10 Catholic Things That Caught My Eye Today (May 11, 2016)

Is the Eucharist truly the center of your life? How much time will you devote to God today? pic.twitter.com/uStg1crf5L

— Diocesan Priest (@diocesanpriest) May 11, 2016

2. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.

3. In the Liturgy of the Hours today, from Lumen Gentium, Second Vatican Council:

When the Son completed the work with which the Father had entrusted him on earth, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost to sanctify the Church unceasingly, and thus enable believers to have access to the Father through Christ in the one Spirit. He is the Spirit of life, the fountain of water welling up to give eternal life. Through him the Father gives life to men, dead because of sin, until he raises up their mortal bodies in Christ.

The Spirit dwells in the Church and in the hearts of the faithful as in a temple. He prays in them and bears witness in them to their adoption as sons. He leads the Church into all truth and gives it unity in communion and in service. He endows it with different hierarchical and charismatic gifts, directs it by their means, and enriches it with his fruits.

By the power of the Gospel he enables the Church to grow young, perpetually renews it, and leads it to complete union with its Bridegroom. For the Spirit and the Bride say to the Lord Jesus: “Come!”

In this way the Church reveals itself as a people whose unity has its source in the unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The whole company of the faithful, who have an anointing by the Holy Spirit, cannot err in faith. They manifest this distinctive characteristic of theirs in the supernatural instinct of faith (sensus fidei) of the whole people when, from the bishops to the most ordinary lay person among the faithful, they display a universal agreement on matters of faith and morals.

This instinct of faith is awakened and kept in being by the Spirit of truth. Through it the people of God hold indefectibly to the faith once delivered to the saints, penetrate it more deeply by means of right judgment, and apply it more perfectly in their lives. They do all this under the guidance of the sacred teaching office: by faithful obedience to it they receive, not the word of men but in truth the word of God.

Moreover, the Holy Spirit not only sanctifies and guides God’s people by the sacraments and the ministries, and enriches it with virtues, he also distributes special graces among the faithful of every state of life, assigning his gifts to each as he chooses. By means of these special gifts he equips them and makes them eager for various activities and responsibilities that benefit the Church in its renewal or its increase, in accordance with the text: To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for a good purpose.

These charisms, the simpler and more widespread as well as the most outstanding, should be accepted with a sense of gratitude and consolation, since in a very special way they answer and serve the needs of the Church.

4. From Divine Intimacy, via Dan Burke and the Catholic Spiritual Direction website: O Mary, Mother of Good Hope, teach me the way of complete confidence in God.

Mary’s Hope – Divine Intimacy Meditation

5. I love, love, love the praymorenovenas website. It’s my only shot at sticking with one. I’m terrible at novenas, but they send out reminders, so I have a better shot of sticking with it!

6. As Pentecost approaches, this is a very good book on the Holy Spirit by Fr. Dave Pivonka from Ave Maria Press.

I spotted it at the Catholic Information Center in D.C. last night:

(Fr. Douglas Bazi from Iraq was speaking there — if you’re reading this before noon, listen to him online here — at a Heritage Foundation/National Review Institute event.)

To be a priest in Iraq is a suicide mission — Father Douglas Bazi @CICDC pic.twitter.com/dYsM1mGUl9

— Kathryn Jean Lopez (@kathrynlopez) May 10, 2016

Pray for priests.

Adopt a priest.

Relatedly a video series from Fr. Pivonka:

#TheWildGoose is loose! Prepare for Pentecost with this video series by Fr. Dave Pivonka & @4PMMEDIA: https://t.co/Xa25BHFqAO

— Steubenville (@go2steubenville) May 9, 2016

7. Bishop Sam Jacobs writes:

God’s spirit is more intimate to us than we are to ourselves. We might not often be aware of it, but without it we cannot live a ‘spiritual life.’ It is the Holy Spirit of God who prays in us, who offers us the gifts of love, forgiveness, kindness, goodness, gentleness, peace, and joy.

8. From Magnificat today, John Paul II on being consecrated to the truth: