Saturday, May 6th, 2023
First Saturday
KENTUCKY DERBY
Deuteronomy, Chapter 6, Verse 1-2
1
This then is the commandment, the statutes and the
ordinances, which the LORD, your God, has commanded that you be taught to
observe in the land you are about to cross into to possess, 2 so that you, that is, you, your
child, and your grandchild, may FEAR
the LORD, your God, by keeping, as long as you live, all his statutes and
commandments which I enjoin on you, and thus
have long life.
Those
that fear the Lord have a great love for Him. “If you love me you will keep my commandments” (Jn. 14:15)
Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly:
immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.
Because of these the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient. By these you
too once conducted yourselves, when you lived in that way. But now you must put
them all away: anger, fury, malice, slander, and obscene language out of your
mouths. Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with
its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge,
in the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and
uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all. (Col. 3:5-11)
First Saturday
Five consecutive Saturdays in reparation to
the Immaculate Heart of Mary
The practice of the First
Saturday devotion was requested by Our Lady of Fatima, who appeared to three shepherd
children in Fatima, Portugal, multiple times starting in 1917. She said to
Lucia, the oldest of the three children: “I
shall come to ask . . . that on the First Saturday of every month, Communions
of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world.” Years later she repeated her
request to Sr. Lucia, the only one still living of the three young Fatima
seers, while she was a postulant sister living in a convent in Spain: “Look, my daughter, at my Heart,
surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at very moment by
their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me and say that
I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for
salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months,
shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the rosary, and
keep me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the 15 mysteries of the
rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”
Conditions to Fulfill the First
Saturday Devotion
There are five
requirements to obtain this promise from the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On five
consecutive first Saturdays of the month, one should:
1. Have the intention of
consoling the Immaculate Heart in a spirit of reparation.
2. Go to confession
(within eight days before or after the first Saturday).
3. Receive Holy Communion.
4. Say five decades of the
Holy Rosary.
5. Meditate for 15 minutes
on the mysteries
of the Holy Rosary
with the goal
of keeping Our Lady company (for example, while in church or before an image or
statue of Our Lady).
Read How to Make
Your First Saturday Rosary Meditation According to Sr. Lucia
Why Five Saturdays?
Our Lord appeared to Sr.
Lucia on May 29, 1930, and gave her the reason behind the five Saturdays
devotion. It is because there are five types of offenses and blasphemies committed
against the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
1. Blasphemies against the
Immaculate Conception
2. Blasphemies against Our
Lady’s
perpetual virginity
3. Blasphemies
against her divine maternity, in refusing at the same time to recognize her as
the Mother of men
4. Blasphemies of
those who publicly seek to sow in the hearts of children, indifference or scorn
or even hatred of their Immaculate Mother
5. Offenses of those
who outrage Our Lady directly in her holy images
Never think that Jesus is
indifferent to whether or not His mother is honored!
Kentucky Derby[1]
The Kentucky Derby is the most popular and oldest
horse race in the world. The race is a 1.25-mile long, Grade 1 stakes
horse race for three-year-old thoroughbreds on a dirt track. It is held
annually at Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky. The Kentucky
Derby, run on the first Saturday in May of every year, is the first leg of the
elusive Triple Crown races. It is followed by the Preakness Stakes two weeks
later in Baltimore, Maryland and the Belmont Stakes, 3 weeks after the
Preakness in Elmont, New York. Meriweather Clark founded the Kentucky Derby,
which was first held in 1875. Since then, the Derby has become a day of luxury
and fashion and celebrities are often in attendance.
Kentucky Derby Facts
& Quotes
·
Over
160,000 spectators come to see the Kentucky Derby every year while millions of
others watch it on TV.
·
In
Kentucky, the equine industry generated 3 billion dollars annually and creates
55,000 jobs.
·
As
of 2015, no woman trainer or jockey has won the Kentucky Derby. Many have run
horses and ridden them, but none have won.
·
Only
12 horses have ever been able to win the Triple Crown. The most recent was
American Pharaoh in 2015. Prior to 2015, the Triple Crown hadn't been won since
1978.
Kentucky Derby Top
Events and Things to Do
·
Attend
the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky. Be careful though, tickets are very
expensive and must be purchased far in advance for the event.
·
Enjoy
a good movie about horses and horse racing. Some of our picks are: The
Cup (2011), The
First Saturday in May
(2007), Racing Stripes (2005), Seabiscuit (2003), The
Derby Stallion
(2005), Secretariat
(2010) and Dreamer
(2005).
·
Book
a horseback riding class at a local stable. Try to get a feel for what it would
be like to race that fast.
·
Plan
a Triple Crown Party. Be sure to send out invitations for the Derby, the
Preakness and the Belmont. Pick favorite horses and see who wins the home
derby. During the celebration it would be a good idea to also pray for the
pope who wears the triple crown of the church. The
Triple Crown (the tiara) represents the pope's three functions as "supreme
pastor", "supreme teacher" and "supreme priest". The
gold cross on monde (globe) surmounting the tiara symbolizes the sovereignty of
Jesus.[2]
Bless the
Animals and the Simple[3]
One day while, Mitch, a Protestant was at the track
playing the ponies and all but losing his shirt noticed a Catholic priest who
stepped out onto the track and blessed the forehead of one of the horses lining
up for the 4th race. Lo and behold, that horse – a very long shot – won the
race.
Before the next race, as the horses began lining up,
Mitch watched with interest the old priest step onto the track. Sure enough,
before the 5th race the horses came to the starting gate. The priest made a blessing
on the forehead of one of the horses. Mitch made a beeline for a betting window
and placed a small bet on the horse blessed by the priest. Again, even though
it was another long shot, the horse the priest had blessed won the race. Mitch
collected his winnings, and anxiously waited to see which horse the priest
would bless for the 6th race.
The priest again blessed a horse. Mitch bet big on it,
and it won. Mitch was elated. As the races continued the priest kept blessing
long shot horses, and each one ended up coming in first. By and by, Mitch was
pulling in some serious money. By the last race, he knew his wildest dreams
were going to come true. He made a quick dash to the ATM, withdrew all his
savings, and awaited the priest's blessing that would tell him which horse to
bet on. True to his pattern, the priest stepped onto the track for the last
race and blessed the forehead of an old nag that was the longest shot of the
day. Mitch also observed the priest blessing the eyes, ears, and hooves of the
old nag. Mitch knew he had a winner and bet every cent he owned on the old nag.
He then watched dumbfounded as the old nag come in dead last and then dropped
dead. Mitch, in a state of shock, made his way down to the track area where the
priest was. Confronting the old priest, he demanded, 'Father! What happened?
All day long you blessed horses and they all won. Then in the last race, the
horse you blessed lost by a Kentucky mile. Now, thanks to you I've lost every
cent of my savings – all of it!'. The priest nodded wisely and with sympathy.
'Son,' he said, 'that's one of the problems with you Protestants; you can't
tell the difference between a simple blessing and the Sacrament of Last Rites.'
· Kentucky
Derby-May 6th On your mark, get set … it’s off to Louisville
for the granddaddy of all horse races. In time-honored tradition, the 149th
annual Kentucky Derby -- the first leg of the Triple Crown -- kicks off the
first Saturday in May. Settle into your seat at Churchill Downs racetrack on
Central Avenue, sip a mint julep and enjoy the "Most Exciting 2 Minutes in
Sports."
o
Derby Day Turf Paradise Arizona
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART
FOUR: CHRISTIAN PRAYER
SECTION TWO-THE LORD'S PRAYER
Article 3-THE SEVEN PETITIONS
V. "And Forgive Us Our Trespasses, as We Forgive Those
Who Trespass AGAINST US"
2838 This petition is astonishing. If it consisted only of the
first phrase, "and forgive us our trespasses," it might have been
included, implicitly, in the first three petitions of the Lord's Prayer, since
Christ's sacrifice is "that sins may be forgiven." But, according to
the second phrase, our petition will not be heard unless we have first met a
strict requirement. Our petition looks to the future, but our response must
come first, for the two parts are joined by the single word "as."
and forgive us our trespasses . . .
2839 With bold confidence, we began praying to our Father. In
begging him that his name be hallowed, we were in fact asking him that we
ourselves might be always made more holy. But though we are clothed with the
baptismal garment, we do not cease to sin, to turn away from God. Now, in this
new petition, we return to him like the prodigal son and, like the tax
collector, recognize that we are sinners before him. Our petition begins
with a "confession" of our wretchedness and his mercy. Our hope is
firm because, in his Son, "we have redemption, the forgiveness of
sins." We find the efficacious and undoubted sign of his forgiveness
in the sacraments of his Church.
2840 Now - and this is daunting - this outpouring of mercy
cannot penetrate our hearts as long as we have not forgiven those who have
trespassed against us. Love, like the Body of Christ, is indivisible; we cannot
love the God we cannot see if we do not love the brother or sister we do see. In
refusing to forgive our brothers and sisters, our hearts are closed and their
hardness makes them impervious to the Father's merciful love; but in confessing
our sins, our hearts are opened to his grace.
2841 This petition is so important that it is the only one to
which the Lord returns and which he develops explicitly in the Sermon on the
Mount. This crucial requirement of the covenant mystery is impossible for
man. But "with God all things are possible."
. . . as we forgive those who trespass against us
2842 This "as" is not unique in Jesus' teaching:
"You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is
perfect"; "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful";
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I
have loved you, that you also love one another." It is impossible to
keep the Lord's commandment by imitating the divine model from outside; there
has to be a vital participation, coming from the depths of the heart, in the
holiness and the mercy and the love of our God. Only the Spirit by whom we live
can make "ours" the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. Then the
unity of forgiveness becomes possible and we find ourselves "forgiving one
another, as God in Christ forgave" us.
2843 Thus the Lord's words on forgiveness, the love that loves
to the end, become a living reality. the parable of the merciless servant,
which crowns the Lord's teaching on ecclesial communion, ends with these words:
"So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not
forgive your brother from your heart." It is there, in fact, "in
the depths of the heart," that everything is bound and loosed. It is not
in our power not to feel or to forget an offense; but the heart that offers
itself to the Holy Spirit turns injury into compassion and purifies the memory
in transforming the hurt into intercession.
2844 Christian prayer extends to the forgiveness of enemies, transfiguring
the disciple by configuring him to his Master. Forgiveness is a high-point of
Christian prayer; only hearts attuned to God's compassion can receive the gift
of prayer. Forgiveness also bears witness that, in our world, love is stronger
than sin. the martyrs of yesterday and today bear this witness to Jesus.
Forgiveness is the fundamental condition of the reconciliation of the children
of God with their Father and of men with one another.
2845 There is no limit or measure to this essentially divine
forgiveness, whether one speaks of "sins" as in Luke ( 11:4),
"debts" as in Matthew (6:12). We are always debtors: "Owe no one
anything, except to love one another." The communion of the Holy
Trinity is the source and criterion of truth in every relation ship. It is
lived out in prayer, above all in the Eucharist.
God does not accept the sacrifice
of a sower of disunion, but commands that he depart from the altar so that he
may first be reconciled with his brother. For God can be appeased only by
prayers that make peace. To God, the better offering is peace, brotherly
concord, and a people made one in the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit.
PRAYERS AND TEACHINGS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
Prayer to Patron Saint
Great Saint N., who at my
baptism was chosen as my guardian and under whose patronage I became an adopted
child of God and solemnly renounced Satan, his works and allurements, assist me
by your powerful intercession in the fulfillment of these sacred promises. Amen
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: Authentic
Feminism
· Saturday Litany of the Hours
Invoking the Aid of Mother Mary
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
· Make reparations to the Holy Face
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