Saturday of the Seventh Week of
Easter
ST. RITA OF CASSIA-BIO Day
Daniel,
Chapter 3, Verse 90
Bless
the God of gods, all you who FEAR the
Lord; praise and give thanks, for his mercy endures forever.
God gave the
land of Israel to the Israelites as an eternal possession; land could be leased
to pay debts, but it always reverted back to the family who owned it. In a
similar way Christ has given the possession of your eternal soul back over to
you through His mercy; after you leased it out to the evil one. Do not fear or be dismayed to take possession
of it.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. (Luke 4:18-19)
The way we take possession of our soul is by the way of purification. A man in possession of his soul seeks to live in such a way that he does not lose ownership of his soul. He strives to place first things first and he endeavors to follow God’s holy Will in his life. Conversion means turning to God (Beatitude Meditation) and keeping the four last things in our mind when we are tempted: Death, Judgment, Heaven and hell. Immediately after death we will be judged, and our private judgment will be repeated on the Day of Judgment; when all men will know us for what we are. If we have done our best and followed Christ’s commandments (if you love me you will keep my commandments) we will join Him in Heaven but if we have ignored His commandments and refused to make use of His help (via the church sacraments) we shall be condemned to hell. [1]. Therefore, strive to love God in your daily life and make use of His grace. When you fall, immediately make a prayer in honor of the Wound of His Holy Shoulder making use of His grace in the sacrament of confession at the earliest opportunity and receive Holy Communion only after confession.
It is related
in the annals of Clairvaux that St. Bernard asked our Lord which was His
greatest unrecorded suffering, and Our Lord answered: "I had on My
Shoulder, while I bore My Cross on the Way of Sorrows, a grievous Wound, which
was more painful than the others, and which is not recorded by men. Honor this
wound with thy devotion, and I will grant thee whatsoever thou dost ask through
its virtue and merit. And in regard to all those who shall venerate this Wound,
I will remit to them all their venial sins, and will no longer remember their
mortal sins."[2]
O Loving Jesus, meek Lamb of God, I a miserable sinner,
salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst
bear Thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy flesh and laid bare Thy Bones as to
inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound of Thy Most Blessed
Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee, and give
Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that
exceeding pain, and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross to be merciful to
me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins, and to lead me on
towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross. Amen.
Imprimatur:
Thomas D. Beven, Bishop of Springfield
ON KEEPING THE LORDS DAY HOLY[3]
CHAPTER IV
DIES HOMINIS
Sunday: Day of Joy, Rest and Solidarity
A day of solidarity
73. Lived in this way, not
only the Sunday Eucharist but the whole of Sunday becomes a great school of
charity, justice and peace. The presence of the Risen Lord in the midst of his
people becomes an undertaking of solidarity, a compelling force for inner renewal,
an inspiration to change the structures of sin in which individuals,
communities and at times entire peoples are entangled. Far from being an
escape, the Christian Sunday is a "prophecy" inscribed on time
itself, a prophecy obliging the faithful to follow in the footsteps of the One
who came "to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to captives
and new sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Lk 4:18-19). In the Sunday
commemoration of Easter, believers learn from Christ, and remembering his
promise: "I leave you peace, my peace I give you" (Jn 14:27),
they become in their turn builders of peace.
Sixth
Sunday after Easter[4]
THIS
Sunday is a preparation for the feast of Pentecost. At the Introit of the Mass,
the Church sings: “Hear, O Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to Thee,
alleluia. My heart hath said to Thee, I have sought Thy face; Thy face, Lord,
will I seek; turn not away Thy face from me, alleluia, alleluia. The Lord is my
light and my salvation, whom shall, I fear?
Prayer. O almighty and everlasting God
grant us ever to entertain a devout affection towards Thee, and to serve Thy
majesty with a sincere heart.
EPISTLE, i. Peter iv. 7-11.
Dearly
Beloved: Be prudent, and watch in prayers. But before all things have a
constant mutual charity among yourselves; for charity covereth a multitude of
sins. Using hospitality one towards another without murmuring. As every man
hath received grace, ministering the same to one another, as good stewards of
the manifold grace of God. If any man speaks, let him speak as the words of
God. If any man minister, let him do it as of the power which God
administereth: that in all things God may be honored through Jesus Christ our
Lord.
Practice. The virtues here recommended are
excellent preparatives for receiving the Holy Ghost, for nothing makes us more
worthy of His grace than temperance, prayer, charity, unity, and hospitality towards
our neighbors. Endeavor, therefore, to exercise these virtues, and every day
during the following week pray fervently to the Holy Ghost for help in your
endeavors.
GOSPEL. John xv. 26, 27; xvi. 1-4.
At that time Jesus said to
His disciples: When the Paraclete cometh Whom I will send you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth, Who proceedeth from the Father, He shall give testimony of
Me: and you shall give testimony, because you are with Me from the beginning.
These things have I spoken to you, that you may not be scandalized. They will
put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh that whosoever killeth you
will think that he doth a service to God. And these things will they do to you,
because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told
you, that when the hour shall come, you may remember that I told you.
What kind of sin is scandal?
It is a frightful sin. By it countless sins are
occasioned, thousands of souls are carried to perdition, while the loving
design of God for the salvation of men is frustrated.
How, in general, is scandal given?
By saying, doing, neglecting to do something which
becomes the occasion of sin to another.
When do parents give scandal?
When they set a bad example to their children. When
they do not correct them for doing wrong, or neglect to keep them from what is
bad and to teach them that which is good.
How do employers give scandal?
In much the same way that parents give scandal to
their children: when, by bad example or by command, they keep their servants or
other employees from divine service, or neglect to make them attend it. When
they themselves use, or give to others, flesh-meat on days of abstinence. When
they order the commission of sin.
Rogation
Sunday
It is only a few weeks since Good
Friday when we commemorated the agonizing death of Christ on Mount Calvary.
This was an excruciating, shameful death even for hardened criminals who
deserved it.
But for our loving Savior, the
innocent lamb of God, one who had never offended God or neighbor, it was
something of which the whole human race should be ashamed forever. What caused
Christ that torment and death on the cross was our sins, the sins of all
mankind and not the spite and hatred of his Jewish opponents, who were only
instruments in the tragedy. Atonement had to be made to God for the sins of the
world, so that men could reach the eternal inheritance which the incarnation
made available to them.
However, not all the acts of the
entire human race could make a sufficient atonement to God. A sacrifice, an expiation
of infinite value was needed. The death of the Son of God in his human nature
was alone capable of making such an expiation. That Christ willingly accepted
crucifixion for our sakes, that he gave the greatest proof of love which the
world has ever known, by laying down his life for his friends, did not make his
sufferings any less, did not ease any of the pains of Calvary. His agony in the
Garden before his arrest shows this: he foresaw all the tortures and pains
which he was to undergo and sweated blood at the thought of what awaited him.
But he was to keep his Father's commandment "not my will but thine be
done." We Christians must have hearts of stone, hearts devoid of all sense
of gratitude, when we forget what Christ has done for us and deliberately
offend him! Alas, this is what all of us do sometimes, and many of us do all
the time. Christ died to bring us to heaven, but we tell him, by our sins, that
he was wasting his time. We do not want to go to heaven, we are making our
happiness here! How far can human ingratitude and thanklessness go?
Christ told us, through the disciples
on Holy Thursday night, that he had made us his friends, his intimates. We are
no longer servants in the household, who merely earn their daily wage and have
no intimacy with the family and no hope of ever sharing in the family
possessions.
Instead, we have been adopted into the
family by Christ becoming man, we have been guaranteed all the rights of
children intimacy with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the future sharing
in the eternal happiness of that divine household. Christ's incarnation made us
God's children, Christ's death on the cross removed sin. Sin is the one
obstacle that could prevent us reaching our eternal inheritance. Because God
gave us a free will we can in a moment of folly, a moment of madness really,
deprive ourselves of the privileges and possessions which Christ has made
available to us. We can choose to exchange an eternity of happiness for a few
fleeting years of self-indulgence on earth. We can fling Christ's gift of love
back in his face and tell him we don't want it. God forbid that we should ever
act like this, that we should ever forget God's purpose in creating us. It is a
marvelous thing to be alive, if we have hope in a future life. If nothing
awaited us but the grave, then to live on this earth, which is a valley of
sorrow and tears for the vast majority, would be the cruelest of jests. But of
this we need have no fear. Life on earth is but a short prelude to our real
existence. If we use this brief period as Christ has told us how to use it,
death for us will be the passage into the eternal mansions. Be grateful to God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit; love the Blessed Trinity; prove your love by
loving your fellowmen. By doing this you are fulfilling the whole law and the
prophets; and you are assuring yourself of the place in heaven which Christ has
won for you.
Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin
O'Sullivan, O.F.M.
Rogation
Days[5]
THE
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before the Ascension are observed as days of
solemn supplication, and are called Rogation Days. These three Rogation days
serve also as a preparation for the feast of the ascension, which reminds us
that we have the most powerful intercessor in our savior, who is now enthroned
at the right hand of the father. Since 1929
many churches in the
United States have
observed Rogation Sunday as Rural Life
Sunday, or Soil Stewardship
Sunday. Services on this day examine
the religious aspects
of rural life. In 1969 the Roman Catholic Church cancelled
the Rogation Days.
In their place Church
authorities instituted days of prayer for
human needs, human
works, and the
fruits of the earth.
Local bishops may
now set appropriate
dates for these
observances in their dioceses.
Things to Do:[6]
Rogationtide
Monday[7]
Rogation
Days are a Roman Catholic "baptism" of the Robigalia, a pagan
procession to gain favor from the Robigo, the Roman god of grain. Since the
Church had no objection to praying for the harvest, it threw out Robigo while
keeping the procession and prayers. Today would be a good day to reflect on
what we want to harvest this fall; so like farmers we must till the soil of our
soul reflecting this day on our use of our TIME and look at in what ways we may
offer our time to Christ to help build a harvest for His Kingdom
Apostolic
Exhortation[8]
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
13. The Eucharist is the
supernatural food that keeps us going along the difficult journey towards the
Promised Land of eternal salvation: “Whoever eats my flesh has eternal
life”. To see the truth of these words, we must turn to the context for
which they were spoken.
I. The Mass as the new Exodus from
Slavery of Sin
14. The Eucharist comes to us
through the Mass. Our normal experience of the Eucharist is at Mass, the
central ritual – or liturgical – celebration which takes place every day and is
a weekly obligation for the faithful. What we often call the Sacrifice of the
Mass is the place where the Church has always believed we eat and drink the
Body and Blood of Christ. The Mass must be understood within the context of the
Last Supper where “Jesus took bread […] and gave it to his disciples,
saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body’ […] Then he took a cup, […] he gave it
to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant’”
(Mt 26:26-28).
15. At the Last Supper, which
the Church commemorates today, Jesus took part in and forever transformed the
Jewish Passover ritual meal. It is here we see the context in which Jesus
desires His Body and Blood to be consumed as food. This is the context where we
discover the beauty of the grand mystery of the Eucharist as the fulfillment of
both the Jewish Passover and the Covenant of Israel.
. To be continued…
St. Rita of Cassia[9]
Rita's childhood was one of happiness
to her parents. To satisfy her desire of a life of union with God by prayer,
her parents fitted up a little room in their home as an oratory, where she
spent all her spare moments. At the age of twelve, however, she desired to
consecrate herself to God in the religious state. Pious though her parents
were, their tearful pleadings to postpone her noble purpose prevailed on Rita,
and they gave her in marriage, at the age of eighteen, to an impulsive,
irascible young man, who was well fitted to try the patience and virtue of the
holy girl.
Two sons were born to them, each
inheriting their father's quarrelsome temperament. Rita continued her
accustomed devotions, and her sanctity and prayers finally won her husband's
heart so that he willingly consented that she continue her acts of devotion.
Eighteen years had elapsed since her marriage, when her husband was murdered by
an old enemy; both of her sons died shortly after. Rita's former desire to
consecrate herself to God again took possession of her.
Three times she sought admittance
among the Augustinian Nuns in Cascia, but her request was refused each time,
and she returned to her home in Rocca Porrena. God Himself, however, supported
her cause. One night as Rita was praying earnestly in her humble home, she
heard herself called by name, while someone knocked at the door. In a
miraculous way she was conducted to the monastic enclosure, no entrance having
been opened. Astonished at the miracle, the Nuns received Rita, and soon
enrolled her among their number.
St. Rita's hidden, simple life in
religion was distinguished by obedience and charity; she performed many extreme
penances. After hearing a sermon on the Passion of Christ she returned to her
cell; kneeling before her crucifix, she implored: "Let me, my Jesus share
in Thy suffering, at least of one of Thy thorns". Her prayer was answered.
Suddenly one of the thorns detached and fastened itself in her forehead so
deeply that she could not remove it. The wound became worse, and gangrene set
in. Because of the foul odor emanating from the wound, she was denied the
companionship of the other Sisters, and this for fifteen years. Miraculous
power was soon recognized in Rita. When Pope Nicholas IV proclaimed a jubilee
at Rome, Rita desired to attend. Permission was granted on condition that her
wound would be healed. This came about only for the duration of the trip. Upon
her return to the monastery the wound from the thorn reappeared, and remained
until her death. As St. Rita was dying, she requested a relative to bring her a
rose from her old home at Rocca Porrena. Although it was not the season for
roses, the relative went and found a rose in full bloom. For this reason, roses
are blessed in the Saint's honor.
After St. Rita's death, in 1457, her
face became beautifully radiant, while the odor from her wound was as fragrant
as that of the roses she loved so much. The sweet odor spread through the
convent and into the church, where it has continued ever since. Her body has
remained incorrupt to this day; the face is beautiful and well preserved. When
St. Rita died the lowly cell was aglow with heavenly light, while the great
bell of the monastery rang of itself. A relative with a paralyzed arm, upon
touching the sacred remains, was cured. A carpenter, who had known the Saint,
offered to make the coffin. Immediately he recovered the use of his long-stiffened
hands.
As one of the solemn acts of his
jubilee, Pope Leo XIII canonized St. Rita on the Feast of the Ascension, May
24, 1900.
Patron: Abuse victims; against loneliness; against sterility;
bodily ills; DESPERATE CAUSES; difficult marriages; forgotten causes; IMPOSSIBLE
CAUSES; infertility; lost causes; parenthood; sick people; sickness; sterility;
victims of physical spouse abuse; widows; wounds.
Things to Do:
- From
the Catholic Culture library: St.
Rita of Cascia and A
Life of Heroic Humility and Obedience.
- Visit
the National
Shrine of St. Rita of Cassia and read this life
of St. Rita
- Watch
this videos of St. Rita's life here and here
- Visit
the Shrine of Santa Rita in
the Desert in Vail, Arizona
International Day for Biological Diversity[10]
The International Day for Biological Diversity aims to raise
awareness and understanding of biological diversity and issues surrounding it.
The day also serves to highlight possible strategies to protect biodiversity,
which refers to the variety of life on the planet. Today, habitats are
degrading and leading to a reduction in biodiversity, a problem that directly
affects human well-being, poverty reduction and global sustainable development.
The International Day for Biological Diversity was proclaimed in December of
2000 by the United
Nations General Assembly. It is celebrated annually on May 22, a day that
commemorates the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992.
International Day
for Biological Diversity Facts & Quotes
·
According
to the UN, more than 3 billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity
for their livelihoods and 1.6 billion people rely on forests and non-timber
forest products for their livelihoods.
·
Habitat
degradation and the loss of biodiversity are currently threatening the
livelihood of over 1 billion people who live in dry and subhumid climates.
·
Over
50% of the world’s plant species and 42% of all terrestrial vertebrate species
are native to a specific country and do not naturally exist elsewhere.
·
We
should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use
it and come to understand what it means to humanity. – E. O. Wilson, American
biologist, researcher, theorist and author.
Day for Biological
Diversity Top Events and Things to Do
·
Watch
a movie or documentary on the importance and irreplaceability of the world’s
biodiversity. Some suggestions are: The Cove, Oceans, Plastic Planet and the
11th hour.
·
Spread
awareness on social media by using the hashtags
#InternationalDayForBiologicalDiversity, #IDBD and #BiologicalDiversity.
·
Join
the international Day for Biological Diversity Google Hangout where you can
video stream yourself and with other people to discuss biological diversity
with like-minded individuals.
·
Organize
or participate in a local cleanup effort. Biodiversity is very negatively
impacted by human trash and pollution.
·
Donate
to the center for biological diversity. All funds are put towards securing a
future for all species hovering on the brink of extinction with a focus on
protecting lands, waters
and climate that species need to survive. Consider funds like WWF, the Animal
Project and Defenders of Wildlife.
·
Visit
Biosphere
2 is an American
Earth system science research facility located in Oracle, Arizona.
Why should
Catholics care?[11]
The Church’s social teaching calls
on Catholics to uphold the life and dignity of every human person, to be in
solidarity with our brothers and sisters worldwide, and to care for God’s
creation. Since the extraction of oil, gas, minerals, and timber affects the
poor most acutely, the Church has been addressing issues related to extractive
industries around the world. Catholic agencies and affected people have been
engaged in advocacy with their own governments, international financial
institutions, and extractives companies, urging them to become more
transparent, to reduce the negative impacts of resource extraction on people
and the environment, and to increase benefits for the poor most especially.
In the U.S. bishops’ first
statement on environmental matters, renewing the Earth (1991), they draw
attention to the ethical dimensions of the ecological crisis, exploring the
link between ecology and poverty and the implications for human life and
dignity. Bishops of every part of the world have expressed concern regarding
extractive industries. Indeed, Pope Benedict XVI, expanding on the issue of the
environment in Caritas in Veritate, stated: Let us hope that the international
community and individual governments will succeed in countering harmful ways of
treating the environment. It is likewise incumbent upon the competent
authorities to make every effort to ensure that the economic and social costs
of using up shared environmental resources are recognized with transparency and
fully borne by those who incur them, not by other peoples or future
generations: the protection of the environment, of resources and of the climate
obliges all international leaders to act jointly and to show a readiness to
work in good faith, respecting the law and promoting solidarity with the
weakest regions of the planet (No. 50).
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
IN BRIEF
680 Christ the
Lord already reigns through the Church, but all the things of this world are
not yet subjected to him. the triumph of Christ's kingdom will not come about
without one last assault by the powers of evil.
681 On
Judgement Day at the end of the world, Christ will come in glory to achieve the
definitive triumph of good over evil which, like the wheat and the tares, have
grown up together in the course of history.
682 When he
comes at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, the glorious Christ
will reveal the secret disposition of hearts and will render to each man
according to his works, and according to his acceptance or refusal of grace.
Events
·
Indianapolis
500—May 29-- Rev up for the “Greatest Spectacle
in Racing.” Part of the Triple Crown of Motorsports (with the Monaco Grand Prix
and 24 Hours of Le Mans right behind) this annual race is quite possibly the
largest single-day sporting event in the entire world, attracting roughly
400,000 spectators. Head to Indianapolis the last weekend in May, and prepare
for a high-speed show around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.5-mile oval
circuit.
o RED ROCK RUMBLE May
29th-5 Mile Trail Race, Sedona, Arizona
Looking Ahead
·
May 23rd Rogation
Monday
· May 24th Rogation Tuesday
·
May 25th Rogation Wednesday
·
May 26th Mass Ascension Thursday
·
May 27th Friday in the Octave of the
Ascension
·
May 29th Seventh
Sunday of Easter
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: Increase
of Vocations to the Holy Priesthood.
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
· Total
Consecration to Mary Day 25
· Rosary
[1] Paone, Anthony J., S.J. My Daily
Bread, Confraternity of the Precious Blood.
[2] http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=31
[4] Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896
[6]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-05-10
[9]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2019-05-22
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