Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of
Easter
Matthew,
Chapter 10, verse 26
“Therefore,
do not be AFRAID of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be
revealed, nor secret that will not be known.
Christ’s message here is to have courage under persecution. Yes, if they killed Christ what will they do to us. Look at what is going on in the Middle East, there is no doubt it will be here, but Christ reassures us to do not be afraid. In Acts 8:1-8 we see that there was a severe persecution of the followers of Christ in Jerusalem promulgated by Saul, who by the grace of God was converted and became the apostle to the gentiles Paul. We must not give up hope and we must pray for our persecutors; perhaps Christ will send us another Paul.
Therefore, do not be
afraid, for everyone who believes in the Son has eternal life, and Christ has
told us the He will raise us on the last day. (John 6:40)
For as the heavens are high above the earth, so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he put our transgressions from us.
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART
FOUR: CHRISTIAN PRAYER
SECTION TWO-THE LORD'S PRAYER
Article 3-THE SEVEN PETITIONS
I. "Hallowed be Thy Name"
2807 The term "to hallow" is to be understood here
not primarily in its causative sense (only God hallows, makes holy), but above
all in an evaluative sense: to recognize as holy, to treat in a holy way. and
so, in adoration, this invocation is sometimes understood as praise and
thanksgiving. But this petition is here taught to us by Jesus as an
optative: a petition, a desire, and an expectation in which God and man are
involved. Beginning with this first petition to our Father, we are immersed in
the innermost mystery of his Godhead and the drama of the salvation of our
humanity. Asking the Father that his name be made holy draws us into his plan
of loving kindness for the fullness of time, "according to his purpose
which he set forth in Christ," that we might "be holy and blameless
before him in love."
2808 In the decisive moments of his economy God reveals his
name, but he does so by accomplishing his work. This work, then, is realized
for us and in us only if his name is hallowed by us and in us.
2809 The holiness of God is the inaccessible center of his
eternal mystery. What is revealed of it in creation and history, Scripture
calls "glory," the radiance of his majesty. In making man in his
image and likeness, God "crowned him with glory and honor," but by
sinning, man fell "short of the glory of God." From that time
on, God was to manifest his holiness by revealing and giving his name, in order
to restore man to the image of his Creator.
2810 In the promise to Abraham and the oath that accompanied
it, God commits himself but without disclosing his name. He begins to
reveal it to Moses and makes it known clearly before the eyes of the whole
people when he saves them from the Egyptians: "he has triumphed
gloriously." From the covenant of Sinai onwards, this people is
"his own" and it is to be a "holy (or "consecrated":
the same word is used for both in Hebrew) nation," because the name
of God dwells in it.
2811 In spite of the holy Law that again and again their Holy
God gives them - "You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy"
- and although the Lord shows patience for the sake of his name, the people
turn away from the Holy One of Israel and profane his name among the nations. For
this reason the just ones of the old covenant, the poor survivors returned from
exile, and the prophets burned with passion for the name.
2812 Finally, in Jesus the name of the Holy God is revealed and
given to us, in the flesh, as Savior, revealed by what he is, by his word, and
by his sacrifice. This is the heart of his priestly prayer: "Holy
Father . . . for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be
consecrated in truth." Because he "sanctifies" his own
name, Jesus reveals to us the name of the Father. At the end of Christ's
Passover, the Father gives him the name that is above all names: "Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
2813 In the waters of Baptism, we have been "washed . . .
sanctified . . . justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the
Spirit of our God." Our Father calls us to holiness in the whole of
our life, and since "he is the source of (our) life in Christ Jesus, who
became for us wisdom from God, and . . .sanctification," both his
glory and our life depend on the hallowing of his name in us and by us. Such is
the urgency of our first petition.
By whom is God hallowed, since he
is the one who hallows? But since he said, "You shall be holy to me; for I
the LORD am holy," we seek and ask that we who were sanctified in Baptism
may persevere in what we have begun to be. and we ask this daily, for we need
sanctification daily, so that we who fail daily may cleanse away our sins by
being sanctified continually.... We pray that this sanctification may remain in
us.
2814 The sanctification of his name among the nations depends
inseparably on our life and our prayer:
We ask God to hallow his name,
which by its own holiness saves and makes holy all creation .... It is this
name that gives salvation to a lost world. But we ask that this name of God
should be hallowed in us through our actions. For God's name is blessed when we
live well, but is blasphemed when we live wickedly. As the Apostle says:
"The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." We
ask then that, just as the name of God is holy, so we may obtain his holiness
in our souls.
When we say "hallowed be thy name," we ask that it should be hallowed
in us, who are in him; but also in others whom God's grace still awaits, that we
may obey the precept that obliges us to pray for everyone, even our enemies.
That is why we do not say expressly "hallowed be thy name 'in us,"'
for we ask that it be so in all men.
2815 This petition embodies all the others. Like the six
petitions that follow, it is fulfilled by the prayer of Christ. Prayer to our
Father is our prayer, if it is prayed in the name of Jesus. In his
priestly prayer, Jesus asks: "Holy Father, protect in your name those whom
you have given me."
PRAYERS AND TEACHINGS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
Prayer
to Saint Joseph
St. Joseph, you are the chaste and loving spouse of the Virgin Mary, the
foster father of Jesus, the protector and provider of the Holy family and all
families. We have complete confidence in your loving care for new life and in
your fidelity to the family. We commend our efforts to your prayers and
protection. Help us always to defend the gift of human life that it may grow to
the abundance of eternal life promised and bestowed on us by your son, our
brother, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: Restoring
the Church
·
Catholic
Activity: Religion in the Home for Preschool: May
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face-Tuesday
Devotion
·
Pray Day 6 of
the Novena for our Pope and Bishops
·
Tuesday:
Litany of St. Michael the Archangel
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
· Make reparations to the Holy Face
Comments
Post a Comment