25 April 2024 invitation to pray with Father John Burns and our Worldpriest Virtual Rosary Thursday |
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Easter Wednesday
First Wednesday
Fear
not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the LORD will win for you
today.
2 Maccabees, Chapter 8, Verse 12-13
When Judas learned of
Nicanor’s advance and informed his companions about the approach of the army, 13 those who were FEARFUL and those who lacked faith in God’s justice deserted and
got away.
Nicanor
had plans to after the defeat of Judas to enslave the Jews as a tribute to be
paid to the Romans. The slave traders follow Nicanor like vultures in waiting
for a meal. Judas’ troops were outnumbered by 3 to 1 due to some of Judas’ army
deserted in advance of the enemy selling whatever property that is left but the
faithful prepared for battle.[1]
Battle
Ready[2]
Before
our Blessed Lord began his public work, He went into the desert to pray and
fast for 40 days. Before He endured His passion and death on the cross, He was
in the Garden of Gethsemane consumed in prayer. The example of Christ is clear.
Repeatedly the scriptures point out that Jesus prayed constantly. If, He who is
the Son of God took prayer so seriously and made it a necessity, then who are
we to not see the importance of this powerful connection with God. Prayer is
essential to be prepared for the battles we face in this world. It is essential
for us to have the strength to stand up against the forces that seek to destroy
the Catholic Church and/or anything that is ordered, true and holy. One of the
most important forms of prayer for every warrior of Christ is the ROSARY.
Repeatedly we hear from popes, saints and even the Blessed Mother herself (in
Church approved apparitions), to make the ROSARY a disciplined part of our
daily life.
"Get my weapon." -
St. Padre Pio, speaking about the rosary
Saints, Feast, Family
Saint of the day:
Saint Richard of Chichester
Easter
Wednesday Picnic Breakfast[3]
This Easter picnic is a
festive way to spend time with your family and watch the signs of new life in
nature, associated with the Resurrection.
"Come and
breakfast!" That is the invitation Christ gave to Peter and John when they
landed their great catch of fish, so mysteriously bestowed. They were elated
and humbled and weary. It must have been a comfort to find a fire waiting on
shore, a fish on it, and bread ready. To commemorate this Gospel of Easter
Wednesday, why not a picnic breakfast in our home, or, better, out of it?
A party at this hour can
be more fun than the usual afternoon-evening spreads, so hard on tired babies
and so short on mothers' nerves. By now you can smell and feel spring
throughout the land, even under the crusty layer of leftover snow. The voice of
the turtle may not be heard, but all the mittens are lost, and nobody cares. In
those sections of our country where spring has really arrived and the violets
are lying in wait to be discovered, this can be a picnic of sudden beautiful
surprises for everyone. Children who might never have noticed will be amazed
that their mother isn't as old as they thought. She even knows how to turn a
jump rope. If you live where winter hasn't yet given up the ghost, or if the
little ones are really too little to do more than curdle the atmosphere, a
picnic on the back porch (or basement, if you have that kind of basement) will
be just as exciting to the children. Scrambled eggs with hot ham or bacon in
buns wrapped in aluminum foil, individual boxes of dry cereal with companion
boxes of raisins, thermoses of cocoa or orange juice — whatever it is in your
house that makes a special breakfast should be on the menu. If we mothers are
to be catchers of (little) men, we must look to our lures! City families might
breakfast in a nearby park, even if it does shock the squirrels and pigeons.
They just have to learn we humans can be carefree too. And our explanations to
passers-by, openly curious at our cavorting, may be, for all we know, a chance
for spiritual seed-sowing. For apartment-dwellers, patio-less and too far from
a park, breakfast on the rooftop can be just as exhilarating as a penthouse
cocktail party. More so, since Christ is the Host, and the small talk is never
boring.
Divine Mercy Novena[4]
Sixth Day - Today Bring Me the Meek and Humble
Souls and the Souls of Little Children.
Most
Merciful Jesus, You Yourself have said, "Learn from Me for I am meek and
humble of heart." Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart
all meek and humble souls and the souls of little children. These souls send
all heaven into ecstasy, and they are the heavenly Father's favorites. They are
a sweet-smelling bouquet before the throne of God; God Himself takes delight in
their fragrance. These souls have a permanent abode in Your Most Compassionate
Heart, O Jesus, and they unceasingly sing out a hymn of love and mercy.
Eternal Father turn Your merciful
gaze upon meek and humble souls, and upon the souls of little children, who are
enfolded in the abode of the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls
bear the closest resemblance to Your Son. Their fragrance rises from the earth
and reaches Your very throne. Father of mercy and of all goodness, I beg You by
the love You bear these souls and by the delight you take in them: bless the
whole world, that all souls together may sing out the praises of Your mercy for
endless ages. Amen.
Novena for the Poor Souls[5]
O Mother most
merciful, pray for the souls in Purgatory!
PRAYER OF ST.
GERTRUDE THE GREAT O Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of
Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world
today, for all the holy souls in Purgatory and for sinners everywhere— for
sinners in the Universal Church, for those in my own home and for those within
my family. Amen.
PRAYER FOR THE
DYING O Most Merciful Jesus, lover of souls, I pray Thee, by the agony of Thy
most Sacred Heart, and by the sorrows of Thine Immaculate Mother, to wash in
Thy Most Precious Blood the sinners of the whole world who are now in their
agony and who will die today. Heart of Jesus, once in agony, have mercy on the
dying! Amen.
ON EVERY DAY OF
THE NOVENA V. O Lord, hear my prayer, R. And let my cry come unto Thee. O God,
the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant unto the souls of Thy
servants and handmaids the remission of all their sins, that through our devout
supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired, Who livest
and reignest world without end. Amen.
WEDNESDAY O
Lord God Almighty, I beseech Thee by the Precious Blood of Thy divine Son Jesus
that was shed in the streets of Jerusalem, whilst He carried on His sacred
shoulders the heavy burden of the Cross, deliver the souls in Purgatory, and
especially that one which is richest in merits in Thy sight, so that, having
soon attained the high place in glory to which it is destined, it may praise
Thee triumphantly and bless Thee forever. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory
Be.
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST
SECTION TWO-THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
CHAPTER
TWO-YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF
Article 9-THE NINTH COMMANDMENT
II. The Battle for Purity
2520 Baptism
confers on its recipient the grace of purification from all sins. But the
baptized must continue to struggle against concupiscence of the flesh and
disordered desires. With God's grace he will prevail
- by the virtue and gift of chastity, for chastity lets us love with upright
and undivided heart;
- by purity of intention which consists in seeking the true end of man: with
simplicity of vision, the baptized person seeks to find and to fulfill God's
will in everything;
- by purity of vision, external and internal; by discipline of feelings and
imagination; by refusing all complicity in impure thoughts that incline us to
turn aside from the path of God's commandments: "Appearance arouses
yearning in fools";
- by prayer:
I thought that continence arose from one's own powers,
which I did not recognize in myself. I was foolish enough not to know . . .
that no one can be continent unless you grant it. For you would surely have
granted it if my inner groaning had reached your ears and I with firm faith had
cast my cares on you.
2521 Purity
requires modesty, an integral part of temperance. Modesty protects the intimate
center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. It
is ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears witness. It guides how one
looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the dignity of
persons and their solidarity.
2522 Modesty
protects the mystery of persons and their love. It encourages patience and
moderation in loving relationships; it requires that the conditions for the
definitive giving and commitment of man and woman to one another be fulfilled.
Modesty is decency. It inspires one's choice of clothing. It keeps silence or
reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet.
2523 There
is a modesty of the feelings as well as of the body. It protests, for example,
against the voyeuristic explorations of the human body in certain
advertisements, or against the solicitations of certain media that go too far
in the exhibition of intimate things. Modesty inspires a way of life which
makes it possible to resist the allurements of fashion and the pressures of
prevailing ideologies.
2524 The
forms taken by modesty vary from one culture to another. Everywhere, however,
modesty exists as an intuition of the spiritual dignity proper to man. It is
born with the awakening consciousness of being a subject. Teaching modesty to
children and adolescents means awakening in them respect for the human person.
2525
Christian purity requires a purification of the social climate. It requires of
the communications media that their presentations show concern for respect and
restraint. Purity of heart brings freedom from widespread eroticism and avoids
entertainment inclined to voyeurism and illusion.
2526 So
called moral permissiveness rests on an erroneous conception of human freedom;
the necessary precondition for the development of true freedom is to let
oneself be educated in the moral law. Those in charge of education can
reasonably be expected to give young people instruction respectful of the
truth, the qualities of the heart, and the moral and spiritual dignity of man.
2527
"The Good News of Christ continually renews the life and culture of fallen
man; it combats and removes the error and evil which flow from the ever-present
attraction of sin. It never ceases to purify and elevate the morality of
peoples. It takes the spiritual qualities and endowments of every age and
nation, and with supernatural riches it causes them to blossom, as it were,
from within; it fortifies, completes, and restores them in Christ."
PRAYERS AND TEACHINGS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
The Theological Virtues[6]
The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being. They dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity. They have the One and Triune God for their origin, motive, and object. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. By faith, we believe in God and believe all that he has revealed to us and that Holy Church proposes for our belief. By hope we desire, and with steadfast trust await from God, eternal life and the graces to merit it. By charity, we love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves for love of God. Charity, the form of all the virtues, "binds everything together in perfect harmony" (Col 3:14).
Faith
Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that
he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief,
because he is truth itself. By faith "man freely commits his entire self
to God." For this reason the believer seeks to know and do God's will.
"The righteous shall live by faith." Living faith "work[s]
through charity."
The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it. But "faith
apart from works is dead": when it is deprived of hope and love, faith
does not fully unite the believer to Christ and does not make him a living
member of his Body.
The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also
profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: "All however
must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way
of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks."
Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation: "So every
one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father
who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my
Father who is in heaven."
The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they
animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all
the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to
make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. They
are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties
of the human being. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and
charity.
Hope
Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and
eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and
relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy
Spirit.
The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed
in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men's activities
and purifies them so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven; it keeps man
from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up
his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. Buoyed up by hope, he is
preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity.
Christian hope takes up and fulfills the hope of the chosen people, which has
its origin and model in the hope of Abraham, who was blessed abundantly by the
promises of God fulfilled in Isaac, and who was purified by the test of the
sacrifice. "Hoping against hope, he believed, and thus became the father
of many nations."
Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus' preaching in the
proclamation of the beatitudes; they trace the path that leads through the
trials that await the disciples of Jesus. Hope is expressed and nourished in
prayer, especially in the Our Father, the summary of everything that hope leads
us to desire.
We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love
him and do his will. In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with
the grace of God, to persevere "to the end" and to obtain the joy of
heaven, as God's eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace
of Christ. In hope, the Church prays for "all men to be saved."
Charity
Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his
own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.
Jesus makes charity the new commandment. Whence Jesus says: "As the Father
has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love." And again:
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved
you."
Fruit of the Spirit and fullness of the Law, charity keeps the commandments of
God and his Christ: "Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you
will abide in my love."
Christ died out of love for us, while we were still "enemies." The
Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the
neighbor of those farthest away, and to love children and the poor as Christ
himself.
The Apostle Paul says: "charity is patient and kind, charity is not
jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Charity does not insist on its
own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but
rejoices in the right. Charity bears all things, believes all things, hopes all
things, endures all things." "If I . . . have not charity," says
the Apostle, "I am nothing." Whatever my privilege, service, or even
virtue, "if I . . . have not charity, I gain nothing." Charity is
superior to all the virtues. It is the first of the theological virtues:
"So faith, hope, charity abide, these three. But the greatest of these is
charity."
The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity, which
"binds everything together in perfect harmony. Charity upholds and
purifies our human ability to love, and raises it to the supernatural
perfection of divine love.
The fruits of charity are joy, peace, and mercy; charity demands beneficence
and fraternal correction; it is benevolence; it fosters reciprocity and remains
disinterested and generous; it is friendship and communion. Love is itself the
fulfillment of all our works.
Masters Golf Tournament--April
3-9--Tee up for the granddaddy of all golf tournaments. The 78th Masters Tournament kicks
off the first of 4 major championships, with plenty of betting odds. Head to
Augusta, GA!
First Wednesday-St. Joseph
These words were spoken to Sister on the eve of St. Joseph’s
feast day, March 18, 1958:
·
My
child, I desire a day to be set aside to honor my fatherhood.
·
The
privilege of being chosen by God to be the Virgin-Father of His Son was mine
alone, and no honor, excluding that bestowed upon my Holy Spouse, was ever, or
will ever, be as sublime or as high as this.
·
The Holy
Trinity desires thus to honor me that in my unique fatherhood all fatherhood
might be blessed.
·
Dear
child, I was king in the little home of Nazareth, for I sheltered within it the
Prince of Peace and the Queen of Heaven. To me they looked for protection and
sustenance, and I did not fail them.
·
I
received from them the deepest love and reverence, for in me they saw Him Whose
place I took over them.
·
So, the
head of the family must be loved, obeyed, and respected, and in return be a
true father and protector to those under his care.
·
In
honoring in a special way my fatherhood, you also honor Jesus and Mary. The
Divine Trinity has placed into our keeping the peace of the world.
·
The
imitation of the Holy Family, my child, of the virtues we practiced in our
little home at Nazareth is the way for all souls to that peace which comes from
God alone and which none other can give.
St. Joseph appeared to Sister again to explain the First
Wednesday devotion God wishes to establish in his honor. Sister states:
His requests were similar to those of Our Lady and the First
Saturday. The Sacred Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph have been chosen by the
Most Holy Trinity to bring peace to the world; hence, their request for special
love and honor, also, in particular, reparation and imitation.
These are the words of St. Joseph as recorded on March 30,
1958:
·
Let my children honor my most pure heart in a
special manner on the First Wednesday of the month by reciting the Joyful
Mysteries of the rosary in memory of my life with Jesus and Mary and the
love I bore them, the sorrow I suffered with them.
·
Let them receive Holy Communion in union with
the love with which I received the Savior for the first time and each time I
held Him in my arms.
Those who honor me in this way will be consoled by my
presence at their death, and I myself will conduct them safely into the
presence of Jesus and Mary.
I will come again, little child of my most pure heart. Until
then, continue in patience and humility, which is so pleasing to God.”
Dara’s Corner
Home
buying assistance
Learn
about government programs that make it easier to purchase a home.
Government-backed home
loans and mortgage assistance
If you are looking to buy a
home, a government-backed home loan or a mortgage assistance program could
help.
Homeownership vouchers for
first-time home buyers
If you have a low income
and want to buy your first home, the Housing Choice Voucher homeownership
program could help. It may also help you pay monthly housing expenses.
Real estate and federal
lands for sale by the government
Government agencies sell real estate and federal lands either by auction or offer. Federal agencies acquire these properties through foreclosure, forfeiture, or failed banks.
Arizona Section
32 Homeownership Program
Section 32 Homeownership is offered to first-time homebuyers who are at or below 80% Area Median Income (AMI) , and who will use the home as their primary residence. The purchase price will be the current (within 6 months of purchase) appraised value of the home. Eligible properties must pass a Housing Quality Standards (HQS) Inspection. Homeownership, financial fitness and hands-on maintenance classes are also required. Some program benefits may include:
20% discount off home appraisal value
Guidance through the homeownership process
Possible grant for down payment and closing
costs
Possible additional subsidies
One-year home warranty
Lower monthly payment
For
more information about the Section 32 Homeownership Program, call
602-534-4584.Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: The
Pope
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face
·
30
Days with St. Joseph Day 15
[1]The Collegeville Bible Commentary,
1986.
[4]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=1032
[5]Schouppe S.J., Rev. Fr. F. X..
Purgatory Explained
[6]http://www.legionofmarytidewater.com/news/news07/april/divinemysteries.htm
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