GO CARROLLING DAY
Genesis, Chapter 50, Verse 15
Now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful and thought, “Suppose Joseph has
been nursing a grudge against us and now most certainly will pay us back in
full for all the wrong we did him!”
Joseph’s reaction to
his brothers was complete confidence in God. “Even though you meant harm to me,
God meant it for good, to achieve this present end, the survival of many
people” (v. 20) When we are fearful we are showing a lack of
confidence in God.
God asks us to boldly go where no man has gone
before…for a man must be heroic to
live always in faith, hope, and love. Joseph believed and had confidence in a
God he could not see. We are the receivers of this confidence and blessed are
we that we can see God the Father through His son Jesus. Jesus asks us to
believe in His love. His love calls for love. How do you give Jesus love for love? Be great in your faith; before
all and above all, by your confidence in Him. Therefore, we must have
confidence, not in spite of our miseries, but because of them, since it is
misery which attracts mercy. We must be as confident as the good thief at the
crucifixion. The good thief also teaches us humility and confidence. A whole
life of crimes, a whole life of sin: a few minutes before dying, one word of
humility and confidence, and he is saved. Be confident that God will save you:
How many young people have lost the Faith, not from having fallen, but from not
having been helped, with love, to pick themselves up again as many times as was
necessary. Jesus needs nothing but your humility and your confidence to work
marvels of purification and sanctification in you. It is this confidence which
works all miracles.[1]
Spiritual Crib[2]
A special devotion that can be performed during Advent to
prepare for the coming of the Infant Savior. It can be adapted for adults
and/or children and applied as is appropriate to your state in life.
·
10th day, December 20th: THE SHEPHERDS—Works
of Mercy These are so pleasing to our Lord, and we must therefore practice
them corporally as well as spiritually. Pray much for poor sinners and for
God's dear missionaries who are trying to convert them.
Our Lady puts all she has at God’s disposal. In an instant, all
her personal plans – and no doubt she had many – were discarded so that she
could do everything God wanted her to. She made no excuses, had no
reservations. From the very first moment, Jesus is the one great ideal of her
life. Throughout her life on earth Our Lady showed limitless generosity.
Among the few episodes of the Gospel that refer to her, two of them speak
directly of her attention to the wants of others. She generously gave of her
time to look after her cousin St Elizabeth until the birth of her son, John,
and she was solicitous for the well-being of the young couple and their guests
at the wedding reception in Cana of Galilee. Such attitudes
were second nature to her. Her neighbors in Nazareth would have much to tell us
about Mary’s innumerable little services to them in their everyday
lives. The Blessed Virgin never thought of herself, but of others. She did
her household chores with the greatest simplicity and happiness while maintaining
the deepest interior recollection, for she knew that God was within her. In
Elizabeth’s house everything was sanctified by Our Lady and the Child she
carried in her womb. In Mary we confirm the truth that generosity is a
virtue of great souls, who know how to find their reward in the act of giving: you
received without pay, give without pay. A generous person knows how
to be loving and understanding and how to give material help without demanding
love, understanding or help in return. He gives and forgets he has given, and
in this lies his riches. He has understood that it is better to give than
to receive. He realizes that to love is in its essence to give
oneself to others. Far from being an instinctive inclination, love is a
conscious decision of the will to draw close to other people. To be able to
love truly it is important to be detached from everything and,
especially, from self, to give gratuitously … This detachment from self is the
source of a balanced personality. It is the secret of happiness.
Christmas gift suggestions
·
to your enemy, forgiveness.
·
To an opponent, tolerance.
·
To a friend, your heart.
·
To a customer, service.
·
To all, charity.
·
To every child, a good example.
·
To yourself, respect.”
— Oren Arnold
Any
fan of old classic movies knows that carolers were one of the hallmarks of any
Christmas themed movie. Whether it was “It’s a Wonderful Life” or Charles
Dickens “Christmas Carol”, you could be certain at some point some warmly
bedecked singers would arrive at someone’s door belting out the traditional
songs for Christmas. While Caroling is slowly falling out of style, there’s
still time to preserve this time-honored tradition, and Go Caroling Day is
your call to arms. Carolling has a long history in the world, potentially
existing longer than Christmas itself and having moved into that religious
practice from much older roots. This is no surprise, given that the act of
singing has long been a form of religious observance, and religious hymns are
certainly not a new way of honouring one’s faith. Carolling itself, however, is
specifically used to reference those songs and traditions of Christmas, and for
many years was a heavily practised tradition that many people eagerly took part
in, whether by joining the carolers or by avidly awaiting their arrival at
their doorstep as avatars of Christmas cheer. Wassailing was another tradition
that was quite similar in many ways but was actually used to travel to the
orchards and other places where cider was produced. It was believed that
singing to the trees would promote a good harvest for the year and was almost
exclusively practised in England.
How to Celebrate Go Caroling Day
Well,
one might suppose that the answer is right there in the name, might they? The
best way to celebrate Go Caroling Day is to organize a group of friends and
relations and get out there and get your songbird on for this holiday! All of
the songs you might want to sing have to be familiar after all these years,
you’ve sung them growing up, as part of your school choir, and they’re on the
radio in multitudinous variations starting from before Thanksgiving. (That’s
another issue, don’t get me started). However, if you are more of the
non-traditional sort, you can still get your songster on each year by learning
the many variations of these holiday songs. The H.P. Lovecraft Historical
Society has released three albums all dedicated to Lovecraftian rewrites of the
holidays, and they are nothing short of fantastic. The point of Go Caroling Day
is to get out and share the spirit of the season, however, you celebrate it,
with everyone.
Now
get singing!
Evening Antiphon
O Key of David, and Scepter of the House of Israel, who
opens and no man shuts, who shuts and no man opens; Come and bring forth the
captive from his prison, he who sits in darkness and in the shadow of death.
During this Advent season let us take up the nature of God by
reflecting on these traits that make us a model for our children and our
sisters and brothers in Christ. Today reflect on:
Gratefulness
vs. Unthankfulness
Making known to God and others in what ways they have benefited my life
(I Corinthians 4:7)
1334 In the Old Covenant bread and wine
were offered in sacrifice among the first fruits of the earth as a sign of
grateful acknowledgment to the Creator. But they also received a new
significance in the context of the Exodus: the unleavened bread that Israel eats
every year at Passover commemorates the haste of the departure that liberated
them from Egypt; the remembrance of the manna in the desert will always recall
to Israel that it lives by the bread of the Word of God; their daily bread is
the fruit of the promised land, the pledge of God's faithfulness to his
promises. The "cup of blessing" at the end of the Jewish Passover
meal adds to the festive joy of wine an eschatological dimension: the messianic
expectation of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. When Jesus instituted the
Eucharist, he gave a new and definitive meaning to the blessing of the bread
and the cup.
Daily Devotions
[1]
Fr. Jean C. J. D’Elbee, I Believe in Love.
[5]http://graceonlinelibrary.org/home-family/christian-parenting/49-godly-character-qualities/
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