Friday, January 5, 2024

- December 30, 2023

First Friday

TWELFTH NIGHT evening prior to epiphany

Psalm 49, Verse 17

Do not FEAR when a man becomes rich, when the wealth of his house grows great.

The next verse drives the point: for his glory shall not descend with him!

Inheritance vs. Legacy[1]

Fix your eyes on that which endures. In the movie Centennial it portrays a young Arapahoe child in the year 1756, who learns his father has just been killed in battle and is taught the lesson that 'only rocks live forever'. God encourages us to fix our eyes on the eternal. Leaders become consumed with the momentary but forget the lasting. Christ tells us that leaders must not pursue wealth or power for true greatness comes from inside out. Even our own bodies make a testimony to this by accomplishing the healing from the inside out. True leaders pursue a legacy rather than wealth. What does any man take with him to the grave? Only a vision came outlive a man. Think of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln. A huge difference exists between a legacy and an inheritance. Anyone can leave an inheritance. An inheritance is something you leave TO your family or loved ones, and it also fades. A legacy is something you leave IN your family and loved ones.

· An inheritance is something tangible you give to others, but a legacy is something you place in others.

· An inheritance brings temporary happiness but a legacy transforms life.

· An inheritance is spent but a legacy is renewed.

· An inheritance may or may not pay off, but a legacy always propagates.

Live, Love, Learn and Leave a Legacy[2]

One of the great achievements of Steven Covey was the coining of the phrase “To Live, To Love, To Learn, To Leave a Legacy”. Beyond the beautiful wording, it taught that a fulfilling life requires recognizing the existence, importance, and differences of four human dimensions.

· Physical-The first dimension is the the physical dimension. It is the world of action, the world of survival, the world of physical pleasure. It’s easy to access this dimension through an activity like eating, but the pleasure is short-lived and ends shortly after the last bite.

· Emotional-Next up is the emotional dimension. It’s the world of belonging, caring, connecting, and loving. It takes more work to properly access this dimension because it involves other people. The pleasure is much deeper and more meaningful than the physical. A litmus test is that one would not trade the true love of a spouse or a child for even $1billion, which can buy a lot of physical pleasure.

· Mental-Higher up is the mental dimension. It’s the world of learning, understanding, and creating. These activities require more time, thought and effort than emotional activities. They are the activities at the root of self-actualization, and they help us keep our emotional and physical activities within the proper measure. It is the dimension that powers the political, business, and altruistic worlds in which people often sacrifice their emotional relationship in pursuit of solutions to big problems.

· Spiritual-The highest dimension is the spiritual dimension. It goes beyond self-actualization to self-transcendence, higher purpose and leaving a legacy. It is the realm of belief and dedication to a Higher Power. It is all the dimension of free will and doing the intrinsically right thing.

When a person is actively cognizant and living within these four human dimensions he is functioning at a higher level. Understanding them is a key component of health, happiness, and meaning.

First Friday and the Sacred Heart of Jesus[3]

ALTHOUGH many pious souls had been accustomed, in the silence of their secluded lives, to venerate the sacred Heart of Jesus with great devotion, still our divine Savior desired that the boundless love of His Heart might be known by all men, and that a new fire of love should thereby be kindled in the cold hearts of Christians. For this purpose, He made use of a frail and little-known instrument in the person of Margaret Mary Alacoque, a nun of the Order of the Visitation, at Parayle-Monial, France. One day, when, according to her custom during the octave of Corpus Christi, she was deeply engaged in devotions before the Blessed Sacrament, the divine Savior appeared to her, showed her His Heart burning with love, and said: “Behold this Heart, which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify its love. In return I receive from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrilege, and by the coldness and contempt they have for Me in this sacrament of love. And what is most painful to Me is that they are hearts consecrated to Me. It is for this reason I ask thee that the first Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi be appropriated to a special feast to honor My Heart by communicating on that day and making reparation for the indignity that it has received. And I promise that My Heart shall dilate to pour out abundantly the influences of its love on all that will render it this honor or procure its being rendered. Margaret obeyed, but met everywhere the greatest opposition, until finally, when she became mistress of novices, she succeeded, by the help of her divine Spouse, in animating her young charges to venerate the sacred Heart of Jesus. But this was not sufficient for her zeal. She persevered until she softened the opposition of the nuns and kindled in all an equal devotion towards the most sacred Heart. Thence the devotion spread to the adjoining dioceses, where confraternities in honor of the most sacred Heart of Jesus soon sprung up. Pope Clement XIII., after having instituted a most rigorous examination of the whole affair, commanded that the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus should be solemnly celebrated throughout the whole Catholic Church every year, on the first Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi.

The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

1. Object of this Devotion.

In the divine Heart of Our Savior, we must not imagine an inanimate heart, separated from the person of Christ, but the living heart of the God-Man, the center of all His affections, the fountain of all His virtues, the most touching emblem of His infinite love to man. The Church venerates the cross, the blood, and the wounds of the divine Savior, by feasts which have their proper masses and lessons, in order, by meditation upon these objects, to awaken in us a more fervent devotion to the Redeemer. How much more worthy, then, of our devotion is the sacred Heart of Our Savior, since all its thoughts, movements, and affections aim at our salvation, and it is always ready to receive truly penitent sinners, to pardon them, to restore them again to God s favor, and make them partakers of eternal happiness!

2. Excellence of this Devotion.

It is, writes the venerable P. Simon Gourdan:

a. A holy devotion, for therein men venerate in Christ those affections and motions of His Heart by which He sanctified the Church, glorified His Heavenly Father, and showed Himself to men as a perfect example of the most sublime holiness.

b. An ancient devotion of the Catholic Church, which, instructed by St. Paul, the great apostle, has at all times acknowledged the great beneficence of the divine and sacred Heart of Jesus.

c. An approved devotion, for the Holy Scriptures everywhere admonish us to renew the heart, by changing our lives; to penetrate it with true sorrow, to inflame it with divine love, and to adorn it by the practice of all virtues. When, therefore, a new heart is promised us, by which to direct our lives, that can be no other than the Heart of Jesus, which is to us the pattern of all excellence, and which we must follow if we would be saved.

d. A perfect devotion, as being the origin of all other devotions. For the Heart of Jesus is the inexhaustible treasury from which the blessed Mother of God, and all other saints have derived their graces, their virtues, their life, their spiritual goods. Filled first with treasures from this source, different servants of God have instituted and established other devotions.

e. A profitable devotion, for thereby we have brought before our eyes the very fountain of life and grace, and can draw directly from it, increasing in ourselves all virtues, by adoring this divine Heart, meditating on its holy affections, and endeavoring to imitate them.

f. A devotion pleasing to God, for thus we adore God, as Christ requires, in spirit and in truth, serving Him inwardly in our hearts, and endeavoring to please Him. Finally, it is:

g. A useful devotion, since its whole object is to unite us most intimately with Christ as members of Him, her head, to make us live by and according to His spirit, to have one heart and soul with Him, and through grace finally to become one with Him, which is and must be the object of all devotions.

As this devotion is, then, so excellent, we cannot sufficiently recommend it to all who are anxious for their salvation. While everyone can practice this devotion, and adore the sacred Heart of Jesus, by himself, there is a greater blessing when pious souls unite and form a confraternity for practicing the devotion. Hesitate not, Christian soul, to engage in this devotion, and to join in the adoration of that sacred Heart of Jesus in which all men find propitiation, the pious, confidence; sinners, hope; the afflicted, consolation; the sick, support; the dying, refuge; the elect, joy and delight.

An Offering to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Whoever says the following prayer before the image of the most sacred Heart of Jesus, with sincere sorrow for his sins, gains each time an indulgence of one hundred days; and by saying it daily for a month, he can on any one day gain a plenary indulgence, if he makes his confession, receives communion, and prays according to the intention of the Church:

“My loving Jesus, I (N.N.) give Thee my heart; and I consecrate myself wholly to Thee, out of the grateful love I bear Thee, and as reparation for all my unfaithfulness; and with Thy aid I purpose never to sin again.”

The Twelfth Night[4]

But what exactly are the Twelve Days of Christmas? They are the days between Christmas and the Feast of the Epiphany that constitute an unbroken period of joy and celebration. Epiphany is considered the twelfth day of Christmas (in fact it is sometimes called "Twelfth Day") while the Eve of Epiphany is called "Twelfth Night." Shakespeare's play, "Twelfth Night," takes its name from the Vigil because during this period festivals (such as the Feast of Fools or the Feast of the Ass) used to be held in which everything was turned upside-down -- a little like the reversed identities of the characters in the play. These "preposterous" observances, incidentally, were a joyful mimicry of the inversion of almighty God becoming a lowly man, of the King appearing as a humble infant.

The twelve nights of Christmas were primarily a time of rest from unnecessary labor and joyful prayer. On each of these nights the Christmas tree lights and the Christmas candle would be lit, while the family would gather around the manger to recite prayers and sing carols and hymns. Similar services are held in some churches during these nights as well.

Twelfth day of Christmas is represented by the Twelve Drummers drumming in the song which of course represents the twelve points of the Apostles Creed. It is interesting to note that these 12 points are indeed pointing to the abode of God and that our Lord is the gate of heaven.

1. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

2. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.

3. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

4. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

5. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again.

6. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

7. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

8. I believe in the Holy Spirit,

9. the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,

10. the forgiveness of sins,

11. the resurrection of the body,

12. and life everlasting.

Additionally, the 12^th Station of the Cross Jesus dies. Today would be a good day to do the Eucharistic Stations of the Cross.

Activities for the Twelfth Day of Christmas[5]

At the time of St. John Neumann's episcopate there was a strong anti-Catholic sentiment in Philadelphia and having had two churches burned and another barely saved, priests were advising the Bishop, not to proceed with introducing the 40 Hours of continual adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, believing it would somehow increase the hostility already directed against the Church. The Bishop had a decision to make and then something happened to make up his mind to proceed with the devotion of the 40 Hours of Adoration:

One night, he was working very late at his desk and fell asleep in his chair. The candle on the desk burnt down and charred some of the papers, but they were still readable. He awoke, surprised and thankful that a fire had not ignited. He fell on his knees to give thanks to God for protection, and heard His voice saying, "As the flames are burning here without consuming or injuring the writing, so shall I pour out my grace in the Blessed Sacrament without prejudice to My honor. Fear no profanation, therefore; hesitate no longer to carry out your design for my glory." He introduced the practice of 40 Hours Devotion at the first diocesan synod in April 1853, and the first devotions began at St. Philip Neri Parish, an appropriate place since that St. Philip had begun that very devotion in the city of Rome. The holy Bishop then introduced the program for the whole diocese, so that each parish would have Forty Hours Devotion during the course of the year. He wrote a booklet for the devotions and obtained special indulgences for the faithful attending them. The Forty Hours Devotion was so successful it spread to other dioceses. At the Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1866, the Forty Hours Devotion was approved for all Dioceses of the United States. Excerpted from St. John Neumann and the 40 Hours Devotion by Joseph Mary

We suggest that today would be an excellent time to make a family holy hour (or holy half hour) at an adoration chapel or in your parish church. If you can't make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament your family can pray this litany at home. The activity can by brought to conclusion by singing Christmas carols and enjoying Christmas cookies and the Christmas bread, Vanocka.

St. John Neumann - Day Twelve[6]

John Neumann was born in Bohemia on March 20, 1811. Since he had a great desire to dedicate himself to the American missions, he came to the United States as a cleric and was ordained in New York in 1836 by Bishop Dubois. In 1840, John Neumann entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists). He labored in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. In 1852, he was consecrated bishop of Philadelphia. There he worked hard for the establishment of parish schools and for the erection of many parishes for the numerous immigrants. Bishop Neumann died on January 5, 1860; he was beatified in 1963.

· Day Twelve activity (Visit to the Blessed Sacrament)

· Day Twelve recipe (Vanocka)

Catechism of the Catholic Church

PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST

SECTION ONE-MAN'S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT

CHAPTER ONE-THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

Article 8-SIN

II. The Definition of Sin

1849 Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as "an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law."

1850 Sin is an offense against God: "Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight." Sin sets itself against God's love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the first sin, it is disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become "like gods," knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus "love of oneself even to contempt of God." In this proud self-exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves our salvation.

1851 It is precisely in the Passion, when the mercy of Christ is about to vanquish it, that sin most clearly manifests its violence and its many forms: unbelief, murderous hatred, shunning and mockery by the leaders and the people, Pilate's cowardice and the cruelty of the soldiers, Judas' betrayal - so bitter to Jesus, Peter's denial, and the disciples' flight. However, at the very hour of darkness, the hour of the prince of this world, the sacrifice of Christ secretly becomes the source from which the forgiveness of our sins will pour forth inexhaustibly.

Fitness Friday[7]

BRIGHT MINDS Program, which is designed to identify and treat all 11 risk factors that contribute to memory problems. Here is what the words BRIGHT MINDS stand for:

B – Blood Flow

R – Retirement/Aging

I – Inflammation

G – Genetics

H – Head Trauma

T – Toxins

M – Mental Health

I – Immunity/Infection Issues

N – Neurohormone Deficiencies

D – Diabesity

S – Sleep Issues

Watching your weight being 20 pounds overweight has a number of BRIGHT MINDS vulnerabilities, including low blood flow to the brain as well as high blood glucose, homocysteine and ferritin, or iron—all tied to faster aging.

In addition to getting older, the general risk factors associated with living past retirement age are:

· Not working or working less than half-time

· Social isolation

· A lack of new learning

· Having attained less than a high school education

It is a good idea to have a checkup with your health-care provider to evaluate your current state of health. Request these specific lab tests:

· Ferritin

· Telomere length (telomeres are casings at the ends of chromosomes that shorten with age; people with longer telomeres tend to live longer)

You can take these simple steps to make sure your mind and memory are sharp for years to come:

· Spend at least 15 minutes a day learning something new, such as a language, a musical instrument or dance moves.

· Take your health seriously—eat well, exercise, get seven hours of sleep a night.

· Eat more antioxidant-rich foods like cocoa, walnuts, blueberries, artichokes and pomegranates, and more choline-rich foods like eggs, chicken, turkey, beef, scallops, shrimp, salmon, cod, chickpeas, and lentils.

· Limit your consumption of charred meats.

· Supplement your diet with a good multivitamin/mineral, extra vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids EPA/DHA and the following nutraceuticals to strengthen your brain: PS (phosphatidylserine), alpha GPC (alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine), ALCAR (acetyl-L-carnitine), huperzine A, saffron (standardized extract), sage.

· Try a daily 12-to-16-hour fast to help your brain clear out debris (if dinner is at 7 pm, breakfast should be no earlier than 7 am)

· Get the social support you need so you aren’t isolated or lonely.

· Volunteer for an organization you believe in

· Donate blood if your ferritin is too high.

Daily Devotions/Practices

· Today's Fast: Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: True Masculinity

· Have a drink; prohibition repealed Dec 5, 1933