Tuesday, January 23, 2024

 

Unite at the Foot of the Cross


February 5 to March 29 (Good Friday)


The Very Powerful 54 Day Rosary Novena


Seeking Strength, Unity & Protection


Unity in Truth


Cardinal Robert Sarah recently wrote, "For the time foretold by Saint Paul has come, ‘when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths’ (2 Tim 4:3–4) … Church unity is at stake because there is no unity apart from truth. Jesus told us clearly: ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away’ (Mt 24:35). Let us trust in His word above any other because ‘you have one master, the Christ’ (Mt 23:10). Church history offers us the testimony of many Christians who preferred to say no to a world of darkness, perversion, and moral decadence, even if it cost them their lives, rather than to lose the treasure that they had discovered in Jesus (see Mt 13:44; Phil 1:21).” -Cardinal Robert Sarah, Catechism of the Spiritual Life.


We are engaged in a spiritual battle of historic proportions! We are witnessing an overreach of evil never seen before. It is important to understand Satan’s names: “diabolos” means “he who places division or separation,” and “daio,” the root of “demon,” means “to divide.” We have all seen how these outrageous demonic activities have caused great division in our families and communities.


As Satan seductively coaxes more and more people away from the designs of God, these separated people look back, pointing an accusatory finger at those of us who choose to remain in the will of God, saying, “You are the cause of division because you choose not to join us in the ways of the world!!” We are called “extreme” and “fanatical” when we are simply remaining with our Lord at the foot of the cross.


Yes! We all want UNITY! But, as Cardinal Sarah eloquently states, “There is no unity apart from the truth.” Yet, we wonder if we will ever restore this unity in truth again. What can we do?


The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “All are called to Holiness…The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle.” 


We must call out to God in prayer. We must stay as close to God and His will as possible. We must trust in God’s supernatural power. We must go to Mary to seek her powerful intercession. We must become holy in God’s supernatural strength. And, we must seek God’s supernatural protection during these historic days of persecution against those of us who are simply choosing to unite at the foot of the cross.


Ultimately, this 54 day "Unite at the Foot of the Cross" prayer campaign is about seeking Strength, Unity and Protection:


Strength


President Ronald Reagan once famously stated, “We maintain the peace through our strength; weakness only invites aggression.” 


St. Paul wrote, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:6-7).


But, how do we get to this place of peace? God has revealed the prescription in so many ways that all boil down to: “When you are well-connected with Me and supernaturally strong, you will find peace.”


The "peace that surpasses all understanding" is what I want for all of us, and why I wrote the Peace Through Strength Prayer Journal. This journal guides us into cultivating the very best ways of the spiritual life; the ways of staying as close as possible to our Lord; the ways of becoming strong in the Lord and in His mighty power (Eph. 6:10-12).



I highly recommend using this journal - which was formulated with the guidance of Fr. Chad Ripperger - for this 54 day "Unite at the Foot of the Cross" prayer campaign. You can order your Peace Through Strength Prayer Journal HERE.


Unity


As I said, this is a historic time. The devil is emboldened like never before.


What do we do? UNITE!! Don’t get pulled into the temptation of “in-fighting.” That’s a favorite tactic of the devil. He is the great divider.


I am 100% dedicated to UNITING all of us to our Eucharistic Lord and each other. We need to grow our force; our light.


The devil is a totalitarian super power right now. We must do the “David thing” and realize that size does not matter. What matters is trust in the power of God, united as an obnoxiously loving family.


Protection


As it says in Psalm 57 ...


Have mercy on me, God, have mercy

for in you my soul has taken refuge.

In the shadow of your wings I take refuge

till the storms of destruction pass by. 


There are many prayers and sacramentals, all of which I will get into as we pray together, but the primary way to remain safe and protected is to stay with Him - at the foot of the cross - in fervent love and devotion. Start your day, just right, with the few short prayers that have been revealed to us (these are found in the Peace Through Strength Prayer Journal). Dedication to these revealed prayers are a sign you are not lacking in fervent love of Him; that you want to do it "His way"; that you seek His protection at all times.


 

PRAYER AND TRAINING IN HOLINESS!


This 54 day prayer campaign is also a Basic Training in Holiness. Each day, along with praying your rosary and cultivating the very best habits of prayer, holiness trainees will be provided with a 1-2 minute reflection on the qualities of excellence. The first 27 days, trainees will read from passages in scripture, quotes from saints and the catechism on one of the following: Theological Virtues, Cardinal Virtues, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. The second 27 days will be excerpts from my very first book entitled, Church Militant Field Manual: Special Forces Training for the Life in Christ.


The daily reflections for this prayer and training campaign can be found in these two places.


1) You can sign up to receive the 54 Day Rosary prayers with daily reflection in your email. Click Here to Sign Up.


2) You can join the United State Grace Force Facebook group HERE, to receive the reflections each day.


You can order the "Peace Through Strength Prayer Journal" at romancatholicgear.com

 



ENLIST IN THE UNITED STATES GRACE FORCE


(Receive daily emails of prayers and reflections)


Click on the medallion (just below) to JOIN


holy spouses-Capt. kangaroo 

Psalm 96, Verse 4

For great is the LORD and highly to be praised, to be FEARED above all gods. 

What are the “gods” that this psalm eludes too? 

Doing some research, we find those gods can be anything that takes us away from He that is. This can be such things as power, money, sex, drugs and rock and roll. It can also be any idea that is counter to the love of God, such as “might makes right” or “Women’s choice”. One of the best ways to praise He that is-is to follow His commandments then we will find we can do good works with humility.

THIS WE BELIEVE

PRAYERS AND TEACHINGS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Catholic Ten Commandments: 

I.        I am the LORD your God. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.

II.     You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

III.  Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.

IV.  Honor your father and your mother.

V.    You shall not kill.

VI.  You shall not commit adultery.

VI You shall not steal.

VI You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

IX.  You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.

X.    You shall not covet your neighbor's goods.

Feast of The Holy Spouses[1] 

In light of the feast of the Holy Spouses visit a Shrine of St. Joseph in Yarnell, Arizona


While there have been feasts of Mary and Joseph as individual saints, and more recently also a feast of the Holy Family, no feast honoring their marriage has entered into the universal liturgical calendar of the Church. At least as early as 1413 Jean Gerson had proposed the Feast of the Betrothal. It was introduced into the missal for the cathedral of Chartres in 1482 and by the Franciscans and Servite’s in 1537 and thereafter by many other particular liturgical calendars. Saint Joseph Marello (canonized on November 25, 2001) also introduced it into the congregation he founded, the Oblates of St. Joseph. The feast had become so widespread that it was included in the universal Roman Missal under the section pro aliquibus locis, when in 1961 the revision of the universal liturgical calendar suppressed such particular feasts, requiring their reintroduction by groups wishing to preserve them. In 1989 the feast of The Holy Spouses, Mary and Joseph, was reintroduced into the proper calendar of the Oblates of St. Joseph, with its proper texts for Mass and for the Liturgy of the Hours. (In 1991 Fr. Juan Antonio MorĆ”n, M.J., in El Salvador also prepared a Mass text for private use for November 26, when married couples were also invited to renew their vows.)

 

The approved texts for the Oblate version of the Mass are as follows:

·         Entrance Antiphon: Hail Mary, Mother of God, united by a sacred bond to Joseph, faithful guardian of your virginal motherhood.

·         Opening Prayer: Holy Father, you joined together by a virginal bond the glorious Mother of your Son and the just man, Saint Joseph, that they might be faithful cooperators in the mystery of the Word Incarnate. Grant that we who are united with you by the bond of baptism may live more intimately in our union with Christ and may walk more joyfully in the way of love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ….

·         Readings: Isaiah 61:9-11; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:41-52.

·         Prayer over the Gifts: Lord, look graciously upon the gifts which we present at your altar on the Feast of the Holy Spouses, Mary and Joseph, and enkindle in us the spirit of your love.

·         Preface: Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord. You give the Church the joy of celebrating the feast of the Holy Spouses, Mary and Joseph: in her, full of grace and worthy Mother of your Son, you signify the beginning of the Church, resplendently beautiful bride of Christ; you chose him, the wise and faithful servant, as Husband of the Virgin Mother of God, and made him head of your family to guard as a father your only Son, conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, our Lord. For this gift of your kindness, we join….

·         Communion Antiphon: Joseph, son of David, have no fear about taking Mary as your wife. It is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child.

·         Prayer after Communion: Lord, by your holy gifts you have filled us with joy. By venerating the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, her spouse, may we be strengthened in your love- and live-in continual thanksgiving.

While the feast is celebrated on January 23 in all Oblate houses for all the faithful, the recent emphasis in the Holy Spouses Province of the Oblates of St. Joseph has been to extend a particular invitation to married and engaged couples. They are invited to look to Mary and Joseph as patrons and intercessors for their marriage, and to take them as the model husband and wife to strive to imitate in loving one another selflessly as spouses. Mary and Joseph may be shown to exemplify the two inseparable ends of marriage, love and life, and to refute the mentality of contraception and divorce. 

Be a good husbandman[2]


 

All men are called by God to be husbandmen. Some are called to the priesthood, and they may hear Christ saying to them: 

Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Mt. 4:19) 

Others are called to the single life and they may serve the Lord via their work and there are those who are called to the married life, but all are husbandmen. What makes a good husbandman?

 

Let us look at St. Joseph as an example of a good husbandman.

 

·         St. Joseph in all his dealings was humble.

·         He was the provider and protector of Mary and Jesus

·         full of zeal and great courage,

·         Obedient to the will of God. Yet he was not rash; and with prudence pondered.

·         His decisions trusting in divine providence.

·         He was a model of workers and

·         an example of married life and chaste love.

·         He valued prayer and the hidden life.

·         He was ready for the call of a neighbor or to the call of God;

·         He gave an immediate response.

·         His was a life of sacrifice; his was a life of simplicity.

 

To be a good husbandman is to:

 

Do the ordinary in an extraordinary way.” 

Captain Kangaroo[3] 

On Oct. 3, 1955, Bob Keeshan stepped onto a nautical-themed set wearing a captain's cap and a jacket with big, kangaroolike pockets. He smiled into the camera and became a television icon. Keeshan would play Captain Kangaroo for 36 years--more than 9,000 performances--to the amusement and betterment of generations of delighted children. 

Keeshan died (January 23, 2004) at a hospital in Windsor, Vt., after a long illness. Though no cause of death was announced, he had suffered from cardiac problems since the 1980s. He was 76. Unmistakable with his brushy mustache and bowl haircut, the Captain passed time with his good friend Mr. Green Jeans (Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum), visited with puppet animals such as Bunny Rabbit, whom he scolded for eating too many carrots, and Mr. Moose, who loved knock-knock jokes. The animal characters were voiced by Cosmo "Gus" Allegretti. Ahead of his time in recognizing the importance of early learning, Keeshan's Captain built confidence and intellectual development in children who were having too much fun to notice the lessons. "Play is the work of children," he said. "It's very serious stuff. And if it's properly structured in a developmental program, children can blossom." 

Captain Kangaroo most will remember--a grandfatherly figure (though Keeshan was just 28 at the beginning) who spoke directly to the camera, with no audience, no children in the cast, no intermediaries in the conversation he was having with his at-home viewers. "One of the reasons I work in television today," said David Kleeman, executive director of the Chicago-based American Center for Children and Media, "is because, when I was 4 or 5, I said `Hello' to Captain Kangaroo when he came on the screen, and he said `Hello' back to me. I really believed that he was talking to me. And I think he would have agreed. We're losing the generation of children's TV hosts who made a new mass medium personal--who could talk into the camera as though we were the only person on the other side." 

In later life Keeshan spoke often about the importance of good parenting. `Role models' "Parents are the ultimate role models for children," he said. "Every word, movement and action has an effect. No other person or outside force has a greater influence on a child than the parent." [Emphasis added] 

Keeshan insisted that viewers must always feel special, never just part of a huge audience. He screened advertising to assure that what he considered exploitative commercials would never be shown. Over the years, his stewardship of "Captain Kangaroo" was abundantly rewarded. The show won six Emmy Awards, three Gabriel’s for "uplifting" programming from a Catholic media group and three Peabody Awards. 

Life First[4] 9 Days for Life 

9 Days for Life is a "digital pilgrimage" of prayer and action focused on cherishing the gift of every person's life. A multi-faceted novena highlighting a different intention each day provides reflections, bonus information, and suggested actions. Join to receive the novena through the 9 Days for Life app, daily emails, or daily texts. See below for information on how else you can get involved! #9DaysforLife #OurPrayersMatter

 

Day Eight

Intercession: May those nearing life’s end receive medical care that respects their dignity and protects their lives. 

Prayers: Our Father, 3 Hail Mary’s, Glory Be 

Reflection: The dying process is a sacred time—a final season to seek closure in this life and prepare for the next. We know earthly death is not the end, but rather the door through which we must pass to gain eternal life. The deadly practice of assisted suicide—now legal in several states—shortens or even eliminates this sacred season, carelessly cutting short the life of the patient. To support the “false compassion” of assisted suicide is to see people as a problem to be eliminated. End-of-life care should instead help eliminate or alleviate the patient’s problems, whether they are physical, spiritual, or emotional. Those who die in God’s grace and friendship live forever with Christ. Because of our belief and hope in the Resurrection, we can face death not with fear, but with trust. We pray that society might recognize that every day of our lives is a gift and is always worth living, especially our final days. We need not fear. Christ is with us. 

Acts of Reparation (Choose one.)

 

·         Sacrifice some of your free time to do a small act of service, such as making breakfast for a family member, writing a note of encouragement for a coworker, or praying for the intentions of a friend.
 

·         Pray a decade of the rosary (www.usccb.org/rosary) for your friends and family who have passed away, as well as the departed who have no one to pray for them.
 

·         Offer some other sacrifice, prayer, or act of penance that you feel called to do for today’s intention.

 

Catechism of the Catholic Church

PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST

SECTION ONE-MAN'S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT

CHAPTER THREE-GOD'S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE


1949 Called to beatitude but wounded by sin, man stands in need of salvation from God. Divine help comes to him in Christ through the law that guides him and the grace that sustains him:

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Daily Devotions

·         Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: Protection of Life from Conception until natural death.

·         Make reparations to the Holy Face-Tuesday Devotion

·         Pray Day 8 of the Novena for our Pope and Bishops

·         Tuesday: Litany of St. Michael the Archangel

·         Make some Zuercher Ratsherrentopf

·         Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

·         January 23-28 Foodie Fest FL

·         Plan winter fun:

o   Soak in hot springs

o   Hit the snow slopes

o   Ride a snowmobile

o   Go for a dog sled ride

o   Ride a hot air balloon

·         Drops of Christ’s Blood

·         Universal Man Plan

·         Pray for our nation.

·         Rosary.




[3]Charles Leroux, Tribune senior correspondent Chicago Tribune, January 24, 2004

[4]http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/january-roe-events/nine-days-of-prayer-penance-and-pilgrimage.cfm



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