WHAT IS THE LAY APOSTOLATE? an exerpt By CANON FRANCIS J. RIPLEY

THE LAITY AS TRUE WITNESSES OF CHRIST

In an important passage the Constitution says that, being incorporated in the Church through baptism, the faithful are consecrated by the baptismal character to the worship of the Christian religion and "reborn as sons of God they must confess before men the faith they have received from God through the Church." The sacrament of confirmation binds them more perfectly to the Church and "the Holy Spirit endows them with special strength so that they are more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith, both by word and by deed, as true witnesses of Christ."

Father Bob Poole

God wants us to learn to engage in warfare - spiritual warfare, which we carry out with spiritual weapons, not the weapons of this world (2 Corinthians 10:4) - weapons such as prayer and fasting and intercession and suffering - we think of those pro-lifers who have been regularly arrested while counseling women outside abortion clinics, women like Linda Gibbons. We think of those who, while quietly praying outside abortuaries have been subjected to vile abuse and threats from passersby or staff in those clinics. For too long, as church, we have been silent and passive, and waiting for God to simply deal with the problem of abortion. We need to realize that we CANNOT do it on our own and that God WILL NOT do it on HIS own. He looks to make a covenant with us, as he made a covenant with the people of Israel in our first reading, a covenant sealed with sacrifice. Our covenant with God regarding the abortion issue must involve our sacrifice as well - our sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, of prayer, of nonviolent protest, contacting our MPs and informing them of our views on the foremost issues of our time - life and family and urging them to support legislation which furthers these two causes. I invite you to stand and repeat after me the words that the people of Israel declare in our first reading:” All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and WE WILL BE OBEDIENT !"

A few Ordinary but Faithful Missionary Disciples


Bessie belonged to a generation that had great respect for life and a sense of death, both of which we are in danger of losing today. She had a sense of the all-pervading presence of God in good times and in bad. Her life was spent in the shadow of God’s presence. This came from a wisdom of long years lived well and a sense of what was right, true, and good, from a sense that nothing could come between her and the love of God, made visible in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:39) and from a sense that those who live a virtuous life are in the hands of God. No torment will ever touch them (Wis 3:1). She had a sharp sense of God’s presence that flowed into the values around which she organized her life, into the faith, hope, and love she planted in the souls of her family members, friends, and many, many godchildren. This is expressed in their loyalty to the virtues she cultivated in them, faithfulness to Mass, Confession, and family life.

 Her goodness was evident in the everyday bits and pieces, little acts of charity and little acts of prayerful silence, and her sense of the wonder of God that many of us would like to have. We thank her for her ‘witness to life’, teaching us how to live well and die well, in service to God and life, to neighbor, to the neediest, and to aboriginal people. Pro-lifers would do well to imitate her commitment.¤

NEW EVANGELIZATION SUMMIT - a conference to inspire Catholics and help them live out their personal call to evangelize. Offered by Archbishop Terrence Prendergast S.J . Featuring world-class Catholic speakers - Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Michael Gaitley, Dr. Ralph Martin, Patrick Coffin, Jo Ellen Gregus, Fr. James Mallon, Ken Yasinski Fr. Ben Lobo and Michael Dopp. Charlton MA, Fargo North Dakota, Haddon Hts NJ, Huntley IL & Saginaw MI With Houston, Oklahoma City, and Syracuse (and 11 dioceses in Canada), were satellite host sites for the SUMMIT which took place on Friday evening, April 24, and Saturday, April 25, being broadcast from the Ottawa Convention and Events Centre.

We are called to Evangelize. 

let us begin with prayer and repentance! 

"The greatest threat we face today is the dictatorship of relativism"  Pope Benedict VI 

"You are not a chicken!" Words of wisdom from FR. Mark Goring C.C.

The Companions of the Cross, an Order of Priests founded by Father Bob Bedard in  Ottawa, Canada in 1984, and the  Lay Apostolate of the Legion of Mary,  founded by Frank Duff in Dublin Ireland in 1921 are two of the many examples of  Catholic Communities boldly proclaiming the Mission of the Church. 

Some information below ( starting with the Companions of the Cross )

Companions of the Cross

https://companionscross.org/

"Over the past few years, I have taken an interest in history, particularly Canadian History. I have become a bit of an amateur researcher. I started 13 years ago by finding out more about the 1947 Marian Congress. Our knowledge of history local and world is so important. It seems these days that many of our youth know little about the past.  Since they get a lot of their information from social media esp. Tik Tok so it's little surprise. Anyways, below are some of my latest endeavors " Maureen

Concilium  LEGIONIS MARIAE ( headquarters in Dublin Ireland )   https://www.legionofmary.ie/

A few writings on this website at the link below  (there are tons more )

https://sites.google.com/site/faithfulcatholics/Home/legion-of-mary  including one from Fr Don Calloway 

Origin- The Legion of Mary was born on the first vespers of the Nativity of Mary, September 7, 1921, in Dublin, Ireland. 

An example of the Legion of Mary meeting and  Legion of Mary works from Toronto, I forgot to put the year duh

The Legion of Mary does so much pastoral work, teaching, and evangelization. I think many Catholics are unaware of how much 

The object of the Legion of Mary is the glory of God through the holiness of its members developed by prayer and active cooperation, under ecclesiastical guidance,in Mary's and the Church's work of crushing the head of the serpent and advancing the reign of Christ. 

The Legion and the New Evangelization

 All legionaries should know that the Legion exists in order to evangelize. 

That means that the legionary is called to live the Gospel fully and to share the Gospel fully.

July 2006 Concilium Allocutio

 Fr. Bede McGregor O.P. Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary

http://mqangelspraesidium.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/approved-works-revised.pdf