From Fr. Z:

Have you seen the news? Decades after John XXIII placed the name of Joseph in the Roman Canon, it seems that the name of the great Patron of the Dying, Terror of Demons, will be in the Eucharistic Prayers II, III and IV in the 3rd edition of the Missale Romanum.

I received a copy of a document from the USCCB which communicates the decree – Paternas vices (Prot. N. 215/11/L) – of the Congregation for Divine Worship.
The English:

II:
that with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
with Blessed Joseph, her Spouse,
with the blessed Apostles

III:
with the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
with blessed Joseph, her Spouse,
with your blessed Apostles and glorious Martyrs

IV:
with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God
with blessed Joseph, her Spouse,
and with your Apostles

Click below to read the decree:

The Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life”.

Jesus said “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world…whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” ­ John 6: 51, 56.

If you take our Lord at his word, its safe to say that the Eucharist is paramount to following him. To being his disciple. Not only to follow him but by eating his flesh and drinking his blood He will remain in us. You can’t get any more personal than that.

But but it taste like bread and wine. I don’t feel any different after eating the Eucharist. Let me tell you if you are going to church expecting to feel something you are going to get disappointed.

The times when you have felt something was God the father consoling you. It’s a gift from God but you are going to have many more moments when you will not feel his presence.

Remember faith and love is not based on feelings but on a commitment. You believe despite your feelings, moods, and senses.

Easier said than done, I know.

“Deciding to love God in a radical way is not a one time decision. It’s a decision that must be made continually over and over again. Most especially when its hard. That’s when it counts.” ­Theradicallife.org.

This is a mystery we will never completely understand and appreciate. There are many things I don’t understand made by the hand of man. How much more glorious, precious and greater are the mysteries of God. St. Paul warns us “if anyone eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily, he will be held to account for the Lords body and blood.”

If you think about it. You are eating and drinking the body and blood of Jesus Christ. It makes sense to me as life­giving, powerful, and transcending as the Eucharist is, it can also have the opposite affect if you don’t believe what it truly is. The catechism of the Catholic church states: “Anyone who desires to receive Christ in the Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance.”

Does the church want to be rigid just to take away your pleasures, joys, and all the rest. No no no it does it to protect you. The church is here to help you become a saint and get to heaven. Otherwise if you don’t know why you are receiving communion or know you are in a state of mortal sin and are still going up for communion you will thwart God desires to have a personal relationship with you. To shower you with his graces.

This does not even begin to scratch the surface of the awesome reality of the Eucharist. I
challenge you to learn more. There are many free resources available. Will you ever come to fully understand this beautiful sacrament? No, but the good news is you can open yourself up to grow in your knowledge and understanding.

Repent and believe.

Alberto Cortez blogs over at VirtuousDad.com. He lives in Arizona with his wife and children.

This weekend I read The Pope’s Last Crusade, How an American Jesuit Helped Pope Pius XI’s Campaign to Stop Hitler, by Peter Eisner. The book contained a quote from Franklin Roosevelt’s State of the Union Message of January 4, 1939, which seems as relevant today as it did then.

“Religion, by teaching man his relationship to God, gives the individual a sense of his own dignity and teaches him to respect himself by respecting his neighbors.

“Where freedom of religion has been attacked, the attack has come from sources opposed to democracy. Where democracy has been overthrown, the spirit of free worship has disappeared. And where religion and democracy have vanished, good faith and reason in international affairs have given way to strident ambition and brute force” ~ President Franklin Roosevelt, State of the Union Message, January 4, 1939

Roosevelt’s reference to religious freedom, refers to the Antisemitism, fomented by the Nazis and Fascists in Germany and Italy. In this case, the threat to religious freedom was “over there,” in Europe. In 2013, the threat is on our own shores, and the threat is coming from within. I don’t think Roosevelt would have conceived of our own government attacking the religious liberties of its own citizens, but it is so.

This month, The U.S. bishops have called for a Fortnight for Freedom, a two-week period of prayer and action, to address many current challenges to religious liberty, including the August 1, 2013 deadline for religious organizations to comply with the HHS mandate, Supreme Court rulings that could attempt to redefine marriage in June, and religious liberty concerns in areas such as immigration and humanitarian services.

In my own diocese, we are celebrating a Mass for Religious Liberty as part of the Fortnight. I plan to participate, and hope for a great turnout, especially from the Men of St. Joseph. Dioceses across the country are participating. Check here to see what your diocese is doing, and how you can participate.

Today in Mass, the gospel reading was Luke 7:11-17. It’s the story of the widow in Nain whose son had died. Jesus was moved with pity and told her, “Do not weep.” Then he stepped forward, touched the coffin and said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” And so he did. Then Jesus gave him to his mother. The gospel says that “fear seized them all.”

For those of us that know the loss of a loved one, we know that fear would absolutely seize us. But so would Joy. We don’t hear about the mother and her son and how their life went on from there. I can imagine the celebrations! A sad funeral turned into a joyous celebration of life! Probably many days of celebrating, and hopefully praising God. Do you think they went back to find Jesus to thank him? Did they follow him and become his disciples? I would like to think so and hope that I would do the same.

We live in a different kind of world today. When death comes close to us we do weep, and sometimes bitterly. Sometimes not at all. But we do deal with it at some point in some way in our life. We don’t have Jesus or the prophets to bring our loved ones back. At least not in the way they did two thousand years ago. But we do have something. We have the words of Jesus. In fact, we have the Incarnate Word, Jesus alive in the pages that tell the story of his life! And even though ancient, they speak to us in many different ways, at different times and differently each time. Read that story and then think quietly and hear Jesus speaking to you. “Do not weep! Arise! Carry on!” And as he gave the man back to his mother, he will give you back to your life.

I’ve got marriage on my mind. My wife and I celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary today. Plus I’m also working on writing a book on marriage. I’m gonna call it “21 Undeniable Secrets for a Satisfying Marriage.”

I’m still discovering what those secrets are, so I’ve read ten books on marriage this month. I share with you the two best ones. Highly recommend them both if you’d like more wisdom to grow your marriage forward.

“His Needs, Her Needs: Building an Affair-Proof Marriage” by Willard Harley, Jr.

and “The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts” by Gary Chapman.

Both of these books emphasize making deposits in your spouse’s “love bank.” I.e., give your spouse what he/she needs most. Satisfy their deepest emotional needs, and express love in a way they understand it. For example, I like to hear kind words and compliments from my wife. That makes me feel loved. Anita, on the other hand, would much prefer that I vacuum the house or mop the floor. That makes her feel loved.

So, for our 25th anniversary, you’ll find me vacuuming. And, if I get lucky, she’ll give me a big, fat compliment when the floor is clean. That way, we’ll both know that we’re loved. And then we’ll enjoy a nice dinner together as we give thanks for God’s grace in our lives together. After all, He joined us together in the first place.

Pope Francis processed, on foot, the entire 1.5 miles, from the Basilica of St. John Lateran to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, during the Corpus Christi procession, while carrying the Blessed Sacrament.

See the video, from Romereports.com, below.