Tuesday, September 17, 2019

CONSTITUTION DAY

Luke, Chapter 7, Verse 16

Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, “A great prophet has arisen in our midst,” and “God has visited his people.”

This was said after Jesus had raised the widow’s son in Nain. There exists no better model for Godly leadership than our Lord. Everything he spoke he did. He had compassion on the high and the low. He had compassion on this poor widow. He looked around him and where he saw misery; he acted. He healed the sick, cast out evil spirits and raised the dead. They came to Him broken and empty and He filled them with faith, hope and love as well as taking physical action to help with their suffering. His focus was to restore the widow her son: to restore the family which is the true tabernacle of the Holy Spirit.

Amoris Lætitia[1] The Experiences and Challenges of Families

Families face many problems in raising children. Parents come home exhausted, not wanting to talk, and many families no longer even share a common meal. Distractions abound, including an addiction to television. Families often seem more caught up with securing their future than with enjoying the present with each other. This is a broader cultural problem, aggravated by fears about steady employment, finances and the futures of children.

·         Many families are entrenched in drug use, one of the scourges of our time, causing immense suffering and are a major cause of the breakup of many families. The same is true of alcoholism, gambling and other addictions. Families at risk “lose the ability to act to help their families and children and many children are orphans of living parents. There is violence within families which breeds new forms of social aggression which causes a breeding-ground of resentment and hatred in the most basic human relationships.

·         In the world there is a failure to realize that only the exclusive and indissoluble union between a man and a woman is the greatest measure to creating a stable society that bears fruit in new life. No union that is temporary or closed to the transmission of life can ensure the future of an abundant society.

·         Almost universally people have the practice of living together before marriage, as well as having a type of cohabitation which totally excludes any intention to marry. The strength of the family “lies in its capacity to love and to teach how to love. For all a family’s problems, it can always grow, beginning with love”.

·         The verbal, physical, and sexual violence that women endure in some marriages contradicts the very nature of the conjugal union. History is burdened by the excesses of patriarchal cultures that considered women inferior, yet in our own day, we cannot overlook the use of surrogate mothers and “the exploitation and commercialization of the female body in the current media culture. The equal dignity of men and women makes us rejoice to see old forms of discrimination disappear, and within families there is a growing reciprocity. If certain forms of feminism have arisen which we must consider inadequate, we must nonetheless see in the women’s movement the working of the Spirit for a clearer recognition of the dignity and rights of women.

Constitution Day[2]

Constitution Day commemorates the adoption of the United States Constitution and celebrates the citizens of the United States.  The Constitution was written because the existing charter of government, known as the Articles of Confederation, had resulted in creating a weak and ineffective central government.  The Constitution defines the supreme law of the United States, with each article of the constitution pertaining to aspects such as the congress, president, judicial system, interrelationship between the state and federal government and process of amendments to the Constitution. James Madison, Oliver Ellsworth, Nathaniel Gorham, Alexander Hamilton, William Johnson, Rufus King, Gouverneur Morris, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington wrote the Constitution.  Constitution Day originally began in 1939 with the suggestion of a holiday to celebrate American Citizenship. President Harry Truman then declared that the third Sunday of May become I am American Day. A decade later, 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower changed the date to coincide with the signing of the Constitution and renamed it Citizenship Day. Constitution or Citizenship Day is observed annually on September 17th, the same day as the US Constitution was signed in 1787.

Constitution Day Facts & Quotes

·         The 225th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution was celebrated in 2012.  Of all international constitutions written, the U.S. Constitution is the oldest and shortest.

·         The Constitution is a short document with only 4,543 words before the amendments.  In contrast, the Bible is approximately 20 times longer, while Harry Potter has approximately 70,000 more words.  

·         More than 11,000 amendments have been proposed in Congress.  However, only 27 amendments received approval to become official amendments to the Constitution.

·         The words God and Democracy are not found in the United States Constitution.

·         Today is a big step in our march toward equality.  Gay and lesbian couples now have the right to marry, just like anyone else.  #Love Wins -tweet by President Barack Obama on June 26, 2015.  This after US Supreme Court ruled on this day that same-sex marriage is a right protected by the United States Constitution.

Marriage and Same-Sex Unions[3]

A growing movement today favors making those relationships commonly called same-sex unions the legal equivalent of marriage. This situation challenges Catholics—and all who seek the truth—to think deeply about the meaning of marriage, its purposes, and its value to individuals, families, and society. This kind of reflection, using reason and faith, is an appropriate starting point and framework for the current debate. Marriage is a basic human and social institution. Though it is regulated by civil laws and church laws, it did not originate from either the church or state, but from God. Therefore, neither church nor state can alter the basic meaning and structure of marriage. Marriage, whose nature and purposes are established by God, can only be the union of a man and a woman and must remain such in law. In a manner unlike any other relationship, marriage makes a unique and irreplaceable contribution to the common good of society, especially through the procreation and education of children. The union of husband and wife becomes, over a lifetime, a great good for themselves, their family, communities, and society. Marriage is a gift to be cherished and protected.

35 Promises of God[4] cont.

“The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.” Ex 14:14

Daily Devotions

·         Drops of Christ’s Blood

·         Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

·         Make reparations to the Holy Face

·         Battle for the Soul of America-Day 31

·         Pray Day 3 of the Novena for our Pope and Bishops

·         Pray for our nation.

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[1] Pope Francis, Encyclical on Love.

[2] http://www.wincalendar.com/Constitution-Day

[3] http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/marriage/promotion-and-defense-of-marriage/questions-and-answers-about-marriage-and-same-sex-unions.cfm

[4]http://www.aggiecatholicblog.org/2014/12/35-promises-of-god/