Monday, July 10, 2023
·
Eat waffles and Pray for the assistance
of the Angels
Monday Night at the Movies
1 Samuel, Chapter 13, Verse 6-7
6
When the soldiers saw they were in danger because the army was hardpressed,
they hid themselves in caves, thickets, rocks, caverns, and cisterns. 7 Other Hebrews crossed the Jordan
into the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul, however, held out in Gilgal, all his
army trembling in FEAR behind him.
This was a
low point for Israel. Probably many of them thought, “What we really need is a
king. A king would solve our problems.” Now they have a king and the problems
are still there. We often think things will “fix” problems when they won’t at
all. “And hereby God intended to teach them the vanity of all fleshly
confidence in men; and that they did not one jot less need the help and favor
of God now than they did before, when they had no king.” [1]
Men are
foolhardy things when faith and trust in God leaves; fear and pride enters. We
see this in the response of the Jew’s to Pilate. When Pilate heard these words he brought
Jesus out and seated him on the
judge’s bench in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha. It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon.
And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your king!” They cried
out, “Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I
crucify your king?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” (John 19:13-15)
Seven Holy Brothers[2]
Although there are passed down stories about the Seven Holy Brothers and their mother, the current Roman Martyrology only mentions the brothers by name (Felix, Philip, Vitalis, Martialis, Alexander, Silanus, and Januarius) and where they were buried. Older Acts include the mother named Felicitas or Felicity as also a martyr. We are including the older version of their martyrdom here:
Saint
Felicity was a noble Roman matron, distinguished above all for her virtue. This
mother of seven children raised her sons in the fear of the Lord, and after the
death of her husband, served God in continence, concerning herself only with
good works. Her good examples and those of her children brought a number of
pagans to renounce their superstitions, and also encouraged the Christians to
show themselves worthy of their vocation. The pagan priests, furious at seeing
their gods abandoned, denounced her. She appeared with her pious sons before
the prefect of Rome, who exhorted her to sacrifice to idols, but in reply heard
a generous confession of faith.
Wretched
woman, he said to her, how can you be so barbarous as to expose your children
to torments and death? Have pity on these tender creatures, who are in the
flower of their age and can aspire to the highest positions in the Empire!
Felicity replied, My children will live eternally with Jesus Christ, if they
are faithful; they will have only eternal torments to await, if they sacrifice
to idols. Your apparent pity is but a cruel impiety. Then, turning to her
children, she said: Look towards heaven, where Jesus Christ is waiting for you
with His Saints! Be faithful in His love, and fight courageously for your
souls.
The
Judge, taking the children one by one, tried to overcome their constancy. He
began with Januarius but received for his answer: What you advise me to do is
contrary to reason; Jesus, the Savior, will preserve me, I hope, from such impiety.
Felix, the second, was then brought in. When they urged him to sacrifice, he
answered: There is only one God, and it is to Him that we must offer the
sacrifice of our hearts. Use all artifices, every refinement of cruelty, you
will not make us betray our faith! The other brothers, when questioned,
answered with the same firmness. Martial, the youngest, who spoke last, said:
All those who do not confess that Jesus Christ is the true God, will be cast
into a fire which will never be extinguished.
When the interrogation was finished, the Saints underwent the penalty of the lash and then were taken to prison. Soon they completed their sacrifice in various ways: Januarius was beaten until he died by leather straps capped with lead; Felix and Philip were killed with bludgeons; Sylvanus was thrown headfirst from a cliff; Alexander, Vitalis and Martial were beheaded. Felicity, the mother of these new Maccabees, was the last to suffer martyrdom.
Let Freedom Ring-Day 4 “Freedom from Predation”
(See Character is Destiny for opposing virtue: SELF CONTROL)
My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, at a word from you the devil and his minions flee in terror. You are the source of all truth. You are the source of all strength. By the power of your Cross and Resurrection, we beseech you, O Lord; To extend your saving arm and to send your holy angels to defend us as we do battle with Satan and his demonic forces. Exorcise, we pray, that which oppresses your Bride, The Church, so that within ourselves, our families, our parishes, our dioceses, and our nation; We may turn fully back to you in all fidelity and trust. Lord, we know if you will it, it will be done.
Give us the perseverance for this mission, we pray. Amen
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception ... pray for us
St. Joseph ... pray for us
St. Michael the Archangel ... pray for us
(the patron of your parish) ... pray for us
(your confirmation saint) ... pray for us
"Freedom from Predation"
by Fr. Bill Peckman
The Devil is the ultimate predator. St. Peter warns his readers, "Stay sober and alert. Your opponent the devil is prowling like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8) The devil is always looking for any opening in which he can pounce and destroy. He uses everything from occult practices to our concupiscence (our predilection to sin) to gain a beachhead. He will also teach us how to follow him as predators ourselves.
We live in a society that encourages predation. From the mobster who shakes down the local merchant for protection to the sex trafficker and pornographer to the predatory interest charged in so many loans to the endless scams used to bilk people out of money to the common bullying (cyber and otherwise) to those engaged in domestic violence, our society is full of predators looking for their mark, looking for their next meal. Many hide behind the cover of darkness, anonymity, or even behind the law.
Our Church has been rocked over the past half century by predation. The most obvious examples have stemmed from the scandals in which clerics preyed on their own flocks for sexual gratification, heinously even preying on the lambs of their flock. Others have preyed on their flock through financial malfeasance by defrauding their parishes or dioceses of funds. Many are also complicit in withholding from their flocks the means by which to stave off predation. In abandoning their flocks to the wolves, they are every bit as guilty as the wolves they allowed access to their flocks.
Certainly, we can extend these behaviors to the most basic building block of the Church known as the domestic church or the family. In these places we can see domestic violence, molestation, and other nefarious abuses of power that have their roots in the diabolic. From all levels of the Church the demonic mimicking of the predatory behaviors of the Devil must be purged.
All predatory behavior stems from selfishness: its needs or wants are so very important that any and all means to satisfy them must be done. For a predator, its satiation is of far greater value than your happiness, security, or life. While a predator may be infatuated by their prey, they cannot love their prey for they mean to eventually destroy their prey or discard their prey when they have taken all they want. What force could possibly stand up against such an insatiable beast?!
We look to Christ the Good Shepherd for our answer! Christ does not prey on His flock. No, He places Himself between His flock and that which would destroy His flock. He stands in that breech, sacrificing Himself for the salvation of the flock. Jesus tells us, "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep" (John 10:11). Why? Because He loves them. You cannot love someone and prey on them at the same time. Hence, the virtue we cultivate to conquer any and all desires to be a predator is the theological virtue of love. Love, divine love (or agape) is completely selfless. Instead of focusing on one's own desires and satiation, one instead looks to the good of others even when in doing so incurs suffering or sacrifice. Love, because it is of God, chases away the devil and his minions. It helps us to, as St. Paul says of himself, to be 'poured out like an oblation' (II Timothy 4:6)
Prayer of Reparation
My Lord and my God, we have allowed the temptation of the
devil to move our hearts to prey on those we deem weaker or disposable. We have
stilled our tongues in the face of such evil. We have been too fearful to stand
out in our culture, allowing selfish desires to suffocate your love that is to
dwell within us. In our fear, we have allowed the ancient foe to advance. We
turn to you Lord, in our sorrow and guilt, and beg your forgiveness for our
selfishness and silence. We beg for the grace of your goodness to teach us to
shepherd rightly those you place in our care and the courage to stand
in the breech between them and the demonic. Help us to love as you love. We
know, Lord, if you will it, it will be done. Trusting in you, we offer our
prayer to you who live and reign forever.
Amen.
Prayer of Exorcism
Lord God of Heaven and Earth, in your power and goodness, you created all things. You set a path for us to walk on and a way to an eternal relationship. By the strength of your arm and Word of your mouth; Cast from your Holy Church every fearful deceit of the Devil; Drive from us manifestations of the demonic that oppress us and beckon us to selfishness and predation. Still the lying tongue of the devil and his forces so that we may act freely and faithfully to Your will. Send your holy angels to cast out all influence that the demonic entities in charge of predation have planted in your church. Free us, our families, our parish, our diocese, and our country from all trickery and deceit perpetrated by the Devil and his hellish legions. Trusting in your goodness Lord, we know if you will it, it will be done in unity with Your Son and the Holy Spirit, One God for ever and ever. Amen.
Litany
of Humility
O
Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
Hear me.
From
the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From
the desire of being loved,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From
the desire of being extolled,
From
the desire of being honored,
From
the desire of being praised,
From
the desire of being preferred to others,
From
the desire of being consulted,
From
the desire of being approved,
From
the fear of being humiliated,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From
the fear of being despised,
From
the fear of suffering rebukes,
From
the fear of being calumniated,
From
the fear of being forgotten,
From
the fear of being ridiculed,
From
the fear of being wronged,
From
the fear of being suspected,
That
others may be loved more than I,
Jesus,
grant me the grace to desire it.
That
others may be esteemed more than I,
Jesus,
grant me the grace to desire it.
That,
in the opinion of the world, others may increase
and
I may decrease,
Jesus,
grant me the grace to desire it.
That
others may be chosen, and I set aside,
Jesus,
grant me the grace to desire it.
That
others may be praised, and I go unnoticed,
Jesus,
grant me the grace to desire it.
That
others may be preferred to me in everything,
Jesus,
grant me the grace to desire it.
That
others may become holier than I,
provided
that I may become as holy as I should,
Jesus,
grant me the grace to desire it.
Catechism of the
Catholic Church
PART ONE: THE PROFESSION
OF FAITH
SECTION
TWO-I. THE CREEDS
CHAPTER TWO
I
BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF GOD
Article 4-"JESUS CHRIST SUFFERED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE, WAS
CRUCIFIED, DIED AND WAS BURIED"
Paragraph 1. JESUS AND
ISRAEL
574 From the beginning of Jesus'
public ministry, certain Pharisees and partisans of Herod together with priests
and scribes agreed together to destroy him. Because of certain acts of his
expelling demons, forgiving sins, healing on the sabbath day, his novel
interpretation of the precepts of the Law regarding purity, and his familiarity
with tax collectors and public sinners--some ill-intentioned persons suspected
Jesus of demonic possession. He is accused of blasphemy and false
prophecy, religious crimes which the Law punished with death by stoning.
575 Many of Jesus' deeds and words
constituted a "sign of contradiction", but more so for the
religious authorities in Jerusalem, whom the Gospel according to John often calls
simply "the Jews", than for the ordinary People of God. To
be sure, Christ's relations with the Pharisees were not exclusively polemical.
Some Pharisees warn him of the danger he was courting; Jesus praises some
of them, like the scribe of Mark 12:34, and dines several times at their homes. Jesus
endorses some of the teachings imparted by this religious elite of God's
people: the resurrection of the dead, certain forms of piety (almsgiving,
fasting and prayer), The custom of addressing God as Father, and the
centrality of the commandment to love God and neighbor.
576 In the eyes of many in Israel,
Jesus seems to be acting against essential institutions of the Chosen People: -
submission to the whole of the Law in its written commandments and, for the
Pharisees, in the interpretation of oral tradition; - the centrality of the
Temple at Jerusalem as the holy place where God's presence dwells in a special
way; - faith in the one God whose glory no man can share.
I. JESUS AND THE LAW
577 At the beginning of the Sermon
on the Mount Jesus issued a solemn warning in which he presented God's law,
given on Sinai during the first covenant, in light of the grace of the New
Covenant:
Do not think that I have come to
abolish the law or the prophets: I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. For
truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke
of a letter, will pass from the law, until all is accomplished. Therefore,
whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do
the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them
and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
578 Jesus, Israel's Messiah and
therefore the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, was to fulfil the Law by
keeping it in its all embracing detail - according to his own words, down to
"the least of these commandments". He is in fact the only one
who could keep it perfectly. On their own admission the Jews were never
able to observe the Law in its entirety without violating the least of its
precepts. This is why every year on the Day of Atonement the children of
Israel ask God's forgiveness for their transgressions of the Law. the Law
indeed makes up one inseparable whole, and St. James recalls, "Whoever
keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of
it."
579 This principle of integral
observance of the Law not only in letter but in spirit was dear to the
Pharisees. By giving Israel this principle they had led many Jews of Jesus'
time to an extreme religious zeal. This zeal, were it not to lapse into
"hypocritical" casuistry, could only prepare the People for the
unprecedented intervention of God through the perfect fulfilment of the Law by
the only Righteous One in place of all sinners.
580 The perfect fulfilment of the
Law could be the work of none but the divine legislator, born subject to the
Law in the person of the Son. In Jesus, the Law no longer appears engraved
on tables of stone but "upon the heart" of the Servant who becomes
"a covenant to the people", because he will "faithfully bring
forth justice". Jesus fulfils the Law to the point of taking upon
himself "the curse of the Law" incurred by those who do not
"abide by the things written in the book of the Law, and do them",
for his death took place to redeem them "from the transgressions under the
first covenant".
581 The Jewish people and their
spiritual leaders viewed Jesus as a rabbi. He often argued within the
framework of rabbinical interpretation of the Law. Yet Jesus could not
help but offend the teachers of the Law, for he was not content to propose his
interpretation alongside theirs but taught the people "as one who had
authority, and not as their scribes". In Jesus, the same Word of God
that had resounded on Mount Sinai to give the written Law to Moses, made itself
heard anew on the Mount of the Beatitudes. Jesus did not abolish the Law
but fulfilled it by giving its ultimate interpretation in a divine way:
"You have heard that it was said to the men of old. . . But I say to you.
. ." With this same divine authority, he disavowed certain human
traditions of the Pharisees that were "making void the word of God".
582 Going even further, Jesus
perfects the dietary law, so important in Jewish daily life, by revealing its
pedagogical meaning through a divine interpretation: "Whatever goes into a
man from outside cannot defile him. . . (Thus he declared all foods clean.) . .
. What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the
heart of man, come evil thoughts. . ." In presenting with divine
authority the definitive interpretation of the Law, Jesus found himself
confronted by certain teachers of the Law who did not accept his interpretation
of the Law, guaranteed though it was by the divine signs that accompanied it. This
was the case especially with the sabbath laws, for he recalls, often with
rabbinical arguments, that the sabbath rest is not violated by serving God and neighbor, which
his own healings did.
II. JESUS AND THE TEMPLE
583 Like the prophets before him
Jesus expressed the deepest respect for the Temple in Jerusalem. It was in the
Temple that Joseph and Mary presented him forty days after his birth. At
the age of twelve he decided to remain in the Temple to remind his parents that
he must be about his Father's business. He went there each year during his
hidden life at least for Passover. His public ministry itself was
patterned by his pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the great Jewish feasts.
584 Jesus went up to the Temple as
the privileged place of encounter with God. For him, the Temple was the
dwelling of his Father, a house of prayer, and he was angered that its outer
court had become a place of commerce. He drove merchants out of it because
of jealous love for his Father: "You shall not make my Father's house a
house of trade. His disciples remembered that it was written, 'Zeal for your
house will consume me.'" After his Resurrection his apostles retained
their reverence for the Temple.
585 On the threshold of his Passion
Jesus announced the coming destruction of this splendid building, of which
there would not remain "one stone upon another". By doing so, he
announced a sign of the last days, which were to begin with his own Passover. But
this prophecy would be distorted in its telling by false witnesses during his
interrogation at the high priest's house, and would be thrown back at him as an
insult when he was nailed to the cross.
586 Far from having been hostile to
the Temple, where he gave the essential part of his teaching, Jesus was willing
to pay the Temple-tax, associating with him Peter, whom he had just made the
foundation of his future Church. He even identified himself with the
Temple by presenting himself as God's definitive dwelling-place among men. Therefore
his being put to bodily death presaged the destruction of the Temple,
which would manifest the dawning of a new age in the history of salvation:
"The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will
you worship the Father."
III. JESUS AND ISRAEL'S FAITH IN
THE ONE GOD AND SAVIOR
587 If the Law and the Jerusalem
Temple could be occasions of opposition to Jesus by Israel's religious
authorities, his role in the redemption of sins, the divine work par
excellence, was the true stumbling-block for them.
588 Jesus scandalized the Pharisees
by eating with tax collectors and sinners as familiarly as with themselves. Against
those among them "who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and
despised others", Jesus affirmed: "I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance." He went further by proclaiming
before the Pharisees that, since sin is universal, those who pretend not to
need salvation are blind to themselves.
589 Jesus gave scandal above all
when he identified his merciful conduct toward sinners with God's own attitude
toward them. He went so far as to hint that by sharing the table of
sinners he was admitting them to the messianic banquet. But it was most
especially by forgiving sins that Jesus placed the religious authorities of
Israel on the horns of a dilemma. Were they not entitled to demand in
consternation, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" By
forgiving sins Jesus either is blaspheming as a man who made himself God's
equal, or is speaking the truth and his person really does make present and
reveal God's name.
590 Only the divine identity of
Jesus' person can justify so absolute a claim as "He who is not with me is
against me"; and his saying that there was in him "something greater
than Jonah,. . . greater than Solomon", something "greater than the
Temple"; his reminder that David had called the Messiah his Lord, and
his affirmations, "Before Abraham was, I AM", and even "I and
the Father are one."
591 Jesus asked the religious
authorities of Jerusalem to believe in him because of the Father's works which
he accomplished. But such an act of faith must go through a mysterious
death to self, for a new "birth from above" under the influence of
divine grace. Such a demand for conversion in the face of so surprising a
fulfilment of the promises allows one to understand the Sanhedrin's tragic
misunderstanding of Jesus: they judged that he deserved the death sentence as a
blasphemer. The members of the Sanhedrin were thus acting at the same time
out of "ignorance" and the "hardness" of their
"unbelief".
IN BRIEF
592 Jesus did not abolish the
Law of Sinai, but rather fulfilled it (cf Mt 5:17-19) with such perfection (cf
Jn 8:46) that he revealed its ultimate meaning (cf Mt 5:33) and redeemed the
transgressions against it (cf Heb 9:15).
593 Jesus venerated the Temple
by going up to it for the Jewish feasts of pilgrimage, and with a jealous love
he loved this dwelling of God among men. the Temple prefigures his own mystery.
When he announces its destruction, it is as a manifestation of his own
execution and of the entry into a new age in the history of salvation, when his
Body would be the definitive Temple.
594 Jesus performed acts, such
as pardoning sins, that manifested him to be the Savior God himself (cf Jn
5:16-18). Certain Jews, who did not recognize God made man (cf Jn 1:14), saw in
him only a man who made himself God (Jn 10:33), and judged him as a blasphemer.
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Restoring
the Constitution
·
Novena
to Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Day 4
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Monday: Litany
of Humility
·
Rosary
[2]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2023-07-10
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