October Newsletter
October 16, 2024 1:53 am
Our theme for this month is Seeing the Image of God in the Frail and the Elderly. No public figure better exemplified the dignity of old age than Pope St. John Paul II (Oct. 22). He continued to make public appearances and bring attention to the frail and disabled as his health declined. One of his greatest contributions to the Magisterium was his discourse on authentic human sexuality, given in a series of 129 Wednesday audiences from Sept. 5, 1979 until Nov. 28, 1984. You can read them in Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body by Pope John Paul II (trans. Michael Waldstein) or we suggest Theology of the Body in Context by William E. May and The Human Person According to John Paul II by J. Brian Bransfield.
We recommend this video interview with former Swiss Guard, Andreas Widmer, author of The Pope and the CEO, at Catholic University of America as he discusses the impact Pope St. John Paul II had on his faith, both when the Pope was an active young man and at the end of his life. The frail and the elderly suffer greatly in time of war. We offer this prayer to Our Lady by JP II for peace in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Today, dying has become increasingly controlled by technology. Often people die alone, in a hospital or nursing home, even without the benefit of the Sacraments. It is no wonder the frail and the elderly consider themselves a burden, and no longer a gift to those around them. We recommend The Art of Dying: A New Annotated Translation by Brother Columba Thomas, OP, MD, to put this into an eternal perspective and to assist you with dying patients and their family members. Also, in 2020, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued Samaritanus Bonus: on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phases of life .
The CMA’s ZOOM Prayer Group will meet Saturday, October 12 at 2:00 PM EDT to pray for our special intentions. You can join the Zoom meeting here.
Come join us! The short Thomistic Institute’s Aquinas 101 video this month is Three Acts of the Mind.
October is the Month of the Holy Rosary, with Our Lady of the Rosary celebrated on October 7. Read this beautiful reflection on Our Lady’s protection of the Church and us. Many parishes no longer celebrate Mass on Saturday morning, which is typically dedicated to Our Lady. Every parish, however, should offer the Five First Saturdays Devotion, which Sister Lucia said was one of Our Lady’s most important requests at Fatima. Here is the format we used at our meeting in Orlando. We would suggest approaching your pastor to start this devotion in your parish, if it is not available now. Our Lady asked for it!
St. Faustina Kowalska, Virgin (Oct. 5) lived from 1905 to 1938. Important facts about her life are summarized here. She was the first saint canonized in the 21st century by Pope St. John Paul II, who personally intervened in the process. He promoted the message of Divine Mercy throughout his papacy.
The patron of the CMA, St. Luke, Evangelist (Oct. 18), is remembered this month when many of our guilds hold their White Masses around his feast day. A Gentile convert from Antioch, who was trained as a physician, he accompanied St. Paul on many of his journeys and stayed with him until his martyrdom. His Gospel contains details on the life of the Blessed Mother and Jesus’ hidden life as well as many miracles. The Acts of the Apostles, which he authored, describes the establishment of the early Church and the ministry of St. Paul.
Chair: Kathleen M. Raviele, MD
Vice-Chair: Lynne Bissonnette-Pitre, MD, PhD
Chaplain: Fr. Christopher Kubat, MD
Donna C. Dobrowolsky, MD
Richard Florentine, MD
Jennifer Johnson, MD
Christina Chan, MD
Marie-Alberte Boursiquot, MD
Chris Moon, MD
Deacon Bruno Schettini, MD
Maria Martinez Ramos, MD
Sister Edith Mary Hart, RSM, DO
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