CACINA Announces a New Mission

 

 

Deacon GW Ferris is currently assigned to the St. John of God Parish in Schenectady, New York (Schenectady County)

The CACINA Diocese of Little Portion and
St. John of God Parish are Proud to Announce

A New Mission for Outreach
to the Transgender Community

St. Wilgefortis transMISSION

Deacon Gary Ferris will lead a new mission for transgender people and allies
that is scheduled to launch July 1st – 2021.
Watch for more details in the coming months.

Click HERE to hear a song about St. Wilgefortis

 

 

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Copyright © 2020, Catholic Apostolic Church in North America. All rights reserved.

 

Contact us at 1- (800) 603-0644

Our mailing address is:

Fr. Joseph Reynolds, Chancellor

9314 Doris Dr.

Oriental, NC 28571

Saints

 

St. Bartholomew (1st c.) is one of Jesus’ Twelve Apostles who, together with his friend and fellow Apostle Philip, came from Cana in Galilee. All we know of St. Bartholomew (also called Nathaniel) is what is mentioned of him in the synoptic Gospels and the book of Acts. Philip told Bartholomew that he had found the Messiah, and, despite Bartholomew’s incredulity, the two went together to see Jesus. When Jesus saw Bartholomew he exclaimed, “Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him!”, indicating that Bartholomew possessed great purity of heart. Bartholomew then asked Jesus how he knew him, and Jesus explained that he saw Bartholomew sitting under the fig tree. This secret between Jesus and Bartholomew caused Bartholomew to immediately exclaim that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God. According to the Roman Martyrology, Bartholomew became a missionary in the East, preaching and evangelizing in Asia Minor, Ethiopia, India, and finally Armenia, where he was flayed alive and beheaded by King Astyages. St. Bartholomew is the patron saint of nervous and neurological diseases, butchers, leather workers, tanners, cobblers, trappers, and shoemakers. His feast day is August 24th.

 

Saints

St. Dominic (1170–1221) was born in Spain to a family of noble lineage. His mother, Blessed Jane of Aza, prayed at the church of St. Dominic Silos to conceive a male child, her first two sons being given to the priesthood. In answer to her prayer, she dreamed that a dog leaped from her womb carrying a torch in its mouth which set the world ablaze. At his baptism, his godmother beheld a star shining from his forehead. As a child Dominic showed signs of great sanctity and intelligence, and he was also given to the Church for the priesthood. When famine struck Dominic sold his rare and expensive theology books to feed the poor. As a priest he traveled with his bishop into southern France and discovered that it had been overrun with a heretical movement which led many away from the Church. This inflamed his desire to devote his life to apostolic preaching for the salvation of souls, at the time an office reserved to bishops. With the Pope’s approval he founded the Order of Preachers, or the Dominicans, committed to defend the truth of the Catholic faith. St. Dominic’s Order was novel in that it combined the active and contemplative religious life with the labor of scholarly study and itinerant preaching. St. Dominic was innovative in meeting the needs of his time to defend the Church against her enemies. To aid his mission, Our Lady appeared to him and gave him a new devotion—the Holy Rosary. St. Dominic is the patron saint of scientists and astronomers. His feast day is August 8th.

 

Saints

St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696–1787) was born near Naples, the eldest of eight children of a noble family. He became a lawyer after receiving doctorates in canon and civil law at the age of 16. For many years he was successful in practicing law, but grew disenchanted with the profession. After losing a case for the first time at the age of 27 after eight years of practicing the law, he discerned a call to enter the seminary and became a priest. Alphonsus spent the early years of his priesthood ministering to homeless and marginalized youth, and through this work eventually founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists, which aimed to preach in city slums. He was known best for his sermons, especially his ability to convert those who were estranged from the faith, and for his great works in moral and spiritual theology. He was a practical and prudent theologian, avoiding the extremes of being too rigid and legalistic on the one hand, and too lax on the other, despite the fact that he struggled with scrupulosity in his personal life. He suffered much from arthritis in his old age, his neck becoming so bent that his chin left an open sore on his chest. His most famous written works were on the Virgin Mary and the Blessed Sacrament. For his work in moral theology he was declared a Doctor of the Church. He is the patron saint of moral theologians, vocations, arthritis sufferers, and those who struggle with scrupulosity. St. Alphonsus Ligouri’s feast day is August 1st

 

Saint

 

Happy Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola. Ignatian spirituality leaves me cold but it produced Dan Berrigan so there must be something there. Here’s what Dan said about the three first Jesuits: Ignatius, Francis Xavier, and Peter Faber – “this trio, rhythm of life sprung free, intricate, brute beauty and valor and act . . . this godlike glance. They were heroic. There are heroic people today, too, all over the map, keeping things from being even more lethal and more final. These three men recognized there is a bridge between the love of one another and God’s love for us, that asks for no separation. As we are loved, so let us love one another.”

Saints

St. Martha (1st c.) was a pious Jewish woman from Bethany near Jerusalem. She was a close friend of Jesus during his earthly ministry, as was her brother, St. Lazarus, and her sister, St. Mary of Bethany (St. Mary Magdalene). The Gospels tell us that “Jesus loved Martha, and her sister Mary and Lazarus.” Martha would serve the Lord faithfully when he was a guest in her home, once busying herself so much with her work that she neglected to spend time enjoying his presence, for which she earned a gentle rebuke from Our Lord. Martha had great faith in Christ, especially evidenced in her belief that he could raise her brother Lazarus from the dead. In the Gospels we read that St. Martha testified that Jesus was the Son of God even before his Passion and Resurrection. According to tradition, after the Ascension of Jesus into heaven, St. Martha gathered a group of women together to live, pray, and do penance in common, one of the early Christian houses of consecrated women. St. Martha is the patron of servers, maids, butlers, servants, single laywomen, homemakers, housewives, and cooks. Her feast day is July 29th.

 

Saints

St. Anne and St. Joachim (1st c. B.C.) are the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the maternal grandparents of Jesus. Their names have been preserved in Church tradition since the second century, although little is known of their lives. It is believed that St. Joachim and St. Anne, although wealthy, lived a devout and simple life of voluntary poverty, chastity, and generosity to the poor. According to legend, after long years of suffering from infertility and praying for a child, Joachim and Anne were each separately visited by an angel in their old age, who announced that they would give birth to a very special child. Their moment of joy at this happy news is depicted with their embrace and kiss at the Golden Gate in Jerusalem. It was from their holy and chaste marriage that the Immaculate Conception was brought into the world. According to tradition, when the Child Mary was three years old, they dedicated her to God and presented her to live in the Jerusalem temple until the time of her betrothal to St. Joseph. St. Anne is the patroness of unmarried women, wives, expectant mothers, pregnancy, women in labor, grandmothers, childless couples, and against poverty and sterility. Women praying to meet their future spouses often turn to St. Anne. St. Joachim is the patron of fathers and grandfathers. Their feast day is July 26th.

Saints

St. Mary Magdalen (1st c.) was a friend and devoted follower of Jesus Christ, a reformed woman once of ill repute, out of whom He exorcised seven demons. Mary Magdalene has a special place among Jesus’ disciples and is mentioned several times in the Gospels. It is believed that she is the same penitent woman, Mary of Bethany, who anointed the feet of Jesus before his Passion, and the sister of Lazarus and Martha. She stood at the foot of the Cross with St. John and the Blessed Mother, and the next morning went to Christ’s tomb to anoint his body. As a reward for her great love and faithfulness, she is the first recorded witness of Jesus’ Resurrection. It was Mary Magdalene who informed the twelve Apostles that Jesus rose from the dead, and for this she is called “Apostle to the Apostles.” After Jesus’ Ascension into heaven, Mary Magdalene continued her mission as an evangelist, contemplative, and mystic in the heart of the Church. According to the Eastern tradition, she went to Ephesus with the Virgin Mary and died there. According to the Western tradition, she, along with her siblings Martha and Lazarus, were exiled from Israel and shipped out to sea, landing in Marseilles, France. Mary Magdalene evangelized and converted the Provence region, and lived in a cave doing penance for thirty years until her death. St. Mary Magdalene is the patron of women, repentant sinners, penitent women, reformed prostitutes, contemplatives, converts, pharmacists, perfumers, hairstylists, and against sexual temptation. Her feast day is July 22nd.

Homily on the Feast of Mary Magdalene

Saint Jude the Apostle Mission – Home of the Presiding Bishop of CACINA Bishop Anthony Santore. Also assigned to St. Jude is Associate Pastor Father Joseph Reynolds, CACINA Chancellor and treasurer. St. Jude the Apostle is based in Oriental, North Carolina. (Pamlico County)   Facebook.com/ Saint Jude the Apostle Mission     Live streaming Mass daily at 9:00am

 

 

Please help us spread the word about the Catholic Apostolic Church in North America by forwarding this message to others.

Find us at http://www.cacina.org or https://www.facebook.com or http://www.cacina.wordpress.com

Copyright © 2020, Catholic Apostolic Church in North America. All rights reserved.

Contact us at 1- (800) 603-0644

Our mailing address is:

Fr. Joseph Reynolds, Chancellor

9314 Doris Dr.

Oriental, NC 28571

 

Saint of the Day

St. Bonaventure (1221–1274) was born with the name Giovanni in Tuscany, Italy. As a child he became seriously ill and was in danger of death until his mother brought him to St. Francis of Assisi, who was then living in the region as a mendicant friar. It is said that St. Francis healed the child and afterward exclaimed, “O buona ventura (O good fortune)!” when he prophetically perceived how great the child would one day become, and this is how he began to be called Bonaventure. He joined the Franciscan order at the age of 22 and went on to study theology at the University of Paris, where he became famous friends with the Dominican friar St. Thomas Aquinas. The two friends graduated together, each insisting that the other be the first to receive honors. St. Bonaventure is regarded as one of the great philosophers and theologians of the Middle Ages, earning the name “Seraphic Doctor.” In addition to his many writings, including a Life of St. Francis of Assisi, he was elected to serve as head of his order, and was appointed a cardinal-bishop by the Holy Father. St. Bonaventure died while assisting at the Second Council of Lyons, which worked for the reunification of the Catholic Church with the Eastern Orthodox churches. His feast day is celebrated on July 15th.

 

Saint of the Day

St. Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680), also known as the ‘Lily of the Mohawks,’ was born in present-day New York. Her father was a Mohawk chief, and her mother an Algonquin who had been converted to the Christian faith by Jesuit missionaries. When Kateri was four years old, a smallpox epidemic killed her entire family and left her partially blind, disfigured, and crippled. She was raised by her uncle, who detested the Christians. As she grew up, Kateri longed for the Catholic faith of her mother, and was very drawn to the missionaries evangelizing near her village. At the age of twenty she was baptized with the name Catherine (which was translated as “Kateri”) after St. Catherine of Siena. Her uncle opposed her conversion to Christianity, and as a result she was ostracized by her people and treated harshly. When it was clear that her life was in danger, a priest helped her flee to a French Jesuit mission in Montreal, Canada—a journey of over 200 miles alone and on foot. There she lived a solitary life of prayer and penance, rejecting an opportunity for marriage. Her great sanctity, virtue, and love for Christ amazed everyone who knew her. She was also known as a miracle-worker. Kateri died of illness at the age of twenty-four. She was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 1980, and canonized in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI as the first Native American saint. Kateri is the patron saint of environmentalists, orphans, exiles, and those who are ridiculed for their piety. Her feast day is July 14.

A reflection by Michael Ellis

If you would like to have a reflection considered for publication, please send your writing to Bp. Tony Green at revtonygreen@gmail.com

 

                                                                          The Saints of God
                                               A reflection by Michael Ellis – CACINA Seminarian

 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded with such a great cloud of witnesses . . . let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us . . .” Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

One of the things I love most about our Catholic faith is our reverence for the saints who have gone before us. Servants of God whose life and witness the Church has memorialized, they encourage us to personal growth by inviting us into ever-deepening relationship with Jesus.  At the same time, they remind us that we are not individuals on lonely paths of pilgrimage, but are, instead, part of a great migration of the universal (“catholic”) people of God moving throughout history to God’s own “promised land” of a new heaven and a new earth.

And there’s no shortage of them, either.  As of this writing (July 2), a look back at just the past month of June shows special days of remembrance for Justin Martyr, John XXIII, Boniface, Thomas More, Cyril of Alexandria, Anthony of Padua, and Irenaeus.  And that’s in addition to Barnabas the Apostle, John the Baptist, and those two great pillars of the Church, St.’s Peter and Paul!  If we’re all on this journey together, then we’re traveling in first class.

But what I love most about our relationship with the saints is that we Catholics actually talk to them.

A lot.

And here, I think, is that one aspect of our reverence for them that says something about us.  Paul reminds us that in Christ all divisions cease: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28, NIV).  Indeed, one of the criticisms leveled at the early church by its opponents was that Christians seemed to recognize no distinctions between persons. They would accept anybody.

Yet nowhere in human experience is there a more profound division than the one that exists between the living and the dead.  That is a radical separation.  And it is that very separation that Christ, in his death and resurrection, transcends, stepping across the eternal divide between life and death, restoring communion  between the living and the dead, and reuniting all in the family of God.

All those saints I mentioned above? They are really and truly alive, both to God and to us, and together with us they form the most inclusive community in all of history. And every time we Catholics talk to them, we are not only enacting our faith in the power of Christ’s resurrection to unite all believers across space and time, we are also essentially attending a family reunion, populated (like all families) with wonderful, exasperating, diverse, loving, scrappy, and very real people.
What could be better than that?

“That is why you are no longer foreigners and outsiders, but citizens together with God’s people and members of God’s family.” Ephesians 2:19 (GWT)

 

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Feast of Saint Benedict

July 11: Saint Benedict of Nursia

It is unfortunate that no contemporary biography was written of a man who has exercised the greatest influence on monasticism in the West. Benedict is well recognized in the later Dialogues of Saint Gregory, but these are sketches to illustrate miraculous elements of his career.

Benedict was born into a distinguished family in central Italy, studied at Rome, and early in life was drawn to monasticism. At first he became a hermit, leaving a depressing world—pagan armies on the march, the Church torn by schism, people suffering from war, morality at a low ebb.

He soon realized that he could not live a hidden life in a small town any better than in a large city, so he withdrew to a cave high in the mountains for three years. Some monks chose Benedict as their leader for a while, but found his strictness not to their taste. Still the shift from hermit to community life had begun for him. He had an idea of gathering various families of monks into one “Grand Monastery” to give them the benefit of unity, fraternity, and permanent worship in one house. Finally he began to build what was to become one of the most famous monasteries in the world—Monte Cassino, commanding three narrow valleys running toward the mountains north of Naples.

The Rule that gradually developed prescribed a life of liturgical prayer, study, manual labor, and living together in community under a common abbot. Benedictine asceticism is known for its moderation, and Benedictine charity has always shown concern for the people in the surrounding countryside. In the course of the Middle Ages, all monasticism in the West was gradually brought under the Rule of St. Benedict.

Today the Benedictine family is represented by two branches: the Benedictine Federation encompassing the men and women of the Order of St. Benedict, and the Cistercians, men and women of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance.

The Church has been blessed through Benedictine devotion to the liturgy, not only in its actual celebration with rich and proper ceremony in the great abbeys, but also through the scholarly studies of many of its members.

Daily Mass from Saint Jude the Apostle Mission

Daily Mass from Saint Jude the Apostle Mission

Tuesday night Pray and Share (All are Welcome) link posted here every Monday