Catholic Discourse and Ministry Resource

1. Attention all married couples. This is the Gospel that gets the credit for the institution of the sacrament of marriage. With that in mind, I hope all of you remember the moment you met your spouse.

Let me give you my slant on the ‘Good News’ contained within what Beth (my wife) and I call the Nestles chocolate CRUNCH BAR meeting.

I recall with great fondness the day I met the VERY CUTE, 103#, Miss Elizabeth Lefler for the 1st time. I myself weighted about 185# and my hair color was brown. It was at about 3:00 on Oct. 2nd of our freshman year in the Briar Cliff College library.

Jesus in Scripture and the teachings of the church has some major titles: MESSIAH, PROPHET, PRIEST and KING. He receives these through God, His Father and through His accomplishments while on earth. Today on the last Sunday of the Church year, we celebrate the PINNACLE of these titles: JESUS is KING.

As we raised our children, my wife used ‘the Look’ to make them be Good. I used a fiery tirade to make them aware of a fault or transgression, but it ended with a positive note. It went like this: YOU’RE ROTTEN, DISPICABLE, INCORRIGBLE, YOU’RE DOWN RIGHT LOATHSOME, INTOLERABLE AND IMPOSSIBLE.. but I LOVE you anyway! From either, hopefully they got the message of change, but yet they went away joyfully corrected.

The written or spoken WORD is very powerful indeed. In the class room or home, but especially in Scripture the WORD is both an assurance and a challenge. The WORD can excite us. It can move us to action. But remember by it we are also judged and indicted.

The central message of Jesus’ preaching in the Gospels is the coming of the kingdom of heaven. With that announcement He shows US, those who are to receive this great gift of God, the need to repent of sin and go through a complete change of heart and conduct. In each of the Synoptic Gospels there is a theme used to help us PREPARE for the Kingdom.

In 1995, on the 100th anniversary of cinema, the Vatican compiled this list of “great films.” The 45 “great films” are divided into three categories: “Religion,” “Values” and “Art.”

Vatican’s Great Religion Films

Andrei Rublev (Criterion) Russian production about a 15th-century monk (Anatoli Solonitzine) who perseveres in painting icons and other religious art despite the civil disruptions and cruel turmoil of his times.