Awake Mankind for your sake God has become man! Bethlehem the House of Bread!

"Awake you who sleep, rise up from the dead and Christ will enlighten you! We would suffer everlasting unhappiness and would not have returned to life if God had not shared in our death, We would certainly perish if God had not taken on our flesh and became man. So let us rejoice in the birth of our salvation and redemption. Let us celebrate this festive day for He who is the great eternal day came from the endless day of eternity into our own short day of time. For what greater grace could God had made to dawn on us than to make his only son become man. He became man so that man in his turn could become sons and daughters of God! Let us as Christians remember our great dignity! Now that we share in God's own nature, let us pray for grace not return by sin to our former base conditions. Let us bear in mind who is our head and whose body we are members. Do not forget we have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of God's kingdom. Through the sacrament of baptism we are temples of the Holy Spirit. Let us not drive away so great a guest by our evil conduct and become again a slave to the devil, for our liberty is brought by the blood of Christ." 
Paraphrased from the Office of Readings for Dec 24  a Sermon by St Augustine titled Truth has arisen from the Earth and on  Dec 25th a Sermon by St. Leo the Great, Christian remember your Dignity.

Bethlehem the House of Bread

The old Hebrew name bêth lehem,

meaning "house of bread"

has survived till the present  day!

Image from  Holy Cards Museum

The Infancy Narratives 
surrounding the Birth of Jesus foreshadow the Blessed Sacrament!

 After Jesus was born Our Lady wrapped him in swaddling-clothes and laid him in a manger, a place where animals were fed because there was no room for them in the inn. The manger represents the wood of the cross his future sacrifice in time for our sins. The manger also foreshadows the altars in every Catholic church.  Here Jesus becomes incarnate again, this time hidden not in the flesh of a human nature but in the form of bread.  At the words of consecration during every Holy Mass Jesus is born again and immolated.  We are present at Bethlehem and at Calvary

Imagine that brute animals ate from the manger the creator of the world slept in! This scene showed us that God would feed his own creatures with the manna of His own Body and Blood so that we would be capable of entering into eternal life with Him. What a great gift of sheer grace for mortal man to become immortal with God!

  

The Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas once wrote: “Material food first of all turns itself into the person who eats it, and as a consequence, restores his losses and increases his vital energies. Spiritual food, on the other hand, turns the person who eats it into Itself, and thus the proper effect of the Eucharistic sacrament is the conversion of man into Christ, so that he may no longer live for himself, but that Christ may live in Him. We become sons and daughters of God.  St. Augustine, recorded similar words which he heard in the Spirit from the Lord. We find them in the account of his conversion, the Confession: “I am the food of grown men. Grow, and you shall feed upon me. You will not change me into yourself, as you change food into your flesh, but you will be changed into me!”

 He came unto His own 

and His own received Him not! 

"This is the judgment: that the light has entered the world, and men have preferred darkness to light because their deeds were evil. Everybody who does wrong hates the light and keeps away from it, for fear his deeds may be exposed. But everybody who is living by the truth will come to the light to make it plain that all he has done has been done through God." John 3:19-21

Church of the Nativity the star  indicates where Jesus was born

This verse is more applicable today than it was at the time of Our Lord's birth! Today at Christmas it is in the Blessed Sacrament that we can say that His own receive him not!  Many take no heed of the gift God offers of Himself to men in this sacrament.  Consequently, they do not approach the table of the Lord to be spiritually fed. Others receive him but are not prepared through sacramental confession so they are not free from sin. They do not recognize the body and blood of Christ the Word, the second person of the Trinity, who became flesh to unite himself to our flesh. They do not discern THE HIDDEN JESUS underneath the sacramental veil. Sin has blinded them.  Yes they receive but the effects on their souls are different. Those prepared to enter into communion with Christ receive unto eternal life.  Those: "Who eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment (damnation) to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord."         1 Corinthians 11:27

Jesus in his public ministry

    Calls himself the Bread of Life!

John 6:48-53

I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eats of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. 

If you read further in this passage you see that many of the disciples think this a “hard teaching” and they “walked with him no more.”  And Jesus let them leave. He did not stop to tell them he was only kidding he let them leave. Afterward, Jesus turned to the Apostles and asked if they would leave also? Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life.” Unfortunately, we see this exact scenario today. Many Christians have left  the Church  or worse remain within her ranks and desecrate the Blessed Sacrament.   Intentional  desecration is not only a mortal sin but also incurs the penalty of excommunication latae sententiae. They don’t believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and are destroying the faith of others by their bad examples. 

  

The battle of the light 
against the darkness!

 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. Ps 90:8

Christmas is a joyful season  of light for those with faith. But we cannot pretend like one sleeping that the world continues to sit on a precipice prefer darkness to light. So many dangers stand before us in the world. Disasters man made and God sent in nature.  Will we heed the Angels warnings at Fatima in 1916 of the need to make reparation to Our Eucharistic Lord for the outrages, sacrileges and in differences by which He is offended? 

Will we hear the plea from the Heart of Mary: " To amend our lives and stop offending the Lord for He is already grievously offended? Or, will we go merrily on our way without a care, right up to the chastisements sure to come, prefigured in the miracle of the sun. 

Let us Awake Now 
let Christ the true Light 
of the world enlighten you!

Once more let us hear the cry to Awake. Awake now, you who sleep, rise up from the death of sin and Christ will enlighten you! We would suffer everlasting unhappiness and would not have hope to return to life if God had not shared in our death. Let us prepare the way for the new spring time of faith that Bl. John Paul II and other holy souls saw from a distance. Let us prepare first and foremost by Eucharistic reparation. It is a spiritual battle we are in and we  must use the spiritual weapons the church has given us. Including the Rosary our spiritual machine gun. If every Catholic committed to one 5 decade rosary every day that battle would be won. Families give up an hour of TV and pray for each others needs for the church and our country. We have to account to God for time ill spent!

God himself will fight for us the battle to dispel the darkness in the world. But we must prove ourselves worthy of His interventions.  God will restore the dignity of human life from conception to natural death.  The devil hates Imago Dei--The image of God in man.  God will help us but we must help Him.  Let us first restore Him to his royal throne in our parish churches and chapels.  Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus who became flesh and slept in a manger in a stable and now dwells with us till the end of time.Jesus the second person of the Holy Trinity---He is not a piece of bread to be trampled under our feet because we no longer recognize Him in the particles that fall from our hands.  or worse in the particles we leave behind in unpurified pyx's and those who do so carry God into unspeakable places. May God forgive our spiritual blindness. Pray for priests and for bishops who do nothing and let the evils continue.  The priests for those they appoint to be Eucharistic ministers and bishops for all the Eucharistic Ministers in their dioceses. They will have to account for every lost particle on judgement day.

Fatima Begins and Will End with the Eucharist

Particles of the Blessed Sacrament   

Let us Pray  

O most loving and Blessed Infant  Jesus, great God Lord of Heaven and Earth, who clothed and hid your divine majesty under a wonderful semblance of a child, and hide yourself today in our tabernacles day and night for our Divine food and consolation in this valley of tears. Your divine presence before whom the powers of Heaven tremble, and  might kings of the earth bow, and evil spirits under the earth must bend. You became little as a child and in the Host that we might love you more ardently and serve you more faithfully That we may follow your example in childlike purity and love. I a poor sinner love you as the highest and most loving God and entrust myself to your infinite goodness. Teach me Jesus after your example to love humility and to crush my pride; to desire to grow in virtue and in childlike trust. Direct me Jesus and rule me, make me virtuous, so that I may please You and be little in this world and great in the next. Jesus meek and humble of heart! Make our hearts like unto thine! 

The light still shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never 
(will never) put it out.  John 1:5

Christmas Blessings to one and all! 

Also see:
A Call to Eucharistic Reparation Fatima Begins and ends with Eucharist!

The Eucharistic Miracle of Gruaro, Italy Part 1

In Gruaro, Italy there is another Eucharistic Miracle with a forgotten particle of the Host!

The Eucharistic Miracle of Gruaro Italy, 1294 Part 2  
 Revised Priests and Religious Help stop the Abuses!


Take and Drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Repair their crimes and console your God!

Eucharistic Miracles Vatican International Exhibition  A Photographic Exhibition of Church Approved Eucharistic Miracles from 750 A.D. - 2001

St. Joseph's Humble Appearance at Fatima Announces A Crisis of Fatherhood in Society and the Church!

St. Joseph is the  Father of the New Evangelization!

It is not well known that Saint Joseph had a special role in preparation of Vatican II.  St. Pope John XXIII chose St Joseph as a protector of the Council, in his Apostolic Letter of March 19, 1961 Le voci che da tutti.  In addition at the closing of the first session of the second Vatican Council on Dec. 8, 1962, St. John XXIII, inserted St Joseph into the Canon of the Mass. Currently the patron of second Vatican Council who appeared during the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima is now called the “Father of the New Evangelization” and “the holy patron of the third millennium."

 

St. Joseph, Fatima and Fatherhood 

St. Joseph  was named Patron of the Universal Church  and protector of the the second Vatican Council in 1960. This event in the unfolding of providence  linked Fatima and the 3rd secret  with the second Vatican Council and the cold war.  However, those living at the time did not make the correlations with Fatima and the council. The pope probably did as he read the secret and decided not to reveal it. It was within his right as Christs Vicar not wanting to give the enemies of the church reason to fulfill a prophecy. Those who detracted the pope for this are in error!   

Most people are unaware that St. Joseph also appeared at Fatima during the Miracle of the Sun. The children saw him while the crowd beheld the stupendous miracle of the sun.  Lucia Writes: "Our Lady having disappeared in the immensity of the firmament, we saw, beside the sun, Saint Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady clothed in white with a blue mantle. Saint Joseph and the Child Jesus seemed to bless the world with gestures which they made with their hands in the form of a cross. Soon after, that apparition having ceased, I saw Our Lord and Our Lady, Who gave me the impression of being Our Lady of Sorrows. Our Lord seemed to bless the world in the same manner as Saint Joseph. That apparition disappeared and it seemed to me that I saw Our Lady again, this time as Our Lady of Mount Carmel!"  

Throughout history there have been supernatural apparitions and signs which, to the surprise of believers and non-believers alike, play their part in the unfolding of human history. Fatima falls in this category.  There is a deep significance in  the apparition in its historical context but there is also a deeper hidden significance that can only, be discovered in  prayer and meditation. Over tine the church with the help of the Holy Spirit reflects on the supernatural mysteries surrounding the apparitions uncovering hidden mysteries hidden for another time in the unfolding of providence. She discovers the finger of God writing  on the wall  within the symbols and events taking place.They are not coincidences! God has a purpose in everything he does. A message to proclaim at the time of the appearances as well as within the historical context sometimes for a later time. Prophecy in the symbols not with words

The presence of St. Joseph at Fatima falls in this category.  Sr. Lucia requested the 3rd secret of Fatima to be opened and read in 1960.  She said it would be more apparent then.  In 1960 Kennedy ran for president, and one of his key election issues was an alleged "missile gap"with Russia.  We were sinking deeper into the Cold War with Russia and threatened at this time with one of the Fatima  prophecies of the annihilation of nations. 

The symbolism's contained within the recently revealed portions of the 3rd secret are also prophetic in nature pointing to a possible future calamity or apocalypse if men do not stop offending God. Taken in conjunction with the prophetic aspect of the three Rosary scenes shown to the children during the miracle of the sun, it is plausible to see a foreshadowing of some new evil which would produce repercussions on a cosmic scale, the worst evil in the history of Christianity according to Msgr. Joseph Cirrincione: namely, the universal rejection of the Fatherhood of God.

Fatherhood, Family Under Attack            

  St. Joseph, Fatima and Fatherhood    

by Msgr. Joseph Cirrincione

 According to Msgr. Cirrincione, that which is the common denominator, the future event which this scene foreshadowed during the miracle of the sun is the role of fatherhood. He is led without any doubt to this conclusion because in that last vision at Fatima. St. Joseph was holding the Child Jesus in his arms and both of them were blessing the world, while Our Lady looked on. Msgr. Joseph goes on:  "In the convulsions of the sun I see an ominous foreshadowing of the consequences for the world which are sure to be felt if the true Fatherhood of God and the traditional, strong role of the father of the family are rejected by mankind.  St. Joseph was the head of the Holy Family not because he was the holiest member of it. In fact, in that respect he was the least. Nor was he the head because he had been chosen by agreement of the other two members. He was the head of the Holy Family because he was the FATHER of the family. And as father he represented God the Father.

"The combination of this practical atheism and secularism, which amounts to an official rejection of God's Fatherhood or authority, is a first in the history of the Christian era, foreshadowed by the 'Miracle of the Sun' at Fatima in 1917. Rejection of the Fatherhood of God by the vast majority of mankind inevitably has set in motion a chain reaction of consequences affecting fatherhood.  Since human fatherhood, as a reflection of the Fatherhood of God,  and was designed to be the pillar of the family, the disappearance of esteem for fathers and fatherhood has led to the collapse of that pillar and thus to the disintegration of the family. Since the family is the fundamental unit of society, the disintegration of the family inexorably leads to the disintegration of society itself."

The spirit of Anti-Fatherhood 

Entered the Church! 

" Recognition of the fatherhood of the Vicar of Christ, the Pope, has eroded to an alarming degree. Like the lip service paid to religion by secularist governments, a certain outward respect is still paid to the Holy Father. However, his authority in faith and morals is openly rejected by many who still consider themselves to be Catholics. Some priests, have bartered the respect they have enjoyed for years as spiritual fathers, for a mess of pottage -- to be considered "pals' of their people, dressing and acting like laity.  Read  more: St. Joseph, Fatima and Fatherhood

  Humanae Vitae  

Controversial & Crucial for Humanity's Future

Three years after the closing of the Second Vatican Council On July 25, 1968.  Paul VI issued the encyclical Humanae Vitae  on Human Life.  Subtitled "On the Regulation of Birth", the encyclical re-affirmed the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church regarding abortion, contraception, and other issues pertaining to human life. The encyclical has been controversial because of its prohibition of all forms of artificial contraception, and did not set will with the new cultural revolution taking place. Pope Paul VI did not issue any additional encyclicals in the remaining ten years of his pontificate.   

In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI called the encyclical  on Humane Vitea "so controversial, yet so crucial for humanity's future." Humanae Vitae became " a sign of contradiction but also of continuity of the Church's doctrine and tradition... What was true yesterday is true also today.

Our Lady told Lucia that if her requests are not honored, many souls will be lost, "the Holy Father will have much to suffer, there will be further wars and persecutions of the Church and "various nations will be annihilated."  The annihilation of nations predicted at Fatima has not yet occurred, but many fear that it will soon happen. Could America be threatened and fall prey to communism without a war? Look at what is happening  today in light of the New Health Care Mandate with Freedom of Religion at stake!   We are undergoing a spiritual annihilation of sorts? How many nations  in once Christian Europe have already fallen in this spiritual battle because we rejected the teachings of Paul VI in the encyclical on Humanae Vitea? Christian Europe is fast becoming Muslim because Christians no longer reproduce themselves and abort their offspring. 

The people themselves are responsible

"Since we did not heed this appeal of the Message, we see that it has been fulfilled, Russia has invaded the world with her errors. And if we have not yet seen the complete fulfillment of the final part of this prophecy, we are going towards it little by little with great strides. If we do not reject the path of sin, hatred, revenge, injustice, violations of the rights of the human person, immorality and violence, etc.-And let us not say that it is God who is punishing us in this way; on the contrary it is people themselves who are preparing their own punishment. In his kindness God warns us and calls us to the right path, while respecting the freedom he has given us; hence people are responsible”.   Sister Lucia letter to pope-1982

Tarcisio Bertone, SDB  Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2000   said that "Our Lady, who appeared at Fatima, recalls these forgotten values. She reminds us that man's future is in God, and that we are active and responsible partners in creating that future."

The vision of St. Joseph and the Infant Jesus blessing the world, with Mary by the side of the sun hurtling towards the earth, is God's assurance that although men are free to reject Him, God will never reject man. In describing the father of the prodigal son in His famous parable, Jesus was actually describing His own Eternal Father. God the Father is ever waiting for sinners in particular and mankind in general to return to Him and His law. And as the principal theme at Fatima would indicate, the road by which the prodigal world will someday return to God the Father is called the Way of the Immaculate Heart of Mary whether one believes in Fatima or not!"  Quote from  St. Joseph, Fatima, and Fatherhood

Its up to us what happens!

Benedict XVI on  June 26, 2000, commented on the third secret of Fatima as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. “The vision (3rd Secret)  then shows the power which stands opposed to the force of destruction  the splendor of the Mother of God and, stemming from this in a certain way, the summons to penance. In this way, the importance of human freedom is underlined: the future is not in fact unchangeable set, the image which the children saw is in no way a film preview of a future in which nothing can be changed. Indeed, the whole point of the vision is to bring freedom onto the scene and to steer freedom in a positive direction. ... Its meaning is to mobilize the forces of change in the right direction. Therefore we must totally discount fatalistic explanations of the 'secret,' such as, for example, the claim that the would-be assassin of May 13 1981 was merely an instrument of the divine plan guided by Providence. ... Rather, the vision speaks of dangers and how we might be saved from them."

Pope Benedict XVI said  that he went to Fatima to confess to the Virgin that he “loves her”, to pray for mankind “afflicted by so much misery and suffering” and to pray for priests. ...saying also that whomever thinks the prophecy of Fatima is fulfilled is mistaken”, because the Virgin is the one who can change a person’s heart, when facing death and fear. At a time when the human family was ready to sacrifice all that was most sacred on the altar of the petty selfish interests of nations, races, ideologies, groups and individuals, our Blessed Mother came from heaven.” Benedict XVI Fatima 2010

  St Joseph Patron of the Church

© Speramus-We Hope

St Joseph is also invoked as the Patron of the Universal Church in apt recognition of his strength and fortitude. God the father gave St. Joseph the most exalted duty of protecting the Sacred Humanity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who would redeem mankind and endow it with the most perfect and ultimate gift of Eternal Life through His Passion death and resurrection. To fulfill His Divine mission, God the Father entrusted His Son to the paternal care of St. Joseph.  St. Joseph is the epitome of a pure man: pure in thought, pure in heart; pure in body and soul – destined to be the most chaste spouse of Mary Most Holy conceived without sin. 

The Catholic Church, born from the water that gushed forth from Jesus' side, and nurtured by the maternal love of Our Lady, sought comfort and protection from the snares and malice of Satan and his followers in the hands of St. Joseph, the terror of demons! We can expect that God also endowed him with an equally proportional grace to carry out such a mission in life. And certainly we can picture him as an icon of manliness and a pillar of strength that would sow fear among the powers of darkness.  Given the noble task under his watch.In recognition of this special place, the Church honors him with the highest veneration next to Mary.

St. Joseph a Model for Priests 

and Consecrated Souls

"On many occasions, Benedict XVI has invited Catholics to learn from the school of Saint Joseph, to have a “spiritual conversation” with him, linked to a renewal of faith.  During the Angelus on December 18, 2005, he said: “It is therefore particularly appropriate in the days that precede Christmas to establish a sort of spiritual conversation with St Joseph, so that he may help us live to the full this great mystery of faith.

"In our meditations on the human and spiritual journey of Saint Joseph let us ponder his vocation in all its richness, and to see him as a constant model for all those who have devoted their lives to Christ in the priesthood, in the consecrated life or in the different forms of lay engagement. Joseph was caught up at every moment by the mystery of the Incarnation. Not only physically, but in his heart as well, Joseph reveals to us the secret of a humanity which dwells in the presence of mystery and is open to that mystery at every moment of everyday life. In Joseph, faith is not separated from action. His faith had a decisive effect on his actions. Paradoxically, it was by acting, by carrying out his responsibilities, that he stepped aside and left God free to act, placing no obstacles in his way. Joseph is a 'just man' (Mt 1:19) because his existence is 'ad-justed' to the word of God.”                                                                               March 18, 2009, in Yaounde, Cameroon    Read more....

Benedict XVI Entrusted Pastors of Universal Church to St. Joseph 
Benedict XVI reflected before the Angelus in December 19, 2010 entrusting to St. Joseph's protection all the priests worldwide. "I would like to entrust all Pastors to St Joseph, the Universal Patron of the Church, while I urge them to offer “Christ’s [humble] words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world."  Stressing his role as legal Father of Jesus in God's plan of salvation. In witnessing to Mary's virginity, and safeguarding the Messiah's earthly life, St. Joseph announces the miracle of the Lord. Let us venerate St Joseph because the new man is outlined in him, who looks with trust and courage to the future. He does not follow his own plans but entrusts himself without reserve to the infinite mercy of the one who will fulfill the prophecies and open the time of salvation"  For more details....

Pope Francis & St. Joseph

The pontificate of Pope Francis began under the sign of St. Joseph father and protector of the Holy Family and the Church. The essential message in the homily that was given by Pope Francis to open his pontificate draws on the image of St. Joseph, spouse of Mary and head of the Holy Family. And that message is to "protect." This message is so  important at a time when the figure of the person who "protects," be he or she a father, a mother, a priest, a scholar, a leader, is under attack -- in a time when the "protection" is entrusted to others, or to none, when the "protectors" are anonymous, or hidden, or when they simply don't exist. To "protect" means to make sure what one protects is not harmed, not hurt. Click link to read more: VIVA LA PAPA! Today,with the feast of Saint Joseph, we are celebrating the beginning of the ministry of the Successor of Peter!

St. Teresa of Avila's devotion to St. Joseph

  ITE AD JOSEPH! --GO TO JOSEPH

"I took for my advocate and lord the glorious Saint Joseph and commended myself earnestly to him; and I found that this my father and lord delivered me both from this trouble and also from other and greater troubles concerning my honor and the loss of my soul, and that he gave me greater blessings than I could ask of him. I do not remember even now that I have ever asked anything of him which he has failed to grant. I am astonished at the great favors which God has bestowed on me through this blessed saint, and at the perils from which He has freed me, both in body and in soul. To other saints the Lord seems to have given grace to succor us in some of our necessities but of this glorious saint my experience is that he succors us in them all and that the Lord wishes to teach us that as He was Himself subject to him on earth (for, being His guardian and being called His father, he could command Him) just so in Heaven He still does all that he asks. This has also been the experience of other persons whom I have advised to commend themselves to him; and even to-day there are many who have great devotion to him through having experienced this truth." "The Autobiography of St. Teresa", ch. 6

A Prayer to St. Joseph

Saint Joseph, I, your unworthy child, greet you. You are the faithful protector and intercessor of  all who love and venerate you. You know that I have special confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I place all my hope of salvation in you, for you are especially powerful with God and will never abandon your faithful servants. Therefore I humbly invoke you and commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession. I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life and to assist me at the hour of my death. Come Holy Father, with Jesus and Mary, to aid me, and obtain for me this only solace which I ask for in that hour, to die encircled by their holy arms. Into your sacred hands living and dying, Jesus, Mary and Joseph I commend my soul.

Addendum: As a Marian Catechist and Secular Carmelite in the world I also went to St. Joseph  in all my needs. He has answered many prayers in desperate moments that have arisen over the years and I wish to thank him once more on his Feast for the many graces and blessings he has obtained for me spiritual and temporal. I am very grateful to him obtaining from God the grace for me to persevere as I await the delayed mercies I have placed in his fatherly care! St.  Joseph foster father of Jesus and spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Ora Pro nobis!

ITE AD JOSEPH! --GO TO JOSEPH!