FRIDAY-SATURDAY-SUNDAY

November 21, 1997   vol 8, no.36      SECTION ONE

To print out SECTION TWO, Click here.     To print out SECTION THREE, Click here.

      Since Latin is the official language of Holy Mother Church, all headlines on the left side of this page will be in Latin today. This weekend is the Church's "Mardi Gras," the beginning of "New Year's Eve Week" for it is the last Sunday of the liturgical year and the SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING. The new year begins next week with the First Sunday of Advent. This weekend is packed with feasts with Friday being the Feast of the Presentation of Mary, Saturday the feast of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr in the early Church, and of course the grand celebration of Christ the King on Sunday. Click on LITURGY to read about all these feasts and review the readings for the celebration of Holy Mass for these three days.

Friday, November 21:
The Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

First Reading: 1 Maccabees 4: 36-37
Psalms: 1 Chronicles 29: 10-13
Gospel Reading: Luke 19: 45-48

PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

      This feast, established by Pope Gregory XI in 1372 honors the Blessed Virgin Mary, the "daughter of Zion" who was so faithful to the Jewish faith she was raised in. This feast commemorates when Mary's parents Saint Anne and Saint Joachim presented their precious daughter at the age of three in the temple of Jerusalem where she studied for several years. Even at the tender age of three Our Lady was expressing her fiat to God by her obedience to her parents and submitting totally to the tutelage of priests of the temple. This special chosen one who would become the New Covenant "temple of the Lord" first had to learn the Old Covenant temple of the Lord. All these things prepared her better for her role as the Mother of God, Mediatrix of all graces, Co-redemptrix and Advocate. It was vital for her first to be a willing pupil so she could, as a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, teach the Father's Divine Son all the Almighty wanted imparted. This feast was first celebrated in 543 by the Eastern Church on the occasion of the dedication of the basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary built in Jerusalem. This was subsequently destroyed by the Turks (Persians) about seventy years in 614. Exactly a century after Pope Gregory XI declared it a feast, Pope Sixtus IV extended it to the universal Church in 1472 to be celebrated on the twenty first of November each year.

Saturday, November 22:
The Feast of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr

First Reading: 1 Maccabees 6: 1-13
Psalms: Psalm 9: 2-4, 6, 16, 19
Gospel Reading: Luke 20: 27-40



SAINT CECILIA

    Born into a Patrician family in Rome and raised a Christian, Saint Cecilia still was afforded all the luxury of a family of wealth in pagan Rome. Though she had disgarded this way of life,l vowing herself to virginity, her father thought otherwise and forced her to marry a young pagan man by the name of Valerian. During the pagan nuptial ceremony songs of merriment and sensuality were played, but Cecilia didn't hear it for her heart was dedicated to God alone and that was her song as the Acts of of St. Cecilia proclaim, "While instruments were playing (at her wedding feast) profane music, Cecilia sang rather to God in her heart." Because of this she has been chosen patron saint of music and musicians. On their wedding night Cecilia disclosed her vow to her new husband and rather than going into a rage, Valerian, who loved her dearly, was converted by a vision of St. Cecilia's guardian angel and forever honored her vow of virginity, not consummating their marriage. He became so enraptured with Christianity that he converted his brother Tiburtius. Both dedicated their lives to carrying for the survivors of loved ones who had been martyred as well as burying the martyrs. Caught by the Roman guards burying the martyrs they were arrested by the prefect Almachius who ordered them to sacrifice to the gods. When they refused both Valerian and Tiburtius were beheaded along with Saint Maximus who was converted on the spot, so impressed by their faith and determination. When Cecilia brought the three bodies back to her villa along the Appian Way to be buried there, she, too, was arrested. The guards tried to suffocate her in her room, but she miraculously survived. When brought before the prefect, Almachius tried to dissuade her from her ideals as he did with her husband, but Cecilia would have nothing to do with the world, the flesh and the devil. He then ordered that she also be decapitated, but the executioner bungled the job and Cecilia was not killed instantly, but rather lingered in pain for three days before expiring around September 16, 235. Dates vary among historians, some placing it as early as 230, others 250 but research shows Valerian, Tiburtius, and Maximus died during the end of the reign of the Roman Emperor Alexander who ruled between 222 and 235. Therefore the most accurate date would be 235. Commemoration of St. Cecilia began in the 600's after they discovered facts about her inscribed on the walls of the catacomb of Saint Callistus. Pope Paschal I dedicated the basilica of St. Cecilia in Trastevere in Rome in 824 where he transfered her relics and commissioned a mosaic depicting Cecilia standing between Valerian and Tiburtius.

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SUNDAY, November 23, 1997

SUNDAY, November 23:
THE SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING

First Reading: Daniel 7: 13-14
Psalms: Psalm 93: 1-2, 5
Second Reading: Revelation/Apocalypse 1: 5-8
Gospel Reading: Mark 11: 9-10

SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING

     This feast fittingly climaxes the Church's liturgical year on the last Sunday before Advent. A relatively new feast, Pope Pius XI established it be celebrated on the last Sunday in October. It was changed after Vatican II to transplant the 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time, a fitting time to celebrate the apex of all we strive for - Jesus Christ, our Spiritual King - the Lord and Giver of life, Maker of law, the supreme judge and ruling Authority in the minds, wills and hearts of all mankind. Jesus began His public ministry by announcing in Mark 1: 14, "the kingdom of God is at hand" and just before His crucifixion affirmed to the high priests His rightful title as King of Heaven and earth, "you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of Heaven." By celebrating this feast on the final Sunday of the liturgical year we are paying homage to our Sovereign King as His subjects in fulfilling the words of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary in Luke 1:32-33, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father, and He shall be King over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end." The cycle is completed with this feast which leads into a new year with the First Sunday of Advent and preparation for His coming. A time to prepare for Christ the King, Whom as a little child the three kings bowed down to, as we should always as His loyal, humble and obedient servants.

      The words above translate to "All nations shall serve Him - the King. The Gospel for Sunday's Solemn Feast is the subject of Cyndi Cain's Reflection of Sacred Scripture this week as she reiterates the need for all God's children to be subject to Him and pay homage to the King in outwardly ways as well as inwardly in "Every knee shall bend to the King!". Click on "COME UNTO ME"

Reflections on Sacred Scripture

by Cyndi Cain

       The Gospel for the Solemnity of the Feast of Christ the King, which we celebrate this Sunday, November 23rd, is one that everyone on earth should pay heed to, because in this enlightened day and age, we seem to have forgotten the Kingship of Christ and what It means for every person.

      What Our Lord focuses on in this passage is the following: "'My kingdom does not belong to this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My subjects would be fighting to save Me from being handed over to the Jews. As it is, My kingdom is not here.'"

      At this, Pilate said to him, 'So, then, you are a king?' Jesus replied:
'It is you who say I am a king.
The reason I was born,
The reason why I came into the world,
is to testify to the truth.
Anyone committed to the truth hears My voice.'"

     Christ, our Lord, God and Savior is King of Kings. To Him is due our unconditional love at every moment, for our life and our human love come from Him. Everything we have comes from Him, is permitted by Him, for our eternal salvation.

      In this permissive day and age, in this society of divisiveness even within Holy Mother Church, this particular Gospel should bind us all together with unity of heart through devout reverence for our God, our King, Our Savior - the Son of God, Eternal! This Gospel is a beacon of light shining in today’s spiritual darkness when so many are in error, so many are being led astray by apostasy, heresy and schism which looms larger every day.

      God alone is King. He has spoken. He has shown us the way. He is the Way, the Truth, the Light. He has bestowed His Holy Spirit as the Eternal Guide and Sanctifier of His One True Church. The power and authority comes to the Church through the apostles, chiefly St. Peter, the first Pontiff, upon whom Christ Himself bestowed the authority (cf. Matthew 16: 18-19).

      Christ, in establishing His Kingship, never once told anyone that this Kingdom was earthly, but we persist in trying to establish an earthly kingdom. The Kingdom is with Him, the Ultimate Goal, Heaven. He is in our hearts, if our hearts are attuned to Him, if our hearts seek Him, if we are fervent in the reception of the sacramental life of Holy Mother Church. Jesus did not offer His teachings to the apostles, disciples and people of His day and then add, "Oh, and feel free to pick and choose which of My teachings are easy for you to follow. Feel free to change or alter them as you become older, move on to another age or culture. Feel free to change the words I give if it fits better with your political correctness of the day!"

     No! He did not say that nor did He try to explain to the massive exiting throngs who could not comprehend His words about "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has life everlasting... (cf. John 6: 54-70). Christ, the King of Kings, came to redeem all mankind. He paid the ultimate price, He made the Perfect Sacrifice, and He laid down for us the way to be with Him forever - He the King, we His children. Today, as the Church struggles with internal and external battles that extend from within the Curia of the Church, to local dioceses and individual parishes, let us all focus on where our true loyalty and love lie. Is it with Christ the King, or with the mainstream opinion of society? Are we obedient, as Christ commanded us to be, first to God, and then through His Authority, to His Successor, the Holy Father? Are we reverent and do we seek reverence when we go to Mass? Are we reverent in everything we do, think and say. Can we do less, if we truly believe Christ is King of Kings?

      Were the whole of mankind to realize the validity of today’s Gospel, there would come, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, a wonderful, magnificent transformation within each person and throughout the world. There would cease to be divisions, because man’s pride would die and satan would have nothing to feed on any longer.

      This Gospel clearly shows us that through the Sacred Passion of Christ He firmly and forever established His Kingship over all; and no one, not priest, bishop, cardinal, lay person or religious, has the right to tamper with His Kingship by altering what He gave, what He taught, and watering down His Perfect Sacrifice into an "entertainment" or a mere "banquet" around which we gather as gawkers.

      To believe and worship Christ the King, we are at the foot of the Cross with the Mother of Christ, Mary Magdalene and St. John. We are not in the background with the rabble, catcalling and deriding Christ, challenging Him to come down off the cross to prove His Godhead.

      Isn’t that what the modernists are doing today? Challenging the Kingship of Christ.

      Today is the day to proclaim in your heart and with your lips the Kingship of Christ and all He means to you. This is a tremendous feast day! One that should be universally celebrated with all pomp and circumstance, to lift up our souls, hearts and minds to God - our Creator.

      The time will come when every knee shall bend to Christ the King as Isaiah 45: 23, Romans 14: 11, and Philippians 2: 10 proclaim. Let us bend our knee now, for it is a position of total love to Him.

      The Latin phrase above, of course, translates to "buyer beware" and we are warning faithful Catholics not to buy the liberal, devisive rhetoric coming from the cardinal of Los Angeles Roger M. Mahoney who demands obedience from his constituents and others to him, but does not return that obedience to the Holy Father. We take this prelate, who is leading his flock and many others astray, to task in "Beware of the stranger among us: the wolf in sheep's clothing!" in today's editorial which includes a never-before published message from the Blessed Mother to the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate Heart imparted well over three months before Mahoney became a cardinal in which Our Lady warned us of the dangers we see being enacted today by this radical and devilishly clever prelate. Click on CATHOLIC PewPoint

       Many do not realize the repercussions that can and will cascade upon Holy Mother Church in America from the "pastoral letter of demand" that Cardinal Roger M. Mahoney has unleashed on his Archdiocese of Los Angeles regarding drastic changes in the liturgy that must be implemented by the feast of Pentecost next year. Following up Cyndi’s editorial yesterday, you know you’re on the straight and narrow when you stand up to the likes of Cardinal Mahoney who, as the wolf in sheep’s clothing, is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of not just his Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the second largest in America, but the entire Church with his liberal, Protestant-like mandates diminishing the role of the priests in the liturgy while encouraging all kinds of aberrations that, hitherto now, have been foreign to anything Rome has ever seen. Ah, that’s the key word that inflicts like a thorn to progressives: Rome! They don’t like the idea of a hierarchy with the Bishop of Rome calling the shots. They want a democracy, do it the way they want, their will. God’s Will? What is that? It only gets in the way of the new way of thinking and doing things and the old, orthodox way that served the Church for well over nineteen and a half centuries is now passe. Hoo boy, bet ol’ hornhead is jumpin’ with joy! If Hollywood-born Mahoney has his way the American Catholic church will be of his fashion and he wants his subjects to be totally obedient. But obedience seems to escape him when it comes to his own. As a bishop, no less a cardinal, he has sworn his allegiance to the Vicar of Christ - the Successor of Peter. He can criticize others right and left, but when criticized himself he has thin-skin evident by his demand that Mother Angelica apologize for taking him to task over his "pastoral" in the LA Archdiocese regarding "Community and Holy Communion." As we all know, Mother is not one to back down and neither will we nor should anyone who believes in the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and believes in all Jesus Christ taught and established with His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. We all know Mother is in good standing with the Holy Father and the head of Ignatius Press, Father Joseph Fessio, SJ has encouraged her to take the crusade to stop the dissenting liberals from ruining the Church in America to Rome herself. An interesting confrontation could ensue as one e-mailer wrote, "I can’t believe it. Mother Angelica and the most liberal, dissenting cardinal in America going toe to toe. I wonder how many liberals in America (religious or otherwise) will decry a mean, old white male patriarchal cleric going after a disabled, elderly woman!" She may be on crutches or a cane and getting on in years, but her mind and heart are sharp and she can hold her own. Could it be that something could come to a head during this next three weeks as the Synod of America takes place at the Vatican? Just thinking out loud, but does Mahoney have the guts to criticize and stand up to the Holy Father in his own backyard? Or will this predator of Tradition, lie down with the sheep and wait until he returns to the left coast in the U.S. to resume his diatribe against the concept of supreme pontiff and the antiquated liturgy? Jesus warns us of his ilk in Matthew 7: 15, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves." Mahoney lashes out at such things as apparitions and messages, as well as conservative Roman Catholic internet sites, accusing them of being the false prophets, but me-thinks he doth protest too much for the messages he is lambasting are those who warn us of the dangers inherent by such false prophets as Mahoney himself who is anything but a good shepherd to his humongous flock in the sprawling Archdiocese of Los Angeles. In fact, the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate Heart received a message of the troubles the constituents of Lost Angeles and the Church in America would encounter from Mahoney before he was ramrodded to the rank of cardinal by liberals within the curia on June 28, 1991.

     On March 13, 1991, well over three months before his appointment as cardinal, the Hidden Flower received an alarming message from the Blessed Mother of God which was not published, but shared immediately with her spiritual director Father Al Svobodny, OMI for discernment. Keep in mind Cyndi knew nothing then about Mahoney, let alone his leanings. When you read this message, released here for the first time, it will alert you to the fact Our Lady was alerting us back then of what we are facing today, but we didn’t pray hard enough. The authenticity of this being received when it was can be authenticated by her spiritual director who has copies of all messages, published and unpublished. The message said, in part, "it is very important who the Holy Father will make as the new American Cardinal...the Holy Father is under much pressure in this regard, and is struggling with many weighty decisions and outside pressures, many of which do not bode well for the Church, of whom I am the Mother and guardian. I am distressed at this, and have asked my hidden flower to offer prayer and sacrifice for the Holy Father, that when his decision is made, it is in accord with God’s Most Holy Will. But this can only be accomplished by much prayer. And there is not enough. I have shown my hidden flower that the choice must be the Archbishop of St. Louis, and not the Archbishop of Los Angeles. If the Holy Father’s decision reflects this, then there will be many events that will unfold rapidly within the world and the Church. Many that will both help the Church, and many that will be the downfall of a great portion of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. Should the Holy Father’s decision be otherwise, then there will be truly be a dark and sad time upon the Church, and many of my dearest sons shall desert Me, and many more will desert even my Son. They will wear the mark of the priest, they will continue all their duties as a priest, but they will be liars and blasphemers from the pulpit, trying to tear asunder that which can never be torn asunder. This will bring about an even more terrible age for the Church, one in which many, many of my children will be lost because of the terrible outrages and evils pronounced from the Holy See, and in time, there will be little truth to be found in the Church, except by those who have kept the faith and its doctrines and dogmas sacred in their hidden churches. To these faithful will come the right to stand beside my Divine Son when the Swift Justice comes from the Heavens, and they will reach down and bring up into the light many who have been crying for the truth. But to those who buried the truth beneath the mud of satan, there shall be no mercy, and with satan they will be cast forever into hell."

     "This election of the next cardinal from America marks a very important moment in the history not only of your own country, but in the history of the world. Pray very hard, my child, my children, for the Holy Father in his struggle. And pray that those who oppose the man for Cardinal from St. Louis will drop their opposition so that the will of God might be done clearly and definitely. Otherwise, the tide of justice can no longer be held back. When this moment comes, my children, then you must also know that many changes will come upon the Church, especially in America, and you will have much to suffer, much to be horrified at, much to shield your children from."

     The Archbishop of St. Louis, a good and wise prelate, was, of course, Archbishop John L. May, who died of cancer on March 24, 1994. He has since been replaced by Archbishop Justin Rigalli, a personal orthodox choice of the Holy Father. Mahoney was not the Holy Father’s choice, but undue pressure from the left forced his holiness to appoint Mahoney. This documented message says it all for we are indeed on the brink of "this moment." Our Lady has said: "not the Archbishop of Los Angeles." Being God’s foremost Heavenly clarion, she knows much more than we do. By printing this now, we are opening ourselves up to rebuke by Mahoney and his radical cohorts, but, in the words of the infamous Alfred E. Neumann (No relation to the saintly Cardinal John Neumann) "What, me worry?!" We’d worry more if we kept silent in the face of the abuses to God’s Holy Church. We’d worry more if, when we face the Almighty in the final judgment, we had to account for the fact that we had said nothing and had let the wolves gnaw away at the carcasses of the poor suspecting sheep who are lost in LA and the rest of America. Why can’t Mahoney and the rest realize their roles as shepherds, as Denver’s Archbishop Charles Chaput so succinctly put it this week at the Synod of America when addressing his fellow bishops, "Many of the problems we face as shepherds are not programmatic or resource-driven. They are problems of faith. Too often, those of us in the Church-- and even we bishops-- simply do not believe deeply and zealously enough."

     Jesus said it all in John 10: 1-5 when speaking of the role of the good shepherd, which all bishops should and must be: "Amen, amen, I say to you, he who enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up another way, is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is shepherd of the sheep. To this man the gatekeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them forth. And when he has let out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. But a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.". Let us hope Americans and Los Angelenos wake up in time to realize the stranger among us and flee from this wolf in sheep’s clothing!

Michael Cain, editor

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November 21, 1997 volume 8, no. 36         DAILY CATHOLIC