Let Freedom Ring: Freedom from Cowardice
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
Christ, have mercy. R. Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. R. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us. R. Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, R. have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, R. have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, R. have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, R. have mercy on us.
Jesus, Divine Victim on the Altar for our salvation, R. have mercy on us.
Jesus, hidden under the appearance of bread, R. have mercy on us.
Jesus, dwelling in the tabernacles of the world, R. have mercy on us.
Jesus, really, truly and substantially present in the Blessed Sacrament, R. have mercy on us.
Jesus, abiding in Your fulness, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, R. have mercy on us.
Jesus, Bread of Life, R. have mercy on us.
Jesus, Bread of Angels, R. have mercy on us.
Jesus, with us always until the end of the world, R. have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, sign and cause of the unity of the Church, R. have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, adored by countless angels, R. have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, spiritual food, R. have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, Sacrament of love, R. have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, bond of charity, R. have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, greatest aid to holiness, R. have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, gift and glory of the priesthood, R. have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, in which we partake of Christ, R. have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, in which the soul is filled with grace, R. have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, in which we are given a pledge of future glory, R. have mercy on us.
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
For those who are indifferent to the Sacrament of Your love, R. have mercy on us.
For those who have offended You in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, R. have mercy on us.
That we may make suitable preparation before approaching the Altar, R. we beseech You, hear us.
That we may receive You frequently in Holy Communion with real devotion and true humility, R. we beseech You, hear us.
That we may never neglect to thank You for so wonderful a blessing, R. we beseech You, hear us.
That we may cherish time spent in silent prayer before You, R. we beseech You, hear us.
That we may grow in knowledge of this Sacrament of sacraments, R. we beseech You, hear us.
That all priests may have a profound love of the Holy Eucharist, R. we beseech You, hear us.
That they may celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in accordance with its sublime dignity, R. we beseech You, hear us.
That we may be comforted and sanctified with Holy Viaticum at the hour of our death, R. we beseech You, hear us.
That we may see You one day face to face in Heaven, R. we beseech You, hear us.
spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us, O Lord.
All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine.
Most merciful Father, You continue to draw us to Yourself through the Eucharistic Mystery. Grant us fervent faith in this Sacrament of love, in which Christ the Lord Himself is contained, offered and received. We make this prayer through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
__ 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)
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (15th S. Ord. Time)
FEAST
OF ST. BENEDICT-POPULATION
DAY
Nehemiah, Chapter 6, Verse 12-13
12 For on consideration, it was plain
to me that God had not sent him; rather, because Tobiah and Sanballat had
bribed him, he voiced this prophecy concerning me, 13 that I might act on it out of FEAR and commit this sin. Then they
would have had a shameful story with which to discredit me.
Whenever
you rebuild you will meet opposition. Here much like today those in opposition
will conspire against you. Nothing seems to change with human nature. Just look
at the current events with our own country being rebuilt. According to John
Maxwell Commitment is needed before anything else in a leader’s life.
Summary
of Nehemiah’s Action[1]
·
When Israel's enemies—Sanballat, Tobiah, and
Geshem again—hear that the wall's been completed, they ask to meet with
Nehemiah. Nehemiah sees that they plan to do him harm. No fool, this guy.
·
He refuses, asking why he should take time off
from his work to do this. They ask him four times, and he answers in the same
way. No dice. The fifth time, they up the ante. The enemies' servant brings a
letter saying that they've heard that the Jews intend to rebel against the
Empire and that Nehemiah wants to be their king, with the prophets supporting
him.
·
Nehemiah knows they're just trying to intimidate
him. He tells them that they're making all this stuff up just to scare them
away from rebuilding. He still won't meet with them. Talk to the hand. Nehemiah
goes to visit a guy named Shemaiah who says (actually, falsely prophesies) that
they should go hide in the temple, since men are coming to kill Nehemiah.
·
Nehemiah cleverly sees that Shemaiah's been
hired by Sanballat and Tobiah to trick him and make him an object of ridicule. Only
priests are allowed in the temple, so obviously he's trying to get our man to
break the law.
·
He asks God not to forget what Shemaiah and the
wicked prophetess Noadiah and other prophets did to try to trick him. The
wall's finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul, impossibly fast.
·
The surrounding nations are all disheartened and
scared by this. They understand that God supports the Jews, since they haven't
even been able to get their contractor to return their phone calls.
·
Nehemiah also mentions that some of the nobles
were friends with Tobiah, due to his family's intermarrying with Jews. The
nobles try to make Tobiah sound good in Nehemiah's presence, while Tobiah sends
Nehemiah letters designed to intimidate him.
Four
Characteristics of Those Who Complete a Task[2]
Nehemiah
drew out others and inspired them to complete the wall in 52 days: despite his
adversities. When we complete a good work we can say with Nehemiah, “All our
enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things…they were
very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done
by our God”. Leaders who complete tasks have:
1.
A
compelling purpose: They make a great commitment to a great cause.
2.
A
clear perspective: They don’t let fear cloud their view of the future.
3.
A
continual prayer: They pray about everything and gain God’s favor.
4.
A
courageous persistence: They move ahead despite the odds.
ON KEEPING THE LORDS DAY HOLY[3]
DIES ECCLESIAE
The Eucharistic Assembly:
Heart of Sunday
The presence of the Risen Lord
31. "I am with you always, to the
end of the age" (Mt 28:20). This promise of Christ never ceases to
resound in the Church as the fertile secret of her life and the wellspring of
her hope. As the day of Resurrection, Sunday is not only the remembrance of a
past event: it is a celebration of the living presence of the Risen Lord in the
midst of his own people.
For this presence to be properly
proclaimed and lived, it is not enough that the disciples of Christ pray
individually and commemorate the death and Resurrection of Christ inwardly, in
the secrecy of their hearts. Those who have received the grace of baptism are
not saved as individuals alone, but as members of the Mystical Body, having
become part of the People of God. It is important therefore that they come
together to express fully the very identity of the Church, the ekklesia,
the assembly called together by the Risen Lord who offered his life "to
reunite the scattered children of God" (Jn 11:52). They have become
"one" in Christ (cf. Gal 3:28) through the gift of the Spirit.
This unity becomes visible when Christians gather together: it is then that
they come to know vividly and to testify to the world that they are the people
redeemed, drawn "from every tribe and language and people and nation"
(Rev 5:9). The assembly of Christ's disciples embodies from age to age
the image of the first Christian community which Luke gives as an example in
the Acts of the Apostles, when he recounts that the first baptized believers
"devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and the prayers" (2:42).
Seventh
Sunday after Pentecost[4]
"Not
everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord’, . . .but he who does the will of my
Father. . .shall enter the kingdom of heaven". Not so much what one
"says" about the Lord, but how he "does" His
"Will," is what brings forth "good fruit". Deeds, not mere
words, are acceptable to God, acceptable to neighbor also. Example is the best
precept.
The
final fruit of sin is "death;" the fruit of "justice" is
"life everlasting".
The
Holy Eucharist is the "health-giving" Fruit of Calvary, our antidote
against the poison-laden Dead-Sea fruit of the world, the flesh and the devil.
"Faith cannot
save without virtue" (St. John Chrysostom).
IN[5] the Introit of the Mass the Church invites us to
the praise of God in the following words: “Oh, clap your hands, all ye nations,
shout unto God with the voice of joy, for the Lord is most high, He is terrible:
He is a great king over all the earth”; (Ps.xlvi. 2, 3).
Prayer. O God, whose providence
never faileth in what it doth order, we humbly beseech Thee to put away from us
all things hurtful, and to give us all things profitable to us.
EPISTLE.
Rom. vi. 19-23.
Brethren: I speak a human
thing, because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as you have yielded your
members to serve uncleanness and iniquity unto iniquity, so now yield your
members to serve justice unto sanctification. For when you were the servants of
sin you were free men to justice. What fruit therefore had you then in those
things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of them is death. But now
being made free from sin, and become servants of God, you have your fruit unto
sanctification, and the end life everlasting. For the wages of sin is death,
but the grace of God, life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Explanation. In these words, St. Paul admonishes the Romans
that they ought henceforward to devote themselves as zealously to the service of
God as they had hitherto done to that of iniquity, because the service of sin
is death, but the service of God is life everlasting. The words “servants, to
serve”, denote the full and unconditional subjection of the Christian to God,
without walking any longer according to his own will, just as, in regard to the
state of sin, they indicate the dominion of the passions over the sinner. There
is no requirement more reasonable than that a man should labor as much for God
and his own salvation as he has labored for sin and hell. We should, therefore,
often think on the wages of sin eternal death; and when we are tempted, ask
ourselves, “What shall I gain by my lust, my in justice, my vengeance? Ah,
nothing but eternal death! And shall I, created to inherit eternal life, shall
I make myself the heir of eternal death?”
GOSPEL.
Matt. vii. 15-21.
At that time Jesus said to His disciples: Beware of
false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves: by their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of
thorns, or figs of thistles?
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit,
and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit: neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit: every tree that
bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and shall be cast into the
fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. Not everyone that saith to
Me: Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the
will of My Father Who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Who are meant by false prophets?
1. The world, which
promises us honors and riches, but in the end rewards our toil and labor with
disgrace and scorn.
2. The flesh, which
promises pleasures and joys, but at last leaves nothing but the bitter reproaches
of an unquiet conscience.
3. The devil, who
promises us a long life, and time for repentance, while the obdurate sinner is
cut off suddenly in the midst of his days.
4. All such evil-minded
persons as conceal their wicked purpose under the mask of virtue and honesty,
until they have entrapped unwary souls, and drawn them into all kinds of
shameful misdeeds. It is these false prophets of Satan, and wolves of hell,
that make the greatest havoc in the flock of Christ.
Why does Christ say, “every tree that bringeth not
forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire”? He thereby warns us that faith alone, without good
works, or, in other. words, the mere desire for heaven without the practice of
virtue, will not save us. Christ says plainly, “Not everyone that saith to Me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will
of My Father Who is in heaven.” Jesus also saith, “Whosoever shall do the will
of My Father Who is in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother; (Matt.
xii. 50). Endeavor, therefore, O Christian, to fulfil in all things the will of
God.
INSTRUCTION ON GOOD WORKS
What are
good works? All actions of men which are done according to the
will of God, from love of Him, and by the help of grace.
Which are
the principal good works? Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Prayer including
all acts belonging to the service of God: fasting, all mortifications of the
body; almsgiving, all works of mercy.
How many
are the works of mercy? Two: corporal and spiritual.
Which are
the spiritual works of mercy? Those which have for their object the salvation of
our neighbor; as,
1, to admonish the sinner.
2, to instruct the ignorant.
3, to counsel the doubtful.
4, to comfort the afflicted.
5, to bear wrongs patiently.
6, to forgive injuries and offences.
7, to pray
for the living and the dead.
Which are the corporal works of
mercy?
1, To feed
the hungry.
2, to give
drink to the thirsty.
3, to
clothe the naked.
4, to visit
the prisoners.
5, to
shelter the houseless.
6, to visit
the sick.
7, to bury
the dead.
What is necessary to render works
meritorious?
1, They must be good in themselves.
2, they must be done by the grace of God.
3, in the
state of grace.
4, by free
will.
5, with the
good intention of pleasing God.
Can we be saved without good works? No; for Christ says expressly,
“Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and shall be
cast into the fire.” And that servant in the Gospel (Matt. xxv. 25) who neither
wasted his talent nor yet traded with it, but digged into the earth and hid his
lord’s money, was therefore cast into the outer darkness.
Feast of Saint Benedict[6]
Saint Benedict was born in Nursia in central Italy around the year 480. He was born to a noble family, and after being homeschooled, he was sent to Rome to complete his education. The teenaged Benedict was already turning toward the Lord, and when he went to Rome, he was disappointed and dismayed by the lazy, extravagant ways of the other young students. Benedict was born into a time of immense social upheaval. The once grand Roman Empire was on its last legs. The ancient city of Rome was crumbling due to decadence from within and attacks from without. Seventy years before Benedict’s birth the city fell to the invasions of the barbarians. The civil authority was in tatters, the city had been stripped of its grandeur, and the Church herself was beset with corruption and theological arguments. Benedict left the chaos of the city and sought a quiet place to study in the mountains north of Rome. Near the town of Subiaco, he found a community of holy men, and settled near them to pursue a life of prayer. Eventually Benedict was asked to be the leader of the community. When that went wrong, he left to start his own monastic community. One community soon grew to twelve, and to establish these new communities on a sound foundation Benedict, wrote his simple Rule. We mustn’t think of Benedict’s communities as the great monasteries that existed in the Middle Ages. In the sixth century, Benedict’s small communities consisted of perhaps twenty people. They scratched their living from the land just like the other peasants with whom they lived. The only difference is that Benedict’s monks observed celibacy, lived together and followed a disciplined life of prayer, work and study. This simple, serious life was to prove a powerful antidote to the decadent chaos of the crumbling Roman Empire. Saint Benedict died on March 21, 547. After receiving Communion, he died with his arms outstretched, surrounded by his brothers. He left behind a legacy that would change the world. The monasteries became centers of learning, agriculture, art, and every useful craft. In this way, without directly intending it, the monasteries deeply affected the social, economic, and political life of the emergent Christian Europe. The monastic schools formed the pattern for the later urban cathedral schools, which in turn led to the founding of universities. In this way, monasticism preserved and handed on the wisdom of both Athens and Jerusalem, the foundations of Western civilization. It is for this reason that Saint Benedict is named the patron of Europe. Benedict is a great figure in the history of Western Europe, but his life and writings also give us a sure guide for a practical spiritual life today. His practical Rule for monks in the sixth century provides principles for Christian living that are as relevant and applicable today as they have been for the last 1,500 years.
Things to do:
o
Practice the Liturgy of the Hours
Ora and Labora (Work
and Prayer)[7]
THE BENEDICTINE MONASTIC OFFICE
The Benedictine Office is
a rich collection of prayer that is based on the Rule of St. Benedict.
Historically it is distinct from the Roman Office – also recently called the Liturgy
of the Hours –
which, after the Second Vatican Council, was reshaped to simplify and make more
practical the prayer of the hours for the secular clergy, as well as the
religious who use it, and the laity who make it a part of their life of prayer.
In 1966 the Breviarium
Monasticum was the universal order of Divine Office for Benedictines. In that
year the monks were given a period of time for liturgical experimentation,
allowing each congregation of monasteries to adapt the tradition for its
particular use, under certain guidelines. To this day the Breviarium Monasticum
remains “official” and the time of experimentation is
still in effect. In that circumstance, communities are using various forms of
the Divine Office, and a few communities have even elected to take the new
Roman Office (Liturgy of the Hours) as a convenient guideline because of its
universal use among the secular clergy.
The following is a brief,
general description of the centuries old Benedictine tradition of prayer in
word and action. Reference is made occasionally to the Roman Office as another
point of reference. The structure of the Office described below and outlined is
according to the use at St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Alabama.
|
Traditional
Monastic Hours |
New Roman
Office (Liturgy of the Hours) |
|
Matins (Vigils) |
Matins (Office of Readings) – any time of day |
|
Lauds |
Lauds (Morning Prayer) |
|
Prime |
Prime omitted in New Roman Office |
|
Terce |
Terce (Mid-Morning Prayer) |
|
Sext |
Sext (Mid-Day Prayer) |
|
None |
None (Mid-Afternoon Prayer) |
|
Vespers |
Vespers (Evening Prayer) |
|
Compline |
Compline (Night Prayer) |
World Population Day[8]
World Population Day seeks to draw attention to issues related to a growing global population. The world's population as of April 2016, is over 7.4 Billion. The world's population is rapidly surging with birth rates on the rise and life expectancy increases. Over the last century, between 1916 and 2012, global life expectancy more than doubled from 34 to 70 years while world population has quintupled from 1.5 billion to 7.3 billion between 1900 and 2016.
In 1989, the United Nations designated July 11th as World
Population Day in an effort to garner attention for population issues and
crises such as displaced people, rights and needs of women and girls and population safety on a global
level. With an ever-growing world population, World Population Day serves to
highlight the challenges and opportunities of this growth and its impact on
planet sustainability, heavy urbanization, availability of health care and youth empowerment.
Agenda 2030's Goal
#12 Will Exterminate Six Billion People[9]
Move over, Mao, Stalin,
Hitler and Pol Pot, there is a new extermination king in town. It is called
Agenda 2030. The Agenda 2030 conference in Paris is being guided by 17 goals
which contains targets that will forever alter humanity and change the
planet forever. Of particular concern is goal #12, as it is the conduit from
which the globalist depopulation agenda will be ushered in.
- Agenda
2030 Goal #12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Following the planned economic collapse, Agenda 2030 will enforce the most
brutal austerity programs ever conceived of, or ever enforced. Just
as it was in the Hunger Games movie, all food, water and medicine will be
rationed. Inhabitants will be forced to take the Mark of the Beast,
the dreaded but largely unkown RFID chip. We are already witnessing
the birth of a cashless society. Soon, cash will be banned.
Automation will bring promises of unlimited food production. The public
will be sold on the widespread use of robots to achieve this goal. It will
be a ruse. The goal is to replace human workers with robots. The globalists
will horde the food in order to help wipe out the ‘useless eaters’
through starvation. Then the population will be forced into a devastating
World War III. Subsequently, Ted Turner and the other globalists will
be able to achieve their goals of reducing the world's population to a low
of 500,000,000.
Catholic Population Principles[10]
In order to provide a
moral perspective, we affirm the following principles derived from the social
teaching of the Church.
1. Within the limits of
their own competence, government officials have rights and duties with regard
to the population problems of their own nations—for instance, in the matter of
social legislation as it affects families, of migration to cities, of information
relative to the conditions and needs of the nation. Government's positive
role is to help bring about those conditions in which married couples, without
undue material, physical or psychological pressure, may exercise responsible
freedom in determining family size.
2. Decisions about
family size and the frequency of births belong to the parents and cannot be
left to public authorities. Such decisions depend on a rightly formed
conscience which respects the divine law and takes into consideration the circumstances
of the places and the time. In forming their consciences, parents should take
into account their responsibilities toward God, themselves, the children they
have already brought into the world and the community to which they belong,
"following the dictates of their conscience instructed about the divine
law authentically interpreted and strengthened by confidence in God."
3. Public
authorities can provide information and recommend policies regarding population,
provided these are in conformity with moral law and respect the rightful
freedom of married couples.
4. Men and women
should be informed of scientific advances of methods of family planning
whose safety has been well proven and which are in accord with the moral law.
5. Abortion, directly willed and procured,
even if for therapeutic reasons, is to be absolutely excluded as a licit means
of regulating births.
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 6 pm Saturday till Monday. Don’t forget the internet.
·
Tired of thinking of the
New World Order: Just make yourself a Mojito!
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face
·
Go to MASS
·
Rosary
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