Saints, Feast, Family
- Traditions passed down with Cooking, Crafting, & Caring -
June 29
Saint of the day:
Vinny’s Corner-I was born in Belgium home of the waffle
Waffle Iron Day[1] is the perfect time to celebrate this delicious breakfast staple!
Waffle Irons were first found in that area of Northwestern Europe known as the Low Countries, which includes Belgium and the Netherlands as well as other places. Originally, they were made to be used over an open flame and were thus constructed on the end of two long, typically wooden, handles with a clamshell system at one end, which would be held over a fire to bake.
The origin of the waffle iron can be traced back to the Middle Ages, where they were developed from a device known as the ‘wafer iron’. These were commonly used in the creation of the communion wafer, but larger varieties existed, consisting of nothing more than two flat irons often engraved with elaborate scenes. For the communion wafer, it was depictions of the crucifixion of Christ. While the larger secular designs varied widely, often engraved with artistic floral designs, illumination, or just about any other form of design you could imagine.
· The Belgians celebrate the feast of St. Michael by eating waffles; perhaps we could start celebrating Mondays with waffles in honor of the angels; remembering we too like Michael must be as strong as iron against the enemy and we must not waffle. Sorry I couldn’t resist.
Go camping in honor of St. Paul. Before his conversion to Christianity, Paul was a tent maker. He is the patron saint of tent makers as well as writers. In addition to being an accomplished preacher, Paul wrote epistles that are included in the Bible's New Testament.
Saturday-Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul
This is a holyday
of obligation in some countries.
Deuteronomy, Chapter 13, Verse 11-12
11You
shall stone that person to death, for seeking to lead you astray from the LORD,
your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
slavery. 12And all Israel shall hear of it and
FEAR, and never again do such evil as
this in your midst.
What
is worst to kill a person’s body or to kill a person’s soul?
When a person leads you astray from the Lord they
indeed are killing your soul. The soul is meant to be free to do the will of
God and when the soul is busy doing the will of God we are indeed happy; even
in abject poverty. When a soul is hampered from doing the will of God by
another or your own free will this is a form of slavery and God is reminding us
that He brought us out of the house of slavery. We are to stone anyone or thing
that leads us away from God for it kills the soul.
To
stone something is to bury it not in earth but in stone so that it will never
rise again.
What
are the things that are leading you astray from God?
Stone them!
Five
Enslaving Habits We Must Avoid[1]
While
the horror of slavery is thankfully dead as an institution, it sadly lives on
in many other forms in many lives today, all around us, in ways maybe not
considered slavery by some. I hope to get you to reconsider. But let’s first
define our terms:
Slave: “One that is totally subservient to a dominating influence.” ~ Merriam-Webster-There are 5 basic areas of life in which we can become totally subservient to dominating influences, and thereby live less-than-ideal and something less than happy lives.
5 Ways Slavery is still with us.
1.
Slavery to addictions. Whether we are talking about being
enslaved to tobacco or alcohol, or whether we’re talking about enslavement to
illicit material online or simply to the TV or to junk food or gossip, any
addictions rob us of a measure of freedom and independence. But freedom is
required for happiness. So anything that enslaves us limits the degree of joy
we can have in life.
2. Slavery
to the office:
When spouse and family and our spiritual lives are playing second fiddle to the
office, things are likely out of whack. Of course, there will be times, like
the first few years of starting a business, when things will be
lopsided. But if the office always is master and you are always its servant,
then change may be needed for the fullness of a happy life to be experienced.
Remember, your family is not a footnote to your journey. They are there in the
thick of things, experiencing it with you, alongside you, maybe, in some ways, because of you. So, give them the
time of day, from time to time!
3. Slavery
to success:
When success becomes more important than integrity or honor or self-respect,
then our subservience to the call of the dollar sign becomes self-destructive,
as all addictions are. Happiness is robbed of its internal rewards when our
insides are all twisted inside out as we compromise our values in the pursuit
of wealth.
4. Slavery
to pleasure:
a.
Is
the pursuit of pleasure hurting your relationship with your spouse?
b.
Are
you pursuing pleasure at the expense of your spouse’s pleasure?
c.
Is
that pursuit violating sacred vows and trusts?
d.
Are
you spending your family into debt as you chase pleasure from one mountain top
to another – or one casino to another – or one vacation to another – or one,
well, you get the idea?
5.
Slavery to fear:
a.
Does
fear and worry prevent you from taking steps to break free of a dissatisfying
life?
b.
Do
you wish for something more, but keep the door closed and locked and continue
to do what you’ve always done?
c. Are you trapped in a cycle of sameness, worried that if you tried to start a business, or tried to learn a skill, or tried an adventure on for size, or tried to learn to write or sing or climb, that you would fail and fall and sink and drown?
Afterthoughts
Slavery
may be dead as a formal institution of human bondage, but it is alive and well
in the hearts and minds and lives of too many people who could loosen the
shackles but haven’t exercised the courage to do it yet.
Feast of Saint Peter and Paul[2]
Today is the grand rejoicing in the two Princes of the
Apostles and founders of the Church in Rome.
PETER,
formerly called Simon, was a son of Jonas, of Bethsaida, in Galilee, and a
brother of Andrew, by whom he was brought to Christ, Who at once changed his
name and called him Peter. When, soon after, Jesus said to both of them on the
Sea of Tiberias, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” they both left
their nets and followed Him. From this time forward Jesus was constantly giving
him particular proofs of His love. From the ship of Peter, He taught the
thronging multitude, and to him He promised that on him, as upon a rock, He
would build His Church, against which the gates of hell should not prevail. Our
Lord took Peter with Him at the raising of Jairus daughter from the dead; at
His own transfiguration on Mount Tabor; at the beginning of His passion in the
Garden of Gethsemane. To him He promised the keys of the kingdom of heaven; for
him He specially prayed that his faith might not fail; and him He commanded to
strengthen his brethren. After His resurrection He appeared particularly to
Peter, and three times commanded him to feed His flock. But Peter had, above
all the other apostles, made himself worthy of this preeminence by his living
faith, his humility, his love, and his zeal for the honor of Jesus; for he it
was who, before the other apostles, made the confession, “Thou art Christ, the
Son of the living God.” He showed his humility when, at the miraculous draught
of fishes, he said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Out of
love he desired to remain always with Christ on Mount Tabor to prevent Him from
suffering; and out of love he declared himself ready with Christ to live or
die; nay, he even declared most confidently that, though all should be
scandalized in Christ, yet he would not be. When Jesus was taken prisoner, Peter
showed himself to be most courageous by cutting off the ear of one of his master’s
enemies, and by following Him to the house of Caiaphas. Three times, indeed,
did he, as no one else did, deny his Lord out of fear; but the look of
forgiving love which Jesus cast upon him forced from him tears of the deepest
contrition, and three times afterwards, accordingly, he made that confession,
“Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee.” After he had received the Holy Ghost,
full of courage, he confessed Christ crucified, and preached Him in Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Ionia, and Bithynia. At Jerusalem he was once already
condemned to death, but was set free by an angel. In the year 54 he went to
Rome, whence, after a nine years residence, he was banished, with many other
Christians. Upon returning thither again he was confined in the Mamertine
prison, and finally, on June 29, in the year A.D. 67, under the Emperor Nero,
he was crucified; his head, by his own desire, hung downwards, because he
thought himself unworthy to die like Christ.
Paul,
before his conversion called Saul, was of the tribe of Benjamin, a native of
Tarsus, in Cilicia, and a pupil of Gamaliel. Full of zeal for the law, he
bitterly opposed the Christians. As he was travelling to Damascus to persecute them,
he was, on the way, converted by Christ. How indefatigably he thenceforward
worked in the vineyard of the Lord, and what dangers and persecutions he
underwent, no pen can describe. It is almost incredible with what zeal and
perseverance he preached Christ, in chains and fetters, under blows and
scourges, in hunger and thirst, and untold times at the peril of his life. And
yet he was so humble that he counted himself the least of the apostles, and
always praised God that He had thought him worthy to suffer for His name. After
he had at last fought a good fight, and finished his course having everywhere
zealously preached the Gospel, and still more zealously practiced it he
received the crown of justice (n. Tim. iv. 6). The Emperor Nero caused him to
be beheaded on the same day that Peter was crucified.
The Introit of the Mass is
in the words spoken by St. Peter after his delivery from the prison at
Jerusalem: Now I know in very deed that the Lord hath sent His angel and hath
delivered me out of the hands of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people
of the Jews (Acts xii. 11). “Lord, Thou hast proved me and known me; Thou hast
known my sitting down and my rising up” (Ps. cxxxviii. 1, 2).
Prayer. O God, Who hast consecrated this
day by the martyrdom of Thy apostles SS. Peter and Paul, grant to Thy Church,
in all things, to follow their doctrines, through whom the true faith was first
proclaimed.
EPISTLE.
Acts xii. 1-11.
In
those days: Herod the king stretched forth his hands, to afflict some of the
Church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And seeing that
it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to take up Peter also. Now it was in the days
of the Azymes. And when he had apprehended him, he cast him into prison,
delivering him to four files of soldiers to be kept, intending after the Pasch
to bring him forth to the people. Peter therefore was kept in prison. But
prayer was made without ceasing by the Church unto God for him. And when Herod
would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two
soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the
prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him: and a light shined in
the room: and he striking Peter on the side raised him up, saying: Arise
quickly. And the chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said to him:
Gird thyself, and put on thy sandals. And he did so. And he said to him: Cast
thy garment about thee, and follow me. And going out he followed him, and he
knew not that it was true which was done by the angel: but thought he saw a
vision. And passing through the first and the second ward, they came to the
iron gate that leadeth to the city, which of itself opened to them. And going
out, they passed on through one street: and immediately the angel departed from
him. And Peter coming to himself, said: Now I know in very deed that the Lord
hath sent His angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from
all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
GOSPEL.
Matt. xvi. 13-19.
At that time Jesus came
into the quarters of Caesarea Philippi: and He asked His disciples, saying:
Who do men say that the
Son of man is?
But
they said: Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias, or
one of the prophets. Jesus saith to them:
But who do you say that
I am?
Simon
Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ the Son of the living God. And Jesus
answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and
blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father Who is in heaven. And I say
to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church, and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the
keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth it
shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it
shall be loosed also in heaven.
Why did Christ ask His
disciples, Who do men say that the Son of man is?
To
give them an opportunity to confess their belief in Him as the true Son of God,
and upon that open confession to ground a promise of the highest importance.
Why does Christ call
Himself the Son of man?
In
order that, His Godhead being veiled under the form of man, He might thus test
the faith of His disciples, and teach us that He was both true God and true
man.
What did Peter mean to
say by those words,
“Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God?”
He
thereby confesses that Christ is the Son of God, begotten from all eternity,
and therefore of the same substance with the Father; that by Him all things
were made, and that from Him comes our life in soul and body.
What reward did Peter
receive for his confession?
Christ
pronounced him blessed that God had given him such grace, conveyed to him the
highest authority in His Church, and gave him the pre-eminence above all the
apostles.
What is the meaning of
the expression “to bind and to Loose?”
According
to Isaias, it signifies to open and to shut heaven, and here consequently
denotes the power, as representative of Jesus Christ, to receive persons into
the Church, and to excommunicate them from it; to forgive sins, or to retain
them; to impose or to remit punishments for them; to establish laws and
prohibitions, to abolish them, to change them, and, in general, to govern and
direct in everything, as shall be necessary for the preservation of unity and
order in the Church, and for the good of the faithful.
Was
the power to bind and to loose given to Peter only?
No,
but to the rest of the apostles also; the power of the keys, however, Jesus
gave only to Peter. Peter, therefore, and his successors, possess this supreme
power, while the other apostles and their successors, the bishops, possess the
authority entrusted to them by Christ, to be exercised by them in unity with
the rock, that is, with Peter and his successors.
Of the Pope
What is the Pope to the Catholic?
The
representative of Jesus Christ, and the visible head, appointed by Him, for the
government of His Church.
Did Christ actually appoint such a
supreme head?
Yes,
and that in the person of St. Peter. He gave him the significant name Peter the
rock, distinguished him always above the other apostles, and laid upon him the
charge to feed His lambs, that is, the faithful, and His sheep, that is, the
bishops themselves; and this power Peter uniformly exercised.
Why did Christ appoint a visible
head for the Church?
Because
the Church is an outward, visible society, united together not only by inward
faith in Christ, but also by outward, visible signs. Such a visible head is as
necessary for the Church as for a body, a family, a society, a state, to
prevent disunion, confusion, and the consequent destruction of the whole; this
supreme head is the center of the whole, the final judge, the authoritative
teacher.
Who is now this supreme head?
The
Bishop of Rome, or the Pope. It is undeniable that Peter occupied the bishop’s
see at Rome, and that he died there. Equally indisputable is it that the
successor of St. Peter entered upon possession of his rights, and, together
with the episcopal see of Rome, inherited also the office possessed by him.
From the first centuries this has ever been acknowledged by the faithful, who
have accordingly called the Bishop of Rome Pope that is, the father of the
faithful. And how clearly does history show that Peter and his successors are
the rock upon which the Lord has immovably founded His Church! What storms have
not broken upon the Church!
Persecutions from without and
within, heresies and schisms without number, and infidelity in its most hideous
form, have raged against the Church, and what has been the consequence?
Nations
have often fallen away from the Church, single bishops have proved betrayers of
their flocks, the sees of the apostles themselves have been subject to the
vicissitudes of time. And amid all these storms Rome alone has, for over
eighteen hundred years, stood firm. She has come out of every contest
victorious, has remained the center of faith and discipline, and has preserved
the unbroken succession of bishops from Peter. Who does not see herein the
assistance of Him Who forever fulfills that promise of His, “Upon this rock I
will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” The
Pope is, therefore, the visible supreme head of the Church, appointed by Christ
for all time; the invisible, all-governing head is Christ Himself.
Things to do[3]
·
Take a pilgrimage to Rome to visit the burial
places of St. Peter and Paul.
·
Go fishing in honor of St. Peter. He was a
fisherman before he became Jesus' disciple and is the patron saint of fisherman
and net makers.
·
Attend Mass and learn how both Peter and Paul,
two men with very different visions, formed the early church and how
Christianity rapidly spread.
Insalata Di Tarocci[4]
INGREDIENTS
- 4 blood oranges or other small, sweet
oranges
- 1 small red onion, cut into very
thin slices*
- 4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 3 Tbsp. freshly chopped Italian
parsley; stems discarded
- Salt to taste
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
Details
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Combine
a dozen or so men with large sackes draped over their shoulders; ox-drawn carts
bearing the image of San Paolo (himself holding a snake and a book in one hand,
a sword pointing to the heavens in the other); squads of flagbearers and
swordsmen; a cotillion of old men with black berets playing an indescribable
array of instruments (many homemade); a piazza packed with local residents
dressed in Sunday finery; and long tables filled with all manner of food and
beverage, and you have a beginner's idea of what to expect if you find yourself
in Aragona in southern Sicily on June 29, the feast of St. Paul. (If you decide
to visit the church however, you no longer have to fear the ritual called La
benedizione deglie serpe, whereby residents presented snakes to the priest
for benediction. The ritual was done away with a few years ago. If you do
venture to Aragona for this festival, the blood orange and red onion salad
presented here is one of the many foods you're likely to sample. Although any
type of orange can be substituted to following is made with tarocci or
blood oranges, which are one of Sicily's most famous products. Exceptionally
high in vitamin C, strongly fragrant, and with brilliant red peel and pulp, the
tarocci is widely used in salads, frozen ice cream desserts, and sorbets.
DIRECTIONS
Italians have become very
fond of cipolle de tropea a type of sweet red onion that comes from
Calabria and is not yet available in the US. To achieve the same sweetness,
soak the sliced red onion in water for thirty minutes before using.
1. Peel the oranges and
remove the pith. Cut horizontally into thin slices. Put in a bowl and set
aside.
2. Separate the onion
slices into individual layers and put in the bowl with the oranges. Add the oil
and half the parsley to the bowl, season with salt and pepper, and toss until
all ingredients are well coated.
3. Arrange the orange and
onion slices in a circular pattern on a round platter. Drizzle with the oil
left in the bowl, sprinkle with the remaining parsley, and serve.
Make Ahead:
The oranges can be tossed with the marinade earlier in the day.
How to Serve: On its own as a midsummer appetizer, followed by a
light pasta, or as a salad course accompanying an especially piquant entree.
Catechism of the
Catholic Church
PART ONE: THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
SECTION ONE-"I BELIEVE" -
"WE BELIEVE"
CHAPTER THREE-MAN'S RESPONSE TO GOD
142 By his Revelation, "the invisible God, from the
fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends, and moves among them, in
order to invite and receive them into his own company." The adequate
response to this invitation is faith.
143 By faith, man completely submits his intellect and his
will to God. With his whole being man gives his assent to God the
revealer. Sacred Scripture calls this human response to God, the author of
revelation, "the obedience of faith".
· Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: The
Sick, afflicted, and infirmed
·
Saturday Litany of the Hours
Invoking the Aid of Mother Mary
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
[2] Goffine’s Devout Instructions,
1896.
[5] https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/waffle-iron-day/
No comments:
Post a Comment