Sunday, October 29, 2023

- October 29, 2023

¹Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have PEACE with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have gained access [by faith] to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God.

Faith triumphs in trouble. Christian life is a life that trusts in God’s love rather than seeking to make ourselves clean as the Pharisees. We put self-justification and self-righteousness in the background and know peace with God for Christ has purchased our redemption with his blood. By our faith we become citizens of the kingdom of heaven owing our true allegiance to Christ, through His church whose head is the Pope. Although we are in the world, we are not of it. We are faithful citizens of our nation but God’s citizen first.

ON KEEPING THE LORD'S DAY HOLY[1]

CHAPTER I

DIES DOMINI

The Celebration of the Creator's Work

"Through him all things were made" (Jn 1:3)

8. For the Christian, Sunday is above all an Easter celebration, wholly illumined by the glory of the Risen Christ. It is the festival of the "new creation". Yet, when understood in depth, this aspect is inseparable from what the first pages of Scripture tell us of the plan of God in the creation of the world. It is true that the Word was made flesh in "the fullness of time" (Gal 4:4); but it is also true that, in virtue of the mystery of his identity as the eternal Son of the Father, he is the origin and end of the universe. As John writes in the Prologue of his Gospel: "Through him all things were made, and without him was made nothing that was made" (1:3). Paul too stresses this in writing to the Colossians: "In him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible .... All things were created through him and for him" (1:16). This active presence of the Son in the creative work of God is revealed fully in the Paschal Mystery, in which Christ, rising as "the first fruits of those who had fallen asleep" (1 Cor 15:20), established the new creation and began the process which he himself will bring to completion when he returns in glory to "deliver the kingdom to God the Father ..., so that God may be everything to everyone" (1 Cor 15:24,28).

Already at the dawn of creation, therefore, the plan of God implied Christ's "cosmic mission". This Christocentric perspective, embracing the whole arc of time, filled God's well-pleased gaze when, ceasing from all his work, he "blessed the seventh day and made it holy" (Gn 2:3). According to the Priestly writer of the first biblical creation story, then was born the "Sabbath", so characteristic of the first Covenant, and which in some ways foretells the sacred day of the new and final Covenant. The theme of "God's rest" (cf. Gn 2:2) and the rest which he offered to the people of the Exodus when they entered the Promised Land (cf. Ex 33:14; Dt 3:20; 12:9; Jos 21:44; Ps 95:11) is re-read in the New Testament in the light of the definitive "Sabbath rest" (Heb 4:9) into which Christ himself has entered by his Resurrection. The People of God are called to enter into this same rest by persevering in Christ's example of filial obedience (cf. Heb 4:3-16). In order to grasp fully the meaning of Sunday, therefore, we must re-read the great story of creation and deepen our understanding of the theology of the "Sabbath".

Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost

Rendering to God what is God's means that we must give ourselves up entirely to Him so that He will recognize us on the Last Day.

IN the Introit of the Mass, pray with the priest for the forgiveness of your sins: " If Thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand? for with Thee there is merciful forgiveness, O God of Israel. Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice " (Ps. cxxix.).

Prayer.

O God, our refuge and strength, Who art the author of mercy, attend to the pious prayers of Thy Church, and grant that what we ask in faith we may effectually obtain. Amen.

EPISTLE. Phil. i. 6-11.

Brethren: We are confident in the Lord Jesus, that He, Who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus. As it is meet for me to think this for you all: for that I have you in my heart; and that in my bonds, and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel, you are all partakers of my joy. For God is my witness, how I Jong after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your charity may more and more abound in knowledge, and all understanding: that you may approve the better things, that you may be sincere and without offence unto the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of justice through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. This epistle was written by St. Paul from Rome, where he was in prison, to the converts whom he had made in the city of Philippi, Macedonia. They had not only received the Gospel, but had also, for the sake of it, suffered many trials; besides, they had assisted the apostles with pious gifts. St. Paul, therefore, rejoiced, and thanked the Lord. The day of Christ, spoken of by the Apostle, is the day of judgment, which comes to every man at the very hour of his death.

GOSPEL. Matt. xxii. 15-21.

At that time, the Pharisees going, consulted among themselves how to ensnare Jesus in His speech. And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying: Master, we know that Thou art a true speaker, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest Thou for any man: for Thou dost not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what dost Thou think, is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? But Jesus, knowing their wickedness, said: Why do you tempt Me, ye hypocrites? Show Me the coin of the tribute. And they offered Him a penny. And Jesus saith to them: Whose image and inscription is this? They say to Him: Caesar’s. Then He saith to them: render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.

Who are hypocrites?

Those who, in order to deceive their neighbors, show themselves outwardly pious, while within they are full of evil dispositions and malice; who have honey on the tongue, but gall in the heart; who, like scorpions, sting when one least expects it. Such men are cursed by God (Mai. i. 14). The Lord hateth a mouth with a double tongue " (Prov. viii. 13). " Assumed sanctity," says St. Jerome, " is a double maliciousness”.

Don't forget to pray for the Poor Souls in Purgatory from November 1 to the 8th.

Purgatory[2]

Father Gerard, that the custom of having thirty masses said for the dead is also widely spread in Italy and other Christian countries. These Masses are called the Thirty Masses of St. Gregory, because the pious custom seems to trace its origin back to this great Pope. It is thus related in his Dialogues (Book 4, chap. 40): A Religious, named Justus, had received and kept for himself three gold pieces. This was a grievous fault against his vow of poverty. He was discovered and excommunicated. This salutary penalty made him enter into himself, and some time afterwards he died in true sentiments of repentance. Nevertheless, St. Gregory, in order to inspire the brethren with a lively horror of the sin of avarice in a Religious, did not withdraw the sentence of excommunication: Justus was buried apart from the other monks, and the three pieces of money were thrown into the grave, whilst the Religious repeated all together the words of St. Peter to Simon the Magician, Pecunia tua tecum sit in perditionem—“Keep thy money to perish with thee.” Sometime afterwards, the holy Abbot, judging that the scandal was sufficiently repaired, and moved with compassion for the soul of Justus, called the Procurator and said to him sorrowfully, “Ever since the moment of his death, our brother has been tortured in the flames of Purgatory; we must through charity make an effort to deliver him. Go, then, and take care that from this time forward the Holy Sacrifice is offered for thirty days; let not one morning pass without the Victim of Salvation being offered up for his release.” The Procurator obeyed punctually. The thirty Masses were celebrated in the course of thirty days. When the thirtieth day arrived and the thirtieth Mass was ended, the deceased appeared to a brother named Copiosus, saying, “Bless God, my dear brother, today I am delivered and admitted into the society of the saints.” Since that time the pious custom of celebrating thirty Masses for the dead has been established.

Daylight Saving Time Ends[3]

The first Sunday in November marks the end of Daylight Savings Time in the US. On this day, clocks are set back 1 hour, except for Hawaii and parts of Arizona which do not observe DST.

Daylight Saving Time Ends Facts

The dates for DST to begin and end were set forth by the US Congress in the Energy Act of 2005. Arizona, Hawaii, and four US territories (Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) do not observe Daylight Savings Time. Research suggest that daylight savings time is related to a rise in heart attacks, while the end of daylight savings time saw a slight decrease the first three days after the time change.

Daylight Saving Time Ends Top Events and Things to Do

· Replace the batteries on smoke and carbon dioxide detectors.

· Put the emergency winter kit back in the vehicle.

· Begin preparing for the coming holidays.

· Make sure outdoor lights are in working order.

· Put reflectors on bikes so that vehicles can more easily see you as it gets dark earlier.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST

SECTION ONE-MAN'S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT

CHAPTER TWO-THE HUMAN COMMUNION

1877 The vocation of humanity is to show forth the image of God and to be transformed into the image of the Father's only Son. This vocation takes a personal form since each of us is called to enter into the divine beatitude; it also concerns the human community as a whole.

Daily Devotions

· Today in honor of the Holy Trinity do the Divine Office giving your day to God. To honor God REST: no shopping after 6 pm Saturday till Monday. Don’t forget the internet.

· Unite yourself in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: Authentic Feminism

· Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

· Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

· Drops of Christ’s Blood

· Universal Man Plan

· Rosary