Sometimes we can be tricked into thinking that the Holy Communion we receive at Mass every Sunday is somehow owed to us; that we have a right to receive it. However, the Eucharist, which is Jesus Christ’s own body and blood, is a divine gift bestowed upon us by our Heavenly Father. And because it’s a gift, the way we receive it and the state of our souls matter greatly to our relationship with God. Which begs the question: can someone be denied Holy Communion? Today, Fr. Mike explains whether communion is a gift that can be taken away, and what that means for public figures who openly support practices against the Church, like abortion. If you or someone you know has had an abortion and is seeking help and healing, visit https://www.rachelsvineyard.org/ for resources and guidance. ❓ Have ideas for future videos ❓ Topics you want to hear about ❓ Questions you want answered ❓ Make sure to put #AskAscension in your comment 👍 — MORE FROM ASCENSION — 🔸Ascension’s main website: [insert UTM link] 🔸Ascension Media: [insert UTM link] 🔸The Great Adventure Bible: [insert UTM link] — SOCIAL MEDIA — 🔸Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AscensionPress/ 🔸Twitter: http://twitter.com/AscensionPress 🔸LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ascension-press 🔸Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/catholicfaithformation/ 🔸Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/c/ascensionpresents — BULLDOG CATHOLIC — 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXzB400_Skw95z2TmAsSkIg 🔸iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/umd-newman-catholic-campus-ministry/id273537688

Fulton John Sheen, was born May 8, 1895 in Illinois and was ordained a priest of the diocese of Peoria in Peoria, IL on September 20, 1919. In 1930, after just eleven years of priesthood, Sheen began hosting a weekly Sunday night radio broadcast called The Catholic Hour. This broadcast captured many devoted listeners, reportedly drawing an audience of four million people every week for two decades. In 1951, Sheen was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdioceses of New York, the same year he started Life is Worth Living. Life is Worth Living ran until 1957. Bishop Sheen hosted another television series, The Fulton Sheen Program, running from 1961 to 1968 that closely modeled the Life is Worth Living series. In 1979 Fulton J. Sheen received his greatest accolade when Pope John Paul II embraced him and said, "You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You are a loyal son of the Church." With that last acknowledgement, Fulton Sheen passed into eternal life just two months later on December 9, 1979. Bishop Fulton Sheen was scheduled for beatification (the process of becoming a saint in the Catholic Church) on December 21, 2019, at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Peoria. On December 3, 2019, the Diocese of Peoria announced that the beatification of Sheen would be delayed.

Get your physical copy or e-book of the Ascension Lenten Companion: Year C — https://tinyurl.com/yb87jypf Imagine if you could see yourself the way Jesus sees you. Even in the midst of our sins, struggles, and failures, Jesus looks upon us with love as His Beloved. All He asks for us is to meet His gaze and fall in love with Him in return. This week, we turn toward Jesus and let ourselves be fully seen by Him no matter where we find ourselves in life. Be not afraid of standing before Jesus unhidden and allow God to clearly see and completely love you. God wants to give you more. How will you respond this Lent? Fr. Mark Toups, an experienced spiritual director, leads readers inward to invite the Lord to heal those areas where they need it most. He follows the same format that more than a hundred thousand people enjoyed in Advent with his popular Rejoice! journals. Readers will receive daily guidance as well as supplemental videos, to help enter more deeply into Lent and remain focused throughout the season. The Ascension Lenten Companion: Year C Presented by Fr. Mark Toups Product Owner: Julia Bernetsky Producer/Director: Matt Pirrall DP: Sean Boyd Production/Editing: Coronation Media — MORE FROM ASCENSION — 🔸Ascension’s main website: https://tinyurl.com/y8b6lfts 🔸Ascension Media: https://tinyurl.com/yax2fchu 🔸The Great Adventure Bible: https://tinyurl.com/y95lyunt — SOCIAL MEDIA — 🔸Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AscensionPress/ 🔸Twitter: http://twitter.com/AscensionPress 🔸LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ascension-press 🔸Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/catholicfaithformation/ 🔸Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/c/ascensionpresents Musicbed SyncID: MB01R27S3FP8PQO

Support the channel by visiting https://brianholdsworth.ca Channel sponsor: https://realestateforlife.org Music written and generously provided by Paul Jernberg. Find out more about his work as a composer here: http://pauljernberg.com A lot of people having been weighing in about whether or not Pope Francis is a heretic, or even an anti-pope and some surprising figures have come out to assert this very thing. Needless to say, such claims, coming from respectable voices, has the potential to cause scandal and distress in the minds of many Catholics who have relied on some of these very same voices, in the past, as sources of knowledge and encouragement in their faith. These are some of my thoughts on how lay people should respond to such claims and what responsibilities we have in the midst of them. #popefrancis #antipope Podcast Version: https://brianholdsworth.libsyn.com/

Don't miss the Premiere of the Ascension Lenten Companion, 2022 (Year C): https://youtu.be/IA5wlyGQxXs Lent has begun and with it our season of penance and fasting. What are you planning on giving up or adding to your spiritual life? Today, Fr. Mike helps us understand that Lent is less like a crockpot—which you can set and forge—and more like an ongoing, iterative process that requires our continual discernment about how we are drawing closer to Jesus. God wants to give you more. How will you respond this Lent? Order the Lenten Companion today: https://tinyurl.com/yb9vsuva ❓ Have ideas for future videos ❓ Topics you want to hear about ❓ Questions you want answered ❓ Make sure to put #AskAscension in your comment 👍 — MORE FROM ASCENSION — 🔸Ascension’s main website: https://tinyurl.com/y862josv 🔸Ascension Media: https://tinyurl.com/yd5nyeq4 🔸The Great Adventure Bible: https://tinyurl.com/ycb8kww3 — SOCIAL MEDIA — 🔸Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AscensionPress/ 🔸Twitter: http://twitter.com/AscensionPress 🔸LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ascension-press 🔸Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/catholicfaithformation/ 🔸Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/c/ascensionpresents — BULLDOG CATHOLIC — 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXzB400_Skw95z2TmAsSkIg 🔸iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/umd-newman-catholic-campus-ministry/id273537688

What does God want from us? What does God deserve from us given that he's our creator? Today, Fr. Mike shows how we can actually turn God into an idol—when we "choose our version of God." This is what happens when we pull God off the shelf when we want him or need him, but put him back on the shelf when we don't. Today, Fr. Mike invites us to ask God what he wants from us. ❓ Have ideas for future videos ❓ Topics you want to hear about ❓ Questions you want answered ❓ Make sure to put #AskAscension in your comment 👍 — MORE FROM ASCENSION — 🔸Ascension’s main website: https://tinyurl.com/y7mfhrr3 🔸Ascension Media: https://tinyurl.com/ybx75l37 🔸The Great Adventure Bible: https://tinyurl.com/yd2qmp4q — SOCIAL MEDIA — 🔸Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AscensionPress/ 🔸Twitter: http://twitter.com/AscensionPress 🔸LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ascension-press 🔸Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/catholicfaithformation/ 🔸Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/c/ascensionpresents — BULLDOG CATHOLIC — 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXzB400_Skw95z2TmAsSkIg 🔸iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/umd-newman-catholic-campus-ministry/id273537688

Have you ever noticed that there is a correlation between the amount something has cost you and the value you place on it? Let me give you an example. I own two pairs of shoes that are almost identical. I had been looking for this exact style for a long time but I couldn’t find it until one day I was walking through a department store and there they were hanging on a rack as if they were a clearance item. I went to take a look at them and then checked the price tag. They were selling them for $20. I was shocked and instead of excitement at what a great find this was, my reaction was to immediately start wondering what was wrong with them. Was this some sort of attempt to appeal to a lower end market with crappy quality or something? I never did get my answer so I just went ahead and bought them, but the feeling that I was getting something cheap and unworthy was nagging me. After using the shoes for a couple weeks, I found that they were holding up well and were comfortable so I decided to go back to the store and buy like a life time supply of them because they were almost too good to be true. When I got there I was startled to discover that they were selling them now for $80. I couldn’t make sense of it. Maybe someone had mislabeled the pair I had originally bought or something. So, I decided to pick up another pair that was almost the same but slightly different for that same $80 price tag. Since then, I’ve noticed something strange. Of the two pairs of shoes I’ve been really diligent in the way I take care of the ones that cost me $80 and the ones that cost me $20… not so much. I wore them camping and got caught in a rain storm, I dropped a piece of juicy watermelon on them about a week ago, and just before that I wore them for a visit out to my Aunt and Uncle’s farm and if you’ve never been to a farm before, let me just say… there’s a lot of pooping that goes on there. The reason for this disparity seems pretty obvious to me. Because this pair only cost me $20, I’ve carried an unshakable sense that they are only worth $20 even though I later found out that they were worth a lot more. That hasn’t influenced my behaviour towards them, however; because at the end of the day, they only cost me $20. I think that stands as a powerful analogy for why Christianity has been on such a dramatic decline in western culture. The last 50 years have been characterized by a trend of relaxation in practices and teachings of the faith by it’s leaders. We’ve seen some dramatic examples, especially in mainline Protestantism, in which there have been complete reversals on moral teachings. While that hasn’t happened in the official teachings of the Catholic Church, we’ve seen a disregard for the disciplines and practices. For example, in Canada, we used to be expected to attend mass on feast days of the liturgical calendar but they’ve since just moved those all over to the nearest Sunday. Many churches don’t even have kneelers any more because, I don’t know, we don’t want to be uncomfortable? Pro tip, that was the entire point of having kneelers. And instead of fasting during Lent, we’re often encouraged to just do something nice for somebody. I can understand the instinct for doing this. I think well intentioned pastors believed that aspects of the faith were too difficult for the faithful and so if we compromise and accommodate, we’ll retain members but what they essentially did, was reduced the cost of what it means to be a Christian. So the result has been a startling decline in affiliation and practice. In Europe, it’s even worse. They’re anticipating the complete disappearance of some denominations within the next few decades. My investment in my faith has cost me so much and transformed me in undeniable ways that it would be really hard for me to let go of because I’d have to admit that it was all for nothing. But had I not felt the need to invest myself as much as I have, I’d likely be able to walk away from it quite casually and easily. In the case of Christianity, this makes sense. After all, the symbol of our faith is an ancient method of torture and execution and Jesus said that following him would be like picking up your own cross as he did. Being a Christian isn’t supposed to be easy so if we continue to attempt to draw people in by reducing the cost of what it means to be a Christian, we’ll continue to set people up for disappointment by a counterfeit religion that does little to impact their lives. Please comment with your ideas about the video and if you find it interesting, please share it and subscribe. Twitter: https://twitter.com/briankeepsworth Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brianholdsworthmedia Business: https://www.holdsworthdesign.com

Friends, "The Power of the Dog" is one of the most talked-about and decorated films of the past year, garnering twelve Oscar nominations, including best picture, best actor, best-supporting actor, best-supporting actress, and best director. It is indeed a fine film to look at, the acting is uniformly marvelous, and the story is brooding and tautly rendered. At the same time, it’s a movie that leaves the viewer (or at least this particular viewer) a bit confused, and more than a little uneasy. Many have in fact debated what exactly was going on as the picture came to its conclusion. "The Power of the Dog" is a meditation on family, friendship, repressed sexuality, and, above all, the way that powerful people come to manipulate and abuse one another. It is precisely the manner in which Jane Campion, the crafty director, presents this last theme that I analyze in my most recent video. ———VIDEO LINKS——— Bishop Barron on "The Dark Knight Rises": https://youtu.be/XkOTTAMmfyM Bishop Barron on "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood": https://youtu.be/Y_vc44IwiBY Bishop Barron on "The Departed": https://youtu.be/FfRqWdRUnxE Bishop Barron on "Fargo": https://youtu.be/HF8Tm7luxx4 ———WATCH——— Subscribe to this Channel: https://bit.ly/31LV1sn Word on Fire Institute Channel: https://bit.ly/2voBZMD Word on Fire en Español Channel: https://bit.ly/2uFowjl ———WORD ON FIRE——— Word on Fire: https://www.wordonfire.org/ FREE Daily Gospel Reflections (English or Español): https://dailycatholicgospel.com/ ———WORD ON FIRE INSTITUTE——— Join Bishop Barron and over 20,000 evangelists inside the Word on Fire Institute at https://wordonfire.institute ———SOCIAL MEDIA——— Bishop Barron Instagram: https://bit.ly/2Sn2XgD Bishop Barron Facebook: https://bit.ly/2Sltef5 Bishop Barron Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Hkz6yQ Word on Fire Instagram: https://bit.ly/39sGNyZ Word on Fire Facebook: https://bit.ly/2HmpPpW Word on Fire Twitter: https://bit.ly/2UKO49h Word on Fire en Español Instagram: https://bit.ly/38mqofD Word on Fire en Español Facebook: https://bit.ly/2SlthaL Word on Fire en Español Twitter: https://bit.ly/38n3VPt ———SUPPORT WORD ON FIRE——— Donate: https://www.wordonfire.org/donate/ Word on Fire Store: https://store.wordonfire.org/ Pray: https://bit.ly/2vqU7Ft

Bishop Robert Barron gives an excellent keynote address at the Adoremus Eucharistic Congress 2018 in Liverpool reflecting on sainthood, sanctity and what makes us holy. This was the second of two keynote addresses given at the ACC Echo Arena in Liverpool on Saturday, 8 September 2018.