Stay close to JESUS

If ya' ain't got JESUS, 

then ya' ain't got nuttin', 

buddy!

Call on JESUS today!

JESUS, I am nothing without You.

As for me and my household, 

we will serve the Lord.

Joshua 24:15

Being a Christian doesn't mean I won't fall ....,

It means JESUS will catch me when I do ....

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ 8 December, 2014

Hail, Mary, full of grace, 

the Lord is with you. 

Blessed are you among women, 

and blessed is the fruit 

of your womb, Jesus. 

Holy Mary, Mother of God, 

pray for us sinners, 

now, and at the hour 

of our death. Amen.

In this solemnity, the Catholic Church honours the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception. Mary had a faith that God's Spirit prepared and a love that never knew sin, for God Father the kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception in the womb of Saint Anne and nine months later, on 8 September, we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Both the Eastern and the Western Church had maintained that Mary was free from sin throughout her life. It is a Holy Day of Obligation and Catholics are obliged to attend Holy Mass.

On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX officially declared the Immaculate Conception a dogma of the Church, which means that all Christians are bound to accept it as true. As the Holy Father wrote in the Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus, �We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.�

O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin prepared a worthy dwelling for your Son, grant, we pray, that, as you preserved her from every stain by virtue of the Death of your Son, which you foresaw, so, through her intercession, we, too, may be cleansed and admitted to your presence. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. AMEN.

Monday, 8 December, 2014
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Reading 1

Genesis 3:9-15, 20
After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree,
the LORD God called to the man and asked him, �Where are you?�
He answered, �I heard you in the garden;
but I was afraid, because I was naked,
so I hid myself.�
Then he asked, �Who told you that you were naked?
You have eaten, then,
from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!�
The man replied, �The woman whom you put here with meC
she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.�
The LORD God then asked the woman,
�Why did you do such a thing?�
The woman answered, �The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.�

Then the LORD God said to the serpent:
�Because you have done this, you shall be banned
from all the animals
and from all the wild creatures;
on your belly shall you crawl,
and dirt shall you eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike at your head,
while you strike at his heel.�

The man called his wife Eve,
because she became the mother of all the living.


Responsorial Psalm 

Psalm 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.

Reading 2

Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12

Brothers and sisters:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavens,
as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world,
to be holy and without blemish before him.
In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ,
in accord with the favor of his will,
for the praise of the glory of his grace
that he granted us in the beloved.

In him we were also chosen,
destined in accord with the purpose of the One
who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will,
so that we might exist for the praise of his glory,
we who first hoped in Christ.

Alleluia 

Luke 1:28
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.


Gospel 

Luke 1:26-38
The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin�s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
�Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.�
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
�Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.�
But Mary said to the angel,
�How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?�
And the angel said to her in reply,
�The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.�
Mary said, �Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.�
Then the angel departed from her.

2015 Liturgical Year, Hours, and Holy Days of Obligation and Moveable Feasts ~ Roman Catholic

With the First Sunday of Advent, 30 November, 2014 begins the 2015 liturgical year.

Cycles used in Lectionary for Mass

Sunday Cycle
Year B is applied on Sundays between 30 November, 2014 to 22 November, 2015.

Weekday Cycle

Cycle 1 is applied on Ordinary Weekdays between 12 January, 2015 to 17 February, 2015 and from 25 May, 2015 to 28 November, 2015.

* Readings from the Proper of Time and Proper of Saints will be used for all Solemnities and all Feasts since they must take the place of the weekday readings for those respective days. The readings from the weekday cycle generally are to be used even on days on which a Memorial or Optional Memorial of a Saint occurs with the exceptions to this rule are the Memorials or Optional Memorials which have �proper readings� (usually only the Gospel) assigned to them in the Lectionary for Mass. Substitutions from the Commons or Proper of Saints may be made for the other readings suggested for those Memorials or Optional Memorials.

Liturgy of the Hours

30 November, 2014 to 11 January, 2015
Advent, Christmas (Volume I)
12 January, 2015 to 17 February, 2015
Weeks 1 to 6,
Ordinary Time (Volume III)
18 February, 2015 to 24 May, 2015
Lent, Triduum, Easter (Volume II)
25 May, 2015 to 1 August, 2015
Weeks 8 to 17,
Ordinary Time (Volume III)
2 August, 2015 to 28 November, 2015
Weeks 18 to 34, Ordinary Time (Volume IV)

* Outside Advent, Christmas Time, Lent, and Easter Time, on Saturdays which have no commemoration having the rank of Obligatory Memorial or higher, a Mass in honour of the

Blessed Virgin Mary may be celebrated. 

Roman Catholic 

Holy Days of Obligation and Moveable Feasts 2015

Thursday, 1 January, 2015
Mary, Mother of God; Holy Day of Obligation

Saturday, 3 January, 2015

The Most Holy Name of Jesus

Tuesday, 6 January, 2015

Epiphany

Sunday, 11 January, 2015

Baptism of the Lord

Saturday, 24 January, 2015

Our Lady, Queen of Peace

Sunday, 25 January, 2015

Conversion of Saint Paul

Monday, 2 February, 2015
Presentation of the Lord

Wednesday, 11 February, 2015
Our Lady of Lourdes

Wednesday, 18 February, 2015
Ash Wednesday

Sunday, 22 February, 2015
Chair of Saint Peter

Thursday, 19 March, 2015
Saint Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Wednesday, 25 March, 2015
Annunciation of the Lord

Sunday, 29 March, 2015
Palm Sunday / Passion Sunday

Thursday, 2 April, 2015
Holy Thursday / Maundy Thursday

Friday, 3 April, 2015
Good Friday

Saturday, 4 April, 2015
Holy Saturday

Sunday, 5 April, 2015
Easter Sunday

Sunday,12 April, 2015
Divine Mercy Sunday

Saturday,18 April, 2015
Our Lady of the Valley

Monday, 25 April, 2015
Saint Mark, the Evangelist

Sunday, 26 April, 2015
Our Lady of Good Counsel

Friday, 1 May, 2015
Saint Joseph the Worker

Monday, 4 May, 2015
Saints Philip and James, Apostles

Wednesday, 13 May, 2015
Our Lady of Fatima

Thursday, 14 May, 2015
Ascension; Holy Day of Obligation 

(* may be transferred to Sunday, 17 May, 2015)

Saint Matthias, the Apostle

Sunday, 24 May, 2015

Pentecost Sunday

Mary, Help of Christians

Monday, 25 May, 2015

Mary, Mother of the Church

Sunday, 31 May, 2015

Trinity Sunday / Holy Trinity

Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Thursday, 4 June, 2015
Corpus Christi / Body and Blood of  Christ

(* may be transferred to Sunday, 7 June, 2015)

Friday, 12 June, 2015

Sacred Heart of Jesus

Saturday, 13 June, 2015

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Wednesday, 24 June, 2015

Birth of Saint John the Baptist

Monday, 29 June, 2015

Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Thursday, 16 July, 2015

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Sunday, 26 July, 2015

Saint Joachim and Anne, parents of Mary

Thursday, 6 August, 2015

Transfiguration of the Lord 

Saturday, 15 August, 2015

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Holy Day of Obligation 

Saturday, 22 August, 2015

Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

Saturday, 29 August, 2015

The beheading of Saint John the Baptist

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Saturday, 12 September, 2015

Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Monday, 14 September, 2015

Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Tuesday, 15 September, 2015

Our Lady of Sorrows

Monday, 21 September, 2015

Saint Matthew, Apostle and the Evangelist

Thursday, 24 September, 2015

Our Lady of Mercy

Tuesday, 29 September, 2015

Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels

Friday, 2 October, 2015

Guardian Angels

Wednesday, 7 October, 2015

Our Lady of the Rosary

Monday, 12 October, 2015

Our Lady of the Pillar

Sunday, 18 October, 2015

Saint Luke, the Evangelist

Wednesday, 28 October, 2015

Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles

Sunday, 1 November, 2015

All Saints Day; Holy Day of Obligation

Saturday, 7 November, 2015

Mary, Mother and Mediatrix of Grace

Monday, 9 November, 2015

Dedication of the Lateran Basillica 

Saturday, 21 November, 2015

Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Sunday, 22 November, 2015

Christ the King

Sunday, 29 November, 2015

First Sunday of Advent

Monday, 30 November, 2015

Saint Andrew, the Apostle

Tuesday, 8 December, 2015

Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Holy Day of Obligation

Saturday, 12 December, 2015

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Friday, 25 December, 2015
Nativity of our Lord (Christmas); Holy Day of Obligation

Sunday, 27 December, 2015

Holy Family
Saint John, Apostle and the Evangelist

Sunday, 28 December, 2015
Holy Innocents, martyrs

Pentateuch and Abbreviations of the Books of the Bible

The Pentateuch, which consists of the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), enjoys particular prestige among the Jews as the "Law," or "Torah," the concrete expression of God's will in their regard. It is more than a body of legal doctrine, even though such material occupies many chapters, for it contains the story of the formation of the People of God: Abraham and the Patriarchs, Moses and the oppressed Hebrews in Egypt, the birth of Israel in the Sinai covenant, the journey to the threshold of the Promised Land, and the "discourses" of Moses.

Books Bible in the Old Testament in Canonical Order

Genesis, Gn
Exodus, Ex

Leviticus, Lv
Numbers, Nm
Deuteronomy, Dt

Joshua, Jos 
Judges, Jgs
Ruth, Ru

1 Samuel, 1 Sm
2 Samuel, 2 Sm
1 Kings, 1 Kgs
2 Kings, 2 Kgs
1 Chronicles, 1 Chr
2 Chronicles, 2 Chr
Ezra, Ezr 

Nehemiah, Neh
Tobit, Tb
Judith, Jdt
Esther, Est

1 Maccabees, 1 Mc
2 Maccabees, 2 Mc
Job, Jb
Psalm(s), Ps(s)

Proverbs, Prv
Ecclesiastes / Qoheleth, Eccl / Qoh 

Song of Songs, Sg

Wisdom, Wis
Sirach / Ecclesiasticus, Sir / Ecclus
Isaiah, Is 

Jeremiah, Jer
Lamentations, Lam

Baruch, Bar

Ezekiel, Ez
Daniel, Dn
Hosea, Hos
Joel, Jl 

Amos, Am
Obadiah, Ob

Jonah, Jon

Micah, Mi
Nahum, Na

Habakkuk, Hb
Zephaniah, Zep
Haggai, Hg

Zechariah, Zec
Malachi, Mal

Books Bible in the New Testament in Canonical Order

Matthew (Gospel), Mt
Mark (Gospel), Mk
Luke (Gospel), Lk
John (Gospel), Jn
Acts of the Apostles, Acts
Romans, Rom
1 Corinthians, 1 Cor
2 Corinthians, 2 Cor 

Galatians, Gal
Ephesians, Eph
Philippians, Phil
Colossians, Col
1 Thessalonians, 1 Thes
2 Thessalonians, 2 Thes
1 Timothy, 1 Tm
2 Timothy, 2 Tm
Titus, Ti
Philemon, Phlm
Hebrews, Heb
James, Ja / Jas
1 Peter, 1 Pt
2 Peter, 2 Pt
1 John, 1 Jn
2 John, 2 Jn
3 John, 3 Jn
Jude, Ju / Jude
Revelation / Apocalypse, Rv / Ap

Merciful Love of Christ

By Blessed John Paul II, Pope

Merciful Love, we pray to You, do not fail!

Merciful Love, be tireless!

Be constantly greater than every evil 

which is in man and in the world. 

Be greater than that evil 

which has increased in our century 

and in our generation!

Be more powerful with 

the power of the crucified King!

"Blessed be His Kingdom which is coming."