Full Strawberry Moon
According
to the almanac today we are having a Full Strawberry Moon; plan to spend make
homemade strawberry ice cream and share with your children or grandchildren.
Teach them the value of not saying a bad word about others.
JOHN THE BAPTIST-TAKE A LAP
Luke, Chapter 1,
verse 10-12:
10 Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering, 11the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. 12Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and FEAR came upon him.
Zechariah
was troubled, and he was afraid. I do not think this was Holy fear for
Zechariah’s faith did not equal his fear and he was filled with unbelief.
His intellect outweighed his heart and as a result he was left unable to speak
until the birth of his son as the angel told him. That son was John the
Baptist. There are times when we must listen to our hearts and not our heads.
Nativity of St. John the Baptist
ST.JOHN
could not have had any greater panegyrist than Jesus Christ Himself, Who said:
There hath not risen, among them that are born of women [in the natural
manner], a greater than John the Baptist; (Matt. xi. 11). The Lord made him
great, even from his mother’s womb, by causing his birth to be foretold by an
angel, by giving him his name, and by sanctifying him while yet in his mother’s
womb through the presence of Christ. To escape from the world and its
allurements he withdrew to the desert, and there occupied himself only with God
and with what concerned his vocation. His food was locusts and wild
honey; his clothing a garment of camel’s hair, fastened by a leathern girdle;
his bed the hard ground. Thus, he lived till his thirtieth year, in which, by
the command of God, he was to proclaim the coming of the Messiahs, Whom he
himself afterwards baptized and pointed out to men as the Lamb of God. With
extraordinary zeal and earnestness, he preached the necessity of true penance.
For having reproved Herod for living in adultery he was thrown into prison, and
finally, at the instigation of Herodias, was beheaded.
We
celebrate the day of his birth rather than that of his death, as is the case of
most saints’ days, because, while other saints arrive at sanctity only through
long and difficult contests, John was already sanctified in his mother’s womb.
The
Introit of the Mass is as follows: The Lord hath called me by my name, from the
womb of my mother, and hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of
His hand He hath protected me, and hath made me as a chosen arrow. It is good
to give praise to the Lord, and to sing to Thy name, O Most High.
Prayer. O God,
Who, by the birth of John, hast made this day worthy to be honored by us, grant
to Thy people the grace of spiritual joys, and guide the minds of all the
faithful in the way of eternal salvation.
EPISTLE.
Isaias xlix. 1-3, 5-7.
Give ear,
ye islands, and hearken, ye peoples from afar. The Lord hath called me from the
womb, from the bowels of my mother He hath been mindful of my name. And He hath
made my mouth like a sharp sword: in the shadow of His hand He hath protected
me, and hath made me as a chosen arrow: in his quiver He hath hidden me. And He
said to me: Thou art my servant Israel, for in thee will I glory. And now saith
the Lord, that formed me from the womb to be His servant, that I may bring back
Jacob unto Him, and Israel will not be gathered together: and I am glorified in
the eyes of the Lord, and my God is made my strength. And He said: It is a small
thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to
convert the dregs of Israel. Behold I have given thee to be the light of the
gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation even to the farthest part of the
earth. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, His holy One, to the soul
that is despised, to the nation that is abhorred, to the servant of rulers:
Kings shall see, and princes shall rise up and adore for the Lords sake,
because He is faithful, and for the holy One of Israel, Who hath chosen thee.
Explanation.
This prophecy refers, it is true, to Christ, Whom God has made the head,
teacher, ruler, and salvation of all nations. The greater part of it, however,
may be applied to St. John, as is evident from his life.
GOSPEL.
Luke i. 57-68.
Elizabeth s full time of being delivered was come,
and she brought forth a son. And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord
had showed His great mercy towards her, and they congratulated with her. And it
came to pass that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they
called him by his father’s name, Zachary. And his mother answering, said: Not
so, but he shall be called John. And they said to her: There is none of thy
kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father, how he
would have him called. And demanding a writing-table, he wrote, saying: John is
his name. And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened, and his
tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came upon all their
neighbors; and all these things were noised abroad over all the hill-country of
Judea. And all they that had heard them laid them up in their heart, saying:
What an one, think ye, shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with
him. And Zachary, his father, was filled with the Holy Ghost: and he
prophesied, saying: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel: because He hath visited
and wrought the redemption of His people.
Explanation.
The neighbors and kinsfolk of Elizabeth rejoiced with her at her
happiness, and gave her joy. We too, in like manner, should be glad when
anything good happens to our neighbor, and thank and praise God therefor.
Prayer. St. John, blessed forerunner of Jesus Christ, mirror
of true penance, burning and shining light, who by thy teaching and example
didst show to men the way to Christ, I beseech thee, by thy penitential life,
that thou wouldst obtain for me, from Him Whom thou didst point out as the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sins of the world, grace that, fearing God’s wrath
against the impenitent, I may at last do true penance for my sins, mortify my
sinful flesh according to thy example, serve God in purity and sanctity, and
finally, in the land of eternal happiness, follow forever the Lamb Who on the
altar of the cross was slain for me. Amen.
Saint John the Baptist[1]
John the
Baptist has the honor of being the only other person besides the Blessed Virgin
and our Lord whose birthday the
Church celebrates with a special feast. No doubt this has something to do with
the unique role that John plays in the economy of salvation. As the
"Precursor of the Lord" and the greatest of the prophets (Lk. 7.28),
John was given the commission of preparing the way for the Son of God. In the Confiteor
he is ranked higher than Saints Peter and Paul and is subordinate only to
the Blessed Virgin and St. Michael the Archangel. (Tradition holds that like
the prophet Jeremiah, John was consecrated in the womb to be free from all
mortal sin.) But there is also something special about his birthday itself:
John's conception in the womb of his aged mother Elizabeth was miraculous, as
was the Angel Gabriel's prophecy about his mission and name (Lk. 1.5-26, 41-80).
Even the birthday's location in the year is profoundly significant: because of
the summer solstice, the days begin to grow shorter and shorter after his
birthday. The days after Christ's birthday, on the other hand, begin to
lengthen. Hence John's statement about Jesus, "He must increase, and I
must decrease" (Jn. 3.30), is echoed in the cycle of the cosmos. No wonder
that in speaking of John, the Archangel Gabriel declares, "many shall
rejoice in his birthday" (Lk. 1.14).
A Great Leap in the Study of Music
We should also mention the breviary
hymn for the Feast of St. John the Baptist: Ut queant laxis. Tradition
ascribes the hymn to Paul the Deacon, who purportedly wrote it before having to
sing the difficult Exultet on Holy Saturday night. (Paul was suffering
from a hoarse throat and, remembering how Zechariah, the father of St. John,
was cured from a case of muteness, thought it best to direct his prayers to the
Baptist). What makes Ut queant laxis most famous, however, is that it is
the source of our musical scale, do, re, mi. An attentive medieval monk
noticed that the melody of the hymn ascended precisely one note of the diatonic
scale of C at each verse. Taking the first stanza, he decided to name the notes
after the first syllable of each verse:
UT queant laxis REsonare fibris
MIra gestorum
FAmuli tuorum,
SOLve polluti LAbii reatum, SancTe Ioannes.
With the exception of Ut, which was later changed to
Do for ease of pronunciation, these syllables became the first six notes
of our scale: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La.
And this stanza also ended up providing the name of the seventh note, Ti,
which was later taken from the last syllable of the penultimate word and the
first syllable of the last word of the stanza: "T" from Sancte
and "I" from Ioannes. The names for the notes to our basic
Western musical octave therefore come from the hymn for today's feast.
Things to Do:[2]
·
Read about the traditions
connected with this feast, particularly the connection with bonfires.
·
The Liturgy of the Hours for the Evening Prayer
(Vespers) of the Birth of St. John the Baptist has traditionally included the
Gregorian chant Ut Queant Laxis. See Catholic
Encyclopedia's entry Ut Queant Laxis, more information on the hymn
from Catholic
Culture, a Beginner's Guide to Modal Harmony, and Gregorian Chant Notation.
·
The Church year has two cycles. The more
important cycle is the Temporal Cycle (from the Latin tempus
which means time or season). The life of Christ is relived in liturgical time,
in both real time and Church's memory. Throughout the year the Paschal Mystery
(Christ's work of redemption through His birth, life, passion, death, and
resurrection and ascension) is relived, and broken down into the seasons of
Advent, Christmas, Lent, Holy Week, Easter and Ordinary Time. Sundays are the
usual means by which this cycle unfolds.
At the same time with the
Temporal Cycle, the Sanctoral Cycle (from the Latin sanctus which
means saint) progresses. The Church honors Mary, Mother of God "with a
special love. She is inseparably linked with the saving work of her son"
(CCC 1172). Then the memorials of martyrs and other saints are kept by the
Church. They are held up to us as examples "who draw all men to the Father
through Christ, and through their merits she begs for God's favors" (CCC
1173).
This is one of the few
saint feast days that is connected with the temporal calendar, not the
sanctoral calendar, because John the Baptist was intimately involved in
Christ's work of redemption. Charting or making your own liturgical calendar
would be a great family project.
·
Read the excerpt from the Directory
on Popular Piety on the cult of St. John the Baptist.
·
In Brazil, this day is known as Diário de Sáo
Joáo (Saint John's Day). The festivities are set off in the villages and
countryside by the Fogueira de Sáo Joáo (bonfire) on St. John's eve.
Families and friends eat traditional foods around the fire while younger folks
jump over the fire and firecrackers are exploded. The day is primarily a
festival for children, who save up months in advance to purchase fireworks to
set off for the day. In cities this is a day for parties and dances, with the
urban dwellers dressing up in rural costumes.
·
St. John is the protector of lovers, so for fun,
young country girls in Brazil will roll up scraps of paper, each bearing a name
of a single girl and place them into a bowl of water. The first one which
unfolds indicates the girl who will marry first.
·
Today go out into the desert
and when you return; renew your baptismal vows while taking a lap in the pool.
Take a Lap Day[3]
Take a lap! Around the pool that is, swim a Lap Day is a
day to get in the swimming pool. Swimming is a great way of getting exercise,
especially for those who have health problems that make traditional exercise
difficult due to weakness or difficulty moving. Swimming has been an activity
human have indulged in at least as far back as 7,000 years ago, a time from
which depictions of this activity can be seen in stone age paintings. People
have been engaging in swimming for all these years for many reasons, with
recreation being by far the most common among them. Swimming is, in fact,
ranked among the most popular forms of physical activity, even among otherwise
sedentary individuals. The buoyant nature of water makes it much easier on
those with physical limitations to get out and have a good time, and the act of
coursing through the water is often described as feeling a bit like flying!
Swimming has also been shown to be excellent for your health Those engaged in
swimming tend to engage in the activity for longer than other forms of
exercise, and the act of swimming often engages the entire body while moving through
the water This also results in the body drawing on large supplies of oxygen
during almost all stages of the activity. Other benefits seen from this
activity include a reduction in stress related illnesses by reduction of the
same, and it can even improve posture! Military applications of swimming go
back quite a long way, particularly in those engagements requiring
infiltration. Especially at night, it’s difficult to see someone who is
swimming underwater, and many cities and forts had vulnerabilities at the areas
where waste was washed out of the location. Everyone loves pirates, and a
common practice to taking a ship was to slip through the water from a distance,
so as not to reveal the presence of their vessel. They’d then stealthily slip
up the side of the target and take the ship by surprise!
There are many health benefits to swimming, and it’s an
activity especially encouraged for those suffering from degenerative diseases,
and ones that impede mobility such as arthritis. Its low impact nature allows
those whose movement would otherwise be restricted to engage in a full body
workout without causing further damage. Even those who are of advanced age can
find an ability to remain active in this sport! Due to its full body nature,
this sport is also excellent for building cardiovascular and respiratory
health, increasing how much oxygen the body can take advantage, as well as how
much blood the heart is able to move with each stroke.
Daily Devotions
·
do
a personal eucharistic stations of the cross.
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
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