Leviticus, Chapter 25, Verse 36
Do
not exact interest in advance or accrued interest,
but out of fear
of God let your kindred live with you.
Everyone serves something. Some serve gain, some serve
pleasure, some serve others, but the wise person serves the Lord not out of
servile fear but Holy fear; that is out of love.
Can we say with Joshua, “As for me and my household,
we will serve the LORD.” (Jos. 24:15) If we serve the Lord our own house should
be open to our own kindred. If everyone did this would we have any who are
homeless? Search your hearts; do you have kindred who are in need? Sustain them
especially widows and orphans; by the way the divorced are the same as widows
and orphans. Real charity is looking after widows and orphans.
In the summer of
2011, four Air Force officers deployed to Afghanistan in support of
Operation Enduring Freedom. During their stay there, they discovered beautiful
hand-crafted artisan scarfs produced by a group of local women. Over time, it
was brought to light that all of these women had tragically lost their husbands
to the Taliban and now had the responsibility of providing for their families –
most of which was through the sales of their handmade crafts. This fact brought
a realization to the four Air Force Officers that a vehicle of empowerment for
the local population did not exist. Thus, Flying Scarfs was officially founded,
and with it, a business means through which the local Afghani widows could
continue to find financial stability.
Today, via their work
with Flying Scarfs, these four social entrepreneurs have reshaped the
manner in which many Americans think about social change. Through a lens of
free market capitalism and micro-economic development,
Flying Scarfs is an enterprise dedicated to the empowerment of the
artisans not just in Afghanistan, but around the world. What was once just a
small goal of providing employment for the Afghan widows after Americans had
withdrawn from Afghanistan has now turned into a worldwide mission to find and
aid other individuals in similar situations.
Flying Scarfs is a
not-for-profit team of military officers and volunteers that seek to be an
engine of change by building the necessary bridges so that underdeveloped
countries may one day flourish in a global economy. Our goal is to promote
microeconomic development around the world in order to
provide comprehensive networks of stability with a concentration in
providing opportunities for women to succeed.
In short, this means we
buy from the “small guys” through localized economies while promoting peace,
both at home and abroad. We intend to ultimately make a change by providing a
"hand up" rather than a "handout."[1]
One
of the most remarkable characteristics[2] of all forms of organic life is
the power to adapt itself to the circumstances in which it is placed. It will
endeavor under the most altered conditions to live, and, in order to live, it
will resort to all kinds of contrivances, sometimes effecting such changes in
its outward appearance that none but a trained eye could detect its identity.
Yet with all these adaptations, it will preserve its identity. Man possesses
this power in perhaps a higher degree than any other form of life. He can find
his home in any country, in any climate, under an almost infinite variety of
conditions. He can live and adapt himself to circumstances involving the most
violent contrasts and soon settle down and find the means of making himself at
home. But man has other needs and another life beside that of his physical
nature. He is something more than an animal and needs more than food and
shelter. For the life of man is above all things a mental life. He can never
rid himself of the companions of his mind. He is not the mere creature of his
outward circumstances. There are other surroundings that are far more intimate
and closer to him than any external things, however nearly they may touch upon him.
These things can but touch the surface of his being; his thoughts enter into the
sanctuary of his soul. The beast is wholly dependent upon what it finds around
it. Man can live a life practically independent of most of these things. In the
utmost solitude, he can gather around him a company of his closest and most
intimate friends, and in the crowded thoroughfares of life, he can be alone
with them. You may tell a man by his friends, but there are no friends so
intimate as his thoughts. If you know the
companions of his mind, you will know what kind of man he is.
It is
not the sufferings or the consolations of life that directly affect character,
but the thoughts that men call around them at such times. No external thing can
in itself affect the inner life of the soul. Men are material; the soul is
spiritual.
Choose Which Thoughts
to Listen To
We
often attribute to such things some moral characteristic, but in themselves
they are neither good nor bad. The same things do harm to one person and good
to another: suffering has been a curse to some and a blessing to others;
poverty has closed the door of Heaven to some, and to others it has been the
source of beatitude. The value of these things comes from the thoughts the soul
calls around itself when it encounters such things. Some trouble comes into a
person’s life, and instantly there gathers around him, through the door opened
by that trouble, a crowd of thoughts, anger, rebellion, bitterness, and
discontent and, at the same time, thoughts of penitence, acceptance, and the
example of our Lord. The outward trouble has thrown open an unseen door into
the spiritual world, and in flow this mixed crowd of thoughts, swarming around
the soul and clamoring for a hearing. The
soul must choose among them all which it will listen to and which it will
reject, and by that choice, it rises or falls. One person chooses thoughts
that heal, encourage, and strengthen him; another, those that stir him to
bitterness and revolt. The morality lies not in the thing but in the person.
The soul must choose, and what it
chooses it will probably choose again and again, until that chosen thought
gains the right of entrance, and closes the door to all others, and becomes the
constant companion of the soul.
And in every event, great and small, it
enters and takes its place, instructing its pupil as to its meaning, interpreting
it, explaining it — its hidden purpose, its power for good or evil — or
misrepresenting it and making the good seem evil and the evil good, and gradually
becoming master of its whole life, the molder of its character.
Indeed,
it is true. These secret and unseen companions of the soul, intangible and
volatile as they are, affect our whole view of men and things around us. The
hard, substantial facts of life are interpreted by them; they become plastic in
their hands and change their appearance and coloring at their bidding. These
phantom forms that rise out of the darkness and return to it again, colorless,
impalpable, ethereal, that speak in inarticulate whispers and touch us with
ghostly hands, are more real to us than the solid earth and the strong
mountains. They can veil the heavens for us and take the brightness out of the
sunshine and deepen the shadows at noonday or make the darkest day seem bright.
For they come from the same land whence the soul comes; they are of closer
kinship than any material thing can be. And it is the mind that sees, not the
eye. It is in the light that burns within that all outward things are seen. Amid
the pleasant laughter and genial companionship of friends, some thought
silently enters, holds up its lantern and casts its pale light around, and,
seen in that light, all is suddenly turned to ashes, the voices lose their
ring, and the laughter becomes hollow and cheerless. One thought in an instant
has changed the whole scene from life to death.
It is thus in the thought’s men
choose as their companions on their way through the world that the key to their
interpretation of life is to be found.
Different men view the same things in different ways. And the same men, in the
course of a few years, alter their whole view of life. They have simply changed
their companions on the road. Indeed, the breaking with one set of people and
the forming ties of friendship with others of a different type is often but the
outward evidence and result of a hidden and inward change of the more intimate
friendships of the mind.
Drive bad thoughts
out with good ones
There
is a better way: the positive rather than the negative way. Let not your mind
be overcome with evil, “but overcome evil with good.” The
emptying the mind of evil is not the first step toward filling it with good. It
is not a step in that direction at all. If you succeeded in emptying your mind
of every undesirable thought, what then? You cannot empty it and then begin to
fill it with better thoughts. No, you must
empty it of evil by filling it with good. Nature abhors a vacuum. You drive out
darkness by filling the room with light. If you wish to fill a glass with
water, you do not first expel the air; you expel the air by pouring in water.
In the moral life, there is no intermediate state of vacuum possible in which,
having driven out the evil; you begin to bring in good. As the good enters, it
expels the evil. Therefore, the effort of the soul must be to fill the mind so full of healthy thoughts that there is
no room for others — trying not so much not to think of what is evil as to
think of what is good. The mind is ever working, never at rest. It will feed
upon whatever food is given it. If it is given wholesome food, it will develop
and grow strong.
He, therefore, who wishes to
overcome any habit of evil thoughts must do so indirectly rather than directly,
trying not so much not to indulge in anger as to fill the mind with loving and
kindly thoughts, meeting discontent by rejoicing in the will of God, self-consciousness
by wrapping himself around in the presence of God — turning as promptly as
possible to think of something bracing when he is conscious of the presence or
approach of evil.
This,
and the constant effort to keep the mind interested and occupied about healthy subjects
that it can enjoy without strain or weariness will do much to recover it from
the ill effects of the lack of discipline. It is a great matter to know how to
give it relaxation without laxity and, by its studies and recreations, to
prepare it for prayer and the more strenuous work of life. A mind that has a
wide reach of interests and is constantly kept busy will have no time and no
care for morbid thoughts. And the mind that is constantly fed on healthy and
nourishing food will turn away from poison, however daintily served. All this,
it will be perceived, can be done with little introspection or self-analysis.
It is based on the wisest of all systems: that nature works best if she is not
too closely watched. A person who is always anxious about his health will never
be healthy. Nature knows her own laws, and it is not good to interfere too
much, even for the sake of putting them right. It is not an unknown experience
that torturing scruples may take the place of mental laxity and a ceaseless
introspection, which is the enemy of all freshness and spontaneity. We must take heed so that, in the efforts to
overcome one evil, we do not fall into a worse one. We have to change the habit
of the mind without giving it any undue shock, to keep it well in hand without
seeming to watch it, to bring it under control without enslaving it and while
seeming to leave it in perfect liberty. And to do this we need to have some
confidence in its power to rectify itself if it is healthily fed and duly
exercised.
By Fr. Basil W.
Maturin (1847–1915) who was an Anglican priest who became a Catholic priest at
age 51. Both before and after his conversion, he was famous for his preaching
and psychological insight: he had a profound gift for guiding souls. In 1915 he
was on board the Lusitania when a German U-boat sank the ship; he drowned after
helping numerous other passengers to safety.
Mindful Habits of
Reverence
1. Pay a visit to the
Blessed Sacrament as often as possible; even a "pop" call is better
than none.
2. Receive Holy
Communion frequently, daily if possible.
3. Approach the
Communion devoutly; make sure your attire is in keeping with the sacredness of
the occasion.
4. Avoid all
unnecessary noise during the sacred moments of the Consecration of the Mass.
5. Attend weekday
Mass whenever possible.
6. Prepare to receive
our Eucharistic Lord. Following the Mass prayers by using a Missal is
recommended.
7. Spend at least
fifteen minutes in prayer as an act of thanksgiving after receiving Christ's
Body and Blood in Holy Communion.
8. Often make a
spiritual communion, particularly when attending Mass without receiving the
sacrament of the Eucharist.
9. Have Holy Masses
read for the souls of your loved ones.
10. Participate in the
Forty Hours Devotion of our parish churches.
11. Get into the habit
of reciting ejaculatory prayers in honor of the Real Presence.
12. When genuflecting
before the tabernacle say: "Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, I adore and
love You."
9 Days for Life is a "digital pilgrimage" of
prayer and action focused on cherishing the gift of every person's life. A multi-faceted
novena highlighting a different intention each day provides reflections, bonus
information, and suggested actions. Join to receive the novena through the
9 Days for Life app, daily emails, or daily texts. See below for information on
how else you can get involved! #9DaysforLife
#OurPrayersMatter
Day Two:
Intercession: May all people
embrace the truth that every life is a good and perfect gift and is worth
living.
Prayers: Our Father, 3 Hail Marys,
Glory Be
Reflection: At
every stage and in every circumstance, we are held in existence by God’s love.
The presence of an illness, disability, or other challenging circumstance never
diminishes the value of a human life. For God does not call us to perfection of
appearance or abilities, but to perfection in love. Christ invites us to
embrace the lives we have been given, for as long as they are given, as true
gifts. Our relationships on this earth are meant to help us grow in God’s
perfect love. Everyone we encounter is a gift, not because of what they can do
or accomplish, but because of who they are—a beloved child of God. May
each of us experience the power of God’s transforming love, that our eyes may
be opened to the incredible beauty of the people the Lord places in our lives
Acts of Reparation (Choose one.)
·
Take
a break from television, movies, and social media today. Consider spending some
of that time reflecting on today’s message.
·
Pray
the short prayer “Every Life is Worth Living,” reflecting on how you can bring
Christ’s love to others today. (The prayer is also available at www.usccb.org/worth-living.)
Heavenly Father,
thank you
for the precious gift of life.
for the precious gift of life.
Help us to cherish
and protect
this gift, even in the midst of fear,
pain, and suffering.
this gift, even in the midst of fear,
pain, and suffering.
Give us love for
all people,
especially the most vulnerable,
and help us bear witness to the
truth that every life is worth living.
especially the most vulnerable,
and help us bear witness to the
truth that every life is worth living.
Grant us the
humility to accept
help when we are in need,
and teach us to be merciful to all.
help when we are in need,
and teach us to be merciful to all.
Through our words
and actions,
may others encounter the
outstretched hands
of Your mercy.
may others encounter the
outstretched hands
of Your mercy.
We ask this through
Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
·
Offer
some other sacrifice, prayer, or act of penance that you feel called to do for
today’s intention.
Masculine and Feminine Difference Matters
65. Masculinity and femininity in the family are part of God’s remarkable
plan. Man and woman image God together, and His plan is for both motherhood and
fatherhood to thrive in the family. While it is popular to speak of “parenting”
in a vague way, this 20th Century neologism is not terribly helpful. Both women
and men are parents, but while they may perform some of the same tasks, they
are not generic contributors to the child’s welfare. Ryan T. Anderson states,
referring to the mountain of corresponding sociological evidence available,
“There's no such thing as parenting in the abstract; there's mothering and
there's fathering, and children do best with both.”
During
this New Year 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:
Wisdom vs. Natural
Inclinations
Seeing and responding to life’s situations from God’s frame of reference (Proverbs 9:10)
216
God's truth is his wisdom, which commands the whole
created order and governs the world. God, who alone made heaven and earth, can
alone impart true knowledge of every created thing in relation to himself.
1865 Sin creates a
proclivity to sin; it engenders vice by repetition of the same acts. This
results in perverse inclinations which cloud conscience and corrupt the
concrete judgment of good and evil. Thus, sin tends to reproduce itself and
reinforce itself, but it cannot destroy the moral sense at its root.
1954
Man
participates in the wisdom and goodness of the Creator who gives him mastery
over his acts and the ability to govern himself with a view to the true and the
good. The natural law expresses the original moral sense which enables man to
discern by reason the good and the evil, the truth and the lie:
The natural law is
written and engraved in the soul of each and every man, because it is human
reason ordaining him to do good and forbidding him to sin . . . But
this command of human reason would not have the force of law if it were not the
voice and interpreter of a higher reason to which our spirit and our freedom must be submitted.
"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."
If they have witnessed your faults and weaknesses, will it matter
if they witness your penance?
Daily Devotions
[4]http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/january-roe-events/nine-days-of-prayer-penance-and-pilgrimage.cfm
[5]https://family.dphx.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2018-Complete-My-Joy-Apostolic-Exhortation-English.pdf
[6]http://graceonlinelibrary.org/home-family/christian-parenting/49-godly-Tcharacter-qualities/
[7]http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-1.htm
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