Wednesday, May 11, 2022

- May 10, 2022

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Ezekiel, Chapter 3, Verse 9

Like diamond, harder than flint, I make your brow. Do not be AFRAID of them, or be terrified by their looks, for they are a rebellious house.

This verse is suggesting that Ezekiel needs to knock heads or confront his adversaries. At times if we truly love a person, it may be that we may need to confront them. Our love should will the real good of another as other and take action to realize that good. To help make things go right so that the person we love is ultimately becoming the best version of themselves. This was the love of Christ.

According to John Maxwell[1] leaders and followers of Christ need to allow God to shape them into being the kind of person they need to be according to the situation. Maxwell suggests that when we are approaching a new and different situation, we should ask ourselves the following questions using reason and not fear.

o Do the circumstances tell me it is time to move forward?

o Are others ready and willing to move?

o Is it the right time to make a change?

o Do I have a team that has the gifts and influence to lead?

o Do we have the opportunity to be successful?

o Do we possess the resources to move now?

o Am I the right person to lead the way?

If we can answer in the affirmative to the majority of these questions God may be making our brow or will strong to make positive changes in our lives and those around us.

Twilight Zone Day[2]

“You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone!”

Beloved by children, teenagers and adults alike, the cult classic TV show The Twilight Zone has affected entire generations of people, prompting them to take a closer look at life and various phenomena and take nothing for granted, thanks to its unique combination of science fiction, mystery, and thriller/horror themes. Not to mention how many of today’s well-known actors got their start in it—Burt Reynolds, Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner, to name but a few. How then could this majorly influential show not have its own holiday?

The Twilight Zone was created by acclaimed television producer Rod Sterling in 1959, with the first episode premiering on October 2nd. At the time of its release, it was vastly different from anything else on TV, and it struggled a bit to carve out a niche for itself at the very beginning. In fact, Sterling himself, though respected and adored by many, was famous for being one of Hollywood’s most controversial characters and was often call the “angry young man” of Hollywood for his numerous clashes with television executives and sponsors over issues such as censorship, racism, and war. However, his show soon gained a large, devoted audience. Terry Turner of the Chicago Daily News gave it a rave review, saying, “…Twilight Zone is about the only show on the air that I actually look forward to seeing. It’s the one series that I will let interfere with other plans”. The Twilight Zone ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964.

Twilight Zone Day is an annual holiday created to celebrate this thought-provoking television series, where everything was strange and surreal, and nothing was ever quite as it seemed to be.

How to celebrate Twilight Zone Day

There are a number of ways to celebrate Twilight Zone Day, and the one you choose may be connected to how well you know this TV series. Believe it or not, there are still people out there who have never seen it! You could watch some episodes from the classic series, perhaps “To Serve Man”, “It’s a Good Life”, or “The Eye of the Beholder”, episodes that are widely considered some of the very best in the entire series. If you don’t know the series and would like to get a taste of what it was like in a nutshell, you could also watch the 1983 Twilight Zone Movie. If, on the other hand, you know The Twilight Zone very well, you could get together with some other Twilight Zone aficionados and play Twilight board or trivia games. Alternately, you could discuss who you think were the strangest Twilight Zone villains, and what the true reasons were for them being the way they were. And what would a good party be without some tasty drinks? Yes, there are Twilight Zone cocktails!

Finally, you can try making Twilight Zone cocktails, by mixing Bacardi White, Dark and 151 Proof Rum, Triple Sec, pineapple and orange juices. Sounds pretty scrumptious, right? And that’s not its only benefit—if you have a few Twilight Zone Cocktails, you may well find yourself transported to a different dimension, too!

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 3 "HE WAS CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND WAS BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY"

Article 4

"JESUS CHRIST SUFFERED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE, WAS CRUCIFIED, DIED AND WAS BURIED"

571 The Paschal mystery of Christ's cross and Resurrection stands at the center of the Good News that the apostles, and the Church following them, are to proclaim to the world. God's saving plan was accomplished "once for all" by the redemptive death of his Son Jesus Christ.

572 The Church remains faithful to the interpretation of "all the Scriptures" that Jesus gave both before and after his Passover: "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" Jesus' sufferings took their historical, concrete form from the fact that he was "rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes", who handed "him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified".

573 Faith can therefore try to examine the circumstances of Jesus' death, faithfully handed on by the Gospels and illuminated by other historical sources, the better to understand the meaning of the Redemption.

Every Wednesday is Dedicated to St. Joseph

The Italian culture has always had a close association with St. Joseph perhaps you could make Wednesdays centered around Jesus’s Papa. Plan an Italian dinner of pizza or spaghetti after attending Mass as most parishes have a Wednesday evening Mass. You could even do carry out to help restaurants. If you are adventurous, you could do the Universal Man Plan: St. Joseph style. Make the evening a family night perhaps it could be a game night. Whatever you do make the day special.

· Devotion to the 7 Joys and Sorrows of St. Joseph

· Do the St. Joseph Universal Man Plan.