Dignity/San Fernando Valley

This article has a great surprise ending!

October 7th-Saints Sergio and Bacchus

Happy Michaelmas! And celebrating all the Archangels today.

Sep 11 - Fr. Mychal Judge, OFM icon by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM. Happy Memorial Day Mychal! As Muslim extremists flew highjacked commercial airplanes into the ...towers of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, they screamed, God is Great! to complete their act of self-chosen martyrdom. Thousands of innocent people were killed, of many nationalities and different walks of life. The first official casualty was an elderly Franciscan priest who had just administered the last rites to a fireman who had been struck by the body of a woman who had jumped from the towers. His name was Mychal Judge and he was chaplain of the fire department. The Koran begins with the words, In the name of God most beneficent, most merciful. Most world religions proclaim God’s mercy and compassion. The word martyr comes from the Greek word for witness. Mychal Judge was a true martyr who died bearing witness to God’s mercy and beneficence, after a long life spent in the same way. Fr. Mychal Judge wore his Franciscan habit almost everywhere and rejoiced in his vow of poverty. The holy foolishness of the first Franciscans weaves in and out of the story of his life. As a priest he often sought out and confronted people who had been rebuffed by the harshness of other priests. His chief ministries were to the firemen of New York City, to recovering alcoholics in AA, to people suffering from AIDS, and to Franciscans preparing to make their solemn vows. The word martyr has been twisted out of shape in the 21st century as religious extremists throughout the world try to impose their version of God’s will. This joyful Franciscan friar from New York can remind us of the stuff of which martyrs are really made and challenge us to witness to God’s compassion, however mad our world may seem. https://www.trinitystores.com/artwork/mychal-judge-ofm

Happy Labor Day Wkd 2020!Happy Labor Day Wkd 2020!

We are made in the image and likeness of God. Our soul magnifies the magnificence of God. We are God’s work of art. Accept yourself. We are of value.

A stunning triptych created by a Javier’s brother Iván on exhibit at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico!

Not so solemn Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary!

May God bless you in your search for a new home after all these years, Dignity Detroit!

#Theotokos #mostholytheotokossaveus

Aug 8 - St. Dominic Guzman icon by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM. Happy Feast Day St. Dominic! At a time when clerical wealth and abuse had robbed the Roman church... of credibility, a bright light arose in Spain. He was a quiet person named Dominic Guzman, drawn to prayer and study. At 26 he became a cathedral canon and seemed headed for a predictable life of routine, when his bishop took him along to southern France on a preaching tour. One response to the scandalous behavior of Catholic priests and bishops was the Albigensian movement in France. These people stressed poverty and austerity, but ended up rejecting the entire material world as something evil. Dominic realized that the only effective response to the Albigenses was for Catholic clergy to return to lives of poverty and simplicity and again study theology prayerfully so that they could become effective preachers. Dominic embraced such a life, and founded the Order of Preachers when others began to join him. In this icon Dominic carries a walking staff as a symbol of his tireless journeys throughout southern Europe, preaching the Gospel. He carries his favorite books: The Gospel of Matthew and the Epistles of Paul. Filled with compassion for those who suffered, he once sold his precious books to feed the hungry. "I will not study dead skins when people are dying of hunger." Although he himself led an austere life, he was always radiant and joyful. While Dominic’s response to the Albigenses was to reform his own life and preach the Gospel, Rome’s response was to unleash five years of indiscriminate slaughter in southern France. Both Albigenses and Catholics were slain by Pope Innocent III’s armies, giving that pope the distinction of having murdered more Catholics than Diocletian. Using force to overcome dissent is a constant temptation for church authorities, in the twentieth century no less than the thirteenth. Dominic reminds us that truth is never served by force. Truth draws people to itself gently, by example alone. His feast day is August 8. https://www.trinitystores.com/artwork/st-dominic-guzman

AUGUST is dedicated to the IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY. PRAYER: O Mary, Mystical Rose, whose lovable heart, burning with the living fire of love, adopted us as your children at the foot of the Cross, becoming thus our most tender Mother, make us experience the sweetness of your motherly heart and the power of your intercession with Jesus, in all the dangers that beset us during life, and especially at the hour of our death; may our hearts be ever united to yours, and love Jesus ...both now and through endless ages. Amen. AGOSTO está dedicado al INMACULADO CORAZÓN de MARÍA. ORACIÓN: Oh María, Rosa Mística, cuyo corazón amoroso, ardiendo con el fuego vivo del amor, nos adoptó como tus hijos al pie de la Cruz, convirtiéndonos así en nuestra Madre más tierna, haznos experimentar la dulzura de tu corazón maternal y el poder de tu intercesión con Jesús, en todos los peligros que nos acosan durante la vida, y especialmente en la hora de nuestra muerte; que nuestros corazones se unan al tuyo y amen a Jesús tanto ahora como a través de siglos eternos. Amén.