40 Days to a Spiritual Makeover: No Makeup Required! Get Ready for Lent!

Last minute additions to your Lenten arsenal!   We stumbled upon a few more excellent Lent resources for you - they are highlighted.

The Little Way of Lent - Meditations in the spirit of St. Therese of Lisieux by Father Gary Caster.   Father Gary was inspired by St. Therese's Little Way to create this unique approach to Lent.  The smallest acts of charity, such as holding a door open for someone, can be offered to Jesus as our alms.  This book encourages us to think outside the box - instead of the usual monetary donations for almsgiving, the focus is on giving of ourselves to others for love of Jesus.


Consoling the Heart of Jesus - A beautiful do-it-yourself retreat inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius - with a focus on Divine Mercy.   Fr. Michael Gaitley


The Busted Halo's Pray, Fast, Give - Click on the daily calendar for inspirations - quick, lively, fun, and something new every day!  Great resource if you haven't planned anything yet for Lent, or want to join in at any point along the way - it's never too late to jump on board!  


Lenten Grace:  Daily Gospel Reflections - by the Pauline Sisters

My Wounded Hands - A Way of the Cross. Beautiful meditations with reflections from Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, St. Therese of Lisieux, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Edith Stein, Pope Benedict XVI, Henri J. Nouwen, and others.

Minute Meditations For Lent - Beautiful, quick meditations in a pocket size booklet that you can take anywhere!  Perfect for anyone who feels overwhelmed by our fast paced world.  Plus, it's only $2.95 - get one to keep on your nightstand, and one to put in your purse or car so you can pick it up anytime you have a minute!

Spirituality You Can Live With:  Stronger Faith in 30 Days -  by Chris Padgett.  They raved about this on the Catholic Channel, proclaiming what a difference it has made in their lives.

USCCB:  The Lenten Season

What We Believe - Papal Encyclicals, Spiritual information on Mary and the Saints, and information for those who want to learn more about our faith.

What We celebrate - learn more about the Sacraments we celebrate, especially the Sacraments of Baptism and Reconciliation.  Contains wonderful examinations of conscience for children, single, married, priests and religious.  You're invited to come back to this beautiful Sacrament if you haven't been in a while - this alone would be a great Lenten commitment to prepare your heart for the joy of the Resurrection!  Also available on this page is information on Holy Week, and a beautiful video on the suffering of Christ presented through art.

How We Live - find out about two of pillars of Lent - Fasting and Acts of Charity (giving goods or monetary donations to those who need our help).  The Holy Father has called us to live in solidarity with the Poor - find out more about the value and meaning of fasting with the poor.

How We Pray - Prayer is one of the three pillars of Lent.  Here you'll find resources such as Daily Readings and reflections (in audio too), and  beautiful practices such as The Way of the Cross , and the Via Matris (meditations on the 7 particular sorrows Mary suffered during her life in relation to Christ's passion.).

Catholic Mom - Loads of links for all kinds of helpful resources during Lent -- don't miss your opportunity for "spiritual self-improvement".

A Minute In the Church - Gus Lloyd, host of Seize The Day on The Catholic Channel ( 6 - 10 a.m. weekdays on Sirius XM radio) has published a fantastic little booklet under the same title. All Catholics should have this great reference.  If you've ever been at a loss to explain or defend what the Church teaches and why, or just want to know more about our faith, this is for you!

Praying Lent - from Creighton University.  This site is jam packed with tips for preparing for Lent, praying Lent, suggested items to read, even recipes for Lent, and much, much more.

We'll be adding more resources as we hear about them, but this is a good start!

HELP A HUNGRY CHILD IN 5 MINUTES

What'cha Gonna Do With That 25 Cents?

This is pure genius!  Food For the Poor has teamed up with Swipegood, a service that allows you to automatically round up purchases on your debit or credit card to the nearest dollar, then donate the spare change to help the poorest of the poor.  Here are some facts:

• $18 a month, the average monthly donation of a Swipegood user, is enough to feed a hungry child for 6 months.  
• 96% of the donations go directly to programs (check charity navigator - not many charitable organizations can make this claim)
• Every time you swipe your card you help feed a hungry child!
• You can cap your monthly donations to control the amount you donate.

To Find out more, go to:  Food For the Poor Swipegood

More Ways to Help:  Did you know you can purchase chickens, a goat, pigs, a cow, or a share of a tilapia fish farm?  These items not only provide food, they are a source of sustainable income for families, helping them become independent and self-sufficient.  These make great gifts too!  While they may seem similar to what Heifer International offers (and they are a very good organization), 96% of donations given to Food For The Poor go directly to those who need it most - vs. Heifer International, where 82% of donations reach the poor.  Do the math -- approximately 14 cents more on the dollar adds up!  Go to:  Food For the Poor to find out about this and other ways you can help!

Confession: A Roman App.

Confession:  A Roman App.  The iPhone App for making confession easier.




It's all the buzz.  In case you haven't heard about this handy little app - it is the very first iPhone App to receive the Imprimatur.   It was developed by three men who are self-professed "Catholic Geeks", as an aid to Catholics who frequent the Sacrament of Confession, and for those who want to return to the Sacrament.  These men have come up with a way to connect with the youth, making the Church relevant and high tech, and they've taken the world by storm - even the secular world! 


The App is not a replacement for confession , but an aid to the examination of conscience in order to prepare for confession.  A valid confession can only be done one on one with a priest, who is acting in persona Christi, and has the authority to give us absolution for our sins. Learn more about this brilliant little gadget below.  I might just have to break down and get an iPhone!


http://www.littleiapps.com/


http://www.ncregister.com/blog/first-iphone-app-to-receive-an-imprimatur/

IT'S OFFICIAL! OUR LADY OF GOOD HELP - FIRST U.S. APPARITION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY APPROVED BY THE CHURCH

OUR LADY OF GOOD HELP

"I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same."  This is how Our Lady introduced herself to Adele Brise in October of 1859, near Champion, Wisconsin.

"As they approached the hallowed spot, Adele could see the beautiful lady, clothed in dazzling white, with a yellow sash around her waist. Her dress fell to her feet in graceful folds. She had a crown of stars around her head, and her long, golden, wavy hair fell loosely around her shoulders. Such a heavenly light shone around her that Adele could hardly look back at her sweet face. Overcome by this heavenly light and the beauty of her amiable visitor, Adele fell on her knees.


" 'In God’s name, who are you and what do you want of me?’ asked Adele, as she had been directed.


“ ‘I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same. You received Holy Communion this morning, and that is well. But you must do more. Make a general confession, and offer Communion for the conversion of sinners. If they do not convert and do penance, my Son will be obliged to punish them’


“ 'Adele, who is it?'' said one of the women. 'O why can't we see her as you do?' said another weeping.


“ ‘Kneel,’ said Adele, ‘the Lady says she is the Queen of Heaven.’ Our Blessed Lady turned, looked kindly at them, and said, ‘Blessed are they that believe without seeing. What are you doing here in idleness…while your companions are working in the vineyard of my Son?’


“ ‘What more can I do, dear Lady?’ said Adele, weeping.


“ ‘Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation’


“ ‘But how shall I teach them who know so little myself?’ replied Adele.


“ ‘Teach them,’ replied her radiant visitor, ‘their catechism, how to sign themselves with the sign of the Cross, and how to approach the sacraments; that is what I wish you to do. Go and fear nothing. I will help you.’ 

Our Lady lifted her hands, as though beseeching a blessing for those at Her feet, and slowly vanished, leaving Adele overwhelmed and prostrate on the ground.  

When the news spread about Adele Brise’s vision of the Blessed Virgin, most people believed the account and were astonished. Some considered the event a demented delusion. Adele Brise, however, considered it a commission to catechize the children and admonish the sinners of the Bay Settlement. To honor the alleged apparition, Adele’s father erected a makeshift chapel near the spot of Adele’s vision.

On December 8, 2010, bishop David Lauren Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay, made history when he formally approved this Marian Apparition:  

"It remains to me now, the Twelfth Bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay and the lowliest of the servants of Mary, to declare with moral certainty and in accord with norms of the Church:  that the events, apparitions and locutions given to Adele Brise in October of 1859 do exhibit the substance of supernatural character, and I do hereby approve these apparitions as worthy of belief (although not obligatory) by the Christian faithful." 

"I encourage the faithful to frequent this holy place as a place of solace and answered prayer."

For over 150 years, people have come to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help, seeking our Blessed Mother's intercession.  There have been many verbal and documented accounts of physical healings, conversions and answered prayers.  Just as at Lourdes, crutches and other mementos of physical healings are left at the Shrine in thanksgiving for answered prayer.  Learn more about the decree, Adele Brise and the Shrine below:

• View the Bishop's formal decree
• Who was Sister Adele?
• Accounts of Miracles at the Shrine

THE REAL PRESENCE

http://www.theworkofgodschildren.org/collaboration/index.php?title=Main_Page

As Catholics, we believe that Jesus is truly Present in the Eucharist.  We have a savior who can't bear to be separated from us, and humbly comes to us in the form of bread and wine at each Mass (when the priest says the words of the consecration - This is my Body, This is my Blood). 


For many Christians (and sadly, perhaps some Catholics as well) this is difficult to believe.  And for non-Christians, it's probably almost impossible.  As St. Thomas Aquinas said: "To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary, to one without faith, no explanation is possible."  But Throughout history, Eucharistic miracles have occurred - perhaps because of heresies denying Jesus present (Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity) in the Eucharist, or for the benefit of some priests having doubts, for Catholics in general, or even those who have taken the Eucharist in order to desecrate it.

MIRACLES OF THE EUCHARIST

THE MIRACLE OF LANCIANO 

Oldest Recorded Eucharistic Miracle

Lanciano is a small, medieval town , along the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The name of the town means "THE LANCE".  According to tradition, Longinus, who thrust the Lance into the side of Jesus, striking Him in His Heart from which He shed blood and water, (Mk 15:29)) was from this town. 

In this city, around the year 700 A.D., a Basilian monk was celebrating the Mass.  He had been plagued with doubts about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. As he began to say the words of the consecration (This is My Body, This is my Blood), he saw the host change into living flesh, and the wine change into live blood.  The Host, which still can be seen distinctly to this day, is the same size as the large host used in the Latin Church.  The blood, which coagulated into five globules, corresponds to the five wounds Christ suffered on the cross: those on his hands and feet, and the wound in the side from Longinus' spear.  The Holy Relics can still be seen to this day.

Five separate scientific studies have been performed on the relics.  Here are some of their findings:  The flesh was found to be human striated muscular tissue of the myocardium (the heart wall).  Though over 1250 years old, the flesh was found to be absolutely free of any agents used to preserve flesh.  The flesh is a cross section slice of a heart.  The myocardium, endocardium, vagus nerve and the left ventrical of the heart are all visible (a complete heart in its basic structure).  The blood globules are type AB (the same blood type found on the Shroud of Turin).  The percentage of people in Lanciano with AB blood type ranges from 0.5% to 1.0%.  In Palestine and the Middle East it is 14-15%.  Proteins found in the blood were found to be the same as proteins only found in fresh blood. These proteins are usually gone within 30 minutes, but here they are - present over 1250 years later.

The World Health Organization (WHO) appointed a scientific committee to verify these findings.  500 examinations were carried out over a period of 15 months.  The conclusions of all of the World Health researchers confirmed these findings.

DISCOVER CATHOLIC MIRACLES


THE REAL PRESENCE*CHRIST IN THE EUCHARIST 
Documented  Eucharistic Miracles Approved by the Catholic Church.  Presents evidence attesting to their authenticity.


LIVE EUCHARISTIC MIRACLE VIDEOS


LIVE ONLINE EUCHARISTIC ADORATION -  Provides the opportunity for anyone to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament at anytime, particularly for those who don't have adoration in their Parish, or for those who are homebound.