Friday, March 22, 2019


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.

Friday in the Second Week of Lent[2]

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.

At that time Jesus spoke this parable to the multitude of the Jews and the chief priests: There was a man a householder who planted a vineyard, and made a hedge round about it, and dug in it a press, and built a tower, and let it out to husband men: and went into a strange country. And when the time of the fruits drew nigh, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits thereof. And the husband men laying hands on his servants, beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the former: and they did to them in like manner. And last of all he sent to them his son, saying: They will reverence my son. But the husbandmen seeing the son, said among themselves: This is the heir, come, let us kill him, and we shall have his inheritance. And taking him, they cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him. When, therefore, the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do to those husbandmen?

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.

Clemens August von Galen, Bishop of Münster (1933-1946)[3]


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[5]

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.


The Way[6] Resolutions

"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
·         Drops of Christ’s Blood
·         Universal Man Plan
·         Manhood of Christ Day 3, Third Week.
·         4th Day with St. Joseph




[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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