Black Friday
Psalm 119, Verse 74
Those who fear you rejoice to see me, because I
hope in your word.
This
section of the Psalm begins with the Hebrew letter Yodh, which is a symbol of a
cupped or bent hand. The image may also be of a closed fist or a hand that is
holding something. It indicates power or guidance.
73 Your hands made me and formed me; give
me understanding to learn your commands.
74 May those who fear you rejoice
when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word.
75
I know, Lord,
that your laws are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
76 May your unfailing love be my
comfort, according to your promise to your servant.
77
Let your
compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight.
78
May the arrogant
be put to shame for wronging me without cause; but I will meditate on your
precepts.
79
May those who
fear you turn to me, those who understand your statutes.
80 May I wholeheartedly follow your
decrees, that I may not be put to shame.
The
psalmist uses the fact that he has been made and formed by God as the
basis for asking God to help him understand his Word (73). He is a
man in affliction caused by other men who unjustly come against him (78)
and who are the enemies of Truth since they reject the Word of God and in
their arrogance advance their own plans and the world’s views. In this
unjust affliction the psalmist realizes that the creator who formed
him with His hands still holds him and has allowed this undeserved
affliction through the hands of men (75-76). He counts on God’s
unfailing love and compassion to comfort him and allow him to live (76-77).
The result will be that other men who fear God will rejoice when they see
the psalmist’s deliverance by the hand of God (74). The arrogant
who oppose God’s Word will be put to shame (78), while those who
renew their minds by meditating on God’s Word will continue to find
comfort in the midst of their afflictions (78, 75, 76).[1]
Black Friday
Black Friday is
one of the busiest shopping days in the United States. It is marked by massive
crowds and discounted prices that mean the beginning of the Christmas shopping
season. Black Friday events in the United States date back to 1932. There are two ideas as to the origin of the
name Black Friday, the first one is thought to have originated in Philadelphia,
where it was used to describe the burden of traffic that left black track marks
on roads. The second claims that Black
Friday may also have stemmed from business accounting in the 1930s. During this time, businesses noted losses
using red ink and their profits in black ink.
Therefore, Black Friday may have been used to imply that businesses
became profitable on this day as they go from being in the red to the black.
Black Friday is the fourth Friday of November or the day after Thanksgiving Day
in the US.
Black Friday Facts
& Quotes
• According to IBM, for the first time
in history smartphones and tablets outpaced desktop computers for generating
consumer traffic to websites during Black Friday in 2015.
• According to consumerreports.org,
heavily discounted televisions and other electronic items sold on Black Friday
can be derivative models. Derivatives
are products that have been manufactured specifically for sale at events like
Black Friday. These products vary in
specifications, quality and have less features than standard merchandise sold
all-year long.
• Mall of America, located in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the largest mall in the US with 4,870,000 square
feet retail space and more than 520 stores. The mall is also home to the
largest indoor amusement park in the US.
• With a net worth of more than $136
billion, the six @Wal-Mart heirs own more wealth than the bottom 42% of
Americans. #BlackFriday , @Walmart shouldn’t be allowed to pay workers wages so
low that many qualify for Medicaid, food stamps, and government housing.
#BlackFriday . - Tweets by Senator Bernie Sanders in 2015
Black Friday Top
Events and Things to Do
• Thanksgiving is a time to express
gratitude. Given that Black Friday
follows Thanksgiving Day, use this day to spread gratitude and cheer to
others. If you have leftover turkey from
Thanksgiving Day, then use it to make sandwiches. You and your family can deliver these to the
homeless people in your community.
• Hours before Black Friday sales, most
retailers send emails and secret offers to their subscribers. Sign up and subscribe to your favorite
retailers mailing list before this date.
Most stores will also send coupons specifically to use for Black Friday.
• Make sure you have sufficient funds
in cash or on credit cards. Given that
many will be shopping on Black Friday, ATM machines may run out of funds or
bank networks can be down intermittently.
Make sure to carry some cash in case this happens.
• In 2015, more than 11 states across
the U.S. provided free access to State Parks.
Rather than Black Friday shopping, explore the great outdoors with free
passes to State Parks. Our top parks
picks:
1)
Olympic Park, Washington
2)
Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California
3)
Nickerson State Park, Massachusetts
• Carpool or take an Uber to your
favorite shopping destination. There
will be limited parking space available on Black Friday and some bus routes
will be operating on a holiday schedule.
It may seem strange that in a
calendar with only one annual cycle of readings, two of the Sundays share
virtually the same Gospel; and it may seem stranger still that these two
Sundays occur consecutively. The Gospel for the Last Sunday of Pentecost, taken from St. Matthew, contains
Christ's twofold description of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the world.
That same speech reemerges the following week on the First Sunday of Advent, though in the abridged form that appears
in the Gospel of Luke. Why this redundancy?
The answer to this question teaches
us much about the season of Advent. Advent
(from the Latin word for "coming") is generally considered to be the sober yet joyful time of preparation for
the Lord's nativity, and rightfully so. This is the beginning of the
Church year that corresponds to the
ages before Christ, when the world pined away in darkness, waiting for
the Messiah. It is also why the closer we come to the Feast of the Nativity,
the more we are called by the liturgy to reflect on the events that led up to
it, e.g., the Annunciation, the Visitation, and so on. And it is why the season
of Advent is marked by an ever-greater urgency in its prayers, begging the Lord
to come and tarry not. Yet like the closing Sundays after Pentecost, which
strike a predominantly apocalyptic note, the season of Advent also goads us to
prepare for the glorious Second Coming of the Lord at the end of
time. That is why the last and first Sundays of the liturgical year have the
same divine admonition: one is picking up where the other left off. This focus remains throughout Advent,
despite the season's increased attention on the Christ Child: in fact, during
Advent the traditional Roman Rite frequently speaks of both in the same breath.
This double commemoration of the first and second Comings makes sense, since
the prophets themselves never distinguished between the two.
Yet there is a more profound reason
behind the conflation. The Church is teaching us that in order to be ready for
the Lord's triumphant return as Judge of the living and the dead, we must prepare as our holy fathers once
did for His nativity. The lessons we learn from the season of Advent are to be
applied throughout our lives in preparation for our soul's Bridegroom. By
liturgically preparing for the Nativity of our Lord, soberly and vigilantly, we
prepare ourselves for the Final Judgment.
Thus, Advent is a season marked by
a pious gravitas. Yet it should not be overlooked that it is also a time of restrained joy. The more we
are prepared for our Lord's coming, the more we will truly welcome it, moving
beyond our well-deserved sense of unworthiness to an exultation in His arrival.
In the collect for the Vigil of the Nativity, for example, we read: "Grant
that we who now joyfully receive Thine only-begotten Son as our Redeemer, may
also, without fear, behold Him coming as our Judge."
The goal that the Church holds up
for us during this important season
is to have our hearts so ready for Christ that they will do nothing but leap
for joy when we appear before Him. Let us therefore prepare for our Redeemer
and our beloved Judge by heeding St. Paul's advice through Advent, casting off
the works of darkness, putting on the armor of light, and draping ourselves in
the virtues and graces poured forth upon us by almighty God.
Many Catholics may be surprised to learn that the
Advent wreath actually came from Lutherans living in east Germany. Yet though
this custom is relatively recent as far as tradition goes, it has rightly
earned a place of prominence among our Advent customs. A simple wreath made of
evergreen (yew or fir or laurel) is adorned with four candles equidistant from
each other. These candles may be of any color: in some European countries they
are all white, though in the U.S. they generally correspond to the liturgical
colors of the four Sundays of Advent (three purple and one pink or rose).
In a dark room, a purple candle is lit on the First
Sunday of Advent, another on the Second, the rose candle on the Third Sunday
(in commemoration of Gaudete Sunday), and the last purple candle on the Fourth
Sunday. Thus, all four candles will be lit for the week before Christmas.
There is no formal ceremony for the lighting of the
wreath or for the prayers that are said around it; there is not even an
official Roman formula for blessing the wreath. Catholic families simply pray
together for a holy preparation and a holy Christmas, concluding with a
traditional Advent hymn. The symbolism of the Advent wreath is simple but
effective. The wreath, with its crown-like character, reminds us of the King,
while its circular shape betokens the "fulfillment of time" that both
Comings bring about. The candles, on the other hand, represent the prophets
whose inspired words pierced the darkness under which mankind groaned while waiting
for the Messiah; they also represent the elects' hearts burning for Christ.
Advent
Calendar
Another popular Advent custom, also from Germany,
creates a similar build-up of anticipation. Advent calendars are colorful
pieces of cardboard on which is depicted a many-windowed house. Behind the
shutters of each house is a picture or symbol that points to the coming of
Christmas. Beginning December 1, the children are allowed to open the shutters
of one window per day. Finally, on December 24, the front door of the house is
opened, showing the nativity.
The
Jesse Tree dates back to the middle ages and came from Europe. Even some
ancient cathedrals have Jesse Tree designs in their stained-glass windows. The
"tree" is usually a branch or sapling and is decorated with various
symbols that remind us of the purpose and promises of God from Creation to the
Birth of Jesus Christ. Jesse was the father of King David and God promised
David that his Kingdom would last forever. Two centuries after the death of
King David, God spoke through the prophet Isaiah and said: And there shall come
forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots:
and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge,
and of the fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:1-2) Each Jesse Tree ornament
usually consists of a handmade symbol or drawing that represents one of the
major stories of the Old Testament along with a brief verse of Scripture from
that story.
Jesse
Tree Ornaments
Jesse
Tree Scriptures (The Symbols Are Only Suggestions)
December 1 Creation: Gen. 1:1-31; 2:1-4 Symbols: sun, moon, stars, animals, earth
December 2 Adam and Eve: Gen. 2:7-9, 18-24 Symbols: tree, man, woman
December 3 Fall of Man: Gen. 3:1-7 and 23-24 Symbols: tree, serpent, apple with bite
December 4 Noah: Gen. 6:5-8, 13-22; 7:17, 23, 24; 8:1, 6-22 Symbols: ark, animals, dove, rainbow
December 5 Abraham: Gen. 12:1-3 Symbols: torch, sword, mountain
December 6 Isaac: Gen. 22:1-14 Symbols: bundle of wood, altar, ram in bush
December 7 Jacob: Gen. 25:1-34; 28:10-15 Symbols: kettle, ladder
December 8 Joseph: Gen. 37:23-28; 45:3-15 Symbols: bucket, well, silver coins, tunic
December 9 Moses: Ex. 2:1-10 Symbols: baby in basket, river and rushes
December 10 Samuel: 1 Sam. 3:1-18 Symbols: lamp, temple
December 11 Jesse: 1 Sam. 16:1-13 Symbols: crimson robe, shepherd's staff
December 12 David: 1 Sam. 17:12-51 Symbols: slingshot, 6-pointed star
December 13 Solomon: 1 Kings 3:5-14, 16-28 Symbols: scales of justice, temple, two babies and sword
December 14 Joseph: Matt. 1:18-25 Symbols: hammer, saw, chisel, angle
December 15 Mary: Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38 Symbols: lily, crown of stars, pierced heart
December 16 John the Baptist: Mark 1:1-8 Symbols: shell with water, river
On December 17, the Church begins to intensify the preparation for Christmas with the use of the "O" Antiphons during the Liturgy of the Hours. The symbols for the Jesse Tree from December 17 to 23 are based on the "O" Antiphons.
December 17 Jesus is Wisdom: Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus in old Bibles) 24:2; Wisdom 8:1 Symbols: oil lamp, open book
December 18 Jesus is Lord: Ex. 3:2; 20:1 Symbols: burning bush, stone tablets
December 19 Jesus is Flower of Jesse: Isaiah 11:1-3 Symbols: flower, plant with flower
December 20 Jesus is Key of David: Isaiah 22:22 Symbols: key, broken chains
December 21 Jesus is the Radiant Dawn: Psalm 19:6-7 (in older Bibles this will be Psalm 18) Symbols: sun rising or high in sky
December 22 Jesus is King of the Gentiles: Psalm 2:7-8; Ephesians 2:14-20 Symbols: crown, scepter
December 23 Jesus is Emmanuel: Isaiah 7:14; 33:22 Symbols: tablets of stone, chalice and host
December 24 Jesus is Light of the World: John 1:1-14 Symbols: candle, flame, sun
Activity Source: Jesse Tree Kit, A by Betsy Walter, Pauline Books and Media, Boston, MA, 1983
Daily Devotions
ü I plan to attend Mass daily or via EWTN or the internet
ü Mediate on the virtues of Mary (Humility, Generosity, Chastity, Patience,
Temperance, Understanding/love and Wisdom. One for each day.
[1]https://galynwiemers.blogspot.com/2011/12/hand-of-god-in-word-of-god-yodh-psalm.html
[5]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octave_(liturgy)
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