John 14, verse 27
PEACE
I leave with you; my PEACE I give to
you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be
troubled or afraid.
It
is important to note that Christ gave
His peace in this verse to His
apostles just before the betrayal of Judas. Fear has no place in the hearts of
believers. Likewise, all our fear and distress as people awaiting His return must give way to the peace that is Christ’s gift. We now must face the conflict with the Prince
of this world by keeping that peace in a troubled world. Christ by His death
demonstrated God’s commandment of total love.
Amoris Lætitia[1]
Love in Marriage Love rejoices with others (109-110)
Without
the peace of Christ, one is beset by a certain negativity lurking deep within a
person’s heart. It is the toxic attitude of those who rejoice at seeing an
injustice done to others. The gift of the peace of Christ is that “it rejoices
in the right”. In other words, we rejoice at the good of others when we see
their dignity and value their abilities and good works. This is impossible for those who must always be comparing and competing,
even with their spouse, so that they secretly rejoice in their failures. When a
loving person can do good for others, or sees that others are happy, they
themselves live happily and in this way give glory to God, for “God loves a
cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7). Our Lord especially appreciates those who
find joy in the happiness of others. If we fail to learn how to rejoice in the
well-being of others, and focus primarily on our own needs, we condemn
ourselves to a joyless existence, for, as Jesus said, “it is more blessed to
give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). The family must always be a place where, when something good happens to one of
its members, they know that others will be there to celebrate it with them.
ON KEEPING THE LORD'S DAY HOLY[2]
It
is right, therefore, to claim, in the words of a fourth century homily, that
"the Lord's Day" is "the lord of days".(2) Those who have
received the grace of faith in the Risen Lord cannot fail to grasp the
significance of this day of the week with the same deep emotion which led Saint
Jerome to say: "Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, it is the day of
Christians, it is our day".(3) For Christians, Sunday is "the
fundamental feast day",(4) established not only to mark the succession of
time but to reveal time's deeper meaning.
Twenty-First
Sunday after Pentecost[3]
Spiritually arming oneself (for
both now and Armageddon) and forgiving each other so that we may be forgiven on
Judgment Day.
AT
the Introit of the Mass is said the prayer of Mardochai, which may be used in
all necessities and adversities. “All things are in Thy will, O Lord, and there
is none that can resist Thy will; for Thou hast made all things, heaven and
earth, and all things that are under the cope of heaven. Thou art Lord of all.
Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord”.
Prayer.
Preserve,
we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy family by continued mercy, that by Thy protection
they may be free from all adversity, and in good works be devoted to Thy name.
EPISTLE.
Ephesians vi. 10-17.
Brethren:
Be strengthened in the Lord, and in the might of His power. Put you on the
armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil.
For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities
and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the
spirits of wickedness in the high places. Therefore, take unto you the armor of
God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things
perfect. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having
on the breastplate of justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of the
gospel of peace: in all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be
able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. And take unto
you the helmet of salvation; and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of
God).
Explanation.
In
this epistle the holy apostle encourages us to the combat against evil, and
points out both our enemy and the weapons we are to use. He exhorts us to
protect ourselves by, 1, the girdle that is, truth, by virtue of which we despise
the goods of earth; 2, the breastplate that is, justice, which renders to God,
our neighbor, and ourselves what is due to each; 3, the shoes that is,
readiness in regulating our lives by the Gospel ; 4, the shield that is, faith,
by the doctrines and promises of which we render harmless the fiery darts of
the devil; 5, the helmet that is, the hope of eternal salvation, which enables
us to endure all temporal misfortune ; 6, the sword that is, the word of God,
which, when we use it after the example of Jesus, the most powerful enemy
cannot resist (Matt. iv.). Thus armed, we shall be conquerors in the combat
with Satan, and gain the crown of victory.
GOSPEL.
Matt, xviii. 23-35
At that time. Jesus
spoke to His disciples this parable: The kingdom of God is likened to a king
who would take an account of his servants. And when he had begun to take the
account, one was brought to him that owed him ten thousand talents. And as he
had not wherewith to pay it, his lord commanded that he should be sold, and his
wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. But that
servant, falling down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will
pay thee all. And the lord of that servant, being moved with pity, let him go,
and forgave him the debt. But when that servant was gone out, he found one of
his fellow-servants that owed him a hundred pence; and laying hold of him, he
throttled him, saying: Pay what thou owest. And his fellow-servant, falling
down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And
he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he paid the debt. Now his
fellow-servants, seeing what was done, were very much grieved, and they came
and told their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him and said to
him: Thou wicked servant! I forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest
me: shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy fellow servant, even
as I had compassion on thee? And his lord, being angry, delivered him to the
torturers until he paid all the debt. So also, shall My heavenly Father do to
you, if you forgive not everyone his brother from your hearts.
What would Jesus teach by this
parable?
The king is God;
the servant is mankind; the ten thousand talents, equal to ten millions of
dollars, signify the enormous and excessive debts which men contract by their
sins against God: a sum so exceedingly great as to show clearly that the debt
of man to God is without limit, and truly overwhelming. The hundred pence, a
small sum, equal to perhaps six or seven dollars, denotes the offences which
others have given us, and which, in comparison with our offences against God,
are insignificant. By this parable, therefore, Jesus intended to say: As God
forgives your immense debts if you sorrowfully pray for forgiveness, so ought
you to forgive your fellowmen their comparatively light debts when they ask
forgiveness of you. Unless you grant it, you shall receive no pardon from My
Father.
Who
are like that unmerciful servant?
All unmerciful and
hard-hearted persons; particularly.
1.
rulers
who oppress the people by excessive taxes.
2.
those
who oppress widows and orphans, and keep from servants the wages due them
3.
those
who have no patience with their debtors but deprive them of house and goods rather
than be indulgent to them. God will deal with such men in the otherworld as
they have dealt with their neighbors in this.
4.
Finally,
all persons who will not forgive injuries done them, but preserve hatred in
their hearts, who bring such as have injured them before the courts, and even
seek to injure them out of revenge.
How
can they hope to obtain mercy? What is meant by forgiving from the heart?
It is to banish
from the heart all hatred and desire of revenge; to bear in our hearts a
sincere love towards our enemy, and to manifest it by works of charity. If we think of the multitude of sins which
God has forgiven us, how can we refuse to forgive trifling wrongs against
ourselves? At any rate, let us not forget that God forgives us only when
we also forgive from the heart.
Ejaculation.
Merciful God grant me grace to be truly merciful towards my fellowmen, as Thou
art towards me.
Prayer.
O God, Who, through
the patience of Thine only begotten Son, hast humbled the pride of our old
enemy, mercifully grant that, by considering what He has suffered for us, we
may cheer fully and patiently bear our adversities, through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen,
The Feast of Christ the King (last Sunday of October)[4]
Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in 1929 as a solemn affirmation
of our Lord's kingship over every human society. Pius saw the proliferation of
secularism, particularly in government, as one of the greatest heresies of our
time, a heresy that leads not only to an atrophy of faith but to a decay of
civilization. Pius' intention in combatting this pernicious error is aptly
summed up in the stanzas of the Vespers hymn for today, Te saeculorum
Principem:
May heads of nations fear Thy name
And spread Thy honor through their lands,
Our nation's laws, our arts proclaim
The beauty of Thy just commands.
Let kings the crown and scepter hold
As pledge of Thy supremacy;
And Thou all lands, all tribes enfold
In one fair realm of charity.
The Feast of Christ the King is therefore an important holyday
that bears poignantly on our contemporary political world (it is also, as we
mentioned elsewhere, a significant part of this eschatological time of year.) The
chief practice Pius XI wished to be observed on this day was making an Act
of Dedication of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a prayer
which can be found in old editions of the Raccolta and in the current Enchiridion
of indulgences (the Church continues to grant a plenary indulgence, under the
usual conditions, for the devout recitation of this prayer on the Feast).
However, because the feast is less than a hundred years old, no
other distinctive customs or rituals have yet accrued to its observance. This
leaves a vacuum into which we can offer only the most unauthoritative
suggestions. In our opinion, for example, wreath customs similar to those from
the Feast of Corpus Christi would be a good way of observing the day,
as a wreath betokens the supreme symbol of kingship, the crown. Likewise, a
lamb dinner would hearken to the vision given in today's Introit (there is even
a blessing for lamb from the Roman ritual that could be used). In any case, the Feast
should be used as an occasion for solemnly affirming Christ as the King of our
heart and of our country.
Vincent Price-RIP
Oct 25, 1993[5]
Growing up in the 50’s
and 60’s Vincent was a staple of the Halloween season. Trained on the London stage, Price started out as an actor for
mainstream films in the 1940s, and worked for prestigious directors like Joseph
L. Mankiewicz, Otto Preminger and Cecil B. DeMille. But he never really made
his mark in the film business until he segued into the horror genre. Despite
being immensely talented, at 6’4”, Vinnie was just too tall to make it as a
Hollywood leading man, where the ideal male height was around 6’, give or take
an inch or two on either side. (Price’s great friend and fellow horror icon,
Sir Christopher Lee, faced the same problem: at 6’5” he was even taller than
Vinnie.) In addition to the height issue, as the 50s marched on, Vinnie’s
classic, stage-trained acting style would eventually be considered
“old-fashioned,” and pushed aside in favor of the more “naturalistic” acting
styles of younger actors such as Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Paul Newman.
In classic horror, however, a
stage-trained acting style and perfect diction—which Price had in spades—were
considered assets, because so many plots featured evil aristocrats, sinister
industrialists, or cultivated mad scientists. He made so many horror films that
by the time he passed on in 1993 at the age of 82, Price had become
world-famous, beloved by millions.
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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