HISTORIC NEWS: APPROVAL OF WISCONSIN APPARITION GETS BISHOP'S APPROVAL

December 8th Feast of the Immaculate Conception
This morning the Marian Apparition of Our Lady of Good Help receives the First ever sanctioned approval in the United States, from the 12th Bishop of Green Bay Wisconsin, Bishop David Ricken.

After the 10am Mass for the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception, Bishop David Ricken announced his decision of the Approval to those awaiting with bated breath. Just a few weeks ago I learned of a woman who brought her 3 year old grandson, who was diagonsed with Leukemia, to Our Lady of Good Help Shrine. The following day he was scheduled for testing to find a bone marrow donor. The following morning, the family received astonishing news that the boy was leukemia free. Word like this from doctors are very rare and can only be treated as a miracle. Could the boy have been confused for another patient. No, because when diagnosis of this sort is made, it is only after multiple blood tests, to watch the the direction of the number of red blood cells. This peaked my interest having gone through the process of being a donor for my sister who had Leukemia, 10 years ago. She is Leukemia free today, but only after a grueling transplant.

Below is the Text for Bishop Ricken's decision and approval made after a year long investigation into the Apparition. The televised news prior to this announcement is provided as the second link.
Thank You Jesus!

http://www.gbdioc.org/newsevents/news/857-worthy-of-belief.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGtyzzXxtH0

Our Lady and the World Today

Our Lady of Fatima vs Communism

The very first attack by a Communist movement is God, then the family unit, beauty in all of its forms. They know very well that to control a population ideology must be taken away. If the family is separated, the children are easily controlled. They also know when immorality is pushed, it weakens the human strength, and man is no longer wanting to fight for what is right. man actually forgets what is right. So why do I write about this in a blog which concerns itself with the Catholic Church? It is because, the very attack of Communism is taken against everything the Catholic Church exists for. Communism opposes God, opposes family, opposes morals, opposes inalienable rights of humans such as freedom.

Communism first showed up in Russia in 1883 as the Emancipation of Labor Group, which later turned into the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. This group was based on the theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. While WWI was raging on, in February 1917, Kerensky, a Russian who had joined the Socialist Revolution Party, called for the removal from power Nicholas II. Nicholas II was making errors in his governing decisions and in this weakness, the Communist Party pushed themselves into governing Russia. In April of 1917 the Soviets held a conference a worked out plans for the take over of Russia. By October 25, 1917 the Soviets declared control of the Russian Government. Nicholas II, his wife and five children were murdered by a Bolshevik firing squad in July 16-17 1918. November 6,1991 is the actual date of the end of the Communist Party in Russia. In the year 2000, Nicholas' wife, Alexandra Fyodorovna, was canonized and called a Saint in the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2003, a church was consecrated on the spot of the shooting of Nicholas II and his family.

It is very interesting to note, that Our Lady shows up, in Portugal, around the time of the Communist Party plotting and planning the take-over in Russia. It was around the year 1916, when first an angel appears to three illiterate children, ages 5,6 and 9 years of age. These children cognitively cannot comprehend the theories of grown men like Marx and Engels, and government take over. They live a very simple life of sheep herding far removed from Russia. Though between the months of May 1917 to October 1917 , the exact months communism grabs hold of power in Russia, these children now 6,7 and 10 years of age begin to speak about the errors of Russia and Communism. How could children possibly understand the errors of Communism? How is it possible that they kept to their story even when they were place in such great peril of losing their lives had they not change their story of seeing a beautiful woman, a woman who told them Communism has errors that were about to spread around the world if we do not do what she asked. The eldest of the children was beaten by her mother because the family lost their crops to people trampling just to catch a glimpse of this beautiful lady. Any child would surely give up a foolish idea after the first story came out from them, but they prophesied and kept up with their story for 6 months plus. The two youngest children died two years after the events of visions, just as they had prophesied. The oldest was told she would live a while longer, again a prophesy. She did live longer, 87 years longer.

I am about to tell you a remarkable story about Fatima. A singular event that took place in 1917, an event whose purpose and mission is meant to help the world achieve Peace. It took place during the middle of WWI, before WWII, Korean War (for Americans), Vietnam War, Kosovo War, Gulf War, the attack on the World Trade Towers followed by the Iraq War and now the Afgan War. Fatima took place before all these wars. Is anyone listening now?

The Most Beautiful Woman in the World

Imagine the most beautiful woman, if that is possible. What would she look like: The color and length or style of her hair, the shape or color of her eyes, the structure of her face, the length of her neck, her stature and height, and what type of clothing would be associated with her? God did make a most unique woman out of all the others. He had to, because it was to hold and contain His most special Son.

If one thinks about the great care and detailed instructions given to Moses to make the ark of the Covenant, which was to contain the Laws of God written with His own finger, what greater care and exactitude was made the mother, who was to carry God's own Son?

When reading about all that went into the Ark of the Covenant, much pre-figurement of the Blessed Mother of Jesus can be found. First of all the type of wood used, was a type that had the greatest protection against aging, deterioration, mold, bugs. It was untouchable, because even by accidental touching would cause death. It was placed in the Holy of Holies because it was so Holy in itself, from God.

Now according to Christian Tradition, the whole human race receives a stain on their soul as a result of Adam and Eve falling into sin. It was the result of a woman who, being tempted by the Father of Lies, Satan, listened to him instead of God. Eve, mother of the whole human race, was first to turn her head away from God. Because Adam had human respect for his wife, Eve, he also turned his head from God and disobeyed God by complying with Eve's request. This act brought Sin into the world, Sin and Death hold hands. They are always together, only God who is the Giver of Life can overcome Death. It was at this time, in the Bible, when God announced that through a woman that the head of the Father of Lies, Satan, would be crushed.
This woman is Jesus' Mother. She was the new ark of the covenant, who carried the Laws of God within her. She had to be made pure, where decay could never reach her. Because of this great purity, in soul as well as body, she is the most beautiful woman ever formed. She is like a beautifully made lute, where no errors are found in its instrument nor in the sound it produces. Death could never touch her, except through God's Will.

Now here is some writing about the Ark, which I copied, edited and printed here, for quickness of this article. "The Ark of the Covenant is described in the Bible as a sacred container, wherein rested the Tablets of stone containing the Ten Commandments. According to the Biblical account, the Ark was built at the command of God, in accord with Moses' prophetic vision on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:10-16). God communicated with Moses "from between the two cherubim" on the Ark's cover (Exodus 25:22). The Ark and its sanctuary were "the beauty of Israel" (Lamentations 2:1).

The Biblical account relates that during the exodus of the Israelites, the Ark was carried by the priests ~2,000 cubits (Numbers 35:5; Joshua 4:5) in advance of the people and their army or host (Num. 4:5-6; 10:33-36; Psalms 68:1; 132:8). When the Ark was borne by priests into the bed of the Jordan, the river was separated, opening a pathway for the whole of the host to pass over (Josh. 3:15-16; 4:7-18). The Ark was borne in a seven-day procession around the wall of Jericho by seven priests sounding seven trumpets of rams' horns, the city taken with a shout (Josh. 6:4-20). When carried, the Ark was always wrapped in a veil, and a blue cloth, and was carefully concealed, even from the eyes of the Levites who carried it."

The Mother of Jesus was a very humble woman, and because of this she retained her purity, she during her life on Earth, never sinned. Everyone has heard of Lourdes Water. Lourdes water came from the ground in Lourdes France, and is associated with the Apparition in Lourdes France to Bernadette Soubirou on March 25th, 1858, where in Our Lady finally told Bernadette who she was. (The local priest wanted to know the name of the Lady in the visions). Bernadette asked in her dialect French, "Would you be so kind as to tell me who you are?" Our Lady answered, "I am the Immaculate Conception". Volumes could be spoken on that phrase alone which I will leave for my next article, but I want to focus on the purity of Our Lady and the purpose of today's Feast Day. It is because Our Lady was made so pure, and the fact that she herself did not sin, her soul was so pure that Death could not reach her. Now there are two thoughts on whether or not Death touched Our Lady. One thought is that she was taken body and soul to Heaven without tasting Death, and the other is she tasted death and was taken to Heaven Body and Soul. No one knows for sure. But it is for certain that she rose Body and Soul to Heaven, by Jesus her Son.
Blessed Catherine Anne Emmerich, a Mystic, wrote in a book, that when it was time for Our Lady to go to Heaven, Jesus came for her. He gave her the choice to taste death or to go to Heaven without tasting death. Because she was so humble,she said that if her own Son, who was God, had to taste Death on the cross, who is she not to taste death? And so after tasting death, (by God's will) she was taken to Heaven, body and soul, by Jesus where she lives now, always with her son.

And so we have the great Feast Day of the Catholic Church, the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, Jesus' Mother, celebrated today , August 15th,and every year on this same date.

Thank you Jesus for the gift of your beautiful mother, the new Eve, the Mother and Queen of the whole Universe. Thank you Dear Lady and Mother of all humanity, for the Love you have for all the creatures of the Earth, pray for us.

St Joseph, The Father of All Fathers

Joseph, the appointed father of Jesus.  Appointed by God Himself, is the Model of Fatherhood. I am currently reading The Life and Glories of St Joseph, by Edward Healy Thompson,MA. In this interesting book, it starts off with the importance of St Joseph. Even though St Joseph was the true King of the Jews, prior to Jesus(by proof of his geneology), he lived a most humble life. St Thomas' Summa Theologica made reference to hierarchies of grace. Just as there are orders of grace in Heaven, each excelling the other in proportion to their approximation to God, so too are there orders of grace on earth. The highest of all these orders is the Hypostatic Union. The Hypostatic Union is Jesus Christ, God and Man. "By the Hypostatic Union is meant that the Eternal Son of God, in His Incarnation, assumed human nature, and united it to Himself in Personal unity; in other words, that in the one Divine Person of Jesus Christ, the two Natures, the Divine Nature and the Human Nature, ever distinct in themselves, became inseparably and eternally united."
Among the orders of grace is the order of the Patriarchs. They preceded the Highest order of the Hypostatic Union. Some of these are Abraham and to David, it was expressly revealed to these men that the Savior of men should come from their blood and be born to the world. Now the highest order, Hypostatic Union where Jesus the Christ is head, has place St Joseph in a sovereign order. Three make up that order, Jesus, Mary and Joseph

I can not go into more detail of St Joseph's importance for then I would be rewriting this book here, but what I can say is if you thirst to understand this more so, The Life and Glories of St Joseph is a beautiful book on this topic. Here is my last quote from the book, beautifully written and pointing to St Joseph, who is model of all Fathers and Patron of the Church.
"It is an exceeding Honor to Joseph to be comprised in the same order wherein are Jesus Himself, the Son of God, the King of Kings, and Mary Mother of God and Queen of the Universe, to be united with them in the closest relations, and enjoy their most entire confidence. The nobles of the earth deem themselves to be highly honored in being brought into near association with monarchs of renown, holding the foremost places in their courts, and being the most trusted in their councils. What, then, shall we say of Joseph, who, placed in the order of the Hypostatic Union, was destined by God, not only to be the first in His court and the closest in His confidence, but even to be the reputed father of the King of kings; to be, not only the confidential friend, but the very spouse of the most exalted of all the empresses in the universe? Next to the Divine Maternity, no honor in the world is comparable with this.

Fatherhood: Free Will, The Call

Free Will
God's great love for man was shown first when out of all the creatures formed by God in this world, man was created with a free will. Being created with a free will is the highest gift God could have given because without it, we could not freely choose to live with God at the end of our earthly life. We could not achieve varying levels of grace according to our actions, nor could we ever gain a greater understanding of God which could only result in a greater capacity to love God and man around us. When man has a greater capacity to love, he has a greater understanding of God.

The Call
Since we are called back to God, as our ultimate end, we each receive a special and unique invitation in this world by God. Each one of us, no matter who we are, receive a calling, which is most unique to anyone elses. No matter where any human finds himself, that invitation is always present by a great loving God. Fatherhood is a calling too, an invitation from God, a great opportunity to live with God, to see God revealed, a great gift, to live one's life in a particular capacity of love, within marriage.

Again, I am quoting The Sisters of Life Magazine on Fatherhood, maybe its because I find the words there to be on the cutting edge of today's world's need. They, the Sisters, serve the needs of single mothers supporting the sacredness of every human life. "The strength of a man lies in his willingness to give of himself totally to his wife and children."
I think this statement carries with it the window through which God is revealed. Has anyone ever heard that a person's image of God is developed through his own father? If this is true, wow, what a role of importance a father has.

We know that nobody is perfect, which brings up the thought, if an earthly father is broken or weak but still loves his family, may we not think how much more God loves us, accepts us and treasures us, He who is infinitely perfect?

So the role of Fatherhood is so important and if that invitation or call is accepted, then the love of God is able to be revealed through the father, to the child with a greater degree. The world overall benefits with this revealed love.


Quo Vadis Days

http://sistersoflife.org/

Father's Day

On this day, first day following the Year of the Priest, how appropriate that the day should be Father's Day. Fathers, do you know how awesome your calling is?
Quoting the Sisters of Life Magazine:

"When the Lord bestows on man the gift of fatherhood He entrusts to him an irreplaceable mission.

As protector, guardian and transmittor of the Father's love, man reaches the heights to which he has been called by grace."

Happy Fathers Day to all Fathers.

Fatherhood

 During the Year of the Priest, which just ended, the focus was on the role of the priesthood, the title associated with the priesthood is Father. Saint John Vianney, also known as the Cure of Ars, and the Patron of Priests, had a great love for the human soul, and tended to souls as a most loving father. As my last post mentioned, The Year of the Priest ended and Fathers'Day started, and so I feel compelled to write about Fathers. Since it is late into the night, and the net has been dropped, silence is now needed.

Ships Ahoy

Setting Sail this day on June 19, 2010 @ 22:46, under the watchful eye of the Lovely Maiden. The Year of the Priest ends tonight. Wonder what tonight's catch will be.