Saturday Third Week of Lent
NATIONAL DOCTORS DAY
Joshua, Chapter 8, Verse 1
The LORD then said to Joshua: Do not be afraid or dismayed. Take all the army with you and prepare to
attack Ai. I have delivered the king of Ai into your power, with his
people, city, and land.
Joshua was
afraid and demoralized because on the Israelite's first attempt at taking Ai
they were defeated. God here tells Joshua to be cheerful and be filled with
calm; be reassured.
John Maxwell
noted author of The 21 Irrefutable
Laws of Leadership Series states that all Christian leaders need to learn the proper balance
between faith and preparation or planning. Joshua is told by God what to do but
not how to do it.[1]
Joshua planned the particulars of the campaign against the Ai.
Law#4-The Law
of Navigation: Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course. To
make it happen, you have to take action. You must do what you know needs doing.
You must do it when it needs to be done. Don’t wait. You can make it happen. Knowing
how the key is not. Taking action is.
Where should you start?
1.
Follow your conscience. What do you feel you should do? What do you want to do?
2.
Consider your passion. What do you get excited about? What do you need to do?
3.
Consider your natural talents. What are you naturally good at without much effort? What
hobbies do you have? What interests do you have?
4.
Consider what society needs and
values. What do you love to do so much you
would do it for free, but people are willing to pay others to do? What do you
see others doing that you would like to do?
If you want to find your purpose, you
must get on the seldom traveled road to significance filled with setbacks,
roadblocks, obstacles, and detours. This road leads to your purpose. You must
develop the vision in order to see where you want to be next. Then, you must
take the steps to move from where you are to where you want to be. You should
always be grateful for where you are and what you have, but you should never be
satisfied.[2]
Saturday Third Week of Lent
Prayer. GRANT, we beseech Thee, O Almighty
God, that they who, to mortify their flesh, abstain from food, may, following
justice, abstain from sin.
EPISTLE. Daniel xiii.
1-62.
In
those days there was a man, that dwelt in Babylon, and his name was Joakim; and
he took a wife whose name was Susanna, the daughter of Helcias, a very
beautiful woman, and one that feared God. For her parents being just, had
instructed their daughter according to the law of Moses. Now Joakim was very rich
and had an orchard near his house: and the Jews resorted to him, because he was
the most honorable of them all. And there were two of the ancients of the
people appointed judges that year, of whom the Lord said: Iniquity came out
from Babylon from the ancient judges, that seemed to govern the people. These
men frequented the house of Joakim, and all that had any matters of judgment came
to them. And when the people departed away at noon, Susanna went in, and walked
in her husband’s orchard. And the old men saw her going in every day, and
walking: and they were inflamed with lust towards her: and they perverted their
own mind and turned away their eyes that they might not look unto heaven, nor
re member just judgments. So they were both wounded with the love of her, yet
they did not make known their grief one to the other: for they were ashamed to
declare to one another their lust, being desirous to have to do with her : and
they watched carefully every day to see her: and one said to another: Let us
now go home, for it is dinner-time. So, going out, they departed one from
another. And turning back again, they came both to the same place: and asking
one another the cause, they acknowledged their lust: and then they agreed upon
a time, when they might find her alone. And it fell out, as they watched a fit
day, she went in on a time, as yesterday and the day before, with two maids
only, and was desirous to wash her self in the orchard: for it was hot weather.
And there was nobody there, but the two old men that had hid themselves and
were considering her. So, she said to the maids: Bring me oil, and
washing-balls, and shut the doors of the orchard, that I may wash me. And they
did as she bade them: and they shut the doors of the orchard and went out by a
back door to fetch what she had commanded them, and they knew not that the
elders were hid within. Now when the maids were gone forth, the two elders
arose, and ran to her, and said: Behold the doors of the orchard are shut, and
nobody seeth us, and we are in love with thee: wherefore consent to us and lie
with us. But if thou wilt not, we will bear witness against thee, that a young
man was with thee, and therefore thou didst send away thy maids from thee.
Susanna sighed and said I am straitened on every side: for if I do this thing,
it is death to me: and if I do it not, I shall not escape your hands. But it is
better for me to fall into your hands without doing it, than to sin in the
sight of the Lord. With that Susanna cried out with a loud voice: and the
elders also cried out against her. And one of them ran to the door of the orchard
and opened it. So, when the servants of the house heard the cry in the orchard,
they rushed in by the back door to see what was the matter. But after the old
men had spoken, the servants were greatly ashamed; for never had there been any
such word said of Susanna. And on the next day, when the people were come to
Joakim her husband, the two elders also came full of wicked device against (Susanna,
to put her to death. And they said before the people: Send to Susanna, daughter
of Helcias the wife of Joakim. And presently they sent, and she came with her
parents, and children, and all her kindred. Now Susanna was exceeding delicate,
and beautiful to behold. But those wicked men commanded that her face should be
uncovered (for she was covered) that so at least they might be satisfied with
her beauty. Therefore her friends and all her acquaintance wept. But the two elders
rising up in the midst of the people, laid their hands upon her head. And she
weeping looked up to heaven, for her heart had confidence in the Lord. And the
elders said: As we walked in the orchard alone, this woman came in with two
maids, and shut the doors of the orchard, and sent away the maids from her.
Then a young man that was there hid came to her, and lay with her. But we that
were in a corner of the orchard, seeing this wickedness, ran up to them, and we
saw them lie together. And as for him we could not take him be cause he was
stronger than we, and opening the doors he leaped out: but having taken this
woman, we asked who the young man was, but she would not tell us: of this thing
we are witnesses. The multitude believed them as being the elders and the
judges of the people, and they condemned her to death. Then Susanna cried out
with a loud voice, and said: O eternal God, Who knowest hidden things, Who
knowest all things be fore they come to pass, Thou knowest that they have borne
false witness against me: and behold I must die, whereas I have done none of
these things which these men have maliciously forged against me. And the Lord
heard her voice. And when she was led to be put to death, the Lord raised up
the holy spirit of a young boy, whose name was Daniel. And he cried out with a
loud voice: I am clear from the blood of this woman. Then all the people
turning themselves towards him, said: What meaneth this word that thou hast
spoken?
But
he standing in the midst of them, said: Are ye so foolish, ye children of
Israel, that without examination or knowledge of the truth, you have condemned
a daughter of Israel?
Return
to judgment, for they have borne false witness against her. So, all the people
turned again in haste, and the old men said to him: Come, and sit thou down
among us, and show it us: seeing God hath given thee the honor of old age. And
Daniel said to them: Separate these two far from one another, and I will
examine them. So when they were put asunder one from the other, he called one
of them and said to him : O thou that are grown old in evil days, now are thy
sins come out, which thou hast committed before: in judging unjust judgments,
oppressing the innocent, and letting the guilty to go free, whereas the Lord
saith: The innocent and the just thou shalt not kill. Now then, if thou sawest
her, tell me under what tree thou sawest them conversing together. He said:
Under a mastic tree. And Daniel said: Well hast thou lied against thy own head:
for behold the angel of God having received the sentence of Him, shall cut thee
in two. And having put him aside, he commanded that the other should come, and
he said to him: O thou seed of Chanaan, and not of Juda, beauty hath deceived
thee, and lust hath perverted thy heart: thus did you do to the daughters of
Israel, and they for fear conversed with you: but a daughter of Juda would not
abide your wickedness. Now therefore tell me, under what tree didst thou take
them conversing together. And lie answered: Under a holm tree. And Daniel said
to him: Well hast thou also lied against thy own head: for the angel of the
Lord waiteth with a sword to cut thee in two, and to destroy you. With that all
the assembly cried out with a loud voice, and they blessed God, who saveth them
that trust in Him. And they rose up against the two elders (for Daniel had
convicted them of false witness by their own mouth) and they did to them as
they had maliciously dealt against their neighbor, to fulfil the law of Moses:
and they put them to death, and innocent blood was saved in that day.
GOSPEL. John viii.
1-11.
At that time:
Jesus went unto Mount Olivet. And early in the morning He came again into the
temple, and all the people came to Him, and sitting down He taught them. And
the scribes and Pharisees bring unto Him a woman taken in adultery; and they
set her in the midst. And said to Him: Master, this woman was even now taken in
adultery. Now Moses in the law commanded us to stone such a one. But what sayest
Thou?
And this they
said tempting Him that they might accuse Him. But Jesus bowing Himself down,
wrote with His finger on the ground: when therefore they continued asking Him,
He lifted up Himself, and said to them: He that is without sin among you, let
him first cast a stone at her. And again, stooping down, He wrote on the
ground. But they hearing this went out one by one, beginning at the eldest. And
Jesus alone remained, and the woman standing in the midst. Then Jesus lifting
up Himself, said to her: Woman, where are they that accused thee? Hath no man
condemned thee?
Who said: No
man, Lord. And Jesus said: Neither will I condemn thee. Go, and now sin no
more.
Lenten Calendar
Read:
The Seven Penitential Psalms, Day Five:
(During times when we wish to express
repentance and especially during Lent, it is customary to pray the seven
penitential psalms. The penitential designation of these psalms’ dates
from the seventh century. Prayerfully reciting these psalms will help us to
recognize our sinfulness, express our sorrow and ask for God’s forgiveness.)
Today
we will focus on Psalm 102.
Reflect: Read a reflection of Psalm 102—Prayer
in Time of Distress.
Pray: “LORD, hear my prayer;
let my cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress.”
(Ps 102:2-3, NABRE)
Act: In this psalm, the psalmist calls
to God in great distress. He acknowledges his weakness in body and spirit
before the Lord. Yet he fixes his sight on the Lord, extolling the Lord’s name and his mercy.
·
What
a terrible revolution in their whole being: In their intellect, no thoughts but
of crime! In their will, no love but for evil!
·
There
is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no
repentance for men after death.
·
Christ
gave the Devil power over Himself so that he might be tempted and led into
danger and persecuted even to the point of death, so that He might in this way
liberate us from the Devil’s power.
·
In
the Book of Genesis, we find a precise description of lie and falsification of
the truth about God, which Satan (under the form of a serpent) tries to
transmit to the first representatives of the human race: God is jealous of his
own prerogatives and therefore wants to impose limitations on man (see Gn 3:
5). Satan invites the man to free himself from the imposition of this yoke by
making himself “like God.”
National Doctor's Day commemorates the nation's
doctors, who have dedicated themselves to public service by helping to ensure
the good health of US citizens. Doctors are qualified and licensed individuals
who practice medicine of all forms. They include many types such as physicians,
surgeons, specialists, anesthesiologists and pediatricians, who dedicate their
lives to helping, healing and curing the sick and needy. President George W.
Bush designated March 30th as National Doctor's Day on October 30, 1990 in an
effort to celebrate the sacrifices and contributions made by our nation's
doctors. National Doctor's Day is observed on March 30th every year in
the US.
National
Doctor's Day Facts & Quotes
·
The
red carnation is the symbolic flower used for this holiday. It is often
placed on the gravesites of deceased physicians.
·
Eudora
Almond, wife of Dr. Charles Almond, celebrated the first Doctor's Day in
Winder, Georgia on March 30, 1933.
·
According
to a study by AAMC, the average cost of attending a US Medical school as a
nonresident is about $50,000 per year.
·
People
pay the doctor for his trouble; for his kindness-they still remain in his debt.
- Seneca, ancient Roman philosopher.
·
A
good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who
has the disease. - William Osler, Canadian physician and founder of John
Hopkins Hospital
National
Doctor's Day Top Events and Things to Do
·
Order
a gift for your doctor. Find something related to medicine such as a
spine keychain or even a basket of fruits shaped like bones.
·
Send
a personal Thank You Note to your doctor letting them know you appreciate
him/her.
·
Place
a red carnation on a deceased physician’s grave.
·
Drop
by your doctor's office with a free lunch or a snack in appreciation of their
dedication towards your health.
·
If
you haven't been for a checkup in a while, get one. Your doctor will be happy
that you came in.
Daily Devotions
[1]
John Maxwell, The Maxwell Leadership Bible.
[3]Thigpen,
Paul. Manual for Spiritual Warfare. TAN Books.
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