First Friday
FEAST OF ST. FAUSTINA
John,
Chapter 13,
Verse 1
Before the feast of
Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the
Father. He loved his own in the world
and he loved them to the end.
Christ as man and God knowing that his sacrifice of love was eminent rises up empties
Himself and disrobes and taking the role of a lowly servant washes the disciple’s
feet even the feet of Judas Iscariot. This is the love of Christ displayed for
us from the Father. Jesus, servant of the
Father, becomes the servant of mankind. His hour has come, and he loves his
friends “to the end” and so in turn His disciples must serve one another. We
are all called to wash one another’s feet.[1]
Jesus washing the feet of the disciples (John 13:1–17)
occurred in the upper room, just prior to the Last Supper and has significance
in three ways. For Jesus, it was the display of His humility and His
servanthood. For the disciples, the washing of their feet was in direct
contrast to their heart attitudes at that time. For us, washing feet is
symbolic of our role in the body of Christ. Walking in sandals on the filthy
roads of Israel in the first century made it imperative that feet be washed
before a communal meal, especially since people reclined at a low table and
feet were very much in evidence. When Jesus rose from the table and began to
wash the feet of the disciples (John 13:4), He was doing the work of the
lowliest of servants. The disciples must
have been stunned at this act of humility and condescension, that Christ, their
Lord and master, should wash the feet of His disciples, when it was their
proper work to have washed His. But when Jesus came to earth the first time, He
came not as King and Conqueror, but as the suffering Servant of Isaiah 53.
As He revealed in Matthew 20:28, He came “not to be served but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The humility expressed by His act
with towel and basin foreshadowed His ultimate act of humility and love on the cross. Jesus’ attitude of
servanthood was in direct contrast to that of the disciples, who had recently
been arguing among themselves as to which of them was the greatest (Luke
22:24). Since there was no servant present to wash their feet, it would never
have occurred to them to wash one another’s feet. When the Lord Himself stooped
to this lowly task, they were stunned into silence. To his credit, though,
Peter was profoundly uncomfortable with the Lord washing his feet, and, never
being at a loss for words, Peter protested, “You shall never wash my feet!”
Then Jesus said something that must
have further shocked Peter: “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me” (John
13:8), prompting Peter, whose love for the Savior was genuine, to request a
complete washing. Then Jesus explained the true meaning of being washed by Him.
Peter had experienced the cleansing of salvation and did not need to be washed
again in the spiritual sense. Salvation is a one-time act of justification by
faith, but the lifelong process of sanctification is one of washing from the
stain of sin we experience as we walk through the world. Peter and the
disciples—all except Judas, who never belonged to Christ—needed only this
temporal cleansing. This truth is just one of several from this incident that
Christians can apply to their own lives. First, when we come to Christ for the
washing of our sins, we can be sure that is permanent and complete. No act can
cleanse us further from our sin, as our sin has been exchanged for the perfect
righteousness of Christ on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21). But we do need
continual cleansing from the effects of living in the flesh in a sin-cursed
world. The continual washing of sanctification is done by the power of the Holy
Spirit, who lives within us, through the “washing of water by the Word”
(Ephesians 5:26), given to us to equip us for every good work (2 Timothy
3:16–17). Further, when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, He told them (and
us), “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you”
(John 13:15). As His followers, we are to emulate Him, serving one another in
lowliness of heart and mind, seeking to build one another up in humility and love. When we seek the preeminence, we
displease the Lord who promised that true greatness in His kingdom is attained
by those with a servant’s heart (Mark 9:35; 10:44). When we have that servant’s
heart, the Lord promised, we will be greatly blessed (John 13:17).[2]
ALTHOUGH
many pious souls had been accustomed, in the silence of their secluded lives,
to venerate the sacred Heart of Jesus with great devotion, still our divine
Savior desired that the boundless love of His Heart might be known by all men,
and that a new fire of love should thereby be kindled in the cold hearts of
Christians. For this purpose, He made use of a frail and little-known
instrument in the person of Margaret Mary Alacoque, a nun of the Order of the
Visitation, at Parayle-Monial, France. One day, when, according to her custom
during the octave of Corpus Christi, she was deeply engaged in devotions before
the Blessed Sacrament, the divine Savior appeared to her, showed her His Heart
burning with love, and said: “Behold this Heart, which has so loved men that it
has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to
testify its love. In return I receive from the greater part only ingratitude,
by their irreverence and sacrilege, and by the coldness and contempt they have
for Me in this sacrament of love. And what is most painful to Me is that they
are hearts consecrated to Me. It is for this reason I ask thee that the first
Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi be appropriated to a special feast to
honor My Heart by communicating on that day and making reparation for the
indignity that it has received. And I promise that My Heart shall dilate to
pour out abundantly the influences of its love on all that will render it this
honor or procure its being rendered. Margaret obeyed, but met everywhere the
greatest opposition, until finally, when she became mistress of novices, she
succeeded, by the help of her divine Spouse, in animating her young charges to
venerate the sacred Heart of Jesus. But this was not sufficient for her zeal.
She persevered until she softened the opposition of the nuns and kindled in all
an equal devotion towards the most sacred Heart. Thence the devotion spread to
the adjoining dioceses, where confraternities in honor of the most sacred Heart
of Jesus soon sprung up. Pope Clement XIII., after having instituted a most
rigorous examination of the whole affair, commanded that the feast of the Most
Sacred Heart of Jesus should be solemnly celebrated throughout the whole
Catholic Church every year, on the first Friday after the octave of Corpus
Christi.
The
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Object of this Devotion
In the divine Heart of Our Savior we must not imagine
an inanimate heart, separated from the person of Christ, but the living heart
of the God-Man, the center of all His affections, the fountain of all His
virtues, the most touching emblem of His infinite love to man. The Church
venerates the cross, the blood, and the wounds of the divine Savior, by feasts
which have their proper masses and lessons, in order, by meditation upon these
objects, to awaken in us a more fervent devotion to the Redeemer. How much more
worthy, then, of our devotion is the sacred Heart of Our Savior, since all its
thoughts, movements, and affections aim at our salvation, and it is always
ready to receive truly penitent sinners, to pardon them, to restore them again
to God s favor, and make them partakers of eternal happiness!
Excellence
of this Devotion
It is, writes the venerable P. Simon Gourdan:
·
A
holy devotion, for therein men venerate in Christ those affections and motions
of His Heart by which He sanctified the Church, glorified His Heavenly Father,
and showed Himself to men as a perfect example of the most sublime holiness.
·
An
ancient devotion of the Catholic Church, which, instructed by St. Paul, the
great apostle, has at all times acknowledged the great beneficence of the divine
and sacred Heart of Jesus.
·
An
approved devotion, for the Holy Scriptures everywhere admonish us to renew the
heart, by changing our lives; to penetrate it with true sorrow, to inflame it
with divine love, and to adorn it by the practice of all virtues. When,
therefore, a new heart is promised us, by which to direct our lives, that can
be no other than the Heart of Jesus, which is to us the pattern of all
excellence, and which we must follow if we would be saved.
·
A
perfect devotion, as being the origin of all other devotions. For the Heart of
Jesus is the inexhaustible treasury from which the blessed Mother of God, and
all other saints have derived their graces, their virtues, their life, their
spiritual goods. Filled first with treasures from this source, different
servants of God have instituted and established other devotions.
·
A
profitable devotion, for thereby we have brought before our eyes the very
fountain of life and grace, and can draw directly from it, increasing in
ourselves all virtues, by adoring this divine Heart, meditating on its holy
affections, and endeavoring to imitate them.
·
A
devotion pleasing to God, for thus we adore God, as Christ requires, in spirit
and in truth, serving Him inwardly in our hearts, and endeavoring to please
Him. Finally, it is:
·
A
useful devotion, since its whole object is to unite us most intimately with
Christ as members of Him, her head, to make us live by and according to His
spirit, to have one heart and soul with Him, and through grace finally to
become one with Him, which is and must be the object of all devotions.
As this devotion is, then, so excellent, we cannot
sufficiently recommend it to all who are anxious for their salvation. While
everyone can practice this devotion, and adore the sacred Heart of Jesus, by
himself, there is a greater blessing when pious souls unite and form a
confraternity for practicing the devotion. Of such confraternities there were
in the year 1726 more than three hundred, and they are now established
throughout all Catholic countries. Hesitate not, Christian soul, to engage in
this devotion, and to join in the adoration of that sacred Heart of Jesus in
which all men find propitiation, the pious, confidence; sinners, hope; the
afflicted, consolation; the sick, support; the dying, refuge; the elect, joy
and delight.
An
Offering to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Whoever says the following prayer before the image of
the most sacred Heart of Jesus, with sincere sorrow for his sins, gains each
time an indulgence of one hundred days; and by saying it daily for a month, he
can on any one day gain a plenary indulgence, if he makes his confession,
receives communion, and prays according to the intention of the Church:
“My
loving Jesus, I (N.N.) give Thee my heart; and I consecrate myself wholly to
Thee, out of the grateful love I bear Thee, and as reparation for all my
unfaithfulness; and with Thy aid I purpose never to sin again.”
Feast of St. Faustina[4]
Saint Faustina was born in the 20th
century and canonized in the year 2000. Jesus chose her to deliver to the
modern world a message as old as eternity. It is the message of his love for all people, especially sinners.
Jesus said to Faustina, "Today I am sending you with my mercy to the
people of the whole world." It is his desire to heal the aching world, to
draw all people into his merciful heart of love.
On February 22, 1931, Jesus appeared to Faustina as the King of Divine Mercy.
He asked her to have a picture painted of him as she saw him — clothed in
white, with red and white rays of light streaming from his heart. The rays
represent the blood and water that flowed from the side of Jesus on the cross.
Under the image are the words, "Jesus, I trust in you." Many people
did not believe Faustina at first. The sisters in her own convent thought that
Jesus could not possibly have selected her for this great favor. After all, she
was an uneducated peasant girl. Her superiors often refused to give her
permission to carry out Jesus' requests. Church theologians, too, doubted her
word. Jesus told Faustina that he loved her obedience and that his will would
be done in the end. Faustina was canonized by the first Polish pope, John Paul
II, on April 30, 2000. The first Sunday after Easter was declared Divine Mercy
Sunday.
Things to
Do[5]
·
Read
a short biography of Sr. Mary Faustina Kowalska from the
Vatican.
·
Read
the Holy Father's April 30, 2000 Homily at the solemn Mass
celebrated for the canonization of Sr. Mary Faustina Kowalska.
·
From
the Directory on Popular Piety and Liturgy: Devotion to the Divine Mercy
·
In
connection with the octave of Easter, recent years have witnessed the
development and diffusion of a special devotion to the Divine Mercy based on
the writings of Sr. Faustina Kowalska who was canonized 30 April 2000. It
concentrates on the mercy poured forth in Christ's death and resurrection,
fount of the Holy Spirit who forgives sins and restores joy at having been
redeemed. Since the liturgy of the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy
Sunday — as it is now called — is the natural locus in which to express man's
acceptance of the Redeemer's mercy, the faithful should be taught to understand
this devotion in the light of the liturgical celebrations of these Easter days.
Indeed, "the paschal Christ is the definitive incarnation of mercy, his
living sign which is both historico-salvific and eschatological. At the same
time, the Easter liturgy places the words of the psalm on our lips: "I
shall sing forever of the Lord's mercy" (Ps 89[88]: 2).
·
Read
more from our Catholic Culture library about the Divine Mercy devotion, in
particular, a short description of The Divine Mercy devotion
·
St.
Faustina came from Poland. John Paul II was also Polish and had a great
devotion to the Divine Mercy. He made it a feast day on the second Sunday after
Easter. Find out more about Poland and its customs. It's a very Catholic
country, with deep devotion to Our Lady. A wonderful book that gives a
wonderful understanding of the culture is the Pope's biography A Witness to
Hope by George Wiegel.
·
Try
your hand at a Polish dish or two. Perhaps practice making some of the favorite
foods for the Polish Wigilia (Christmas Eve Dinner) Pierogi (or Pirohi) is one
of the most popular Polish foods but do some research to find other recipes.
lHiking is a popular activity, but it is also an
excellent way to mediate and talk with God. This was the original method of
prayer used by Abraham. Sedona, Arizona is the backdrop for this series of
prayer hikes; however, the meditations could be used with any hike.
Truly you have
formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother's womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.
Fitness Friday
Recognizing that God, the Father created man on Friday
the 6th day I propose in this blog to have an entry that shares on
how to recreate and renew yourself in strength; mind, soul and heart.
It's
brutally hard, but I've found it to be an effective way to pack on muscle fast!
In strength-coaching circles, this method is often called the Ten Sets Method.
Supersets and trisets allow you to perform a lot of work in a short period of
time. The rest-pause method allows you to use heavier weights, so you can
recruit the higher threshold muscle fibers, and eccentric training enables you
to overcome strength plateaus. The bottom line is that almost any training
method will work—provided you do it with intensity—at least for the few weeks
it takes for your body to adapt to it. There is, however, one training system
that stands above all the rest. It's brutally hard, but I've found it to be a
very effective way to pack on muscle fast! In strength-coaching circles, this
method is often called the Ten Sets Method. Because it has its roots in
German-speaking countries, I like to call it German Volume Training. To the
best of my knowledge, this training system originated in Germany in the
mid-'70s and was popularized by Rolf Feser, who was then the National Coach of
Weightlifting. A similar protocol was promoted by Vince Gironda in the U.S.,
but regardless of who actually invented it, it works. In Germany, the Ten Sets
Method was used in the off-season to help weightlifters gain lean body mass. It
was so efficient that lifters routinely moved up a full weight class within 12
weeks. It was the base program of Canadian weightlifter Jacques Demers, Silver
Medallist in the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Jacques was known in weightlifting
circles for his massive thighs, and he gives credit to the German method for
achieving such a spectacular level of hypertrophy. The same method was also
used by Bev Francis in her early days of bodybuilding to pack on muscle.
The program works because
it targets a group of motor units, exposing them to an extensive volume of
repeated efforts, specifically, 10 sets of a single exercise. The body adapts
to the extraordinary stress by hypertrophying the targeted fibers. To say this
program adds muscle fast is probably an understatement. Gains of 10 pounds or
more in six weeks are not uncommon, even in experienced lifters!Goals & Guidelines
The goal of the German Volume Training method is to complete ten sets of ten reps with the same weight for each exercise. You want to begin with a weight you could lift for 20 reps to failure if you had to. For most people, on most exercises, that would represent 60% of their 1RM load. Therefore, if you can bench press 300 pounds for 1 rep, you would use 180 pounds for this exercise.For lifters new to this method, I recommend using the following body-part splits:
Body-Part Splits
·
Day 1: Chest & Back
·
Day 2: Legs & Abs
·
Day 3: Off
·
Day 4: Arms &
Shoulders
·
Day 5: Off
35. “And this is the
boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he
hears us.”-1 John 5:14
"Read
these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate on these thoughts. They are things
that I whisper in your ear-confiding them-as a friend, as a brother, as a
father. And they are being heard by God. I won't tell you anything new. I will
only stir your memory, so that some thought will arise and strike you; and so
you will better your life and set out along ways of prayer and of Love. And in
the end you will be a more worthy soul."
89. When you go to pray, let
this be a firm resolution: Don't prolong your prayer because you find
consolation in it or shorten it because you find it dry.
Daily Devotions
·
Stations
of the Cross: Thursday before First Friday Devotion
[1] The Collegeville Bible Commentary
[3]
Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896.
[9]http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-1.htm
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