Day Let Freedom Ring: Freedom from Indifference
We have allowed the temptation of the devil to move our hearts toward indifference to Your Divine Love.
We have fallen into countless times of sinful diversions from our purpose in life, which is to know, love and serve You in this world.
We are so immersed in things of this world, have we devoted ourselves so greatly to treasures on earth, that we have become indifferent to the treasures we must store up in Heaven?
We spend so much time and effort and money on things that moth and decay will destroy, only to discover that we still are not satisfied, we still are not happy.
We turn to You Lord, in our weakness, and beg Your forgiveness for our indifference to the treasures of Heaven, the greatest treasure being Your love.
We love You, Lord, and we beg for the wisdom and strength to love You more.
We know, Lord, if You will it, it will be done.
Trusting in You, we offer our prayer to You who live and reign forever and ever.
Amen.
In Your power and goodness, You created all things.
You set a path for us to walk on and a way to an eternal relationship.
By the strength of Your arm and Word of Your mouth
Cast from Your Holy Church every fearful deceit of the Devil
Drive from us manifestations of the demonic that oppress us and beckon us to faithlessness and fear.
Still the lying tongue of the devil and his forces so that we may act freely and faithfully to Your will.
Send Your holy angels to cast out all influence that the demonic entities in charge of fear have planted in Your church.
Free us, our families, our parish, our diocese, and our country from all trickery and deceit perpetrated by the Devil and his hellish legions.
Trusting in Your goodness Lord,
We know if You will it, it will be done in unity with Your Son and the Holy Spirit, One God for ever and ever.
Amen.
Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, etc.
From the desire of being honored,
From the desire of being praised,
From the desire of being preferred to others,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,
From the fear of being humiliated,
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
From the fear of being calumniated,
From the fear of being forgotten,
From the fear of being ridiculed,
From the fear of being wronged,
From the fear of being suspected,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase
and I may decrease,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I go unnoticed,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I,
provided that I may become as holy as I should,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
NOVENA ST. JOHN VIANNEY
Mark, Chapter 5, Verse 33
The woman, realizing
what had happened to her, approached in FEAR
and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.
The woman in the chapter had suffered from a
hemorrhage for twelve years and was ritually unclean by Jewish laws.
An
unclean person in general had to avoid that which was holy and take steps to
return to a state of cleanness. Uncleanness placed a person in a
"dangerous" condition under threat of divine retribution, even death,
if the person approached the sanctuary. Uncleanness could lead to expulsion of
the land's inhabitants and its peril lingered upon those who did not undergo
purification. Bodily discharges (blood for women, semen for men) represented a
temporary loss of strength and life and movement toward death. Because decaying
corpses discharged, so natural bodily discharges were reminders of sin and
death. Physical imperfections representing a movement from "life"
toward "death" moved a person ritually away from God who was
associated with life. Purification rituals symbolized movement from death
toward life and accordingly involved blood, the color red, and spring (lit.
"living") water, all symbols of life.[1]
For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his
poverty you might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9). Christ also being clean took this woman uncleanliness and gave her
his Holiness. Indeed, she was filled with wonder and awe.
This day emulate our Lord by
reflecting and living the prayer of St. Francis.
The Prayer of Saint Francis
Lord, make me an
instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.
Amoris Lætitia[2]
Love in Marriage Love is not boastful (95-96)
The word, perpereúetai, denotes vainglory, the
need to be haughty, nit-picking and somewhat pushy. Those who love not only to
refrain from speaking too much about themselves, but are focused on others;
they do not need to be the center of attention. The word that comes next – physioútai
– is similar, indicating that love is not arrogant. Literally, it means that we
do not become “puffed up” before others. It also points to something more
subtle: an obsession with showing off and a loss of a sense of reality. Such
people think that, because they are more “spiritual” or “wise”, they are more important than they really are. Paul
uses this verb on other occasions, as when he says that “knowledge puffs up”,
whereas “love builds up” (1 Cor 8:1). Some think that they are important because they are more
knowledgeable than others; they want to lord it over them. Yet what really
makes us important is a love that
understands, shows concern, and embraces the weak. Elsewhere the word is used
to criticize those who are “inflated” with their own importance (cf. 1 Cor 4:18) but in fact are filled more with empty
words than the real “power” of the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 4:19). It is important for Christians to show their
love by the way they treat family members who are less knowledgeable about the
faith, weak or less sure in their convictions. At times the opposite occurs:
the supposedly mature believers within
the family become unbearably arrogant. Love, on the other hand, is marked by
humility; if we are to understand, forgive and serve others from the heart, our
pride has to be healed and our humility must
increase. Jesus told his disciples that in a world where power prevails, each
tries to dominate the other, but “it shall not be so among you” (Mt 20:26). The
inner logic of Christian love is not about importance
and power; rather, “whoever would be first among you must be your slave” (Mt 20:27). In family life, the logic of
domination and competition about who is the most intelligent or powerful
destroys love. Saint Peter’s admonition also applies to the family: “Clothe
yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another, for ‘God opposes the
proud, but gives grace to the humble’” (1 Pet 5:5).
Novena
in Honor of Saint John Marie Vianney[3]
Ardent
Faith
Saint John Marie Baptist
Vianney you were born of a deeply religious mother; from her you received the
Holy Faith; you learned to love God and to pray. At a young age, you were seen
kneeling in the front of the statue of Mary. Your soul was supernaturally carried
towards the things on High. Despite the high cost, you answered your vocation!
Against many obstacles and contradictions, you had to fight and suffer to
become the perfect priest which you were. But your deep spirit of faith
supported you in all these battles. O Great Saint you know the desire of my
soul; I would like to serve God better; from Him I have received so many good
things. For this, obtain for me more courage and especially the depth of faith.
Many of my thoughts, words, and actions are useless for my sanctification and
for my salvation, because this supernatural spirit does not stir up my life.
Help me to be better in the future. Holy Priest of Ars, I have confidence in
your intercession. Pray for me during this novena especially for ... (mention
silently your special intentions).
Our
Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Scotch Whisky Day[4]
The Babylonians of
Mesopotamia were likely the first people to distill alcohol as 2nd millennium
BC. At the time it is likely that various perfumes and aromatics were most
often distilled. The earliest records of the distillation of alcohol for the
purpose of drinking date back to 13th century Italy, where harder alcohols were
distilled from wine. Soon, the practice of distillation use spread through
medieval monasteries and was used largely for medicinal purposes, such as the
treatment of smallpox and other illnesses. Distillation spread to today’s Great Britain in the 15th
century, and the first evidence of whisky production in Scotland comes from an
entry in the Exchequer Rolls for 1494 where malt is sent “To Friar John Cor, by order of the
king, to make aquavitae”,
enough to make about 500 bottles. Whisky production later moved out of a
monastic setting and into personal homes and farms when King Henry VIII of
England dissolved all the monasteries in his country due to his feud with the
Pope, causing the monks to find a way to earn a living for themselves. However,
the distillation process in those days was much more basic than it is today,
and the whisky itself was not allowed to age, meaning it must have tasted much rawer
than it does today.
Scotch Whisky Day was
created to celebrate this alcoholic beverage in all of its glory and remind
people that Ballantine’s
is not as good as it gets!
How to celebrate Scotch Whisky Day
There are hundreds of
distilleries in Scotland you have likely never heard of that make whisky better
than you’ve ever
tried before, and this day is the day to experience them. The best part is that
not all good Scotch whiskies are expensive, so if you want to enjoy this day to
the fullest, you can order 5 or 6 miniatures—or more, if you decide to invite
people over to share the fun—and
enjoy an evening of sampling the unique whiskies Scotland has to offer. Ten-,
twelve- and even fifteen-year-old single malt Scotch whisky miniatures can be
purchased for under £5 and are sure to help you understand why this drink is
loved worldwide. and because it is usually a bad idea to drink strong alcohol
on an empty stomach, make sure you have some snacks on hand during your
whisky-tasting as well! Cheeses like Roquefort go well with many whiskies, as
does high-quality dark chocolate. If you feel like eating something more
filling, try a simple meat dish like slow-roasted pork spareribs.
There are also quite a few
films to choose from that would be perfect for this day, such as The
Angel’s Share, an acclaimed Scottish
comedy-drama about a man trying to get his life back on track after narrowly
avoiding a prison sentence. The titular “angel’s share”, is what distilleries call the
portion (share) of a whisky’s
volume that is lost to evaporation during aging in oak barrels.
Total Consecration to St. Joseph-Day 8[5]
On Day 8 Father Calloway using the Litany points to the idea that we are members of the new covenant family and we should ask St. Joseph as head of that family to pray for us.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of
Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the
world, Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit have mercy
on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have
mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, Pray for Us.
Father Calloway stresses on this day that:
·
St.
Joseph is a new Adam.
·
St.
Joseph will help you get to the wedding feast of heaven.
·
St.
Joseph is the delight of the Saints.
Marriage
is at the center of creation and redemption. When we ask St. Joseph to pray for
us, he will increase our wisdom and virtue so that we have a “proper attire”
for the heavenly wedding feast.
Delight of the Saints
St Joseph is the model of love, humility and dedication to Jesus and the Virgin Mary. In the Kingdom of God, Mary is the most elevated of all creatures, but Joseph outranks all other saints. He is the Father of Christ, and husband/First Knight to Christ and His Mother. As such Joseph outranks all other saints. In the early Church it was understood that Joseph was the holiest human person after Mary. St. Lawrence of Brindisi stated, “And as in that first marriage God created Eve to be like Adam, so in this second marriage he made Joseph to be like the Blessed Virgin in holiness and justice.”
The church has created ranks of order and respect in the Kingdom.
1. We are to give Adoration and Worship alone
to God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and we are to serve only Him.
2. We are to give the Highest reverence to
Mary.
3. We are to give first respect (revered) to
Joseph.
4. All others (saints) are revered (honored).
What
about the angels? Only God is worthy of adoration. The Virgin Mary is the
Spouse of the Holy Spirit; she is Queen of Heaven whom the highest choirs of
angels serve. Yet since Joseph was united to the Blessed Virgin by the conjugal
bond and God gave Joseph to Mary to be her spouse, he has via the conjugal bond
an eminent dignity with Mary. St. Joseph is close to God because he is the
father of Jesus. Saint Joseph’s role was planned from all eternity, even before
the creation of the angels. His intercession is all powerful, he is the delight
of saints and popes; the Italians and he should be your delight as well.
·
Pray the Litany of St. Joseph.
Daily Devotions
·
Eat waffles and Pray for the assistance
of the Angels
·
Cultivate
intelligent foresight in yourself
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Monday:
Litany of Humility
·
Rosary
[1]http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/bakers-evangelical-dictionary/clean-unclean.html.
[2] Pope Francis, Encyclical on Love.
[3]http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=1129
[4] https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/scotch-whisky-day/
[5]https://catholicexchange.com/now-is-the-time-to-consecrate-yourself-to-saint-joseph
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