Third Sunday Of Lent
WORLD TUBERCULOSIS DAY
Exodus, Chapter 3, Verse 6
I am the God of your
father, he continued, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob. Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
This is Moses first encounter with the Living God.
Moses responded with natural fear
thus he tried to hide himself just as Adam did in the garden. Yet, how does one
hide from God. The beginning of Holiness is to not try to hide but to face our
Lord manfully and admit we are what we are and He is what He is. After this
Moses was 100 percent for God; he was His man. Moses here began a journey with
God that eventually led to the birth of Christ true God and true man and we
beheld him face to face.
Today try and be 100% for God.
As
iron, cast into the fire, loses its rust and becomes bright with the flame, so
too a man who turns his whole heart to Me is purified and all sluggishness and
changed into a new man.[1]
Third Sunday of Lent is called Oculi, from the first word of the Introit. In the primitive Church, it was called Scrutiny-Sunday, because it was on this day that they began to examine the Catechumens, who were to he admitted to Baptism on Easter night. All the Faithful were invited to assemble in the Church, in order that they might bear testimony to the good life and morals of the candidates. At Rome, these examinations, which where called the Scrutinies, were made on seven different occasions, on account of the great number of the aspirants to Baptism; but the principal Scrutiny was that held on the Wednesday of the Fourth Week We will speak of it later on. The Roman Sacramentary of St. Gelasius gives us the form, in which the Faithful were convoked to these assemblies. It is as follows. “Dearly beloved Brethren: you know that the day of Scrutiny, when our elect are to receive the holy instruction, is at hand. We invite you, therefore, to be zealous and assemble on N., (here, the day was mentioned,) at the hour of Sext; that so we may be able, by the divine aid, to achieve without error, the heavenly mystery, whereby is opened the gate of the kingdom of heaven, and the devil is excluded with all his pomps.” The invitation was repeated, if needed, on each of the following Sundays. The Scrutiny of this Sunday ended in the admission of a certain number of candidates: their names were written down, and put on the Diptychs of the Altar, that they might be mentioned in the Canon of the Mass. The same also was done with the names of their Sponsors. The Station was, and still is, in the Basilica of Saint Laurence outside the walls. The name of this, the most celebrated of the Martyrs of Rome, would remind the Catechumens, that the Faith they were about to profess, would require them to be ready for many sacrifices.
·
The
holy Church gave us, as the subject of our meditation for the first Sunday of Lent, the Temptation
which our Lord Jesus Christ deigned to suffer in the Desert. Her object was to
enlighten us with regard to our own temptations and teach us how to conquer
them.
·
Today,
she wishes to complete her instruction on the power and stratagems of our
invisible enemies; and for this she reads to us a passage from the Gospel of
St. Luke. During Lent, the Christian ought to repair the past, and provide for
the future; but he can neither understand how it was he fell, nor defend
himself against a relapse, unless he have correct ideas as to the nature of the
dangers which have hitherto proved fatal, and are again threatening him.
·
Hence,
the ancient Liturgists would have us consider it as a proof of the maternal
watchfulness of the Church, that she should have again proposed such a subject
to us. As we shall find, it is the basis of all today’s instructions.
Assuredly, we should be the blindest and most unhappy of men, if, - surrounded
as we are by enemies, who unceasingly seek to destroy us, and are so superior
to us both in power and knowledge, - we were seldom or never to think of the
existence of these wicked spirits. And yet, such is really the case with
innumerable Christians now-a-days; for, truths are diminished from among the
children of men [Ps. xi. 2].
·
So
common, indeed, is this heedlessness and forgetfulness of truth, which the Holy
Scriptures put before us in almost every page, that it is no rare thing to meet
with persons who ridicule the idea of Devils being permitted to be on this
earth of ours! They call it a prejudice, a popular superstition, of the
Middle-Ages! Of course, they deny that it is a dogma of Faith. When we read the
History of the Church or the Lives of the Saints, they have their own way of
explaining whatever is there related on this subject. To hear them talk, one
would suppose that they look upon Satan as a mere abstract idea, to be
taken as the personification of evil.
·
When
they would account for the origin of their own or others’ sins, they explain
all by the evil inclination of man’s heart, and by the bad use we make
of our free-will.
·
They
never think of what we are taught by Christian doctrine; namely, that we are
also instigated to sin by a wicked being, whose power is as great as is the
hatred he bears us. And yet, they know, they believe, with a firm faith, that
Satan conversed with our First Parents, and persuaded them to commit sin, and
showed himself to them under the form of a serpent. They believe, that this
same Satan dared to tempt the Incarnate Son of God, and that he carried him
through the air, and set him first upon a pinnacle of the Temple, and then upon
a very high mountain. Again; they read in the Gospel, and they believe, that
one of the Possessed, who were delivered by our Savior, was tormented by a
whole legion of devils, who, upon being driven out of the man, went, by
Jesus’ permission, into a herd of swine, and the whole herd ran violently
into the sea of Genesareth, and perished in the waters. These, and
many other such like facts, are believed, by the persons of whom we speak, with
all the earnestness of faith; yet, notwithstanding, they treat as a figure of
speech, or a fiction, all they hear or read about the existence, the actions,
or the craft of these wicked spirits.
·
Are such people Christians, or have
they lost their senses?
One would scarcely have expected that this species of incredulity could have
found its way into an age like this, when sacrilegious consultations of the
devil have been, we might almost say, - fashionable. Means, which were used in
the days of paganism, have been resorted to for such consultations; and they
who employed them seemed to forget, or ignore, that they were committing what
God in the Old Law, punished with death, and which, for many centuries, was
considered by all Christian nations as a capital crime. But if there be one
Season of the Year more than another in which the Faithful ought to reflect
upon what is taught us both by faith and experience, as to the existence and
workings of the wicked spirits, - it is undoubtedly this of Lent, when it is
our duty to consider what have been the causes of our last sins, what are the
spiritual dangers we have to fear for the future, and what means we should have
recourse to for preventing a relapse. Let us, then, hearken to the Holy Gospel.
Firstly, we are told, that the devil had possessed a man, and that the
effect produced by this possession was dumbness.
·
Our
Savior casts out the devil, and, immediately, the dumb man spoke. So that, the
being possessed by the devil is not only a fact which testifies to God’s
impenetrable justice; it is one which may produce physical effects upon them
that are thus tried or punished. The casting out the devil restores the
use of speech to him that had been possessed.
·
We
say nothing about the obstinate malice of Jesus’ enemies, who would have it,
that his power over the devils, came from his being in league with the prince
of devils:- all we would now do is, to show that the wicked spirits are
sometimes permitted to have power over the body, and to refute, by this passage
from the Gospel, the rationalism of certain Christians.
·
Let
these learn, then, that the power of our spiritual enemies is an awful reality;
and let them take heed not to lay themselves open to their worst attacks, by
persisting in the disdainful haughtiness of their Reason. Ever since the
promulgation of the Gospel, the power of Satan over the human body has been
restricted by the virtue of the Cross, at least in Christian countries; but
this power resumes its sway as often as faith and the practice of Christian
piety lose their influence. And here we have the origin of all those diabolical
practices, which, under certain scientific names, are attempted first in
secret, and then are countenanced by being assisted at by well-meaning
Christians. Was it not that God and his Church intervene, such practices as
these would subvert society? Christians! Remember your baptismal vow! You have
renounced Satan: take care, then, that by a culpable ignorance you are not
dragged into apostacy. It is not a phantom that you renounced at the Font; he
is a real and formidable being, who, as our Lord tells us, was a murderer
from the beginning [St. John, viii. 44].
·
But,
if we ought to dread the power he may be permitted to have over our bodies; if
we ought to shun all intercourse with him, and take no share in practices over
which he presides, and which are the worship he would have men give him;
- we ought, also, to fear the influence he is ever striving to exercise over
our souls. See, what God’s grace has had to do in order to drive him from our
soul! During this holy season, the Church is putting within your reach those
grand means of victory, - Fasting, Prayer, and Almsdeeds.
·
True
sweets of peace will soon be yours, and, once more, you will become God’s
temple, for both soul and body will have regained their purity. But be not
deceived; your enemy is not slain. He is irritated; penance has driven him from
you; but he has sworn to return. Therefore, fear a relapse into mortal
sin; and in order to nourish within you this wholesome fear, meditate upon the
concluding part of our Gospel. Our Savior tells its, that when the unclean
spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water. There
he writhes under his humiliation; it has added to the tortures of the hell he
carries everywhere with him and to which he fain would give some alleviation,
by destroying souls that have been redeemed by Christ.
·
We
read in the Old Testament that, sometimes, when the devils have been conquered,
they have been forced to flee into some far-off wilderness: for example. The
holy Archangel Raphael took the devil that had killed Sara’s husbands, and
bound him in the desert of Upper Egypt [Tob. viii. 3]. But the enemy of
mankind never despairs of regaining his prey. His hatred is as active now, as
it was at the very beginning of the world, and he says: I will return into
my house, whence I came out.
·
Nor
will he come alone. He is determined to conquer; and therefore, he will, if he think
it needed, take with him seven other spirits, even more wicked than
himself. What a terrible assault is this that is being prepared for the
poor soul, unless she be on the watch, and unless the peace, which God has
granted her, be one that is well armed for war! Alas! with many souls the very
contrary is the case and our Savior describes the situation in which the devils
finds them on his return: they are swept and garnished, and that is all!
No precautions, no defense, no arms. One would suppose that they were waiting
to give the enemy admission.
·
Then
Satan, to make his re-possession sure, comes with a seven-fold force. The
attack is made; - but there is no resistance, and straightways the wicked
spirits entering in, dwell there; so that, the last state becometh
worse than the first; for before, there was but one enemy, - and now
there are many. In order that we may understand the full force of the
warning conveyed to us by the Church in this Gospel, we must keep before us the
great reality, that this is the acceptable time. In every part of the
world, there are conversions being wrought; millions are being
reconciled with God; divine Mercy is lavish of pardon to all that seek it. But,
will all persevere? They that are now being delivered from the power of Satan,
- will they all be free from his yoke, when next year’s Lent comes round?
·
A
sad experience tells the Church, that she may not hope so grand a result. Many
will return to their sins, and that too before many weeks are over. And if the
Justice of God overtake them in that state - what an awful thing it is to say
it, yet it is true, - some, perhaps many, of these sinners will be eternally
lost! Let us, then, be on our guard against a relapse; and in order that we may
ensure our Perseverance, without which it would have been to little purpose to
have been for a few days in God’s grace, - let us watch, and pray; let us keep
ourselves under arms; let us ever remember that our whole life is to be a
warfare. Our soldier-like attitude will disconcert the enemy, and he will try
to gain victory elsewhere.
Prayer. We beseech Thee, Almighty God,
regard the prayers of Thy humble servants, and stretch forth in our defence the
right hand of Thy majesty.
EPISTLE. Epliesians v. 1-9.
Brethren:
Be ye therefore followers of God, as most dear children. And walk in love as
Christ also hath loved us, and, hath delivered Himself for us, an oblation and
a sacrifice to Grod for an odor of sweetness. But fornication and all
uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you, as
becometh saints: or obscenity, or foolish talking, or scurrility, which is to
no purpose: but rather giving of thanks. For know ye this and understand that
no fornicator, nor unclean, nor covetous person (which is a serving of idols),
hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you
with vain words. For because of these things cometh the anger of God upon the
children of unbelief. Be ye not therefore partakers with them. For you were
heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord. Walk ye as children of the light:
for the fruit of the light is in all goodness, and justice, and truth.
Aspiration. O Lord, free my heart from all
inordinate desires for tem poral goods and sensual pleasures. May a childlike
fear of Thee guard my tongue, that I may not speak foolish or sinful words.
GOSPEL. Luke xi. 14-28.
Therefore, they shall be your judges. But if I by the finger of God cast out devils, doubtless the kingdom of God is come upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth his court: those things are in peace which he possesseth. But if a stronger than he come upon him and overcome him: he will take away all his armor wherein he trusted and will distribute his spoils. lie that is not with Me is against Me: and he that gathereth not with Me, scattereth. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest: and not finding, he saith: I will return into my house whence I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there.. And the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. And it came to pass as He spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd lifting up her voice said to Him: Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the paps that gave Thee suck. But He said: Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.
What are we to understand here by the dumb devil? The evil spirit, who so controls those of whom he has possession that they are dumb, and through a false shame keep away from confession.
By what power did Christ cast out the devil? By His divine power, which worked so suddenly and per fectly that the possessed was at once freed and able to speak.
How did Christ show the Jews that He did not cast out devils by Beelzebub?
1. By the parable in which He explains to them that the kingdom of Satan cannot stand if one evil spirit is cast out by another.
2. By pointing to their own children, some of whom were enabled to cast out devils by the power they had received from God (Mark ix. 37, 38).
3. By His whole life, and His works, which were in direct opposition to the devil.
Prayer. O Jesus, conqueror of the dumb
devil, strengthen me, that if I should have the misfortune to sin against Thy
holy commandments, I may have courage to overcome my false shame, and confess
my sins in sincerity and humility. O my Saviour, be Thou my leader in the
fight, that I may foil those arms of the devil: my evil inclinations, idleness,
bad company, bad books, and human respect, and grant that I may never relapse
into sin, but serve Thee with perseverance. Amen.
Lenten
Calendar[3]
Read: Take time to read the readings before
going to Mass today. You can sign up to receive the daily readings in your
inbox every morning at the bottom of the web page.
Reflect: Let us not forget that real poverty
hurts: no self-denial is real without this dimension of penance.” (Pope Francis, Message for Lent,
2014)
Pray: Pray in solidarity with refugees
around the world with this prayer from Catholic
Relief Services. . . .
Act: When confronted with your own
weakness during Lent, don’t
give in to anger, frustration, and self-pity. Be patient and see yourself as
God does, with unconditional love.
World Tuberculosis Day, also known as World TB Day,
seeks to raise awareness for Tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a baterial
infectious disease that affects the lungs. It is estimated that in 2014, 9.6
million people fell ill with Tuberculosis and 1.5 million died from the disease.
World Tuberculosis Day is a World Health Organization holiday that is observed
annually on March 24. The celebratory date commemorates the discovery of
Tubercolosis bacteria by Dr. Koch in 1882.
World
Tuberculosis Day Facts & Quotes
·
Tuberculosis
is the leading killer of HIV/AIDS-positive people.
·
The
tuberculosis death rate dropped 47% between 1990 and 2015. The disease is
treatable with a six-month course of antibiotics.
·
Tuberculosis
occurs in every part of the world. The largest number of cases in the world
occur in India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, China and South Africa.
·
The
biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of
being unwanted. - Mother Theresa
Spoken
by Albert Einstein but proven by Boyce Luther Gully.
Today,
the castle remains open for tours from
October through May. The Mystery Castle Foundation, a 501c3 organization
maintains the property so that future generations can share in the history and
magic that is My Mystery Castle.
A number of the Psalms and other scriptural canticles praise God for giving His people victory in battle and ask for God’s assistance.
·
Blessed
be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;
my mercy and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, and He in
whom I take refuge. Ps 144: 1– 2
·
And
Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
. . because He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy
is His name. . . . He has shown might with His arm, He has
scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart, He has put down the mighty
from their thrones, and exalted the lowly.” Lk 1: 46– 47, 49, 51– 52
"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."
Those
scruples still! Speak simply and clearly to your Director. Obey... and don't
underestimate the most loving Heart of our Lord.
Daily Devotions
[1]
Paone, Anthony J., Our Daily Bread, 1954.
[3]http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year/lent/march-24.cfm
[5]http://www.mymysterycastle.com/
[6]Thigpen,
Paul. Manual for Spiritual Warfare. TAN Books.
[7]http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-1.htm
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