Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Exodus, Chapter 14, Verse 13
But Moses answered the people, “Do not FEAR! Stand your ground and see the victory the LORD will win for you today. For these Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again.
At Christ’s transfiguration Moses along with Elijah appeared with Him. The purpose of the transfiguration was to fortify Peter and the other apostle’s faith for pain and hopelessness they must have felt at the loss of their friend Jesus on Good Friday. They must have felt much like the throng with Moses, noted in this verse, standing by the Red Sea awaiting the certain death by the Egyptians.
I wonder did the apostles hear a quiet voice saying in their soul-Do not fear; stand your ground and see the victory of the Lord.
Blessed are the
poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Mt. 5:3)
Today
is the traditional Feast of St. Gabriel[1] and tomorrow is the Feast of the Annunciation.
St.
Gabriel's name means "God is my strength." Biblically he appears
three times as a messenger. He had been sent to Daniel to explain a vision
concerning the Messiah. He appeared to Zachary when he was offering incense in
the Temple, to foretell the birth of his son, St. John the Baptist. St. Gabriel
is most known as the angel chosen by God to be the messenger of the
Annunciation, to announce to mankind the mystery of the Incarnation.
The
angel's salutation to our Lady, so simple and yet so full of meaning, Hail
Mary, full of grace, has become the constant and familiar prayer of all
Christian people.
Patron:
Ambassadors; broadcasting; childbirth; clergy; communications; diplomats;
messengers; philatelists; postal workers; public relations; radio workers;
secular clergy; stamp collectors; telecommunications; Portugal; Archdiocese of
Seattle, Washington.
Symbols:
Archangel; sceptre and lily; MR or AM shield; lantern; mirror; olive branch;
scroll with words Ave Maria Gratia Plena; Resurrection trumpet; shield;
spear; lily; symbolic colors, silver or blue.
Menu: March 24th,
Feast of St. Gabriel the Archangel (Trad.)[2]
- Upcoming From Thy Bounty Fair: Angels
(With ideas and suggestions!)
- Angel Curls Cookies
- From Thy Bounty Fair - Feasting with the
Angels!
- Lily Sandwiches
(The Lily is a symbol of St. Gabriel)
- Blessed Mary Mother of God Brownies
(The Fleur-de-lis is a symbol of St. Gabriel)
Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent[3]
Prayer.
O
God, Who renewest the world by unspeakable mysteries, grant, we beseech Thee,
that Thy Church may profit by Thy eternal institutions, and not be deprived of
Thy temporal assistance. Amen
EPISTLE,
Kings xvii. 17-24.
In
those days the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick, and the
sickness was very grievous, so that there was no breath left in him. And she
said to Elias: What have I to do with thee, thou man of God? art thou come to
me that my iniquities should be remembered, and that thou shouldst kill my son?
And Elias said to her: Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom and
carried him into the upper chamber where he abode and laid him upon his own
bed. And he cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord my God, hast Thou afflicted
also the widow, with whom I am after a sort maintained, so as to kill her son?
And he stretched, and measured himself upon the child three times, and cried to
the Lord, and said: O Lord my God, let the soul of this child, I beseech Thee,
return into his body. And the Lord heard the voice of Elias: and the soul of
the child returned into him, and he revived. And Elias took the child and
brought him down from the upper chamber to the house below, and delivered him
to his mother, and said to her: Behold thy son liveth. And the woman said to
Elias: Now, by this I know that thou art a man of God, and the word of the Lord
in thy mouth is true.
GOSPEL.
John xi. 1-45.
At that time: There was a certain
man sick named Lazarus, of Bethania, of the town of Mary and of Martha her
sister. (And Mary was she that anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His
feet with her hair: whose brother Lazarus was sick.) His sisters therefore sent
to Him, saying: Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick. And Jesus hearing
it, said to them: This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God:
that the Son of God may be glorified by it. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her
sister Mary, and Lazarus. "When He had heard therefore that he was sick,
He still remained in the same place two days: then after that He said to His
disciples: Let us go into Judea again. The disciples say to Him: Rabbi, the
Jews but now sought to stone Thee: and goest Thou thither again? Jesus
answered: Are there not twelve hours of the day? If a man walks in the day, he
stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world: but if he walks in the
night, he stumbleth, because the light is not in him. These things He said, and
after that He said to them: Lazarus our friend sleepeth: but I go that I may
awake him out of sleep. His disciples therefore said: Lord, if he sleeps, he
shall do well. But Jesus spoke of his death; and they thought that He spoke of
the repose of sleep. Then therefore Jesus said to them plainly: Lazarus is dead;
and I am glad for your sakes, that I was not there, that you may believe but
let us go to him. Thomas, therefore, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow
disciples: Let us also go, that we may die with Him. Jesus therefore came and
found that he had been four days already in the grave. (Now Bethania was near
Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off.) And many of the Jews were come to
Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. Martha, therefore,
as soon as she heard that Jesus was come, went to meet Him; but Mary sat at
home. Martha therefore said to Jesus: Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother
had not died. But now also I know that whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God
will give it Thee. Jesus saith to her: Thy brother shall rise again. Martha
saith to Him: I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last
day. Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth
in Me although he be dead, shall live and everyone that liveth and believeth in
Me, shall not die forever. Believest thou this? She saith to Him: Yea, Lord, I
have believed that Thou art Christ the Son of the living God, Who art come into
this world. And when she had said these things, she went, and called her sister
Mary secretly, saying: The Master is come and calleth for thee. She, as soon as
she heard this, riseth quickly and cometh to Him. For Jesus was not yet come
into the town: but He was still in that place where Martha had met Him. The
Jews, therefore, who were with her in the house and comforted her, when they
saw Mary that she rose up speedily and went out, followed her, saying: She
goeth to the grave, to weep there. When Mary therefore was come where Jesus
was, seeing Him, she fell down at His feet, and saith to Him: Lord, if Thou hadst
been here, my brother had not died. Jesus, therefore, when He saw her weeping,
and the Jews that were come with her, weeping, groaned in the spirit, and
troubled Himself, and said: Where have you laid him? They said to Him: Lord,
come and see. And Jesus wept. The Jews therefore said: Behold how He loved him.
Biit some of them said: Could not He that opened the eyes of the man born
blind, have caused that this man should not die? Jesus therefore again groaning
in Himself cometh to the sepulcher: now it was a cave; and a stone was laid
over it. Jesus saith: Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was
dead, saith to Him: Lord, by this time he stinketh. for he is now of four days.
Jesus saith to her: Did not I say to thee, that if thou believe, thou shalt see
the glory of God? They took therefore the stone away. And Jesus lifting up His
eyes said: Father, I give Thee thanks that Thou hast heard Me. And I knew that
Thou hearest Me always, but because of the people who stand about have I said
it: that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me. When He had said these
things, He cried with a loud voice: Lazarus, come forth. And presently he that
had been dead came forth, bound feet and hands with winding-bands, and his face
was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said to them: Loose him and let him go.
Many therefore of the Jews who were come to Mary and Martha, and had seen the
things that Jesus did, believed in Him.
Preparing
for Battle[4] Know Your Weapons-fasting.
When God’s people fast, the power of their prayers is
increased, especially when they are engaged in spiritual warfare.
In response to Daniel’s fasting and prayer, God had
sent the Archangel Michael to battle a demonic power (called “the prince of the
kingdom of Persia”)
If prayer is a spiritual weapon, fasting is the
spiritual whetstone on which it is sharpened.
World Tuberculosis Day[5]
World Tuberculosis Day, also known as World TB Day, seeks to raise awareness for Tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a bacterial infectious disease that affects the lungs. It is estimated that in 2014, 9.6 million people fell ill with Tuberculosis and 1.5 million died from the disease. World Tuberculosis Day is a World Health Organization holiday that is observed annually on March 24. The celebratory date commemorates the discovery of Tuberculosis bacteria by Dr. Koch in 1882.
World
Tuberculosis Day Facts & Quotes
·
Tuberculosis
is the leading killer of HIV/AIDS-positive people.
·
The
tuberculosis death rate dropped 47% between 1990 and 2015. The disease is
treatable with a six-month course of antibiotics.
·
Tuberculosis
occurs in every part of the world. The largest number of cases in the world
occur in India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, China and South Africa.
· The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted. - Mother Theresa
"Imagination is more important than knowledge..."[6]
Spoken by Albert Einstein but proven by Boyce Luther Gully.
The reality of dying was
thrust upon Boyce Gully in his prime. Choosing not to live a life of quiet
desperation awaiting the end, he ran away from home, family and friends. Those
were sad but wondrous times of soul searching and physical creativity. In his
heart was permanently etched the vision of those precious moments when he and
his little girl, Mary Lou, built sandcastles on the beach in Seattle. How she
would cry when the tide washed them away. “Please, Daddy, build me a big and
strong castle someday that I can live in. Maybe you ought to build it on the
desert where there is no water.” He would just smile. Perhaps, it wasn’t a
coincidence that he migrated to Arizona. He built Mary Lou a native stone
castle - eighteen rooms, thirteen fireplaces, parapets and many charming nooks
and crannies, then furnished it with southwestern antiques. Boyce Gully died in
1945 before he could send for his family. His “princess” was an adult when she
moved into her “castle” and began living her fairy tale, perpetuating her
dream. She shared her “home” by giving guided tours of her beloved Mystery
Castle until her death in 2010.
Today, the castle remains open for tours from October through May. The Mystery Castle Foundation, a 501c3 organization maintains the property so that future generations can share in the history and magic that is My Mystery Castle.
Fitness Friday
Recognizing that God, the Father created man on Friday the 6th day I propose in this blog to have an entry that shares on how to recreate and renew yourself in strength, mind, soul and heart.
German Volume
Training[7]
It's brutally hard, but I've found it to be an effective way to pack on muscle fast! In strength-coaching circles, this method is often called the Ten Sets Method. Supersets and trisets allow you to perform a lot of work in a short period of time. The rest-pause method allows you to use heavier weights, so you can recruit the higher threshold muscle fibers, and eccentric training enables you to overcome strength plateaus. The bottom line is that almost any training method will work—provided you do it with intensity—at least for the few weeks it takes for your body to adapt to it. There is, however, one training system that stands above all the rest. It's brutally hard, but I've found it to be a very effective way to pack on muscle fast! In strength-coaching circles, this method is often called the Ten Sets Method. Because it has its roots in German-speaking countries, I like to call it German Volume Training. To the best of my knowledge, this training system originated in Germany in the mid-'70s and was popularized by Rolf Feser, who was then the National Coach of Weightlifting. A similar protocol was promoted by Vince Gironda in the U.S., but regardless of who actually invented it, it works. In Germany, the Ten Sets Method was used in the off-season to help weightlifters gain lean body mass. It was so efficient that lifters routinely moved up a full weight class within 12 weeks. It was the base program of Canadian weightlifter Jacques Demers, Silver Medallist in the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Jacques was known in weightlifting circles for his massive thighs, and he gives credit to the German method for achieving such a spectacular level of hypertrophy. The same method was also used by Bev Francis in her early days of bodybuilding to pack on muscle.
The program works because
it targets a group of motor units, exposing them to an extensive volume of
repeated efforts, specifically, 10 sets of a single exercise. The body adapts
to the extraordinary stress by hypertrophying the targeted fibers. To say this
program adds muscle fast is probably an understatement. Gains of 10 pounds or
more in six weeks are not uncommon, even in experienced lifters!
Goals & Guidelines
The goal of the German
Volume Training method is to complete ten sets of ten reps with the same weight
for each exercise. You want to begin with a weight you could lift for 20 reps
to failure if you had to. For most people, on most exercises, that would
represent 60% of their 1RM load. Therefore, if you can bench press 300 pounds
for 1 rep, you would use 180 pounds for this exercise.
For lifters new to this
method, I recommend using the following body-part splits:
Body-Part
Splits
·
Day 1: Chest & Back
·
Day 2: Legs & Abs
·
Day 3: Off
·
Day 4: Arms & Shoulders
·
Day 5: Off
When using this program or
any other, you should keep a detailed journal of the exact sets/reps and rest
intervals performed, and only count the repetitions completed in strict form.
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART FOUR: CHRISTIAN PRAYER
SECTION ONE-PRAYER IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
CHAPTER ONE-THE REVELATION OF PRAYER - THE
UNIVERSAL CALL TO PRAYER
Article 3-IN THE AGE
OF THE CHURCH
2623 On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of the Promise was
poured out on the disciples, gathered "together in one place." While
awaiting the Spirit, "all these with one accord devoted themselves to
prayer." The Spirit who teaches the Church and recalls for her
everything that Jesus said was also to form her in the life of prayer.
2624 In the first community of Jerusalem, believers
"devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the
breaking of bread, and the prayers." This sequence is characteristic
of the Church's prayer: founded on the apostolic faith; authenticated by
charity; nourished in the Eucharist.
2625 In the first place these are prayers that the faithful
hear and read in the Scriptures, but also that they make their own - especially
those of the Psalms, in view of their fulfillment in Christ. The Holy
Spirit, who thus keeps the memory of Christ alive in his Church at prayer, also
leads her toward the fullness of truth and inspires new formulations expressing
the unfathomable mystery of Christ at work in his Church's life, sacraments,
and mission. These formulations are developed in the great liturgical and
spiritual traditions. the forms of prayer revealed in the apostolic and
canonical Scriptures remain normative for Christian prayer.
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: Protection
of Life from Conception until natural death.
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
· Make reparations to the Holy Face
·
30
Days with St. Joseph Day 5
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