Friday, June 9, 2023

Friday within the Octave of Corpus Christi

Joshua, Chapter 2, Verse 8-9

⁸Before the spies lay down, Rahab went up to them on the roof ⁹and said: “I know that the LORD has given you the land, that a dread of you has come upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land tremble with fear because of you.

Rahab saved the spies of Israel. Why? She knew the truth that God was with Israel. Rahab was a survivor and a sinner; she knew God had given the land to Israel. If you know the truth you do not swerve from it. Rahab was saved from the fate of Jericho because of her action not just good will toward Israel. James in his epistle puts it this way: ²⁰Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless? ²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? ²² You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works. ²³ Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called “the friend of God.”²⁴ See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵ And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route?

Rahab was saved by her faith and actions by the God of Israel and as a result she is not only saved but the Christ the Messiah descends from Boaz her son.

Fitness Friday

12 Best Types of Fish to Eat[1]

Fish is a healthy, high-protein food, especially important for its omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential fats that our bodies don’t produce on their own. Omega-3 fatty acids play an essential role in brain and heart health. Omega-3s have been shown to decrease inflammation and reduce the risk of heart disease. They’re important for prenatal development in babies, too. The American Heart Association (AHA)Trusted Source recommends eating fish at least 2 times a week, particularly fatty fish like salmon, lake trout, sardines, and albacore tuna, which are high in omega-3s. Yet, there are some risks associated with eating fish on a regular basis. Contaminants such as mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) find their way into ground, lake, and ocean water from our household and industrial waste, and then into the fish who live there.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and FDA have issued combined guidelines for women of childbearing age, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and children. They advise these groups avoid fish with higher levels of mercury contamination, which usually include:

· shark

· swordfish

· king mackerel

· tilefish

The following 12 superstar fish have made it onto our “best fish” list not only for having great nutrition and safety profiles but because they’re eco-friendly — being responsibly caught or farmed, and not overfished.

1. Alaskan salmon

2. Cod

3. Herring

4. Mahi-mahi

5. Mackerel

6. Perch

7. Rainbow trout

8. Sardines

9. Striped bass

10. Tuna

11. Alaskan pollock

12. Char

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,

Part III

Loving and Adoring the Eucharistic Lord

IV. Invite a friend to join you in adoration.

89. The Apostle Andrew gives a direct, personal invitation to his brother Peter to accompany him to see the Lord. He declares to his younger brother that “we have found the Messiah” and then walks with him into the presence of Jesus (Jn 1:42). Are there not a host of persons who are one confident, loving invitation away from engaging (or re-engaging) the Lord through His Eucharistic body? What a blessing for so many of our closest loved ones and friends if we were to have Andrew’s courage to say, “I’ve found a treasure in the Eucharistic presence of Christ. Would you like to join me there?”.

90. Faith-filled intercession for others plays a key role, especially when neither testimony nor invitation is sufficient to draw a person into Christ’s presence. A man was so incapacitated that he could not even walk to where Christ was. So, his friends picked him up and they “were trying to bring him in and set him in His [Jesus’] presence”. Unable to carry him into the crowded house, they lowered him on a stretcher through an opening in the roof. Jesus saw their faith, forgave and healed the man, who “went home glorifying God” (Lk 5:17-26). We should never despair when someone we love is unable or unwilling to accompany us to the Eucharist. With deep faith, we can still lower them on the stretcher of our intercessory prayer into the Lord’s presence.

91. These three events remind us that Christ’s presence in the Eucharist is meant to be shared. They also remind us that there is no single method of drawing others into the Lord’s presence. Sometimes honest testimony is enough for those to seek Him out on their own, as with the people of Samaria. For others like Peter, it requires a direct, friendly invitation to come with us into Christ’s presence. For still others who may be spiritually “paralyzed” and for whom direct access to Eucharistic adoration is not yet a possibility, we can carry them on the stretcher of our intercessory prayers, lowered before Christ in His presence despite their immobilized condition.

To be continued…

Which are the fruits of the Holy Ghost? They are the twelve following:

1. Charity.

2. Joy.

3. Peace.

4. Patience.

5. Benignity.

6. Goodness.

7. Longsuffering.

8. Mildness.

9. Faith.

10. Modesty.

11. Continency.

12. Chastity.

These fruits should be visible in the Christian, for thereby men shall know that the Holy Ghost dwells in him, as the tree is known by its fruit.

Notice I have placed the Fruits of the Holy Spirit in stairstep fashion so we may reflect on them seeing that by concentrating on each step of our growth in the spirit we may progress closer and closer to our heavenly Father. Today we will be focusing on the eighth step which is Patience.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

PART ONE: THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

SECTION ONE-"I BELIEVE" - "WE BELIEVE"

CHAPTER TWO GOD COMES TO MEET MAN

Article 3 SACRED SCRIPTURE

IN BRIEF

134 "All Sacred Scripture is but one book, and that one book is Christ, because all divine Scripture speaks of Christ, and all divine Scripture is fulfilled in Christ" (Hugh of St. Victor, De arca Noe 2, 8: PL 176, 642).

135 "The Sacred Scriptures contain the Word of God and, because they are inspired, they are truly the Word of God" (DV 24).

136 God is the author of Sacred Scripture because he inspired its human authors; he acts in them and by means of them. He thus gives assurance that their writings teach without error his saving truth (cf DV 11).

137 Interpretation of the inspired Scripture must be attentive above all to what God wants to reveal through the sacred authors for our salvation. What comes from the Spirit is not fully "understood except by the Spirit's action' (cf. Origen, Hom. in Ex. 4, 5: PG 12, 320).

138 The Church accepts and venerates as inspired the 46 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New.

139 The four Gospels occupy a central place because Christ Jesus is their center.

140 The unity of the two Testaments proceeds from the unity of God's plan and his Revelation. the Old Testament prepares for the New and the New Testament fulfils the Old; the two shed light on each other; both are true Word of God.

141 "The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she venerated the Body of the Lord" (DV 21): both nourish and govern the whole Christian life. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Ps 119:105; cf. Is 50:4).

Daily Devotions

· Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Purity

· Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

· Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

· Drops of Christ’s Blood

· Universal Man Plan

· Rosary