ICEMANforChrist: Sunday, July 7, 2024

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.

Sunday, June 30, 2024

Sunday, July 7, 2024

Saints, Feast, Family

- Traditions passed down with Cooking, Crafting, & Caring -

July 7

Saint Fermin

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Moharram (Islamic New Year)

Deuteronomy, Chapter 20, Verse 2-3

² When you are drawing near to battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the army, ³ and say to them, “Hear, O Israel! Today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies. Do not be weakhearted or AFRAID, alarmed or frightened by them.

We are in a battle with the forces of darkness. Our past Pope John Paul II is saying to us “Do not be afraid”. He is reminding us that the love of God is like a pebble that is dropped on the smooth surface of a pond. When God’s love truly pierces our hearts, as the pebble on the pond, our own love will ripple outward perfectly in symmetry with the universe, embracing everything in its path with His reflected glory. When God’s love truly pierces our hearts, we reflect with sorrow on our sins and transgressions. We as Lord Tennyson acclaimed must develop the mantra:

“To Strive, To Seek, To Find and not to Yield.”

We seek to develop within ourselves genuine compunction of the heart.

Compunction is a deep and lasting sorrow for our sins. It is not a gloomy or depressing sorrow, but an intelligent admission of your sins and a sincere determination to do something about them. It is a realization of how you have failed such a loving God and brings with it a readiness to accept anything that He wills. Compunction opens the way too many blessings and precious graces. Compunction will cause the world to lose its magic attraction. Compunction will help you realize how quickly earthly joys pass away, while eternity goes on forever. By compunction a man begins to attack his faults and to practice the opposite virtues.^{^[1]}

Let us develop within ourselves the virtues of Mary Most Holy: Humility, Generosity, Chastity, Patience, Self-Control, and Love.

· About St. Camillus de Lellis and what he used to say to his spiritual sons about dealing with impure thoughts.

St. Camillus de Lellis was a giant of a man, six feet, six inches tall and big in every way. Named after his mother, he was born to her, heralded by a dream, when she was almost sixty years old. In her dream, Camilla saw her baby, "his breast signed with the cross, and followed by a troop of children similarly signed." During Mass on the 25th of May in the jubilee year of 1550, she began to go into labor and, hastening home, was persuaded by a friend to lie in the stable that her son might be born there as was the Infant Savior. This she did, and at the moment of the Elevation at the High Mass, Camillus was born. His father was so delighted that he leaped about the house like a wild man, and in answer to the protests of the mother he asked how she could object to his dancing for joy, "seeing we have such a big son that we could send him to school this very day!"

As he grew older he became increasingly difficult to manage and finally his disposition was quite beyond control. He ran away from school whenever he felt like it, took to playing cards, was the despair of his mother and, after her death, of his tutor as well. At seventeen he went off to the wars with his father; they both fell sick, his father died and left Camillus an orphan and destitute with only his sword, his dagger and his honorable name for his inheritance — together with his extravagant tastes and his mad passion for gambling. Hobbling home from the wars, humiliated and in pain from horrible sores on his legs, he was overcome by remorse for his sins and vowed to become a Franciscan. This was something he would try to do twice, in vain, for his vocation was not Franciscan, nor was his disposition, intolerable to his companions in the world, one to add to the harmony of a religious community. Repenting, falling back into his quarrelsome, gambling ways, repenting again, he was finally "converted," as he called it, on the feast of the Purification, 1575. Then began the long life of service to God's sick, the gathering together of men who would serve them with him, the forming of a religious congregation called the Ministers of the Sick for this work. He was the spiritual father of many priests and brothers and the spiritual son of St. Philip Neri, his confessor and dear friend.

Well might such a man know how best to put the devil and his temptation to rout. He never forgot, it is said, the advice given him by a Capuchin friar during the days when he struggled so to overcome himself, and all his life he counseled others with the same words. While temptations against chastity seem not to have been St. Camillus' greatest difficulty, his words apply stunningly to such temptations and boys especially will find them to their liking. They are fighting words, from a giant of a saint. In our idiom St. Camillus says, "When the devil tempts you in your thoughts, spit in his eye!"

Activity Source: Saints and Our Children, The by Mary Reed Newland, P.J. Kenedy & Sons, New York; reprinted by TAN Publishers, 1958

Let Freedom Ring: 40 Days to Freedom from the Devil[2]

July 7-August 15, 2021

Goal:

Through acts of reparation, fasting, penance, charity, and prayer (both personal and sacramental) we call upon the power of God to release ourselves, our families, our parishes, our dioceses, and our nation from all demonic influence and oppression.

Method:

Each day will be broken into prayer, reflection, and reparation.

Reflection:

A reflection (rotating from Fr. Peckman, Fr. Altman & Fr. Heilman) will be written for each day on a particular manifestation of the demonic and the sin it leads to. It will commend a corresponding virtue to cultivate.

Prayer:

Prayers of reparation and exorcism will be followed by a litany

· Monday: Litany of Humility

Acts of Reparation and Penance:

Factoring into this will be variables of age, ability, and availability.

* To pray a Rosary for the Intention of exorcism of the day's area of reflection

* To pray a Divine Mercy Chaplet in reparation for the sin caused by the area of the day's reflection

* To commit one act of either a spiritual or corporal works of mercy for either one who has been harmed by our sin or who has harmed us by their sin.

* To commit to fasting or abstinence days as prescribed below.

* To commit to a prescribed time of exercise based on one's abilities

* To commit to going to confession once a week (where available)

* To refrain from all use of the conventional media throughout the 40 days and to limit one's use of social media to one hour a day for non-business or evangelical use.

Prayer for Freedom from the Devil

(We will all pray the following prayer each day)

My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, at a word from You the devil and his minions flee in terror. You are the source of all truth. You are the source of all strength. By the power of Your Cross and Resurrection, we beseech You, O Lord To extend Your saving arm and to send Your holy angels to defend us as we do battle with Satan and his demonic forces. Exorcise, we pray, that which oppresses Your Bride, the Church, so that within ourselves, our families, our parishes, our dioceses, and our nation We may turn fully back to You in all fidelity and trust. Lord, we know if You will it, it will be done. Give us the perseverance for this mission, we pray.

Amen.

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception ... pray for us

St. Joseph ... pray for us

St. Michael the Archangel ... pray for us

(the patron of your parish) ... pray for us

(your confirmation saint) ... pray for us

Let Freedom Ring: Freedom from Fear-Day 1

By Fr. Bill Peckman

In the Garden of Eden, the Devil tempts Adam and Eve. He lies to them. His lie is effective because it taps into fear. The fear is simple: God does not want what is good for you. The Devil sells a fear to Adam and Eve that God wishes them to be perpetually ignorant of good and evil (even though they already knew the good), that they are missing out without that knowledge. Fear finds its roots in a disbelief in God's providence and care. God knows this and in the Scriptures. He tells us 365 times to not be afraid. Overcoming fear is trusting in God.

Fear rules our nation now. It used to be that the American Dream was the ability to act rightly and freely and set one's course independent of one's socioeconomic status. In the last 100 years the American Dream transformed into accumulation of possessions and status. Now the American dream had turned into a nightmare of anarchy by which the dream is complete autonomy and self-determination independent of God, science, or reason. The fear comes from a belief that this life is all that there is, and we must create a reality conducive to my personal truth. Anyone who challenges this is to be feared and despised.

Fear rules within most churches now. Fear has reduced the evangelical call of the Great Commission to a call for the comfortable and non-challenging. It has stilled out tongues on moral issues. It has gutted our catechesis. It has emptied our seminaries and decimated the priesthood. Being Catholic has always carried a stigma in this country. With the scandals in the Church, fear of being accused of things one would never do is a strong deterrent to answering God's call. It was for me. When the purveyors of fear have raised their voices, in fear we Catholics have allowed ours to be silenced. A fearful person who will not stand up against the lies of a human being will never stand up to the lies perpetrated by the father of lies, the Devil. We would do well to heed Jesus's rebuke of His apostles in Mathew 8:26, "Why are you fearful, ye of little faith?" He says this as they are being tossed on the sea by a strong storm.

It might be said that courage is the virtue to cultivate to fight fear. It goes deeper. The virtue to cultivate is the theological virtue of faith. To countermand the Devil's use of fear, in believing that God does not want what is good for us or will abandon us if we follow Him, we must cultivate faith so as to be able and willing to put our trust in His goodness and plan.

Because it is a theological virtue, the virtue only grows with the assistance of the grace of God. We will not be able to cultivate faith without the sacramental life of the Church. Even when circumstance prevents our participation in the sacramental life of the Church, the fervent desire to participate in the sacramental life of the Church allows that opening for God to flood us with the grace to grow our faith. Such desire has aided the imprisoned, the ill, and the exile.

Faith must lead to conversion. If not, then the grace of God is squandered. We shall have to answer for this. Conversion is an outward and inward sign of the trust we faith we have in God. Conversion sets the devil on his heels. It calls out his lie. Faith will lead us to a place where we can stand out against the rising tide and fight against the diabolical. Dead men flow downstream, weak men float downstream, but live men can walk against the current and move forward. Faith is the power train to give us such abilities.

Prayer of Reparation

My Lord and my God, we have allowed the temptation of the devil to move our hearts to doubt in your goodness. We have still our tongues in the face of evil. We have been too fearful to stand out in our culture, allowing the strong storms to quell our trust in you. In our fear, we have allowed the ancient foe to advance. We turn to you Lord, in our sorrow and guilt, and beg your forgiveness for our fear and timidity. We beg for the grace of your goodness to build up within us what you sought to build up in your apostles in that tempest tossed boat.

We know, Lord, if you will it, it will be done.

Trusting in you, we offer our prayer to you who live and reign forever.

Amen

Prayer of Exorcism

Lord God of Heaven and Earth, in your power and goodness, you created all things. You set a path for us to walk on and a way to an eternal relationship. By the strength of your arm and Word of your mouth cast from your Holy Church every fearful deceit of the Devil. Drive from us manifestations of the demonic that oppress us and beckon us to faithlessness and fear. Still the lying tongue of the devil and his forces so that we may act freely and faithfully to your will. Send your holy angels to cast out all influence that the demonic entities in charge of fear have planted in your church. Free us, our families, our parish, our diocese, and our country from all trickery and deceit perpetrated by the Devil and his hellish legions.

Trusting in your goodness Lord, We know if you will it, it will be done in unity with Your Son and the Holy Spirit, One God for ever and ever. Amen.

Litany of St. Joseph

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Illustrious son of David, …
Light of the patriarchs,
Spouse of the Mother of God,
Chaste guardian of the Virgin,
Foster-father of the Son of God,
Watchful defender of Christ,
Head of the Holy Family,
Joseph most just,
Joseph most chaste,
Joseph most prudent,
Joseph most valiant,
Joseph most obedient,
Joseph most faithful,
Mirror of patience,
Lover of poverty,
Model of workmen ,
Glory of domestic life,
Guardian of virgins,
Pillar of families,
Solace of the afflicted,
Hope of the sick,
Patron of the dying,
Terror of demons,

Protector of Holy Church,

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,

Have mercy on us.

He made him the lord of His household,
And prince over all His possessions.

Let Us Pray.

O God, Who in Thine ineffable providence didst choose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of Thy most Holy Mother, grant that as we venerate him as our protector on earth, we may deserve to have him as our intercessor in Heaven, Thou Who livest and reignest forever and ever. R. Amen.

ON KEEPING THE LORD'S DAY HOLY[3]

CHAPTER III

DIES ECCLESIAE

The Eucharistic Assembly:
Heart of Sunday

Easter banquet and fraternal gathering

44. The communal character of the Eucharist emerges in a special way when it is seen as the Easter banquet, in which Christ himself becomes our nourishment. In fact, "for this purpose Christ entrusted to the Church this sacrifice: so that the faithful might share in it, both spiritually, in faith and charity, and sacramentally, in the banquet of Holy Communion. Sharing in the Lord's Supper is always communion with Christ, who offers himself for us in sacrifice to the Father".(72) This is why the Church recommends that the faithful receive communion when they take part in the Eucharist, provided that they are properly disposed and, if aware of grave sin, have received God's pardon in the Sacrament of Reconciliation,(73) in the spirit of what Saint Paul writes to the community at Corinth (cf. 1 Cor 11:27-32). Obviously, the invitation to Eucharistic communion is more insistent in the case of Mass on Sundays and holy days.

It is also important to be ever mindful that communion with Christ is deeply tied to communion with our brothers and sisters. The Sunday Eucharistic gathering is an experience of brotherhood, which the celebration should demonstrate clearly, while ever respecting the nature of the liturgical action. All this will be helped by gestures of welcome and by the tone of prayer, alert to the needs of all in the community. The sign of peace — in the Roman Rite significantly placed before Eucharistic communion — is a particularly expressive gesture which the faithful are invited to make as a manifestation of the People of God's acceptance of all that has been accomplished in the celebration and of the commitment to mutual love which is made in sharing the one bread, with the demanding words of Christ in mind: "If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Mt 5:23-24).

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost[4]

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord’, . . .but he who does the will of my Father. . .shall enter the kingdom of heaven". Not so much what one "says" about the Lord, but how he "does" His "Will," is what brings forth "good fruit". Deeds, not mere words, are acceptable to God, acceptable to neighbor also. Example is the best precept.

The final fruit of sin is "death;" the fruit of "justice" is "life everlasting".

The Holy Eucharist is the "health-giving" Fruit of Calvary, our antidote against the poison-laden Dead-Sea fruit of the world, the flesh and the devil.

"Faith cannot save without virtue" (St. John Chrysostom).

IN[5] the Introit of the Mass the Church invites us to the praise of God in the following words: “Oh, clap your hands, all ye nations, shout unto God with the voice of joy, for the Lord is most high, He is terrible: He is a great king over all the earth”; (Ps.xlvi. 2, 3).

Prayer. O God, whose providence never faileth in what it doth order, we humbly beseech Thee to put away from us all things hurtful, and to give us all things profitable to us.

EPISTLE. Rom. vi. 19-23.

Brethren: I speak a human thing, because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity unto iniquity, so now yield your members to serve justice unto sanctification. For when you were the servants of sin you were free men to justice. What fruit therefore had you then in those things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of them is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants of God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end life everlasting. For the wages of sin is death, but the grace of God, life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Explanation. In these words, St. Paul admonishes the Romans that they ought henceforward to devote themselves as zealously to the service of God as they had hitherto done to that of iniquity, because the service of sin is death, but the service of God is life everlasting. The words “servants, to serve”, denote the full and unconditional subjection of the Christian to God, without walking any longer according to his own will, just as, in regard to the state of sin, they indicate the dominion of the passions over the sinner. There is no requirement more reasonable than that a man should labor as much for God and his own salvation as he has labored for sin and hell. We should, therefore, often think on the wages of sin eternal death; and when we are tempted, ask ourselves, “What shall I gain by my lust, my in justice, my vengeance? Ah, nothing but eternal death! And shall I, created to inherit eternal life, shall I make myself the heir of eternal death?”

GOSPEL. Matt. vii. 15-21.

At that time Jesus said to His disciples: Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves: by their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit: neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit: every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and shall be cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. Not everyone that saith to Me: Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of My Father Who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Who are meant by false prophets?

1. The world, which promises us honors and riches, but in the end rewards our toil and labor with disgrace and scorn.

2. The flesh, which promises pleasures and joys, but at last leaves nothing but the bitter reproaches of an unquiet conscience.

3. The devil, who promises us a long life, and time for repentance, while the obdurate sinner is cut off suddenly in the midst of his days.

4. All such evil-minded persons as conceal their wicked purpose under the mask of virtue and honesty, until they have entrapped unwary souls, and drawn them into all kinds of shameful misdeeds. It is these false prophets of Satan, and wolves of hell, that make the greatest havoc in the flock of Christ.

Why does Christ say, “every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire”?

He thereby warns us that faith alone, without good works, or, in other. words, the mere desire for heaven without the practice of virtue, will not save us. Christ says plainly, “Not everyone that saith to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will of My Father Who is in heaven.” Jesus also saith, “Whosoever shall do the will of My Father Who is in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother; (Matt. xii. 50). Endeavor, therefore, O Christian, to fulfil in all things the will of God.

INSTRUCTION ON GOOD WORKS

What are good works?

All actions of men which are done according to the will of God, from love of Him, and by the help of grace.

Which are the principal good works?

Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Prayer including all acts belonging to the service of God: fasting, all mortifications of the body; almsgiving, all works of mercy.

How many are the works of mercy?

Two: corporal and spiritual.

Which are the spiritual works of mercy?

Those which have for their object the salvation of our neighbor; as,

1, to admonish the sinner.

2, to instruct the ignorant.

3, to counsel the doubtful.

4, to comfort the afflicted.

5, to bear wrongs patiently.

6, to forgive injuries and offences.

7, to pray for the living and the dead.

Which are the corporal works of mercy?

1, To feed the hungry.

2, to give drink to the thirsty.

3, to clothe the naked.

4, to visit the prisoners.

5, to shelter the houseless.

6, to visit the sick.

7, to bury the dead.

What is necessary to render works meritorious?

1, They must be good in themselves.

2, they must be done by the grace of God.

3, in the state of grace.

4, by free will.

5, with the good intention of pleasing God.

Can we be saved without good works?

No; for Christ says expressly, “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and shall be cast into the fire.” And that servant in the Gospel (Matt. xxv. 25) who neither wasted his talent nor yet traded with it, but digged into the earth and hid his lord’s money, was therefore cast into the outer darkness.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

PART ONE: THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

SECTION ONE-"I BELIEVE" - "WE BELIEVE"

CHAPTER THREE-MAN'S RESPONSE TO GOD

Article 2-WE BELIEVE

III. Only One Faith

172 Through the centuries, in so many languages, cultures, peoples and nations, the Church has constantly confessed this one faith, received from the one Lord, transmitted by one Baptism, and grounded in the conviction that all people have only one God and Father. St. Irenaeus of Lyons, a witness of this faith, declared:

173 "Indeed, the Church, though scattered throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, having received the faith from the apostles and their disciples. . . guards [this preaching and faith] with care, as dwelling in but a single house, and similarly believes as if having but one soul and a single heart, and preaches, teaches and hands on this faith with a unanimous voice, as if possessing only one mouth."

174 "For though languages differ throughout the world, the content of the Tradition is one and the same. the Churches established in Germany have no other faith or Tradition, nor do those of the Iberians, nor those of the Celts, nor those of the East, of Egypt, of Libya, nor those established at the centre of the world. . ." The Church's message "is true and solid, in which one and the same way of salvation appears throughout the whole world."

175 "We guard with care the faith that we have received from the Church, for without ceasing, under the action of God's Spirit, this deposit of great price, as if in an excellent vessel, is constantly being renewed and causes the very vessel that contains it to be renewed."

Moharram (Islamic New Year)^{^[6]}

· Muharram (1st first month of the Islamic calendar) is the holiest month after Ramadan. This month is most recommended by Muhammad to fast and worship in.

· The Islamic method of dating was invented by Umar ibn Al-Khattab, a close friend of Muhammad. He was the second Islamic Caliph (rulers) and in the year 638 he standardized the many calendars of the Arabian Peninsula.

· The Islamic calendar is lunar cycle based and contains twelve months that make up a total of 354.36 days together.

· There are parallels between this holiday and the day of Ashura. Ashura commemorates what Muslims believe is Moses crossing the Red Sea to escape the oppressive Pharaoh on Ashura. Similarly, the Islamic New Year marks Muhammad's crossing the desert between Mecca and Medina to escape the oppressive Quraish nobles. For both observances, Muhammad recommended Muslims to fast.

· The Islamic calendar is abbreviated A.H. or Anno Hegirae in Western languages. The first date on the Islamic calendar, 1,1 Muharram A.H. corresponds to July 16, year 622.

Top Events and Things to Do

· Muslim parents traditionally tell their children of Muhammad's escape from Mecca to Medina on this night.

Read more about Muhammad's journey from Mecca to Medina by reading his biography, The Sealed Nectar

Events

· July 6-15 San Fermin Festival (Pamplona, Spain)

Run for your life! Join hundreds of thousands of locals and tourists who flock to the northern Spanish city of Pamplona for the annual San Fermin Festival. At 8 a.m. on July 7, the celebration unfolds with six bulls and another six steers running down a half-mile stretch of narrow streets. The week-long event culminates in a final, grand fight in a bullring.

Claire’s Corner-Be forgiving and be Honest; tell the truth even in a world that doesn’t know what truth is.

· Global Forgiveness Day