Tuesday in the Third Week of Lent
AUGUST VON GALEN-WATER DAY
Daniel, Chapter 3, Verse 40-42
40 So
let our sacrifice be in your presence today and find favor before you; for
those who trust in you cannot be put to shame. 41
And now we follow you with our whole heart, we FEAR you and we seek your face. Do not
put us to shame, 42 but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy.
Has
your Lenten sacrifice been less than you wanted? Well? Welcome to the human
condition. Emotions are what being human is about. Imagine the emotions of
Peter after the resurrection. If your emotions or sinfulness which for some
reason you have committed despite your best efforts have left, you flat. You
are human. Remember the disciples on the road to Emmaus; they were left utterly
defeated at the loss of Christ. Like Peter they felt they could have done more.
Today walk with our Lord tell Him all.
In a
sermon by Rev. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas she states:
“Put away the gods that your
ancestors served...” Joshua declares. Doing that requires an act of
self-examination. Spend at least five minutes with each question, even if all
you do is listen to your heart.
1. What are the
gods that I serve?
2. What does my bank
statement or my credit card statement say about my values?
3. What does the way I
spend my free time say about what matters most to me?
4. How does the way
that I treat family-members and co-workers, neighbors and friends show which
gods I serve?
5. To what do I give my
best, most focused attention and care?
6. What do I Really
care about?
7. What motives really
drive me?
8. What goals really
draw me forward?
9. Are there compulsive
patterns of thought or behavior to which I am excessively attached?
You and I can go to
church and say very sincerely that we worship God, but in the hurly-burly of
daily life there are all kinds of lesser gods that tug at us and clamor for our
attention and our devotion.[1]
Tuesday in the Third Week of Lent[2]
Prayer.
GRACIOUSLY hear us, O
almighty and merciful God, and~ favorably grant to us the gifts of wholesome
self-denial. Amen.
EPISTLE,
iv. Kings iv. 1-7.
In
those days a certain woman of the wives of the prophets cried to Eliseus,
saying: Thy servant my husband is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant was
one that feared the Lord, and behold the creditor is come to take away my two
sons to serve him. And Eliseus said to her: What wilt thou have me do for thee?
Tell me, what hast thou in thy house? And she answered: I thy handmaid have
nothing in my house but a little oil, to anoint me. And he said to her: Go,
borrow of all thy neighbor’s empty vessels not a few. And go in, and shut thy
door, when thou art within, with thy sons: and pour out thereof into all those
vessels, and when they are full take them away. So, the woman went, and shut
the door upon her, and upon her sons: they brought her the vessels, and she
poured in. And when the vessels were full, she said to her son: Bring me yet a
vessel. And he answered: I have no more. And the oil stood. And she came and
told the man of God. And he said: Go, sell the oil, and pay thy creditor: and
thou and thy sons live on the rest.
GOSPEL.
Matt, xviii. 15-22.
Lenten Calendar[3]
Read:
The Seven Penitential Psalms, Day One:
(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 back to 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 6.
Reflect:
Read this reflection on Psalm
6—Prayer in Distress.
Pray: “Have pity
on me, LORD, for I am weak; heal me, LORD, for my bones are shuddering.”
(Ps 6:3, NABRE)
Act:
In this psalm, the psalmist proclaims his weakness before God, with tears
and sighing. Yet he lifts his prayers to the Lord, confident in the Lord, who
is merciful.
Listen to a recording of
Psalm 6 as you read along with your Bible.
Preparing for Battle[4] Know Your Weapons
The weapon of Sacred
Sacraments
1.
Baptism. Baptism is a sacrament
of liberation and deliverance from Satan and his realm.
2.
Reconciliation. Each time we
sin, the Devil strengthens his grip on us; that is why it’s so important to go
to sacramental Confession regularly
3.
The Eucharist. Mass is a
great defense against the assault of the Devil. Before Him the all-conquering
power, the demons must flee. “We must return from that Table like lions
breathing fire, having become terrifying to the Devil!”
4.
Confirmation. To confirm
means to make strong.
5.
Anointing of the Sick. Illness,
especially serious illness, can be a trial in which Satan comes to tempt us to
be overcome by fear, discouragement, doubt, and even despair.
6.
Matrimony. The Devil’s first
attack on the human race was focused on a married couple. The home must become
a sanctuary, a holy place, a fortress against Satan’s assaults.
7.
Holy Orders. The sacrament
through which Christ’s mission for the Church continues to be exercised until
the end of the world.
Clemens
August von Galen, Bishop of Münster (1933-1946)[5]
In the summer of 1941, in answer to unwarranted attacks by the National Socialists, Bishop von Galen delivered three admonitory sermons between July and August. He spoke in his old parish Church of St Lambert and in Liebfrauen-Ueberlassen Church, since the diocesan cathedral had been bombed. In his famous speeches, Bishop von Galen spoke out against the State confiscation of Church property and the programmatic euthanasia carried out by the regime. The clarity and incisiveness of his words and the unshakable fidelity of Catholics in the Diocese of Münster embarrassed the Nazi regime, and on 10 October 1943 the bishop’s residence was bombed. Bishop von Galen was forced to take refuge in nearby Borromeo College. From 12 September 1944 on, he could no longer remain in the city of Münster, destroyed by the war; he left for the zone of Sendenhorst. In 1945, Vatican Radio announced that Pope Pius XII was to hold a Consistory and that the Bishop of Münster was also to be present.
T4: The Nazis' Euthanasia Solution[6]
He who is bodily and mentally not
sound and deserving may not perpetuate this misfortune in the bodies of his
children. — Hitler, Mein Kampf.
Beginning in 1939, the National
Socialist regime begin systematically killing disabled children in
"specially designated pediatric clinics" via starvation and overdose.
By the end of World War II, an estimated 5,000 infants and children had been
murdered by the Nazis. The program, code-named T4, was extended to adults
beginning in 1940. Physicians working for the T4 program examined medical files
(seldom the institutionalized patients themselves) and marked for death
disabled and mentally ill adults, in most cases without the knowledge or
consent of family members. Those selected for extermination were rounded up, processed,
and directed into a facility for a "disinfecting shower." Instead,
the victims were gassed to death via carbon monoxide. Their bodies were
cremated, and the ashes sent to families with an official death certificate
listing a fictitious cause of death.
By 1941 the program had become public
knowledge, in part because of the opposition from German clergymen, including
Bishop von Galen. Hitler officially halted the adult killings, but the child
program continued. In 1942 the adult killings resumed in secret and continued
until the end of the war, with an ever-expanding range of victims, including
the elderly, hospitalized war victims, and foreign laborers. In all, an
estimated 200,000 people were executed as part of the Nazi "mercy
killing" agenda.
World
Water Day[7]
World Water Day serves to raise awareness about water issues such as sanitation problems and water shortages in many parts of the world. Today, 1 in 10 people lack access to safe and clean water, a problem which has a direct impact on the economy, health of the population and well-being of women and children worldwide. In 1992, World Water Day was proposed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. The United Nations General Assembly responded to the proposition in 1993 by declaring March 22 as World Water Day. Each year, the UN-Water agency allocates a theme corresponding to a current or potential challenge for World Water Day.
World
Water Day Facts & Quotes
·
In
developing nations, nearly 80% of illnesses can be linked to poor water and
sanitation conditions.
·
Russia's
Lake Baikal and North America's Great Lakes hold about 40% of the world's fresh
water supply, the large remainder of the freshwater supply is in the form of
icecaps and glaciers.
·
According
to UNICEF, diarrhea is the second leading cause of death among children under
the age of 5 in the world.
·
You
ain't gonna miss your water until your well runs dry. - Bob Marley
World
Water Day Top Events and Things to Do
·
Don't
waste water!!! Make a conscious effort to use less water on World Water Day and
on other days. Some ways to reduce water consumption include showers instead of
baths, washing full loads of clothing only and turning off the tap while
washing dishes and brushing teeth.
·
Donate
to a charity
or organization that supports water issues in developing nations. WaterAid is an organization that works in
poor countries to set up and maintain water sources, UNICEF and UNCHR also
provide support and relief efforts to improve water sanitation and hygiene globally.
·
Volunteer
to help clean up trash and other debris along a beach or shore. This garbage
and debris pollute the water that we need in our daily lives.
·
Watch
documentaries about water-related issues such as pollution, contamination and
diseases. Our top picks are Troubled Water, The Fight for Water, Flow
for the Love of Water, Tapped, Thirst and Dhaka's Cholera
Wars.
·
Take
part in a local World Water Day celebration, such as a film screening or a
water conservation event. One of the largest events, the White House Water
Summit in Washington DC, will be live streamed.
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART ONE:
THE PROFESSION OF
FAITH
SECTION
ONE
"I
BELIEVE" - "WE BELIEVE"
CHAPTER ONE
MAN'S CAPACITY FOR GOD
I. The Desire for God
27 The desire for God
is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and
God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and
happiness he never stops searching for:
The dignity of man rests above all
on the fact that he is called to communion with God. This invitation to
converse with God is addressed to man as soon as he comes into being. For if
man exists it is because God has created him through love, and through love
continues to hold him in existence. He cannot live fully according to truth
unless he freely acknowledges that love and entrusts himself to his creator.
28 In many ways,
throughout history down to the present day, men have given expression to their
quest for God in their religious beliefs and behaviour: in their prayers,
sacrifices, rituals, meditations, and so forth. These forms of religious
expression, despite the ambiguities they often bring with them, are so
universal that one may well call man a religious being:
From one ancestor (God) made all
nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their
existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they
would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him - though indeed he
is not far from each one of us. For "in him we live and move and have our
being."
29 But this
"intimate and vital bond of man to God" (GS 19 # 1) can be forgotten,
overlooked, or even explicitly rejected by man. Such attitudes can have
different causes: revolt against evil in the world; religious ignorance or
indifference; the cares and riches of this world; the scandal of bad example on
the part of believers; currents of thought hostile to religion; finally, that
attitude of sinful man which makes him hide from God out of fear and flee his
call.
30 "Let the
hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice." Although man can forget
God or reject him, He never ceases to call every man to seek him, so as to find
life and happiness. But this search for God demands of man every effort of
intellect, a sound will, "an upright heart", as well as the witness
of others who teach him to seek God.
You are great, O Lord, and greatly
to be praised: great is your power and your wisdom is without measure. and man,
so small a part of your creation, wants to praise you: this man, though clothed
with mortality and bearing the evidence of sin and the proof that you withstand
the proud. Despite everything, man, though but a small a part of your creation,
wants to praise you. You yourself encourage him to delight in your praise, for
you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.
Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: Increase
of Vocations to the Holy Priesthood.
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face-Tuesday
Devotion
·
54 Day Rosary
for Priest’s and Religious Day 30
·
Tuesday: Litany
of St. Michael the Archangel
·
Manhood of
the Master-week 5 day 3
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
· Make reparations to the Holy Face
·
30
Days with St. Joseph Day 3
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