Sunday, January 23, 2022
Third Sunday After Epiphany
holy spouses-Capt. kangaroo
Psalm 19, Verse 10-11
10 The
FEAR of the Lord is pure, enduring
forever. The statutes of the Lord are true, all of them just; 11 More
desirable than gold, than a hoard of purest gold, Sweeter also than honey or
drippings from the comb.
Our Lord showed no fear of the money changers or the priests when He overturned the tables in holy zeal for the statutes of the Lord. Is the Holy Spirit moving you to make a real change today? Are you being called to be holier, stronger, more committed to God and better prepared for the trials and persecution of our world? Consider the message of The Holy League.[1]
History-Pope St. Pius V formed the original Holy League in response to the dire situation in which Christian Europe found itself in 1571. Small bands of Catholic men and remnant armies from various nations came together under the spiritual leadership of the saintly pontiff and the military leadership of Don John of Austria. By prayer and fasting, they implored the help of God’s grace, through the intercession of the Mother of God, and, by the grace of Almighty God, on October 7, 1571, at the Battle of Lepanto, the Christian fleet won a crushing victory over the OttomanTurks, saving Christendom and western civilization.
The Battle Today
At this
particular moment in time, the Church finds itself in a similar situation to
that of the Church in the late Sixteenth Century. However, instead of a
physical enemy on the horizon, the Church and the family (the domestic Church)
are threatened daily by relativism, secularism, impurity, and confusion
regarding Church teaching. The battle today “is not against human forces but
against the principalities and powers, the rulers of this world of darkness,
the evil spirits in the heavens” (Ephesians 6: 10-12). To combat the forces of
evil in today’s society, the Holy League strives to call men back to the state
of grace and to transforming the culture through prayer.” The Holy League, in
fidelity to its mission as a Roman Catholic solidarity movement:
·
Provides a Holy Hour format which
incorporates: Eucharistic adoration, prayer, short spiritual reflections, the
availability of the Sacrament of Confession, Benediction and fraternity;
·
Encourages consecration to the Most
Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Purest
Heart of Joseph;
·
Promotes the Precepts and Sacraments of
the Church; especially through devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament and the
praying of the Most Holy Rosary;
·
Creates a unified front, made up of
members of the Church Militant, for spiritual combat;
· Strives to have a regular monthly Holy League Holy Hour available to men in every Roman Catholic parish.
Holy League Vision
The Vision of the Holy League is to develop a network of parish based regular monthly Holy Hours with confession and fraternity for men.
Our Mission
The Holy
League, in a Spirit of Marian Chivalry, under the patronage of Our Lady of
Guadalupe and Saint Joseph, seeks to provide opportunities for the faithful to
unite in prayer, especially monthly Eucharistic Holy Hours, for purification
from sin and predisposition to Supernatural Grace for the fuller exercise of
the threefold offices of Priest, Prophet, and King received at Baptism. The
particular prayer of the Holy League is the monthly Eucharistic Holy Hour.
ON KEEPING THE LORD'S DAY HOLY[2]
CHAPTER IV
DIES HOMINIS
Sunday: Day of Joy, Rest and Solidarity
The
"full joy" of Christ
57. Therefore, if we wish to
rediscover the full meaning of Sunday, we must rediscover this aspect of the
life of faith. Certainly, Christian joy must mark the whole of life, and not
just one day of the week. But in virtue of its significance as the day
of the Risen Lord, celebrating God's work of creation and "new
creation", Sunday is the day of joy in a very special way, indeed the day
most suitable for learning how to rejoice and to rediscover the true nature and
deep roots of joy. This joy should never be confused with shallow feelings of
satisfaction and pleasure, which inebriate the senses and emotions for a brief
moment, but then leave the heart unfulfilled and perhaps even embittered. In
the Christian view, joy is much more enduring and consoling; as the saint’s
attest, it can hold firm even in the dark night of suffering. It is, in a certain sense, a
"virtue" to be nurtured.
Third Sunday after
Epiphany[3]
Under the traditional
calendar the Church Christ cures the Jewish leper and the Roman centurion's
servant, calling both Jew and Gentile to His flock.
THE
Church, knowing that she cannot sufficiently love and praise God, at the
Introit of the Mass invites all angels to praise Him: Adore God, all you His
angels: Sion heard and was glad, and the daughters of Juda rejoiced. The Lord
hath reigned, let the earth rejoice, let many islands be glad (Ps. xcvi.).
Prayer.
Almighty
and eternal God mercifully look upon our infirmities, and extend the right hand
of Thy majesty to help and defend us. Amen.
EPISTLE. Rom. xii.
16-21.
Brethren:
Be not wise in your own conceits: to no man rendering evil for evil: providing
good things not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all men. If
it be possible, as much as in you, having peace with all men. Not revenging
yourselves, my dearly beloved; but give place unto wrath, for it is written:
Revenge to Me: I will repay, saith the Lord. But if thy enemy be hungry, give
him to eat; if he thirst, give him drink; for doing this thou shalt heap coals
of fire upon his head. Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good.
What
is the meaning of the words, “Revenge to Me: I will repay, saith the Lord”?
They
mean that God alone has the right to revenge. “Are you impatient”, says St.
Ambrose, “then you will be conquered: but do you suffer in patience, then you
will be conqueror.”
What
must we do, then, when our honor is attacked?
When an
injury by others brings serious consequences upon us, it is not only
permissible, but even a duty, to defend our honor and good name. In matters of
less importance, we should leave our assailants to God, according to the
admonition of the Apostle.
Is
it wrong to wish our neighbor the evil that he wished us?
Certainly,
for it is contrary to the law of God, Who commands us to love our enemies, to
do good to them that hate us, and pray for them that persecute and calumniate
us (Matt, v. 44; Luke vi. 35).
How
are we to “heap coals of fire on the heads of our enemies”?
When,
according to the will of God, we render good for evil, thereby confounding our
enemies and causing them to burn with shame; St. Augustine says: You will heap
burning coals of love on his head, for nothing sooner begets love than to meet
one with love.
Prayer.
Enable
me, O heavenly Father, so to follow these admonitions of St. Paul in regard to
the love of my enemies that I may be Thy child, Who makest Thy sun to shine
upon the evil and upon the good.
GOSPEL.
Matthew viii. 1-18
At that
time, when Jesus was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed
Him: and behold a leper came and adored Him, saying: Lord, if Thou wilt, thou
canst make me clean. And Jesus, stretching forth His hand, touched him, saying:
I will. Be thou made clean. And forthwith his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus
saith to him: See thou tell no man: but go show thyself to the priest and offer
the gift which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. And when He had
entered into Capharnaum, there came to Him a centurion, beseeching Him, and
saying: Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grievously
tormented. And Jesus saith to him: I will come and heal him. And the centurion,
making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my
roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a
man subject to authority, having under me soldiers; and I say to this: Go, and
he goeth: and to another: Come, and he cometh: and to my servant: Do this, and
he doth it. And Jesus hearing this, marveled: and said to them that followed
Him: Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel. And I say to
you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: but the children of
the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness: there shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion: Go, and as thou
hast believed, so be it done to thee. And the servant was healed at the same
hour.
Why
did the leper say to Jesus, “Lord, if Thou wilt, thou canst make me clean”?
Because
he believed Jesus to be the promised Messiah, Who, as true God, had the power
to heal him. When we pray, we must be careful not to prescribe to God what He
shall give us, but begin by saying, “If it be pleasing to Thee, and
advantageous to me, give me this or that grace.
Why
did Jesus stretch forth His hand and touch him?
So that
he might understand that his leprosy was to be healed. Let us also imitate the
example of Jesus by assisting each other in sickness, not shirking this work of
charity from aversion or excessive delicacy.
Why
did Jesus say, “I will, be thou made clean”?
To
reveal His almightiness, and to show that all things were subject to Him.
Why
did Jesus say, “See thou tell no man”?
To show
His modesty and humility, and to teach us, when we do good works, not to speak
of them, thus losing our reward (Matt. vi. 2, 3).
What
does the Savior mean by saying, Go show thyself to the priest?
1.
Christ wished to show His respect for the law of Moses, for lepers were
required to show themselves to the priests, who were to decide whether they
were clean or not. He also teaches us that priests should receive their proper
respect.
2.
He reminded him who was cleansed to give thanks to God by offering the gift
which Moses commanded.
What
does the solicitude of the centurion teach us?
That
masters and mistresses should take care of their sick servants and do what they
can to restore them to health.
Why
did Our Savior say, I will come and heal him?
To show
His profound humility, for although He was God, and the Lord of lords, He did
not hesitate to visit a poor servant.
Why
did the centurion say, Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my
roof?
Out of
humility, for he acknowledged Jesus to be Almighty God.
What
is the meaning of the words, “That many shall come from the east and the west,
and shall sit down with Abraham”?
Christ
meant that many unbelievers shall receive the Gospel, and, living according to
it, shall thereby gain the kingdom of heaven, while the Jews, who were the
chosen people of God, shall, for their unbelief and sins, be cast out into the
exterior darkness that is, into the most excruciating pains of hell.
Feast of The Holy Spouses[4]
While there
have been feasts of Mary and Joseph as individual saints, and more recently
also a feast of the Holy Family, no feast honoring their marriage has entered
into the universal liturgical calendar of the Church. At least as early as 1413
Jean Gerson had proposed the Feast of the Betrothal. It was introduced into the
missal for the cathedral of Chartres in 1482 and by the Franciscans and Servite’s
in 1537 and thereafter by many other particular liturgical calendars. Saint
Joseph Marello (canonized on November 25, 2001) also introduced it into the
congregation he founded, the Oblates of St. Joseph. The feast had become so
widespread that it was included in the universal Roman Missal under the section
pro aliquibus locis, when in 1961 the revision of the universal liturgical
calendar suppressed such particular feasts, requiring their reintroduction by
groups wishing to preserve them. In 1989 the feast of The Holy Spouses, Mary
and Joseph, was reintroduced into the proper calendar of the Oblates of St. Joseph,
with its proper texts for Mass and for the Liturgy of the Hours. (In 1991 Fr.
Juan Antonio Morán, M.J., in El Salvador also prepared a Mass text for private
use for November 26, when married couples were also invited to renew their
vows.)
The approved
texts for the Oblate version of the Mass are as follows:
·
Entrance
Antiphon: Hail
Mary, Mother of God, united by a sacred bond to Joseph, faithful guardian of
your virginal motherhood.
·
Opening
Prayer: Holy
Father, you joined together by a virginal bond the glorious Mother of your Son
and the just man, Saint Joseph, that they might be faithful cooperators in the
mystery of the Word Incarnate. Grant that we who are united with you by the
bond of baptism may live more intimately in our union with Christ and may walk
more joyfully in the way of love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ….
·
Readings: Isaiah 61:9-11; Galatians 4:4-7;
Luke 2:41-52.
·
Prayer
over the Gifts:
Lord, look graciously upon the gifts which we present at your altar on the
Feast of the Holy Spouses, Mary and Joseph, and enkindle in us the spirit of
your love.
·
Preface: Father, all-powerful and
ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks through
Jesus Christ our Lord. You give the Church the joy of celebrating the feast of
the Holy Spouses, Mary and Joseph: in her, full of grace and worthy Mother of
your Son, you signify the beginning of the Church, resplendently beautiful
bride of Christ; you chose him, the wise and faithful servant, as Husband of
the Virgin Mother of God, and made him head of your family to guard as a father
your only Son, conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, our
Lord. For this gift of your kindness, we join….
·
Communion
Antiphon: Joseph,
son of David, have no fear about taking Mary as your wife. It is by the Holy
Spirit that she has conceived this child.
·
Prayer
after Communion:
Lord, by your holy gifts you have filled us with joy. By venerating the Blessed
Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, her spouse, may we be strengthened in your love-
and live-in continual thanksgiving.
While the feast is celebrated on January 23 in all Oblate houses for all the faithful, the recent emphasis in the Holy Spouses Province of the Oblates of St. Joseph has been to extend a particular invitation to married and engaged couples. They are invited to look to Mary and Joseph as patrons and intercessors for their marriage, and to take them as the model husband and wife to strive to imitate in loving one another selflessly as spouses. Mary and Joseph may be shown to exemplify the two inseparable ends of marriage, love and life, and to refute the mentality of contraception and divorce.
Be a good husbandman[5]
All men are called by God to be husbandmen. Some are called to the priesthood and they may hear Christ saying to them:
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Mt. 4:19)
Others
are called to the single life and they may serve the Lord via their work and
there are those who are called to the married life, but all are husbandmen.
What makes a good husbandman?
Let
us look at St. Joseph as an example of a good husbandman.
·
St.
Joseph in all his dealings was humble.
·
He
was the provider and protector of Mary and Jesus
·
full
of zeal and great courage,
·
Obedient to the will of
God. Yet he was not rash; and with prudence
pondered
·
His
decisions trusting in divine providence.
·
He
was a model of workers and
·
an
example of married life and chaste love.
·
He
valued prayer and the hidden life.
·
He
was ready for the call of a neighbor
or to the call of God;
·
He
gave an immediate response.
·
His
was a life of sacrifice; his was a life
of simplicity.
To
be a good husbandman is to:
“Do the ordinary in an
extraordinary way.”
Life First[6] 9 Days
for Life
9 Days for Life is a "digital
pilgrimage" of prayer and action focused on cherishing the gift of every
person's life. A multi-faceted novena highlighting a different intention each
day provides reflections, bonus information, and suggested actions. Join
to receive the novena through the 9 Days for Life app, daily emails, or daily
texts. See below for information on how else you can get involved! #9DaysforLife #OurPrayersMatter
Day Five:
Intercession: May each person suffering from the loss of a child through abortion find hope and healing in Christ.
Prayers: Our Father, 3 Hail Mary’s, Glory Be
Reflection: After
more than four decades of legalized abortion, many children’s lives have been
ended, and many parents and family members suffer that loss—often in silence.
Yet God’s greatest desire is to forgive. No matter how far we have each strayed
from His side, He says to us, “Don’t be afraid. Draw close to my heart.” Be
assured that it is never too late to seek God's forgiveness in the Sacrament of
Reconciliation.
Acts
of Reparation (Choose one.)
·
Abstain
from meat today. If you are already abstaining from meat today, skip your
favorite snack, too.
·
Pray
the Chaplet of Divine Mercy (www.usccb.org/divine-mercy-chaplet) for those who are suffering the
loss of a child through abortion, asking that they find healing and peace.
·
Offer
some other sacrifice, prayer, or act of penance that you feel called to do for
today’s intention.
Captain Kangaroo[7]
On Oct. 3, 1955, Bob Keeshan stepped onto a nautical-themed set wearing a captain's cap and a jacket with big, kangaroolike pockets. He smiled into the camera and became a television icon. Keeshan would play Captain Kangaroo for 36 years--more than 9,000 performances--to the amusement and betterment of generations of delighted children.
Keeshan died (January 23, 2004) at a hospital in Windsor, Vt., after a long illness. Though no cause of death was announced, he had suffered from cardiac problems since the 1980s. He was 76. Unmistakable with his brushy mustache and bowl haircut, the Captain passed time with his good friend Mr. Green Jeans (Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum), visited with puppet animals such as Bunny Rabbit, whom he scolded for eating too many carrots, and Mr. Moose, who loved knock-knock jokes. The animal characters were voiced by Cosmo "Gus" Allegretti. Ahead of his time in recognizing the importance of early learning, Keeshan's Captain built confidence and intellectual development in children who were having too much fun to notice the lessons. "Play is the work of children," he said. "It's very serious stuff. And if it's properly structured in a developmental program, children can blossom."
Captain Kangaroo most will remember--a grandfatherly figure (though Keeshan was just 28 at the beginning) who spoke directly to the camera, with no audience, no children in the cast, no intermediaries in the conversation he was having with his at-home viewers. "One of the reasons I work in television today," said David Kleeman, executive director of the Chicago-based American Center for Children and Media, "is because, when I was 4 or 5, I said `Hello' to Captain Kangaroo when he came on the screen, and he said `Hello' back to me. I really believed that he was talking to me. And I think he would have agreed. We're losing the generation of children's TV hosts who made a new mass medium personal--who could talk into the camera as though we were the only person on the other side."
In later life Keeshan spoke often about the importance of good parenting. `Role models' "Parents are the ultimate role models for children," he said. "Every word, movement and action has an effect. No other person or outside force has a greater influence on a child than the parent." [Emphasis added]
Keeshan insisted that viewers must always feel special, never just part of a huge audience. He screened advertising to assure that what he considered exploitative commercials would never be shown. Over the years, his stewardship of "Captain Kangaroo" was abundantly rewarded. The show won six Emmy Awards, three Gabriel’s for "uplifting" programming from a Catholic media group and three Peabody Awards.
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: Increase
in the Religious and Consecrated Life.
·
Carnival:
Part Two, the Final Countdown
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face
·
Rosary
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