Saturday Night at the Movies

ST. CHRISTOPHER MAGALLANES-ARMED FORCES DAY

Daniel, Chapter 3, Verse 40-42

⁴⁰So 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 way of living 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 despite your best efforts have, left you flat. You are human. Remember the disciples on the road to Emmaus; they were left hopeless 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.

· What are the gods that I serve?

· What does my bank statement or my credit card statement say about my values?

· What does the way I spend my free time say about what matters most to me?

· How does the way that I treat family-members and co-workers, neighbors and friends show which gods I serve?

· To what do I give my best, most focused attention and care?

· What do I Really care about?

· What motives really drive me?

· What goals really draw me forward?

· 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]

Aids in Battle[2] The Devil fears those who pray

My dear brothers and sisters not only is prayer very powerful; even more, it’s of the utmost necessity for overcoming the enemies of our salvation. Look at all the saints: They weren’t content with watching and fighting to overcome the enemies of their salvation and with keeping well away from all that could offer them temptation. They passed their whole lives in prayer, not only the day, but very often the whole night as well. Yes, my dear children, we watch over ourselves and all the motions of our hearts in vain, and in vain we avoid temptation, if we don’t pray. If we don’t continually resort to prayer, all our other ways will be of no use at all to us, and we’ll be overcome. We won’t find any sinner converted without turning to prayer. We won’t find one persevering without depending heavily on prayer. Nor will we ever find a Christian who ends up damned whose downfall didn’t begin with a lack of prayer. We can see, too, how much the Devil fears those who pray, since there’s not a moment of the day when he tempts us more than when we’re at prayer. He does everything he possibly can to prevent us from praying. When the Devil wants to make someone lose his soul, he starts out by inspiring in him a profound distaste for prayer. However good a Christian he may be, if the Devil succeeds in making him either say his prayers badly or neglect them altogether, he’s certain to have that person for himself. Yes, my dear brothers and sisters, from the moment that we neglect to pray, we move with big steps towards hell. We’ll never return to God if we don’t resort to prayer.

ST. JOHN VIANNEY

St. Christopher Magallanes and Companions[3]

Like Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro, S.J. (November 23), Cristobal and his twenty-four companion martyrs lived under a very anti-Catholic government in Mexico, one determined to weaken the Catholic faith of its people. Churches, schools and seminaries were closed; foreign clergy were expelled. Cristobal established a clandestine seminary at Totatiche, Jalisco. Magallanes and the other priests were forced to minister secretly to Catholics during the presidency of Plutarco Calles (1924-1928).

All of these martyrs except three were diocesan priests. David, Manuel and Salvador were laymen who died with their parish priest, Luis Batis. All of these martyrs belonged to the Cristero movement, pledging their allegiance to Christ and to the church that he established to spread the Good News in society—even if Mexico's leaders had made it a crime to receive baptism or celebrate the Mass.

These martyrs did not die as a single group but in eight Mexican states, with Jalisco and Zacatecas having the largest number. They were beatified in 1992 and canonized eight years later.

— Excerpted from Saint of the Day, Leonard Foley, O.F.M.

Things to Do:

· Read "A Mexican Bloodletting"

· From the Catholic Culture Library read "Viva Cristo Rey! The Cristeros Versus the Mexican Revolution"

· Watch "For Greater Glory"

Armed Forces Day[4]

Armed Forces Day is a day to recognize members of the Armed Forces that are currently serving. In 1947, the Armed Forces of the US were united under one department which was renamed the Department of Defense. In 1949, President Harry S. Truman supported the creation of a day for the nation to unite in support and recognition or our military members and their families. On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced that Armed Forces Day would take the place of other individual branch celebrations, and all branches of the military would be honored this single day. Armed Forces Day takes place on the third Saturday in May.

· According to the US Dept of Defense, as of 2017, there are 1,281,900 personnel serving in active duty in the United States.

· One of the best ways to keep peace is to be prepared for war. - General George Washington

Armed Forces Day Top Events and Things to Do

· Attend a parade or a military air show.

· Send a care package to military personnel stationed overseas. Free flat-rate boxes are available at USPS. Use these to mail to military bases for a low cost.

· Fly the American Flag.

· Visit a local Veteran's Hospital or Nursing Home to show your gratitude.

· Honor Military Working Dogs by donating to the ASPCA or other charitable organizations that protect and serve these heroic animals.

10 habits of mentally strong people[5]

Despite West Point Military Academy’s rigorous selection process, one in five students drop out by graduation day. A sizeable number leave the summer before freshman year, when cadets go through a rigorous program called “Beast.” Beast consists of extreme physical, mental, and social challenges that are designed to test candidates’ perseverance. University of Pennsylvania psychologist Angela Duckworth conducted a study in which she sought to determine which cadets would make it through the Beast program. The rigorous interviews and testing that cadets went through to get into West Point in the first place told Angela that IQ and talent weren’t the deciding factors. So, Angela developed her own test to determine which cadets had the mental strength to conquer the Beast. She called it the “Grit Scale,” and it was a highly accurate predictor of cadet success. The Grit Scale measures mental strength, which is that unique combination of passion, tenacity, and stamina that enables you to stick with your goals until they become a reality. To increase your mental strength, you simply need to change your outlook. When hard times hit, people with mental strength suffer just as much as everyone else. The difference is that they understand that life’s challenging moments offer valuable lessons. In the end, it’s these tough lessons that build the strength you need to succeed. Developing mental strength is all about habitually doing the things that no one else is willing to do. If you aren’t doing the following things on a regular basis, you should be, for these are the habits that mentally strong people rely on.

1. You have to fight when you already feel defeated.

A reporter once asked Muhammad Ali how many sit-ups he does every day. He responded, “I don’t count my sit-ups, I only start counting when it starts hurting, when I feel pain, cause that’s when it really matters.” The same applies to success in the workplace. You always have two choices when things begin to get tough: you can either overcome an obstacle and grow in the process or let it beat you. Humans are creatures of habit. If you quit when things get tough, it gets that much easier to quit the next time. On the other hand, if you force yourself to push through a challenge, the strength begins to grow in you.

2. You have to delay gratification.

There was a famous Stanford experiment in which an administrator left a child in a room with a marshmallow for 15 minutes. Before leaving, the experimenter told the child that she was welcome to eat it, but if she waited until he returned without eating it, she would get a second marshmallow. The children that were able to wait until the experimenter returned experienced better outcomes in life, including higher SAT scores, greater career success, and even lower body mass indexes. The point is that delay of gratification and patience are essential to success. People with mental strength know that results only materialize when you put in the time and forego instant gratification.

3. You have to make mistakes, look like an idiot, and try again — without even flinching.

In a recent study at the College of William and Mary, researchers interviewed over 800 entrepreneurs and found that the most successful among them tend to have two critical things in common: they’re terrible at imagining failure and they tend not to care what other people think of them. In other words, the most successful entrepreneurs put no time or energy into stressing about their failures as they see failure as a small and necessary step in the process of reaching their goals.

4. You have to keep your emotions in check.

Negative emotions challenge your mental strength every step of the way. While it’s impossible not to feel your emotions, it’s completely under your power to manage them effectively and to keep yourself in control of them. When you let your emotions overtake your ability to think clearly, it’s easy to lose your resolve. A bad mood can make you lash out or stray from your chosen direction just as easily as a good mood can make you overconfident and impulsive.

5. You have to make the calls you’re afraid to make.

Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do because we know they’re for the best in the long-run: fire someone, cold-call a stranger, pull an all-nighter to get the company server back up, or scrap a project and start over. It’s easy to let the looming challenge paralyze you, but the most successful people know that in these moments, the best thing they can do is to get started right away. Every moment spent dreading the task subtracts time and energy from actually getting it done. People that learn to habitually make the tough calls stand out like flamingos in a flock of seagulls.

6. You have to trust your gut.

There’s a fine line between trusting your gut and being impulsive. Trusting your gut is a matter of looking at decisions from every possible angle, and when the facts don’t present a clear alternative, you believe in your ability to make the right decision; you go with what looks and feels right.

7. You have to lead when no one else follows.

It’s easy to set a direction and to believe in yourself when you have support, but the true test of strength is how well you maintain your resolve when nobody else believes in what you’re doing. People with mental strength believe in themselves no matter what, and they stay the course until they win people over to their ways of thinking.

8. You have to focus on the details even when it makes your mind numb.

Nothing tests your mental strength like mind-numbing details, especially when you’re tired. The more people with mental strength are challenged, the more they dig in and welcome that challenge, and numbers and details are no exception to this.

9. You have to be kind to people who are rude to you.

When people treat you poorly, it’s tempting to stoop to their level and return the favor. People with mental strength don’t allow others to walk all over them, but that doesn’t mean they’re rude to them, either. Instead, they treat rude and cruel people with the same kindness they extend to everyone else, because they don’t allow another person’s negativity to bring them down.

10. You have to be accountable for your actions, no matter what.

People are far more likely to remember how you dealt with a problem than they are to recall how you created it in the first place. By holding yourself accountable, even when making excuses is an option, you show that you care about results more than your image or ego.

World Whiskey Day[6]buy a soldier a drink today.

If you’re friends with Jack and Jim and spend your weekends with Jameson and Johnnie, then World Whisky Day is going to hold a special significance for you. Whisky is one of the iconic drinks of true lovers of alcohol and is the foundation of some of the most wonderful drinks known to man. But honestly, who needs an excuse to imbibe in these wonderful libations? If you need one, World Whisky Day is it!

History of World Whisky Day

One of the most common forms of whisky that is sought after is Irish Whisky, and perhaps appropriately so. The origins of the word Whisky can be found in the Gaelic Language. Uisce Beatha was the original name of whiskey in classical Gaelic, which ultimately became Uisce Beatha in Ireland and Uisge Beatha in Scotland. Both of these names mean “Water of Life” and tells us just how important and vital this particular distillation was to the Gaels. It was later shortened to just Uisce/Uisge, and then anglicized to Whisky. So now you know, when someone is concerned about your whisky consumption, you can just tell them you’re drinking the water of life!

So what, exactly, is whisky? Whisky is what happens when you create take rich flavorful grains and ferment them into a mash, and then take that mash and distil it down into a pure delicious spirit. Distillation takes place in a still, a device whose whole purpose is the purification of the alcohol from the fermented mash. One of the most important secrets of distillation is that it must take place in a copper (Or copper lined) still, as the copper removes the sulfur from the drink that would make this otherwise divine beverage decidedly unpleasant to drink.

How to Celebrate World Whisky Day?

World Whisky Day reminds us that there is an incredibly broad range of whisky out there to try, and it’s unlikely that we’ve managed to try all of it. Whisky can be made from barley, corn, rye, and wheat, just to name a few, and those grains are often mixed in different proportions before fermenting and distilling. The results are then aged in casks, with both the cask and the time inside changing the flavor. Needless to say, you may need more than one day to sample every kind available to you! World Whisky Day is a great opportunity for you to expand your palette and share your experiences with your friends.

Apostolic Exhortation[7]

Veneremur Cernui – Down in Adoration Falling

of The Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix,
to Priests, Deacons, Religious and the Lay Faithful of the Diocese of Phoenix on the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist

My beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Part I

Eucharist – Mystery to Be Revered

10. We cannot speak of the Eucharist without being confronted by its awesome mystery. It is no wonder that it is the central point of division between Catholics and other Christians. As early as the second century, we have record of Christians being accused of cannibalism by the pagan Romans because they ate and drank the Body and Blood of Christ (cf. First and Second Apologies of St. Justin Martyr). Since the Protestant Reformation, many Christians stopped believing in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Instead, they hold a certain religious service on Sundays but not the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

11. The perennial biblical verse where the Christian conflict begins and ends is the Bread of Life discourse: “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink” (Jn 6:53-55).

12. Jesus meant exactly what He said – He is truly present in the Eucharist. Some say that these words are figurative or that Jesus was only speaking symbolically when He said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life”. However, if Jesus had meant it as a symbol, He would not have repeated this message seven times in this dialogue: “My flesh is true food, my blood is true drink”. The Jews understood what He really meant, and they responded with incredulity, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”. Despite the uproar caused by His teaching, Jesus did not soften His claim. On the contrary, He strengthened it. Up to this point, the Gospel of Saint John uses the ordinary Greek word for “eat” (phagein). After the indignant question from the Jews, John shifts to a stronger word “to chew” or “to munch” (trogein). To capture the force of this word, we could translate, not as: “Whoever eats my flesh”; but “Whoever feeds on my flesh”.

To be continued…

Catechism of the Catholic Church

PART ONE: THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

SECTION TWO I. THE CREEDS

CHAPTER TWO-I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF GOD

Article 7 "FROM THENCE HE WILL COME AGAlN TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD"

II. To Judge the Living and the Dead

678 Following in the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the judgement of the Last Day in his preaching. Then will the conduct of each one and the secrets of hearts be brought to light. Then will the culpable unbelief that counted the offer of God's grace as nothing be condemned. Our attitude to our neighbor will disclose acceptance or refusal of grace and divine love. On the Last Day Jesus will say: "Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."

679 Christ is Lord of eternal life. Full right to pass definitive judgement on the works and hearts of men belongs to him as redeemer of the world. He "acquired" this right by his cross. the Father has given "all judgement to the Son". Yet the Son did not come to judge, but to save and to give the life he has in himself. By rejecting grace in this life, one already judges oneself, receives according to one's works, and can even condemn oneself for all eternity by rejecting the Spirit of love.

Daily Devotions

· Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: For the intercession of the angels and saints

· Saturday Litany of the Hours Invoking the Aid of Mother Mary

· Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

· Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

· Total Consecration to Mary Day 24

· Drops of Christ’s Blood

· Iceman’s 40 devotion

· Universal Man Plan

· Nineveh 90-Day 36

· Operation Purity

· Rosary