On Sunday April 24th 1994, Pope John Paul II recommended this prayer, of our patron saint to be used by all Catholics as a prayer for the Church when he said:

‘”May prayer strengthen us for the spiritual battle we are told about in the Letter to the Ephesians: ‘Draw strength from the Lord and from His mighty power’ (Ephesians 6:10). The Book of Revelation refers to this same battle, recalling before our eyes the image of St. Michael the Archangel (Revelation 12:7). Pope Leo XIII certainly had a very vivid recollection of this scene when, at the end of the last century, he introduced a special prayer to St. Michael throughout the Church. Although this prayer is no longer recited at the end of Mass, I ask everyone not to forget it and to recite it to obtain help in the battle against forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world.“‘

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, Satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen

 

 

 

CATHOLIC BISHOPS CALL FOR PRAYER FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

                WASHINGTON-The Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), at its March 13-14 meeting in Washington, called for a nationwide prayer campaign for protection of religious freedom and conscience rights from several threats, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandate that forces employers, including religious ones, to provide contraception/sterilization in their health plans.

            “We call upon the Catholic faithful, and all people of faith, throughout our country to join us in prayer and penance for our leaders and for the restoration of our First Freedom-religious liberty-which is not only protected in the laws and customs of our great Nation, but rooted in the teachings of our great Tradition,” the bishops said in “United for Religious Freedom” a March 14 statement. “Prayer is the ultimate source of our strength-for without God, we can do nothing; but with God, all things are possible.”

            To support the effort, the USCCB has posted prayer resources at www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/conscience-protection/resources-on-conscience-protection.cfm.

            The heart of the campaign is a new “Prayer for Religious Liberty” prayer cards, in English and Spanish, and available electronically. They can be downloaded by clicking the link above.

            The full text of “United for Religious Freedom,” prayer campaign resources, and related  information on religious liberty and conscience rights, are at www.usccb.org/conscience.

Source: DD,DioNewspaper,Sec,Catholicpress,AP,RNS,Crux

            As you know, since January there has been much attention to our efforts to address the very troubling Health and Human Services (HHS) coercive mandate requiring almost all private health plans to cover contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs.  For the first time in our nation?s history, the federal government will force religious institutions to facilitate drugs and procedures contrary to our moral teaching.  And it will purport to define which religious institutions are ?religious enough? to merit an exemption.

            While the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has had to respond quickly to many urgent situations with the Administration, Congress and the media, we certainly want to be responsive to our people in the pews.  The Conference has been working to develop a series of bulletin inserts to address a wide range of issues from our concerns over religious liberty to the Church’s teachings.

 April-May-USCCB-Religious-Liberty-Bulletin-Insert-ENG

Source: USCCB Pro-Life Secretariat 

A Statement on Religious Liberty-Our First Most Cherished Liberty

Source: USCCB Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty 

The resources above may be downloaded and used in solidarity with the bishops’ call to penance and prayer to restore religious freedom & conscience protections.

 

 BEATIFICATION OF

POPE JOHN PAUL II

On May 1, 2011, Pope John Paul II will be beatified at a ceremony in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. The USCCB has set up a Web page with information about the beatification and about Pope John Paul II http://www.usccb.org/popejohnpaulii/. On the occasion of the beatification of Pope John Paul II, Benedict XVI reflected that John Paul II “interpreted for us the paschal mystery as a mystery of divine mercy.  In his last book, he wrote:  The limit imposed upon evil is ultimately Divine Mercy (Memory and Identity, pp.60-61).  And reflecting on the assassination attempt, he said:  ‘In sacrificing himself for us all, Christ gave a new meaning to suffering, opening up a new dimension, a new order:  the order of love….It is this suffering which burns and consumes evil with the flame of love and draws forth even from sin a great flowering of good (pp. 189-190).”

 

 

Click the link for the Liturgical Calendar and Mass Readings for Liturgical Year 2012 provided by the USCCB. You can also hear daily readings and view daily reflections by clicking the links below.

 Roman Liturgical Calendar with Daily Mass Readings

• Daily Readings — Audio
• Daily Reflections — Video

 

Aloha from Hawaii:

 Thanks to the wonders of the internet I was able to find mass readings for September on your website.  I was only finding Sundays, but needed some Friday and Saturday readings as well.   

 Mahalo for having this up!!!  You have really helped me out way over here in the middle of the ocean!

Aloha!

Aly