Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Let Freedom Ring: Freedom from Avarice
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
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Illustrious son of David, etc.
Light of the patriarchs,
Spouse of the Mother of God,
Chaste guardian of the Virgin,
Foster-father of the Son of God,
Watchful defender of Christ,
Head of the Holy Family,
Joseph most just,
Joseph most chaste,
Joseph most prudent,
Joseph most valiant,
Joseph most obedient,
Joseph most faithful,
Mirror of patience,
Lover of poverty,
Model of workmen ,
Glory of domestic life,
Guardian of virgins,
Pillar of families,
Solace of the afflicted,
Hope of the sick,
Patron of the dying,
Terror of demons,
Protector of Holy Church,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.
And prince over all His possessions.
O God, Who in Thine ineffable providence didst choose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of Thy most Holy Mother, grant that as we venerate him as our protector on earth, we may deserve to have him as our intercessor in Heaven, Thou Who livest and reignest forever and ever. R. 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)
Introduction to Maccabees[1]
The name Maccabee, probably meaning “hammer,” is actually applied in the Books of Maccabees to only one man, Judas, third son of the priest Mattathias and first leader of the revolt against the Seleucid kings who persecuted the Jews. Traditionally the name has come to be extended to the brothers of Judas, his supporters, and even to other Jewish heroes of the period, such as the seven brothers. The two Books of Maccabees contain independent accounts of events that accompanied the attempted suppression of Judaism in Palestine in the second century B.C. The vigorous reaction to this attempt established for a time the religious and political independence of the Jews. First Maccabees was written about 100 B.C., in Hebrew, but the original has not come down to us. Instead, we have an early, pre-Christian, Greek translation full of Hebrew idioms. The author, probably a Palestinian Jew, is unknown. He was familiar with the traditions and sacred books of his people and had access to much reliable information on their recent history (from 175 to 134 B.C.). He may well have played some part in it himself in his youth. His purpose in writing is to record the deliverance of Israel that God worked through the family of Mattathias—especially through his three sons, Judas, Jonathan, and Simon, and his grandson, John Hyrcanus. The writer compares their virtues and their exploits with those of Israel’s ancient heroes, the Judges, Samuel, and David.
The doctrine expressed in
the book is the customary belief of Israel. The people of Israel have been
specially chosen by the one true God as covenant-partner, and they alone are
privileged to know and worship God, their eternal benefactor and unfailing
source of help. The people, in turn, must
worship the Lord alone and observe exactly the precepts of the law given to
them. The rededication of the Jerusalem Temple in the book is the origin of the
Jewish feast of Hanukkah. There is no doctrine of individual immortality except
in the survival of one’s name and fame, nor does the book express any messianic
expectation, though messianic images are applied historically to “the days of
Simon”. The author insists on fidelity to the law as the expression of Israel’s
love for God. The contest which he describes is a struggle, not simply between
Jew and Gentile, but between those who would uphold the law and those, Jews or
Gentiles, who would destroy it. His severest condemnation goes, not to the
Seleucid politicians, but to the lawless apostates among his own people,
adversaries of Judas and his brothers, who are models of faith and loyalty.
AUGUST 11 Wednesday
FEAST
OF ST. CLARE- Int’l Left-Handers Day
1 Maccabees, Chapter 2, Verse 62
Do not FEAR the words of sinners, for their glory ends in corruption and
worms.
Maccabean wars
were fought for religious freedom. Reflect today on our own Declaration of
Independence for freedom from the English Crown.
We hold these truths to be self-evident:
That all men are created equal; that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights,
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive
of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect
their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments
long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and
accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer,
while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to
which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations,
pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under
absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such
government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
Prayer[2]
Almighty
God, Father of all nations, for freedom you have set us free in Christ Jesus
(Gal 5:1). We praise and bless you for the gift of religious liberty, the
foundation of human rights, justice, and the common good. Grant to our leaders
the wisdom to protect and promote our liberties; by your grace may we have the
courage to defend them, for ourselves and for all those who live in this
blessed land. We ask this through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, our
patroness, and in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of
the Holy Spirit, with whom you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
St. Clare[3]
The
Lady Clare, "shining in name, more shining in life," was born in the
town of Assisi about the year 1193. She was eighteen years old when St.
Francis, preaching the Lenten sermons at the church of St. George in Assisi,
influenced her to change the whole course of her life. Talking with him
strengthened her desire to leave all worldly things behind and live for Christ.
The following evening, she slipped away from her home and hurried through the
woods to the chapel of the Portiuncula, where Francis was then living with his
small community. He and his brethren had been at prayers before the altar and
met her at the door with lighted tapers in their hands. Before the Blessed
Virgin's altar Clare laid off her fine cloak, Francis sheared her hair, and
gave her his own penitential habit, a tunic of coarse cloth tied with a cord.
When
it was known at home what Clare had done, relatives and friends came to rescue
her. She resisted valiantly when they tried to drag her away, clinging to the
convent altar so firmly as to pull the cloths half off. Baring her shorn head,
she declared that Christ had called her to His service, she would have no other
spouse, and the more they continued their persecutions the more steadfast she
would become.
Francis
had her removed to the nunnery of Sant' Angelo di Panzo, where her sister
Agnes, a child of fourteen, joined her. This meant more difficulty for them
both, but Agnes' constancy too was victorious, and in spite of her youth
Francis gave her the habit. Later he placed them in a small and humble house,
adjacent to his beloved church of St. Damian, on the outskirts of Assisi, and
in 1215, when Clare was about twenty-two, he appointed her superior and gave
her his rule to live by. She was soon joined by her mother and several other
women, to the number of sixteen. They had all felt the strong appeal of poverty
and sackcloth, and without regret gave up their titles and estates to become
Clare's humble disciples.
Within
a few years similar convents were founded in the Italian cities of Perugia,
Padua, Rome, Venice, Mantua, Bologna, Milan, Siena, and Pisa, and also in
various parts of France and Germany. Agnes, daughter of the King of Bohemia,
established a nunnery of this order in Prague, and took the habit herself. The
"Poor Clare’s," as they came to be known, practiced austerities which
until then were unusual among women. They went barefoot, slept on the ground,
observed a perpetual abstinence from meat, and spoke only when obliged to do so
by necessity or charity. Clare herself considered this silence desirable as a
means of avoiding the innumerable sins of the tongue, and for keeping the mind
steadily fixed on God. Francis or the bishop of Assisi sometimes had to command
her to lie on a mattress and to take a little nourishment every day.
Discretion,
came with years, and much later Clare wrote this sound advice to Agnes of
Bohemia: "Since our bodies are not of brass and our strength is not the
strength of stone, but instead we are weak and subject to corporal infirmities,
I implore you vehemently in the Lord to refrain from the exceeding rigor of
abstinence which I know you practice, so that living and hoping in the Lord you
may offer Him a reasonable service and a sacrifice seasoned with the salt of
prudence."
Saint Clare, Virgin,
Foundress of the Poor Clare’s.
"When
the Saracens were besieging Assisi and were preparing to attack the convent,
St. Clare asked to be assisted as far as the entrance, for she was ill. In her
hand she carried a vessel containing the blessed Eucharist as she prayed: O
Lord, do not deliver over to beasts the souls that praise You! (Ps. 73).
Protect Your servants, for You have redeemed them by Your precious Blood. And
in the midst of that prayer a voice was heard, saying: Always will I protect
you!
The
Saracens took to flight."[4]
Every Wednesday is
Dedicated to St. Joseph
The Italian culture has
always had a close association with St. Joseph perhaps you could make
Wednesdays centered around Jesus’s Papa. Plan an Italian dinner of pizza or
spaghetti after attending Mass as most parishes have a Wednesday evening Mass.
You could even do carry out to help restaurants. If you are adventurous, you
could do the Universal Man Plan: St. Joseph style. Make the evening a family
night perhaps it could be a game night. Whatever you do make the day special.
·
Devotion to the 7 Joys and Sorrows of St.
Joseph
·
Do the St.
Joseph Universal Man Plan.
Daily
Devotions
·
Litany of the Most
Precious Blood of Jesus
·
Total Consecration
to St. Joseph Day 15
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
Today is
my Grandson Frank Isak’s (Free Laughter) second birthday I ask your prayers.
This was the blessing and prophesy I wrote for his naming.
This child will
be a free man who laughs and is able to get enthusiastic about the endless
beauty of this world. He will be a person that is dependable, responsible and
teaches others gratitude.
Comments
Post a Comment