Monday Night at the Movies
holy spouses-Capt. kangaroo
Acts, Chapter 28, Verse 20
This is the reason, then, I have
requested to see you and to speak with you, for it is on account of the HOPE of Israel that I wear these
chains.”
The
hope of Israel is of course the messiah. Paul is trying to show to the Jews in
Rome that Jesus was indeed the hope of Israel. Paul states that he is wearing
chains yet later in Acts it states he has his own house and seems to be quite
free. One must conclude that he may have been speaking metaphorically for later
Paul quotes Isaiah 6:
Go and say to this people: Listen carefully, but do
not understand! Look intently, but do not perceive! Make the heart of this
people sluggish, dull their ears and close their eyes; lest they see with their
eyes, and hear with their ears, and their heart understand, and they turn and
be healed.
I
see in this verse that Paul may be saying that the Jews did not recognize
Christ because they may have been in the habit of saying the Shema Israel every
morning yet in the end failing to live it.
Hear, O
Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God
with all your Heart1, and with all your soul2, and with
your entire mind3, and with all your strength4.
1. Love
with all your Heart: “their heart
understand, and they turn and be healed.” (Accept Christ as messiah)
2. with all
your soul: “Look intently, but do not
perceive!” (Eyes are the window of the soul).
3. with
your entire mind: “and their heart
understand”
4. with all
your strength: “the heart of this people
sluggish, dull their ears and close their eyes.”
Paul
then said to the Roman Jews: “Let it be known to you that this salvation of God
has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”
Four
Pillars[1]
We must be prayerful, and we can look to the example of the early Church.
"They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles.
1. [Creed] and to the communal life
2.[Morality], to the breaking of the bread
3.[Sacraments] and to the prayers
4.[Prayer]" (Acts 2:42).
These four pillars of the Catechism
of the Catholic Church are based on the life of the early Church. We can
see these aspects of a holy life pre-figured in the Old Testament: the Shema,
the preeminent belief of the Hebrew people that God is one (Dt 6:42); the Ten
Commandments; the Passover; and the Psalms. These four pillars of the Catholic
faith are not to be assimilated consecutively: they must be encompassed simultaneously. Our Christian lives must be integrated. Our prayer lives
cannot be properly formed unless we infuse into them what we believe, how we
worship, and how we behave. And how does our lived experience of all four
pillars take root in our lives? Love! The Catechism says that all
doctrine is directed to the love that never ends (CCC, no. 25).
Purgatory
is Temporary[2]
Purgatory is not eternal. Its duration varies according to the sentence pronounced at each particular judgment. It may be prolonged for centuries in the case of the guiltier souls, or of those who, being excluded from the Catholic communion, are deprived of the suffrages of the Church, although by the divine mercy they have escaped hell. But the end of the world, which will be also the end of time, will close forever the place of temporary expiation. God will know how to reconcile His justice and His goodness in the purification of the last members of the human race, and to supply by the intensity of the expiatory suffering what may be wanting in duration. But, whereas a favorable sentence at the particular judgment admits of eternal beatitude being suspended and postponed and leaves the bodies of the elect to the same fate as those of the reprobate; at the universal judgment, every sentence, whether for heaven or for hell, will be absolute, and will be executed immediately and completely. Let us, then, live in expectation of the solemn hour, when "the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God." He that is to come will come, and will not delay, as the Doctor of the Gentiles reminds us; His arrival will be sudden, as that of a thief, we are told, not only by St. Paul, but also by the prince of the apostles and the beloved disciple; and these in turn are but echoing the words of our Lord Himself: "As lightning cometh out of the east and appears even unto the west: so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be."
Even though I walk in the dark valley I
fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me
courage.
Things to Do
·
Say a prayer for the Poor Souls; for instance,
recite the Little Litany of the Holy Souls.
·
Offer up some small sacrifice for the relief of
the most abandoned soul. "It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to
pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins" (Mc. 12:46).
Feast of The Holy Spouses[3]
While there
have been feasts of Mary and Joseph as individual saints, and more recently
also a feast of the Holy Family, no feast honoring their marriage has entered
into the universal liturgical calendar of the Church. At least as early as 1413
Jean Gerson had proposed the Feast of the Betrothal. It was introduced into the
missal for the cathedral of Chartres in 1482 and by the Franciscans and Servite’s
in 1537 and thereafter by many other particular liturgical calendars. Saint
Joseph Marello (canonized on November 25, 2001) also introduced it into the
congregation he founded, the Oblates of St. Joseph. The feast had become so
widespread that it was included in the universal Roman Missal under the section
pro aliquibus locis, when in 1961 the revision of the universal liturgical
calendar suppressed such particular feasts, requiring their reintroduction by
groups wishing to preserve them. In 1989 the feast of The Holy Spouses, Mary
and Joseph, was reintroduced into the proper calendar of the Oblates of St. Joseph,
with its proper texts for Mass and for the Liturgy of the Hours. (In 1991 Fr.
Juan Antonio Morán, M.J., in El Salvador also prepared a Mass text for private
use for November 26, when married couples were also invited to renew their
vows.)
The approved
texts for the Oblate version of the Mass are as follows:
·
Entrance
Antiphon: Hail
Mary, Mother of God, united by a sacred bond to Joseph, faithful guardian of
your virginal motherhood.
·
Opening
Prayer: Holy
Father, you joined together by a virginal bond the glorious Mother of your Son
and the just man, Saint Joseph, that they might be faithful cooperators in the
mystery of the Word Incarnate. Grant that we who are united with you by the
bond of baptism may live more intimately in our union with Christ and may walk
more joyfully in the way of love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ….
·
Readings: Isaiah 61:9-11; Galatians 4:4-7;
Luke 2:41-52.
·
Prayer
over the Gifts:
Lord, look graciously upon the gifts which we present at your altar on the
Feast of the Holy Spouses, Mary and Joseph, and enkindle in us the spirit of
your love.
·
Preface: Father, all-powerful and
ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks through
Jesus Christ our Lord. You give the Church the joy of celebrating the feast of
the Holy Spouses, Mary and Joseph: in her, full of grace and worthy Mother of
your Son, you signify the beginning of the Church, resplendently beautiful
bride of Christ; you chose him, the wise and faithful servant, as Husband of
the Virgin Mother of God, and made him head of your family to guard as a father
your only Son, conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, our
Lord. For this gift of your kindness, we join….
·
Communion
Antiphon: Joseph,
son of David, have no fear about taking Mary as your wife. It is by the Holy
Spirit that she has conceived this child.
·
Prayer
after Communion:
Lord, by your holy gifts you have filled us with joy. By venerating the Blessed
Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, her spouse, may we be strengthened in your love-
and live-in continual thanksgiving.
While the feast is celebrated on January 23 in all Oblate houses for all the faithful, the recent emphasis in the Holy Spouses Province of the Oblates of St. Joseph has been to extend a particular invitation to married and engaged couples. They are invited to look to Mary and Joseph as patrons and intercessors for their marriage, and to take them as the model husband and wife to strive to imitate in loving one another selflessly as spouses. Mary and Joseph may be shown to exemplify the two inseparable ends of marriage, love and life, and to refute the mentality of contraception and divorce.
Be a good husbandman[4]
All men are called by God to be husbandmen. Some are called to the priesthood and they may hear Christ saying to them:
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Mt. 4:19)
Others
are called to the single life and they may serve the Lord via their work and
there are those who are called to the married life, but all are husbandmen.
What makes a good husbandman?
Let
us look at St. Joseph as an example of a good husbandman.
·
St.
Joseph in all his dealings was humble.
·
He
was the provider and protector of Mary and Jesus
·
full
of zeal and great courage,
·
Obedient to the will of
God. Yet he was not rash; and with prudence
pondered.
·
His
decisions trusting in divine providence.
·
He
was a model of workers and
·
an
example of married life and chaste love.
·
He
valued prayer and the hidden life.
·
He
was ready for the call of a neighbor
or to the call of God;
·
He
gave an immediate response.
·
His
was a life of sacrifice; his was a life
of simplicity.
To
be a good husbandman is to:
“Do the ordinary in an extraordinary way.”
Life First[5] 9 Days
for Life
9 Days for Life is a "digital
pilgrimage" of prayer and action focused on cherishing the gift of every
person's life. A multi-faceted novena highlighting a different intention each
day provides reflections, bonus information, and suggested actions. Join
to receive the novena through the 9 Days for Life app, daily emails, or daily
texts. See below for information on how else you can get involved! #9DaysforLife #OurPrayersMatter
Day Five:
Intercession: May each person suffering from the loss of a child through abortion find hope and healing in Christ.
Prayers: Our Father, 3 Hail Mary’s, Glory Be
Reflection: After more than four decades of legalized abortion, many children’s lives have been ended, and many parents and family members suffer that loss—often in silence. Yet God’s greatest desire is to forgive. No matter how far we have each strayed from His side, He says to us, “Don’t be afraid. Draw close to my heart.” Be assured that it is never too late to seek God's forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Acts
of Reparation (Choose one.)
·
Abstain
from meat today. If you are already abstaining from meat today, skip your
favorite snack, too.
·
Pray
the Chaplet of Divine Mercy (www.usccb.org/divine-mercy-chaplet) for those who are suffering the
loss of a child through abortion, asking that they find healing and peace.
· Offer some other sacrifice, prayer, or act of penance that you feel called to do for today’s intention.
Captain Kangaroo[6]
On Oct. 3, 1955, Bob Keeshan stepped onto a nautical-themed set wearing a captain's cap and a jacket with big, kangaroolike pockets. He smiled into the camera and became a television icon. Keeshan would play Captain Kangaroo for 36 years--more than 9,000 performances--to the amusement and betterment of generations of delighted children.
Keeshan died (January 23, 2004) at a hospital in Windsor, Vt., after a long illness. Though no cause of death was announced, he had suffered from cardiac problems since the 1980s. He was 76. Unmistakable with his brushy mustache and bowl haircut, the Captain passed time with his good friend Mr. Green Jeans (Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum), visited with puppet animals such as Bunny Rabbit, whom he scolded for eating too many carrots, and Mr. Moose, who loved knock-knock jokes. The animal characters were voiced by Cosmo "Gus" Allegretti. Ahead of his time in recognizing the importance of early learning, Keeshan's Captain built confidence and intellectual development in children who were having too much fun to notice the lessons. "Play is the work of children," he said. "It's very serious stuff. And if it's properly structured in a developmental program, children can blossom."
Captain Kangaroo most will remember--a grandfatherly figure (though Keeshan was just 28 at the beginning) who spoke directly to the camera, with no audience, no children in the cast, no intermediaries in the conversation he was having with his at-home viewers. "One of the reasons I work in television today," said David Kleeman, executive director of the Chicago-based American Center for Children and Media, "is because, when I was 4 or 5, I said `Hello' to Captain Kangaroo when he came on the screen, and he said `Hello' back to me. I really believed that he was talking to me. And I think he would have agreed. We're losing the generation of children's TV hosts who made a new mass medium personal--who could talk into the camera as though we were the only person on the other side."
In later life Keeshan spoke often about the importance of good parenting. `Role models' "Parents are the ultimate role models for children," he said. "Every word, movement and action has an effect. No other person or outside force has a greater influence on a child than the parent." [Emphasis added]
Keeshan
insisted that viewers must always feel special, never just part of a huge
audience. He screened advertising to assure that what he considered
exploitative commercials would never be shown. Over the years, his stewardship
of "Captain Kangaroo" was abundantly rewarded. The show won six Emmy
Awards, three Gabriel’s for "uplifting" programming from a Catholic
media group and three Peabody Awards.
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST
SECTION TWO-THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
CHAPTER ONE-YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR
GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Article 3 -THE THIRD COMMANDMENT
IN BRIEF
2189 "Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Deut
5:12). "The seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the
Lord" (Ex 31:15).
2190 The sabbath, which represented the completion of the first
creation, has been replaced by Sunday which recalls the new creation
inaugurated by the Resurrection of Christ.
2191 The Church celebrates the day of Christ's Resurrection on
the "eighth day," Sunday, which is rightly called the Lord's Day (cf
SC 106).
2192 "Sunday . . . is to be observed as the foremost holy day
of obligation in the universal Church" (CIC, can. 1246 # 1). "On
Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate
in the Mass" (CIC, can. 1247).
2193 "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the
faithful are bound . . . to abstain from those labors and business concerns
which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the
Lord's Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body" (CIC, can. 1247).
2194 The institution of Sunday helps all "to be allowed
sufficient rest and leisure to cultivate their amilial, cultural, social, and
religious lives" (GS 67 # 3).
2195 Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on
others that would hinder them from observing the Lord's Day.
Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: Increase
in the Religious and Consecrated Life.
·
Carnival: Part Two, the Final
Countdown
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face
· Monday: Litany of
Humility
·
Rosary
Day 9
Today is the Feast of the Holy Spouses and we will swap day 9 for day 12
Chasity preserves the human heart and body for authentic self-giving
[1]http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/catechesis/catechetical-sunday/prayer/teaching-aids-sr-johanna-paruch.cfm
[5]http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/january-roe-events/nine-days-of-prayer-penance-and-pilgrimage.cfm
[6]Charles Leroux, Tribune senior correspondent Chicago Tribune, January 24, 2004
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