| URGENT - FEAST OF THE HOLY FACE OF JESUS |
Jesus, covered in blood and much sadness, said to Mother Pierina: "See how much I suffer. I am understood by so few. What ingratitude on the part of those who say that they love Me! I have given My heart as a sensible object of My great love for man, and I give My Face as a sensible object of My sorrow for the sins of man. I desire that it be honored by a special feast on Shrove Tuesday. The feast will be preceded by a novena, during which the faithful make reparation with Me, uniting themselves with My sorrow." This year, the feast occurs on February 13th, 2024 (Shrove Tuesday); thus, the nine-day Alpha Omega novena begins on Sunday, February 4th, 2024. |
NATIONAL ESCAPE DAY-CROISSANT DAY
Mark, Chapter 5, Verse 35-36
35 While he was still speaking,
people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said, “Your daughter has
died; why trouble the teacher any longer?” 36 Disregarding the message that was
reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be AFRAID; just have faith.”
This
is the message of the gospel: “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” All who
believe in Christ for their salvation have access to Him at any time. Christ
compels us to trust in Him as He did the synagogue official. Through faith the
Holy Spirit brings us the gifts of knowledge and understanding. The gift of
counsel and we are driven by the spirit to a higher level of prudence. We are
docile to the spirits promptings; we have foresight and circumspection, and we
desire holiness.
SEVEN STEPS[1]
Here are seven
steps you can take to achieve holiness:
First,
we must desire holiness.
We
are called to be holy. We are called to be saints. Mother Teresa told us we
must desire to be holy and expect that we will receive it. What is more
important to you than becoming holy? Nothing should be!
Second,
we must surrender our lives to Jesus.
We
can’t get there if we have one foot in the world and one foot with Jesus. As I
indicated, if we are lukewarm, Jesus will “spit” us out of his mouth as seen in
Revelation 3. When we seek God with all our hearts, hunger, and thirst for Him,
we will receive the grace for holiness.
Third,
we must repent of our weakness and sins on an ongoing basis.
We
must seek God’s mercy and be merciful to others. Have we forgiven ourselves for
our sins? Have we forgiven others for the hurt they have caused us? Let’s get
in the habit of examining our conscience at the end of each day and go to
frequent Reconciliation.
Fourth,
we must ask for faith, faith that moves mountains and leads us to deeper
holiness.
Through
faith we experience miracles and the mercy of God. Faith, through the love of
Jesus, heals us.
Fifth,
we must learn how to pray fervently.
Most
of us pray by asking God for things. It is critical we learn how to pray from
our hearts, beginning with praising God for who He is. Prayer and praise lead
us to be thankful for what God has done for us. It often involves praying in
the Spirit. When we are one with God, “Abide in me and I will abide in you,” we
have the power, love and grace of our Father in heaven. We are connected with
God through prayer, praise and the sacraments; we are doing His will. When we
do the will of God, we live in holiness. This also leads us to the Blessed
Mother and the rosary. Praying through Mary is the best way to become a saint.
She guides us to the will of her son Jesus.
Sixth, we
must love fervently.
Ask
God to teach you how to love. It is the most important act you can perform. It
starts with God teaching you how to open your heart to receive the love God has
for you. To love in holiness and with the love of the Father, we must learn how
to show mercy to others—a huge stumbling block for many. They try to come up
with excuse after excuse on why they can’t forgive. My brothers and sisters, we
have no choice if we want to be holy. Lack of mercy will prevent our “being set
apart” or holy. Is holding on to anger, hurts, ill feelings worth it? The
answer is no, especially considering what God has told us: we will be forgiven
in the same measure we forgive others. That when we judge, we place that same
judgment on ourselves. Learn to love unconditionally by asking for it,
repenting when you are not loving, and asking for the grace to receive how to
love with the love of Jesus. Do not be prideful in your ability to love, since
all love is of God and comes from God.
And seventh, to be holy means you are living a sacramental life.
It
requires leading a life in which you hunger and thirst for the Mass and
Eucharist.
To what
extent is your day based upon receiving the Eucharist or routinely going to
Reconciliation?
When
God has called us to be holy, he has called us to Himself. He wants to give us
every spiritual gift and blessing in the heavens. God is always close to us and
especially when we face adversities and trials. No matter what we are going
through, God’s love, grace and forgiveness is greater than any problem we could
possibly have. We have a choice. We can focus on our problems, challenges and
trials or let Jesus take over our lives. I pray that each of you be blessed
with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, that you have the grace and
courage not to compromise your desire for holiness. You were designed for
greatness, which is holiness. You were created to be an instrument of God’s
love, joy, and peace. May God our Father bless each of you and your loved ones
with His abundant love, through the intercession of the Blessed Mother, the
power of the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus, amen! All praise, glory and
honor to Him now and forever, amen!
Croissant Day[2]
The legend of how the
croissant came to be is that in 1683, the Turkish Empire laid siege on Vienna,
Austria. The Turks made several attempts to conquer the city by force, but were
unsuccessful, so decided to try underground tunnels. The bakers of Vienna, who
worked in the basement storerooms, heard the sound of digging and alerted the city’s
army. For their vigilance, the bakers received high honors and thanks for their
assistance in outwitting the Turks. In celebration, they baked their bread in
the shape of a crescent moon—the symbol of the Ottoman Empire. After the Turks
were defeated, it became custom to serve morning coffee with the
crescent-shaped pastry! The legend continues to say that over a hundred years
later, Marie Antoinette introduced the pastry to the French who dubbed it a
“croissant”. Celebrate Croissant Day
in style by eating an abundance of this tasty treat!
Recipe[3]
On
September 12, 1683, the great army of Turks which had besieged the city of
Vienna for two months was finally attacked by the combined forces of Germans,
Austrians, and Poles under the titular command of King John Sobiesky of Poland.
The fierce battle lasted from dawn to evening, when the Turks, utterly beaten,
retreated in headlong flight. Among the immense booty, the victors found a
great number of sacks filled with strange green beans. They took them to be
fodder for the camels which the Turkish Pasha had brought along. Since the
camels had fled with the army, this part of the booty seemed useless, and it
was decided to dump it in the Danube. However, one of the inhabitants of the
city, a man named Kolsinsky, who had been a prisoner of the Turks and knew
their ways, explained that it was a fruit from which the Turks, after roasting
it, made a popular drink. In return for valuable services rendered during the
siege he asked permission to open a shop where he could sell this Turkish
drink. Permission was readily granted, and he opened the first "coffee
house" in the city. When the people of Vienna tried the new drink, they
found it not to their liking, for Kolsinsky served it the Turkish way — in
small cups, with the grounds, black and unsweetened. A friend then advised him
to make the drink more acceptable: "Strain it," he said, "so the
grounds won't grit between the teeth. Add some milk to make it look brighter
and sugar to make it sweet. And serve it together with something to eat. Why
not use a new kind of pastry? Shape it in the form of the Turkish
half-moon?" (The Turks had put their Mohammedan crescent on every church
steeple in the place of the Christian cross.) Kolsinsky followed the advice,
and his products immediately became very popular. The people now enjoyed
drinking the coffee prepared in this manner, and they gleefully devoured the
"Turkish Crescent," the sight of which had filled them with terror
during the war. Thus, started the custom, which has since spread from Vienna
all over the world, of drinking coffee without grounds in the cup, of mixing it
with milk or cream, and sweetening it with sugar. The pastry in form of the
Turkish half-moon (crescent, croissant, Kipfel) also has remained a familiar
sight on coffee tables up to this day.
DIRECTIONS
Dissolve
yeast in water. Combine sugar, butter, salt and milk. Add milk mixture and egg
to yeast when cool. Stir in flour; beat well. Turn into greased bowl. Cover and
let rise in warm place to double in bulk. Turn dough onto lightly floured
board; knead for 1 minute. Return to bowl and let rise again to double in bulk.
Roll dough to a very thin sheet, about 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 5-inch squares.
Cut each square diagonally into 2 triangles. Brush with melted butter. Roll
triangles, beginning on diagonal. Shape in crescent shape. Place on greased
baking sheet, let rise until light. Bake in 400° oven for 15 minutes.
National Escape Day[4]
The idea of taking a vacation has been around for a long time, although it’s hard to trace it back exactly. In the past, the ability to take time to rest and escape from normal life would have typically been an option only for those who were particularly wealthy or powerful because average workers simply couldn’t afford to take the time off.
As
the world has been industrialized and modern workers have gained rights for
themselves related to safety and working conditions, the practice of taking
paid vacations or paid time off has evolved. Today, at least in most developed
countries, it is now commonplace to allow regular, full-time workers some sort
of time off for rest and vacation.
In
Europe, the standard is four weeks each year. In the United States there are no
legal requirements for paid leave, but many companies offer from two weeks to
four weeks or more (including sick days), based on seniority and other factors.
For
many people, whether it’s taking a vacation or just taking a day off from the
normal grind, the end of January is a perfect time for some “me time”. And
that’s why National Escape Day was established as a reminder to get away for a
day (or more if possible), gather yourself and come back refreshed and ready
for the next thing!
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
Article 2-GRACE AND
JUSTIFICATION
II. Grace
1996 Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace
is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call
to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of
eternal life.
1997 Grace is a participation in the life of God. It
introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life: by Baptism the Christian
participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an "adopted
son" he can henceforth call God "Father," in union with the only
Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who
forms the Church.
1998 This vocation to eternal life is supernatural. It
depends entirely on God's gratuitous initiative, for he alone can reveal and
give himself. It surpasses the power of human intellect and will, as that of
every other creature.
1999 The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God
makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal
it of sin and to sanctify it. It is the sanctifying or deifying grace received
in Baptism. It is in us the source of the work of sanctification:
Therefore if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who
through Christ reconciled us to himself.
2000 Sanctifying grace is an habitual gift, a stable and
supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live
with God, to act by his love. Habitual grace, the permanent disposition to live
and act in keeping with God's call, is distinguished from actual graces which
refer to God's interventions, whether at the beginning of conversion or in the
course of the work of sanctification.
2001 The preparation of man for the reception of grace is
already a work of grace. This latter is needed to arouse and sustain our
collaboration in justification through faith, and in sanctification through
charity. God brings to completion in us what he has begun, "since he who
completes his work by cooperating with our will began by working so that we
might will it:"
Indeed we also work, but we are only collaborating with God
who works, for his mercy has gone before us. It has gone before us so that we
may be healed, and follows us so that once healed, we may be given life; it
goes before us so that we may be called, and follows us so that we may be
glorified; it goes before us so that we may live devoutly, and follows us so
that we may always live with God: for without him we can do nothing.
2002 God's free initiative demands man's free response, for
God has created man in his image by conferring on him, along with freedom, the
power to know him and love him. the soul only enters freely into the communion
of love. God immediately touches and directly moves the heart of man. He has
placed in man a longing for truth and goodness that only he can satisfy. the
promises of "eternal life" respond, beyond all hope, to this desire:
If at the end of your very good works . . ., you rested on
the seventh day, it was to foretell by the voice of your book that at the end
of our works, which are indeed "very good" since you have given them
to us, we shall also rest in you on the sabbath of eternal life.
2003 Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who
justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit
grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the
salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There
are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are
furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by
St. Paul and meaning "favor," "gratuitous gift,"
"benefit." Whatever their character - sometimes it is
extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues - charisms are
oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the
Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church.
2004 Among the special graces ought to be mentioned the
graces of state that accompany the exercise of the responsibilities of the
Christian life and of the ministries within the Church:
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to
us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in
our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; he who exhorts, in his
exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he
who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
2005 Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace
escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith. We cannot therefore
rely on our feelings or our works to conclude that we are justified and saved. However,
according to the Lord's words "Thus you will know them by their
fruits" - reflection on God's blessings in our life and in the lives
of the saints offers us a guarantee that grace is at work in us and spurs us on
to an ever greater faith and an attitude of trustful poverty.
A pleasing illustration of this attitude is found in the
reply of St. Joan of Arc to a question posed as a trap by her ecclesiastical
judges: "Asked if she knew that she was in God's grace, she replied: 'If I
am not, may it please God to put me in it; if I am, may it please God to keep
me there.'"
Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters
of St. Joseph by joining
them in fasting: Today's Fast: An End to Addictions
·
Make reparations to the Holy Face-Tuesday Devotion
·
Pray Day 9 of the Novena for our Pope and
Bishops
·
Tuesday:
Litany
of St. Michael the Archangel
·
Carnival:
Part Two, the Final Countdown
·
Plan your vacation today
·
Rosary
[3]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/recipes/view.cfm?id=1105&repos=3&subrepos=4&searchid=1864685
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