march 22 Friday In the Second Week of Lent
BLESSED Clemens AUGUST VON GALEN-WORLD WATER DAY
Matthew,
Chapter 21, verse 46:
46
And although they
were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded
him as a prophet.
This verse is referring to John the Baptist, but they,
the priests and powerful, also feared the crowds because of Jesus. Fear is a
natural reaction and when we fear something, we naturally do one of five
things. We either: fight, run away, do nothing, compromise or grow. The whole
of the bible are stories of people both good and bad making choices. Some of
people’s choices were good and some were evil; but it was always the spirit of
God that urged men to make choices that caused growth in humankind; to create a
Kingdom of God on earth. Both John the Baptist and Jesus were marked by the
priests and elders for death because they threatened their power over the
people which they feared. Like savage beasts they killed anything that got in
their way.
According to John Maxwell[1]
leaders lose their right to selfishness and must take the lives of others into
account before their own. They must testify to the truth and tell people what
they need to hear rather than what they want to hear. They must tell people
where they have to go to grow the Kingdom and not where they desire to go.
Christ came not only to restore the Israelite's but
all of mankind into His Kingdom: The Kingdom of God. Leaders in the Kingdom
must fear not and lead from principle rather than from reaction.
Prayer. GRANT, we beseech Thee, Almighty
God, that, purified by the holy fast, we may celebrate the coming festival with
pure hearts.
EPISTLE. Gen. xxxvii. 6-22.
In
those days Joseph said to his brethren: Hear my dream which I dreamed. I
thought we were binding sheaves in the field: and my sheaf arose as it were and
stood, and your sheaves standing about, bowed down before my sheaf. His
brethren answered: Shalt thou be our king? or shall we be subject to thy dominion?
Therefore,
this matter of his dreams and words ministered nourishment to their envy and
hatred. He dreamed also another dream, which he told his brethren, saying: I
saw in a dream, as it were, the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars worshipping
me. And when he had told this to his father, and brethren, his father rebuked
him, and said: What meaneth this dream that thou hast dreamed? shall I and thy
mother, and thy brethren worship thee upon the earth?
His
brethren therefore envied him: but his father considered the thing with
himself. And when his brethren abode in Sichem, feeding their father’s flocks,
Israel said to him: Thy brethren feed the sheep in Sichem: come, I will send
thee to them. And when he answered: I am ready; he said to him: Go and see if
all things be well with thy brethren, and the cattle: and bring me word again
what is doing. So being sent from the vale of Hebron, he came to Sichem: and a
man found him there wandering in the field and asked what he sought. But he answered:
I seek my brethren, tell me where they feed the flocks. And the man said to him:
They are departed from this place: for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothain.
And Joseph went forward after his brethren and found them in Dothain. And when
they saw him afar off, before he came nigh them, they thought to kill him. And
said one to another: Behold the dreamer cometh. Come, let us kill him, and cast
him into some old pit, and we will say: Some evil beast hath devoured him: and
then it shall appear what his dreams avail him : and Ruben hearing this,
endeavored to deliver him out of their hands, and said: Do not take away his
life, nor shed his blood: but cast him into this pit, that is in the
wilderness, and keep your hands harmless: now he said this, being desirous to
deliver him out of their hands, and to restore him to his father.
GOSPEL. Matt. xxi. 33-46.
They say to Him: He will bring those evil men to an evil end: and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen, that shall render him the fruit in due season. Jesus saith to them: Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? By the Lord this hath been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes. Therefore, I say to you, that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and shall be given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone, shall be broken but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His parables, they knew that He spoke of them. And seeking to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes: because they held Him as a prophet.
Lenten Calendar
Read: Read today about St.
Nicholas Owen, an English saint who spent years building secret hiding
places for persecuted Christians.
Reflect: How is your Lenten
prayer going? Remember that Lent is essentially an act of prayer spread out
over 40 days. As we pray, we are brought closer to Christ and are changed by
the encounter with him.
Pray: Say this Prayer
of the wilderness. . . from Catholic Relief Services today.
Act: Have you attended
a reading of the Stations of the Cross this Lenten season? Listen to a recording
from the USCCB today.
In the summer of 1941, in answer to
unwarranted attacks by the National Socialists, Bishop von Galen delivered three
admonitory sermons between July and August. He spoke in his old parish Church
of St Lambert and in Liebfrauen-Ueberlassen Church, since the diocesan
cathedral had been bombed. In his famous speeches, Bishop von Galen spoke out
against the State confiscation of Church property and the programmatic
euthanasia carried out by the regime. The clarity and incisiveness of his words
and the unshakable fidelity of Catholics in the Diocese of Münster embarrassed
the Nazi regime, and on 10 October 1943 the Bishop's residence was bombed.
Bishop von Galen was forced to take refuge in nearby Borromeo College. From 12
September 1944 on, he could no longer remain in the city of Münster, destroyed
by the war; he left for the zone of Sendenhorst. In 1945, Vatican Radio announced
that Pope Pius XII was to hold a Consistory and that the Bishop of Münster was
also to be present.
T4: The Nazis' Euthanasia Solution[4]
He who is bodily and mentally not sound
and deserving may not perpetuate this misfortune in the bodies of his children.
— Hitler, Mein Kampf. Beginning in 1939, the National Socialist regime
begin systematically killing disabled children in "specially designated pediatric
clinics" via starvation and overdose. By the end of World War II, an
estimated 5,000 infants and children had been murdered by the Nazis. The
program, code-named T4, was extended to adults beginning in 1940. Physicians
working for the T4 program examined medical files (seldom the institutionalized
patients themselves) and marked for death disabled and mentally ill adults, in
most cases without the knowledge or consent of family members. Those selected
for extermination were rounded up, processed, and directed into a facility for
a "disinfecting shower." Instead, the victims were gassed to death
via carbon monoxide. Their bodies were cremated, and the ashes sent to families
with an official death certificate listing a fictitious cause of death. By 1941
the program had become public knowledge, in part because of the opposition from
German clergymen, including Bishop von Galen. Hitler officially halted the
adult killings, but the child program continued. In 1942 the adult killings
resumed in secret and continued until the end of the war, with an
ever-expanding range of victims, including the elderly, hospitalized war
victims, and foreign laborers. In all, an estimated 200,000 people were
executed as part of the Nazi "mercy killing" agenda.
Pray America may not
continue in its own Euthanasia Solution and we have a religious rise like the Lion
of Munster!
World Water Day serves to raise awareness about water issues such as sanitation problems and water shortages in many parts of the world. Today, 1 in 10 people lack access to safe and clean water, a problem which has a direct impact on the economy, health of the population and well-being of women and children worldwide. In 1992, World Water Day was proposed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. The United Nations General Assembly responded to the proposition in 1993 by declaring March 22 as World Water Day. Each year, the UN-Water agency allocates a theme corresponding to a current or potential challenge for World Water Day.
World
Water Day Facts & Quotes
·
In
developing nations, nearly 80% of illnesses can be linked to poor water and
sanitation conditions.
·
Russia's
Lake Baikal and North America's Great Lakes hold about 40% of the world's fresh
water supply, the large remainder of the freshwater supply is in the form of
icecaps and glaciers.
·
According
to UNICEF, diarrhea is the second leading cause of death among children under
the age of 5 in the world.
·
You
ain't gonna miss your water until your well runs dry. - Bob Marley
World
Water Day Top Events and Things to Do
·
Don't
waste water!!! Make a conscious effort to use less water on World Water Day and
on other days. Some ways to reduce water consumption include, showers instead
of baths, washing full loads of clothing only and turning off the tap while washing
dishes and brushing teeth.
·
Donate
to a charity
or organization that supports water issues in developing nations. WaterAid is an organization that works in
poor countries to set up and maintain water sources, UNICEF and UNCHR also
provide support and relief efforts to improve water sanitation and hygiene
globally.
·
Volunteer
to help clean up trash and other debris along a beach or shore. This garbage
and debris pollute the water that we need in our daily lives.
·
Watch
documentaries about water-related issues such as pollution, contamination and
diseases. Our top picks are Troubled Water, The Fight for Water, Flow
for the Love of Water, Tapped, Thirst and Dhaka's Cholera
Wars.
·
Take
part in a local World Water Day celebration, such as a film screening or a
water conservation event. One of the largest events, the White House Water
Summit in Washington DC, will be live streamed.
"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."
You
drag along like a dead-weight, as if you had no part to play. No wonder you are
beginning to feel the symptoms of lukewarmness. Wake up!
Daily Devotions
[1] John Maxwell, The Maxwell Leadership
Bible, p 1072-1073
[2]
Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896
[3]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2019-03-22
[4]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2019-03-22
[6]http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-1.htm
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