Saturday In the Second Week of
Lent
PI DAY
It
is the LORD who has made all things; to those who fear him he gives
wisdom.
The greatest wisdom is to do the will of
God. The Shema Yisrael which is the same prayer the Christ most likely
prayed every morning Himself is still prayed by pious Jews today.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God,
the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your Heart, and
with all your soul, and with your entire mind, and with all your strength.
To be wise is to
not take ourselves too seriously and to have the ability to laugh at ourselves
and to see the humor in our foibles. Humor is a gift from God. I know
our Lord does have a sense of humor which at times He has revealed to me. Life
at times can be challenging and as every married man knows life with your spouse
is even on good days challenging. One day was particularly perplexing and in a
prayer to Our Lord I said, “Lord why is
it that you have strapped me to the meanest, most cantankerous, nasty person on
earth.” To which He responded, “Funny
that’s the same thing she says about you.”
Humor is God’s gift
to us so that we do not take ourselves too seriously and it often helps us to
make good judgments.
John McCain in his
book “Character is Destiny”[1]
expresses the needed value of humor in leaders and reveals for us the life of
Mark Twain as the person who used humor most effectively to change the world.
John says of Mark
Twain:
He became the most
famous person in the world, and he helped Americans live up to their promise by
making us laugh at ourselves. One of the greatest American novels was published
in 1885, by Mark Twain, after seven years of intermittent writing. Its title is
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
There had never been one as good before, and there has never been another as
good since, or more American. Until he was twenty-seven years old, the man who
wrote it had been known as Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Thereafter, he was Mark
Twain. Rebellion was Twain’s salvation. His writings rebelled against social
injustice, against the weaknesses of human nature, against life’s cruelest
misfortune, against the heart’s own crimes. When confronted with the choice
between what others thought was wrong but conscience insisted was right, “All
right, then, I’ll go to hell,” was the rebel’s answer. Twain led no great
protest movement, enlisted in no underground army, ran for no office, and
joined no political party. He was, as has often been remarked, a “great
noticer” of people, places, and things, and he told their stories, or
variations of them. He told them with as much humor as he was capable of
conceiving—humor that was, as it turned out, more entertaining and more
meaningful than that of anyone before or since. He was the funniest man alive,
and he made good use of the talent. “The human race has only one effective
weapon,” he argued, “and that is laughter.” He was an American, a fact he was
grateful for and proud of, but never conceited about. Human nature is flawed,
wherever it resides, and he felt its flaws keenly in others and in himself. He
knew his country was building a civilization better than the celebrated
civilizations of the past, but that some aspects of human nature could never be
changed. Human beings are apt to do as much bad as good. But Twain knew
something else. They were apt to be funny as well, awfully funny. I think it
could be fairly said of Sam Clemens, and the alter ego that was his great
achievement, that he didn’t like people generally, but loved them well enough
individually. And they loved him back. “An American loves his family,” Thomas
Edison once observed. “If he has any love left over for some other person, he
generally selects Mark Twain.” Whether he even knew it or not, he was as a
speaker and writer as instructive as he was entertaining. He helped Americans
see the strengths and the foibles of our own peculiar, promising, but imperfect
nature. He helped us see it because he recognized in himself those very same
flaws and strengths. He helped encourage in us an honesty about the injustices
we had committed or allowed to exist, and a desire to repair them. He made
being human seem both a trial and a privilege, and a very funny joke. “God
created man,” he said, “because he was disappointed in the monkey.” His
admittedly dark view of human nature would have caused many others to shout
denunciations at the world. Twain laughed at it, and made the world laugh back.
“I have had a ‘call’ to literature, of a low order—i.e. humorous,” he wrote his
brother Orion. “It is nothing to be proud, but it is my strongest suit.” As he
often treated any personal fact, Twain exaggerated his own modesty. He knew
humor to be life’s most necessary tonic, and employed to take the sting out of
human folly and misfortune, “to blur the craggy outlines, and make the thorns
less sharp and the cruelties less malignant.” He encouraged us to rebel against
injustice and cruelty and falsehood, even when they were our own creations. “I
have no color prejudices nor caste prejudices nor creed prejudices,” he once assured
an audience. “All I need to know is that a man is a human being, and that is
enough for me; he can’t be any worse.”
Prayer.
GRANT, we beseech Thee, O Lord, a salutary effect to our fasts, that the
chastisement of the flesh which we have taken upon us may promote the vigor of
the soul.
EPISTLE. Gen. xxvii. 6-40.
In those days Rebecca said to her son
Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau thy brother and saying to him:
Bring me of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and bless thee in the
sight of the Lord, before I die. Now, therefore, my son, follow my counsel: and
go thy way to the flock, bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them
meat for thy father, such as he gladly eateth: which when thou hast brought in,
and he hath eaten, he may bless thee before he dies. And he answered her: Thou
knowest that Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am smooth. If my father
shall feel me, and perceive it, I fear lest he think I would have mocked him,
and I shall bring upon me a curse instead of a blessing. And his mother said to
him: Upon me be this curse, my son: only hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me
the things which I have said. He went, and brought, and gave them to his
mother. She dressed meats, such as she knew his father liked. And she put on
him very good garments of Esau, which she had at home with her: and the little
skins of the kids she put about his hands and covered the bare of his neck. And
she gave him the savory meat and delivered him bread that she had baked. Which
when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered: I hear.
Who art thou, my son? And Jacob said I am Esau thy first-born: I
have done as thou didst command me: arise, sit, and eat of my venison, that thy
soul may bless me. And Isaac said to his son: How couldst thou find it so quickly,
my son?
He answered: It was the will of God that
what I sought came quickly in my way. And Isaac said: Come hither, that I may
feel thee, my son, and may prove whether thou be my son Esau, or not. He came
near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said: The voice indeed is
the voice of Jacob: but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he knew him not,
because his hairy hands made him like to the elder. Then blessing him, he said:
Art thou my son Esau?
He answered: I am. Then he said: Bring me
the meats of hunting, my son, that my soul may bless thee. And when they were
brought, and he had eaten, he offered him wine also, which after he had drunk,
he said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son. He came near and
kissed him. And immediately as he smelled the fragrant smell of his garments,
blessing him, he said: Behold the smell of my son is as the smell of a
plentiful field, which the Lord hath blessed. God give thee of the dew of
heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine. And let
peoples serve thee, and tribes worship thee be thou lord of thy brethren and
let thy mother’s children bow down before thee. Cursed be he that curseth thee:
and let him that blesseth thee be filled with blessings. Isaac had scarce ended
his words, when Jacob being now gone out abroad, Esau came, and brought in to
his father meats made of what he had taken in hunting, saying: Arise, my
father, and eat of thy son’s venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac
said to him: Why! who art thou?
He answered: I am thy first-born son Esau.
Isaac was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly: and wondering beyond
what can be believed, said: Who is he then that even now brought me venison
that he had taken, and I ate of all before thou earnest? and I have blessed
him, and he shall be blessed.
Esau having heard his father’s words,
roared out with a great cry: and being in a consternation, said: Bless me also,
my father. And he said: Thy brother came deceitfully and got thy blessing. But
he said again: Rightly is his name called Jacob; for he hath supplanted me lo
this second time: my first birthright he took away before, and now this second
time he hath stolen away my blessing. And again, he said to his father: Hast
thou not reserved me also a blessing?
Isaac answered: I have appointed him thy
lord, and have made all his brethren his servants: I have established him with
corn and wine, and after this, what shall I do more for thee, my son? And Esau
said to him: Hast thou only one blessing, father?
I beseech thee bless me also. And when he
wept with a loud cry, Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fat of the earth,
and in the dew of heaven from above, shall thy blessing be.
GOSPEL. Luke xv. 11-32.
In
that time Jesus spoke this parable to the scribes, and Pharisees: A certain man
had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father: Father, give me the
portion of substance that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his
substance. And not many days after, the younger son gathering all together,
went abroad into a far country, and there wasted his substance, living
riotously. And after he had spent all, there came a mighty famine in that
country, and he began to be in want. And he went and cleaved to one of the
citizens of that country. And he sent him into his farm to feed swine. And he
would fain have filled his belly with the husks the swine did eat; and no man
gave unto him. And returning to himself, he said: How many hired servants in my
father’s house abound with bread, and I here perish with hunger? I will arise,
and will go to my father, and say to him: Father, I have sinned against Heaven,
and before thee: I am not now worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of
thy hired servants. And rising up he came to his father. And when he was yet a
great way off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and running
to him fell upon his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him: Father, I
have sinned against Heaven and before thee, I am not now worthy to be called
thy son. But the father said to his servants : Bring forth quickly the first
robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and
bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and make merry:
because this my son was dead, and is come to life again: was lost, and is
found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field, and when
he came out and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing: and he
called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to
him: Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because
he hath received him safe. And he was angry, and would not go in. His father
therefore coming out began to entreat him. And he answering, said to his
father: Behold, for so many years do I serve thee, and I have never
transgressed thy commandment, and yet thou hast never given me a kid to make
merry with my friends : but as soon as this thy son is come, who hath devoured
his substance with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. But he
said to him: Son, thou art always with me, and all I have is thine. But it was
fit that we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead, and
is come to life again: he was lost and is found.
Pi Day celebrates the mathematical
constant π (pi) or 3.141592653... . Pi is the ratio between the
circumference (the distance around the circle) and diameter (the distance
through the center of the circle). Pi is a constant, therefore it will be the
same for circles of all sizes. Pi is a special number due to its infinite and
patternless nature, meaning that the digits after the decimal point never
repeat themselves in a specific order. Pi Day celebrations originated in 1988 at
the San Francisco Exploratorium when Larry Shaw, a physicist at the
Exploratorium, organized the first Pi Day. It was held on March14th
(3/14), given that the first digits of Pi are 3.14. Celebrations at the
Exploratorium included taking young museum visitors on a parade to the Pi
Shrine, which is a round brass plaque fixed on the floor of the museum and
serving fruit pies to visitors. Since then, Pi Day celebrations have spread
both nationally and globally. On March 12, 2009, the U.S. House of
Representatives recognized March 14, 2009 as National Pi Day.
Pi
Day Facts & Quotes
·
In
2015 at 9:26:53 (AM and PM), all of the first ten digits of Pi (3.141592653)
were present in the date and time.
·
Pi
is an irrational number, meaning it cannot be expressed properly as a fraction.
·
Albert
Einstein, widely referred to as the father of modern physics, was born on March
14, 1879. Therefore, Pi Day also recognizes Einstein's birthday.
·
According
to the Guinness World Records, Rajveer Meena from India holds the record for
memorizing the most decimal places of Pi. On March 21, 2015, Meena wore a
blindfold and recalled 70,000 decimal places of Pi over a period of 10 hours.
·
Pi
is not just a collection of random digits, pi is a journey; an experience;
unless you try to see the natural poetry that exists in pi, you will find it
very difficult to learn. – Dr. Antranig Basman, Mathematician and Software
Developer
Pi
Day Top Events and Things to Do
·
Memorize
as many digits of Pi as you can (remember, the World Record Holder was able to
memorize 70,000 decimal places of pi).
·
Eat
a pie to celebrate Pi day and earn bonus points if you can calculate Pi for
your pie's circumference! Here are some twists on traditional pies that
you can try:
1) Avocado and cream cheese pie
2) Cheeseburger and pickle pie made from ground beef, cheese, and chopped dill pickles
3) Mac and Cheese Pie topped with bacon
4) Hot dog pie covered with a layer of cheese
5) Twinkie pie topped with whipped cream
1) Avocado and cream cheese pie
2) Cheeseburger and pickle pie made from ground beef, cheese, and chopped dill pickles
3) Mac and Cheese Pie topped with bacon
4) Hot dog pie covered with a layer of cheese
5) Twinkie pie topped with whipped cream
·
Practice
your geometry and algebra equations that contain the constant Pi. Here are some
useful formulas to help you:
Circumference of a circle = 2 πr
Area of a Circle = π r^2
Volume of a Cylinder = π r^2h
where r=radius and h=height
Circumference of a circle = 2 πr
Area of a Circle = π r^2
Volume of a Cylinder = π r^2h
where r=radius and h=height
·
Go
for a 3.14km walk to celebrate Pi Day.
·
Watch
movies about mathematics:
1) Good Will Hunting (1997)
2) A Beautiful Mind (2001)
3) The Number 23 (2007)
4) Rain Man (1988)
5) The Theory of Everything (2014)
1) Good Will Hunting (1997)
2) A Beautiful Mind (2001)
3) The Number 23 (2007)
4) Rain Man (1988)
5) The Theory of Everything (2014)
Prayer and fasting are extraordinary means
(we may call them violent means) when other simpler ways are of no avail
against the powers of hell. Look into the earthly life of our Savior. He is our
model. He dwelt with us in order to teach us how to form our lives inwardly and
outwardly. Christ Himself fasted often and accorded it high praise in His teaching.
Recall how He fasted forty days before entering upon His work of teaching. At
the beginning of Lent the Church wishes to stamp this fact deep in our hearts:
our fasting must be in union with and in imitation of Christ's. Recall when the
disciples were unable to cure a possessed boy, asked, "Why could we not
cast him out?" and Jesus answered, "This kind can be driven out in no
way except by prayer and fasting" (Mark 9:29). Now another saying of Jesus
comes to mind. When John's disciples began to reproach Him, "Why do Your
disciples not fast?" He replied: "Can you make the wedding guests
fast as long as the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom
with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom will be
taken away from them; in those days they will fast" (Luke 5:35). There is
a hidden depth of meaning in these words. The coming of Christ among men was a
wedding feast. Fasting had no place. But it is most proper to fast when the
divine Bridegroom is taken away. Fasting on Fridays and during Holy Week, then,
is in accord with Christ's own wishes. Once our Savior compared Himself with
the Baptist in these words, "John came neither eating nor drinking, and
they say, ‘He has a devil!’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they
say, ‘Behold a glutton and a wine drinker.’" John was a man devoted to
penance, an ascetic, who fasted throughout his life. Not so Christ. His way of
living was not based exclusively upon self-denial and mortification, but upon
an ordered enjoyment of life. So, we learn from the Savior that fasting should
be the exception, not the rule, in Christian morality. Let us consider the
passage in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus speaks of the three important
pious exercises of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. He highly recommends all
three but warns against practicing these virtues in a pharisaical manner.
The main points in Jesus' doctrine on
fasting, then, are:
- Fasting is an
extremely important means of resisting the inroads of hell (hence Lent).
- Fasting
should be practiced as a memorial of Christ's death (Friday, Holy Week).
- Fast days
occur by way of exception in Christian life, they are not the normal
practice.
- Fasting holds
a place alongside prayer and almsgiving as a pious exercise.
So, let us worship God in His tabernacle for His
goodness, truth and beauty. When we talk about the tabernacle of the Lord, we
are talking about the Bless Sacrament were Jesus is really present—body, blood,
soul and divinity. Yet, there is another tabernacle which we do not recognize
easily. That is our very bodies and those of others when we receive the
Eucharist. We need to acknowledge Christ is in others just as we genuflect
before the tabernacle. He must be worshipped! According to Church law, the
tabernacle, which keeps the consecrated Eucharistic hosts, should be
“immoveable, made of solid or opaque material, locked so that the danger of
profanation may be entirely avoided.” We also as a tabernacle should be
immoveable in our faith, give others solid support and lock our hearts from the
love of the world. We should, apart from making our regular attendance at Mass,
drop by the church and make a short “visit” to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
The visit needn’t be long, just a few minutes to greet Jesus and offer a silent
prayer.
Because the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to save you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy. DEUTERONOMY 23: 14. The last principle of spiritual warfare must be emphasized: Don’t invite the Enemy into your camp. Look out for Trojan Horses, poisonous reptiles and be prepared to fight.
·
Trojan
Horses. Sin is always wrapped in attractive packages. The simple pleasure of
satisfying curiosity could be a Pandora’s Box. Stay away from all things of the
occult, such as Ouija boards and fortunetelling; séances, channeling, and other
forms of necromancy (attempts to contact the dead); substance abuse; sexual
sin; and abortion. Seeking the attractive “gift” of pleasure, power, secret
knowledge, or (in the case of abortion) even escape from responsibility. In
addition, forgiveness is crucial to deliverance from the Evil One, because a
bitter heart gives him a foothold in our lives. “Take heed lest anyone be
lacking in the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause
trouble, and by it, many be defiled” (Heb 12: 15). Those especially who have
suffered a grave injustice must seek
the grace to let go of the offense and pray for the offender, so that
resentment doesn’t ferment into malicious bitterness. If we’re ever tempted to
invite the Enemy into our “camp” in any of these ways, we must recognize the Adversary’s deception and reject his offer firmly
and immediately.
·
“Poisonous
Reptiles” are the “little” sins that find their way into our hearts. We may
ignore them or think them of no consequence as we try to stand guard over the
carefully constructed fortifications of our spiritual life. To resist the
temptations of ordinary demonic activity, we must guard our thoughts closely and reject immediately any thought that leads to sin. We must also carefully examine our thoughts to seek out assumptions or
conclusions that may be false and contrary to faith, so that they lead us astray.
Above all, we must engage in a
frequent examination of conscience and then go regularly to Confession.
Keeping the COVID-19 out of your camp[7]
WASHINGTON— Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of
Oklahoma City, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee
on Domestic Justice and Human Development, encouraged lawmakers as they
consider measures to provide relief and aid to those suffering from
coronavirus, as well as those affected by workplace closures and other disruptions.
He also offered prayers for those suffering from the virus and for healthcare
providers.
Archbishop Coakley's full statement
follows:
·
“The
outbreak of the coronavirus, or COVID-19, has impacted the lives of hundreds of
millions around the world, and is spreading here in the United States. We pray
especially for those who are ill and for those who have died. We also offer
prayers for those affected by disruptions, such as quarantines and closures of
workplaces and schools. Finally, we pray for health care workers, and express
our gratitude for their service in combating this disease.
·
“At
this time, lawmakers are considering with urgency a number of policies that
could provide aid and relief. Because of the quickly developing nature of the
situation, it is appropriate simply to offer encouragement to members of
Congress and the Administration for their efforts to address the many
challenges ahead. Special consideration is warranted for those most vulnerable:
the poor, the elderly, the homeless, those in prison or detention facilities,
immigrants and refugees, and those with severe underlying health conditions.
·
“Several
of the policies under review have previously been supported by the bishops,
such as increased food security measures, paid sick leave, adequate care for immigrants
regardless of status, and greater assistance for low-income workers, the
unemployed, and those experiencing homelessness or housing instability. In
order to safeguard the health of all, everyone who is sick with the virus should
have access to health care that is not a financial burden, whether or not they
have insurance. Additional consideration is warranted for suspending work
requirements related to programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP), given likely workplace disruptions, making available additional
federal funds potentially through a federal disaster declaration, refraining
from immigration enforcement efforts at sensitive locations like hospitals and
clinics, and additional resources for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program.
·
“We
are grateful for the efforts by lawmakers during this difficult time and urge
them to go forward in finding a path to bring greater relief to everyone
suffering from coronavirus and its effects on society, especially those most in
need. May the Divine Physician be with all those affected by this illness and
restore us quickly to health and peace.”
Fear and hoarding! Remember Lent is a time
to be not afraid[8]
·
Keep calm and stop hoarding. The spread of coronavirus in the
U.S. won’t wipe out our toilet paper supply. Or supplies of hand sanitizer,
bottled water and ramen. That is, unless the frenzied stampedes for hand
sanitizer and bottled water continue at their current pace. Anticipating a
potential quarantine, shoppers ran out this weekend to buy food, water and
other staples so they could avoid exposing themselves and their families.
Others, alarmed by the rising death count and number of confirmed cases in the
U.S., went on impulsive buying binges, stripping store shelves of toilet paper
and cleaning supplies. Soon, hand sanitizer was nearly impossible to find in
some places.
·
Online stores were hit hard, too, and not just Amazon.com. At
the top of the Kroger app Monday was an alert limiting the number of
sanitization and cold and flu-related products to five of each per order. The
Costco and Target websites listed all kinds of staples including Clorox
Disinfecting Wipes and all-purpose cleaner as “out of stock.” “Panic buying is
a self-fulfilling prophecy,” says Karan Girotra, professor of operations at
Cornell University. “If everyone thinks things are going to run out, they go
and buy out things and they do run out.”
·
No question the outbreak, which continues to spread rapidly in
South Korea, Japan and Europe, is testing complex global supply chains that
tend to run lean. Medical devices and equipment and pharmaceutical products –
and the raw materials to make them – are at greatest risk as demand for face
masks and drugs to combat the virus rises.
·
But consumer hoarding is to blame for some shortages – and for
critical supplies not reaching the people who need them. Shoppers at low risk
buying up protective gear have left too few face masks for medical professionals
and workers who have frequent interaction with the public, such as taxi and bus
drivers or retail clerks, Girotra says. Supply chain experts say to stop
worrying about hoarding basic necessities beyond having on hand the recommended
14-day emergency supply of food and necessities.
·
Perishable food such as fruits and vegetables are unlikely to be
limited in the short term. Supplies of imported frozen meat and fish are more
at risk but were already curbed by trade sanctions. Packaged goods such as
cereal and toothpaste and dry goods won’t be affected in the near term, either.
For items that are now in shorter supply, such as hand sanitizer, plenty of
substitutes exist such as soap. Some people are even making their own. “Panic
is the biggest enemy,” Girotra says.
Daily Devotions
·
Manhood of the Master-Day 34
[1] McCain, John and Salter, Mark. (2005) Character is destiny. Random
House, New York
[2]
Goffine’s Devout Instruction, 1896
[3]https://www.wincalendar.com/Pi-Day
[5] Hahn, Scott, Signs of Life; 40 Catholic
Customs and their biblical roots. Chap. 38. Reverence for the Tabernacle.
[6]Thigpen,
Paul. Manual for Spiritual Warfare. TAN Books.
[8]https://www.theintell.com/zz/news/20200303/coronavirus-fears-spark-panic-buying-of-toilet-paper-water-hand-sanitizer-heres-why-we-all-need-to-calm-down
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