Memo From Msgr Raun Wed April 15
My dear family in the Lord,
The Lord is risen. ALLELUIA !
"According to several Catholic theologians and apologists, there’s a new trend in Scripture scholarship. That trend is away from the skepticism and suspicion of the past four decades toward an acceptance of the Gospels and toward the fact that Christ’s resurrection is the only explanation that makes sense.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “the mystery of Christ’s resurrection is a real event, with manifestations that were historically verified, as the New Testament bears witness” (CCC 639)....
“The compelling evidence for me is the unanimous testimony of all the apostles and even a former persecutor like St. Paul,” said Brant Pitre, assistant professor of theology at Our Lady of Holy Cross College in New Orleans. “There was no debate in the first century over whether Jesus was resurrected or not.”
Scholars say that the witnesses to Christ’s resurrection are compelling for a variety of reasons. “People will seldom die even for what they know to be true. Twelve men don’t give up their lives for a lie,” ..."The fundamental conviction in a scientific age with our post-enlightenment views is that these things didn’t happen,” said Barber. “People have determined that any source that talks about resurrection is unreliable and rule it out. What kind of science is that? You don’t just dispense with evidence that you don’t like...." Skeptics discount the resurrection, said Catholic apologist Dave Armstrong, because no one saw the event itself. Yet, Armstrong pointed out, “not many people witness murders, either, but we manage to scrounge up enough evidence to punish murderers. Nobody witnessed the Big Bang or the whole process of macroevolution, but atheists and agnostics have no trouble believing in those things.”....
“The resurrection is a mystery. We can’t demonstrate the mysteries of faith empirically. We don’t know all the details, we just know the tomb was empty,” said Barber. “The mysteries go beyond reason.”
- Tim Drake, National Catholic Register, excerpts from "Easter Evidence" Read the whole thing https://web.archive.org/web/20130421144244/http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/2184
(By the way, friends - the National Catholic Register is an excellent source for Catholic news. Msgr. R)
BACK TO NORMAL (so to speak) : Now that Holy Week is over, we will go back to our "normal" quarantine schedule:
9 am - Holy Mass on-line
5:30 pm Confessions in the Adoration Chapel (Monday through Saturday)
6 pm Holy Hour on-line
THE DIVINE MERCY NOVENA will be part of the 6 pm Holy Hour each day this week.
THE CHURCH IS OPEN every day from 7 am to 7 pm, but we are making a little change - only one door, the northwest door (the door near the sacristy) will be open. That way, our maintenance crew only has to sanitize one door, instead of all five. The interior of the church will be sanitized at 12 noon and after 7 pm each day.
PRAISE REPORT: On Good Friday we delivered five Care Kits to people who cannot leave their homes and need the necessities of life. Within minutes, we received these responses:
Ann H. "Just got my delivery. Thank you so much.
"
Mrs. M "A gentleman from St. Thomas Aquinas came and put food outside. I'm just getting it. I had tears in my eyes while bringing it inside my house. God bless you."
We as a parish family are committed to doing our best to provide the necessities of life to those people in our parish who have no way to get out and go shopping on their own during these trying times. These Care Kits are provided free of charge. God bless our Care Kit volunteers and those dear people who have donated to the Care Kit Fund!
If you need a Care Kit, or know someone who does, just call the parish office at 892-1511
NEW ALPHA SERIES! : We are so excited that on April 21 we are going to start a new Alpha series on-line.Alpha is a series of sessions exploring the basics of the Christian faith. Typically run over eleven weeks, each session looks at a different question that people can have about faith and is designed to create conversation. It’s just an open, informal and honest space to explore and discuss life’s big questions together. We will be doing this Alpha on-line, so you have to preregister at stanm.com. Spread the word to anyone you know who is spiritually searching. This pestilence is causing a lot of people to look at the big questions of life. Alpha is just for that. Register Here.
SHARE US ON-LINE on your social media. Download the parish app onto your smart phone or tablet. It the easiest way to receive everything the parish has to enrich your life.
HOLINESS TIP: Meditate on five favorite phrases of one of the great saints of the 20th century, Padre Pio:
1. "You don't have to be worthy, you only have to be willing."
2. "God will never permit anything to happen to us that is not for our greater good."
3. "God will always give us more than we deserve."
4. "Serve the Lord with laughter."
5. "Pray, hope, don't worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayers."
OUR PRAYER FOR THE DAY:
Lord of all life and power,
who through the mighty resurrection of your Son
overcame the old order of sin and death
to make all things new in him:
grant that we, being dead to sin
and alive to you in Jesus Christ,
may reign with him in glory;
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be praise and honor, glory and might,
now and in all eternity.
Amen.
I send you my fatherly blessing, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen !
Msgr. Doug Raun
The Lord is risen. ALLELUIA !
"According to several Catholic theologians and apologists, there’s a new trend in Scripture scholarship. That trend is away from the skepticism and suspicion of the past four decades toward an acceptance of the Gospels and toward the fact that Christ’s resurrection is the only explanation that makes sense.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “the mystery of Christ’s resurrection is a real event, with manifestations that were historically verified, as the New Testament bears witness” (CCC 639)....
“The compelling evidence for me is the unanimous testimony of all the apostles and even a former persecutor like St. Paul,” said Brant Pitre, assistant professor of theology at Our Lady of Holy Cross College in New Orleans. “There was no debate in the first century over whether Jesus was resurrected or not.”
Scholars say that the witnesses to Christ’s resurrection are compelling for a variety of reasons. “People will seldom die even for what they know to be true. Twelve men don’t give up their lives for a lie,” ..."The fundamental conviction in a scientific age with our post-enlightenment views is that these things didn’t happen,” said Barber. “People have determined that any source that talks about resurrection is unreliable and rule it out. What kind of science is that? You don’t just dispense with evidence that you don’t like...." Skeptics discount the resurrection, said Catholic apologist Dave Armstrong, because no one saw the event itself. Yet, Armstrong pointed out, “not many people witness murders, either, but we manage to scrounge up enough evidence to punish murderers. Nobody witnessed the Big Bang or the whole process of macroevolution, but atheists and agnostics have no trouble believing in those things.”....
“The resurrection is a mystery. We can’t demonstrate the mysteries of faith empirically. We don’t know all the details, we just know the tomb was empty,” said Barber. “The mysteries go beyond reason.”
- Tim Drake, National Catholic Register, excerpts from "Easter Evidence" Read the whole thing https://web.archive.org/web/20130421144244/http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/2184
(By the way, friends - the National Catholic Register is an excellent source for Catholic news. Msgr. R)
BACK TO NORMAL (so to speak) : Now that Holy Week is over, we will go back to our "normal" quarantine schedule:
9 am - Holy Mass on-line
5:30 pm Confessions in the Adoration Chapel (Monday through Saturday)
6 pm Holy Hour on-line
THE DIVINE MERCY NOVENA will be part of the 6 pm Holy Hour each day this week.
THE CHURCH IS OPEN every day from 7 am to 7 pm, but we are making a little change - only one door, the northwest door (the door near the sacristy) will be open. That way, our maintenance crew only has to sanitize one door, instead of all five. The interior of the church will be sanitized at 12 noon and after 7 pm each day.
PRAISE REPORT: On Good Friday we delivered five Care Kits to people who cannot leave their homes and need the necessities of life. Within minutes, we received these responses:
Ann H. "Just got my delivery. Thank you so much.
"Mrs. M "A gentleman from St. Thomas Aquinas came and put food outside. I'm just getting it. I had tears in my eyes while bringing it inside my house. God bless you."
We as a parish family are committed to doing our best to provide the necessities of life to those people in our parish who have no way to get out and go shopping on their own during these trying times. These Care Kits are provided free of charge. God bless our Care Kit volunteers and those dear people who have donated to the Care Kit Fund!
If you need a Care Kit, or know someone who does, just call the parish office at 892-1511
NEW ALPHA SERIES! : We are so excited that on April 21 we are going to start a new Alpha series on-line.Alpha is a series of sessions exploring the basics of the Christian faith. Typically run over eleven weeks, each session looks at a different question that people can have about faith and is designed to create conversation. It’s just an open, informal and honest space to explore and discuss life’s big questions together. We will be doing this Alpha on-line, so you have to preregister at stanm.com. Spread the word to anyone you know who is spiritually searching. This pestilence is causing a lot of people to look at the big questions of life. Alpha is just for that. Register Here.
SHARE US ON-LINE on your social media. Download the parish app onto your smart phone or tablet. It the easiest way to receive everything the parish has to enrich your life.
HOLINESS TIP: Meditate on five favorite phrases of one of the great saints of the 20th century, Padre Pio:
1. "You don't have to be worthy, you only have to be willing."
2. "God will never permit anything to happen to us that is not for our greater good."
3. "God will always give us more than we deserve."
4. "Serve the Lord with laughter."
5. "Pray, hope, don't worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayers."
OUR PRAYER FOR THE DAY:
Lord of all life and power,
who through the mighty resurrection of your Son
overcame the old order of sin and death
to make all things new in him:
grant that we, being dead to sin
and alive to you in Jesus Christ,
may reign with him in glory;
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be praise and honor, glory and might,
now and in all eternity.
Amen.
I send you my fatherly blessing, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen !
Msgr. Doug Raun
Posted in Daily Memo from Msgr. Raun
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