DAY 48 - MARY, QUEEN OF THE FAMILY, PRAY FOR US
SHOCK TROOPS
"Build Catholic schools," said one.
"No."
"More churches," said another.
"Still no."
"Speed up the recruiting of priests," said a third.
"No, no," said the pope, "the most necessary thing of all, at this time, is for every parish to possess a group of laymen who will be at the same time virtuous, enlightened, resolute, and truly apostolic."
PRAY A ROSARY
- Rosary of the Day: Sorrowful Mysteries
- Traditional 54 Day Rotation: Glorious Mysteries
OCTOBER
TREES DECLARE THEIR OWN SERMON in
brief autumn's painted landscape. We note their size and type and variety and
beauty. Trees serve as symbols of the gift-giving aspects of our lives. Trees
provide fruit, wood, climatic modification, wind and sun protection, prevention
of soil erosion, and a host of other benefits. This is the time to plant trees
and to prepare them for winter. Should we not give more attention to how our
lives can bear fruit in Christ and in the protection of our forests?
Overview of October[1]
The
month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary. The
Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated on October 7. October falls
during the liturgical season known as Ordinary Time,
which is represented by the liturgical color green. During October, as in all
of Ordinary Time (formerly known as Time After Pentecost), the Liturgy
does not focus on one particular mystery of Christ but views the mystery of
Christ in all its aspects. We follow the life of Christ through the Gospels and
focus on the teachings and parables of Jesus and what it means for each of us
to be a follower of Christ.
Autumn
Festivities
October
usually is an enjoyable time of the year in the United States. The autumn
season manifests itself with wonderful fall foliage in many parts of the
country. The temperatures are cooler, inviting people outdoors for nature
walks, apple or pumpkin picking. The celebrations of the Church for the month
of October are also wonderful and unique. The feasts of some of the most
popular saints of the universal Church are celebrated during this month: St. Therese
the Little Flower (France), St. Francis of Assisi (Italy) and St. Teresa of
Avila (Spain). These saints come from different countries, and in honoring
these saints we can include cultural dishes or activities from each country to
make the feast day even more special. Read more about the lives of these
saints. Perhaps the family can pick one virtue that each saint practiced well
and try to implement it.
The
feasts in October also include two of the most popular, time-honored devotions
of Catholics, the devotion to the Holy Rosary (October 7) and the Guardian
Angels
(October 2). In October 2002 our Holy Father John Paul II wrote the Apostolic
Letter Rosarium
Virginis Mariae
(the Rosary of the Virgin Mary)."
This letter introduced five new mysteries, called the Luminous or Mysteries of
Light, which are (1) Jesus' Baptism in the Jordan, (2) Jesus'
self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana, (3) Proclamation of the Kingdom of
God, with the call to conversion, (4) the Transfiguration, and (5) the
Institution of the Eucharist. Try to make a more concerted effort to pray the
Rosary together as a family during the month of October, read the Apostolic
Letter to understand the beauty of this devotion more deeply, and pray the new
Luminous mysteries. October 16 is known as "Pope Day" on which we
celebrate the gift of the papacy and our current pope.
Every
person has a guardian angel assigned to them, and October 2 the Church
celebrates the role of these Guardian Angels. We should show devout gratitude
to God for placing these angels at our service. Having a guardian should give
us confidence during all of life's difficulties. Every Catholic should know the
Angele Dei (Angel of God) prayer and pray it often. The Directory on
Popular Piety suggests that families pray it at morning and evening prayers
or after the Angelus.
All
Hallows' Eve or Halloween heralds the month of November with emphasis on the
Communion of Saints, especially the Church Suffering (the Poor Souls in
Purgatory) and the second coming of Christ or parousia. This last day
of October on the secular calendar is second only to Christmas in commercial
preparations. The secular festivities center on ghouls, witches and devils, but
the Christian counterpart focus on the communion of saints. As Christians
living a "Catholic Culture", we should try to explore the Christian
roots of the Halloween festivities.
October:
Respect Life Month[2]
We mark the month of
October as Respect Life Month. Looking back over the last year, there's been a
lot of uncertainty, suffering, and heartache. Between tragedies that occur in the public eye and trials that take
place in our personal lives, there's no shortage of reasons we cry out to God.
At such times, we may feel alone and unequipped to handle the circumstances.
But we have an anchor of hope to cling to. With words that echo through
thousands of years into the corners of our hearts, God says to us, "Do not
fear: I am with you" (Isaiah 41:10). God isn't a detached, distant
observer to our pain; the Eternal Son became man and Himself experienced
immense suffering—for you and for me. His wounds indicate the very essence of
our identity and worth: we are loved by God. There are times we may doubt the
value of our own lives or falter at the thought of welcoming and embracing the
life of another. But reflecting on the healed wounds of the Risen Christ, we
can see that even our most difficult trials can be the place where God
manifests his victory. He makes all things beautiful. He makes all things new.
He is the God of redemption. That's powerful. That's something to hold onto.
And, He is always with us. Jesus promised this when he gave the disciples the
same mission, he gives to each of us: Go. As followers of Jesus Christ, we know
that our identity and our mission are two sides of the same coin; like the
apostles, we are called to be missionary disciples. We are not only invited to
follow and take refuge in God, our stronghold, but we are also commissioned to
reach out to one another, especially to the weak and vulnerable. Building a
culture of life isn't something we just do one month of the year, or with one
event or initiative—it's essential to who we are. It happens through our daily
actions, how we treat one another, and how we live our lives. How do we respond
when our aging parents are in failing health? Do they know how much we love
them and cherish each day given? Do we ensure they know they are never a burden
to us? In our own challenging times, do we ask for support? When others offer a
helping hand, do we receive it? When our friend becomes pregnant in difficult
circumstances, do we show compassion that tangibly supports her and helps her
welcome the life of her new little one? Sometimes, we may not be sure exactly
what to do, but let's not allow the fear of doing the wrong thing or saying the
wrong thing keep us from living out our missionary call. We don't need to have
everything figured out all at once. Let's remember the guidance of Our Blessed
Mother, the first disciple: "Do whatever he tells you" (John 2:5). https://www.usccb.org/prolife
Respect
Life Month[3]
From the time we are knit
together in our mothers’ wombs
until we take our final breaths, each moment of our lives is a gift from God.
While every season of life brings its own challenges and trials, each season
also gives us new opportunities to grow in our relationship with God. Today the
gift of life is threatened in countless ways. Those who are most vulnerable,
rather than receiving the protection they deserve, are all too often seen as a
burden and as expendable. As new attacks on human life continue to emerge, we
can be tempted to despair, but Christ instead offers us unfailing hope. Hope is
not false optimism or empty positivity. Christian hope is something much more
profound and goes to the very depths of our identity as followers of Christ.
Hope is the virtue “by which
we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our
trust in Christ’s
promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of
the Holy Spirit” (CCC,
1817).
Like us, Christ entered
the world through the womb of a woman. He willingly experienced the fullness of
human suffering. He breathed his last on the Cross at Calvary in order that He
might save us. Therefore, “God
is the foundation of hope: not any god, but the God who has a human face and
who has loved us to the end”
(Spe salvi 31).
Christians know “they have a future: it is not that
they know the details of what awaits them, but they know in general terms that
their life will not end in emptiness”
(SS 2).
For this reason, a woman
experiencing a difficult pregnancy can find the strength to welcome her
precious child into the world. A man facing a terminal diagnosis can see that
the end of his earthly life is only the beginning of eternal life with Christ. The
Church teaches us that “the one
who has hope lives differently”
(SS 2).
Christ’s promise of salvation does not mean that we will be spared from suffering. Rather, the promise of salvation ensures that even in the darkest moments of our lives, we will be given the strength to persevere. By virtue of this Christian hope, we can face any challenge or trial. When the seas of life swell and we are battered by the waves, hope allows us to remain anchored in the heart of God. May we hold fast to Christ our hope, from the beginning of life to its very end.
[2]http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/respect-life-program/2017/2017-respect-life-statement.cfm
[3]https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/20d9f7_6b7f9951fc3b4422bd2ddcce9a234d47.pdf?index=true
OCTOBER 1 First Friday
THÉRÈSE Of the Child Jesus-INTL COFFEE DAY
Job, Chapter 37, Verse 24
Therefore, people FEAR him; none can see him, however wise their hearts.
We cannot see God, but we can see His justice which condemns self-righteousness and is good to all; both the evil and the virtuous. Elihu proclaims God’s majesty is revealed in the entire universe and due to this majesty men are fearful.
Who has seen God[1]
The First Letter of John
begins: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one
has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love
is brought to perfection in us.” “No one has ever seen God”? Wait . . . we
definitely believe Jesus is God, and lots of people saw Jesus during his
lifetime; doesn’t that count? What’s going on? Also John 1:18 (“No one
has ever seen God. The only son God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed
him.”) and 1 Timothy 6:16 (“.
. . the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells
in unapproachable light, and whom no human being has seen or can see”).
Not even Moses saw God;
although he talked to the LORD “face to face” (Deuteronomy 34:10)
– meaning in a conversational manner – the Scripture is clear that he didn’t really
see God’s face (see Exodus 33:18-23).
In addition it took a few centuries for mortal minds to fully wrap around the
idea of the Trinity, even though it’s clearly in the Gospels (see, for example,
Matthew 28:19).
So it’s understandable that they say things that seem a bit askew to modern
ears. And yet . . . is there more wisdom to be gleaned here? In Mark we see how
Jesus walked on water after the miracle of feeding the five thousand. “But
at once he spoke with them, ‘Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!’ He got
into the boat with them and the wind died down. They were completely astounded.
They had not understood the incident of the loaves. On the contrary, their
hearts were hardened.” Christ’s answer of “It is I” is literally translated
as “I am,” which points to the divine revelation found – among other places –
in Exodus 3:14 (“God
replied, ‘I am who am,’ Then he added, ‘This is what you shall tell the
Israelites: IAM sent me to you.'”). Look at the last two sentences from
Mark: “They had not understood the incident of the loaves. On the contrary,
their hearts were hardened.” What did they not understand? Why were their
hearts hardened? Simply put, they didn’t understand the signs of Christ’s
divinity. Their hearts were hardened to the truth that was before them: That
Jesus was God. If you were walking along the street two thousand years
ago and saw Jesus, you would not immediately know he was God. You would not
“see” him. Similarly, if a nonbeliever saw the Eucharist, he would not “see”
Christ, even though we know Scripture and Tradition clearly indicate he is
physically there with us during that Sacrament. And even if we believe we are
practicing Catholics, in our hearts, are we sure we are “seeing” Christ?
About half of American Catholics don’t believe that – during Communion – the
bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus. (I can’t find statistics
worldwide, but I suspect there are a large number of Catholics across the globe
who don’t understand or accept the doctrine of transubstantiation.) In the
Gospel of Mark, we learn of those who saw the truth but didn’t believe, and
their hearts were hardened. Let us remain ever vigilant that – through
Sacraments, Scripture, prayer, and more – we have ample opportunity to know
God. If we fail to do so, the fault is with us.
1376 The Council of Trent summarizes the
Catholic faith by declaring: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was
truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always
been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares
again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a
change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of
Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of
his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly
called transubstantiation."
1413 By the consecration the
transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is
brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself,
living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his
Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity.
First Friday Promises[2]
Those
who faithfully complete the First Friday devotion for nine consecutive months
are promised the following, as told to Roman Catholic nun St. Margaret Mary Alacoque by Our Lord Jesus
Christ:
1. I will give them all of the graces
necessary for their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their
homes.
3. I will comfort them in all their
afflictions.
4. I will be their strength during
life and above all during death.
5. I will bestow a large blessing upon
all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in My Heart
the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall grow fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount
to high perfection.
9. I will bless every place where a
picture of my heart shall be set up and honored.
10. I will give to priests the gift of
touching the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who shall promote this
devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted
out.
12. I promise you in the excessive
mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant all to those who
communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months the grace of final
penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving their
sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.
To gain these blessings there are just three simple requirements to complete each
month.
Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus[3]
VATICAN
CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI called St. Therese of Lisieux's autobiography,
"The Story of a Soul," a wonderful authentic "treasure" and
invited everyone to read it. The 19th-century Carmelite saint's teaching of
"the 'little way" of holiness has been so influential in our
time." His catechesis was a continuation of a series of talks dedicated to
the "doctors of the church," men and women who made important contributions to Catholic
theological understanding. St. Therese, who was born in 1873 in France, died at
the age of 24 of hemoptysis, or bleeding of the lungs. Her spirituality
"centered on the contemplation of God's love revealed in the mysteries of
the incarnation and redemption," the pope said. The saint "sought to
be little in all things and to seek the salvation of the world," he said.
Her autobiography was published a year after her death and was enormously
successful in many parts of the world, he said. "I would like to invite
all of you to rediscover this great little treasure, this glowing commentary on
the Gospel fully lived," the pope said. The book is "a wonderful
story of love, told with such
authenticity, simplicity and freshness that the reader will be nothing but
captivated," he said. "Therese shows all of us that Christian life is
fully living the grace of baptism," by fully giving oneself over to God
and by living like Christ, he said. The pope said "her example and prayers
help us to follow 'the little way of trust and love' in spiritual childhood,
abandoning ourselves completely to the love
of God and the good of souls." A childlike faith in God entails giving
oneself fully to him and putting one's life completely in his hands, the pope
said. Such faith is "inseparable from true love," which is a total giving of self, he said. The pope said
the faithful need to tell God every day that "we want to live out our love for him and others." St.
Therese's life and teachings are "a guide for everyone" especially
for theologians, he said, because she approached the sacred Scriptures with
"humility and charity, faith and hope."
Things to
Do[4]
·
Find
photographs of St. Therese and her family.
Her sister Celine and cousin Marier Guerin had become interested in the art of
photography, and when Celine entered the Carmelites with her sisters, she was
given permission to bring her equipment and use it in the convent. A wonderful
out-of-print book with all the photographs of this saint is called The Photo
Album of St. Therese of Lisieux.
·
Read
St. Therese's autobiography The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St.
Therese of Lisieux. The translation by John Clarke is considered the most
accurate. Find biographies suitable for your children.
·
The Institute of Carmelite Studies has a wonderful
collection of writings by St. Therese and other books about her.
·
Read
more about her confidence in God, an excellent book is I Believe in Love: A
Personal Retreat Based on the Teaching of St. Therese of Lisieux by Father
Jean C. J. d'Elbee .
·
St.
Therese belonged to the Discalced order of Carmelites, which means unshod or
barefoot. Find out more about the order of Carmelites.
·
From
the Catholic Culture Library:
o Pope Saint John Paul II from 1997 Divini Amoris Scientia (Apostolic Letter Proclaiming St.
Therese of Lisieux a Doctor of the Church)
o Pope Saint John Paul II from 1997 Homily at Mass proclaiming Therese to be Doctor of the Church
o Apostolic Exhortation of Paul VI
from 1975 On Christian Joy (Gaudete in Domino). He speaks of St.
Therese:
In more recent times, St. Therese of Lisieux shows us
the courageous way of abandonment into the hands of God to whom she entrusts
her littleness. And yet it is not that she has no experience of the feeling of
God's absence, a feeling which our century is harshly experiencing:
"Sometimes it seems that the little bird (to which she compared herself)
cannot believe that anything else exists except the clouds that envelop it....
This is the moment of perfect joy for the poor, weak little thing.... What
happiness for it to remain there nevertheless, and to gaze at the invisible
light that hides from its faith."
o Short Autobiography of St. Therese
o Therese of Liseiux — No Plaster Saint
·
Learn
about the Society of the
Little Flower.
·
There
is the historic National
Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Michigan, a Basilica of the
National Shrine of the Little Flower in San Antonio, Texas.
·
Bake
a cake or brownies and frost. Decorate with roses, either real, artificial,
marzipan, icing, candy or other. Let your imagination go! See top bar for
marzipan suggestions.
·
Learn about St. Therese's sacrifice beads, purchase
or learn
to make them.
·
Do
some rose crafts or recipes today. St. Therese's dying words were: "I will
let fall a shower of roses after my death." Catholic Culture has some
wonderful old-fashioned rose recipes.
International Coffee Day[5]
International Coffee Day seeks to celebrate coffee from around the world while honoring the farmers, traders, roasters and baristas responsible for creating the coffees that are enjoyed by so many people worldwide. According to an Ethiopian legend, coffee, a black bean enclosed in red berry, was discovered by a goat herder in the Ethiopian highlands when he noticed that his goats had become overly energetic after eating the berries. Slowly, the herder's discovery spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula, into Europe and finally to the New World, increasing the demand for coffee and making it the second most sought after commodity in the world today (crude oil being the first). Organized by the International Coffee Organization and its 75 Member States, International Coffee Day was first celebrated on October 1, 2015 in Milan, Italy at Expo 2015. The International Coffee Organization is an intergovernmental organization that unifies coffee exporting and importing governments through international cooperation with the aim of creating a sustainable coffee market and lowering poverty levels in developing countries that harvest coffee.
International Coffee Day Facts
& Quotes
·
Based on the Food Regulation Standing Committee
and Caffeine Working Group, Red bull has an average caffeine content of 32.0
mg/100ml, compared to a cappuccino which has caffeine content of 101.9
mg/100ml. Espresso style coffee made from ground coffee beans has 194.0
mg/ml of caffeine content. According to the Mayo Clinic, up to 400mg of
caffeine is the safe limit for most adults
·
Kopi Luwak is one of the most expensive coffees
brewed in the world. Kopi Luwak it is made with digested coffee beans
that had been eaten and defecated by an Asian toddy cat (Asian palm civet).
This rare coffee can cost between $35-80 US dollars for a single cup.
·
Long-term caffeine intake can lead to a caffeine
addiction/dependence, which has been medically recognized as a disorder.
When individuals with a caffeine addiction abstain from caffeine, they
may experience withdrawal symptoms including headache, fatigue, difficulty
concentrating and mood changes.
·
According to the Coffee Organization, 143
million 60kg bags of coffee were produced in 2015 and Brazil was the leading
exporter of coffee, with more than 18,953 60kg bags of coffee exported between
August 2015 and January 2016.
·
I am a coffee fanatic. Once you go to proper
coffee, you can't go back. You cannot go back. - Hugh Laurie, Dr. House actor
Coffee with Christ[6]
The idea of this book is
to seek friendship with God through Christ, the Holy Spirit and His
mother-Mary. Prayer is, in its purest sense, a personal journey or intimacy
with Our Lord. There is no greater help in our life’s journey in this world
than through friendship with Jesus Christ and His mother. The imaginary premise
of this book is to have a regular “Coffee Clutch” with Christ and gather for
coffee and conversation through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Ideally
this book will serve as encouragement for you to enter into your own “coffee
clutch” with Christ. Having a regular or daily set time or appointment to meet
and discuss with Him your hopes, dreams, plans and goals. To bear your heart to
Him. To just sit down with Christ and talk, laugh, and enjoy each other’s
company, over a cup of coffee. The goal is to make the common Holy and grow in
the love and likeness to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Fitness Friday
Recognizing
that God, the Father created man on Friday the 6th day I propose in
this blog to have an entry that shares on how to recreate and renew yourself in
strength; mind, soul and heart.
German Volume
Training[7]
It's
brutally hard, but I've found it to be an effective way to pack on muscle fast!
In strength-coaching circles, this method is often called the Ten Sets Method.
Supersets and trisets allow you to perform a lot of work in a short period of
time. The rest-pause method allows you to use heavier weights, so you can
recruit the higher threshold muscle fibers, and eccentric training enables you
to overcome strength plateaus. The bottom line is that almost any training
method will work—provided you do it with intensity—at least for the few weeks
it takes for your body to adapt to it. There is, however, one training system
that stands above all the rest. It's brutally hard, but I've found it to be a
very effective way to pack on muscle fast! In strength-coaching circles, this
method is often called the Ten Sets Method. Because it has its roots in
German-speaking countries, I like to call it German Volume Training. To the
best of my knowledge, this training system originated in Germany in the
mid-'70s and was popularized by Rolf Feser, who was then the National Coach of
Weightlifting. A similar protocol was promoted by Vince Gironda in the U.S.,
but regardless of who actually invented it, it works. In Germany, the Ten Sets
Method was used in the off-season to help weightlifters gain lean body mass. It
was so efficient that lifters routinely moved up a full weight class within 12
weeks. It was the base program of Canadian weightlifter Jacques Demers, Silver
Medallist in the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Jacques was known in weightlifting
circles for his massive thighs, and he gives credit to the German method for
achieving such a spectacular level of hypertrophy. The same method was also
used by Bev Francis in her early days of bodybuilding to pack on muscle.
The program works because
it targets a group of motor units, exposing them to an extensive volume of
repeated efforts, specifically, 10 sets of a single exercise. The body adapts
to the extraordinary stress by hypertrophying the targeted fibers. To say this
program adds muscle fast is probably an understatement. Gains of 10 pounds or
more in six weeks are not uncommon, even in experienced lifters!
Goals
& Guidelines
The goal of the German
Volume Training method is to complete ten sets of ten reps with the same weight
for each exercise. You want to begin with a weight you could lift for 20 reps
to failure if you had to. For most people, on most exercises, that would
represent 60% of their 1RM load. Therefore, if you can bench press 300 pounds
for 1 rep, you would use 180 pounds for this exercise.
For lifters new to this
method, I recommend using the following body-part splits:
Body-Part
Splits
·
Day 1: Chest & Back
·
Day 2: Legs & Abs
·
Day 3: Off
·
Day 4: Arms & Shoulders
·
Day 5: Off
When using this program or
any other, you should keep a detailed journal of the exact sets/reps and rest
intervals performed, and only count the repetitions completed in strict form.
35 Promises
of God[8]
cont.
“Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who
comes to me I will never drive away”-John 6:37
Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: End
to abortion
·
Iceman’s Total
Consecration to Mary-Day 21
· Total Consecration to St. Joseph Day 3
·
Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
[2]http://first-fridays.us/
[3]http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2011/pope-urges-everyone-to-rediscover-st-therese-s-autobiography.cfm
[4]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2020-10-01
[5] http://www.wincalendar.com/International-Coffee-Day
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