Religious freedom
day
14 Now since the children share in
blood and flesh, he likewise shared in them, that through death he might
destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those
who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life.
The devil is the author of fear. The opposite of fear
is not bravery but love. Christ showed his love for us by breaking the power of
the devil by overcoming death. He showed us His love by sharing our human
nature. He asks us to love as He loved.” I give you a new commandment: love one
another as I have loved you.” (John 13:34) Christ therefore restores Gods
original intend to give man life eternal and voiding the death that the devil
had brought into the world.
The fear of death is a fear based on the false
conception that death marks the end of a person’s kindred with God. Jesus
deliberately allied himself with us in order to be a merciful and faithful high
priest in our behalf; expiating our sins as one who experienced the same tests
as we.
We usually give in to our sinfulness when we are
Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired (HALT). To halt sinful behaviors we must
practice acts of love so that when we are hungry let us give food to the
hungry; when we are angry let us remember to secure justice for the oppressed;
when we are lonely let us remember to keep faith with our brethren; and when we
are tired let us take up the yoke of Christ; for his yoke is easy and his
burden is light.
Ponder this day if the Lord is calling you to the
Priesthood or the religious life.
Religions and religious organizations have
been responsible for a great deal of good being done in the world, from the
founding of worldwide charity organizations to simply inspiring people to be
kinder and humbler on a daily basis, as well as more sympathetic to the plight
of his fellow man. Unfortunately, an often-observed characteristic of many
religions is that their faithful often try to convert others to their faith,
and when those others refuse, the consequences can be grave. From the Roman
persecutions of Christians in the ancient times, to the infamous Spanish
Inquisition, to the witch hunts of Puritan America, to the Islamic Jihads (or secular progressives for that matter)
still occurring today, it is easy to see how dangerous religions can be if not
checked, and how overzealous believers in a certain god or no god at all can be
in attempting to force everyone else to believe as they do. This is why it is
enormously important to make sure religious freedom is granted and protected to
all, and this is why the Founding Fathers of the United States of America saw
this as such.
On January 16, 1786, soon after the United
States of America came into existence as a sovereign nation, the Virginia
General Assembly adopted Thomas Jefferson’s landmark Virginia Statute for
Religious Freedom. This statute then became the basis for what we know today as
the First Amendment, which guarantees religious freedom to all people residing
in the U.S.A. Every year since then, a statement is released on this same day
by the president of the United States officially proclaiming Religious Freedom
Day.
How to Celebrate Religious Freedom Day
A good way to celebrate Religious Freedom
Day is to do some research about what life used to be like before religious
freedom was protected, and every person had the right to believe as he or she
chose.
·
“The
Name of the Rose” is both an excellent book and an excellent movie, which quite
accurately depicts what life was like during the Inquisition, and how far the
inquisitors were willing to go to find and punish people they suspected of
sorcery.
·
The
young adult novel titled, “The Witch of Blackbird Pond” can also help one
understand what it was like to be the least bit different from the rest of the
villagers in 17th century New England, and just how dangerous it was to avoid
church.
·
1951’s Quo
Vadis, on the other hand, demonstrates how badly Christian were persecuted
during the reign of the Emperor Nero in Ancient Rome.
·
“The
Diary of a Young Girl”, written by Jewish teenager Anne Frank during the height
of the Nazi persecution of Europe’s Jewish population is both interesting a
heartbreaking when one thinks about all of the other innocent children like
Anne who died horrible deaths for simply being of the wrong religion.
·
The
works of Salman Rushdie could also prove to be a very insightful read, as the
author himself received years of death threats after the release of his
acclaimed novel “The Satanic Verses”, which was critical of Islam was
published.
It could also be an interesting idea to
have several of your friends of different faiths get together for coffee and
discuss how positively religious freedom and the freedom to not practice any
religion at all impact all of your lives and help make them better. Religious
freedom is a wonderful thing, that should be fully appreciated and celebrated.
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 Three:
Intercession: May all who have
experienced sexual abuse receive justice, healing, and God’s peace.
Prayers: Our Father, 3 Hail Marys,
Glory Be
Reflection: Recent
reports have once again exposed the terrible abuses that many have suffered at
the hands of a member of the Catholic clergy. Our hearts ache for the grave
harm that has been inflicted on our brothers and sisters. Words alone cannot
express our sorrow, shame and disappointment that such affronts to human
dignity have been carried out within our Church. It is our prayer and hope that
all who have experienced abuse will find the healing and justice they so
rightly deserve, knowing that they are never alone. For, “only by confronting
our own failure in the face of crimes against those we are charged to protect
can the Church resurrect a culture of life where the culture of death has
prevailed”.
Acts of Reparation (Choose one.)
·
Fast
from one meal today.
·
Seek
the intercession of Our Lady by praying a Rosary
for Healing and Protection.
·
Offer
some other sacrifice, prayer, or act of penance that you feel called to do for
today’s intention.
A Mother’s Particular Gifts to the Family
66. Let us consider first the love of a wife and
mother. Husbands and children need the unique feminine gifts that can only come
from the one who is wife and mother in the family.
67. Scripture, in many ways, acknowledges the
godliness of maternal love. In the prophecy of Isaiah, God’s love is compared
to that of a mother when the Lord says, “As a mother comforts her child, so I
will comfort you.” (Is. 66:13)
68. To know the women saints is to know that these
great saints and doctors of the Church have given witness to what is now called
the “feminine genius.” Here I wish to present to you the heroic example and
thought of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, whose pursuit of truth and love
led her to conversion to Christ and to martyrdom in the Auschwitz concentration
camp. A brilliant philosopher, Teresa Benedicta contemplated God’s design for femininity remarkably. In a simple
and profound sentence, she wrote, “a woman’s soul is fashioned as a shelter in
which other souls may unfold.”
69. St. Teresa Benedicta also wrote, “Woman
naturally seeks to embrace that which is living, personal, and whole. To
cherish, guard, protect, nourish and advance growth is her natural, maternal
yearning.” This uniquely feminine way of seeing the wholeness of the human
person is a great gift, not only to the family, but to the world. By the
presence of these uniquely feminine gifts of nurturing and relationality, a
woman can be a ‘spiritual mother’ even if she does not have children of her
own. If the destiny of our lives is an eternal relationship of love in the Most
Holy Trinity, the wisdom of feminine love is an essential witness in family
life. As Proverbs says, “reject not your mother’s teaching; a graceful diadem
will they be for your head; a pendant for your neck.” (Prov. 1:8-9)
70. Dear daughters in Christ, the worth, dignity and
genius inherent to you is irreplaceable in your family.
71. Ask the Lord for all the grace you need to live
out your calling to holiness. Only you can offer your husband the respect that
St. Paul speaks of in his letter to the Ephesians. Only you can offer the
motherly love your children need. We know this even more convincingly now as
recent psychological research indicates that the mother alone has the power to
truly comfort and stabilize a child, especially during the first years of a
child’s life.
72. I have here a challenge for you and your
husband, which I offer knowing you will have to consider, in some cases,
remarkable sacrifice. Be at home while your children are young. Where possible,
put other work off during this time of necessary imbalance when your children
need most to absorb your motherly presence and the unconditional love you more
naturally provide. This time goes so quickly, and once gone, cannot be
recaptured. Never doubt that there is no greater “job” in all the world than to
be the first to form and nurture the mind, heart and soul of your child.
73. G.K. Chesterton, the famous English writer and
convert, wrote memorably of your irreplaceable role: “To be Queen Elizabeth
within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labours, and holidays; (…) to
be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and
hygiene; I can imagine how this can exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how
it could narrow it. How can it be a large career to tell other people about the
Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one's own children about the
universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone and narrow to be
everything to someone? No, a woman's function is laborious, but because it is
gigantic, not because it is minute.”
74. Your prayers also carry a special weight before Him who answered His
own mother’s concerns at the Wedding in Cana. Only you can love your own
children from the full depth of your feminine heart. God has willed it so.
"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."
These are the ripe fruits of the mortified soul: tolerance and
understanding for the defects of others; intolerance for one's own.
Daily
Devotions
[1]https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/religious-freedom-day/
[2]http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/january-roe-events/nine-days-of-prayer-penance-and-pilgrimage.cfm
[3]https://family.dphx.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2018-Complete-My-Joy-Apostolic-Exhortation-English.pdf
[4]http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-1.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment