Isaiah, Chapter 57, verse 11
Whom did you dread and FEAR, that you told lies, and me you did not remember nor take to
heart? Am I to keep silent and conceal, while you show no fear of me?
Christ is calling us to ignore the lies the world and those who are too cool to repent. Our God’s love is so strong that he will no longer allow us to continue in our sinfulness. He wants and demands we get with the program. “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)
Bishop Fulton Sheen stated in one of his weekly addresses in February 1999 entitled "Truth - Forgotten Ideal":
Submission is one of the deepest
needs of the human heart. After a century and a half of false liberalism, in
which it was denied that anything is true, and that it makes no difference what
you believe, the world reacted to totalitarianism. It grew tired of its
freedom, just as children in progressive schools grow tired of their license to
do whatever they please. Freedom fatigues those who want to shirk
responsibility. Then it is they look for some false god into whose hands they
can throw themselves, so they will never have to think or make decisions for
themselves. Nazism, Fascism, and Communism came into being during the twentieth
century, as a reaction against false liberalism.
Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Prayer. GRANT, we beseech Thee, Almighty God,
that, keeping with yearly devotion these sacred observances, we may please Thee
both in body and mind.
EPISTLE, Kings iii. 16-28.
In those days: There came two women that
were harlots to King Solomon, and stood before him: and one of them said: I
beseech thee, my lord, I and this woman dwelt in one house, and I was delivered
of a child with her in the chamber. And the third day after that I was
delivered, she also was delivered, and we were together, and no other person
with us in the house, only we two. And this woman’s child died in the night:
for in her sleep, she overlaid him. And rising in the dead time of the night,
she took my child from my side, while I thy hand maid was asleep, and laid it
in her bosom: and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the
morning to give my child suck, behold it was dead: but considering him more
diligently when it was clear day, I found that it was not mine which I bore.
And the other woman answered: It is not so as thou sayest, but thy child is
dead, and mine is alive. On the contrary, she said: Thou liest: for my child
liveth, and thy child is dead. And in this manner, they strove before the king.
Then said the king: This one saith: My child is alive, and thy child is dead.
And the other answereth: nay, but thy child is dead, and mine liveth. The king
therefore said: Bring me a sword. And when they had brought a sword before the
king, divide, said he, the living child in two, and give half to the one, and
half to the other. But the woman whose child was alive, said to the king (for
her bowels were moved upon her child): I beseech thee, my lord, give her the
child alive, and do not kill it. But the other said: Let it be neither mine nor
thine, but divide it. The king answered, and said: Give the living child to
this woman, and let it not be killed, for she is the mother thereof. And all
Israel heard the judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king,
seeing that the wisdom of God was in him to judgment.
GOSPEL. John ii. 13-25.
At that time: the Pasch of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to
Jerusalem. And He found in the temple them that sold oxen and sheep, and doves,
and the changers of money sitting. And when He had made, as it were, a scourge
of little cords, He drove them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the
oxen, and the money of the changers He poured out, and the tables He overthrew.
And to them that sold doves He said: Take these things hence, and make not the
house of My Father a house of traffic. And His disciples remembered that it was
written: The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up. The Jews therefore answered,
and said to Him: What sign dost Thou show unto us, seeing Thou dost these
things?
Jesus answered, and said to them: Destroy this temple, and in three days
I will raise it up. The Jews then said: Six and forty years was this temple in building,
and wilt Thou raise it up in three days?
But He spoke of the temple of His body. When therefore He was risen again
from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they
believed the Scripture, and the word that Jesus had said. Now when He was at
Jerusalem at the Pasch, upon the festival-day, many believed in His name,
seeing His signs which He did. But Jesus did not trust Himself unto them, for
that He knew all men, and because He needed not that any should give testimony
of man: for He knew what was in man.
Lenten Calendar[1]
Read: The Seven Penitential Psalms, Day
Six:
We
return to the penitential psalms we explored last week.
(During
times when we wish to express repentance and especially during Lent, it is
customary to pray the seven penitential psalms. The penitential
designation of these psalms’ dates from the seventh century. Prayerfully
reciting these psalms will help us to recognize our sinfulness, express our
sorrow and ask for God’s
forgiveness.)
Today
we will focus on Psalm 130.
Reflect: Read a reflection of Psalm 130—Prayer for Pardon
and Mercy. Pray “Out
of the depths I call to you, LORD Lord, hear my cry! May your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.” (Ps 130:1-2)
Act: From great depths of his soul, the
psalmist cries out to the Lord in anguish. But he waits for the Lord, he looks
for the Lord, and he hopes in the Lord.
The Tree of Knowledge[2]
Meditation - The Tree of Knowledge and the Cross. The sin that was
wrought through the tree was undone by the obedience of the tree, obedience to
God whereby the Son of man was nailed to the tree, destroying the knowledge of
evil, and bringing in and conferring the
knowledge of good; and evil is disobedience to God, as obedience to God
is good. And therefore, the Word says through Isaiah the prophet, foretelling
what was to come to pass in the future—for it was because they told the future that they were
"prophets"—the Word says through him as follows: I refuse not, and do not gainsay,
my back have I delivered to blows and my cheeks to buffets, and I have not
turned away my face from the contumely of them that spat. [Is. 50, 6] So by
obedience, whereby He obeyed unto death, hanging on the tree, He undid the old
disobedience wrought in the tree. And because He is Himself the Word of God
Almighty, who in His invisible form pervades us universally in the whole world,
and encompasses both its length and breadth and height and depth—for by God's Word everything is disposed
and administered—the Son of God was also crucified in these, imprinted in the form of a
cross on the universe; for He had necessarily, in becoming visible, to bring to
light the universality of His cross, in order to show openly through His visible
form that activity of His: that it is He who makes bright the height, that is,
what is in heaven, and holds the deep, which is in the bowels of the earth, and
stretches forth and extends the length from East to West, navigating also the
Northern parts and the breadth of the South, and calling in all the dispersed
from all sides to the knowledge of the Father. — St. Irenaeus
Things to Do:
· The fasting desired by the Lord is not so much denying oneself food
(although this is important) but rather, consists in "Sharing your bread
with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked
when you see them, and not turning your back on your own." Many families
take these words to heart by having an inexpensive, penitential dinner on Fridays
in Lent (such as beans and rice) and then giving the extra money to the poor.
· Many families give each child one pretzel during Friday dinners in Lent.
Remind your children of the spiritual significance
of the pretzel.
· Pray the Stations of the Cross today with your family. An excellent
version with beautiful meditations composed by our Holy Father is his Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum. Some other recommended versions are: Eucharistic Stations of the Cross, and the more traditional Stations of the Cross written by Saint
Alphonsus Liguori can be found in most Catholic bookstores. Here are some
guidelines for praying the
Stations of the Cross in your home.
· Any of the linked activities (Fun Pretzel
Project, Lenten
Scrapbook, Candelabrum
for Stations of the Cross) are a perfect way for your children to
spend their Friday afternoons throughout this season of Lent.
Something on A Stick
Day[3]
No, we are not talking about mops or
brooms (although we are very thankful for them, of course!) but Something
on A Stick Day is all about celebrating foods we love to eat – that
just happen to come on a stick! Who doesn’t love relaxed finger food that you
can pick up by the stick and eat? So, whether it’s a toffee apple, camp-fire
sausage, cheese cubes on a toothpick, ice cream bar, lollipop or other lovely
treats, feel free to indulge in them on this day! Or why not try the favorite
American food on a stick if you can – the famous corn dog? What about planning
an entire meal of a starter, main course and dessert all on sticks? Easy,
informal, and fun – and very little cleaning up to do afterwards! What a great
theme for a dinner party to have on Something on a Stick Day!
Shaslik[4]
Is a traditional seasoned
grilled meat on a stick for the Feast of St. Bart. While stationed in Belgium
many years ago with my young daughter Nicole there were none of the American
fast food places in close vicinity, but there were frites stands. Nicole loved
Belgium frites, which are “French Fries” with an attitude. We used to joke that
someday we will open our own Frite stand and on the placard, we would proudly
proclaim the name of our stand, “DICK AND NIC’S FRITES AND SHASLIKS”.
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART ONE:
THE PROFESSION OF
FAITH
SECTION
ONE
"I
BELIEVE" - "WE BELIEVE"
CHAPTER TWO
GOD COMES TO MEET MAN
I. God
Reveals His "Plan of Loving Goodness"
51 "It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to
reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will. His will was that men
should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the
Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature."
52 God, who
"dwells in unapproachable light", wants to communicate his own divine
life to the men he freely created, in order to adopt them as his sons in his
only-begotten Son. By revealing himself God wishes to make them capable of
responding to him, and of knowing him and of loving him far beyond their own
natural capacity.
53 The
divine plan of Revelation is realized simultaneously "by deeds and words
which are intrinsically bound up with each other" and shed light on
each another. It involves a specific divine pedagogy: God communicates himself
to man gradually. He prepares him to welcome by stages the supernatural
Revelation that is to culminate in the person and mission of the incarnate
Word, Jesus Christ.
St. Irenaeus of Lyons repeatedly speaks of this divine
pedagogy using the image of God and man becoming accustomed to one another: the
Word of God dwelt in man and became the Son of man in order to accustom man to
perceive God and to accustom God to dwell in man, according to the Father's
pleasure.
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.
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: Binding and
suppressing the Devils Evil Works
·
54 Day Rosary
for Priest’s and Religious Day 36
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Manhood of
the Master-week 6 day 2
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
· Make reparations to the Holy Face
·
30
Days with St. Joseph Day 9
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