DAY 50 - OUR LADY OF AMERICA, PRAY FOR US
GO WEAPONS HOT
PRAY A ROSARY
- Rosary of the Day: Joyful Mysteries
- Traditional 54 Day Rotation: Sorrowful Mysteries
Monday in the Octave of Christmas
FEAST OF THE
HOLY INNOCENTS-CARD PLAYING DAY
8 At Lystra there was a
crippled man, lame from birth, who had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul speaking, who
looked intently at him, saw that he had the FAITH
to be healed, 10 and called out in a loud voice,
“Stand up straight on your feet.” He jumped up and began to walk about.
Paul
and Barnabas worked many signs and wonders. Yet the crowds focused on the
healers rather than the source of the healer’s power, our loving God, and in
turn treated the apostles as gods not hearing or receiving the faith. Pagans
have trouble seeing except with the eyes. Paul stresses it is folly to worship
men as gods and emphasizes the one living God who created all things and
revealed himself through creation.[1]
Most
people would say that as modern people we do not worship men and women as gods
as the Greeks and Romans of Paul’s time.
Yet, on
reflection, think; for some FAME is a god or POLITICS is. To some money, power
and glory is their god’s. It is interesting to note Plato wrote about this. I
was intrigued by Plato’s Book “Republic,” which argues that those who are
stronger in any society, the rulers, control education and socialization
through legislation and enforcement. We can see examples of this type of social
engineering in the closing of churches and schools during the COVID crisis.
The
reason for my intrigue was in years past I had worked in an all-girls college
prep and I had some difficulty in the inconsistencies there that were not
congruent with my honor system.
Yes, I
agree the educational system does favor the wealthy. In addition, I have
recently been reading a book “How rich people think” it was very
insightful in how middle-class values and thought processes are perpetuated in
schools.
I was
also fascinated by Plato’s psychology or theory of the soul. Having recently
interned in a urban high school with a high diverse student population I seen
that it fundamentally catered to students desires which were of what he
classified as appetitive; food,
drink, sex and the money with which to acquire them. I reflected on this school
in relation with the all-girls college prep which was a good example for
catering to Plato’s spirited psyche,
honor, victory, and a good reputation. Fortunately, then I became acquainted
with a smaller private catholic school which was a good example for Plato’s rational ones which pursues knowledge
and truth; this school has had several students recently enter the religious
orders.
It was fascinating
to note that these three schools by their educational day to day approach had
found their own educational niche. One taught the money lovers; one taught the honor–lovers
and one taught the wisdom–lovers.
From my
experience many public schools are teaching to the money lovers and are not successful because students according to
Plato have not been trained to socialize their appetites and they are not
virtuous to any degree and act simply on their whims. I think that this was the
situation that Principal Joe Clark found himself in the movie, “Lean on me”
and he took the actions he needed to moderate the appetites of students then he
educated them through physical education, a mix of reading and writing, dance
and song as advocated by Plato.
My
philosophy however is to help students rise to their potential and cater to all
three of Plato’s psyches. In addition, I believe schools should help students
break the cycle of poverty and help them get on track or be aware of the cycle
of wealth and reach their true potential. I believe it would be interesting to
explore the idea of creating a “Cycle of Educational Poverty” to see ways we
are perpetuating poverty through education.
|
As
you see our educational systems and media systems have left most of our
children intellectually lame from birth; we must be ready to fight this
wholesale destruction of youth and teach them to “stand up straight on their
feet” (Acts 14:10)
Feast of the Holy Innocents[2]
DECEMBER 28.
THE account of the martyrdom of these children is
given in the gospel of to-day. The Church justly honors them as martyrs, since
they confessed Christ, if not by the mouth, yet by their death, which they
suffered by reason of Herod s hatred against Christ.
The Introit of the Mass reads: “Out of the mouth of infants and suckling’s Thou hast perfected praise, because of Thy enemies, O Lord. O Lord, how admirable is Thy name in the whole earth.”
Prayer.
O God, Whose praise the martyred innocents confessed on this day not by speaking, but by dying mortify in us all the evils of vices, that our life also may confess by actions Thy faith, which our tongue proclaims.
EPISTLE. Apoc. xiv. 1-5.
In those days I beheld a Lamb standing upon Mount Sion, and with Him a hundred forty-four thousand having His name, and the name of His Father written on their fore heads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the noise of many waters, and as the voice of great thunder: and the voice which I heard was as the voice of harpers, harping on their harps. And they sung as it were a new canticle, before the throne, and before the four living creatures, and the ancients: and no man could say the canticle, but those hundred forty-four thousand, who were purchased from the earth. These are they who were not defiled with women: for they are virgins. These follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were purchased from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb: and in their mouth there was found no lie: for they are without spot before the throne of God.
GOSPEL. Matt. ii. 13-18.
At that time: An angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and take the child and His Mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee: for it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy Him. Who arose, and took the child and His Mother by night, and retired into Egypt: and he was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: Out of Egypt have I called My Son. Then Herod perceiving that he was deluded by the Wise Men, was exceeding angry; and sending killed all the men-children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the “Wise Men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias the prophet, saying: A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
What persons are like Herod?
All those who destroy
children, in body or in soul; for example, unmanly men who are cruel to their
wives while with child, who strike them, incite them to anger, or terrify them;
heedless parents who neglect their little ones, who do not take pains to keep
them clean and healthy; those corrupt and godless women who destroy the fruit
of their shame either before or after birth, and while yet unbaptized. But more
cruel than all these, and even than Herod himself, are they who scandalize
little children by impure conversations, by indecent songs, by acts of impurity
in their presence, or by inciting them to the like; for thereby they plunge the
souls of the children into destruction.
Innocents
Day[3]
In many religious communities, Innocents' Day was the
traditional feast for the youngest members. In keeping with the upside-down
spirit of Twelfth night, the youngest novice had the privilege of sitting at
the first place or even of being abbot for a day. Feast of the Holy Innocents
is a day for the younger members of the family or religious community. Some
kind of "baby food"
-- such as a hot cereal
with sugar and cinnamon -- is generally served to them. In the family, the
youngest member is also the "celebrity" of the day, especially if he
is a baby. Customs like decorating
the crib or blessing the baby are appropriate ways of
observing the feast. Today, on the day in which little ones shed their blood
for Christ, was the festival for choirboys
and students.
Feast of
the Holy Innocents - Day Four[4]
The Holy
Innocents saved the Child Jesus from death by King Herod by the shedding of
their own blood. The Holy Innocents are the special patrons of small children,
who can please the Christ Child by being obedient and helpful to parents, and
by sharing their toys and loving their siblings and playmates.
The feast of
the Holy Innocents is an excellent time for parents to inaugurate the custom of
blessing their children. From the Ritual comes the form which we use on solemn
occasions, such as First Communion. But parents can simply sign a cross on the
child's forehead with the right thumb dipped in holy water and say: May God
bless you, and may He be the Guardian of your heart and mind—the Father, + Son,
and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Blessing
O Lord, Jesus Christ, Who didst embrace
and lay thy hands upon the little children when they came to thee, and didst
say to them: "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not,
for the kingdom of heaven is theirs, and their angels always see the face of my
Father," — look with a Father's eye upon the innocence of these children
and their parents' devotion, and bless them this day through our ministry. By
thy grace and goodness let them make progress in desiring thee, loving thee,
fearing thee, obeying thy commandments — thus coming to their destined home,
through thee, Savior of the world, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit
livest and reignest, God, forever and ever. Amen.
- Day Four activity (Holy Innocents)
- Day Four recipe (Blanc Mange)
Today I will ask the Lord to bless all
my seven children! (Claire, Christopher, Candace, Dara, Rachel, Nicole and
Vincent) Also my stepchildren! (Kelly, Ryan and Nathan)
Four Calling Birds
Today in the song the 12 days of Christmas the 4th day we sing of the Four Calling Birds which represent the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. During the upcoming year it would make a worthy project to read them all. These gospels will help us to be persons of courage.
Christmas Calendar[5]
Read: Read today about the Holy Innocents who were put to death by King Herod.
Reflect: The observances of the Christmas season
illuminate many key themes for the faithful. Meditate today on this
one:
"The sacredness of human life and the wonderful event that is every birth, since the Word of life came amongst men and was made visible through his birth of the Virgin Mary (see 1 Jn 1:2)."
Pray the Rosary for life today.
Act: Add an intercession for life that has particular meaning for your
family to the mealtime blessing today.
Card Playing Day[6]
The holiday season has come and gone, and the end of the
year is in sight. You know what you need to do now? That’s right, you need to
sit back and play out a few rounds of solitaire, or maybe get the family
together for a night of Texas Hold’em, Slap Jack, or War. Whatever your
pleasure, Card Playing Day is a chance to wind down from all the kerfuffle of
the season by engaging in a card game or three. Playing cards are thought to
have first been introduced to the world in China before spreading across the globe
to India, Persia, and ultimately every corner of this… sphere. Ok, so that
corner thing never has made sense, unless you’re talking about a rectangular
playing card, which thankfully we are! A whole pack of them in fact. Playing
cards have always been the last bastion of entertainment in inclement weather,
and thus were a favorite of the winter holidays. After all, before the
invention of television and electricity, what was one to do when you’d heard
all of Uncle Joe’s story, and couldn’t possibly bring yourself to lay your eyes
on another dog-eared novel? That’s right, you play cards! There are numerous
games that exist in the world, hundreds from every culture imaginable. Some
games are unique to a particular region, or at least distinct to it (Like Baccarat)
or can be found in variations all over the world while clearly being
recognizable (like poker). Others still involve the use of playing boards as a
utility in keeping track of points, such as cribbage. Card Playing Day is an
opportunity and excuse to return to this age-old form of entertainment, and to
spend a little time alone, or connecting with your family.
How
to celebrate Card Playing Day
Well, the simplest way to celebrate Card Playing Day is, of
course, to participate in the aforementioned past-time! However, if you’re
really looking to make an experience out of Card Playing Day, you may consider
trying to learn a variation of a game you already know, or even learning a
completely new card game altogether. There’re countless games out there you can
learn, and if the game you know has lost its appeal, it’s time to learn another
one! We also suggest getting out there and investing in a new deck of cards,
there are limitless variations on style and theme, and a new deck can make a
new game even more fun!
Daily
Devotions/Activities
·
Read-Theodore Dresser’s (died today 1945) writer of
“Sister Carrie” a Novel about the killing of childlike innocence.
·
Eat waffles and Pray for the assistance of the Angels
·
Monday: Litany of
Humility
·
Rosary
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