Evolution?

God also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven.

Genesis 1:20

Give praise to God the Father of all creatures!

I am sorry, Mr Darwin, you lost!

"Chilli! Chilli!"

I was leaving a local Catholic bookstore on my last visit there when I saw a Filipina approaching, with a happy group of three four-year-olds running before her. I would suspect that the little children were Filipinos too, and they were in their uniform, which led me to assume that they were dismissed not too long ago from their kindergarten at a church nearby.

While waiting at the bus-stop, which happens to be just outsie the Catholic bookstore, the group of children, who were also at the bus-stop waiting for their bus with the lady, they started peeking through the glass windows of the display shelves of the bookstore. They must have seen a statue of the Sacred Heart, and called out frantically, trying to get the lady's attention, "Papa Jesus! Papa Jesus!"

I smiled to myself, but I never expect what is to come. What happened next almost caused me to trip over and burst out laughing.

One of the children, getting excited by the many statues on the display shelves, saw the statue of the Immaculate Heart. Without hesitation, he lifted his finger and pointed at the statue of Our Lady with her Immaculate Heart, he screamed, "Chilli! Chilli!"

I managed to hide my surprise and chuckle by quickly turning away. Deep down, I was laughing, laughing out loud. Not for the boy's ignorance that the chilli-shaped thing he is referring to is actually the Heart of the Mother of God, but more of a certain joy, a certain unspeakable joy, that the child is still so innocent, so pure, so child-like.

The lady quickly corrected the child, saying that the statue is a depiction of 'Mama Mary'. She, too, is evidently controlling her laughter.

'Papa Jesus', 'Mama Mary'. How lovely, how sweet, how endearing do these little children address their Saviour and their Virgin Mother! Our Blessed Lord and Our Blessed Mother Mary in Heaven would have, I believe, showered the little boy with many graces and clapped their hands in joy at that very moment, as they gazed down lovingly at this little child from their thrones in Heaven, this little soul shining like a diamond amidst the dark, corrupted world around it, still innocent, undefiled by actual sins.

Prayers need not be long and elaborate. Sometimes, the mere addressing Our Lord and Our Lady as 'Papa' and 'Mama' is more than sufficient, if you truly love them as your Father and Mother.

And said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

St Matthew 18:3

Feast of Corpus Christi

O Lord, I Am Not Worthy

O Lord, I am not worthy
That Thou should'st come to me,
But speak the words of comfort,
My spirit healed shall be.

O, come, all you who labor
In sorrow and in pain,
Come, eat This Bread from heaven;
Thy peace and strength regain.

O Jesus, we adore Thee,
Our Victim and our Priest,
Whose precious Blood and Body
Become our sacred Feast.

O Sacrament most holy,
O Sacrament divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving
Be ev'ry moment Thine.

The Latin Church celebrates this venerable Feast in honour of Our Blessed Lord in the Most Holy Eucharist on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. We profess that He is truly present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

It is indeed an exceedingly meritorious Act of Faith, when, at the Elevation of the Sacred Host after Consecration, we look at It, and, bending low and prostrating in spirit, we adore the Eucharistic Lord, saying, 'Dominus meus, Deus meus!', following the words of the Doubting, now St Thomas. It is by these our eyes of faith, and not our bodily eyes, that we see and recognise that Our Divine Saviour is there, right there in the Consecrated Bread, and for that, He will bless us abundantly, as He promised: Blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed. It is on this day of the Feast of Corpus Christi that we renew this faith in Our Lord's Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist, professing this truth which the heretics reject.

Protestants deny Our Lord's omnipotence when they refuse to believe that He is truly present in the Consecrated Species. This heresy is not new, and more certainly, it is not unique to these heretics - this same truth had been denied by the faithless Jews during the time of Our Lord Jesus Christ. When Our Lord did proclaim Himself to be the Bread of Life that came down from Heaven, the unbelieving Jews scoffed at Him.

The Jews therefore murmured at him, because he had said: I am the living bread which came down from heaven. And they said: Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then saith he, I came down from heaven?

St John 6:41, 42

Our Divine Lord continued:

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. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me.

St John 6:54-58

"Our Lord's words are metaphorical!", a Protestant will argue vehemently. Why, then, seeing that a large group of His followers, unable to accept this precious teaching and truth, were leaving Him, He made no effort to clarify Himself, if what He said to the Jews were intended to be in metaphors? He knows full well that those who left Him will not be saved, for we know that Jesus Christ is the only Way to the Father.

It is also important to note that when Our Lord expounded on teachings of particular importance, He would begin by saying, 'Amen, amen, I say unto you.' It calls for special emphasis on the truths He was to expound. In His short public ministry of three years, His Mission is to teach as much as possible and expound the truths most necessary for salvation. When using parables or metaphors, Our Divine Lord would have stated it so clearly and explicitly that it is impossible for anyone to think otherwise. He is God, He is Almighty - He is not the fuzzy-wuzzy street-preacher you would expect standing at the corner of Orchard Road.

If any one shall say that, in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, there remains the substance of bread and wine together with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; and shall deny that wonderful and singular conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood, the species of bread and wine alone remaining, which conversion the Catholic Church most fittingly calls Transubstantiation, let him be anathema.

Council of Trent - Session 13, Canon 2

Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar!

Ecce Fidelis Servum et Prudens!

The Feast of St Joseph, the Holy Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is transferred from 19 March, which is Spy Wednesday this year, to today, 1 April. (This is no April Fools' joke!)

King Solomon, in his great wisdom bestowed upon him by God, foretold about St Joseph, the seed of David, in this most apt description of him in the Book of Proverb:

A faithful man shall be greatly praised, and he that is the keeper of the Lord shall be glorified.

Proverbs 28:20, 27:18

He is indeed the servant most faithful, who, despite not having any human explanation for the pregnancy of his Blessed Spouse, accepted and obeyed readily when the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying:

Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, and she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt name His name Jesus.

St Matthew 1:20-21

In very truth, he is the keeper of the Lord, for he is appointed by the Most High to be the Foster-Father of the Incarnate Word, of the Only-Begotten Son of God. Even the King of kings, the Lord of lords, our Lord Jesus Christ, is put under his charge before He began His public ministry, as St Luke the Evangelist wrote in the Gospel:

Jesus went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them.

St Luke 2:51

On this blessed occasion, I would also like to introduce and promote this wonderful devotion to St Joseph - the wearing of the Cincture or Cord of St Joseph. A white cotton rope with 7 knots on one end blessed by any Priest with a special blessing, St Joseph's Cord is usually girded and worn around the waist. Indulgences may be granted through the wearing of this Cord if the wearer is attached to the Archconfraternity of St Joseph in Rome, but more commonly it is worn for the following reasons:

1. St Joseph's special protection;
2. The grace of chastity;
3. Final perseverance; and
4. St Joseph's particular assistance at the hour of death.

The wearer of St Joseph's Cord is to daily say a Gloria on each of the 7 knots, in honor of and while meditating on each of the 7 Sorrows of St Joseph, and to recite a prayer to St Joseph for the holy virtue of purity. These meditations and prayers, and also more information on St Joseph's Cord, may be obtained from here.

Litany of St Joseph

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
St Joseph, pray for us.
Noble scion of David, pray for us.
Light of the Patriarchs, pray for us.
Spouse of the Mother of God, pray for us.
Chaste Guardian of the Virgin, pray for us.
Foster-father of the Son of God, pray for us.
Sedulous Defender of Christ, pray for us.
Head of the Holy Family, pray for us.
Joseph most just, pray for us.
Joseph most chaste, pray for us.
Joseph most prudent, pray for us.
Joseph most valiant, pray for us.
Joseph most obedient, pray for us.
Joseph most faithful, pray for us.
Mirror of patience, pray for us.
Lover of poverty, pray for us.
Model of all who labor, pray for us.
Glory of family life, pray for us.
Protector of virgins, pray for us.
Pillar of families, pray for us.
Consolation of the afflicted, pray for us.
Hope of the sick, pray for us.
Patron of the dying, pray for us.
Terror of the demons, pray for us.
Protector of Holy Church, pray for us.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

V: He made him the lord of his household.
R: And prince over all his possessions.

Let us pray.
O God, Who, in Thine ineffable Providence didst vouchsafe to choose blessed Joseph to be the Spouse of Thy most holy Mother; grant, we beseech Thee, that we may be worthy to have him for our intercessor in Heaven whom, on earth, we venearate as our protector. Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

St Joseph, Protector of Holy Church, restore Catholic tradition!