Daniel, Chapter 13, Verse 57
57This is how you acted with the daughters of Israel, and in their FEAR, they yielded to you; but a daughter of Judah did not tolerate your lawlessness.
The internet is a great tool and benefit to mankind; however, it is also used by evil men; as in this chapter of Daniel; to enslave. Today we see that many on the internet kill the life of men and women by enslaving them. Many of our beautiful youth are caught up in human trafficking and the production of pornography. Daniel in this chapter freed the woman Susanna from powerful men who tried to get her to yield her body to them or be killed. Today let us emulate Daniel in freeing women from this type of slavery by never treating women as an object of desire and by avoiding any and all use of pornography or venues of entertainment that use women as object to fulfill men’s lusts. This could even include our selection of music and TV shows we watch.
We could also offer our prayers for these women by a monthly fast; thus, giving up a portion of our body to redeem their bodies for the Lord.[1]
When I was stationed in Belgium there in the town of
Mons was an annual celebration of the killing of a dragon called the Dudu. In
one of the local museums, we were shown the large skull of a crocodile (two
foot by 5 foot) which was according to the legend to be the Dragon killed by
St. George. The lesson here is that if we allow evil to grow like the crocodile
it may get so large that we cannot defeat it. The sex industry is a dragon that
we must slay. Unfortunately, the dragon only approaches those who feed it. If
you are struggling with the dragon stop feeding it and it will die.
Help
for the Enslaved
Apostolic
Exhortation[2]
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 II
II. Faith perceives what our senses fail to grasp
49. Yet, faith can penetrate
through the veil of our senses to help us see that every Holy Mass is truly an
encounter with Jesus Christ. When Scripture is proclaimed and preached, it is
Christ Himself who is speaking. To receive all these benefits and transforming
effects of Holy Communion, faith is the first essential requirement.
50. In the Discourse on the
Bread of Life in Chapter 6 of the Gospel of Saint John, many of the disciples
reacted to Jesus’ claim by saying, “this teaching is difficult. Who can accept
it?” After Jesus watched most of His disciples abandon Him, He turned to the Twelve
apostles and asked, “Do you also want to leave?” Peter responded with faith,
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to
believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (Jn 6:68). This teaching was
not any easier for Peter. It would only become fathomable a year later for
Peter and the other Apostles during the Last Supper when Jesus would take bread
and wine into His hands, and totally change them into Himself as He said, “This
is my body: take and eat,” and “This is the chalice of my blood: take and
drink.” Peter knew that Jesus had the words of eternal life. He put his whole
faith in Jesus’ words. He believed in Jesus’ difficult teaching on the
Eucharist precisely because he believed in his Lord and God, basing his entire
existence in the words of Jesus.
51. Today, in our own
particular situation and circumstance, Jesus also turns to us and asks the same
question: “Do you also want to leave?”. Like the disciples in Capernaum, many
in our times have wandered spiritually away from Jesus in the Eucharist. Many
Catholics have wandered away from the practice of Sunday Mass, focusing more on
work, sports, sleep, or entertainment rather than the Lord. There are also
those who are physically there but not with their faith. They may come to Mass
but do not receive Jesus with faith, love, and reverence because they think
that they are only receiving a symbol rather than God Himself who died for
them. There are those who physically come to Mass, but their hearts cannot wait
to leave Jesus’ presence. Indeed, the Eucharist is hard to believe! Thus, it is
important for us to have patience and compassion for those whose faith is weak.
Nevertheless, the call to faith is urgent.
To be continued…
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART
ONE: THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
SECTION
TWO I. THE CREEDS
CHAPTER
THREE-I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
Article 9-"I BELIEVE IN
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH"
Paragraph 2. THE CHURCH -
PEOPLE OF GOD, BODY OF CHRIST, TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
I.
THE CHURCH - PEOPLE OF GOD
781 "At all times and in
every race, anyone who fears God and does what is right has been acceptable to
him. He has, however, willed to make men holy and save them, not as individuals
without any bond or link between them, but rather to make them into a people
who might acknowledge him and serve him in holiness. He therefore chose the
Israelite race to be his own people and established a covenant with it. He
gradually instructed this people.... All these things, however, happened as a
preparation for and figure of that new and perfect covenant which was to be
ratified in Christ . . . the New Covenant in his blood; he called together a
race made up of Jews and Gentiles which would be one, not according to the
flesh, but in the Spirit."
Characteristics of the
People of God
782 The People of God is
marked by characteristics that clearly distinguish it from all other religious,
ethnic, political, or cultural groups found in history:
·
It is the People of God: God is not the property of any one
people. But he acquired a people for himself from those who previously were not
a people: "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation."
·
One becomes a member of
this people not by a physical birth, but by being "born anew," a
birth "of water and the Spirit," that is, by faith in Christ,
and Baptism.
·
This People has for its Head Jesus the Christ (the anointed, the
Messiah). Because the same anointing, the Holy Spirit, flows from the head into
the body, this is "the messianic people."
·
"The status of this people is that of the dignity and freedom
of the sons of God, in whose hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in a
temple."
·
"Its law is the new commandment to love as Christ loved
us." This is the "new" law of the Holy Spirit.
·
Its mission is to be salt
of the earth and light of the world. This people is "a most sure seed
of unity, hope, and salvation for the whole human race."
·
Its destiny, finally, "is the Kingdom of God which has been
begun by God himself on earth and which must be further extended until it has
been brought to perfection by him at the end of time."
A
priestly, prophetic, and royal people
783 Jesus Christ is the one
whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and established as priest,
prophet, and king. the whole People of God participates in these three offices
of Christ and bears the responsibilities for mission and service that flow from
them.
784 On entering the People of
God through faith and Baptism, one receives a share in this people's unique,
priestly vocation: "Christ the Lord, high priest taken from among men, has
made this new people 'a kingdom of priests to God, his Father.' the baptized,
by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated to be a
spiritual house and a holy priesthood."
785 "The holy People of
God shares also in Christ's prophetic office," above all in the
supernatural sense of faith that belongs to the whole People, lay and clergy,
when it "unfailingly adheres to this faith . . . once for all delivered to
the saints," and when it deepens its understanding and becomes
Christ's witness in the midst of this world.
786 Finally, the People of God
shares in the royal office of Christ. He exercises his kingship by drawing all
men to himself through his death and Resurrection. Christ, King and Lord
of the universe, made himself the servant of all, for he came "not to be
served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." For
the Christian, "to reign is to serve him," particularly when serving
"the poor and the suffering, in whom the Church recognizes the image of
her poor and suffering founder." The People of God fulfills its royal
dignity by a life in keeping with its vocation to serve with Christ.
The sign of the cross
makes kings of all those reborn in Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit
consecrates them as priests, so that, apart from the particular service of our
ministry, all spiritual and rational Christians are recognized as members of
this royal race and sharers in Christ's priestly office. What, indeed, is as
royal for a soul as to govern the body in obedience to God? and what is as
priestly as to dedicate a pure conscience to the Lord and to offer the spotless
offerings of devotion on the altar of the heart?
II.
THE CHURCH - BODY OF CHRIST
The
Church is communion with Jesus
787 From the beginning, Jesus
associated his disciples with his own life, revealed the mystery of the Kingdom
to them, and gave them a share in his mission, joy, and sufferings. Jesus spoke of a still more intimate communion
between him and those who would follow him: "Abide in me, and I in you....
I am the vine, you are the branches." and he proclaimed a mysterious
and real communion between his own body and ours: "He who eats my flesh
and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him."
788 When his visible presence
was taken from them, Jesus did not leave his disciples orphans. He promised to
remain with them until the end of time; he sent them his Spirit. As a result,
communion with Jesus has become, in a way, more intense: "By communicating
his Spirit, Christ mystically constitutes as his body those brothers of his who
are called together from every nation."
789 The comparison of the
Church with the body casts light on the intimate bond between Christ and his
Church. Not only is she gathered around him; she is united in him, in his body.
Three aspects of the Church as the Body of Christ are to be more specifically
noted: the unity of all her members with each other as a result of their union
with Christ; Christ as head of the Body; and the Church as bride of Christ.
"One
Body"
790 Believers who respond to
God's word and become members of Christ's Body, become intimately united with
him: "In that body the life of Christ is communicated to those who
believe, and who, through the sacraments, are united in a hidden and real way
to Christ in his Passion and glorification." This is especially true
of Baptism, which unites us to Christ's death and Resurrection, and the
Eucharist, by which "really sharing in the body of the Lord, . . . we are
taken up into communion with him and with one another."
791 The body's unity does not
do away with the diversity of its members: "In the building up of Christ's
Body there is engaged a diversity of members and functions. There is only one
Spirit who, according to his own richness and the needs of the ministries,
gives his different gifts for the welfare of the Church." The unity
of the Mystical Body produces and stimulates charity among the faithful:
"From this it follows that if one member suffers anything, all the members
suffer with him, and if one member is honored, all the members together
rejoice." Finally, the unity of the Mystical Body triumphs over all
human divisions: "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put
on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free,
there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
"Christ
is the Head of this Body"
792 Christ "is the head
of the body, the Church." He is the principle of creation and
redemption. Raised to the Father's glory, "in everything he (is)
preeminent," especially in the Church, through whom he extends his
reign over all things.
793 Christ unites us with his
Passover: all his members must strive to resemble him, "until Christ be
formed" in them. "For this reason we . . . are taken up into the
mysteries of his life, . . . associated with his sufferings as the body with
its head, suffering with him, that with him we may be glorified."
794 Christ provides for our
growth: to make us grow toward him, our head, he provides in his Body, the
Church, the gifts and assistance by which we help one another along the way of
salvation.
795 Christ and his Church thus
together make up the "whole Christ" (Christus totus). the Church is
one with Christ. the saints are acutely aware of this unity:
Let us rejoice then and give thanks that we have become not only
Christians, but Christ himself. Do you understand and grasp, brethren, God's
grace toward us? Marvel and rejoice: we have become Christ. For if he is the
head, we are the members; he and we together are the whole man.... the fullness
of Christ then is the head and the members. But what does "head and
members" mean? Christ and the Church.
Our redeemer has shown himself to be one person with the holy
Church whom he has taken to himself.
Head and members form as it were one and the same mystical person.
A reply of St. Joan of Arc to her judges sums up the faith of the
holy doctors and the good sense of the believer: "About Jesus Christ and
the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate
the matter."
The
Church is the Bride of Christ
796 The unity of Christ and
the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the
two within a personal relationship. This aspect is often expressed by the image
of bridegroom and bride. the theme of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church was
prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist. The Lord
referred to himself as the "bridegroom." The Apostle speaks of
the whole Church and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride
"betrothed" to Christ the Lord so as to become but one spirit with
him. The Church is the spotless bride of the spotless Lamb. "Christ
loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her." He
has joined her with himself in an everlasting covenant and never stops caring
for her as for his own body:
This is the whole Christ, head and body, one formed from many . .
. whether the head or members speak, it is Christ who speaks. He speaks in his
role as the head (ex-persona capitis) and in his role as body (ex-persona
corporis). What does this mean? "The two will become one flesh. This is a
great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the Church." and
the Lord himself says in the Gospel: "So they are no longer two, but one
flesh." They are, in fact, two different persons, yet they are one in
the conjugal union, . . . as head, he calls himself the bridegroom, as body, he
calls himself "bride."
III.
THE CHURCH IS THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
797 "What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church." "To this Spirit of Christ, as an invisible principle, is to be ascribed the fact that all the parts of the body are joined one with the other and with their exalted head; for the whole Spirit of Christ is in the head, the whole Spirit is in the body, and the whole Spirit is in each of the members." The Holy Spirit makes the Church "the temple of the living God":
Indeed, it is to the Church herself that the "Gift of
God" has been entrusted.... In it is in her that communion with Christ has
been deposited, that is to say: the Holy Spirit, the pledge of
incorruptibility, the strengthening of our faith and the ladder of our ascent
to God.... For where the Church is, there also is God's Spirit; where God's
Spirit is, there is the Church and every grace.
798 The Holy Spirit is
"the principle of every vital and truly saving action in each part of the
Body." He works in many ways to build up the whole Body in charity: by
God's Word "which is able to build you up"; by Baptism, through
which he forms Christ's Body; by the sacraments, which give growth and
healing to Christ's members; by "the grace of the apostles, which holds
first place among his gifts"; by the virtues, which make us act according
to what is good; finally, by the many special graces (called
"charisms"), by which he makes the faithful "fit and ready to
undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the
Church."
Charisms
799 Whether extraordinary or
simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or
indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the
good of men, and to the needs of the world.
800 Charisms are to be
accepted with gratitude by the person who receives them and by all members of
the Church as well. They are a wonderfully rich grace for the apostolic
vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ, provided they
really are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in full conformity
with authentic promptings of this same Spirit, that is, in keeping with
charity, the true measure of all charisms.
801 It is in this sense that
discernment of charisms is always necessary. No charism is exempt from being
referred and submitted to the Church's shepherds. "Their office (is) not
indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to what
is good," so that all the diverse and complementary charisms work
together "for the common good."
IN
BRIEF
802 Christ Jesus "gave
himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a
people of his own" (Titus 2:14).
803 "You are a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people" (1 Pet 2:9).
804 One enters into the People
of God by faith and Baptism. "All men are called to belong to the new
People of God" (LG 13), so that, in Christ, "men may form one family
and one People of God" (AG 1).
805 The Church is the Body of
Christ. Through the Spirit and his action in the sacraments, above all the
Eucharist, Christ, who once was dead and is now risen, establishes the
community of believers as his own Body.
806 In the unity of this
Body, there is a diversity of members and functions. All members are linked to
one another, especially to those who are suffering, to the poor and persecuted.
807 The Church is this Body
of which Christ is the head: she lives from him, in him, and for him; he lives
with her and in her.
808 The Church is the Bride
of Christ: he loved her and handed himself over for her. He has purified her by
his blood and made her the fruitful mother of all God's children.
809 The Church is the Temple
of the Holy Spirit. the Spirit is the soul, as it were, of the Mystical Body,
the source of its life, of its unity in diversity, and of the riches of its
gifts and charisms.
810 "Hence the universal
Church is seen to be 'a people brought into unity from the unity of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit'" (LG 4 citing St. Cyprian, De Dom. orat. 23:
PL 4, 553).
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Restoring
the Church
·
do
a personal eucharistic stations of the cross.
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
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