Tuesday, July 18, 2023

- July 12, 2023

NELSON MANDELA DAY- Islamic New Year

So Saul FEARED David all the more and was his enemy ever after.

David was pursued by Saul, but David never returned the enemy status to Saul. No, David knew our only enemy is anything that opposes the love of God. Saul was seduced by the world, the flesh and the devil. These are our enemies. Love brings unity in its truest form. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not three but one and one in Love. This unity of love is reflected in married life and the life of the religious.

Nelson Mandela International Day[1]

Nelson Mandela Day seeks to celebrate the political and social achievements of former South African President Nelson Mandela. Mandela, who spent three decades in prison for his political activism, became the first black president of the Republic of South Africa in 1994. His presidency ended the long-standing apartheid in which whites ruled over blacks and saw the birth of democracy and equality among all citizens. He was also active in combatting poverty, encouraging land reform, expanding health services, supporting education and setting an example of peace, anti-racism and human rights adherence for other nations.

Nelson Mandela International Day was designated by the United Nations and the Nelson Mandela Foundation in 2009. It is celebrated on Mandela's birthday, July 18th, in an effort to recognize the impact of Mandela's values and his contribution to humanity. Mandela passed away in December of 2013 at the age of 95.

Nelson Mandela International Day Facts & Quotes

· Nelson Mandela has received several awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, the Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order of St. John and the Order of Merit from the Queen Elizabeth II and the Order of Canada.

· When Nelson Mandela was born his name was Rolihlalala Mandela, which meant, to pull a branch off a tree and troublemaker. He was given the name Nelson in school when he was seven years old.

· Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison and ended up spending over 27 years in prison. He was eventually released from prison due to secret talks he had with the president of South Africa at the time, F.W. de Klerk.

· It is easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build. - Nelson Mandela

· We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right. – Nelson Mandela

Things to do.

· Devote 67 minutes of your day to helping others (volunteering, helping mom, cleaning, etc.). For 67 years, Nelson Mandela fought for humanity and on every July 18th, Mandela's birthday, the UN and the NMF ask citizens of the world to devote 67 minutes of time to helping others.

· Watch one of the movies detailing the life of Nelson Mandela or apartheid. Some suggestions are Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013), Invictus (2009), and Mandela and de Klerk (1997).

· Nominate someone or an organization that you think serves every day. If you think they make a positive change in your community, you can nominate those you think deserve acknowledgement as a Madiba Change Maker by sharing their stories on social media with the hashtag #Time2Serve.

· Spread awareness by using the hashtags #NelsonMandelaInternationalDay, #MandelaDay and #mandela.

· Research South African history to gain a better understanding of how the apartheid system came about, what it entailed and learn more about the segregation in the country. Books such as The History of South Africa and South African History shed light on the colonial periods and the beginning of state-run segregation.

Forgiveness-Nelson Mandela

John McCain portraits the life of “Nelson Mandela” as a model for the power of Forgiveness. One can only forgive if they have the capacity to love. Our study is based on developing our character by starting with a foundation of love to which we develop a core of strength by being hopeful, confident, Industrious and so forth. After we have advanced these traits sufficiently, we need to apply our firm purpose and work on having an understanding heart. Everything is based on love and love is the key to understanding the trait of forgiveness.

John says of Nelson Mandela:

He was a prisoner who forgave his jailer, and helped his countrymen forgive one another. Nelson Mandela believes “no one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” Africa has been saved from the ravages of racial hatred is due, in large part, to Mandela’s noble character, among whose virtues has been the ability to forgive the wrongs done to him and his people during the oppression from apartheid. Mandela believes truly that love is the natural condition of the heart, and that hatred is as much a burden to the hater as it is to the hated. Mandela tried peaceful means to end apartheid but to no avail and eventually turned to violence when no other means for saving his country was within his power. He was eventually captured and jailed for 29 years. At his trial he conducted his own defense; he argued that an all-white judicial system could not possibly try black opponents of the system fairly. His riveting closing statement from the dock has become one of the most celebrated speeches in modern political oratory: “I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

As apartheid began to crumble, Mandela was escorted to meetings with the South African president that would eventually lead to Mandela’s release and then to a genuine multiracial South African democracy. Mandela was finally released in 1990 and was inaugurated the first truly democratically elected South African president.

Novena of St. Ann[2]

Daily Prayer to Saint Ann

O glorious St. Ann, you are filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer! Heavily burdened with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present intention which I recommend to you in your special care.

Please recommend it to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and place it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue. Continue to intercede for me until my request is granted. But, above all, obtain for me the grace one day to see my God face to face, and with you and Mary and all the saints to praise and bless Him for all eternity. Amen.

Our Father, . . . Hail Mary . . .

O Jesus, Holy Mary, St. Ann, help me now and at the hour of my death. Good St. Ann, intercede for me.

SECOND DAY

From the depths of my heart, good St. Ann, I offer you my homage this day and ask you to shelter me under the mantle of your motherly care. You know, good mother, how much I love you, how gladly I serve you, how happy I am to praise you, how eager I am to call on you in time of distress.

Good St. Ann be pleased to extend your helping hand in all my wants. Listen to my prayers, for I place my trust in your gracious bounty. Make all my thoughts and desires worthy and righteous.

Jesus, I thank You for all the graces which in Your infinite goodness You have lavished upon St. Ann; for having chosen her, among all women, to be Your grandmother on earth and exalted her in heaven with such great and miraculous powers. In the name of her merits, I humbly recommend myself to Your infinite mercy.

St. Camillus de Lellis is today’s saint. This saint was 6’ 6” and was born on May 25^th and is a man who was a man who found it difficult to control his passions but after God intervene became a model for training against impure thoughts. Interestingly my youngest is 6’6” was and was born on May 25^th and he is a wild man too, but his heart loves the Lord.

Moharram (Islamic New Year)^{^[3]}

· Muharram (1st first month of the Islamic calendar) is the holiest month after Ramadan. This month is most recommended by Muhammad to fast and worship in.

· The Islamic method of dating was invented by Umar ibn Al-Khattab, a close friend of Muhammad. He was the second Islamic Caliph (rulers) and in the year 638 he standardized the many calendars of the Arabian Peninsula.

· The Islamic calendar is lunar cycle based and contains twelve months that make up a total of 354.36 days together.

· There are parallels between this holiday and the day of Ashura. Ashura commemorates what Muslims believe is Moses crossing the Red Sea to escape the oppressive Pharaoh on Ashura. Similarly, the Islamic New Year marks Muhammad's crossing the desert between Mecca and Medina to escape the oppressive Quraish nobles. For both observances, Muhammad recommended Muslims to fast.

· The Islamic calendar is abbreviated A.H. or Anno Hegirae in Western languages. The first date on the Islamic calendar, 1,1 Muharram A.H. corresponds to July 16, year 622.

Top Events and Things to Do

· Muslim parents traditionally tell their children of Muhammad's escape from Mecca to Medina on this night.

Read more about Muhammad's journey from Mecca to Medina by reading his biography, The Sealed Nectar

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 7-"FROM THENCE HE WILL COME AGAlN TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD"

I. He Will Come Again in Glory

Christ already reigns through the Church. . .

668 "Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." Christ's Ascension into heaven signifies his participation, in his humanity, in God's power and authority. Jesus Christ is Lord: he possesses all power in heaven and on earth. He is "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion", for the Father "has put all things under his feet." Christ is Lord of the cosmos and of history. In him human history and indeed all creation are "set forth" and transcendently fulfilled.

669 As Lord, Christ is also head of the Church, which is his Body. Taken up to heaven and glorified after he had thus fully accomplished his mission, Christ dwells on earth in his Church. the redemption is the source of the authority that Christ, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, exercises over the Church. "The kingdom of Christ (is) already present in mystery", "on earth, the seed and the beginning of the kingdom".

670 Since the Ascension God's plan has entered into its fulfilment. We are already at "the last hour". "Already the final age of the world is with us, and the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way; it is even now anticipated in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real but imperfect." Christ's kingdom already manifests its presence through the miraculous signs that attend its proclamation by the Church.
. . . until all things are subjected to him

671 Though already present in his Church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled "with power and great glory" by the King's return to earth. This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ's Passover. Until everything is subject to him, "until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God." That is why Christians pray, above all in the Eucharist, to hasten Christ's return by saying to him: Maranatha! "Our Lord, come!"

672 Before his Ascension Christ affirmed that the hour had not yet come for the glorious establishment of the messianic kingdom awaited by Israel which, according to the prophets, was to bring all men the definitive order of justice, love and peace. According to the Lord, the present time is the time of the Spirit and of witness, but also a time still marked by "distress" and the trial of evil which does not spare the Church and ushers in the struggles of the last days. It is a time of waiting and watching.

The glorious advent of Christ, the hope of Israel

673 Since the Ascension Christ's coming in glory has been imminent, even though "it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.". This eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment, even if both it and the final trial that will precede it are "delayed".

674 The glorious Messiah's coming is suspended at every moment of history until his recognition by "all Israel", for "a hardening has come upon part of Israel" in their "unbelief" toward Jesus. St. Peter says to the Jews of Jerusalem after Pentecost: "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old." St. Paul echoes him: "For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?" The "full inclusion" of the Jews in the Messiah's salvation, in the wake of "the full number of the Gentiles", will enable the People of God to achieve "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ", in which "God may be all in all".

The Church's ultimate trial

675 Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. the supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.

676 The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgement. the Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism.

677 The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection. The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven. God's triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgement after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world.

· July 18-23 Hemingway Days Festival (Key West, Florida)[4]

Can’t make it to Pamplona this month? Head to Key West instead! Hemingway Days Festival honors the late author, who lived and worked on the southern coast of the island. The annual event includes its own "Running of the Bulls" — this one with Ernest Hemingway lookalikes pushing fake bulls on Key West’s famed Duval Street.