Sunday, September 28, 2014

Sunday Snippets - A Catholic Carnival (28 September 2014)


The Holy Family
   Welcome to Sunday Snippets, a veritable extravaganza of Catholic Bloggery . . . well, maybe not an extravaganza, necessarily, but there are a good dozen of us, all with a unique faith experience, sharing our posts for the week; look here, if you don't believe me, at This That and the Other Thing, where RAnn is our Ringleader; there's no telling what you might find. My own posts here at Principium et Finis are linked below, but first . . . 
    Today is the Day of Prayer for the III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, where our shepherds of souls will be discussing  Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization.  The bishops have called upon us to help out with our prayers.  Let’s do that, and pray abundantly.  Let’s storm Heaven, because the Crisis of the Family in modern society is among the greatest problems both for the transmission of the Gospel (as I discuss  here) and our ability to maintain natural freedom (see here).  There are those who, through a misguided (if sincere) understanding of what Christian Mercy entails, hope the upcoming Synod will recommend measures that weaken the Church’s vital witness on the Sanctity of Marriage and the Family (see here).  We should pray, rather, that the Synod works to strengthen that witness, and to show that the teachings of the Church in this area are an expression of the God’s love.  Saint Benedict’s motto was Ora et Labora. “Pray and Work”.  That should be our strategy here: work tirelessly to protect the Family in the public sphere, and at the same time pray for the Family like St. Monica praying for the redemption of her wayward son , (the not-yet-saintly) Augustine; let us pray not just today but throughout the Synod (October 5th-21st ) and beyond.
(In furtherance of the former effort, the bishops have recommended a couple of prayers, the first composed by Pope Francis, which I have included after my Snippets below)


And now, on to my posts for the week:

Monday – Words can't do justice to just how beautiful this is: listen! “Miserere Mei Deus” [here]

Tuesday –What started out as a brief comment on two recent news articles turned into a two-day rant: in part the first, we look at Obamacare svengali Ezekiel Emmanuel, who hopes he dies before he gets old: "Dispatches From The Culture Of Death Part One: Should We Give Up At 75?" [here]

Wednesday - You don't think abortion is funny?  Well then, you must be an Anti-Choice Nut: "Dispatches From The Culture Of Death Part Two: The Joke Factory Known As Abortion" [here]


Friday - The final installment of my series on the Divine Office for laypeople: "Liturgy of the Hours: Daytime Prayer Sanctifies Our Labors (Throwback Thursday Edition)" [here]


Prayers For The Family:
    
I - Prayer to the Holy Family for the Synod
Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
in you we contemplate
the splendor of true love,
to you we turn with trust.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
grant that our families too
may be places of communion and prayer,
authentic schools of the Gospel
and small domestic Churches.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
may families never again
experience violence, rejection and division:
may all who have been hurt or scandalized
find ready comfort and healing.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
may the approaching Synod of Bishopsmake us once more mindful
of the sacredness and inviolability of the family,
and its beauty in God’s plan.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
graciously hear our prayer.
Amen.

II - Prayer of the Faithful
Brothers and Sisters,gathered together as God’s family and inspired by our faith, we raise our minds and hearts to the Father, that our families, sustained by the grace of Christ, might become true domestic churches where all live and bear witness to God’slove.
Together we pray:
Lord, bless and sanctify our families.

For Pope Francis: the Lord has called him to preside over the Church in charity; sustain him in his ministry of service to the communion of the episcopal collegeand the entire People of God, we pray:
Lord, bless and sanctify our families.


For the synod fathers and the other participants at the III Extraordinary GeneralAssembly of the Synod of Bishops: may the Spirit of the Lord enlighten their minds so that the Church might respond, in faithfulness to God’s plan, to the challenges facing the family, we pray:
Lord, bless and sanctify our families.


For those who have the responsibility of governing nations: that the Holy Spirit might inspire programs which acknowledge the value of the family as the basic unit of society in God’s plan and which offer support to families in difficulty, we pray:
Lord, bless and sanctify our families.


For Christian families: may the Lord who has sealed the union of husband and wife with his presence, make our families cenacles of prayer and ardent communities of life and love, after the example of the Holy Family of Nazareth, we pray:
 Lord, bless and sanctify our families.


For couples undergoing difficulties: may the Lord, rich in mercy, be present to them through the Church’s motherly care and concern in showing understanding and patience in their journey towards pardon and reconciliation, we pray:
Lord, bless and sanctify our families.


For families who, for the sake of the Gospel, are forced leave their fatherland: may the Lord who endured exile with Mary and Joseph, comfort them with his grace and open for them paths of fraternal charity and human solidarity, we pray:
Lord, bless and sanctify our families.


For grandparents: may the Lord who was received in the Temple by the elders Simeon and Anna, make them wise collaborators with parents in transmitting the faith and the raising their children, we pray:
Lord, bless and sanctify our families.


For children: may the Lord of life, who in his ministry welcomed them and made them a model for entering the Kingdom of heaven, inspire a respect for life in the womb and programs in raising children which conform to theChristian outlook towards life, we pray:
Lord, bless and sanctify our families.


For young people: may the Lord, who made holy the Wedding at Cana, lead them to discover the beauty of the sacredness and inviolability of the family in God’s plan and sustain engaged couples as they prepare for marriage, we pray:
Lord, bless and sanctify our families.


O God, you never forsake the work of your hands, hear our prayer; send the Spirit of your Son to enlighten the Church as the synodal journey begins, so that contemplating the splendor of true love which shines forth in the Holy Family of Nazareth, she might learn the freedom and obedience to respond with boldness and mercy to the challenges of today’s world. Through Christ Our
Lord.

Amen.

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