A voice came to St. Anthony saying, “Antony, I was here, but I was waiting to watch your struggle. But now, since you have bravely held your own in this fight, I will always help you…” (St. Athanasius, “Life of Antony”).
“For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
St. Anthony of Egypt, pray fo us! “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Today is the feast of St. Hilary, who, raised a pagan, found God in his encounter with Scriptures and would go on to become bishop of Poitiers in France and a great fighter of the Arian heresy. St. Hilary is a great example for us of how Scripture should guide our lives.
Are you taking time to read and pray with the Scriptures every day? If not, include this activity with your resolutions for 2011…it’s not too late! You’ll be surprised what God has in store for you when you take time to read the story of Christ’s life–to see how you fit into it!
CCH highly recommends Dr. Edward Sri’s new book, A Biblical Walk through the Mass, from Ascension Press.
“As Catholics, the Mass is the center of our Faith. We celebrate it every day. We know all the responses. We know all the gestures. But do we know what it all means?…” Read more and get your copy here.
CatholicTV out of Boston received a CatholicsComeHome.org testimonial letter which was recently featured on their “This is the Day” program:
The letter, pictured to the left, says:
“Watching TV one night, I came across Catholic TV and “Going My Way.” No matter what, I had to watch that program every day. Then I began to see other wonderful programs and Holy Mass. Then I kept seeing Catholics Come Home®. I think God was working on me because I went home to where I belonged – The Catholic Church”
This January, when making your resolutions for 2011, don’t forget to include the most important type of goals for your life: the spiritual ones.
Perhaps you can commit to a deeper prayer life, more time spent in the adoration chapel, more frequent self-sacrifice (like fasting), attending daily Mass more often, etc.
On January 1st, Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI reminded religious leaders around the world of the commitment that must be made to continually seek peace among nations. “I invite all of you to join in heartfelt prayer to Christ the Prince of Peace for an end to violence and conflict wherever they are found,” the Holy Father declared. This year, let us all incorporate prayers for peace into our ‘spiritual plans’ so that we may do our part to spread God’s love and peace in our world today.
FOX Charlotte Reports about the Catholics Come Home® Initiative:
Effort To Bring Catholics Back To Church
By Marvin Beach December 30, 2010
CHARLOTTE, NC – You may have noticed ads like this airing across the Charlotte area.
“Catholics Come Home®” is part of an ongoing national campaign that’s currently focusing on our area. “The whole idea of the commercials is to invite those Catholics who may have not been practicing their faith for awhile to come back,” says Father John Putnam.
Putnam is leading the effort in the Charlotte area.
He says only a third of US Catholics attend mass on a weekly basis.
That’s a big concern for church leaders. Steeped in tradition, the church has dealt with several scandals in recent years. Overall though, local church attendance is still going up. That number has kept rising because of the increasing population in Charlotte and across Western North Carolina.
In the year 2000, around 73,000 people attended mass weekly in Western North Carolina, including Charlotte. 78,000 in 2005, a slight dip from the year before. And around 93,000 in 2010.
Leaders say that number could be even higher. They hope those who’ve left will give the church another look.
“Our main goal is just to get folks to come by renew their commitment to the church, see what the church is about, and renew their relationship with God, who loves them and wants the best for them,” Putnam says.
And they’re doing it through one of the most powerful ways to reach people who’ve drifted away.
TV ads aimed at bringing lapsed Catholics back into the fold have enjoyed enormous success recently with an estimated 200,000 returning to churches throughout the U.S. as a result of the campaign. Featuring high-resolution TV ads with lush colors and powerful imagery, Catholics Come Home® – an initiative of business entrepreneur Tom Peterson – has teamed up with local dioceses in the U.S. to bring people back into the Church.
Peterson told EWTN News Dec. 16 that Catholics Come Home® “has been blessed with amazing results” over the last two and a half years as over 200,000 individuals, whether lapsed Catholics or otherwise, have joined their local parishes.
“We’ve heard amazing stories of conversions from atheism,” as well as individuals from Protestant denominations coming into the Catholic Church, he said.
The vast majority, though, are “’reverts’ – people coming back to their faith,” Peterson noted.
He explained that the group concentrates their ad campaigns yearly during the seasons of Advent and Lent. The ads are divided into categories that focus on the “history, beauty, spirituality and accomplishments” of the Church, as well as individual testimonials. The commercials also refer viewers to the group’s website where they can ask questions and get in touch with their local dioceses. Though the ads are focused primarily in the U.S., but interest has been shown in Australia and Poland.
“Probably by the end of Lent (2011), we’ll have reached 40 million people – secular television viewers – with these messages,” Peterson said.
The Christmas initiative, which kicks off Dec. 17, is the perfect time of year to show the ads as a lot of families are home for the holiday and television viewing is high, he said.
“It’s a great psychological, spiritual and evangelical time to reach these souls,” Peterson added.
Diocesan partners, such as the Archdiocese of Chicago, have a thorough approach in their outreach using the initiative during Christmas time.
Nancy Polacek, coordinator of Catholics Come Home® Chicago, said the group is collaborating with the Joliet and Rockford dioceses to offer a number of resources to help people connect to parishes. Aside from the TV ads, they have a website set up where people can order prayer cards and brochures, learn about religious education or other programs.
“We try to send something out by e-mail to all the parishes every week, and then it’s all posted online if they want to get more of something,”Polacek told the Chicago archdiocesan paper, Catholic New World.
The TV ads will run from Dec. 17 through Jan. 17 on stations throughout the area. Poster ads aimed specifically at young adult commuters will follow the TV campaign.
The Catholic New World reported that the Chicago archdiocese decided to continue with Catholics Come Home® after parishes reported positive experiences from last year’s campaign, including more people attending Mass and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
As families begin to gather within the next week for the holidays, Peterson said that those who’ve left the Church should be reminded that God loves them, has a plan for them, and that “once a baptized Catholic, always a Catholic – whether practicing or not” applies to them.
“There is a big Catholic family that loves you and misses you,” Peterson said. “It’s a wonderful adventure – you have nothing to lose and everything to gain – and we say ‘welcome home.’”
In preparation for the Advent of Christ, reflect on this excerpt by our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI about the true joy of Christmas:
“Joy is the true gift of Christmas, not the expensive gifts that call for time and money. We can communicate this joy simply: with a smile, a kind gesture, a little help, forgiveness. And the joy we give will certainly come back to us.…Let us pray that this presence of the liberating joy of God shines forth in our lives.”
Some thoughts by Pope Benedict XVI on evangelization:
“How many people also in our time are in search of God, in search of Jesus and of his Church, in search of divine mercy, and are waiting for a “sign” that will touch their minds and their hearts! Today, as then, the Evangelist reminds us that the only “sign” is Jesus raised on the cross: Jesus who died and rose is the absolutely sufficient sign. Through him we can understand the truth about life and obtain salvation.”
“[Evangelization] is not something optional, but the very vocation of the People of God, a duty that corresponds to it by the command of the Lord Jesus Christ himself”
“One of the promising indications of a renewal in the Church’s missionary consciousness in recent decades, has been the growing desire of many lay men and women […] to cooperate generously in the ‘missio ad gentes.’ As Vatican Council II stressed, the work of evangelization is a fundamental duty incumbent upon the whole People of God.”
St. Anthony of Egypt is well-known for boldly engaging in spiritual warfare.
(like fasting), attending daily Mass more often, etc.
In preparation for the Advent of Christ, reflect on this excerpt by our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI about the true joy of Christmas:
us that the only “sign” is Jesus raised on the cross: Jesus who died and rose is the absolutely sufficient sign. Through him we can understand the truth about life and obtain salvation.”