Sunday, September 6, 2020
DAY 23 - MARY, CAUSE OF OUR JOY, PRAY THAT WE RECEIVE THE FRUIT OF GENTLENESS!
GOD'S WORD
HEROES' WORDS
MEDITATION
PRAY A ROSARY
- Rosary of the Day: Glorious Mysteries
- Traditional 54 Day Rotation: Sorrowful Mysteries
Fourteenth Sunday aft. Pentecost (23rd S. Ord. Time)
FIGHT PROCRASTINATION DAY
Acts,
Chapter 13, verse 16
So, Paul
got up, motioned with his hand, and said, “Fellow Israelite's and you others who
are God-fearing, listen.
The Apostle Paul Gestured. Most
effective speakers’ gesture. A gesture is defined by The American Heritage
College Dictionary as “a motion of the limbs or body made to express
thought or to emphasize speech.” Surely every gospel preacher should want to
emphasize his sermon. Let’s look to see what the Bible teaches about such. As
Paul was asked by the rulers of the synagogue, “. . . if you have any word of
exhortation for the people, say on. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with
his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience” (Acts
13:15-16). The apostle Paul knew that gestures could help to enforce the oral
expression in gospel preaching. In Jerusalem, “. . . Paul stood on the stairs,
and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a
great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying . . .” (Acts
21:40). Paul knew that gestures help communicate ideas and help get and hold
attention. It has been said that gesturing is not in keeping with humility.
Paul, who gestured, said, “Serving the Lord with all humility of mind,
and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying-in wait of
the Jews” (Acts 20:19). Paul was a humble-gesturing preacher! When the apostle
Paul made his defense before King Agrippa, he “. . . stretched forth the
hand, and answered for himself” (Acts 26:1). The stretching forth of one’s
hand is gesturing. [1]
Fourteenth
Sunday after Pentecost[2]
Seeking the kingdom of God and its justice.
AT the Introit of the Mass, join with the priest in awaking in your heart a fervent desire for heaven by these words: Behold, O God, our protector, and look on the face of Thy Christ; for better is one day in Thy courts above thousands. How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord” (Ps. Ixxxiii.).
Prayer. Preserve Thy Church, we beseech Thee, O Lord, with perpetual mercy, and since without Thee mortal man goes astray, may we be ever withheld by Thy grace from what is hurtful, and directed to what is profitable.
EPISTLE. Gal. v. 10-24.
Brethren: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the
lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit: and the spirit
against the flesh; for these are contrary one to an other: so that you do not
the things that you would. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under
the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are, fornication,
uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, witchcraft's, enmities, contentions,
emulations, wraiths, quarrels, dissensions, sects, envies, murders, drunkenness,
reveling, and such like, of which I foretell you, as I have foretold to you,
that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God. But the fruit
of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity,
mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against such there is no law.
And they that are Christ’s have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscence’s.
What is it to walk in the Spirit? It is, in all things and at all times, to follow the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and not merely to abstain from the works of the flesh, but rather to crucify the flesh and its lusts, and earnestly to aspire after those fruits which the Holy Ghost produces in men? such as charity, peace, and joy. So shall we belong to Christ, and become partakers of eternal life. Is it not wonderful that while all Christians desire to belong to Christ, and to be heirs of His kingdom, they are unwilling to crucify the flesh with its vices and concupiscence’s, and to destroy its lusts, as though they believed this to be required only of the clergy, whereas it is to all Christians that Christ says: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matt. xvi. 24.)
GOSPEL. Matt vi. 24-33.
At that time Jesus said to His disciples: No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore, I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat, and the body more than the raiment? Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they? And which of you by taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? And for raiment why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow: they labor not, neither do they spin. But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. And if the grass of the field, which is to-day, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe: how much more you, O ye of little faith! Be not solicitous therefore, saying: What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God and His justice: and all these things shall be added unto you.
What is meant by serving God? Doing the will of God in all things which He requires of us, in whatever state of life we may be placed, and doing this with fidelity, with unwearied zeal, and out of love for Him.
Who are the two masters whom we cannot serve at the same time? God and an inordinate desire for worldly gain. One cannot serve both, because they demand things that are contradictory.
Who are they that serve mammon, or worldly wealth? The avaricious, who, impelled by their longing for riches, offend God by manifold transgressions of His commandments.
Why does
Christ refer us to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field? To
awaken in us confidence in Divine Providence. If God feeds the young ravens
(Ps. cxlvi. 9) and the birds of the air if He decks so beautifully the flowers
of the field, how much more will He not care for men, whom He has created after
His own image, and adopted as His children.
What should preserve us from excessive anxiety? A firm and living faith that God can and will help us. That He can is clear, because He is almighty; that He will is certain, for the reason that He is love that He has promised it to us, more than once, most expressly, and that He is faithful in keeping His promises. Let us, then, trust in God, and daily renew our confidence in Him, particularly when we say the Creed, or when, in the Our Father, we pray, Give us this day our daily bread.
Consolation in Poverty
In your misery and poverty, say often, with Job: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; as it hath pleased the Lord so it is done; blessed be the name of the Lord (Job i.21). Or seek comfort in these words: “We lead indeed a poor life, but we shall have many good things if we fear God and depart from all sin and do that which is good” (Job iv.23).
Warning against Usury (or price gouging)
Usury is that
mortal sin which takes advantage of our neighbor’s poverty and need to extort
from him what is justly his own. Would that usurers might bear in mind what the
Lord says: “What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the
loss of his own soul?” (Matt. xvi. 26.)
The Lord's Day must be kept holy by participating in Sunday Mass
By St. Pope John Paul II
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
1. The
Apostolic Letter Dies
Domini on keeping Sunday holy will be published next Tuesday, 7 July. I
signed it on 31 May, the day of Pentecost, to emphasize that it is a special
fruit of this year which, during the immediate preparation for the Jubilee, is
especially dedicated to reflection on the Holy Spirit.
It is, in fact, the Holy Spirit who continually brings to the Church's remembrance the riches of the mystery of Redemption and helps believers in every generation to rediscover and to live them.
Indeed, the
rediscovery of Sunday is one of the urgent priorities in the life of the
Christian community today. For many people, in fact, this day risks being
considered and lived merely as the "weekend". But Sunday is quite
different: it is the day of the week when the Church celebrates Christ's
Resurrection. It is the weekly Easter!
That is why it is the "Lord's Day" par excellence, as its very name "domenica" recalls, retained in Italian and other languages, which corresponds to the Latin "dies dominica" or "dies Domini".
2. In obedience to the third commandment, Sunday must be kept holy, above all by participation in Holy Mass.
There was a time in traditionally Christian countries when this was made easier by the whole cultural context. Today, in order to remain faithful to Sunday practice, it is often necessary to go "against the tide".
Thus, a renewed consciousness of faith is necessary.
Do not be afraid, dear friends, to open your time to Christ! Time given to him is not wasted; on the contrary, it is time gained for our humanity; it is time which fills our days with light and hope.
With this Apostolic Letter I would like first of all to address Pastors, sharing with them this basic pastoral concern. I would also like, in a certain sense, to have an open-hearted dialogue with all the individual members of the faithful, as I am accustomed to doing on my visits to the parishes of Rome. I intend to return to this theme during our forthcoming Sunday meetings for the Angelus.
I offer this new document to you all, dear brothers and sisters, at the beginning of this holiday season of legitimate relaxation, but one which does not mean a time of "emptiness". Why not take this booklet with you and devote a few hours to quietly reading it? It might prove, at least in certain respects, to be an interesting "discovery".
3. We pray that
the Blessed Virgin will prepare the Christian community to accept the message
of this Apostolic Letter. May she spur the faithful to ask themselves about the
way they spend Sunday and encourage Pastors to give this topic all the
importance it deserves, despite the difficulties of our time. This will also be
a valuable contribution to the celebration of the Great Jubilee.
After praying the Angelus, the Holy Father said:
These days the sun reminds us that the holiday season has returned. The Pope will also be leaving on Wednesday afternoon for a few days of rest and reflection at Lorenzago, in the Cadore. This window, then, will remain closed until after the summer.
I wish everyone holidays that are physically restful and spiritually restorative.
My most cordial
greeting to everyone!
Fight Procrastination Day[3]
“I never put off till tomorrow what I can possibly do — the day after.” ― Oscar Wilde
Procrastination can really be the bane of our existence,
with another day coming around the corner, there’s no real reason that we can’t
put it off till tomorrow is there? Of course not, and tomorrow has another
tomorrow, so let’s do it again! It is by this way of thinking that absolutely
nothing gets done, and we know good and well that procrastination is us out to
get ourselves. But what can we do? Fight Procrastination Day reminds us that
it’s up to us to beat this monster, and only we can decide to get up and get
done today what was supposed to be done.
History of Fight Procrastination Day
Fight Procrastination Day tells us to get up in arms and
start battling the age-old beast that is “putting things off”. There are a
million techniques to battle it, but procrastination is decidedly an epic level
raid monster, and sometimes it seems like a concerted effort of us and our most
efficient friends is the only thing that will put it down. The fight against
procrastination has been going on a long time, and there have been some really
creative methods created to fight it, all to varying success. What kind of
crazy techniques? How about Victor Hugo and James Riley choosing to write naked
so it wasn’t a simple matter to head out to drink with the boys at the local
pub? Not necessarily a universally practical method, but it definitely has its
high points. Then there are modern versions that are truly remarkable, programs
that you download onto your computer that act as a filter according to the
rules you set up… Ya know, like if you work at home and want to use it to
control your behavior during work hours?
How to celebrate Fight Procrastination Day
You celebrate Procrastination day by getting ready to fight
putting things off all day long. You can do this by starting with precommitment
the night before, you set yourself an alarm, get rid of your distractions, set
up your workspace, and be ready to hit the ground running when you get up. If
you’re trying to make sure you’re ready for work, set your breakfast, coffee,
and towels for the morning shower up the night before. Everything to streamline
your way out the door and prevent you from dawdling.
35 Promises of God[4]
cont.
“Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we
drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these
things; and indeed, your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these
things will be given to you as well.”
-Matt 6:31-33
Daily Devotions
·
Today in honor of the
Holy Trinity do the Divine Office giving your day to God. To honor God REST: no
shopping after 3pm till Monday. Don’t forget the internet.
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face
·
Rosary
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