FEAST OF ST. MONICA
A good wife is a
generous gift bestowed upon him who fears
the Lord.
So does this mean that if you don’t fear the Lord you
are to be cursed with a bad wife? I don’t think that is the message here
though; the point is that if our primary relationship with the Lord is right
then as a natural result all our relationships will be improved. If you fear
the Lord, that is Love the Lord, then you will love those around you and not
see others as objects to be used but as persons of worth and dignity. As a
husband seek to love your wife as Christ loved the church giving Himself up for
her.
Today we are a community living in the fulfillment of
faith in Christ and He asks us to do something unthinkable, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat
the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within
you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will
raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true
drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so
also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that
came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever
eats this bread will live forever.”(John
6:53-58)
All men are called by God to be husbandmen. Some are
called to the priesthood and they may hear Christ saying to them:
Follow
me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Mt. 4:19)
Others are called to the single life and they may
serve the Lord via their work and there are those who are called to the married
life, but all are husbandmen. What makes a good husbandman?
Let us look at St. Joseph as an example of a good
husbandman.
·
St.
Joseph in all his dealings was humble.
·
He
was the provider and protector of Mary and Jesus
·
full
of zeal and great courage,
·
Obedient to the will of
God. Yet he was not rash; and with prudence
pondered
·
His
decisions trusting in divine providence.
·
He
was a model of workers and an example of
married life and chaste love.
·
He
valued prayer and the hidden life.
·
He
was ready for the call of a neighbor
or to the call of God;
·
He
gave an immediate response.
·
His
was a life of sacrifice; his was a life
of simplicity.
To be a good husbandman is to:
“Do the ordinary in an
extraordinary way.”
The Role of Woman as Mother[3]
Reflections
on the richness and gift of being a mother, thought provoking particularly on
Marian feasts and saints such as St. Monica. Woman is called to be a giver of
life. Not physical life alone, but life on the psychological and spiritual planes
as well. Woman's greatness lies in the sphere of nurture: in bearing,
fostering, enlarging and expanding life. Motherhood, in its essence, is a
mystery of fecundity. All life on the earth is conceived and nurtured in
darkness, brought to birth, sustained and protected until it reaches maturity.
Motherhood is the fullness of this organic process, crowning nature with its
most perfect fruit--the human being. Mankind has always linked motherhood with
the mystery of nature's abundance. In literature and folklore, the warm and
fertile "Mother Earth" becomes the most common image of woman's
fruitfulness. "I sing of the earth, firmly founded mother of all,
supporting on her soil all that lives," wrote Homer, and poets ever since
have celebrated the mother's fecundity in everything budding, blossoming, ripening,
bearing fruit: the flowering meadow, the full-blossoming rose, the fair olive
tree, the field of ripening grain, the vine laden with its rich, red grapes. The
ancient pagans stood in wonder before the life-giving power of woman, sensing
that motherhood somehow transcended nature to touch the divine. Christianity
elevates and purifies the truth which the pagan world could only glimpse. The
triune God, the infinitely fruitful, wills to make His creatures partake of His
own creative power. Both men and women reflect the divine creativity, but
differently. The man as father, generating new life, is an image of the eternal
Father "from whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named." The
woman as mother, nurturing the seed with her own substance, bearing the new
life into the world, bringing it to maturity, reflects God's nurturing love
which sustains the world. God Himself has told us that He stands as mother to
us: "Shall not I that make others to bring forth children myself bring
forth, saith the Lord. Shall I that give generation to others be barren?
Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, who are born up by my womb. As one whom the
mother caresses, so will I comfort you."
But the supreme realization of woman's
fecundity lies in the spiritual order. At the summit of human fruitfulness
stands Mary, the mother of Jesus. The fruit of her womb is the very Son of God,
and by her Son's word on the cross she has become the mother of all the living,
the dispenser of God's graces throughout all ages. And since Our Lady is the
exemplar of womanhood, every woman in a certain sense has a part in Mary’s
maternal role. Every woman is meant to share in nurturing the Christ-life in
the souls of men. The Christian woman in marriage cannot be content to give her
children natural life alone; she must also be their spiritual mother, educating
them as members of God's family and like St. Monica, being "in labor of
them" as often as she sees them swerving from Him. In her role as spiritual
mother woman uses the resources of her maternal instincts and capacities at
their most exalted level.
Pots de Creme Day[4]
” From the French have come many
excellent things. Nothing related to wartime, mind you, but if you’re looking
for ways to enjoy the finer things in life there are no wiser people. Take the
Pots de Creme, for instance, a truly decadent preparation that is quite
possibly the king of desserts.” Anonymous
Rich, creamy, delectable. Pots de Creme
are one of the greatest inventions of the 17th Century, and they’ve remained a
favorite treat in the centuries since. Pots de Creme Day celebrates these
delicious treats and their long history. In the 17th-century Pots de Creme
started becoming popular and were originally created filling crusts like a pie.
As time went on they were made in smaller portions and the crust was
eliminated. While it remains incredibly popular, many people have difficulty
pronouncing it. It is not, as the name suggests, “Pawts deh Creem”, but in fact
is pronounced “Po de Krehm”. But no matter how you pronounce it, it’ absolutely
delicious and a complete breeze to make! Pots de Creme are, at their most
basic, just four ingredients, but once you master the basic recipe a whole
world of possibility opens up. Fruit flavors were incredibly common, especially
when prepared with fresh fruit, or you could enjoy them as a rich chocolate or
butterscotch. Really, there was no end to what these little custards could be.
That’s right! These are lightly prepared custards, but the French didn’t have a
word for custard, so they called them Pots de Creme.
How to Celebrate
Pots de Creme day is an excellent
opportunity for you to discover the ease with which they can be made and the
unlimited variety that comes out of one simple recipe. First, start off with a
basic vanilla version.
Pots de Creme
6 cups heavy cream
1 ½c whole milk
¾t kosher salt
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
18 large egg yolks
¾c sugar
Whipped Cream (for serving)
6 cups heavy cream
1 ½c whole milk
¾t kosher salt
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
18 large egg yolks
¾c sugar
Whipped Cream (for serving)
Begin by putting a rack on the middle
space of an oven and begin preheating until it reaches 300F. Blend together the
milk, salt, and cream in a large pot, split the vanilla bean and scrape the
seeds into it. Slowly bring the pot to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to
prevent the bottom from burning. While that heats, whisk the egg yolks and
sugar until they reach a light golden color, and then pour the hot cream into
the yolk blend, whisking until smooth. Then strain it through a fine sieve into
a pitcher. Place the ramekins on a roasting pan and fill each of them until
they’re half full. Bake for 25-30 minutes, and then cool in a water bath for 5
minutes. Then transfer it to a wire rack and let them cool down. Place in a
refrigerator and allow to chill for four hours.
Top with whipped cream and serve!
Daily Devotions
[2]www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2016-08-27
[3]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=1313
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