I am posting this a bit early as I am going to be at the men conference in Phoenix where I will be signing my books. www.cmfp.org
Sirach,
Chapter 40, Verse 2
Troubled thoughts and fear of
heart are theirs and anxious foreboding until death.
Life is a journey that
is full of joys and miseries. Every person, high or low, is burdened from birth
to death with fears, anxieties, and troubles, by day and often by night, the
time appointed for rest. For sinners, the suffering is much greater. What they
gained by violence and injustice is quickly destroyed; but righteousness will
prevail. In the end they will meet the mother of all the living things and
return to the earth. Listen to the words of King David on his death to Solomon.
“I am going the way of all flesh. Take
courage and be a man. Keep the mandate of the LORD, your God, following his
ways and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees as they are
written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in whatever you do, wherever
you turn, and the LORD may fulfill the promise he made on my behalf when he
said, ‘If your sons so conduct themselves that they remain faithful to me with
their whole heart and with their whole soul, you shall always have someone of
your line on the throne of Israel.’” (1Kg. 2:2-4)
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they
gathered together, and one of them [a scholar of the law]
tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in
the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You
shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and
with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Mt.
22:34-40)
The modern world
attempts to bully the faithful in abandoning their relationship with the Lord.
Saint Pope Pius X was a pope, who resisted the bullying of the modern world by
establishing an oath against modernism[1].
The crux of this oath has five main points:
1.
I profess that God is the origin and end of all
things.
2.
I accept and acknowledge the external proofs of
revelation, that is, divine acts and especially miracles and prophecies as the
surest signs of the divine origin of the Christian religion.
3.
I believe with equally firm faith that the
Church, the guardian and teacher of the revealed word, was personally
instituted by the real and historical Christ.
4.
I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was
handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the
same meaning and always in the same purport.
5.
I hold with certainty and sincerely confess
that faith is not a blind sentiment of religion welling up from the depths of
the subconscious under the impulse of the heart and the motion of a will
trained to morality; but faith is a genuine assent of the intellect to truth.
FEAST of Saint AGATHA
Agatha came from Catania a
city in Sicily. I was stationed in the Navy and lived in a small town of
Nicolosi which was situated on the Volcano (Etna) near the city of Catania. I
was impressed and formed as a young man by the faith and beauty of the people
of Sicily.
Agatha[2]
was born in Sicily and died there a martyr. She belonged to a rich, important
family. When she was young, she dedicated her life to God and resisted any men
who wanted to marry her or have sex with her. One of these men, Quintian, was
of a high enough rank that he felt he could force her to acquiesce. Knowing she
was a Christian in a time of persecution, he had her arrested and brought
before the judge - - himself. He expected her to give in to when faced with
torture and possible death, but she simply affirmed her belief in God by
praying: "Jesus Christ, Lord of all,
you see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I am. I am your sheep:
make me worthy to overcome the devil." Quintian imprisoned her in a
brothel in order to get her to change her mind. He brought her back before him
after she had suffered a month of assault and humiliation in the brothel, but
Agatha had never wavered, proclaiming that her freedom came from Jesus.
Quintian sent her to prison, instead of back to the brothel -- a move intended
to make her more afraid, but which probably was a great relief to her. When she
continued to profess her faith in Jesus, He had her tortured. He refused her
any medical care but God gave her all the care she needed in the form of a
vision of St. Peter. When she was tortured again, she died after saying a final
prayer: "Lord, my Creator, you have
always protected me from the cradle; you have taken me from the love of the
world and given me patience to suffer. Receive my soul." Because one
of the tortures she supposedly suffered was to have her breasts cut off, she
was often depicted carrying her breasts on a plate. It is thought that blessing
of the bread that takes place on her feast may have come from the mistaken
notion that she was carrying loaves of bread. Because she was asked for help
during the eruption of Mount Etna she is considered a protector against the
outbreak of fire. She is also considered the patroness of bellmakers for an
unknown reason -- though some speculate it may have something to do with the
fact that bells were used as fire alarms.
Prayer: Saint Agatha, you suffered sexual assault and indignity because of your
faith. Help heal all those who are survivors of sexual assault and protect
those women who are in danger. Amen
NOVENA TO THE HOLY FACE
DAILY PREPARATORY PRAYER
We now implore all the Angels and Saints to intercede for us as we pray this Holy Novena to the Most Holy Face of Jesus and for the glory of the most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
(Start novena)
Fifth Day
Make me hear rejoicing and gladness, that the bones you have crushed may revive. From my sins turn away your Face, and blot out all my guilt.
Holy Face of Jesus, Sacred Countenance of’ God, how great is your patience with humankind, how infinite your forgiveness. We are sinners, yet you love us. This gives us courage. For the glory of your Holy Face and of the Blessed Trinity, hear and answer us. Mary our Mother, intercede for us, Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Through the merits of your precious blood and your Holy Face, O Jesus, grant us our petition, Pardon and Mercy.
Prayer to Saint Joseph
Dear Saint Joseph! Adopt us as thy children, take charge of our salvation; watch over us day and night; preserve us from occasions of sin; obtain for us purity of body and soul, and the spirit of prayer, through thy intercession with Jesus, grant us a spirit of sacrifice, of humility and self-denial; obtain for us a burning love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and a sweet, tender love for Mary, our Mother.
Saint Joseph, be with us in life, be with us in death and obtain for us a favorable judgment from Jesus, our merciful Savior. Amen.
O Bleeding Face, O Face Divine, be every adoration Thine. (Three times)
[1]
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=5732
[2]
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=14
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