LENTEN REFLECTIONS:

Dear Faithful Friends in Christ,

WHAT ARE YOU GIVING UP FOR LENT? 


"For one pain endured with joy, we shall love the good God more forever." ---Saint Thérèse
(From: I Letter To Mother Agnes Of Jesus)

As Ash Wednesday draws near, we should not be dreading the season of sacrifice, but welcoming it with great joy. With great love for Christ we can endure our sacrifices. Oftentimes, in the modern world we forget what sacrifice truly is. Everything comes luxuriously at our fingertips with the press of a button and a click of a mouse and a swipe of a card and a "thank you have a nice day." We are a spoiled culture who forgets that Christ was born in a manger and He was the King of Kings. However, eternal salvation should prompt one not to forget such. We must forgo the luxuries of television, internet, chocolate covered bacon, and things that generally make our lives easily comforted. Comfort is not Franciscan. Comfort is not what will get you through this life and into the next. The more you pamper yourself the more you need to check yourself. A big house does not equate getting into Heaven, neither do material possessions. You must remember your soul and that eternal salvation should be your number one priority. Lent is a time to not just give up chocolate or sodas. Lent is the time to spiritually reflect upon what it means to do God's Will and what it means to understand what Christ endured for us and for our eternal life. Christ was God's Son and HE DIED FOR US ALL. Christ was the Lamb who entered into our fallen world to offer us salvation. HE DIED FOR US ALL, is the reflection to which should prompt us to pray and reflect during Lent. It should encourage you to live like a true disciple of Christ. Christ dying for us all is the remembrance of love, His PASSION.

Also, it should take you out of your comfortable routine and get you to do things you normally do not do. Perhaps, donate some time to helping someone in your community or donating clothes you really do not need anymore. Give your time to prayer, devotions to saints, or spiritual readings rather than recreational activities. Remember, sacrifice is about giving and living without praise and reward.

As we begin our journey through the desert, do not forget that you are being tested to see if the seeds planted within you by the Divine Sower will bear fruit. Those sown on the wayside, on a rock, or under thorns will easily fall short by the distractions of this world. Those whose seed has fallen onto "good ground, who are of an honest and good heart, and having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience." (Luke 8. 4-15)


We have some questions for you to answer this week, considering we get readers from all over the world. We would very much like to hear from all of you!

1.) What are some family traditions that your family partakes in during lent?

2.) Do you spend your evenings reading a special reflection book or parts of your missal?

3.)Do you pray a special devotion (as a family or by yourself)?

4.) What are you giving up for lent and adding on?

5.) Any good fasting recipes?


Warmest regards before Lent begins,

Cade and Nicole

The Future of Catholicism

TRADITIO, in Latin, means to give. Tradition is a gift from one generation to the next. For over two thousand years, our fathers have passed down the greatest gift that we could ever ask for. What can we do as Catholics to make sure our children and future generations will receive the same gift?

We must not settle with being content and knowing that one day our children may have no mass to attend!

We are aware of Saint Jude's Shrine in Stafford, Texas. Father Campbell, who resides there, is a remarkable priest and the Church is full of faithful Catholics. There is no doubt that Father Campbell is a true Priest who offers the True Mass. And yes, Saint Jude’s Shrine is an excellent Church to attend.

HOWEVER, we are openly sedevacantists. This blog exists, because we are concerned with the future of Traditional Catholicism in Houston. Although, it is a blessing to have one or two Priests, it would be a blessing to channel our attention to the severe issue. It is time to start thinking about not only our generation but for our children and the future of Catholics. We no longer want to worry about what will become of our Mass if something were to happen to our current Priests, such as an illness, a death, or even a possible conversion to SSPX or Novus Ordo (New Church).

There have been incidences where this has occurred before. One specific example would be: Christ the King Church in Alabama. Fr. Giardina, the head of the Abbey, died, and a couple of Priests under him were planning to give away that Holy Church of God to the deceitful Novus Ordo (New Church) and they almost had their way, but right before the Church could be taken over, Bishop Pivaranus (a true traditional Bishop) sent a Priest there to perform Mass. Those Catholics almost lost their Mass and were nearly left for dead in spiritual desert, but thanks to His Excellency, that did not occur.

Our goal is to find enough families who would be willing to have Mass at least once a month from a Priest sent by one of these Sedevacantist Bishops (Bishop Pivaranus, Bishop Dolan, or Bishop Sanborn). If something were to happen to our Priest, another would immediately be sent by the Bishop. We will no longer need to worry about losing our Mass.

Eventually, if we get enough people over time, our plan is to have Mass at a permanent location. We believe it is possible to have a Church headed by true Bishops, with true Priests, and filled with true Catholics right here in Houston!

Faithful Catholics, the need for Priests is becoming greater every day. By being under a Bishop, we will have what we need in order to have a permanent Mass. We know this will take time, but remember how much time passed before our Church was brought down into ruins. Let us reverse this and rebuild what we once had!

The intention of this blog:

The intention of this blog is to post about important catholic issues, family life, and to find traditional catholics in the Houston, Texas area.

It would be really wonderful to find ten or more traditional catholic families who would be interested in gathering once a month for mass in the Houston area. We would need to pool our monies together to fly in a traditional catholic priest to serve mass once a month. Our current goal is to have at least ten families who would be interested in doing this. ***We are not exclusive to just the Houston area, people from other states or cities in Texas are more than welcome to come, gather, and communicate if they have interest too. Please contact us at CadeandNicole@gmail.com if you are interested or leave a comment below.***