NIC’s Corner
How
to celebrate Aug 30th
·
Starting
the day by showing off your favorite college colors, grab a breakfast treat in
honor of Amagwinya
Day.
·
Head
outdoors with your furry friend on National Holistic
Pet Day, practicing mindfulness along the way.
·
Indulge
in toasted marshmallows for a sweet snack on National
Toasted Marshmallow Day.
·
Dive
deep into whale shark facts on International
Whale Shark Day while channeling Frankenstein’s inventiveness with a DIY
project.
·
Take
a moment to acknowledge and process emotions on National Grief
Awareness Day.
·
Keep
things playful by testing out a Slinky on National Slinky Day.
·
End
the day with a trip to the beach, celebrating National Beach
Day with a splash. Remember, it’s not about the grand gestures; just
embrace the whimsical spirit of each holiday and make the most of this motley
assortment of celebrations. Cheers to a day filled with unexpected delights and
simple pleasures!
·
30
DAY TRIBUTE TO MARY 16`th ROSE: Institution of the Eucharist
o 30
Days of Women and Herbs – Frauendreissiger
§ Coltsfoot
(Tussilago farfara)
MEDICINAL PLANTS Day 16 RESPIRATORY SYSTEM-Revealed by Heaven to Luz De María
·
AVOID
CROWDS When you hear of a strongly contagious respiratory illness, do not
expose yourselves in crowds, or in places where you have to share several hours
with your brothers and sisters, for example in airplanes and collective means
of transport. Wait patiently for the said disease to abate. People of God be
obedient
·
and
be patient, so that with due discernment and given My calls, you are cautious
in undertaking trips that are not a priority. Saint Michael Archangel, 18.08.2019
AUGUST 30 Friday
Proverbs, Chapter 16, Verse 6
By steadfast loyalty guilt is
expiated, and by the FEAR of the LORD
evil is avoided.
This
verse is a language of worship to express what is acceptable or not to God, so this
saying uses similar language to declare that lovingly loyal conduct undoes the
effects of sin.[1]
Five Ways to Defend Yourself from
Evil[2]
·
Read
and know the Bible. St. Jerome (AD 347–420) said, “Ignorance of Scripture
is ignorance of Christ.” Therefore, to know Scripture is to know Christ and his
power.
·
Practice
Marian Devotion. The Blessed Mother is a powerful ally for anyone who is
up against the forces of evil. The devil could not touch the Blessed Mother
because she was full of grace. Fr. Gabriele Amorth recounts the story
of a fellow exorcist who once asked the devil what are the qualities of the
Most Holy Mother Mary that make you so angry and cause you so much pain? The
devil responded that she is the purest of everyone, and he is the filthiest;
she is the humblest, and he is the most rebellious; she is the most obedient,
and he never obeys.5 The Blessed Mother also teaches us that every hour is the
hour for Christ. In the story of the Marriage at Cana, Jesus says to his
mother, “My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). Her response is, “Do whatever he
tells you” (John 2:5). These are the final words she
speaks in the Bible. Once she tells us to listen to and obey Jesus, she has
said all that needs to be said.
·
Frequent
the Sacraments. The devil is fought positively and preventively by
everything that nourishes and strengthens the Christian life, and therefore,
above all, by recourse to the sacraments.6 As Catholics we need to go to
confession and attend Holy Mass with the reception of Holy Communion. Our
Catholic faith must not be purely cultural, by which we merely go through the
motions. It must be a lived relationship with Jesus Christ exemplified through
the sacramental life of the Church.
·
Pray
and Fast. When the disciples asked Jesus why they were not able to cast
out a particular demon, he responded, “This kind cannot be driven out
by anything but prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29). In this same account in
Matthew’s Gospel Jesus responds that they were not able to cast out the demon
because of their little faith (17:19). When we pray, we connect ourselves more
tightly to God and are protected from demonic influence. When we fast, we
create a physical emptiness in ourselves and come to realize that only God can
satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart.
·
Call
upon your Guardian Angel and remember your Guardian Angel is more powerful
than the devil himself. Scripture teaches us the importance of our angels. In
Psalm 91 [90] we read, “For he will give his angels charge of you to guard
you in all your ways” (v. 11).
Why
Fish on Friday?[3]
Many major world religions have dietary rules which
are meant to be followed for a period of time (e.g., Ramadan, Lent) or are
prescribed lifestyles (e.g., Kosher, Halal). The practice of eating fish
on Friday – still followed by many Catholics today – was written about in the
first century A.D. According to Christian teaching, Jesus died on a
Friday, and people fasted as a sacrifice in his memory. While
fasting is part of many religious traditions, it does not always mean
abstention from all food and drink. In this case, fasting meant that
people stopped eating the flesh of warm-blooded animals on Fridays;
cold-blooded fish could still be consumed.
Fish has been an important part of human diet from
the time of Stone Age hunter‐gatherers, who ate the meat of warm-blooded
animals, plants, and fish. Some of our earliest cookbooks are clay tablets
from the 18th century B.C. (housed in Yale University’s Babylonian
Collection) that include recipes for preparing fish. Fish has always been
a primary ingredient in Jewish cookery because it was plentiful, easy to
prepare, and symbolized fertility and prosperity.
Additional symbolism has been attached to fish (the
Old Testament’s claim that God created fish and marine life on the fifth day
(Friday), most of the apostles were fishermen who then became “fishers of men”
who gathered converts to Christianity, and the use of the fish symbol in early
Christianity). Fish were also important to the Greeks, Romans, and
other pagans who used the fish symbol prior to its adoption by
Christians. This meant that early Christians could use the mark without
drawing undesired attention to themselves.
The 4th century Council of Nicea formalized the
tradition of 40 days of Lent (from Ash Wednesday to Easter), during which only
weekdays are counted as fasting days when it was forbidden to eat meat
(including poultry), animal fats, milk, or eggs. The medieval Christian
calendar named even more meat-free days: Fridays, Wednesdays, Saturdays,
Advent (the weeks before Christmas) and Lent (the weeks before Easter).
Some suggest that the medieval Catholic Church increased the number of fasting
days/fish days to prop up the fishing economy dominant in monasteries, however
Brian Fagan (UC Santa Barbara) and Michael Foley (Baylor University) both discredit this theory.
It has also been suggested that the timing of
fasting from meat and dairy products in Spring is not coincidental. Rather, it
comes at a time when stored provisions might be running low, fields are bare,
ewes are not lambing, and hens are laying fewer eggs. Fasting in Spring also
pre-dates the Christian era. In addition, many fish varieties are
high in B Vitamins, Niacin, and Folate, which would offer nutritional benefits
after a winter of weak sunshine and a declining choice of vegetables.
The fish industry was well-established and vital to
the medieval economy. Descriptions, depictions (including 130 churches
with relevant wall paintings, and artifacts of fishing are plentiful from the
Middle Ages (5th - 15th century). The use of fishhooks, spears,
nets, traps, and even fish farming was widespread throughout Europe.
Sometime around 1000 AD, there was a shift from the consumption of locally
caught freshwater fish to ocean caught fish. While this might have been a
response to overfishing of local fish, dried Scandinavian cod appears as an
important traded commodity. The drying and smoking of herring and cod as a
way of preserving them for eating later, in the centuries before refrigeration,
made fishing a growth industry. Vikings, who were expert at preserving cod,
were sailing first to Iceland and Greenland, and then onto Newfoundland to fish
where Atlantic cod were plentiful.
Vikings were thought to have developed an early sun
compass, allowing them during mid summers to measure the declination of the sun
to keep them on latitude courses, thus able to steer relatively straight
courses to and from these areas across the North Atlantic. In this way, the
growing demand for fish spurred advances in Medieval navigation and the
discovery of new lands.
Fish fasting continued to stimulate growth in
seafood right up into modern times and played quite a role here in the
development of North America’s cod and other fishing industries.
Fast-forwarding to the twentieth century, when an early McDonald’s franchise
owner wrestled with the challenge of selling burgers on Friday, he developed
the solution in the ever-popular Filet-O-Fish sandwich. Indeed, when the Pope
scaled back Fish Fridays in the 1960s to just the 40-day period of Lent, cod
prices dropped dramatically as demand fell for a period of time.
Catechism of the Catholic
Church
Day 77
"The kingdom of God is at
hand"
541 "Now after John was
arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying:
'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe
in the gospel.'" "To carry out the will of the Father Christ
inaugurated the kingdom of heaven on earth." Now the Father's will is
"to raise up men to share in his own divine life". He does this
by gathering men around his Son Jesus Christ. This gathering is the Church,
"on earth the seed and beginning of that kingdoms".
542 Christ stands at the heart
of this gathering of men into the "family of God". By his word,
through signs that manifest the reign of God, and by sending out his disciples,
Jesus calls all people to come together around him. But above all in the great
Paschal mystery - his death on the cross and his Resurrection - he would
accomplish the coming of his kingdom. "and I, when I am lifted up from the
earth, will draw all men to myself." Into this union with Christ all men
are called.
The proclamation of the kingdom
of God
543 Everyone is called to enter
the kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom
is intended to accept men of all nations. To enter it, one must first
accept Jesus' word:
The word of
the Lord is compared to a seed which is sown in a field; those who hear it with
faith and are numbered among the little flock of Christ have truly received the
kingdom. Then, by its own power, the seed sprouts and grows until the harvest.
544 The kingdom belongs to the
poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble hearts.
Jesus is sent to "preach good news to the poor"; he declares
them blessed, for "theirs is the kingdom of heaven." To them -
the "little ones" the Father is pleased to reveal what remains hidden
from the wise and the learned. Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the
cradle to the cross; he experiences hunger, thirst and privation. Jesus
identifies himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward
them the condition for entering his kingdom.
545 Jesus invites sinners to
the table of the kingdom: "I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners." He invites them to that conversion without which one cannot
enter the kingdom, but shows them in word and deed his Father's boundless mercy
for them and the vast "joy in heaven over one sinner who
repents". The supreme proof of his love will be the sacrifice of his
own life "for the forgiveness of sins".
546 Jesus' invitation to enter
his kingdom comes in the form of parables, a characteristic feature of his
teaching. Through his parables he invites people to the feast of the
kingdom, but he also asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must
give everything. Words are not enough, deeds are required. The
parables are like mirrors for man: will he be hard soil or good earth for the
word? What use has he made of the talents he has received? Jesus and
the presence of the kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the
parables. One must enter the kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in
order to "know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven". For those
who stay "outside", everything remains enigmatic.
Fitness Friday-Sleep[4]
Sleep. Something we all need more of, but
never seem to get. (If only we had more time, right?) Today we’re
going to cover how you can. First stop and think!
Sleep is important, and you should get more of it!
“When you
lie down, you will not be afraid, when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.” (Proverbs 3:24)
Before
we cover why sleep is important,
let’s talk about what happens when you don’t get enough For example: If you manage to only get four hours of sleep, a sleep deprived body can actually
act similarly to
an intoxicated body.
Getting
less sleep than average regularly?
This
is correlated with increased bodyfat
percentage, more issues with insulin sensitivity, and even a disproportionate
decrease in lean muscle mass when eating a caloric deficit. We all know missing
sleep can make us grouchy, miserable, unfocused, and unproductive. I know I’m
going to have a crappy day in the gym when I don’t get enough sleep the night
before. I know not sleeping enough AFTER a workout day can further hinder
the muscle building
process.
So, what else happens when you
don’t get enough sleep?
“One study found that skipped sleep led to a shrinking brain.
The heart and kidneys also take a beating as
does your blood pressure. You, in fact, put
yourself at continually increased risk for a whole host of lifestyle diseases,
including obesity and diabetes.
What
is the logical extension of this pattern?
Numerous studies link partial sleep
deprivation/disruption and increased mortality risk!”
Conversely, let’s talk about the awesomeness that is sleep.
Here are the benefits associated with getting enough shut eye:
·
Sleep
will enhance your memory
performance and creative problem
solving skills.
You know, those things that make you smart.
·
Sleep
can boost your athletic performance.
And we all know appearance is a consequence of fitness.
·
Sleep triggers the release of human growth
hormone (HGH),
which plays a huge role in muscle and cellular regeneration.
·
Sleep
cuts your risk for the common cold and other basic illnesses.
Less sick days at work = more productivity, more awesome, more leveling
up.
·
Sleep
makes you more resilient to daily stress..aka more willpower!
Moral of
the story: Sleep is awesome.
Yes, some
adults can function perfectly on only five hours of sleep, while others need
9-10 hours of sleep to thrive. Most people will fall in that 7-9 range for
sleeping needs. So let’s get to the root of the problem for most: “I know
I need to sleep more, but my day is too busy and I just can’t get to bed sooner
or wake up earlier.” First and foremost, you’re not alone. According to a
recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly
a third of all working Americans get six hours or fewer of sleep a night.
Does any
of this sound like you? I
am always freaking tired, and I need five cups of coffee to get through the
day. Even on days when I get enough sleep, I wake up groggy. I get to ‘bed’ but
I toss and turn and it takes me forever to fall asleep. I hit snooze half a
dozen times before miserably crawling out of bed.
A perfect night of sleep
Let’s imagine a perfect night:
·
You
go to bed at a time that you’re happy with.
·
You’re
not stressed out because you didn’t just watch The Walking Dead.
·
You’re
reading a good book in bed that’s putting you
closer to sleep rather than checking your smart phone or screwing around on the
internet (damn you Twitch.tv).
·
You
sleep uninterrupted through the night.
·
.
You have good dreams.
·
When
you wake up, either naturally or with an alarm…you immediately get out of bed,
without a single snooze, and you feel damn good.
·
You
then crush your morning routine and dominate your day.
If you’re looking at your screen and laughing right
now, you’re not alone. I’d
guess this is a pipe dream for a huge majority of our society because they’re
not sure how sleep actually works, and thus have NOT made sleep a priority.
It’s time to start looking at sleep as one of your
most important tasks.
How to get better sleep
We have a circadian rhythm (a
daily biological clock) that ebbs and flows throughout the day. Our body uses outside stimuli and
our own activity to produce certain hormones at certain times to make our body
more prepared for the required functions at that time (alertness vs
restfulness).
·
When the
sun rose, our
bodies signaled “the day has begun! Get cracking!” We reduce the hormones that
make us sleepy and produce more hormones that allow us to do the things that
need to get done.
·
As the
sun went down, our
body starts to produce more melatonin, which produces that sleepy feeling and
encourages us to rest/recover. Our only option for light back then was a
candle or campfire. If that went out, we’d have moonlight and nothing else.
·
While
sleeping, our
bodies knew to cut back on urine production, decrease body temperature,
decrease heart rate, and muscle activity. Our brains are still highly
active during our sleeping.
Unfortunately,
these days, our bodies aren’t tied to the rise and fall of that giant ball of
gas above us. Instead,
we use electricity, alarm clocks, computer screens, smart phone screens, and
all other sorts of outside stimuli to adjust our natural sleeping schedule. This
means that our bodies often have no effin’ clue what time it is!
Here’s how we can get back to our roots:
Trying to
get to bed sooner or fall asleep sooner? Limit your exposure to the blue glow of your
computer screens, TV screens, and phones later in the evening. Our bodies
look at blue light and think “Sun is up! Sky is blue! Energy! WEEE!” Conversely, lights with a red/orange hue are
more reminiscent of a campfire or candle.
·
If
you are somebody who has to spend time on your computer at night, consider
installing a program like F.lux – it syncs with the sunrise
and sunset in your time zone, gradually shifting your screens hue from Blue and
bright to red and dim. I’ve been using the app for over a week now and
have quickly adjusted to it.
·
Purchase old-man blue blocker
glasses which limits the colors
your eyes are exposed to after the sun has gone.
·
Consider
purchasing red lightbulbs to install in your bedroom.
·
Consider getting black-out curtains for your bedroom
windows, especially if you live in a city.
·
No TV in
bed. This
might be incredibly difficult for you if you’ve been falling asleep to TV for
years. Instead of falling asleep with the blue glow of a TV at the foot
of your bed, read a book – real books or read on a Kindle, no iPads! Trust me, it will put
you right to sleep.
·
Buy the right TYPE of
Mattress for you
·
Have allergies? Try a hypoallergenic pillowcase! Your allergies could be
affecting you while you sleep and having the proper pillowcase can make a world
of a difference.
How to get more sleep
So, we’ve
covered how to get BETTER sleep, what if you also need to get more of it? In order
to start getting more sleep, sleep must
become more of a priority. If you constantly stay up too late because
things need to get done, evaluate how your time is spent after work. Seriously,
think about it!
Are you
doing the important tasks first?
Are you
watching late night shows long after they’ve become enjoyable, simply
because your DVR records them?
Are you
checking your smart phone while in bed, watching Vine
videos, or using your laptop to watch more shows you don’t really care about on
Netflix?
Here are the best practical tips for giving you the
greatest chance at getting into bed earlier:
·
Don’t
drink caffeine after lunch if possible.
o
Caffeine
can have an effect up to 6 hours after consumption. We love caffeine for many reasons (in moderation);
however, you want to make sure it’s not consumed too late, or your body
will revolt.
·
Turn off
the electronics sooner.
o
I
have to enforce a “laptops closed by 11PM” or a “TV off after 10PM” rule on
many nights or I never get to bed. I get lost in internetland far too easily.
Putting in actual barriers really helps. If you find yourself
checking Facebook and Twitter and other sites incessantly, BLOCK YOURSELF from those sites after a certain time.
·
Stop
watching crap TV shows!
o
DVRs
can be helpful, but it’s so easy to record shows without second thought…and
then we end up spending WAY too much time watching TV.
·
Shift
things by 15 minutes every week.
o
If
you want to get to bed sooner, don’t just try to get to bed an hour earlier
than normal. You’ll probably lie in bed for that whole hour wondering why you
can’t fall asleep, stressing yourself out and making things worse. I shifted my
pattern by waking up 15 minutes earlier and getting to bed 15 minutes sooner.
Then I repeated that process over a series of weeks. Eventually, you can shift
your bedtime by an hour or two but do it gradually!
How to wake up better
Is
there any more annoying sound in the world than the “beep beep beep” of an
alarm clock?
So
here you are, dreaming about riding a dragon with Daenerys Targaryen,
doing improv with Liam
Neeson, and
playing poker with Iron Man and Spock…and that damn alarm clock wakes you up.
You are now incredibly groggy and miserable.
Here’s
what’s happening: Remember earlier how we
talked about different sleep cycles?
Depending
on which cycle you were woken up during, your body can struggle to move from
“asleep” to “wide awake.” Wake up at the right phase and
you can feel energized and ready to go. Wake up in the wrong phase and you will
feel lethargic and sleepy. Because we
often wake up at times when we’re not ready to wake up, we need to use
technology to our advantage.
This is why snoozing is a horrible idea!
Instead
of snoozing, set your alarm for 30 minutes later and SKIP snoozing entirely.
If this is an issue for you, put your alarm across the room so you need
to physically get out of bed to turn it off!
I’ve been using the Sleep Cycle App to wake up and it’s been really interesting. You
simply put the time at which you want to wake up, put your phone on your bed,
and it will wake you up slowly and quietly in at the best point in a 30-minute
window. Because it also tracks your sleep incredibly accurately, it’s probably
the best 99 cents I’ve ever spent on an app. Try a dawn-simulator alarm clock.
Rather
than waking yourself up in the pitch black with a disgusting beeping noise, why
not gradually rise as if there was a natural sunrise in your room? Still, feeling groggy?
Go for a
walk first thing; a mile every morning, if you can. Walking
outside and seeing that blue sky can trigger your body to release the hormones
that encourage you to feel more awake and alive.
What about naps?
Although generally not part of a day here in the
states, we’re actually programmed to desire a quick nap in the early afternoon.
In other countries,
naps are more socially acceptable (Siesta? Si, por favor!). If you
feel bad that you get tired in the early afternoon, it’s not because you’re
lazy. It’s because you’re naturally wired for naptime. Now, you might still
be lazy, but it’s not related to your nap schedule.
What about a second sleep?
Biphasic Sleep is sleeping in two distinct periods. We’re going
to go back in the day again: during winter months, nighttime could last 12-14
hours. With our
bodies production of melatonin (the “sleepy time” hormone) kicking into high
gear when that sun drops, people had nothing else to do (no TV, PS4, or iPads)
and would fall asleep early. Then they would wake up for an hour or two in the
middle of the night to read, pray, or think, and then fall back asleep for
another 4-5 hours before waking up for the day.
If
you’ve ever gone to bed at a normal hour, and then woke up in the middle of the
night without being able to fall back asleep for an hour or so, you know what
I’m talking about. Here’s
the thing: this is actually
quite natural! Rather than freaking the heck out
and lying in bed wondering why you can’t fall asleep…consider it something that
is more common than our current sleep schedule. Don’t be afraid to turn on the
light and read a book or use the time for meditation until you can fall back
asleep. This one ‘mental shift’ alone can keep your stress levels down and let
you get back to sleep faster and provide you with BETTER sleep.
Daily Devotions
·
Unite yourself in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: The
lonely and destitute
·
Religion
in the Home for Preschool: August
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
· Rosary
No comments:
Post a Comment