love so wondrous!
That from his heav'nly throne
God would descend among us
To suffer for his own.
O Jesus, we adore thee
Upon the cross our King!
We humbly bow before thee,
And of thy vict'ry sing!
Thy cross is our salvation,
Our hope from day to day,
Our peace and consolation
When life shall fade away.
Celebrant: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.Celebrant: Let us pray
All: My Lord, Jesus Christ,
You have made this journey to die for me with unspeakable love;
and I have so many times ungratefully abandoned You.
But now I love You with all my heart;
and, because I love You, I am sincerely sorry for ever having offended You.
Pardon me, my God, and permit me to accompany You on this journey.
You go to die for love of me;
I want, my beloved Redeemer, to die for love of You.
My Jesus, I will live and die always united to You.
All: At the cross her station keeping
Stood the mournful Mother weeping
Close to Jesus to the last

Pilate Condemns Jesus to Die
A: Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Rise)
C: Consider how Jesus Christ, after being scourged and crowned with thorns, was unjustly condemned by Pilate to die on the cross. (Kneel)
A: My adorable Jesus,
it was not Pilate;
no, it was my sins that condemned You to die.
I beseech You, by the merits of this sorrowful journey,
to assist my soul on its journey to eternity.
I love You, beloved Jesus;
I love You more than I love myself.
With all my heart I repent of ever having offended You.
Grant that I may love You always;
and then do with me as You will.
All: Through her heart, His sorrow sharing
All His bitter anguish bearing
Now at length the sword has passed

Jesus accepts His cross
A: Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Rise)
C: Consider Jesus as He walked this road with the cross on His shoulders, thinking of us, and offering to His Father in our behalf, the death He was about to suffer. (Kneel)
A: My most beloved Jesus,
I embrace all the sufferings You have destined for me until death.
I beg You, by all You suffered in carrying Your cross,
to help me carry mine with Your perfect peace and resignation.
I love You, Jesus, my love;
I repent of ever having offended You.
Never let me separate myself from You again.
Grant that I may love You always;
and then do with me as You will.
Stabat Mater, Verse 3:
All: O, how sad and sore depressed
Was that Mother highly blessed
Of the sole Begotten One

Jesus Falls the First Time
A: Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Rise)
C: Consider the first fall of Jesus. Loss of blood from the scourging and crowing with thorns had so weakened Him that He could hardly walk; and yet He had to carry that great load upon His shoulders. As the soldiers struck Him cruelly, He fell several times under the heavy cross. (Kneel)
A: My beloved Jesus,
it was not the weight of the cross
but the weight of my sins which made You suffer so much.
By the merits of this first fall,
save me from falling into mortal sin.
I love You, O my Jesus, with all my heart;
I am sorry that I have offended You.
May I never offend You again.
Grant that I may love You always;
and then do with me as You will.
Stabat Mater, Verse 4:
All: Christ above in torment hangs
She beneath beholds the pangs
Of her dying, glorious Son

Jesus Meets His Afflicted Mother
A: Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Rise)
C: Consider how the Son met his Mother on His way to Calvary. Jesus and Mary gazed at each other and their looks became as so many arrows to wound those hearts which loved each other so tenderly (Kneel)
A: My most loving Jesus,
by the pain You suffered in this meeting
grant me the grace of being truly devoted to Your most holy Mother.
And You, my Queen, who was overwhelmed with sorrow,
obtain for me by Your prayers
a tender and a lasting remembrance of the passion of Your divine Son.
I love You, Jesus, my Love, above all things.
I repent of ever having offended You.
Never allow me to offend You again.
Grant that I may love You always;
and then do with me as You will.
Stabat Mater, Verse 5:
All: Is there one who would not weep,
'whelmed in miseries so deep
Christ's dear Mother to behold.

Simon Helps Jesus Carry the Cross
C: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You. (Genuflect)
A: Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Rise)
C: Consider how weak and weary Jesus was. At each step He was at the point of expiring. Fearing that He would die on the way when they wished Him to die the infamous death of the cross, they forced Simon of Cyrene to help carry the cross after Our Lord. (Kneel)
A: My beloved Jesus,
I will not refuse the cross as Simon did:
I accept it and embrace it.
I accept in particular the death that is destined for me
with all the pains that may accompany it.
I unite it to Your death
and I offer it to You.
You have died for love of me;
I will die for love of You and to please You.
Help me by Your grace.
I love You, Jesus, my Love;
I repent of ever having offended You.
Never let me offend You again.
Grant that I may love You always;
and then do with me as You will.
Stabat Mater, Verse 6:
All: Can the human heart refrain
From partaking in her pain
In that Mother's pain untold?

Veronica Offers Her Veil to Jesus
A: Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Rise)
C: Consider the compassion of the holy woman, Veronica. Seeing Jesus in such distress, His face bathed in sweat and blood, she presented Him with her veil. Jesus wiped His face, and left upon the cloth the image of his sacred countenance. (Kneel)
A: My beloved Jesus,
Your face was beautiful before You began this journey;
but, now, it no longer appears beautiful
and is disfigured with wounds and blood.
Alas, my soul also was once beautiful
when it received Your grace in Baptism;
but I have since disfigured it with my sins.
You alone, my Redeemer, can restore it to its former beauty.
Do this by the merits of Your passion;
and then do with me as You will.
Stabat Mater, Verse 7:
All: Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled
She beheld her tender Child
All with bloody scourges rent.

Jesus Falls the Second Time
A: Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Rise)
C: Consider how the second fall of Jesus under His cross renews the pain in all the wounds of the head and members of our afflicted Lord. (Kneel)
A: My most gentle Jesus,
how many times You have forgiven me;
and how many times I have fallen again and begun again to offend You!
By the merits of this second fall,
give me the grace to persevere in Your love until death.
Grant, that in all my temptations, I may always have recourse to You.
I love You, Jesus, my Love with all my heart;
I am sorry that I have offended You.
Never let me offend You again.
Grant that I may love You always;
and then do with me as You will.
Stabat Mater, Verse 8:
All: For the sins of His own nation
Saw Him hang in desolation
Till His spirit forth He sent.

Jesus Speaks to the Women
A: Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Rise)
C: Consider how the women wept with compassion seeing Jesus so distressed and dripping with blood as he walked along. Jesus said to them, "Weep not so much for me, but rather for Your children." (Kneel)
A: My Jesus, laden with sorrows,
I weep for the sins which I have committed against You
because of the punishment I deserve for them;
and, still more, because of the displeasure they have caused You
who have loved me with an infinite love.
It is Your love, more than the fear of hell,
which makes me weep for my sins.
My Jesus, I love You more than myself;
I am sorry that I have offended You.
Never allow me to offend You again.
Grant that I may love You always;
and then do with me as You will.
Stabat Mater, Verse 9:
All: O sweet Mother! Fount of Love,
Touch my spirit from above
Make my heart with yours accord.

Jesus Falls the Third Time
A: Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Rise)
C: Consider how Jesus Christ fell for the third time. He was extremely weak and the cruelty of His executioners was excessive; they tried to hasten His steps though He hardly had strength to move. (Kneel)
A: My outraged Jesus,
by the weakness You suffered in going to Calvary,
give me enough strength to overcome all human respect
and all my evil passions which have led me to despise Your friendship.
I love You, Jesus my Love, with all my heart;
I am sorry for ever having offended You.
Never permit me to offend You again.
Grant that I may love You always;
and then do with me as You will.
Stabat Mater, Verse 10:
All: Make me feel as You have felt
Make my soul to glow and melt
With the love of Christ, my Lord.

Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments
A: Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Rise)
C: Consider how Jesus was violently stripped of His clothes by His executioners. The inner garments adhered to his lacerated flesh and the soldiers tore them off so roughly that the skin came with them. Have pity for your Savior so cruelly treated and tell Him: (Kneel)
A: My innocent Jesus,
by the torment You suffered in being stripped of Your garments,
help me to strip myself of all attachment for the things of earth
that I may place all my love in You who are so worthy of my love.
I love You, O Jesus, with all my heart;
I am sorry for ever having offended You.
Never let me offend You again.
Grant that I may love You always;
and then do with me as You will.
Stabat Mater, Verse. 11:
All: Holy Mother, pierce me through
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Savior crucified.

Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross
A: Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Rise)
C: Consider Jesus, thrown down upon the cross, He stretched out His arms and offered to His eternal Father the sacrifice of His life for our salvation. They nailed His hands and feet, and then, raising the cross, left Him to die in anguish. (Kneel)
A: My despised Jesus,
nail my heart to the cross
that it may always remain there to love You and never leave You again.
I love You more than myself;
I am sorry for ever having offended You.
Never permit me to offend You again.
Grant that I may love You always;
and then do with me as You will.
Stabat Mater, Verse 12:
All: Let me share with you His pain,
Who for all our sins was slain,
Who for me in torments died.

Jesus Dies Upon the Cross
A: Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Rise)
C: Consider how Your Jesus, after three hours of agony on the cross, is finally overwhelmed with suffering and, abandoning Himself to the weight of His body, bows His head and dies. (Kneel)
A: My dying Jesus,
I devoutly kiss the cross on which You would die for love of me.
I deserve, because of my sins, to die a terrible death;
but Your death is my hope.
By the merits of Your death,
give me the grace to die embracing Your feet and burning with love of You.
I yield my soul into Your hands.
I love You with my whole heart.
I am sorry that I have offended You.
Never let me offend You again.
Grant that I may love You always;
and then do with me as You will.
Stabat Mater, Verse 13:
All: Let me mingle tears with thee
Mourning Him who mourned for me,
All the days that I may live.

Jesus Is Taken Down from the Cross
A: Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Rise)
C: Consider how, after Our Lord had died, He was taken down from the cross by two of His disciples, Joseph and Nicodemus, and placed in the arms of His afflicted Mother. She received Him with unutterable tenderness and pressed Him close to her bosom. (Kneel)
A: O Mother of Sorrows,
for the love of Your Son,
accept me as Your servant and pray to Him for me,
And You, my Redeemer, since you have died for me,
allow me to love You,
for I desire only You and nothing more.
I love You, Jesus my Love,
and I am sorry that I have offended You.
Never let me offend You again.
Grant that I may love You always;
and then do with me as You will.
Stabat Mater, Verse 14:
All: By the cross with you to stay
There with you to weep and pray
Is all I ask of you to give.

Jesus Is Placed in the Sepulcher
A: Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Rise)
C: Consider how the disciples carried the body of Jesus to its burial, while His holy Mother went with them and arranged it in the sepulcher with her own hands. They then closed the tomb and all departed. (Kneel)
A: Oh, my buried Jesus,
I kiss the stone that closes You in.
But You gloriously did rise again on the third day.
I beg You by Your resurrection that I may be raised gloriously on the last day,
to be united with You in heaven, to praise You and love You forever.
I love You, Jesus, and I repent of ever having offended You.
Grant that I may love You always;
and then do with me as You will.
Stabat Mater, Verse 15:
All: Virgin of all virgins blest!
Listen to my fond request:
Let me share your grief divine.
PRAYER TO JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED
My good and dear Jesus,
I kneel before You,
asking You most earnestly
to engrave upon my heart
a deep and lively faith, hope, and charity,
with true repentance for my sins,
and a firm resolve to make amends.
As I reflect upon Your five wounds,
and dwell upon them
with deep compassion and grief,
I recall, good Jesus,
the words the Prophet David spoke
long ago concerning Yourself:
"They pierced My hands and My feet;
they have numbered all My bones."
CLOSING SONG (Priest and servers process out):
Glory Be to Jesus by Friedrich Filitz
Glory be to Jesus,
Who in bitter pains,
poured for me the lifeblood,
from His sacred veins.
Grace and life eternal,
in that Blood I find,
blest be His compassion,
infinitely kind.
Blest through endless ages,
be the precious stream,
which from sin and sorrow,
doth the world redeem.
Oft as earth exulting,
wafts its praise on high,
angel hosts, rejoicing,
make their glad reply.
Lift ye then your voices,
swell the mighty flood,
louder still and louder,
praise the precious blood.
Amen.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Kids and Stable Population
Pax Christi,
phatcatholic
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Bishop-Elect William Medley to Be Ordained to the Episcopate Today

There is a wealth of information available at the diocesan website:
- Information about the Ordination -- including on what channels it will be televised.
- How a Bishop Is Ordained
- Invitation
- About Bishop-Elect Medley
- Prayer for Bishop-Elect Medley
- Livestream -- to watch the ordination online
- Public Statement
Please pray for our new bishop that he will guide the Catholic churches in the diocese of Owensboro, KY in accordance with the will of the Lord. "And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding" (Jer 3:15). Thanks be to God!
Pax Christi,
phatcatholic
Friday, February 05, 2010
Debate on the Perpetual Virginity of Mary: Part 5

- Nice set up with typical and atypical. Why should it allow my mind to entertain this dogmatic construction? It appears from Matthew’s account that he “knew her not until she had given birth to a son”. Does it not seem reasonable to conclude that after the conception of the child that he “knew” her in the typical sense?
There are many examples in Scripture in which this is the case (OT references are from the Septuagint):
Gen 8:7 and sent forth a raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth.
Did the raven cease to fly once the waters dried up?
Deut 34:6 and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-pe'or; but no man knows the place of his burial to [or "until"] this day.
No one knows it after that day either!
2 Sam 6:23 And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.
She had no child after her death either.
2 Chron 26:15 In Jerusalem he made engines, invented by skilful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.
Was he no longer helped once he became strong?
Psa 57:1 Be merdiful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in thee my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of thy wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.
Will David cease to take refute in the Lord once the storms pass by?
Mt 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to [or "until"] the close of the age.
Jesus will always be with us, not just up to when the age closes.
Jn 9:18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight
They didn't believe him after they called his parents either.
Rom 11:8 as it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear, down to this very day."
Paul is quoting Moses in Deut 29:4 and applying it to his own generation. That means Israel was stubborn both in Moses' day and in Paul's day.
2 Cor 3:15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their minds;
Yet even now the veil remains over the eyes of the Jewish people. So, yea, you get the idea. You're making way too much out of the word "until" in Mt 1:25. If you look at the context of the passage, you'll see that Matthew is simply affirming that Mary remained a virgin during this time before the birth of Christ so that she can be seen to truly be the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy: "A virgin shall conceive and bear a son" (7:14). He's not attempting to make any type of statement about what happened afterward.
- Also…can you prove that because this was not the “typical” family that they would not have the “typical” sex? What is in the word “typical” that disqualifies it’s subjects from having sex?
- What indication is there in scripture that the betrothed woman lives with her soon to be husband? You say that he’s already taken her into his home…but where is this found? All the scripture says is that she is found to be with child before they came together.
- And you are mixing being betrothed with being married in your conclusion, “Typically, once this happens, the couple begins marital relations with each other”. But they were not married yet. The reason she asks this question is simply because they had not come together yet.
- How do you go from…I do not know man to I do not ever intend to know man.
- What were Joseph’s intensions? You mean to tell me that she wasn’t going to sleep with him even though he wanted it before the angel appeared to them? If you believe that then I’m the sole heir to the throne of Zumunda and I will sell you my property for only $10,000 and you can have it all!
- I do not swim and I do not eat meat does not mean that I’ve never swam, never ate meat or never will do them. That is the problem with you disdain for logic. I do not deep sea dive…but that doesn’t mean that I won’t in the future.
- It can become anything you want it to become…but it doesn’t mean that that’s what the intent of Scripture is.
- Is she also the Garden? That was where Elohim first tabernacled. You’re arguing that she is likened to the temple made with hands that our Lord destroyed in 70AD? You’re arguing that the Son destroyed His mother?
- What about the temple that is made without hands that is said to come down from Heaven? That’s the only temple that the former shadowy temples pointed to…not to Mary.
- That’s eisegesis to say that Ezek 44:1-2 has anything to do with Mary. It’s a joke…not even worth a rebuttal.
- How does any of the rest of this language therefore mean that she remains a virgin?
- All this is foretold by moses and the prophets that His dwelling would be with man (and woman) in the New Heavens and Earth and we would have what were to have with Adam. Paradise Restored. What was lost in the garden is now fulfilled in Christ…the relationship has been restored with Saviour…and Mary just like you and I need that salvation.
- All your doing is based on church dogma reading something back into the text that wasn’t there or wasn’t even hinted at.
The leaping doesn’t make anything here certain. Doesn’t make her the ark any more than it makes John David. This is all eisgesis.
- Her womb was set apart for Holy “PURPOSES” but it does not make her womb holy in the sense that no other child could dwell there. Only if Joseph thought like you (irrationally) might he come to that conclusion. A first century Jew? What would they be thinking? I’m curious. A first century Jew would reason from the scriptures. And there is nothing in scripture that would suggest to this Jew that he not know his wife. So now you know how Joseph feels about what he would do with his wife? There’s no way huh? She was consecrated for a higher purpose and she served that purpose.
- Matthew 12:47-50
While he was still speaking to the people, behold,(BR) his mother and his(BS) brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him.[a] 48But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 50For(BT) whoever(BU)does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
It can be reasonably inferred from the text that Yeshua had brother and sisters. That his mother and his brothers were waiting to speak with him. Were they her children…the text does not say that they were…but there is no reason also to assume that they weren’t. Atleast not enough to build the fanciful dogma of her perpetual virginity!
Pax Christi,
phatcatholic