DAY 14 - MOTHER OF OUR SAVIOR, PRAY THAT WE RECEIVE THE GIFT OF PIETY!
GOD'S WORD
HEROES' WORDS
MEDITATION
PRAY A ROSARY
- Rosary of the Day: Sorrowful Mysteries
- Traditional 54 Day Rotation: Sorrowful Mysteries
Those who would like to pray with others via The Telephone Rosary, call 1-951-799-9866 daily at 6 pm Eastern.
FEAST
OF ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO
John, Chapter 12, verse 14-15:
14 Jesus found an ass and sat
upon it, as is written: 15“FEAR no more, O daughter
Zion; see, your king comes, seated upon an ass’s colt.”
This
verse is referring to our Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem when the people
acknowledged Christ as the Messiah. The daughter of Zion is a term used by the
prophet Zachariah for Jerusalem and according to eastern traditions Kings
traditionally rode on donkeys rather than horses. Another symbol of Christ’s
entrance into Jerusalem is that of the Prince of Peace: He rode in on a donkey
rather than a war horse into a city whose name means peace.
According
to Deut. 17:15 it was forbidden for a King of Israel to acquire horses. Based
on that prohibition, the Israelites didn’t ride horses into battle either, but
were told to rely on the Lord to help them overcome superior enemy forces.
(Deut. 20:1) And Zechariah prophesied that the Messiah-King would enter
Jerusalem on a donkey.[1]
Feast of St. Augustine of Hippo[2]
St.
Augustine (354-430) was born at Tagaste, Africa, and died in Hippo. His father,
Patricius, was a pagan, his mother, Monica, a devout Christian. He received a
good Christian education. As a law student in Carthage, however, he gave
himself to all kinds of excesses and finally joined the Manichean sect. He then
taught rhetoric at Milan where he was converted by St. Ambrose. Returning to
Tagaste, he distributed his goods to the poor, and was ordained a priest. He
was made bishop of Hippo at the age of 41 and became a great luminary of the
African Church, one of the four great founders of religious orders, and a
Doctor of the universal Church.
"Though I am but dust and ashes, suffer
me to utter my plea to Thy mercy; suffer me to speak, since it is to God's
mercy that I speak and not to man's scorn. From Thee too I might have scorn,
but Thou wilt return and have compassion on me. ... I only know that the gifts
Thy mercy had provided sustained me from the first moment. ... All my hope is
naught save in Thy great mercy. Grant what Thou dost command, and command what
Thou wilt" (St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions,
6, 19).
As a young man, Augustine prepared for
a career as a teacher of Rhetoric and subsequently taught in Carthage and Rome.
Unfortunately, despite having a saint for a mother, as his career progressed,
he wandered far from his Christian upbringing, and his life sank into an abyss
of pride and lust. Like many young pagan men of his time, he lived with a
mistress and conceived a child with her out of wedlock. However, the Lord did
not want to lose hold of this lost sheep altogether: thus, inspired by the
writings of the Roman philosopher Cicero (and, no doubt, prompted by the Holy
Spirit), Augustine began what would prove to be a lifelong search for wisdom.
This search took him first to the religious cult called the
"Manichees," a strange sect that believed the material world is the
product of the powers of "darkness," while the spiritual realm is the
realm of "light." After becoming disillusioned with the bizarre
theories of the Manichees, Augustine adopted the philosophy of the
Neo-Platonists. This was a school of philosophy centered on the writings of the
ancient philosopher Plotinus, who described the mystical journey that all
people ought to undertake as "the flight of the alone to the Alone,"
in other words, as a mystical, solitary search for the ineffable Source of all
things. In 386, Augustine moved to Milan to a new teaching post, and there, by
divine providence, he encountered the preaching of the archbishop of the city,
the great theologian St. Ambrose. As a result of the example and preaching of
this great saint, as well as the prayers and tears of his saintly mother,
Augustine was quickly plunged into a profound inner struggle, wrestling with
his sins of the flesh and with temptations to intellectual pride. The turning
point of this struggle came in the summer of 386 when Augustine was sitting in
a garden, recollecting his past life and gazing into the depths of his own
soul. He describes what happened next in his autobiographical Confessions
(written in 397)[3]:
Such things I said, weeping in the most
bitter sorrow of my heart. And suddenly, I heard a voice from some nearby
house, a boy's voice or a girl's voice, I do not know but it was a sort of
sing-song repeated again and again, "Take and read, take and read." I
ceased weeping and immediately began to search my mind most carefully as to
whether children were accustomed to chant these words in any kind of game, and
I could not remember that I had ever heard any such thing. Damming back the
flood of my tears I arose, interpreting the incident as quite certainly a
divine command to open my book of Scripture and read the passage at which I
should open. ... I snatched it up, opened it, and in silence read the passage
upon which my eyes first fell: "Not
in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention
and envy, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the
flesh in its concupiscence’s" (Rom 13:13). I had no wish to read
further, and no need. For in that instant, with the very ending of the
sentence, it was as though a light of utter confidence shone in my heart, and
all the darkness of uncertainty vanished away.
Then we [Augustine and his friend Alypius] went in to my mother and told her,
to her great joy. We related how it had come about: she was filled with
triumphant exultation and praised You who are mighty beyond what we ask or
conceive: for she saw that You had given her more than with all her pitiful
weeping she had ever asked. For You converted me to Yourself ... (Confessions, 8.11-12).
A prayer by St. Augustine
Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that
my thoughts may all be holy.
Act in me, O Holy Spirit, That I love
but what is holy.
Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to
defend all that is holy.
Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, That
I always may be holy. Amen.[4]
Things to Do:
- Read
more about St. Augustine at CatholicIreland.net and at CatholicSaints.Info
- Go
here
for links to the writings of St. Augustine
- Also
learn more here, St. Augustine of Hippo
- See
St
Augustine, the Holy Trinity, the Child and the SeaShell
- Visit
Anastpaul for more info including many images
Fitness Friday[5]
Enhancing one’s fitness goes a long
way to improving one’s self image and raising one to the challenge of God’s
mission for them.
Help!
I’m Poor but Want to Eat Healthy!
Unhealthy food is indeed
often more accessible and cheaper than healthy
alternatives.
Unfortunately, it’s these very foods that make us unhealthy and
overweight, causing all sorts of INCREDIBLY expensive medical problems down the
road. Healthy eating on a budget IS possible; it just takes a game plan and a
little creativity. Today we’re going to talk about specific foods
that are a great bang for your buck. Whether you’re simply trying losing weight
and getting in shape or build some muscle and put on weight without looking
like Jabba
the Hut, making
the right dietary choices will always be 80-90% of your success. And because
diet is going to make up THAT BIG of your chance for success, we want you to
slowly shift to the most effective choices you can – and for that we recommend
the Paleo diet. Over the last few decades, we’ve been eating and drinking more
and more, and we developed the idea that a “good deal” means a lot of food. In
other words, we tend to associate a deal by looking at the price per calorie. “I
got SOO many fries, what a great deal!” Sure, you could buy pasta
and ramen and live on mere dollars a day, but we want a game plan that doesn’t
skip out on practically every macro and micronutrient – this is a strategy that
builds Superheroes. The aim will be to reshape the way you evaluate ‘good
deals.’ Instead of price per calorie, we’ll be looking at the price per
nutrient. We want the most nutrients for the least
amount of money. The choices below will:
·
Target nutrient dense foods, but
understand that we’re looking for the most economical choices. If food A costs
$10 and has 50 of nutrient x, we’ll pick food B instead, which only provides 45
of x but costs just $2.
·
Limit our draw to ‘good
caloric deals,’ avoiding nutrient deficient options
such as white bread or ramen.
·
Identify foods with high
caloric AND nutritional value,
for those currently trying to gain weight through strength
training.
Let’s do this!
Vegetables
While
vegetables can often be expensive, when we looked at some of the best choices,
veggies are pretty awesome. One study showed:
“that although fruits and vegetables
are an expensive source of dietary energy (calories), they provide key
nutrients at a reasonable cost.”
·
For starters,
don’t
be afraid to buy frozen vegetables in the freezer section of your local grocery store
(or even canned vegetables). Sure, I love fresh veggies, but since frozen
veggies are picked and then frozen at peak ripeness (and thus most
nutritionally dense), they are often a better value while being edible for
months longer.
·
Kale and leafy greens (such as mustard or collard): If there is one super cheap
superfood, kale and leafy greens are it! Practically nature’s multivitamin,
kale is packed full of protein, vitamin K, C, and A, dietary fiber, calcium,
potassium, iron, magnesium, and more (a whole lot more). The
catch is that kale and leafy greens can be bitter raw, so they need to be
cooked. But don’t worry, there are tons of quick and easy ways to make kale
delicious. You do NOT want to miss out on one of the most economical
superfoods. To get you started, check out Kale Chips or this try this kale and bacon recipe.
· Cabbage: A sister food to kale and leafy greens, from antioxidant to fiber to vitamin C, cabbage is both affordable and nutritionally dense. Cabbage is extremely versatile (soup, salad, stir fry, or sandwiches), and looks like it may have some superfood cancer fighting qualities as well.
·
Broccoli: I
didn’t understand why everyone else hated Broccoli. Whether fresh or frozen, broccoli
provides an excellent price per nutrient value.
·
Spinach: Rich
in minerals and vitamins, fiber and protein, spinach should be your go-to
choose for salads over cheaper but nutritionally deficient greens
like iceberg lettuce. The difference
between spinach and lettuce
is so large, this comparison is a great example to demonstrate why we should be
making choices based on price per
nutrient, rather than price per calorie.
·
Carrots: Carrots
are one of my favorite nutritionally dense snacks. Crazy amounts of
vitamin A, good carbs, and a little bit of everything else; carrots are a solid
choice to supplement a salad or soup.
Be
sure to check out your local farmers’ market, as you
may find some great deals on fruits and veggies depending on the season and where you live.
Proteins
Consider
the Paleo
Diet, today we’re going to
explore all cheap protein sources, Paleo or non-Paleo. Meats (chicken/turkey/beef):
When we
looked at prices across the U.S., chicken and turkey consistently offered
better values. However, don’t count beef out; there is almost ALWAYS a
specific cut of beef on sale, and by targeting cheaper (and fattier) cuts, you
can usually leave the meat section with a killer deal. We aren’t targeting
these cuts simply because they’re cheaper.
·
Eggs:
There’s a
reason eggs are usually a staple among those seriously strength training: eggs
are a simple yet nutritionally dense source of protein. Toss hard boiled
eggs in a salad, scramble eggs in a stir fry, or prepare a regular breakfast
staple, eggs are usually too cheap to pass up.
·
Canned
Tuna: One
can of Albacore Tuna contains approximately 120 calories, 28g of
protein, and can cost $1 or less. This makes canned tuna a superb value and an
awesomely lean protein source. Check out other canned fish, such as salmon, for
some variety. And be sure to rotate canned tuna in and out of your diet to reduce risks
associated with mercury.
·
Legumes: Beans,
chickpeas, lentils, oh my! Legumes (especially when purchased in
bags), are one of the best prices per nutrient values out there. Legumes such
as beans work great in a salad, soups, or even dips. Providing copious amounts
of both protein and carbs, legumes offer a great value and
easily satisfy macronutrient requirements. Be wary though,
nutritional value will vary depending on your specific legume of choice!
·
Protein
Powder: If
the above recommendations don’t work for you and you’re still a little short
on protein, try a huge tub of protein powder online. Make
yourself a quick protein shake breakfast or post workout meal.
·
Other `cheap protein options that may be a great deal include
quinoa, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and one of the many types of nut butter.
Fruits
Fruits
provide one of the biggest challenges, especially in the United States, because they are so
expensive relative to other food groups. Fruits can also be tricky. Grapes,
which seem to be a moderate value, end up being one of the worst price per
nutrient options out there. This may lead to the completely understandable
reaction that I had, “SCREW IT! I love grapes, and I’m buying them!” But don’t worry, there are still some excellent cost-efficient
options for fruits:
·
Watermelon: I
know, I know. My first thought too was, “isn’t it mostly water?” Well, yes. But
as it turns out, since watermelon is so darn cheap, it is an incredible value
per nutrient. Packed with lycopene (antioxidant), vitamins A and
C, potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus, watermelon is a wonderful and
easy to eat nutritional deal.
·
Bananas: If
you’re following the Paleo Diet and avoiding most grains, bananas are a great
source of carbs. Bananas are super cheap and provide you with tons of
potassium. They can be added to oatmeal, eaten as a snack, or my favorite, as a
desert (frozen bananas).
·
Plums: Packed
full great micronutrients like vitamin A, K, and C, plums are an excellent
source of fiber and carbs.
·
Pears: Although
pears possess a good amount of natural sugars, they are another great source of
fiber and vitamin C…and usually even cheaper than plums.
·
Other fruits
that may be great nutritional deals in your area: cantaloupe, apricots, kiwis,
and nectarines.
Don’t forget about
dried fruit – although high in sugar, bulk dried fruit can be an incredible
nutrient value.
If you are training like crazy or are working hard
to get bigger by packing on muscle and size, then chances are you’ll require
more and more food (read: fuel) to reach your goals. If you’re strength
training and not getting bigger, then you’re not eating enough – it’s that
simple. Calories become more important, fats and oils, beans and legumes, and
dairy products become more cost effective than vegetables and fruits (however,
don’t neglect vegetables to make sure your…um…” plumbing” can handle the extra
calories!).
·
Oats: Oats
are incredibly cheap, provide ridiculous amounts of both carbohydrates and
protein, and fulfill other micronutrient and mineral requirements such as
thiamin, folate, magnesium, and phosphorus. Oats are simple to make, can
be prepared a variety of ways (sweet or savory), and can be bought and stored
easily in bulk!
·
Whole Milk:
Although milk isn’t Paleo, its low cost combined with high amounts of protein,
calcium, and vitamin D makes it an attractive option when trying to meet high
calorie requirements (if your body can handle the lactose).
·
Avocados: Avocados
are perhaps the densest food listed in this entire article,
both calorically and nutritiously. Although they may appear costly,
avocados can be an incredible price per nutrient value. Put them in
salads, on sandwiches, or eat them plain with a little bit of salt! When
your local grocery store puts avocados on sale, be sure to stock up!
·
Sweet Potato: A better nutritional value than
normal potatoes (plus a lower glycemic load), sweet potatoes are a great
source of carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and incredible amounts of vitamin A.
Sweet potatoes sliced, covered in olive oil, and thrown in the oven at 375 for
12 minutes each side. So simple, even a nerd could cook it.
·
Olive Oil:
One of the best ways to add good fat without cholesterol or sodium is olive
oil. Add extra olive oil to salads, meats, and legumes.
·
Almonds/Walnuts/Almond butter: Raw almonds are
a versatile option that can serve as a great supplementary source of
protein and fat. While almonds can be a great value, be sure to buy them in
bulk to optimize your price per nutrient deal. And if you haven’t tried almond
butter and apple slices, you’re missing out.
Eat Smart
No
matter what value foods you plan to buy, be sure approach eating healthy on a
budget with a
plan of attack. You will find that if you take
advantage of healthy foods on sale (especially buy one get one free deals),
many foods that aren’t listed here will suddenly become a great value! Remember: If your goal is weight loss,
the majority of your calories should come from fat and protein, NOT
carbohydrates/grains! This is the whole premise of the
Paleo Diet that
we’re so fond of. Concerned about
pesticides and have a bit more money to spend? Here are nine foods you should try to buy organic, and seven organic options you can pass up. As long as you’re no longer
thinking “more is better,” but instead searching for value healthy foods,
you’ll be on your way to becoming a Superhero.
Daily Devotions
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
[4]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=1116
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