Friday of the Seventh Week of
Easter
Deuteronomy, Chapter 20, Verse 8
The officials shall
continue to speak to the army: “Is there anyone who is afraid and weakhearted?
Let him return home, or else he might make the hearts of his fellows melt as
his does.”
Fear begets fear and Faith
begets faith. Remember everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle and carrying
a heavy load.
Do not fear and continue
in faith with our fathers knowing that St. Michael, the archangel, is the
guardian angel and protector of the Catholic Church.
Some people believe we are
on the cusp of the end times. Pope Leo XIII[1] by divine enlightenment was revealed
the struggles of the Church against the powers of hell and it was opened to him
that hell would be conquered by the intervention of God led by St. Michael the
warrior angel. Pope Leo instituted the prayer of St. Michael after Mass.
Saint Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into Hell, Satan and all the other evil spirits, who prowl throughout the world, seeking the ruin of souls. Amen
Yet, do not fear the end times nor the devil and his cohorts for each time
you receive communion you are empowered more than they!
Apostolic Exhortation[2]
Veneremur
Cernui – Down in Adoration Falling
of The Most
Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix,
to Priests, Deacons, Religious and the Lay Faithful of the Diocese of Phoenix
on the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist
My beloved Brothers and
Sisters in Christ,
I. The Graces of Holy Communion
ii. We become “One Body and One
Spirit in Christ.”
43. The “re-education camp”
divided the prisoners into groups of fifty who slept on the floor as their bed.
Each man had a foot and a half wide space. Of the fifty prisoners with Cardinal
Van Thuan, only five others were Christians. With the cooperation of the
non-Christian prisoners, they made arrangements so that at night they would be
near each other. When lights went out at 9:30, then he quietly said Mass and
distributed Communion to the Catholics. He kept one consecrated Host always in
his shirt pocket. During the night, the prisoners took turns for adoration.
During the day, even amid the cruelty of prison life, Cardinal Van Thuan and
the few Christians focused their attention on Jesus. For them, Jesus in the
Eucharist became a true companion. As a result of the Eucharistic presence that
was clandestinely introduced into the prison camp, the Christian prisoners
regained the fervor of their faith during those difficult times and even other
non-Christians converted to the faith. The strength of Jesus’ love in the
Eucharist is irresistible. The silent presence of Jesus in the Eucharist
brought consolation to those who suffered, strength to a weakened faith and
especially a fortified bond of unity among them.
44. How much we need the
Eucharist in our world today! We are also struggling through a challenging
time. We are emerging from a pandemic that has crippled many with FEAR
and left much suffering in its wake. Throughout this time, we have also
experienced great division within our country and even within our Church. A
tangible and rapid decline of our culture produces empty noise and vain
pleasures that drown out God’s invitation to enter into a loving relationship
with Him.
45. What can we do to bring
peace, justice and love to a world that is starving for God and His love? By
ourselves, we can do nothing. But, in the Eucharist, God Himself is our
nourishment and strength. We cannot transform our lives nor change the world
with our own strength alone. The Eucharist as a Sacrament of communion and love
motivates us inwardly to work tirelessly towards reconciliation and the
restoration of justice; to work together to restore respect for the dignity of
all men and women made in the image and likeness of God.
To be continued…
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART ONE:
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
SECTION ONE
"I BELIEVE" - "WE
BELIEVE"
Article 1-THE REVELATION OF GOD
II. The Stages of Revelation
In the beginning God makes himself known
54 "God, who creates and conserves all
things by his Word, provides men with constant evidence of himself in created
realities. and furthermore, wishing to open up the way to heavenly salvation -
he manifested himself to our first parents from the very beginning." He
invited them to intimate communion with himself and clothed them with
resplendent grace and justice.
55 This revelation was not broken off by our
first parents' sin. "After the fall, (God) buoyed them up with the hope of
salvation, by promising redemption; and he has never ceased to show his
solicitude for the human race. For he wishes to give eternal life to all those
who seek salvation by patience in well-doing."
Even when he disobeyed you and lost
your friendship you did not abandon him to the power of death. . . Again and
again you offered a covenant to man.
The covenant with Noah
56 After the unity of the human race was
shattered by sin God at once sought to save humanity part by part. the covenant
with Noah after the flood gives expression to the principle of the divine economy
toward the "nations", in other words, towards men grouped "in
their lands, each with (its) own language, by their families, in their
nations".
57 This state of division into many nations,
each entrusted by divine providence to the guardianship of angels, is at once
cosmic, social and religious. It is intended to limit the pride of fallen
humanity united only in its perverse ambition to forge its own unity as at
Babel. But, because of sin, both polytheism and the idolatry of the nation
and of its rulers constantly threaten this provisional economy with the
perversion of paganism.
58 The covenant with Noah remains in force
during the times of the Gentiles, until the universal proclamation of the
Gospel. The Bible venerates several great figures among the Gentiles: Abel
the just, the king-priest Melchisedek - a figure of Christ - and the upright
"Noah, Daniel, and Job". Scripture thus expresses the heights of
sanctity that can be reached by those who live according to the covenant of
Noah, waiting for Christ to "gather into one the children of God who are
scattered abroad".
God chooses Abraham
59 In order to gather together scattered
humanity God calls Abram from his country, his kindred and his father's house, and
makes him Abraham, that is, "the father of a multitude of nations".
"In you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed."
60 The people descended from Abraham would be
the trustee of the promise made to the patriarchs, the chosen people, called to
prepare for that day when God would gather all his children into the unity of
the Church. They would be the root on to which the Gentiles would be
grafted, once they came to believe.
61 The patriarchs, prophets and certain other
Old Testament figures have been and always will be honored as saints in all the
Church's liturgical traditions.
God forms his people Israel
62 After the patriarchs, God formed Israel as
his people by freeing them from slavery in Egypt. He established with them the
covenant of Mount Sinai and, through Moses, gave them his law so that they
would recognize him and serve him as the one living and true God, the provident
Father and just judge, and so that they would look for the promised Savior.
63 Israel is the priestly people of God,
"called by the name of the LORD", and "the first to hear the
word of God", The people of "elder brethren" in the faith
of Abraham.
64 Through the prophets, God forms his people in
the hope of salvation, in the expectation of a new and everlasting Covenant
intended for all, to be written on their hearts. The prophets proclaim a
radical redemption of the People of God, purification from all their
infidelities, a salvation which will include all the nations. Above all,
the poor and humble of the Lord will bear this hope. Such holy women as Sarah,
Rebecca, Rachel, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Judith and Esther kept alive the hope
of Israel's salvation. the purest figure among them is Mary.
Fitness
Friday
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>>>Today is Day 9 of the Pentecost
Novena to the Holy Spirit.<<<
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Growth
of Catholic Families and Households
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
· Rosary
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