ST MATTHIAS-Novena St. Rita-Mother’s
Day-Chicken Dance
Deuteronomy, Chapter 11, Verse 25
What
have you to fear with God at your back?
We as the heirs of God’s promises to the Hebrews must have the courage to support and defend Israel at each threshold of change that God brings about. Yes, there will be suffering, and we must be up to the challenge; to carry our cross, as God wills it.
ON KEEPING
THE LORD'S DAY HOLY[1]
CHAPTER III
DIES ECCLESIAE
The Eucharistic Assembly:
Heart of Sunday
The day of the Church
36. The Sunday assembly is the privileged place of unity: it
is the setting for the celebration of the sacramentum unitatis which
profoundly marks the Church as a people gathered "by" and
"in" the unity of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. For
Christian families, the Sunday assembly is one of the most outstanding
expressions of their identity and their "ministry" as "domestic
churches", when parents share with their children at the one Table of the
word and of the Bread of Life. We do well to recall in this regard that it is
first of all the parents who must teach their children to participate in Sunday
Mass; they are assisted in this by catechists, who are to see to it that
initiation into the Mass is made a part of the formation imparted to the
children entrusted to their care, explaining the important reasons behind the
obligatory nature of the precept. When circumstances suggest it, the
celebration of Masses for Children, in keeping with the provisions of the
liturgical norms, can also help in this regard.
At Sunday Masses in parishes, insofar
as parishes are "Eucharistic communities", it is normal to find
different groups, movements, associations and even the smaller religious
communities present in the parish. This allows everyone to experience in common
what they share most deeply, beyond the particular spiritual paths which, by
discernment of Church authority,(53) legitimately distinguish them. This is why
on Sunday, the day of gathering, small group Masses are not to be encouraged:
it is not only a question of ensuring that parish assemblies are not without
the necessary ministry of priests, but also of ensuring that the life and unity
of the Church community are fully safeguarded and promoted.(54) Authorization
of possible and clearly restricted exceptions to this general guideline will
depend upon the wise discernment of the Pastors of the particular Churches, in
view of special needs in the area of formation and pastoral care, and keeping
in mind the good of individuals or groups — especially the benefits which such
exceptions may bring to the entire Christian community.
Sixth
Sunday after Easter[2]
THIS
Sunday is a preparation for the feast of Pentecost. At the Introit of the Mass,
the Church sings: “Hear, O Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to Thee,
alleluia. My heart hath said to Thee, I have sought Thy face; Thy face, Lord,
will I seek; turn not away Thy face from me, alleluia, alleluia. The Lord is my
light and my salvation, whom shall, I fear?
Prayer. O almighty and everlasting God
grant us ever to entertain a devout affection towards Thee, and to serve Thy
majesty with a sincere heart.
EPISTLE, i. Peter iv. 7-11.
Dearly
Beloved: Be prudent, and watch in prayers. But before all things have a constant
mutual charity among yourselves; for charity covereth a multitude of sins.
Using hospitality one towards another without murmuring. As every man hath
received grace, ministering the same to one another, as good stewards of the
manifold grace of God. If any man speaks, let him speak as the words of God. If
any man minister, let him do it as of the power which God administereth: that
in all things God may be honored through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Practice. The virtues here recommended are
excellent preparatives for receiving the Holy Ghost, for nothing makes us more
worthy of His grace than temperance, prayer, charity, unity, and hospitality towards
our neighbors. Endeavor, therefore, to exercise these virtues, and every day
during the following week pray fervently to the Holy Ghost for help in your
endeavors.
GOSPEL. John xv. 26, 27; xvi. 1-4.
At that time Jesus said to
His disciples: When the Paraclete cometh Whom I will send you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth, Who proceedeth from the Father, He shall give testimony of
Me: and you shall give testimony, because you are with Me from the beginning.
These things have I spoken to you, that you may not be scandalized. They will
put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh that whosoever killeth you
will think that he doth a service to God. And these things will they do to you,
because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told
you, that when the hour shall come, you may remember that I told you.
What kind of sin is scandal?
It is a frightful sin. By it countless sins are
occasioned, thousands of souls are carried to perdition, while the loving
design of God for the salvation of men is frustrated.
How, in general, is scandal given?
By saying, doing, neglecting to do something which
becomes the occasion of sin to another.
When do parents give scandal?
When they set a bad example to their children. When
they do not correct them for doing wrong, or neglect to keep them from what is
bad and to teach them that which is good.
How do employers give scandal?
In much the same way that parents give scandal to
their children: when, by bad example or by command, they keep their servants or
other employees from divine service, or neglect to make them attend it. When
they themselves use, or give to others, flesh-meat on days of abstinence. When
they order the commission of sin.
Rogation
Sunday
It is only a few weeks since Good
Friday when we commemorated the agonizing death of Christ on Mount Calvary.
This was an excruciating, shameful death even for hardened criminals who
deserved it.
But for our loving Savior, the
innocent lamb of God, one who had never offended God or neighbor, it was
something of which the whole human race should be ashamed forever. What caused
Christ that torment and death on the cross was our sins, the sins of all
mankind and not the spite and hatred of his Jewish opponents, who were only
instruments in the tragedy. Atonement had to be made to God for the sins of the
world, so that men could reach the eternal inheritance which the incarnation
made available to them.
However, not all the acts of the
entire human race could make a sufficient atonement to God. A sacrifice, an expiation
of infinite value was needed. The death of the Son of God in his human nature was
alone capable of making such an expiation. That Christ willingly accepted
crucifixion for our sakes, that he gave the greatest proof of love which the
world has ever known, by laying down his life for his friends, did not make his
sufferings any less, did not ease any of the pains of Calvary. His agony in the
Garden before his arrest shows this: he foresaw all the tortures and pains
which he was to undergo and sweated blood at the thought of what awaited him.
But he was to keep his Father's commandment "not my will but thine be
done." We Christians must have hearts of stone, hearts devoid of all sense
of gratitude, when we forget what Christ has done for us and deliberately
offend him! Alas, this is what all of us do sometimes, and many of us do all
the time. Christ died to bring us to heaven, but we tell him, by our sins, that
he was wasting his time. We do not want to go to heaven, we are making our
happiness here! How far can human ingratitude and thanklessness go?
Christ told us, through the disciples
on Holy Thursday night, that he had made us his friends, his intimates. We are
no longer servants in the household, who merely earn their daily wage and have
no intimacy with the family and no hope of ever sharing in the family
possessions.
Instead, we have been adopted into the
family by Christ becoming man, we have been guaranteed all the rights of
children intimacy with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the future sharing
in the eternal happiness of that divine household. Christ's incarnation made us
God's children, Christ's death on the cross removed sin. Sin is the one
obstacle that could prevent us reaching our eternal inheritance. Because God
gave us a free will we can in a moment of folly, a moment of madness really,
deprive ourselves of the privileges and possessions which Christ has made
available to us. We can choose to exchange an eternity of happiness for a few
fleeting years of self-indulgence on earth. We can fling Christ's gift of love
back in his face and tell him we don't want it. God forbid that we should ever
act like this, that we should ever forget God's purpose in creating us. It is a
marvelous thing to be alive, if we have hope in a future life. If nothing
awaited us but the grave, then to live on this earth, which is a valley of sorrow
and tears for the vast majority, would be the cruelest of jests. But of this we
need have no fear. Life on earth is but a short prelude to our real existence.
If we use this brief period as Christ has told us how to use it, death for us
will be the passage into the eternal mansions. Be grateful to God, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit; love the Blessed Trinity; prove your love by loving your
fellowmen. By doing this you are fulfilling the whole law and the prophets; and
you are assuring yourself of the place in heaven which Christ has won for you.
Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle
The
feast of Saint Matthias[3]
was included in the Roman Calendar in the 11th century and celebrated on
the sixth day to the Calends of March (24 February usually, but 25 February in
leap years). In the revision of the General Roman
Calendar in
1969, his feast was transferred to 14 May, so as not to celebrate it in Lent but instead in Eastertide close to the Solemnity of the
Ascension, the
event after which the Acts of the Apostles recounts that Matthias was selected
to be ranked with the Twelve Apostles.
OF[4]
this apostle nothing certain is known beyond what is contained in the epistle.
In the Introit of the Mass the Church sings: “To me Thy friends, O God, are
made exceedingly honorable; their principality is exceedingly strengthened.
Lord, Thou hast proved me and known me; Thou hast known my sitting down and my
rising up.”
Prayer. O God, Who didst associate blessed
Matthias to the company of the apostles, grant, we beseech Thee, that, by his
intercession, we may ever experience Thy tender mercy towards us.
Prayer
to St. Matthias. O
St. Matthias, glorious apostle and martyr of Jesus Christ, who, by the special
providence of God, wast added to the eleven apostles in the room of the
traitor, I humbly beseech thee to obtain for us the grace of Him Who chose thee
from all eternity, that, assisted thereby, we may, after thy example, keep the
commandments of God, practice good works, and thus merit to be numbered with
the elect. Amen.
Novena of St. Rita[5]
This novena prayer,
although short is sufficient. It would be better of course to add, if time
permits, three Hail Mary’s or say five times the Our Father, Hail Mary and
Glory be to the Father, or to use some of the many well-loved novena prayers
from other sources. Remember that prayers must be said with the lips in order
to gain the indulgences. This novena begins on May 14 and ends on May 22. Rita
is the patron of the impossible.
Prayer:
O
glorious St. Rita! You who so wonderfully participated in the Passion of our
Lord Jesus Christ, obtain for me the grace to suffer with patience the pains of
this life and protect me in all my needs.
Mother’s Day
In honor of Mother’s Day, here are
a few quotes from John Paul II’s apostolic letter On the Dignity of Women (Mulieris Dignitatem) about the
unique vocation of motherhood.[6]
John Paul II: “Motherhood involves a special
communion with the mystery of life, as it develops in the mother’s womb. The
mother is filled with wonder at this mystery of life, and ‘understands’ with unique
intuition what is happening inside her. In the light of the ‘beginning’, the
mother accepts and loves as a person the child she is carrying in her womb.
This unique contact with the new human being developing within her gives rise
to an attitude towards human beings – not only towards her own child, but every
human being – which profoundly marks the woman’s personality.”
“Motherhood
implies from the beginning a special openness to the new person: and this is precisely the woman’s
‘part’. In this openness, in conceiving and giving birth to a child, the woman
‘discovers herself through a sincere gift of self’.”
“Human parenthood is something
shared by both the man and the woman. Even if the woman, out of love for her
husband, says: ‘I have given you a child’, her words also mean: ‘This is our
child’. Although both of them together are parents of their child, the woman’s motherhood constitutes a special
‘part’ in this shared parenthood, and the most demanding part.
Parenthood – even though it belongs to both – is realized much more fully in
the woman, especially in the prenatal period. It is the woman who ‘pays’
directly for this shared generation, which literally absorbs the energies of
her body and soul. It is therefore necessary that the man be fully
aware that in their shared program of parenthood he owes a special debt to
the woman.”
John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Mulieris Dignitatem (1988), no. 18
Mother's
Day Top Events and Things to Do[7]
·
Take
mom out to brunch or dinner. Be sure to book in advance as Mother's Day
brunches are always very busy.
·
Clean
the house for your mother or grandmother.
·
Send
mom and grandma flowers. You can either pick them up or deliver them yourself
if you are nearby or use one of many online services that ship directly to her
door.
·
Give
mom a gift she will really appreciate - a day at the spa or a weekend off.
·
A
simple phone call to mom will suffice. Let her know that you love her and think
about her.
Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin
O'Sullivan, O.F.M.
Today it is my daughter Dara Hope’s birthday; (her name means:
House of Compassion and Hope) please pray the Novena of St. Rita for her. Also
today is National Chicken Dance Day! Yes, she loves to do the chicken dance.
Chicken Dance Day[8]
We’ve all seen it, it’s
utterly ridiculous and usually performed in a bout of intoxicant driven lunacy.
You tuck your hands into your armpits to make ‘wings’, and then you flap like
an idiot in time with some particularly unfortunate music. All that aside,
you’re having complete giggle fits with a bunch of your friends while you
behave in a fashion that has the local sanitarium eyeballing you for
membership. What are we talking about? The Chicken Dance of course! Chicken
Dance Day commemorates this dance and its origins, and even gives you a chance
to learn WHY anyone would do this terrible, terrible thing.
History of Chicken
Dance Day
“Der Ententanz” was the
name of the song that inspired all of this, and while the dance has come to be
called “The Chicken Dance”, the song itself is called The Duck Dance.
At least that was its original name, and now it has spread all over the world,
undergoing multiple name changes in the process. It has been known as
everything from The Little Bird Dance to De Vogeltjesdans, or
“The dance of the little birds.” This rendition was actually the B-Side of a
single released by a band called “De Electornica’s”. The A-Side simply wasn’t
being well received by the radio stations audiences, so they flipped it over.
At that moment, history was made and it rocketed to the Dutch charts and stayed
there for nearly a year. So much has its popularity exploded that it has been
recorded in no less than 140 versions with over 40,000,000 records published
over its lifetime. In 1981 the dance brought to Oktoberfest in the United States,
and due to a complete lack of duck costumes anywhere near the event, they had
to settle for chicken costumes instead. The result of which is the name by
which it is now known. The song responsible gets new covers done almost every
year, with new lyrics added all the time. That’s right, there’s lyrics. You’re
welcome.
How to Celebrate
Chicken Dance Day
Need we say it? The best
way to celebrate Chicken Dance Day is by getting out there and doing the
Chicken Dance! It’s quite simple, and it all starts with making a beak with
your hands, and ‘squawk’ them four times in beat with the music, then you make
wings as described earlier, and flap them four times in time with the music.
Then… ya know what? Just watch this: How to Chicken Dance.
Apostolic
Exhortation[9]
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,
1. I wish to speak to you about
the most important and central teaching of our faith. What I share is “not too
high for you.” It is not theology that is only meant for theologians and
priests. This concerns the most important reality of our lives – the saving
presence of our Lord. This is not a teaching that can be dumbed down or over
simplified. This is a truth that we need to be clear and certain about. Be
bold, then! Take up and read, drink in the truth, discuss and share it with
others and allow Jesus, truly present in the Eucharist, to conform you further to
Himself and fulfill the deepest longings of your heart.
2. From the time I was a little
child, I knew Jesus was present in every Catholic Church. I could not have
explained it, but I was certain He was there. The way my father genuflected
before the Tabernacle, the quiet reverence of my mother, the way our pastor
Father Daly sang the Tantum Ergo with such gusto and a thick Irish
brogue, it was these actions and God’s grace, more than words, that imbedded in
my heart a solid conviction about the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
And because our farm family prayed together every evening, during thunderstorms
or blizzards, whether we had a bumper crop or hardly anything at all from
drought-stricken soil, no matter what, we knew that the Lord Jesus we received
at Mass was with us, every day and night, and that whatever we faced, all would
be well because of Him.
3. Of course, that faith in the
Eucharist has been tested many times over the years. As a seminarian in Tours,
France, for example, during two months of intensive French language study, some
classmates learning of my practice of daily Mass accosted me, sneering with
venom, “You really believe Jesus is present in that piece of bread?” Shocked by
their hate-filled tone, I could say nothing for what seemed like eternity; but
after probably less than a minute, I managed to stammer, “Yes… I do.” That
shocking and embarrassing moment, to my surprise, led ever so gradually to new
gratitude for the gift of the Eucharistic faith and a deeper conviction about
daily Mass and Eucharistic adoration. It also taught me to expect my faith in
our Eucharistic Savior to face scorn and contradiction.
4. I invite you in this
Exhortation to “put out into the deep” (Lk 5:4). Whether your faith in
the Eucharist is strong or weak, whether you consider the Church your Home or
you have recently decided to disassociate, or even if you have no faith at all,
my sincere hope is that a true “Eucharistic amazement” will be ignited within
you.
5. The People of Israel faced
many obstacles, challenges, and sufferings as they crossed the desert and
entered the Promised Land. But God had assured them of His presence and
guidance on their arduous sojourn. In the Ark of the Covenant, they recognized
the presence of God. Into battles and in dangerous lands, wherever the
Israelites went, the Ark went with them because it assured them that God would
be with them to fight their battles, to care for them and protect them. For
this reason, the Ark became a powerful and enduring image of God’s presence.
6. When the People of Israel
were preparing to cross the Jordan river and enter the Promised Land, Joshua
stressed the importance of following the Ark: “When you see the ark of the
covenant of the Lord being carried, you are to set out from your positions and
follow it… so that you can see the way to go, since we have never been this way
before” (Josh. 3:2-4). This instruction was addressed to a people who would
face the dangers of the crossing and the challenges and threats that awaited
them in an unknown land.
To be continued…
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PROLOGUE
III. The Aim and Intended Readership of the Catechism
11 This
catechism aims at presenting an organic synthesis of the essential and
fundamental contents of Catholic doctrine, as regards both faith and morals, in
the light of the Second Vatican Council and the whole of the Church's
Tradition. Its principal sources are the Sacred Scriptures, the Fathers of the
Church, the liturgy, and the Church's Magisterium. It is intended to serve
"as a point of reference for the catechisms or compendia that are composed
in the various countries".
12 This
work is intended primarily for those responsible for catechesis: first of all
the bishops, as teachers of the faith and pastors of the Church. It is offered
to them as an instrument in fulfilling their responsibility of teaching the
People of God. Through the bishops, it is addressed to redactors of catechisms,
to priests, and to catechists. It will also be useful reading for all other
Christian faithful.
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Catholic Politian’s and Leaders
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
· Make reparations to the Holy Face
· Rosary
[2] Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Matthias
[4] Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896
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