Tuesday, August 6, 2019

FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION

Judith, Chapter 2, Verse 28

Fear and dread of him fell upon all the inhabitants of the coastland, upon those in Sidon and Tyre,and those who dwelt in Sur and Ocina, and the inhabitants of Jamnia. Those in Azotus and Ascalon also feared him greatly.

The people of Israel by ignoring the elephant in the room which was Nebuchadnezzar and thus wounding his ego along with all the people West of Syria are now a target and they are afraid; very afraid.

· Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem will succeed.

· Nebuchadnezzar declares his intention of taking revenge on the whole world.

· Nebuchadnezzar is represented by his general in chief, Holofernes; Yahwah by the holy woman Judith.

· Holofernes army is 120,000 troops and 12,000 calalry.

· Fear extends to the whole earth.

Feast of the Transfiguration[1]

This is the second commemoration during the liturgical year of the miracle of the Transfiguration. (The first, on the second Sunday in Lent, recalls Christ's divinity, while today emphasizes His triumph and glory.

GOSPEL Matt xvii 1-9

At that time: Jesus taketh unto Him Peter and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: and He was transfigured before them. And His face did shine as the sun: and His garments became white as snow. And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with Him. And Peter, answering, said to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us to be here: if Thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. And as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshaded them. And lo a voice out of the cloud saying: This is My beloved Son, in Whom I arn well pleased: hear ye Him. And the disciple’s hearing, fell upon their face: and were very much afraid. And Jesus came and touched them: and said to them: Arise, and fear not. And they lifting up their eyes saw no one, but only Jesus. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying: Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of man be risen from the dead.

Why was Jesus transfigured before His disciples on Mount Thabor?

1. To give them a manifest proof of His divinity.

2. To prevent all doubt on their part when they should see Him on Mount Calvary.

3. To encourage all the faithful to patience under agony and suffering.

4. To show us how our glorified bodies shall rise from the dead (i. Cor. xv. 52).

Why did Moses and Elias appear with Our Lord? To testify that Jesus, was the Savior of the world, spoken of by the law and the prophets.

Night Operations[2]

This vision happened in the night. As they went down the mountain early the next morning, Jesus bade them not to tell any one what they had seen till he should be risen from the dead. In the Transfiguration Christ enjoyed for a short while that glorified state which was to be permanently His after His Resurrection on Easter Sunday. The splendor of His inward Divinity and of the Beatific Vision of His soul overflowed on His body and permeated His garments so that Christ stood before Peter, James, and John in a snow-white brightness. The purpose of the Transfiguration was to encourage and strengthen the Apostles who were depressed by their master’s prediction of His own Passion and Death. The Apostles were made to understand that His redeeming work has two phases: The Cross, and glory—that we shall be glorified with Him only if we first suffer with Him.

Tranfiguration-Things to do:[3]

In the Russian Orthodox church, honey, pears, apples, plums and other fruits are brought to the church for blessing. This feast is also referred to as "Metamorphosis" in the Eastern church.
The Transfiguration was another "first fruits" harvest feast particularly of grapes and wheat. The Roman Ritual has a blessing of grapes and blessing of the harvest for this feast.
Playing up on the brilliant white of the garments, decorating with white (tablecloth, candles, etc.) and serving some white foods (mashed potatoes, vanilla ice cream, Mexican wedding cookies, meringues, etc.) can bring to mind that dazzling white.
Having Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration is a reminder of the Old Testament. Bring in some Jewish recipes or foods to highlight this aspect of the feast day.

Coffee with Christ: Tuesdays Are Special

We seek friendship with God through Christ, the Holy Spirit and His mother-Mary. There is no greater help in our life’s journey in this world than through friendship with Jesus Christ and His mother. Prayer is, in its purest sense, a personal journey or intimacy with Our Lord. The imaginary premise of this article is to encourage having a “Coffee Clutch” with Christ and gather for coffee and conversation through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Ideally having a regular or daily set time or appointment to meet and discuss with Him your hopes, dreams, plans and goals. To bear your heart to Him. To just sit down with Christ and talk, laugh, and enjoy each other’s company, over a cup of coffee. To make the common Holy and grow in the love and likeness to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

My Coffee Conversation with Christ

During a Coffee I apologize to Christ as I hand Him a cup of micro waved coffee. I tell him that I could not sleep last night and that I got up in the middle of the night and could not go back to sleep. He states that when that happens it is a good time to pray. Pray and I will be there with you. He mentions that the coffee is good, and he would have liked to have had a microwave back in Jerusalem. He also tells me that I should try and make it to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel for a little “one on one” time. He further reveals that Tuesdays are always trying for Him; for it was the day that Judas went to the Sanhedrin to betray Him and that it comforts Him when someone has a special devotion to him on that day. He further states that I would grow in grace if I was careful to observe and make a Novena to His Holy Face for the nine days preceding Ash Wednesday ending the Novena on Shrove (day before Ash Wednesday) Tuesday.

The Golden Arrow^{^[4]}

(as dictated by Our Lord to Sister Marie of St. Peter)
May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible and ineffable Name of God be forever praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified in Heaven, on Earth, and under the Earth by all the creatures of God and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen. Eternal Father, I offer Thee the adorable Face of Thy Beloved Son for the honour and glory of Thy Name, for the conversion of sinners and the salvation of the dying. Amen.

All those who honor My Face in a spirit of reparation will by so doing perform the office of the pious Veronica. According to the care they take in making reparation to My Face, disfigured by blasphemers, so will I take care of their souls which have been disfigured by sin. My Face is the seal of the Divinity, which has the virtue of reproducing in souls the image of God.

Those who by words, prayers or writing defend My cause in this Work of Reparation I will defend before My Father and will give them My Kingdom.

By offering My Face to My Eternal Father, nothing will be refused, and the conversion of many sinners will be obtained.

By My Holy Face, they will work wonders, appease the anger of God, and draw down mercy on sinners.

As in a kingdom they can procure all that is desired with a coin stamped with the King's effigy, so in the Kingdom of Heaven they will obtain all they desire with the precious coin of My Holy Face.

Those who on earth contemplate the wounds of My Face shall in Heaven behold it radiant with glory.

They will receive in their souls a bright and constant irradiation of My Divinity, that by their likeness to My Face they shall shine with particular splendor in Heaven.

I will defend them, I will preserve them, and I assure them of Final Perseverance.^{^[5]}

Battle for the Soul of America

There is no doubt we are living in troubled times. This, while Godless leaders in our nation have usurped the phrase, "This is a battle for the soul of America," as they seek to enact laws for unrestricted abortion up to birth; as they refuse to protect life even at birth; as they seek the expansion of euthanasia; as they espouse a complete denial of God's creation of male and female as based upon biological fact and natural law; as they seek the indoctrination of our children in our schools and libraries; as they seek to remove all of our religious freedoms.

So aggressive is this campaign, that we are seeing very open and hostile verbal, legal and even physical attacks on those who oppose these evils based upon millennia of biblically based religious beliefs. Believers in God's absolute and undeniable Truth are under attack as never before. No longer is religious persecution something that happens only in other countries; it is being manifested in our own nation.

At the close of his First Inaugural Address, President Abraham Lincoln eloquently proclaimed:

The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

Swell the chorus of the Union until the nation was touched by "the better angels of our nature." Yes, this is a battle for the soul of America! Satan and his legion of demon angels - the worst of angels, the angels of death - look to kill off the soul of America. God's angels - "the better angels of our nature," the angels of life - look to revive the soul of America. We are at war!

Just as in any war, we have choices. The way I see it, there are three primary choices in the face the great expansion of evil in our times:

HIDE (Draft Dodging): We can avoid facing it, and fill our lives with as many distractions as possible, noble as they may be, to keep us from admitting that evil is, in fact, on the rise all around us, and that we are called to engage.
SURRENDER: We can believe evil has won, as we crawl into a corner in the fetal position. Or, worse yet, we can defect and join ranks with evil (because it's popular?).
GET IN THE FIGHT: We can allow ourselves to be clear-eyed about the great expansion of evil in our times and, in righteous anger (directed at the devil), get in the fight and believe that, with God, all things are possible.

Where do you stand? More and more faith-filled souls understand that #1 and #2 are simply no longer options. Many have been realizing that evil is rising rapidly around us, and many know we need to do something, anything to counter this infiltration of evil that seems insurmountable.

And so, collectively, we fell to our knees and called out to God. beginning in 2016, we put out a clarion call to pray the powerfully miraculous 54 Day Rosary Novena. We discovered that it was exactly 54 days from the Feast of the Assumption (August 15) to the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (October 7). Since 2016, an enormous army of spiritual warfare warriors has grown to nearly 50,000.

What you can do!

It is very difficult to deny that the heartfelt and believing prayers of this growing Grace Force are being answered in a very significant way. Evil is being exposed, evil is losing its power and, because of this, evil is over-reaching in a state of utter panic.

But, we need to stay the course! We can't let up! Nearly 50,000 have joined the United States Grace Force. Let's continue to build our ranks!

St Louis de Montfort is quoted, "When people say the Rosary together, it is far more formidable to the devil, than one said privately. Because in this public prayer, it is an army that is attacking him. He can often overcome the prayer of an individual, but if this prayer is joined to other Christians, the devil has much more trouble in getting the best of it."

Novena for Our Nation: August 15 - October 17

Here's how it works: By joining the United States Grace Force, you are put on an email list that alerts you to upcoming prayer campaigns, you receive training in holiness and spiritual warfare, you are notified of the new US Grace Force podcasts, you receive special offers of free sacramentals and, especially, you will receive the daily prayers and special training reflections during the great spiritual warfare campaign entitled, Novena for Our Nation, that starts on August 15, 2019.

Download posters here: Novena for Our Nation Posters

Here is the US Grace Force Website: usgraceforce.com

Also, if you have not yet joined the US Grace Force Facebook group, go HERE

For more information, go to RosaryCoasttoCoast.com

Find Grace Force gear: HERE

Join the US Grace Force NOW; build the ranks of prayer warriors from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands! Souls are at stake!

Yes! This is a battle for the soul of America!

ENLIST IN THE GRACE FORCE!

(Please recruit family and friends to enlist!)

Sermon for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Aug. 4, 2019 (Novus Ordo)

Root Beer Float Day[6]

Root Beer Float Day is celebrated on August 6th every year. Between the luxurious vanilla ice-cream and the sumptuous root beer foam, how can any individual resist this delightful beverage? This amazingly refreshing summer treat has its own special day to celebrate its undeniable brilliance. Towards the end of the 19th century, a gentleman named Frank Wisner created the first root beer float. Strangely, this float was nicknamed the “black cow.” If you are wondering how to make one of these superb drinks, then simply add a scoop of vanilla ice-cream to a cold glass of root beer. The taste of root beer float makes the taste buds tingle with utter excitement. To celebrate Root Beer Float Day why not create your own float? Make the float colourful and presentable so that other people can see you have really made an effort for this special occasion!

Daily Devotions

· Drops of Christ’s Blood

· Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

· Make reparations to the Holy Face

· 90 Days for our Nation, Total Consecration-Day 28

· Pray Day 6 of the Novena for our Pope and Bishops

· Pray for our nation.