Let Freedom Ring: Freedom from Gluttony
At a word from You the devil and his minions flee in terror.
You are the source of all truth. You are the source of all strength.
By the power of your Cross and Resurrection, we beseech You, O Lord
To extend Your saving arm and to send Your holy angels
To defend us as we do battle with Satan and his demonic forces.
Exorcise, we pray, that which oppresses Your Bride, The Church,
So that within ourselves, our families, our parishes, our dioceses, and our nation
We may turn fully back to You in all fidelity and trust.
Lord, we know if You will it, it will be done.
Give us the perseverance for this mission, we pray.
Amen
St. Joseph...pray for us
St. Michael the Archangel...pray for us
(the patron of your parish )... pray for us
(your confirmation saint)...pray for us
Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, etc.
From the desire of being honored,
From the desire of being praised,
From the desire of being preferred to others,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,
From the fear of being humiliated,
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
From the fear of being calumniated,
From the fear of being forgotten,
From the fear of being ridiculed,
From the fear of being wronged,
From the fear of being suspected,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase
and I may decrease,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I go unnoticed,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I,
provided that I may become as holy as I should,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
__ Daily reflection and prayers
__ Litany of the day
__ Pray a Rosary
__ Divine Mercy Chaplet
__ Spiritual or corporal work of mercy
__ Fast/abstain (according to level)
__ Exercise (according to level/ability)
__ Refrain from conventional media (only 1 hr. of social)
__ Examination of conscience (confession 1x this week)
Monday Of the Fourth Week of Lent
Clean Monday-St.
Longinus-Napping Day-Ides of march
Deuteronomy, Chapter 8, Verse 5-6
5 So you must know in your heart
that, even as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord, your God, disciplines
you.
6 Therefore,
keep the commandments of the Lord, your God, by walking in his ways and FEARING him.
When
we fear the Lord, our contentment does not come from any absence of problems
but from knowingly choosing how to respond to them righteously. God does not
want to squash our dreams with His commandments. No, he listens and smiles like
we do when we see and hear the dreams of a child. Yet, He knows that all dreams
must be founded in reality and the truth. When our dreams work against His
commandments; our dreams work against us. Every dream must have a foundation of
love and in some way must increase the life, liberty or the happiness of
others.
Yes,
on the Day of Judgment the homes of the poor will be honored more than the
great mansions of the rich. Simple obedience to His laws will be more highly
praised than the brilliance of all the Kings, Presidents and couriers
throughout the world. Strive therefore for dreams which provide earthly gain
without the surrender to sin. So, the only real wealth is a clear conscience;
of a life well lived. To live righteously, to love chastely, to learn the truth
and to leave a legacy to others is the only true riches.
Jesus
experienced the utmost depths of human fear.
Yet he found the strength even in that hour to trust the Father. “Abba, Father, all things are possible to
you; remove this chalice from me; yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mk.
15:34) Can we at the final hour have the peace of Christ to say, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”.
(Lk. 23:46)[1]
Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Prayer. GRANT, we beseech Thee, Almighty God,
that, keeping with yearly devotion these sacred observances, we may please Thee
both in body and mind.
EPISTLE, Kings iii. 16-28.
In those days: There came two women that
were harlots to King Solomon, and stood before him: and one of them said: I
beseech thee, my lord, I and this woman dwelt in one house, and I was delivered
of a child with her in the chamber. And the third day after that I was
delivered, she also was delivered, and we were together, and no other person
with us in the house, only we two. And this woman’s child died in the night:
for in her sleep, she overlaid him. And rising in the dead time of the night,
she took my child from my side, while I thy hand maid was asleep, and laid it
in her bosom: and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the
morning to give my child suck, behold it was dead: but considering him more
diligently when it was clear day, I found that it was not mine which I bore.
And the other woman answered: It is not so as thou sayest, but thy child is
dead, and mine is alive. On the contrary, she said: Thou liest: for my child
liveth, and thy child is dead. And in this manner, they strove before the king.
Then said the king: This one saith: My child is alive, and thy child is dead.
And the other answereth: nay, but thy child is dead, and mine liveth. The king
therefore said: Bring me a sword. And when they had brought a sword before the
king, divide, said he, the living child in two, and give half to the one, and
half to the other. But the woman whose child was alive, said to the king (for
her bowels were moved upon her child): I beseech thee, my lord, give her the
child alive, and do not kill it. But the other said: Let it be neither mine nor
thine, but divide it. The king answered, and said: Give the living child to
this woman, and let it not be killed, for she is the mother thereof. And all
Israel heard the judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king,
seeing that the wisdom of God was in him to judgment.
GOSPEL. John ii. 13-25.
At that time: the Pasch of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to
Jerusalem. And He found in the temple them that sold oxen and sheep, and doves,
and the changers of money sitting. And when He had made, as it were, a scourge
of little cords, He drove them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the
oxen, and the money of the changers He poured out, and the tables He overthrew.
And to them that sold doves He said: Take these things hence, and make not the
house of My Father a house of traffic. And His disciples remembered that it was
written: The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up. The Jews therefore answered,
and said to Him: What sign dost Thou show unto us, seeing Thou dost these
things?
Jesus answered, and said to them: Destroy this temple, and in three days
I will raise it up. The Jews then said: Six and forty years was this temple in building,
and wilt Thou raise it up in three days?
But He spoke of the temple of His body. When therefore He was risen again
from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they
believed the Scripture, and the word that Jesus had said. Now when He was at
Jerusalem at the Pasch, upon the festival-day, many believed in His name,
seeing His signs which He did. But Jesus did not trust Himself unto them, for
that He knew all men, and because He needed not that any should give testimony
of man: for He knew what was in man.
Lenten Calendar[2]
Read: The Seven Penitential Psalms, Day
Six:
We
return to the penitential psalms we explored last week.
(During
times when we wish to express repentance and especially during Lent, it is
customary to pray the seven penitential psalms. The penitential
designation of these psalms’ dates from the seventh century. Prayerfully
reciting these psalms will help us to recognize our sinfulness, express our
sorrow and ask for God’s
forgiveness.)
Today
we will focus on Psalm 130.
Reflect: Read a reflection of Psalm 130—Prayer for Pardon
and Mercy. Pray “Out
of the depths I call to you, LORD Lord, hear my cry! May your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.” (Ps 130:1-2)
Act: From great depths of his soul, the
psalmist cries out to the Lord in anguish. But he waits for the Lord, he looks
for the Lord, and he hopes in the Lord.
The Tree of Knowledge[3]
Meditation - The Tree of Knowledge and the Cross. The sin that was wrought
through the tree was undone by the obedience of the tree, obedience to God
whereby the Son of man was nailed to the tree, destroying the knowledge of
evil, and bringing in and conferring the knowledge of good; and evil is
disobedience to God, as obedience to God is good. And therefore, the Word says
through Isaiah the prophet, foretelling what was to come to pass in the future—for it was because they told the future
that they were "prophets"—the Word says through him as follows: I refuse not, and do not gainsay,
my back have I delivered to blows and my cheeks to buffets, and I have not
turned away my face from the contumely of them that spat. [Is. 50, 6] So by
obedience, whereby He obeyed unto death, hanging on the tree, He undid the old
disobedience wrought in the tree. And because He is Himself the Word of God
Almighty, who in His invisible form pervades us universally in the whole world,
and encompasses both its length and breadth and height and depth—for by God's Word everything is disposed
and administered—the Son of God was also crucified in these, imprinted in the form of a
cross on the universe; for He had necessarily, in becoming visible, to bring to
light the universality of His cross, in order to show openly through His
visible form that activity of His: that it is He who makes bright the height,
that is, what is in heaven, and holds the deep, which is in the bowels of the
earth, and stretches forth and extends the length from East to West, navigating
also the Northern parts and the breadth of the South, and calling in all the
dispersed from all sides to the knowledge of the Father. — St. Irenaeus
Things to Do:
·
The fasting desired by the Lord is not
so much denying oneself food (although this is important) but rather, consists
in "Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the
homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on
your own." Many families take these words to heart by having an
inexpensive, penitential dinner on Fridays in Lent (such as beans and rice) and
then giving the extra money to the poor.
·
Many families give each child one
pretzel during Friday dinners in Lent. Remind your children of the spiritual significance
of the pretzel.
·
Pray the Stations of the Cross today
with your family. An excellent version with beautiful meditations composed by
our Holy Father is his Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum. Some other recommended versions are: Eucharistic Stations of the Cross, and the more traditional Stations of the Cross written by Saint
Alphonsus Liguori can be found in most Catholic bookstores. Here are some
guidelines for praying the
Stations of the Cross in your home.
·
Any of the linked activities (Fun Pretzel
Project, Lenten
Scrapbook, Candelabrum
for Stations of the Cross) are a perfect way for your children to
spend their Friday afternoons throughout this season of Lent.
Clean
Monday[4]-Traditional time for going to confession
Clean Monday, also known
as Pure Monday, Ash Monday, Monday of Lent or Green Monday, is the first day of
Great Lent
in the Eastern Orthodox
Christian, Saint Thomas
Christians of
India and Eastern Catholic churches. It is a moveable feast that occurs at the beginning of the 7th week before
Orthodox Easter Sunday. The common term for this day,
"Clean Monday", refers to the leaving behind of sinful attitudes and
non-fasting foods. It is sometimes called "Ash Monday", by analogy
with Ash Wednesday (the day when the Western Churches
begin Lent). The term is often a misnomer, as only a small subset of Eastern
Catholic Churches practices the Imposition of Ashes. The Maronite Catholic
Church and The Mar
Thoma Nasranis of India-Syro-Malabar
Catholic Church
are notable amongst the Eastern rite that employs the use of ashes on this day.
Liturgically, Clean Monday—and thus Lent itself—begins on the preceding
(Sunday) night, at a special service called Forgiveness Vespers, which culminates with the
Ceremony of Mutual Forgiveness, at which all present will bow down before one
another and ask forgiveness. In this way, the faithful begin Lent with a clean
conscience, with forgiveness, and with renewed Christian love. The entire first
week of Great Lent is often referred to as "Clean Week", and it is
customary to go to Confession during this week, and to clean the house thoroughly. The theme of Clean Monday is set by the Old Testament reading appointed to be read at the Sixth Hour (noon) on this day (Isaiah 1:1–20), which says, in part:
Wash
yourselves and ye shall be clean; put away the wicked ways from your souls
before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well. Seek judgment, relieve
the oppressed, consider the fatherless, and plead for the widow. Come then, and
let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, I will
make them white as snow; and though they be red like crimson, I will make them
white as wool (vv. 16–18).
Clean Monday is a public
holiday in Greece
and Cyprus, where it is celebrated with outdoor excursions, the consumption of shellfish
and other fasting food, a special kind of azyme bread,
baked only on that day, named "lagana" (Greek:
λαγάνα) and
the widespread custom of flying kites.
Eating meat, eggs and dairy products is traditionally forbidden to Orthodox
Christians throughout Lent, with fish being eaten only on major feast days,
but shellfish is permitted in European denominations. This has created the
tradition of eating elaborate dishes based on seafood (shellfish, molluscs,
fish roe etc.). Traditionally, it is considered to mark the beginning of the spring season, a notion which was used symbolically in Ivan Bunin's
critically acclaimed story, Pure Monday. The happy, springtime atmosphere of
Clean Monday may seem at odds with the Lenten spirit of repentance and
self-control, but this seeming contradiction is a marked aspect of the Orthodox
approach to fasting, in accordance with the Gospel
lesson (Matthew 6:14–21) read on the morning before, which admonishes:
When ye fast, be not, as the
hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may
appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But
thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear
not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret... (v. 16–18).
In this manner, the
Orthodox celebrate the fact that "The springtime of the Fast has dawned,
the flower of repentance has begun to open..."
St.
Longinus[5]
St.
Longinus was the Roman centurion who pierced the side of Christ with a lance.
He is said to have converted to Christianity after experiencing the darkness
after Christ's death.
St.
Luke tells us that the centurion "gave praise to God", and exclaimed,
"Truly this was an upright man." (Luke 23:47)
What
was believed to be the Holy Lance of Longinus, was given to Innocent VIII in
1492.
Things to Do:
·
Read more about the statue of
St. Longinus at St. Peter's Basilica.
·
Read the Life of Saint
Longinus from the Golden Legend.
Ides
of March
In modern times, the Ides
of March is best known as the date on which Julius
Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting
of the Senate.
As many as 60 conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, were involved.[6]
Caesar
could garner so much power, but in the end, he was assassinated. No matter how
powerful a person or corporation may be, there will be an end to their reign
and their influence. By way of contrast, the Lord is the everlasting God. Jesus
is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who has the power of an endless life. Remembering
the frailty and fallenness of all men is a crucial part of gaining wisdom.
Solomon captured this so well when he wrote “The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10) but “the fear of man is a snare” (29:25). Remembering
the fact that no matter how powerful a position a man or woman may hold, God “holds
their breath in His hands and owns all their ways” (Dan. 5:23) and that “death
is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart” (Eccl. 7:2).[7]
Napping
Day[8]
Think
what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and
milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for
a nap. Barbara
Jordan`
You got up early and got a
great start to the day, you’ve been trucking along being a productive adult,
getting your work completed and attending the meetings you have to attend.
Throughout it all you’ve been a trooper, you even made it through lunch without
much trouble. But now it’s creeping into the late afternoon, and you’re just
out of go. What do you do? You take a nap! Napping Day encourages you to
remember these benefits of youth and take a little time out of the day for you!
Napping Day’s history is simply the history of napping, and it used to be
something we all did in the middle of the afternoon. In fact, the siesta is
still a time-honored tradition in Spain that happens right after the afternoon
meal and has been a practice since time out of mind. In fact, if you’re in the
Mediterranean, it’s pretty much standard everywhere you go. In Italy they call
it the riposo, pisolini, and even old Charlamagne (yes that
Charlamagne) has been recorded as having taken 2-3-hour naps in the middle of
the afternoon. So, is it just laziness? Well, no. You see in part it’s because
the hottest hours of the day occur in the middle of the afternoon, and it makes
sense to take a brief break at that point. It also has to do with the circadian
rhythms and the change-over point between the wake cycle and sleep cycle,
there’s a time that’s essentially perfect for a nap. There are even notable
benefits to taking a nap in the afternoon, including evidence pointing to a 37%
reduction in occurrences of coronary mortality in those who take an afternoon
nap regularly.
How to Celebrate Napping Day zzzzzzzzzzzz
·
Well,
the way to celebrate Napping Day is pretty simple isn’t it? You just take a
little time in the afternoon (whenever your afternoon is, some of us are day sleepers)
to rest. After the afternoon meal is perfect, and in the long run it can help
you actually feel better and more energized for the day ahead. It may be tricky
if you have a regular work schedule, but whenever you can… Take a nap!
Daily
Devotions/Activities
·
Eat waffles and Pray for the assistance of the Angels
·
Manhood of
the Master-week 4 day 6
·
Monday: Litany of
Humility
·
Rosary
[1] Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church http://www.youcat.org/
[3]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2019-04-01
[5]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-03-15
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