DAY 43 - MARY, QUEEN OF VIRGINS, PRAY FOR US
OIL - OBEDIENCE IN LOVE
PRAY A ROSARY
- Rosary of the Day: Glorious Mysteries
- Traditional 54 Day Rotation: Joyful Mysteries
Seventeenth S. after Pentecost (26th
S. Ord. Time)
JOHNNY APPLE SEED
Job, Chapter 28, Verse 28
And
to mortals he said: See: the FEAR of the Lord is wisdom; and avoiding
evil is understanding.
Fear God; Avoid Evil and maintain your integrity[1]
In Job we learn that the trials of Job
tested his fear of God, tested if he would avoid evil, and tested whether he
would maintain his integrity.
Job’s trials began when the Sabeans
fell upon all of Job’s sons and daughters. They killed the servants with the
edge of the sword. They kidnapped Job’s eldest sons and stole their livestock.
They abducted Job’s ten children.
But Job feared God, avoided evil
and maintained his integrity.
Fire of God fell from Heaven burned up
the sheep, charred the servants and consumed all of them. Despite hearing about
burnt livestock and charred workers,
Job feared God, avoided evil and
maintained his integrity.
Chaldeans raided Job’s servants from
three different directions. They fell upon the camels. They killed those
servants with the edge of the sword. They carried away the valuable sheep, oxen
and she asses. Despite receiving this bad report —guess what?
Job feared God, avoided evil and
maintained his integrity.
The trials kept coming. This time a
great wind from the wilderness came and struck the house, which fell upon the
young men and killed them.
Job feared God, avoided evil and
maintained his integrity so much that even after that destruction and
preceding calamities that befell him, he did something we all should do when we
are faced with calamity. Job fixated his attention on the LORD rather than
focusing on his problems.
So, Job arose that day, rent his
cloak, shaved his head, fell down upon the ground and worshipped the LORD his
God.
“Naked came I out of my mother’s womb,
and naked shall I return thither,” Job declared. “The LORD gave, and the LORD
hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
Job’s trials continued when Satan
struck Job with boils from the bottom of his foot to the top of his head. Job’s
skin was so inflamed, and his body was so irritated that he scraped himself
with ceramic shard to relieve his itching and suffering.
But still, Job feared God, avoided
evil and maintained his integrity.
Job sat down among the ashes. Job’s
wife questioned whether Job should still maintain his integrity. She advised
Job to curse God and die. Curse God and die? Was Mrs. Job advising Mr. Job to
commit suicide? It certainly sounded like it.
“No,” Mr. Job probably thought, not
listening to nor heeding Mrs. Job’s advice. “I will fear God! I will avoid
evil! I will maintain my integrity!”
Choosing to live was downright hard!
Job lost loved ones. Job lost his house, his possessions and his wealth. Job
lost his health and his wife’s respect. Even Job’s three friends —Eliphaz the
Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite— questioned Job and
disrespected Job’s God. But cursing God and dying was not an option! So,
despite all of Job’s trials, he feared God. Job avoided evil. Job maintained
his integrity.
All of us have been attacked by the
enemy. Many have lost a spouse, a child or loved one.
Due to COVID-19 some are laid-off,
unemployed or underemployed. Some are dealing with financial uncertainty,
financial instability or financial ruin. Many are facing divorce, are going
through divorce or are recovering from divorce.
This New Year’s brings apprehension
about the future. Will terrorists target our country and if so, when where and
how? Will earthquakes shake our land? Will lightning or drought or terrorism
cause forest fires that engulfs rural communities? Will racial friction trigger
rioting in urban communities? Will hurricanes or tornadoes blow away our cities
or flood waters envelope our homes? What about the economy? What about the
future? What about this or that and so on and so forth? The questions are
endless.
We can’t control anything that could
happen or may happen or will happen. But we can certainly control how we
respond to such happenings.
Whatever you’re going through and
whatever you’re dealing with, be like Job! Fixate your attention on the LORD
rather than focus on the problems. Fear God, avoid evil and maintain your
integrity.
ON KEEPING THE LORDS DAY HOLY[2]
CHAPTER III
DIES ECCLESIAE
The Eucharistic Assembly:
Heart of Sunday
The table of the Body of Christ
42. The table of the word leads
naturally to the table of the Eucharistic Bread and prepares the community to
live its many aspects, which in the Sunday Eucharist assume an especially
solemn character. As the whole community gathers to celebrate "the Lord's
Day", the Eucharist appears more clearly than on other days as the great
"thanksgiving" in which the Spirit-filled Church turns to the Father,
becoming one with Christ and speaking in the name of all humanity. The rhythm
of the week prompts us to gather up in grateful memory the events of the days
which have just passed, to review them in the light of God and to thank him for
his countless gifts, glorifying him "through Christ, with Christ and in
Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit". The Christian community thus
comes to a renewed awareness of the fact that all things were created through
Christ (cf. Col 1:16; Jn 1:3), and that in Christ, who came in
the form of a slave to take on and redeem our human condition, all things have
been restored (cf. Eph 1:10), in order to be handed over to God the
Father, from whom all things come to be and draw their life. Then, giving
assent to the Eucharistic doxology with their "Amen", the People of
God look in faith and hope towards the eschatological end, when Christ
"will deliver the kingdom to God the Father ... so that God may be
everything to everyone" (1 Cor 15:24, 28).
Seventeenth
Sunday after Pentecost[3]
This Sunday recognizes the double
love of God and neighbor.
IN
the Introit of the Mass, the justice and mercy of God are praised. Thou are
just, O Lord, and Thy judgment is right. Deal with Thy servant according to Thy
mercy. Blessed are the undefiled who walk in the law of the Lord (Ps. cxviii.).
Prayer.
Grant to Thy people, we beseech Thee, O Lord, to avoid
the contagion of the devil, and with a pure mind to seek Thee, the only God.
EPISTLE. Eph. iv. 1-6.
Brethren:
I, a prisoner in the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation in
which you are called, with all humility and mildness, with patience, supporting
one another in charity, careful to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of
peace. One body and one spirit, as you are called in one hope of your calling.
One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is above all,
and through all, and in us all, Who is blessed forever and ever. Amen.
Practice.
The
words, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, confound
those who assert that a man may be saved in any belief. There can be but one
true religion; they who profess it should be united by the bond of
charity, and their lives be worthy of their vocation to the true faith.
GOSPEL. Matt. xxii. 35-46.
At that time
the Pharisees came nigh to Jesus, and one of them, a doctor of the law, asked
Him, tempting Him: Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus
said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with
thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind; This is the greatest and the first
commandment. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.
And the Pharisees being gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying: What think
you of Christ? Whose son is He? They say to Him: David’s. He saith to them: How
then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit
on My right hand, until I make Thy enemies Thy footstool? If David then call
Him Lord, how is He his son? And no man was able to answer Him a word: neither
durst any man from that day forth ask Him any more questions.
Why is this
commandment to love God and our neighbor called the great commandment? Because in these two are contained
all the others, so that he who fulfils these fulfils the whole law. For whoever
loves God with his whole heart does not murmur against God; does not dishonor
His name by cursing and swearing; does not desecrate the Sabbath-day, because
he knows that all this is offensive to God. On the contrary, he hopes in God;
gives thanks and praise to God; sanctifies the Sundays and holy-days, because
he knows this to be pleasing to God; observes the precepts of the Church,
because he knows it to be the will of God that he should hear the Church;
honors his parents; does no injury to his neighbor; does not commit adultery;
does not steal; slanders no one; bears no false witness; pronounces no unjust
judgment; is not envious, malicious, unmerciful, but rather practices towards
every one the corporal and spiritual works of mercy; and all this because, out
of love to God, he loves his neighbor as himself. Thus, love fulfils all
the commandments.
What is the
meaning of the question, “What think you of Christ?” Christ put this question to the
Pharisees in order that, by their own answer, He might convince them that He
was not merely a lineal son of David, but that He was the Son of God, begotten
from eternity, on which account He called Himself David’s Lord. That Christ is
the Son of God, our Lord, our Teacher, our Lawgiver, our Redeemer and Savior,
we Christians know well, for we daily profess it; but how many of us, in deeds,
deny it, since we do not follow His teaching nor observe His commandments!
What, then, will Christ one day be to such? What but a judge to condemn, and a
God to punish?
Why must we
love our neighbor? Because
we are all, not merely by descent from Adam, but much more through the grace of
Jesus, children of God and members of one family. As children of God, we bear
in us the likeness of God. But God loved and still loves all men; for the
salvation of all He has given up His only Son, that all may be saved; shall we
then love one and hate another, and yet think to be like God? Through the grace
of Jesus, we are all redeemed, made members of His body, yes, partakers of His
body and blood. Therefore St. Paul admonishes us: “You are all one in Christ”
(Gal. iii. 28), be therefore careful to keep the unity of the spirit in the
bond of peace” (Ephes. iv. 3). How natural is it for the members of one body
not to wound each other! Jesus, our Redeemer, gave His life for us when we were
His enemies, and even on the cross prayed for His murderers. We are His
disciples. But can we be allowed to call ourselves so without possessing this
mark of His discipleship? (John xiii. 15.) Thus, everything incites us to love:
the law of nature and of revelation, the example of Christ, all the promises
and hopes that we have. In truth, how, without love, could we hope to enter the
kingdom of love? There can be no answer to this reasoning: “Would you be a
disciple of Jesus, an heir of His kingdom? then love like Him; and He has shed
His blood for His mortal enemies.
Johnny
Appleseed Day[4]
There’s a story from the early days of America, discussing this near-mythical figure that traveled the wilds of America spreading apple seeds everywhere he went. He was known and lauded for his kind, generous ways, and the importance he placed on the apples. To this day he is depicted in stories and song as the man who made apples an American institution and is one of the most beloved characters in its mythology and history. What many people don’t know is that Johnny Appleseed was no mere legend, but was, in fact, a missionary known by the name of John Chapman. Born in Leominster, Massachusetts in 1774. While the most common display of the man who would be known as Johnny Appleseed is of him randomly spreading apple seeds everywhere, the truth of his methods was a bit more pragmatic. He travelled throughout Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and the lands that would become West Virginia planting nurseries. He would fence them in and leave them in the care of a neighbor who would then sell shares in the trees, and then come back every year or two to tend them. His very first nursery was built on the bank of Broken straw Creek, south of Warren Pennsylvania, but dozens more were to follow. His work wasn’t focused just on apples, however. He had a deep and abiding love for animals of all kinds, including insects. He may have been one of the first ethical vegetarians and spent much of his life taking pains not to harm animals. One popular story about him recounts his attitudes towards animals:
“One cool autumnal night, while lying by his camp-fire
in the woods, he observed that the mosquitoes flew in the blaze and were
burned. Johnny, who wore on his head a tin utensil which answered both as a cap
and a mush pot, filled it with water and quenched the fire, and afterwards
remarked, “God forbid that I should build a fire for my comfort, that should be
the means of destroying any of His creatures.””
How to celebrate Johnny Appleseed Day
Celebrating Johnny Appleseed Day is best done by indulging
yourself in the delicious fruit that he helped to spread across the US.
Whatever form you choose to have it in, whether a fresh apple off a tree or a
rich and flavorful apple pie, be sure to take some time to appreciate the
results of his efforts. You may also take a day off of eating meat and be extra
kind to animals on this day, in remembrance of his efforts and his beliefs.
35 Promises of God[5]
cont.
“And this is the
boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he
hears us.”-1 John 5:14
Today
is my grandson “Mackie’s” birthday, please pray for his intentions.
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.
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: Growth
of Catholic Families and Households
· Iceman’s Total Consecration to Mary-Day 16
· Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face
·
Go to MASS
[1]https://ronaldfowensjr.com/fear-god-avoid-evil-and-maintain-your-integrity/
[3]Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896.
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