Preview of Lenten Mission with Dr. Mary Amore

Welcome to the Saint Coleman Catholic Church Podcast from Pompano Beach.

Be sure to follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, so that you could be notified every time we release a new episode from Saint Coleman.

Welcome to episode 55 of the Saint Coleman Podcast.

As we continue our Lenten journey, we're looking forward to our Lenten mission.

And this year, doctor Mary Amore will be presenting 2 talks over 2 evenings, March 20th 21st at 7 o'clock.

Doctor Amore holds a Doctor of Ministry degree in Liturgical Studies and a Master of Arts in Word and Worship from Catholic Theological Union.

She's a published author and a gifted speaker.

Mary, thanks for joining us today. Father Michael and all of us at Saint Coleman are looking forward to our Lenten mission this year where you're going to be presenting 2 talks over the course of 2 evenings on Wednesday, March 20th, Thursday, March 21st.

Before we sort of preview what you're gonna be sharing with us, welcome, and, if you will give us a little bit about your background.

Thank you, Shannon.

Coming in from Chicago, which is exciting, especially coming to Florida in the winter. So that will be a wonderful thing.

But my, you know, my background. I have a doctor of ministry degree in liturgical studies.

And for the last 18 years, I have served as executive director of Maize Lake Ministries in, Oak Brook Terrace, Illinois.

We are a Catholic resource center for spiritual direction and adult faith formation.

With Eucharistic revival, I have been, keeping very busy going around the country giving talks on the Eucharist, which is my my heartbeat of my spirituality.

So I'm really honored to come to Saint Coleman and present for the parish community.

I was looking at the website at the at the different topics that that you talk about when you do.

You do a lot of Lenten Missions. I'm I'm curious which one you will be presenting. They they all look so so interesting and and, educational. What are you gonna be sharing with us when you come to St. Coleman?

The title of my program is encountering Jesus in the Eucharist, becoming the very mystery that we receive. We're gonna look at the Eucharist. First of all, it's not an object. It's the real presence of Jesus. So we're gonna explore what happens in our life when we encounter Jesus in the Eucharist.

We're gonna look at it through the lens of faith, because without faith, it's just not gonna happen for us. So then we will look at the ways we experience spiritual transformation at the universal table. How, if our hearts are open, we can experience spiritual healing and forgiveness. And the last topic we'll look at is forgiveness. We'll look at is once we've been transformed, now we're releasing our discipleship.

And so we go out in the world just to be Jesus for one another.

I like how you how you put that. The Eucharist is not an it. It's really a who.

The bishops have the National Eucharistic Revival going on. How important do you think that is?

Oh, I think it's very important.

You know, I think the latest poll in our church said that maybe 60% of Catholics struggle with the issue of the Real Presence, you know?

They see it as a sacred object or just a a holy meal or something. So we're gonna cover all that in the in the mission, but I I really do believe the Eucharistic revival, is greatly needed in the church. I hope it continues. I hope it doesn't just end with the big congress, and then we move on because Eucharist is what makes us Catholic. And, I think that's the most important facet of our faith.

So You know, Mary, a lot of professions have what they call continuing education. How important is it for adult Catholics to continue to study the faith? You know, they might have gone to catechesis before their confirmation when they were a child, and then that's it. They just come to mass every week. Talk about how important that is to continue to study and learn.

Absolutely. You know, our life changes, And and every stage of our spiritual journey, God is is reaching out to us, and he's speaking to us. And if we were just operating out of our catechism that we learned when we were children, we're missing out on having Jesus speak to us every day.

You know, and, again, we're gonna we're gonna go through this in the mission because I I think it's very important for us to realize that God is always forming us in our faith, calling us to a deeper relationship. And, so, yes, continuing education in your faith is really key, I think, to creating a deep relationship with Jesus.

And just one more question about the Eucharist.

I I think it's probably a a real small minority of Catholics have actually been to Eucharistic adoration.

What would you say to a Catholic who's never been as to why they should go and and what they might experience?

If one has never been to adoration, I encourage you to do that because when you enter into the presence of Jesus, you know, first of all, it's quiet. And we're tempted to bring all of our our list. Do this, do this for me, do this, but just sit there. The Lord knows what's on your heart. It's your time to listen. It's your time to to let the lord touch your heart and to to just sit there.

You know, think of a person that you love the most in life. Don't you wanna spend time with them? So if if Jesus is the person we love the most in life, we should wanna just sit in his presence and and just talk and through prayer and listen to him talk to us.

So Well, thank you so much for your time.

We really appreciate it.

We are looking forward to seeing you again.

That's, 2 evenings, March 20th, that's a Wednesday, and the next night as well, 21st.

And we, wish you safe travels down to Florida.

Enjoy the warm weather.

And I hope too.

We will see you soon.

Okay?

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

God bless.

Loving and serving the poor has been part of the tradition of the Catholic church since its founding. The catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that the Eucharist commits us to the poor. This means that we have a responsibility to care for those in need. Whether it's donating our time, talents, or resources, we can make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate. Doing so is an essential part of our faith and shows God's love in action.

Every March, the Catholic church honors saints Perpetua and Felicity. In fact, Perpetua and Felicity are one of the few women mentioned in the Roman canon, along with saints Agatha, saint Lucy, saint Agnes, saint Cecilia, and Anastasia. You'll hear their names in Eucharistic Prayer I. That's often the, Eucharistic prayer used by the priest on the highest of holy days, like Easter and Christmas. And you'll hear this long list of saints saint names, both men and women, and often it's really good to read up on those saints so that when you hear the names, it's not just a name and a long list of saints being mentioned, but you know their stories and very few stories resonate with the courage in the face of death as the story of saints Perpetua and Felicity. They were martyred in the 3rd century, and they showed unwavering faith.

Now Perpetua and Felicity were 2 women from very different social classes, but they were bound together by their shared love of Jesus Christ.

Perpetua was a noblewoman, very well educated. Felicity was a slave, and they found themselves in prison together in Carthage, which is part of modern day Tunisia and this was during the time of the Roman Empire's persecution of Christians.

At the time of her arrest, Perpetua was just 22 years old. As we mentioned, she was well educated, and she was also a new mother having recently given birth to a son. Her mother was a Christian, but her father was pagan. The crime of Perpetua and Felicity was their refusal to renounce their Christian faith.

Now how do we know what happened to Perpetua and Felicity so long ago, 17 centuries ago?

Well, the account of their imprisonment and the story of their martyrdom largely comes from the passion of saints Perpetua and Felicity.

It's a text believed to be partly authored by Perpetua herself while in prison, a diary of sorts.

This makes it one of the earliest known Christian texts attributed to a woman.

The story was later finished by someone who witnessed her execution.

And what we know is that Perpetua and Felicity were both catechumens.

They were studying prior to being baptized.

And when they were arrested, her father came to visit her and begged her to renounce her faith for the sake of her family, for the sake of her newborn son.

But Perpetua was so strong in her faith knowing it would lead to her own death.

She remained steadfast.

She wrote in this text that later became known as the Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, recounting a conversation with her father, she wrote, when my father in his affection for me, was trying to turn me from my purpose by arguments and thus weaken my faith, I said to him, do you see this vessel, water pot, or whatever it may be?

Can it be called by any other name than what it is?

No, he replied.

So I cannot call myself by any other name than what I am, a Christian.

Perpetua's resolve was also mirrored by Felicity, who was also expecting a child.

Now the 2 women, along with their companions, did receive baptism while they were in prison, which only solidified the commitment they had to their faith. Felicity's situation was particularly poignant.

Remember, she was a slave and pregnant. It was forbidden in Roman law to execute a pregnant woman, even if that woman was a slave. So committed to Christ was felicity, she worried she would not be executed alongside her friends.

Miraculously, she gave birth to a daughter just days before their scheduled execution. That allowed her to join Perpetua and the other prisoners in martyrdom.

Their execution was a public spectacle, and it was intended to deter others from adopting the Christian faith. How did they die? 1st, they were mauled by wild beasts, and when that didn't kill them, they were beheaded.

But despite the Roman Empire's belief that this might dissuade others from becoming Christians, It had the opposite effect when people saw the courage and the fortitude demonstrated by Perpetua Felicity and their companions in the face of death, it inspired many.

17 centuries later, the legacy of saints Perpetua and Felicity endures.

The Catholic church venerates them on March 7th with a feast day. So the next time you're at mass and you hear the names Perpetua and Felicity mentioned during the Eucharistic prayer, remember their story.

They were willing to die. They were unwilling to deny Christ. May we all have their strength and fortitude in the face of persecution.

Thanks for listening to the Saint Coleman Catholic Church Podcast. If you wanna be notified every time we release a new episode, you can follow us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And be sure to spread the word about our parish podcast.