Pope Francis I

 

 

It is with great joy that we welcome our new Holy Father Francis I.  We walk with him in showing the face of Christ to all we meet.  let us pray for our Pope and for the whole Church.

 

offer your bodies as a living sacrifice

 

 

The Angelus

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of
our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary . . .

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary . . .

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary
Under Pontius Pilate He was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

The Letter of St Paul to the Romans Chapter 12

1

^{1 2} I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.

2

Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.

3

For by the grace given to me I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than one ought to think, but to think soberly, each according to the measure of faith that God has apportioned.

4

For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function,

5

so we, though many, are one body in Christ ³ and individually parts of one another.

6

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them: ⁴ if prophecy, in proportion to the faith;

7

if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching;

8

if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, ⁵ with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

9

Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good;

10

love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor.

11

Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

12

Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer.

13

Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality.

14

⁶ Bless those who persecute (you), bless and do not curse them.

15

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

16

Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly; do not be wise in your own estimation.

17

Do not repay anyone evil for evil; be concerned for what is noble in the sight of all.

18

If possible, on your part, live at peace with all.

19

Beloved, do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."

20

Rather, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head."

21

Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.

The Sacraments in the Catechism of the Catholic Church

ARTICLE 6

THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS

1536 Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time: thus it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry. It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and diaconate.

(On the institution and mission of the apostolic ministry by Christ, see above, no. 874 ff. Here only the sacramental means by which this ministry is handed on will be treated.)

 

 

 

The Angelus

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of
our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary . . .

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary . . .

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary
Under Pontius Pilate He was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

The Letter of St Paul to the Romans Chapter 6

1

¹ What then shall we say? Shall we persist in sin that grace may abound? Of course not!

2

How can we who died to sin yet live in it?

3

Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

4

We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.

5

For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.

6

We know that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.

7

For a dead person has been absolved from sin.

8

If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.

9

We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him.

10

As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God.

11

Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as (being) dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.

12

² Therefore, sin must not reign over your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires.

13

And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin as weapons for wickedness, but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life and the parts of your bodies to God as weapons for righteousness.

14

For sin is not to have any power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace.

15

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Of course not!

16

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

17

But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted. ³

18

Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.

19

I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your nature. For just as you presented the parts of your bodies as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness for lawless ness, so now present them as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.

20

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. ⁴

21

But what profit did you get then from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

22

But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you have leads to sanctification, ⁵ and its end is eternal life.

23

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Sacraments in the Catechism of the Catholic Church

II. Who Receives and Who Administers This Sacrament?

In case of grave illness . . .

1514 The Anointing of the Sick "is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death. Hence, as soon as anyone of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age, the fitting time for him to receive this sacrament has certainly already arrived."¹²⁹

1515 If a sick person who received this anointing recovers his health, he can in the case of another grave illness receive this sacrament again. If during the same illness the person's condition becomes more serious, the sacrament may be repeated. It is fitting to receive the Anointing of the Sick just prior to a serious operation. the same holds for the elderly whose frailty becomes more pronounced.

" . . . let him call for the presbyters of the Church"

1516 Only priests (bishops and presbyters) are ministers of the Anointing of the Sick.¹³⁰ It is the duty of pastors to instruct the faithful on the benefits of this sacrament. the faithful should encourage the sick to call for a priest to receive this sacrament. the sick should prepare themselves to receive it with good dispositions, assisted by their pastor and the whole ecclesial community, which is invited to surround the sick in a special way through their prayers and fraternal attention.

But God proves his love...

 

 

 

The Angelus

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of
our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary . . .

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary . . .

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary
Under Pontius Pilate He was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

The Letter of St Paul to the Romans Chapter 5

1

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace ² with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

2

through whom we have gained access (by faith) to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God.

3

Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance,

4

and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope,

5

and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.

6

For Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly.

7

Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. ³

8

But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

9

How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath.

10

Indeed, if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life.

11

Not only that, but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

12

⁴ Therefore, just as through one person sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all, inasmuch as all sinned ⁵ -

13

for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law.

14

But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one who was to come.

15

But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by that one person's transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one person Jesus Christ overflow for the many.

16

And the gift is not like the result of the one person's sinning. For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation; but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal.

17

For if, by the transgression of one person, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one person Jesus Christ.

18

In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all.

19

For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous.

20

The law entered in ⁶ so that transgression might increase but, where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more,

21

⁷ so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Sacraments in the Catechism of the Catholic Church

I. Its Foundations in the Economy of Salvation

Illness in human life

1500 Illness and suffering have always been among the gravest problems confronted in human life. In illness, man experiences his powerlessness, his limitations, and his finitude. Every illness can make us glimpse death.

1501 Illness can lead to anguish, self-absorption, sometimes even despair and revolt against God. It can also make a person more mature, helping him discern in his life what is not essential so that he can turn toward that which is. Very often illness provokes a search for God and a return to him.

The sick person before God

1502 The man of the Old Testament lives his sickness in the presence of God. It is before God that he laments his illness, and it is of God, Master of life and death, that he implores healing.⁹⁸ Illness becomes a way to conversion; God's forgiveness initiates the healing.⁹⁹ It is the experience of Israel that illness is mysteriously linked to sin and evil, and that faithfulness to God according to his law restores life: "For I am the Lord, your healer."¹⁰⁰ The prophet intuits that suffering can also have a redemptive meaning for the sins of others.¹⁰¹ Finally Isaiah announces that God will usher in a time for Zion when he will pardon every offense and heal every illness.¹⁰²

Christ the physician

1503 Christ's compassion toward the sick and his many healings of every kind of infirmity are a resplendent sign that "God has visited his people"¹⁰³ and that the Kingdom of God is close at hand. Jesus has the power not only to heal, but also to forgive sins;¹⁰⁴ he has come to heal the whole man, soul and body; he is the physician the sick have need of.¹⁰⁵ His compassion toward all who suffer goes so far that he identifies himself with them: "I was sick and you visited me."¹⁰⁶ His preferential love for the sick has not ceased through the centuries to draw the very special attention of Christians toward all those who suffer in body and soul. It is the source of tireless efforts to comfort them.

1504 Often Jesus asks the sick to believe.¹⁰⁷ He makes use of signs to heal: spittle and the laying on of hands,¹⁰⁸ mud and washing.¹⁰⁹ The sick try to touch him, "for power came forth from him and healed them all."¹¹⁰ and so in the sacraments Christ continues to "touch" us in order to heal us.

1505 Moved by so much suffering Christ not only allows himself to be touched by the sick, but he makes their miseries his own: "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases."¹¹¹ But he did not heal all the sick. His healings were signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. They announced a more radical healing: the victory over sin and death through his Passover. On the cross Christ took upon himself the whole weight of evil and took away the "sin of the world,"¹¹² of which illness is only a consequence. By his passion and death on the cross Christ has given a new meaning to suffering: it can henceforth configure us to him and unite us with his redemptive Passion.

"Heal the sick . . ."

1506 Christ invites his disciples to follow him by taking up their cross in their turn.¹¹³ By following him they acquire a new outlook on illness and the sick. Jesus associates them with his own life of poverty and service. He makes them share in his ministry of compassion and healing: "So they went out and preached that men should repent. and they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them."¹¹⁴

1507 The risen Lord renews this mission ("In my name . . . they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."¹¹⁵) and confirms it through the signs that the Church performs by invoking his name.¹¹⁶ These signs demonstrate in a special way that Jesus is truly "God who saves."¹¹⁷

1508 The Holy Spirit gives to some a special charism of healing¹¹⁸ so as to make manifest the power of the grace of the risen Lord. But even the most intense prayers do not always obtain the healing of all illnesses. Thus St. Paul must learn from the Lord that "my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness," and that the sufferings to be endured can mean that "in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his Body, that is, the Church."¹¹⁹

1509 "Heal the sick!"¹²⁰ The Church has received this charge from the Lord and strives to carry it out by taking care of the sick as well as by accompanying them with her prayer of intercession. She believes in the life-giving presence of Christ, the physician of souls and bodies. This presence is particularly active through the sacraments, and in an altogether special way through the Eucharist, the bread that gives eternal life and that St. Paul suggests is connected with bodily health.¹²¹

1510 However, the apostolic Church has its own rite for the sick, attested to by St. James: "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders [presbyters] of the Church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven."¹²² Tradition has recognized in this rite one of the seven sacraments.¹²³

A sacrament of the sick

1511 The Church believes and confesses that among the seven sacraments there is one especially intended to strengthen those who are being tried by illness, the Anointing of the Sick:

This sacred anointing of the sick was instituted by Christ our Lord as a true and proper sacrament of the New Testament. It is alluded to indeed by Mark, but is recommended to the faithful and promulgated by James the apostle and brother of the Lord.¹²⁴

1512 From ancient times in the liturgical traditions of both East and West, we have testimonies to the practice of anointings of the sick with blessed oil. Over the centuries the Anointing of the Sick was conferred more and more exclusively on those at the point of death. Because of this it received the name "Extreme Unction." Notwithstanding this evolution the liturgy has never failed to beg the Lord that the sick person may recover his health if it would be conducive to his salvation.¹²⁵

1513 The Apostolic Constitution Sacram unctionem infirmorum,¹²⁶ following upon the Second Vatican Council,¹²⁷ established that henceforth, in the Roman Rite, the following be observed:

The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given to those who are seriously ill by anointing them on the forehead and hands with duly blessed oil - pressed from olives or from other plants - saying, only once: "Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up."¹²⁸

 

 

The Angelus

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of
our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary . . .

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary . . .

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary
Under Pontius Pilate He was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

The Letter of St Paul to the Romans Chapter 4

1

¹ What then can we say that Abraham found, our ancestor according to the flesh?

2

² Indeed, if Abraham was justified on the basis of his works, he has reason to boast; but this was not so in the sight of God.

3

For what does the scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." ³

4

A worker's wage is credited not as a gift, but as something due.

5

But when one does not work, yet believes in the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.

6

So also David declares the blessedness of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

7

"Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered.

8

Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not record."

9

Does this blessedness ⁴ apply only to the circumcised, or to the uncircumcised as well? Now we assert that "faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness."

10

Under what circumstances was it credited? Was he circumcised or not? He was not circumcised, but uncircumcised.

11

And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal on the righteousness received through faith while he was uncircumcised. Thus he was to be the father of all the uncircumcised who believe, so that to them (also) righteousness might be credited,

12

as well as the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but also follow the path of faith that our father Abraham walked while still uncircumcised.

13

It was not through the law that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants that he would inherit the world, but through the righteousness that comes from faith.

14

For if those who adhere to the law are the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.

15

For the law produces wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. ⁵

16

For this reason, it depends on faith, so that it may be a gift, and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not to those who only adhere to the law but to those who follow the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us,

17

as it is written, "I have made you father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not exist.

18

He believed, hoping against hope, that he would become "the father of many nations," according to what was said, "Thus shall your descendants be."

19

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body as (already) dead (for he was almost a hundred years old) and the dead womb of Sarah.

20

He did not doubt God's promise in unbelief; ⁶ rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God

21

and was fully convinced that what he had promised he was also able to do.

22

That is why "it was credited to him as righteousness."

23

But it was not for him alone that it was written that "it was credited to him";

24

it was also for us, to whom it will be credited, who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,

25

who was handed over for our transgressions and was raised for our justification.

The Sacraments in the Catechism of the Catholic Church

Article 5

THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK

1499 "By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them. and indeed she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by freely uniting themselves to the Passion and death of Christ."⁹⁷