DAY 7 - MOTHER MOST CHASTE, PRAY THAT WE RECEIVE THE GIFT OF COURAGE!
GOD'S WORD
HEROES' WORDS
MEDITATION
PRAY A ROSARY
- Rosary of the Day: Sorrowful Mysteries
- Traditional 54 Day Rotation: Joyful Mysteries
Those who would like to pray with others via The Telephone Rosary, call 1-951-799-9866 daily at 6 pm Eastern.
Luke, Chapter 19, Verse 20-21
20
Then the other servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it
stored away in a handkerchief, 21 for I was afraid of you, because
you are a demanding person; you take up what you did not lay down and you
harvest what you did not plant.’
When
I read this verse; I thought of Mathew Kelly’s writing from his book,
“Rediscovering Catholicism.” Kelly speaks about the various attitudes and
philosophies which shape and define the mindset of the modern secular world. He
identifies three key lifestyles: individualism, hedonism and minimalism.
First, what’s individualism? Individualism is an attitude
whereby I come to see myself as the center of the universe. The individualist
will typically go through the course of his or her day asking himself or
herself one question:
·
“What’s in it for me?”
Secondly, what’s hedonism? Essentially, it is an attitude
whereby I come to see the pursuit of my own personal pleasure as my primary
concern in life. The hedonist will typically ask himself or herself this question:
·
“How
can I maximize the amount of pleasure in my life while minimizing the amount of
pain and inconvenience which I must endure?”
Thirdly, what is minimalism? This is an attitude whereby I look
to put in the minimum amount of effort that I possibly can into life, while
reaping the maximum amount of reward. The minimalist will typically ask himself
or herself questions such as these:
·
“What’s the least amount I can possibly
do at the workplace and still keep my job?” Or perhaps:
·
“What’s the least amount I can possibly
do at school and still get a good grade?”
There
are many people in the world today who might “self-identify” as being
“Christian”, if not “Catholic”, who are still giving their hearts very much to
the so-called “spirit
of the world”;
whether we’re talking about the spirit of individualism, hedonism or
minimalism.
For
instance, we can say that there are many Catholics in the world who go to Mass,
say their prayers, and perhaps even occasionally eat fish on Fridays – who
still govern most of their conduct by asking themselves this one simple question:
“What’s in it for me?” Many of these
people might still be very “kind” and “generous” to certain persons that they
happen to know. Who isn’t from time to time? But perhaps, this sense of “kindness”
and “generosity” is still governed by a pervasive sense of selfishness and
self-interest. In other words: “I’ll be kind to you, but only insofar as you’re
being kind back onto me!” And what is that but the spirit of individualism.
Let’s take a different example.
Again,
we can say that there are many Catholics in the world today who go to Mass, say
their prayers, and perhaps belong to certain religious clubs or organizations
who still govern the bulk of their conduct by asking: “How can I get through
the course of my day while incurring the least amount of pain or inconvenience
to myself?” Many of
these people might still be saying their prayers, perhaps even every day, but
what’s often
the real substance behind these prayers? “O Lord give me the things that I
want, the things that I desire, the things that I believe to be essential to my
own sense of happiness and well-being. But Lord, whatever you do: do not make
me suffer, do not give me inconvenience, and do not give me pain! In other
words, do not give me the Cross!”
And that is the spirit of hedonism: the relentless and almost single-minded
pursuit of one’s own personal pleasure as one’s ultimate concern. This takes us
to our third example.
Again,
there are many Catholics in the world who go to church, go to confession, and
even follow the Commandments who still perhaps ask themselves this question
repeatedly: “How can I get myself into the kingdom of heaven, while putting the
least amount of effort into my relationship with God?” These people might try their very
best to avoid all sorts of serious sin. But, as we know from personal
experience, there is a huge difference between simply trying to avoid “serious sin”, and actually trying our very best
to please the Lord in all things, especially in those little details which
perhaps no one else would ever notice, except Christ Himself! But that’s really
the difference between being a “lukewarm Catholic” (or a “minimalist”) and
being a true disciple of the Lord.[1]
On Day 33 Father Calloway states
that St. Joseph is the guardian of the treasures of heaven.
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.
Noble
offspring of David, Pray for Us.
Light
of Patriarchs, Pray for Us.
Spouse
of the Mother of God, Pray for Us.
Chaste
Guardian of the Virgin, Pray for Us.
Foster
Father of the Son of God, Pray for Us.
Zealous
Defender of Christ, Pray for Us.
Head
of the Holy family, Pray for Us.
Joseph
Most Just, Pray for Us.
Joseph
Most Chaste, Pray for Us
Joseph Most Prudent, Pray for Us.
Joseph Most Courageous, Pray for Us.
Joseph Most Obedient, Pray for Us.
Joseph Most Faithful, Pray for Us.
Mirror of Patience, Pray for Us.
Lover of Poverty, Pray for Us.
Model of Workmen, Pray for Us.
Glory of Domestic Life, Pray for Us.
Guardian of Virgins, Pray for Us.
Pillar of Families, Pray for us.
Comfort of the Afflicted, Pray for Us.
Hope of the Sick, Pray for Us.
Patron of the Dying, Pray for Us.
Terror of Demons, Pray for Us.
Protector of the Holy Church, Pray for
Us.
He
Made Him the Lord of His Household, and Prince Over All His Possessions.
Jesus will spare no effort to enrich and honor Joseph. We must, then be devoted to him. We must honor and consecrate ourselves to him.
· Saint Joseph is your increaser.
Consecration Day[3]
By completing this 33 days with St. Joseph you are changed,
and you are the recipient of a tremendous blessing. St Joseph is in your corner
and he will help to increase your holiness. He will help you to worship with your
entire heart, mind, soul and strength. Love, trust, and honor Joseph, he will
guard you and help strengthen you. He will never be far from you and he will
help you be fearless in living and passing on to others the “Good News” of his
son.
Memorare to St. Joseph
Remember, O most chaste spouse of the Virgin
Mary, that never was it known that anyone who implored your help and sought
your intercession were left unassisted. Full of confidence in your power I fly
unto you and beg your protection. Despise not O Guardian of the Redeemer my
humble supplication, but in your bounty, hear and answer me. Amen.
Act of Consecration to St. Joseph
O dearest St. Joseph, I consecrate
myself to your honor and give myself to you, that you may always be my father,
my protector and my guide in the way of salvation. Obtain for me a greater
purity of heart and fervent love of the interior life. After your example may I
do all my actions for the greater glory of God, in union with the Divine Heart
of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. O Blessed St. Joseph, pray for me, that
I may share in the peace and joy of your holy death. Amen.
Pray the Litany of St. Joseph.
Our Lady of Knock[4]
On August 21, 1879, Margaret Beirne, a resident of Cnoc Mhuire, was sent by her
brother to lock up the church for the evening. When she was ready to leave, she
noticed a strange brightness hovering over the church. Margaret had other
things on her mind, and didn't tell anyone what she saw. Around the same time,
another member of the Beirne family, Mary, was leaving from a visit to the
church's housekeeper, and stopped with the housekeeper at the gables, where
they could see the church. Mary replied:
"Oh, look at
the statues! Why didn't you tell me the priest got new statues for the
chapel?"
The
housekeeper responded that she knew nothing of the priest getting new statues.
So, they both went for a closer look, and Mary Beirne said:
"But they
are not statues, they're moving. It's the Blessed Virgin!"
Thirteen
others also came and saw the beautiful woman, clothed in white garments,
wearing a brilliant crown. Her hands were raised as if in prayer. All knew that
it was Mary, the Mother of Jesus, Queen of Angels. On the right of Our Lady
stood St. Joseph, his head inclined toward her. On her left stood St. John, the
Evangelist, dressed as a bishop. To the left of St. John stood an altar which
had a lamb and a cross surrounded by angels on it. The vision lasted about two
hours. People who were not at the apparition site reported that they saw a
bright light illuminating the area where the church was. Many of the sick were
healed upon visiting the church at Knock.
Things to Do:
·
See
the website of the Shrine
of the Our Lady of Knock.
·
For
further information see Catholic Saints Info on Our Lady of Knock.
·
In
the vision, Mary stood in the middle, wearing a long gown and a crown of pulsating
brilliance, with a golden rose over her forehead. A golden rose is often the
symbol of this Marian apparition.
·
Pope
St. John Paul II presented a golden rose to the Shrine on his visit on September 30,
1979. Read his Mass homily.
·
Because
the 4th Sunday of Lent or Laetare Sunday is often referred as the Golden
Rose Sunday, the Simnel Cake could incorporate the Rose tradition. See Laetare, Jerusalem! Rejoice! by Jennifer Gregory Miller for
more information.
Fitness Friday-Suffering[5]
When
I first started training for marathons a little over ten years ago, my coach told me something I’ve never
forgotten: that I would need to learn how to be comfortable with being
uncomfortable. I didn’t know it at the time, but that skill, cultivated
through running, would help me as much, if not more, off the road as it would
on it. It’s not just me, and it’s not just running.
Ask anyone whose day regularly includes a hard bike ride, sprints in the pool,
a complex problem on the climbing wall, or a progressive powerlifting circuit,
and they’ll likely tell you the same: A difficult conversation just doesn’t
seem so difficult anymore. A tight deadline is not so intimidating.
Relationship problems are not so problematic. Maybe it’s that if you’re
regularly working out, you’re simply too tired to care. But that’s probably not
the case. Research shows that, if anything, physical activity boosts short-term
brain function and heightens awareness. And even on days they don’t train —
which rules out fatigue as a factor — those who habitually push their bodies
tend to confront daily stressors with a stoic demeanor. While the traditional
benefits of vigorous exercise — like prevention and treatment of diabetes,
heart disease, stroke, hypertension, and osteoporosis — are well known and
often reported, the most powerful benefit might be the lesson that my coach
imparted to me: In a world where comfort is king, arduous physical activity
provides a rare opportunity to practice suffering.
Few hone this skill better than professional endurance and adventure athletes.
Regardless of sport, the most resounding theme, by far, is that they’ve all
learned how to embrace uncomfortable situations:
† Olympic marathoner Des Linden told
me that at mile 20 of 26.2, when the inevitable suffering kicks in, through
years of practice she’s learned to stay relaxed and in the moment. She repeats
the mantra: “calm, calm, calm; relax, relax, relax.”
† World-champion big-wave surfer Nic
Lamb says being uncomfortable, and even afraid, is a prerequisite to riding
four-story waves. But he also knows it’s “the path to personal development.”
He’s learned that while you can pull back, you can almost always push through.
“Pushing through is courage. Pulling back is regret,” he says.
† Free-soloist Alex Honnold explains
that, “The only way to deal with [pain] is practice. [I] get used to it during
training so that when it happens on big climbs, it feels normal.”
† Evelyn Stevens, the women’s record
holder for most miles cycled in an hour (29.81 – yes, that’s nuts), says that
during her hardest training intervals, “instead of thinking I want these to
be over, I try to feel and sit with the pain. Heck, I even try to embrace it.”
† Big-mountain climber Jimmy Chin,
the first American to climb up — and then ski down — Mt. Everest’s South Pillar
Route, told me an element of fear is there in everything he does, but he’s
learned how to manage it: “It’s about sorting out perceived risk from real
risk, and then being as rational as possible with what’s left.”
But
you don’t need to scale massive vertical pitches or run five-minute miles to
reap the benefits. Simply training for your first half marathon or CrossFit
competition can also yield huge dividends that carry over into other areas of
life. In the words of Kelly Starrett, one of the founding fathers of the
CrossFit movement, “Anyone can benefit from cultivating a physical practice.”
Science backs him up. A study published in the British Journal of Health
Psychology found that college students who went from not exercising
at all to even a modest program (just two to three gym visits per week)
reported a decrease in stress, smoking, alcohol and caffeine consumption, an
increase in healthy eating and maintenance of household chores, and better
spending and study habits. In addition to these real-life improvements, after
two months of regular exercise, the students also performed better on
laboratory tests of self-control. This led the researchers to speculate that
exercise had a powerful impact on the students’ “capacity for self-regulation.”
In laypeople’s terms, pushing through the discomfort associated with exercise —
saying “yes” when their bodies and minds were telling them to say “no” — taught
the students to stay cool, calm, and collected in the face of difficulty,
whether that meant better managing stress, drinking less, or studying more. For this reason, the author Charles Duhigg, in his
2012 bestseller The
Power of Habit,
calls exercise a “keystone habit,” or a change in one area life that brings
about positive effects in other areas. Duhigg says keystone habits are powerful
because “they change our sense of self and our sense of what is possible.” This
explains why the charity Back on My
Feet uses running
to help individuals who are experiencing homelessness improve their situations.
Since launching in 2009, Back on My Feet has had over 5,500 runners, 40 percent
of whom have gained employment after starting to run with the group and 25
percent of whom have found permanent housing. This is also likely why it’s so
common to hear about people who started training for a marathon to help them
get over a divorce or even the death of a loved one.
Another study, this one published in the European Journal of
Applied Physiology, evaluated how exercise changes our
physiological response to stress. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of
Technology, in Germany, divided students into two groups at the beginning of the
semester and instructed half to run twice a week for 20 weeks. At the end of
the 20 weeks, which coincided with a particularly stressful time for the
students — exams — the researchers had the students wear heart-rate monitors to
measure their heart-rate variability, which is a common indicator of
physiological stress (the more variability, the less stress). As you might
guess by now, the students who were enrolled in the running program showed
significantly greater heart-rate variability. Their bodies literally were not
as stressed during exams: They were more comfortable during a generally uncomfortable time. What’s remarkable and encouraging about these
studies is that the subjects weren’t exercising at heroic intensities or
volumes. They were simply doing something that was physically challenging for
them – going from no exercise to some exercise; one need not be an elite
athlete or fitness nerd to reap the bulletproofing benefits of exercise. Why does any of this matter? For one,
articles that claim prioritizing big fitness goals is a waste of time (exhibit
A: “Don’t Run a
Marathon”) are
downright wrong. But far more important than internet banter, perhaps a broader
reframing of exercise is in order. Exercise isn’t just about helping out your
health down the road, and it’s certainly not just about vanity. What you do in
the gym (or on the roads, in the ocean, etc.) makes you a better,
higher-performing person outside of it. The truth, cliché as it may sound, is
this: When you develop physical fitness, you’re developing life fitness, too.
South Pole Discovery
of the Eternal[6]
WASHINGTON
(CNS) -- The work of researchers who reported detecting the signal left behind
by the rapid expansion of space billions of years ago is rooted in the efforts
of a Belgian priest whose mathematical computations in the 1920s laid the
groundwork for the Big Bang theory. Msgr. George Lemaitre, a mathematician who
studied alongside leading scientists of the first half of the 20th century
exploring the origins of the universe, suggested that the cosmos began as a
super-dense "primeval atom" that underwent some type of reaction that
initiated the expansion of the universe which continues today. The priest's
conclusions challenged the conventional hypothesis proposed by luminaries such
as Albert Einstein and Fred Hoyle that the universe was in a steady state.
Researchers in cosmology over the decades refined Msgr. Lemaitre's idea,
leading to what became widely known as the Big Bang theory and later ideas that
signs of the Big Bang can be detected. The most recent evidence supporting the
Big Bang emerged March 17 when a team of scientists announced they detected polarization
in light caused by primordial gravitational waves originating from the Big
Bang. The measurements were made with the Background Imaging of Cosmic
Extragalactic Polarization experiment, or Biceps2, located at near the South
Pole.
Daily Devotions
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
[1]https://8kidsandabusiness.wordpress.com/2015/04/27/individualism-hedonism-and-minimalism-spirit-of-the-world-disguised-as-the-spirit-of-the-gospel/
[2]https://catholicexchange.com/now-is-the-time-to-consecrate-yourself-to-saint-joseph
[3]https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/terror-demons-explanation
[4]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2020-08-21
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