This blog is based on references in the Bible to fear. God wills that we “BE NOT AFRAID”. Many theologians state that the eighth deadly sin is fear. It is fear and its natural animal reaction to fight or flight that is the root cause of our failings to create a Kingdom of God on earth. By “the power of the Holy Spirit” we can be witnesses and “communicators” of a new and redeemed humanity “even to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:7 8). This blog is dedicated to Mary the Mother of God.
Patron Saint of torture victims and pathologies of the hand and the feet
Thursday
after Pentecost
ST. JULIA OF CORSICA
Exodus, Chapter 18, Verse 18-21
18 “You will surely wear yourself out,
both you and these people with you. The task is too heavy for you;you cannot do it alone. 19Now,
listen to me, and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. Act as
the people’s representative before God, and bring their disputes to God. 20Enlighten them in regard to the
statutes and instructions, showing them how they are to conduct themselves and
what they are to do. 21But you should also look among all
the people for able and GOD-FEARING men, trustworthy men who hate
dishonest gain, and set them over the people as commanders of thousands, of
hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
Our
Lord asks us to lead, follow or get out of the way. Our Lord tells us,
“Whoever is not with me is against me, and
whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore, I say to you, every sin
and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spiritwill
not be forgiven.” (Mt. 12:30-31)
If
you are a leader start leading in the church with a group of ten; follow where
you can and do not hinder the work of the Holy Spirit.
On the first Thursday after Pentecost, the Feast of Our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest is observed on the particular
calendars in Spain, Poland, Netherlands, Czech Republic and England and Wales.
Approval for this feast was first granted by the Congregation for Divine
Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in 1987. In 2012 the Congregation
sent a letter to all conferences of bishops, offering the feast to be inscribed
in their respective liturgical calendars if they ask for it.
The feast focuses firstly on Jesus’ Priestly Office (Latin:
Munus sacerdotale). He is considered the model for believers, and for the
clergy in particular, with priests acting In persona Christi (“In the person of
Christ”). The laity are thus urged to pray that priests would be more like
Christ, the compassionate and trustworthy high priest (Hebrews 2:17),
ever-living to intercede for humanity before The Father (Heb 7:25).
The Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, The Eternal High
Priest, according to the order of Melchizedek. In him the Father has been well
pleased from before all time. As Mediator between God and human beings,
fulfilling his Father’s will, he sacrificed himself once on the altar of the
Cross as a saving Victim for the whole world. Thus, instituting the pattern of
an everlasting sacrifice, with a brother’s kindness he chose, from among the
children of Adam, men to augment the priesthood, so that, from the sacrifice
continually renewed in the Church, streams of divine power might flow, whereby
a new heaven and a new earth might be made, and throughout the whole universe
there would be perfected what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered
into the human heart.
Iurávit Dóminus et non paenitébit eum: Tu es sacérdos in aetérnum
secúndum órdinem Melchísedech.
The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change: You are a
priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.
COLLECT
O God, who for your glory and the salvation of the human
race willed to establish Christ as the eternal High Priest, grant that the
people he has gained for you by his Blood, through their participation in his
memorial, may experience the power of his Cross and Resurrection. Who lives and
reigns with you.
Genesis 22:9–18
The sacrifice of Abraham, our father in faith.
When they came to the place of which
God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and
bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. Then Abraham put forth his hand and took the
knife to slay his son. But the angel of
the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said,
‘Here am I.’ He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him;
for now, I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your
only son, from me.’ And Abraham lifted
up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket
by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt
offering instead of his son. So, Abraham called the name of that place The Lord
will provide; as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be
provided.’ And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from
heaven, and said, ‘By myself I have sworn, says the Lord,
because you have done this, and have not
withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will multiply your descendants as the
stars of heaven and as the sand which is
on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies,
and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves,
because you have obeyed my voice.’
Gospel Matthew 26:36-42
My soul is sorrowful unto death.
Jesus went with the disciples to a place called Gethsemane,
and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go yonder and pray.’ And taking with him Peter and the two sons of
Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul
is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.’ And going a
little farther he fell on his face and prayed, ‘My Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’ And
he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, ‘So,
could you not watch with me one hour?
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed
is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again, for the second time, he went away
and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be
done.’ The Gospel of the Lord.
St. Julia was a noble virgin of Carthage, who, when the city was taken by
Genseric in 489, was sold for a slave to a pagan merchant of Syria named
Eusebius. Under the most mortifying employments of her station, by cheerfulness
and patience she found a happiness and comfort which the world could not have
afforded. All the time she was not employed in her master's business was
devoted to prayer and reading books of piety. Her master, who was charmed with
her fidelity and other virtues, carried her with him on one of his voyages to
Gaul. Having reached the northern part of Corsica, he cast anchor, and went on
shore to join the pagans of the place in an idolatrous festival. Julia was left
at some distance, because she would not be defiled by the superstitious
ceremonies which she openly reviled. Felix, the governor of the island, who was
a bigoted pagan, asked who this woman was who dared to insult the gods.
Eusebius informed him that she was a Christian, and that all his authority over
her was too weak to prevail with her to renounce her religion, but that he
found her so diligent and faithful he could not part with her. The governor
offered him four of his best female slaves in exchange for her. But the
merchant replied, "No; all you are worth will not purchase her; for I
would freely lose the most valuable thing I have in the world rather than be
deprived of her." However, the governor, while Eusebius was drunk and
asleep, took upon him to compel her to sacrifice to his gods. He offered to
procure her liberty if she would comply. The Saint made answer that she was as
free as she desired to be as long as she was allowed to serve Jesus Christ.
Felix, thinking himself derided by her undaunted and resolute air, in a
transport of rage caused her to be struck on the face, and the hair of head to
be torn off, and lastly, ordered her to be hanged on a cross till she expired.
Certain monks of the isle of Gorgon carried off her body; but in 768
Desiderius, King of Lombardy, removed her relics to Breseia, where her memory is
celebrated with great devotion. St. Julia, whether free or a slave, whether in
prosperity or in adversity, was equally fervent and devout. She adored all the
sweet designs of Providence; and far from complaining, she never ceased to
praise and thank God under all his holy appointments, making them always the
means of her virtue and sanctification. God, by an admirable chain of events,
raised her by her fidelity to the honor of the saints, and to the dignity of a
virgin and martyr.
Excerpted from Butler's Lives of the Saints
Catechism of the Catholic Church
PART FOUR: CHRISTIAN PRAYER
SECTION TWO-THE LORD'S PRAYER
Article 2-"OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN"
IN BRIEF
2797 Simple and
faithful trust, humble and joyous assurance are the proper dispositions for one
who prays the Our Father.
2798 We can
invoke God as "Father" because the Son of God made man has revealed
him to us. Jn this Son, through Baptism, we are incorporated and adopted as
sons of God.
2799 The Lord's
Prayer brings us into communion with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
At the same time it reveals us to ourselves (cf GS 22 # 1).
2800 Praying to
our Father should develop in us the will to become like him and foster in us a
humble and trusting heart.
2801 When we say
"Our" Father, we are invoking the new covenant in Jesus Christ,
communion with the Holy Trinity, and the divine love which spreads through the
Church to encompass the world.
2802 "Who
art in heaven" does not refer to a place but to God's majesty and his
presence in the hearts of the just. Heaven, the Father's house, is the true
homeland toward which we are heading and to which, already, we belong.
of The Most
Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix,
to Priests, Deacons, Religious and the Lay Faithful of the Diocese of Phoenix
on the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist
My beloved Brothers and
Sisters in Christ,
Part II
I. The Graces of Holy Communion
Holy Communion changes and
transforms us into “Alter Christus”
33. The Eucharistic presence of
Jesus is not only to be with us, but also to be our strength and nourishment.
Jesus does this by choosing the elements of nature – bread and wine – the food
and drink that man must consume to maintain his life. The Eucharist is
precisely this food and drink for they contain in themselves all the power of
the Redemption wrought by Christ. The Eucharist is the only nourishment that
brings us true, lasting happiness and leads us to eternal life. It is capable
of transforming man’s life and open before him the way to eternal life. How is
this possible?
34. While going through a
period of conversion, one day Saint Augustine was granted a vision in which a
voice said to him: “I am the food of the mature: grow, then, and you shall
eat me. You will not change me into yourself like bodily food; but you will be
changed into me” (Confessions, VII, 10, 18). There is a popular saying that
goes, “You are what you eat.” How true this is when we apply this to the
Eucharist. Ordinary food is absorbed by us and becomes a part of our bodies.
But when we receive the Eucharist, it absorbs us; a Christian becomes truly
what he eats; he is transformed into Christ. Centuries ago, Saint Leo the Great
wrote: “Our partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ tends only to make us
become what we eat”.
35. The Fathers of the Church
took the example of physical food to explain this mystery. We know that the
stronger form of life normally assimilates the weaker and not vice versa. The
vegetative world assimilates the minerals, and the animals assimilate the
vegetables, and the spiritual assimilates the material. When we receive the
Body of Christ, we do not change Christ into our own substance. Instead, we are
changed into Christ Himself. The normal food that we eat is not a living thing
and therefore cannot give us life. It is a source of life only because it
sustains the life we have. Instead, the Bread of Life, that is Jesus, is the
living Bread and those who receive it, live by it. So, while the normal food
that nourishes the body is assimilated by the body and becomes a part of it,
the complete opposite takes place with the Bread of Life.
O
compassionate Lord Jesus Christ, I, a sinner, nothing presuming on my own
merits, but trusting in Thy mercy and goodness, draw near with awe and
trembling to the table of Thy sweetest banquet. For my heart and my body are
stained with many sins, my mind and my tongue have not been kept with fitting
diligence and circumspection. "Wherefore, O compassion ate Godhead, O
dread and awful Majesty, I, Thy wretched creature, who am fallen into a great
strait, betake myself to Thee, the Fountain of mercy; to Thee I hasten that I
may be healed; beneath Thy protection I make my refuge; I long to have Thee for
my Savior, before Whom I can in no wise stand as my Judge. To Thee, O Lord, I
now show my wounds; before Thee I lay bare all this my shame. I know my sins,
so many and so great, by reason of which I am afraid. I hope in Thy mercies,
which are past numbering. Look on me with the eyes of Thy mercy, O Lord Jesus
Christ, everlasting King, God and man, Who wast crucified for man. Graciously
hear me who hope in Thee; have mercy on me who am full of miseries and of sins,
O Thou full and over-flowing Fountain of pity and of mercy. Hail, Thou saving
Victim, offered for me and all mankind upon the tree of the cross. Hail, thou
noble and precious blood, which dost ever flow forth from the wounds of my
crucified Lord Jesus Christ, and wash away the sins of the whole world.
Remember Thy creature, O Lord, whom Thou hast redeemed with Thine own blood. I
grieve that I have sinned; I do earnestly desire to amend what I have done amiss.
Wherefore, O most merciful Father, take away from me all my iniquities and my
sins, that, being cleansed in soul and in body, I may worthily receive the holy
food of the holy; and grant that the sacred taste of Thy body and blood, which
I unworthy am about to receive, may be to me the remission of my sins, the
perfect expiation and cleansing of all my faults, and the putting to flight of
evil thoughts, the quickening and renewal of all good feelings, the healthful
energy of all good works, the most assured protection of my body and soul from
all the snares of my enemies. Amen.
Which are the fruits of the Holy Ghost? They are the twelve following:
These fruits
should be visible in the Christian, for thereby men shall know that the Holy
Ghost dwells in him, as the tree is known by its fruit.
Notice I have
placed the Fruits of the Holy Spirit in stairstep fashion so we may
reflect on them seeing that by concentrating on each step of our growth in the
spirit we may progress closer and closer to our heavenly Father. Today we will
be focusing on the fourth step which is faith.
Thursday Feast
Thursday
is the day of the week that our Lord gave himself up for consumption. Thursday
commemorates the last supper. Some theologians believe after Sunday Thursday is
the holiest day of the week. We should then try to make this day special by
making a visit to the blessed sacrament chapel, Mass or even stopping by the
grave of a loved one. Why not plan to count the blessing of the week and thank
our Lord. Plan a special meal. Be at Peace.
·According to Mary Agreda[6]
in her visions it was on a Thursday at six o'clock in the evening and at the
approach of night that the Angel Gabriel approached and announced her as Mother
of God and she gave her fiat.
Best Places to Visit in may
Michigan[7]
is home to a long winter, but when May rolls around, it is the height of the
spring season and considered the start of summer. Tourists and locals alike
emerge to enjoy the climbing temperatures and wealth of events in May
in Michigan.
No matter
what you’re interested in, there is something for everyone to do. Check out one
of these amazing events and activities during your next trip to Michigan in spring.
Festivals
of all kinds are held throughout May in Michigan — from the Tulip Time
Festival in Holland to the annual Food Truck Festival in Frankenmuth. As the
weather warms up and the flowers begin to bloom, it is the perfect time to
enjoy a community event.
Many of
these festivals take place in the vicinity of the lakes, but you will find spring festivals going on all over
Michigan. Whether you are interested in local food, cultural events,
holiday celebrations, or musical performances, you can find it all.
Today
according to the almanac is a Full Flower Moon; bring flowers to all the women
in your life. Christ always brought His mother Lilies of the Valley.
[6]Venerable Mary of Agreda. The
Mystical City of God: Complete Edition Containing all Four Volumes with
Illustrations (p. 770). Veritatis Splendor Publications. Kindle Edition
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