Sunday, February 25, 2024
Second Sunday of Lent, Called “Reminiscere”
Ester, Chapter 4C, Verse 30
O God, whose power is over all,
hear the voice of those in despair. Save us from the power of the wicked, and
deliver me from my FEAR.”
Ester
has determined here that she must overcome fear and risk death in order to save
her people. To enter the Kings Throne room without, being called by him, was a
taboo of the Persian court and to violate it carried an immediate sentence of
death. Ester determined that to save her people she must appear to the King and
risk death for her people.
Queen
Ester and Our Lady of Fatima[1]
Queen
Esther is in anguish because Haman, the wicked aide has convinced the King to
issue an order to kill all the Jews in his Empire. Haman did this because
Mordecai, Esther’s cousin who raised her as a daughter, would not bow down and
prostrate himself as Haman passed as the King had ordered. The date set for
destruction was the 13th of the month of Adar which corresponds to our month of
February. It is also the very day that the Maccabees liberated Israel after a
four-year battle with the Seleucid Empire. Sister Lucia to whom Our Lady of Fatima appeared died on this date. Our
Lady of Fatima’s first appearance to the three shepherd children was May 13,
1917. Her last appearance was October 13,1917. On May 13, 1981, Pope John
Paul II survived an assassination attempt. He credits Our Lady of Fatima with
saving his life.
Queen
Esther clothed herself in sackcloth and ashes. She fasted from food and
water for three days and asks the Jews to do the same. After three days,
she approached the King without being summoned. She did this even though
she was aware that the King could have sentenced her to death for doing so.
When the Queen enters into the King’s presence, he extends his scepter thus
sparing her life. He was so impressed by her courage and beauty that he
promised her up to half of his kingdom. Instead, she invites him to two
banquets and invites Haman – the man responsible for the order of the genocide
of her people. At the second banquet she pleads for her life and the life of
her people. The King is horrified by what Haman has done and orders him
to be hung on the same gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Persian law
did not permit the King to reverse his decree, but he issued another decree
that the Jews could defend themselves. Instead of being destroyed, the
Jewish people were saved and defeated their enemies in battle. The Jews
celebrate this triumph each year as their Feast of Purim. It doesn’t
always fall on the same day. March 23-24 this year.
Many
see Queen Esther as a type of Mary and the Book of Esther as a type of the
Apocalypse. A figure type is a person, place, thing or event foreshadowing a
New Testament archetype (a perfect model or type). The New Testament archetype
is always greater than its Old Testament figure type. For example, Jonah’s time
in the belly of the great fish is a type of Jesus in the tomb. Moses is a type
of Jesus. The Jewish people were saved through the intercession of Queen
Esther, so Mary intercedes for her people today. The Apocalypse foretells
a great persecution of Christians at the end of time, but the Book of
Revelation speak about the Ark of the Covenant appearing in the sky and the
Woman crushing the head of the dragon. (Revelation 12) When the Blessed Mother
appeared at Fatima, she wore the Star of Esther. In the Old Testament of the
Hebrew text, her name was Hádássah - meaning myrtle, a white, five-pointed,
star-shaped flower. In the Hebrew text, her name was Hádássah - meaning myrtle,
a white, five-pointed, star-shaped flower.
Like
Esther, Mary came to Fatima to spare her children from destruction. She asked
people to repent of sin, pray the rosary, go to confession, and receive the
Eucharist worthily. On July 13, 1917, Our Lady said to the child Lucia: “…I
shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, and
the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded,
Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her
errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The
good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and various
nations will be annihilated. ... In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph.
The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and an
era of peace will be granted to the world.” Had her requests been heeded the
world would have been spared the horrors of World War II in which over 50
million people died, and countless other wars and persecutions provoked by
Communists throughout the world. In 1920, Russia was also the first country to
legalize abortion. In 1913, Communist leader Vladimir Lenin demanded “the
unconditional annulment of all laws against abortions or against the
distribution of medical literature on contraceptive measures.” Great evils
threaten our world. Sin increases. So many hearts are hardened. We need to call
on Our Lady in prayer. Heed her requests to Fatima and Lourdes. Do
penance, do the Five First Saturday devotion by going to confession, receiving
the Eucharist, praying the rosary and meditating 15 minutes on the mysteries
for five first Saturdays of the month in a row. Queen Esther asked her
people to do pray and penance with her. We must listen to the Blessed Mother
today and ask her to intercede with her Son that he might spare us, our nation
and our world.
ON KEEPING
THE LORD'S DAY HOLY[2]
CHAPTER II
DIES CHRISTI
The Day of the Risen Lord
and of the Gift
of the Holy Spirit
The day of the new creation
25. In effect, Sunday is the day above all other days which summons Christians to remember the salvation which was given to them in baptism and which has made them new in Christ. "You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead" (Col 2:12; cf. Rom 6:4-6). The liturgy underscores this baptismal dimension of Sunday, both in calling for the celebration of baptisms — as well as at the Easter Vigil — on the day of the week "when the Church commemorates the Lord's Resurrection", and in suggesting as an appropriate penitential rite at the start of Mass the sprinkling of holy water, which recalls the moment of Baptism in which all Christian life is born.
Second Sunday of Lent, Called “Reminiscere”[3]
AT the Introit to-day the Church asks of God the grace to fall -no more into sin: Remember, O God, Thy bowels of compassion, and Thy mercies that are from the beginning of the world, lest at any time our enemies rule over us; deliver us, O God, from all our tribulations. To Thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul. In Thee, O God, I put my trust, let me not be ashamed; (Ps. xxiv.).
Prayer.
O God, Who beholdest us destitute of every virtue, preserve us both inwardly and outwardly, that we may be defended from all adversities in body, and purified from all evil thoughts in mind.
EPISTLE, i. Thess. iv. 1-7.
Brethren: We pray and beseech you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received of us, how you ought to walk, and to please God, so also you would walk, that you may abound the more. For you know what precepts I have given to you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor: not in the passion of lust, like the gentiles that know not God: and that no man overreach, nor circumvent his brother in business: because the Lord is the avenger of all these things, as we have told you before, and have testified: for God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto sanctification.
Explanation. St. Paul exhorts all Christians to live chastely and honestly, and continually to aspire to higher perfection. Such is the will of God, Who has called us to holiness, and will punish severely all impurity and injustice.
Prayer.
Grant, O Lord, that, according to my vocation, I may never be addicted to earthly and fleshly lusts like the heathen, who know Thee not, but may live in modesty, chastity, and holiness, and adorn my name as a Christian with good works. Amen.
Traditionally for this Sunday Paul exhorts us to keep up our progress and we hear the story of the Transfiguration as a heartening foretaste of Christ's ultimate triumph.
GOSPEL. Matt. xvii. 1-9.
At that time: Jesus taketh unto Him Peter and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: and He was transfigured before them. And His face did shine as the sun: and His garments became white as snow. And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with Him. And Peter, answering, said to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us to be here: if Thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. And as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. And lo a voice out of the cloud saying: This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased: hear ye Him. And the disciples, hearing, fell upon their face: and were very much afraid. And Jesus came and touched them: and said to them: Arise, and fear not. And they lifting up their eyes saw no one, but only Jesus. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying: Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of man be risen from the dead.
Why was Jesus transfigured before His disciples on Mount Tabor?
1. To give
them manifest proof of His divinity.
2. To
prevent all doubt on their part when they should see Him on Mount Calvary.
3. To
encourage all the faithful to patience under agony and suffering.
4. To show us how our glorified bodies shall rise from the dead (i. Cor. xv. 52).
Why did Moses and Elias appear with
Our Lord?
To
testify that Jesus was the Savior of the word spoken of by the law and the
prophets.
Lenten Calendar[4]
Read: Today’s Gospel shares the story of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
Reflect: “The Transfiguration reminds us that the joys sown by God in life are not finishing lines; rather they are the lights he gives us during our earthly pilgrimage in order that “Jesus alone” may be our Law and his word the criterion that directs our existence.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus, February 28, 2010)
Pray: Pray for strength today to continue your Lenten promises and fasting with this prayer from Catholic Relief Services. . . .
Act: It’s the second Sunday of Lent, but
there are three more to go. Rededicate yourself to your Lenten promises today
and enter the week ready to tackle what’s ahead.
·
Devotion
of the Seven Sundays: St Joseph-4th Sunday
Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle
The
feast of Saint Matthias[5]
was included in the Roman Calendar in the 11th century and celebrated on
the sixth day to the Calends of March (24 February usually, but 25 February in
leap years). In the revision of the General Roman
Calendar in
1969, his feast was transferred to 14 May, so as not to celebrate it in Lent but instead in Eastertide close to the Solemnity of the
Ascension, the
event after which the Acts of the Apostles recounts that Matthias was selected
to be ranked with the Twelve Apostles.
OF[6]
this apostle nothing certain is known beyond what is contained in the epistle.
In the Introit of the Mass the Church sings: “To me Thy friends, O God, are
made exceedingly honorable; their principality is exceedingly strengthened.
Lord, Thou hast proved me and known me; Thou hast known my sitting down and my
rising up.”
Prayer. O God, Who didst associate blessed
Matthias to the company of the apostles, grant, we beseech Thee, that, by his
intercession, we may ever experience Thy tender mercy towards us.
Prayer
to St. Matthias.
O St. Matthias, glorious apostle
and martyr of Jesus Christ, who, by the special providence of God, wast added
to the eleven apostles in the room of the traitor, I humbly beseech thee to
obtain for us the grace of Him Who chose thee from all eternity, that, assisted
thereby, we may, after thy example, keep the commandments of God, practice good
works, and thus merit to be numbered with the elect. Amen.
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST
SECTION TWO-THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
CHAPTER
ONE-YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR
SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Article 3 THE THIRD COMMANDMENT
IN BRIEF
2189
"Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Deut 5:12). "The
seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord" (Ex 31:15).
2190 The
sabbath, which represented the completion of the first creation, has been
replaced by Sunday which recalls the new creation inaugurated by the
Resurrection of Christ.
2191 The
Church celebrates the day of Christ's Resurrection on the "eighth
day," Sunday, which is rightly called the Lord's Day (cf SC 106).
2192
"Sunday . . . is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in
the universal Church" (CIC, can. 1246 # 1). "On Sundays and other
holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass"
(CIC, can. 1247).
2193
"On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound . . .
to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship to
be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord's Day, or the proper
relaxation of mind and body" (CIC, can. 1247).
2194 The
institution of Sunday helps all "to be allowed sufficient rest and leisure
to cultivate their amilial, cultural, social, and religious lives" (GS 67
# 3).
2195
Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would
hinder them from observing the Lord's Day.
Coffee with Christ
Christ sips his coffee and looks at me and says, “seek the path of life and not the path of earthly desire; love the Father with all your strength by the mortification of your senses during the proper times given by the church and Holy Spirit. Stay in my presence, avoid overindulgences, and seek eternal pleasures. The two paths to the Kingdom are purity or sacrifice. Stay on these paths and live in my presence; remaining in the state of grace and be filled with joy. The narrow path is the route to eternal life. If you want to follow me you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.”
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 in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in
fasting: Today's Fast: The
sanctification of the Church Militant.
·
Devotion
of the Seven Sundays: St Joseph-4th Sunday
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Total Consecration
to St. Joseph Day 10
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
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