The LORD is my life's refuge; of whom should I be afraid?
Judges, Chapter 9,
Verse 21
Then Jotham fled and escaped to Beer, where
he remained for fear of his brother
Abimelech.
A lot of people seem to
escape to Beer! That’s a joke but unfortunately it is a common response to
fear. Liquid courage we use to call it in the military. However, today I would
like to change the subject to that of the family.
Jotham was raised in a
large family 70 brothers and we do not know how many sisters. Families are the
breeding ground of either love or hate; of either evil or good and finally of
either excellence or apathy. A great family whether large or small is the
seedbed of either greatness or smallness. This is the reason there is such a
focus on the family in the church now. Families are the factories of a person’s
character and character determines a person’s destiny.
Passion Week Timeline[1]
Monday
April 10 |
|
Monday of Holy Week[2]
The Gospel for the Mass gives an account of Judas' character, foreshadowing
his act of betrayal.
Spring Cleaning Just
as the Hebrews cleaned and swept the whole house in preparation for the Pasch
(Passover), so too is there an ancient custom in Christianity that the first
three weekdays of Holy Week be a time for the year's most thorough cleaning.
Everything is to be scrubbed and polished, and all work is to be completed by
Wednesday evening (in time for Tenebrae).
Tenebrae. Tenebrae consists
of the divine office of Matins and Lauds for Maundy Thursday. It is generally
held on the night of "Spy Wednesday" of Holy Week, so-called because
it is believed to be the night on which Judas Iscariot betrayed our Lord.
Meditation - Mary and Judas[3]
Aids in
Battle[4] The Devil fears those who pray
My dear brothers
and sisters, not only is prayer very powerful; even more, it’s of the utmost
necessity for overcoming the enemies of our salvation. Look at all the saints:
They weren’t content with watching and fighting to overcome the enemies of
their salvation and with keeping well away from all that
could offer them temptation. They passed their whole lives in prayer, not only
the day, but very often the whole night as well. Yes, my dear children, we
watch over ourselves and all the motions of our hearts in vain, and in vain we
avoid temptation, if we don’t pray. If we don’t continually resort to prayer,
all our other ways will be of no use at all to us, and we’ll be overcome. We
won’t find any sinner converted without turning to prayer. We won’t find one
persevering without depending heavily on prayer. Nor will we ever find a
Christian who ends up damned whose downfall didn’t begin with a lack of prayer.
We can see, too, how much the Devil fears those who pray, since there’s not a
moment of the day when he tempts us more than when we’re at prayer. He does
everything he possibly can to prevent us from praying. When the Devil wants to
make someone lose his soul, he starts out by inspiring in him a profound
distaste for prayer. However good a Christian he may be, if the Devil succeeds
in making him either say his prayers badly or neglect them altogether, he’s
certain to have that person for himself. Yes, my dear brothers and sisters,
from the moment that we neglect to pray, we move with big steps towards hell.
We’ll never return to God if we don’t resort to prayer.
ST. JOHN VIANNEY
Devotions/Prayers
Attend the Chrism Mass
which is conducted on this day when the bishop blesses the holy oils to be used
for the year.
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