Friday, November 25, 2022
TREATISES
ON LOVE
A
Soul at Peace is better able to focus on Love.
NOVEMBER 25 Black Friday
ST. CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA
John, Chapter 3, Verse 16
For God so LOVED the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.
A
few years ago, I was assigned jury duty and while on the way to the court I saw
spray painted John 3:16 and I thought I know that verse and
said it in my head. That morning at court my group was not selected for the
morning session, and we were released for lunch. I thought maybe today I will
skip lunch and go to the Basilica for Mass. I had for some time now been very
unhappy with my place of employment and thought perhaps the Lord will give me
some direction. The Basilica was the same church that Saint Pope John Paul II
said his Mass in Phoenix when he was there. To my surprise the Mass was a
memorial Mass for the anniversary of the death of Saint John Paul II and the
reading during the Mass was John 3:16. I said to myself recognizing the Holy
Spirit, “Speak Lord your servant is listening”. I thought well I am unhappy at
work and John Paul II was a great teacher perhaps I am to become a teacher
again. I immediately went over to the Diocese office to pursue a teaching job,
but the doors were locked. I thought ok Lord maybe not and started walking back
to the courthouse for the afternoon session. On the way my mind was filled with
questions about where the Lord is taking me when all of the sudden a bum walked
up to me and handed me a “Chick” publication. I opened it and the first verse I
seen was John 3:16. Ever since that day I still am looking for what the Lord
was trying to tell me that day. Perhaps it is simply. I love you. Love and be loved.
Black Friday
Black Friday is
one of the busiest shopping days in the United States. It is marked by massive
crowds and discounted prices that mean the beginning of the Christmas shopping
season. Black Friday events in the United States date back to 1932. There are two ideas as to the origin of the
name Black Friday, the first one is thought to have originated in Philadelphia,
where it was used to describe the burden of traffic that left black track marks
on roads. The second claims that Black
Friday may also have stemmed from business accounting in the 1930s. During this time, businesses noted losses
using red ink and their profits in black ink.
Therefore, Black Friday may have been used to imply that businesses
became profitable on this day as they go from being in the red to the black.
Black Friday is the fourth Friday of November or the day after Thanksgiving Day
in the US.
Black Friday Facts
& Quotes
• According to IBM, for the first time
in history smartphones and tablets outpaced desktop computers for generating
consumer traffic to websites during Black Friday in 2015.
• According to consumerreports.org,
heavily discounted televisions and other electronic items sold on Black Friday
can be derivative models. Derivatives
are products that have been manufactured specifically for sale at events like
Black Friday. These products vary in
specifications, quality and have less features than standard merchandise sold
all-year long.
• Mall of America located in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the largest mall in the US with 4,870,000 square
feet retail space and more than 520 stores. The mall is also home to the
largest indoor amusement park in the US.
• With a net worth of more than $136
billion, the six @Wal-Mart heirs own more wealth than the bottom 42% of
Americans. #BlackFriday , @Walmart shouldn’t be allowed to pay workers wages so
low that many qualify for Medicaid, food stamps, and government housing.
#BlackFriday . - Tweets by Senator Bernie Sanders in 2015
Black Friday Top
Events and Things to Do
• Thanksgiving is a time to express
gratitude. Given that Black Friday
follows Thanksgiving Day, use this day to spread gratitude and cheer to
others. If you have leftover turkey from
Thanksgiving Day, then use it to make sandwiches. You and your family can deliver these to the
homeless people in your community.
• Hours before Black Friday sales, most
retailers send emails and secret offers to their subscribers. Sign up and subscribe to your favorite
retailers mailing list before this date.
Most stores will also send coupons specifically to use for Black Friday.
• Make sure you have sufficient funds
in cash or on credit cards. Given that
many will be shopping on Black Friday, ATM machines may run out of funds or
bank networks can be down intermittently.
Make sure to carry some cash in case this happens.
• In 2015, more than 11 states across
the U.S. provided free access to State Parks.
Rather than Black Friday shopping, explore the great outdoors with free
passes to State Parks. Our top parks
picks:
1)
Olympic Park, Washington
2)
Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California
3)
Nickerson State Park, Massachusetts
• Carpool or take an Uber to your
favorite shopping destination. There
will be limited parking space available on Black Friday and some bus routes
will be operating on a holiday schedule.
St. Catherine of Alexandria
The account of her martyrdom is legendary and defies every attempt to cull out the historical kernel. Old Oriental sources make no mention of her. In the West her cult does not appear before the eleventh century, when the crusaders made it popular. She became the patroness of philosophical faculties; she is one of the "Fourteen Holy Helpers." The breviary offers the following:
Catherine, virgin of Alexandria, devoted herself to the pursuit of knowledge; at the age of eighteen, she surpassed all her contemporaries in science. Upon seeing how the Christians were being tortured, she went before Emperor Maximin (311-313), upbraided him for his cruelty, and with convincing reasons demonstrated the need of Christian faith in order to be saved. Astounded by her wisdom, the Emperor ordered her to be kept confined, and having summoned the most learned philosophers, promised them magnificent rewards if they could confound the virgin and turn her from belief in Christ. Far from being successful, a considerable number of the philosophers were inflamed by the sound reasons and persuasiveness of Catherine's speech with such a love for Jesus Christ that they declared themselves willing to offer their lives for the Gospel.
Then the Emperor attempted to win her by flattery and by promises, but his efforts proved equally fruitless. He ordered her whipped with rods, scourged with leaden nodules, and then left to languish eleven days without food in prison. The Emperor's wife and Porphyrius, general of the army, visited Catherine in prison; her words brought both to Christ and later they too proved their love in blood. Catherine's next torture consisted of being placed upon a wheel with sharp and pointed knives; from her lacerated body prayers ascended to heaven and the infernal machine fell to pieces. Many who witnessed the miracle embraced the faith. Finally, on November 25 Christ's servant was beheaded (307 or 312). By the hands of angels her body was carried to Mt. Sinai, where it was interred in the convent which bears her name.
Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch.
Patron: Apologists; craftsmen who work with a wheel (potters; spinners; etc.); archivists; attorneys; barristers; dying people; educators; girls; jurists; knife grinders; knife sharpeners; lawyers; librarians; libraries; maidens; mechanics; millers; nurses; old maids; philosophers; potters; preachers; scholars; schoolchildren; scribes; secretaries; spinners; spinsters; stenographers; students; tanners; teachers; theologians; turners; unmarried girls; wheelwrights.
Things to Do:
- St. Catherine was invoked by
young girls seeking husbands. If you have children, you could use this
feast to discuss the qualities of a good spouse. You could bake St.
Catherine's wigs and have your discussion as part of the fun (a spoon
full of sugar).
- Read more about St.
Catherine.
- St. Catherine's remains are in St. Katherine's Monastery on Mt. Sinai. The Monastery, a 1,600-year-old fortress at the base of Mt. Sinai, is inhabited by Coptic monks (not in union with Rome). Inside the chapel is believed to be the Burning Bush, through which God first appeared to Moses. Read more about the history of the Church of Alexandria and the Council of Chalcedon where the Coptic Church broke from the bark of Peter and pray for the reunion of all Eastern Churches under the Pope.
Octave of Christ the King
·
Meditate
on the virtues of Mary (Humility, Generosity, Chastity, Patience, Temperance, Understanding/love and Wisdom. One for each day.
·
attend
Mass daily or via EWTN or the internet
·
Fast
doing the Daniel fast (Monday-Saturday).
·
Exercise-Universal Man Plan.
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST
SECTION ONE-MAN'S VOCATION LIFE IN THE
SPIRIT
CHAPTER THREE-GOD'S SALVATION: LAW AND
GRACE
Article
1-THE MORAL LAW
1950 The moral law is the work of divine Wisdom. Its biblical
meaning can be defined as fatherly instruction, God's pedagogy. It prescribes
for man the ways, the rules of conduct that lead to the promised beatitude; it
proscribes the ways of evil which turn him away from God and his love. It is at
once firm in its precepts and, in its promises, worthy of love.
1951 Law is a rule of conduct enacted by competent authority for
the sake of the common good. the moral law presupposes the rational order,
established among creatures for their good and to serve their final end, by the
power, wisdom, and goodness of the Creator. All law finds its first and
ultimate truth in the eternal law. Law is declared and established by reason as
a participation in the providence of the living God, Creator and Redeemer of
all. "Such an ordinance of reason is what one calls law."
Alone among all animate beings, man can boast of having been
counted worthy to receive a law from God: as an animal endowed with reason,
capable of understanding and discernment, he is to govern his conduct by using
his freedom and reason, in obedience to the One who has entrusted everything to
him.
1952 There are different expressions of the moral law, all of them
interrelated: eternal law - the source, in God, of all law; natural law;
revealed law, comprising the Old Law and the New Law, or Law of the Gospel;
finally, civil and ecclesiastical laws.
1953 The moral law finds its fullness and its unity in Christ.
Jesus Christ is in person the way of perfection. He is the end of the law, for
only he teaches and bestows the justice of God: "For Christ is the end of
the law, that everyone who has faith may be justified."
Daily
Devotions/Practice
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: The
sanctification of the Church Militant.
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
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