"CUM GRANDE HUMILITATE!"

"Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words."

A special "Thank you!"
Goes out to
John Michael Talbot
for giving us permission
to use his song on our
"Come to the Quiet"
You Tube Video
T
T
_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________
Showing posts with label Father Todd Riebe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Father Todd Riebe. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Abortion Is Primarily A Spiritual Problem

Sister Diane Carollo, Director of the Archdiocesan Office for Pro-Life Ministry, has invited all parishes to join in a new effort to support the cause of life. In a letter to all pastors, Sister Diane writes:

"Abortion requires more than a...
legal or constitutional fix. Abortion is primarily a spiritual problem that must be addressed. The spiritual remedy for abortion is, of course, conversion, repentance and healing through Christ. Everyone associated with the sin of abortion, including abortionists and those who conspire against life in organizations such as Planned Parenthood, must be embraced by our prayers that flow from Christian charity. We must desire that our neighbors, even those who are pro-abortion, be brought to eternal life in God."

In Christian charity we pray for all of God's people. Where there is darkness we pray for light.

Father Todd Riebe
Richmond Catholic Community
T
— with Portiuncula Franciscan Hermitage and Retreat Center and F.L.A. (Franciscan Lay Apostolate).

Monday, January 23, 2012

Take Care Lest You Be Found Sterile

Tomb of the Unborn Child
Franciscan University of Steubenville
Next to the Portiuncula Chapel

"Take care lest, when the dung of worthlessness has been placed at your roots, you be found sterile, for then there will remain nothing but that the axe be put to you. Do not trust entirely the spirit that is in now in you, for man's senses are more prone to evil than to good, even though it may have been considerably separated from it."

Saint Francis of Assisi
Sacrum Commercium

T

Thursday, January 19, 2012

An Awsome Gift Of Human Life

 
 
"This past week someone shared with me the story of Dana Lu Blessing. I share it with you as we reflect on the awesome gift of human life.

"A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as a doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. She was still groggy from surgery. Her husband, David, held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news. That afternoon, March 10, 1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24 weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency Cesarean to deliver the couple's new daughter, Dana Lu Blessing.

"At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature. Still the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs. 'I don't think she's going to make it,' he said as kindly as he could. Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Dana would likely face if she survived.

"Because Dana's nervous system was essentially "raw" the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so for the first two months of her life her parents couldn't touch or cradle their tiny baby girl. Little by little this miracle child gained weight and strength. Five years later she was a petite and feisty little girl with no signs of physical or mental impairment.

"While her survival was a miracle, another miracle was revealed when Dana was just five years old. One afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Dana was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ballpark watching her brother play baseball. She suddenly asked her mother, "Do you smell that?" "Yes," Diana responded, "it smells like rain." Dana closed her eyes and asked again, "Do you smell that?" Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're going to get wet. It smells like rain." Dana shook her head and announced, "No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest." And off she ran to play with the other children.

"And Dana knew that during those long days and nights of her daughter's first two months of life when her nerves were too sensitive for anyone to touch her, God was holding Dana on His chest and it was His loving scent that she remembered.

"May Dana Lu Blessing never forget that scent and may we never forget God's love for His little ones both born and soon-to-be-born."

In God's love,

Fr. Todd Riebe
Pastor
Richmond Catholic Community

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Mystic Monk Coffee: Order Through The Portiuncula And Donate To Birthright (a loving alternative to Abortion)

"Guess who hasn't had their cup of Mystic Monk Coffee yet this morning!"


Fra Chris

The Carmelite Monks of Wyoming


Mystic Monk Coffee is roasted by the Carmelite Monks, a Roman Catholic monastery in the silence and solitude of the Rocky Mountains of northern Wyoming. The monks live a hidden life of prayer and contemplation in the pursuit of God. The monastery is inundated with young men who seek to leave everything to pray for the world, in a tradition at least a thousand years old. It is the monks’ great joy and privilege to share the fruit of their life with you in every cup of Mystic Monk Coffee.


The Monk Master Roaster

Br. Java is the master roaster who meticulously roasts beans in small batches. His philosophy is that each roast must be not only the labor of his hands, but a master roast of the highest quality. Br. Java is passionate about obtaining the perfect roasts for you. He carefully roasts only the finest gourmet beans under conditions that will make each roast consistent and smooth with a taste that will make your taste buds tingle. With experience and perfection, Mystic Monk Coffee is a coffee to savor and enjoy – with or without cream.


The Legend of the First Mystic Monk

Coffee is a product perfected and loved by monks from its beginning. When a monk of old heard the anguished tale of a shepherd who had sleepless goats, he himself discovered growing on shrubs the berries, which had such a wonderful affect. Delighted at his find, the ingenious monk boiled the beans in water and drank the resulting coffee. He found in his discovery a hot drink that could keep his eyes awake even amidst the midnight vigils and unceasing prayers of the monastic life.

The secret of coffee continues to keep monks ever alert and vigilant for their prayers, but now Mystic Monk Coffee shares the hidden, master roasts of monks with all who seek a delightful cup of coffee.


Monks are passionate Perfectionists

The monastic life is one of ordered perfection, which you will taste in every bag of Mystic Monk Coffee. Passionate about perfection, no challenge is too great for Br. Java and the monks, if it will result in a Mystic Monk brew suited for the most discriminating coffee drinker. The Carmelite monks have mastered the ancient art of roasting coffee, laboring with steadfast determination to make each cup of coffee simply superb. Taste the monastic perfection in each brew, which makes all the difference.

Please remember that when you buy Mystic Monk Coffee through the Portiuncula Hermitage, ten percent of all their commission sales is donated to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion.)

Please remember to keep our pre-born in your daily prayers!

To order direct, simply click on the Mystic Monk Coffee Icon on the Top of this page:

T


Thursday, July 15, 2010

When You See A Beggar You Are Looking At An Image Of Christ


A friar once brusquely refused a beggar who had asked for an alms at an awkward moment. When Francis heard about it, he made the friar take off his habit in his love for the poor, and cast himself at the feet of the beggar, confessing his fault and begging his prayers and forgiveness. The friar obeyed humbly and Francis remarked gently, "My dear brother, when you see a beggar, you are looking at an image of our Lord and his poor Mother. When you see a sick person, remember the infirmities he bore for us."

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
CHAPTER VIII

T

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

The American Soul Has Been Infected

Father Todd Riebe of the Richmond Catholic Community
talking with some of our youth

by Father Todd Riebe

Last week I was struck by the results of an opinion poll being reported by Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. Sixty-two percent of Americans agreed with the statement: "I think America is headed in the wrong direction." This question has been asked on opinion polls for decades, but never before have so many Americans responded in the affirmative.

Commentators are already busy debating what it all means. Democrats blame it on the "Bush years" and Republicans blame it on Obama's 'misguided' policies and independents have the luxury of blaming it on both!


The poll gives us some insight into our 'American soul' and is an opportunity to do some serious 'soul searching'. Things aren't going well and not primarily, I would venture, because of the policies of Bush or Obama. Things aren't going well because all is not well with the state of the American soul. We are by nature an optimistic people. Europeans have long looked at us as being naive and having a 'Pollyana' type optimism. It's part of our charm, but it has also been a force that has kept us going in difficult times.

It would seem that that optimism is waning thin these days. The more we have moved away from the core values that have identified us as a people, we lose that sense of trust in the future toward which our optimism has always propelled us.


There have been great shifts in how Americans thin k and act in the last four decades. The social revolution of the 60's promised us that if we were freed from all the restraints that society and religion place on us, we would find utopia. We have to ask ourselves, "Is this utopia?"

Part of the shift that we have seen taking place in the American soul is the popular idea that a person can be 'spiritual' without being 'religious'. The truth is that spirituality and religion are two sided of the same coin. Religion without spirituality is empty ritual. Spirituality without religion separates the 'being' in whom our spirits are connected from any objective truth. Spirituality without religion can easily lead to creating God in our own image and likeness rather than opening ourselves to being recreated in the image and likeness of God. We become free to do whatever we feel like doing. Truth becomes what each person wants it to be.

The American soul has been 'infected' by this separation and so many of the traditional values that we prided ourselves on as a people and that brought us happiness (family, discipline, respect, temperance, civility) have gone by the wayside. The picture admittedly looks bleak. But for people of faith, there is a supernatural optimism that survives a mere natural optimism. For that reason I continue to believe that the invitation, "Catholics, Come Home" is going to sound better and better to more and more people in coming years. Often times teens run away from home and then discover that what they ran away from were the very things for which they most long. The Church will be here and, as we like to say, "The lights will be on for you!"

In God's love,

Fr. Todd


T

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

A New Kind of Fool

Portiuncula Hermitage in Jerusalem, Ohio

The Lord has called me into the way of simplicity and humility, and he has indeed made this way known through me and through all who choose to believe me and follow me. So I prefer you not talk about any other Rule, whether St. Benedict's, or St. Augustine's, or St. Bernard's, nor recommend any other ideal or manner of life than that which the Lord in his mercy has revealed and given to me. He told me I am to be a new kind of fool in this world.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Mirror of Perfection- 68

T

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

The Power To Heal Only Comes Through True Humility


In his love for true humility, St. Francis devoted himself to the lepers and lived with them, waiting on them all, for the love of God. He washed their feet and bound up their sores, drawing off the puss and wiping them clean. He was extraordinarily devoted to them and kissed their wounds, he who was soon to play a part of the worthy Good Samaritan in the Gospel. As a reward, God endowed him with such power to heal that his influence over ills of soul and body were miraculous.

Saint Francis of Assisi

Bonaventure, Major Life

CHAPTER II

T

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Richmond Catholic Community Charismatic Prayer Group Meeting July 20th

The monthly meeting of the Richmond Catholic Community Charismatic Prayer Group will meet on July 20, 2008 in the basement of St. Mary Church 710 North A Street Richmond, IN 47374.

"I have no hesitation in saying that all pastoral initiatives must be set in relation to holiness....Stressing holiness remains more than ever an urgent pastoral task....

"Our Christian communities must become genuine 'schools' of prayer, where the meeting with Christ is expressed no just in imploring help, but also in thanksgiving, praise, adoration, contemplation, listening, and ardent devotion until the heart truly 'falls in love.' Intense prayer, yes, but it does not distract us from our commitment to history: by opening our heart to the love of God it also opens it to the love of our brothers and sisters, and makes us capable of shaping history according to God's plan."

Pope John Paul II
NMI 30,33


For additional information, please Email Chris Dickson at: dicksoncorp@parallax.ws

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Richmond Catholic Community Charismatic Renewal

Beginning June 15, 2008 the Richmond Catholic Community Charismatic Prayer Group will meet every 3rd Sunday of the month from 7:00-9:00 P.M. in the basement of Saint Mary's school building.

Everyone is invited to come and join us in Prayer, Praise and Worship.

For additional information, please e-mail me at: dicksoncorp@parallax.ws



Saturday, September 01, 2007

Father Todd Riebe: The Pure Heart

"Blessed are the pure in Heart: they shall see God" (Matt 5:8). The pure of heart are those who despise earthly things and seek those of heaven, and who never cease adoring and looking with pure heart and soul upon the Lord God living and true.

St. Francis
Admonition 17