Christopher’s Corner
· Start by celebrating by making a Mexican-inspired breakfast – whip up some avocado toast and chilaquiles to honor Mexican Independence Day.
· Set aside some time to reflect on the past and learn about Native American history, in remembrance of Trail of Tears Commemoration Day.
· Plan a potluck dinner with friends and family for Family and Community Day, where everyone brings a dish to share.
· Whip up a batch of homemade guacamole on National Guacamole Day, hosting a themed party with friends or simply enjoying it as a snack.
· Indulge your sweet tooth by baking a fresh loaf of cinnamon raisin bread on National Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day, pairing it with a warm beverage for a cozy treat.
· And finally, pamper yourself by choosing your favorite chocolates to enjoy on National Choose Your Chocolate Day – whether it’s rich dark chocolate or creamy milk chocolate, savor every bite.
SEPTEMBER 16 Monday-Cornelius
and
Cyprian, Martyrs
1 Samuel, Chapter 12, Verse 20
“Do not FEAR,” Samuel answered them. “You
have indeed committed all this evil! Yet do not turn from the LORD, but serve
him with your whole heart.
Jesus
was fearless. He is the model of a true Israelite. He as a man was fearless. He
as a man was sinless, yet He associated with the sinful: Judas who betrayed;
Peter who denied, Nicodemus who was silent; Herod who mocked, Pilate who washed
his hands, and all the people who preferred Barabbas and cried for Christ’s
torture and death on the cross. Yet He did not turn from his Father but served
Him with his whole heart; which was pierced for our sins. We have indeed
committed all this evil—yet because of Him we can serve with our whole heart.
Now
our goal is to be God’s sons and daughters-Saints of God. To fear the Lord and
serve Him faithfully you must live the Beatitudes of Christ. I recently revised
my book on the Divine Mercy Hikes. Perhaps today would be a good day to hike
and meditate on Christ’s beatitudes.
Hike of
West Fork Oak Creek Sedona, Arizona.
Cornelius
and
Cyprian, Martyrs[1]
Pope Cornelius (251-253) was
the successor to Pope Fabian. During his reign a controversy arose concerning
the manner of reinstating those who had fallen from the faith under the duress
of persecution. The Novatians accused the Pope of too great indulgence and
separated themselves from the Church.With the help of St. Lucina, Cornelius
transferred the remains of the princes of the apostles to places of greater
honor. On account of his successful preaching the pagans banished him to
Centumcellae, where he died. St. Cyprian sent him a letter of condolence. At
the time of Pope Cornelius there were at Rome forty-six priests, seven deacons,
seven subdeacons, forty-two acolytes, fifty-two clerics and more than five
hundred widows who were supported by the Church (according to Cornelius' letter
to Bishop Fabian of Antioch).
Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus,
illustrious as a pagan rhetorician in Carthage, embraced the true faith in the
year 246 and was soon thereafter consecrated priest and bishop of that city
(248). He was an energetic shepherd of souls and a prolific writer. He defended
the unity of the Church against schismatic movements in Africa and Italy, and
greatly influenced the shaping of Church discipline relative to reinstating
Christians who had apostatized. He fled during the Decian persecution but
guided the Church by means of letters. During the Valerian persecution (258) he
was beheaded. He suffered martyrdom in the presence of his flock, after giving
the executioner twenty-five pieces of gold. St. Jerome says of him: "It is
superfluous to speak of his greatness, for his works are more luminous than the
sun." Cyprian ranks as an important Church Father, one whose writings are
universally respected and often read in the Divine Office. His principal works
are: On the Unity of the Church; On Apostates; a collection of
Letters; On the Value of Patience.
Catechism of the
Catholic Church
PART ONE: THE PROFESSION
OF FAITH
SECTION
TWO-I. THE CREEDS
CHAPTER TWO
I
BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF GOD
Article 6-"HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN AND IS SEATED AT THE RIGHT
HAND OF THE FATHER"
Day 94
659 "So then the Lord
Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at
the right hand of God." Christ's body was glorified at the moment of
his Resurrection, as proved by the new and supernatural properties it subsequently
and permanently enjoys. But during the forty days when he eats and drinks
familiarly with his disciples and teaches them about the kingdom, his glory
remains veiled under the appearance of ordinary humanity. Jesus' final
apparition ends with the irreversible entry of his humanity into divine glory,
symbolized by the cloud and by heaven, where he is seated from that time
forward at God's right hand. Only in a wholly exceptional and unique way
would Jesus show himself to Paul "as to one untimely born", in a last
apparition that established him as an apostle.
660 The veiled character of the
glory of the Risen One during this time is intimated in his mysterious words to
Mary Magdalene: "I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my
brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my
God and your God." This indicates a difference in manifestation
between the glory of the risen Christ and that of the Christ exalted to the
Father's right hand, a transition marked by the historical and transcendent
event of the Ascension.
661 This final stage stays
closely linked to the first, that is, to his descent from heaven in the
Incarnation. Only the one who "came from the Father" can return to
the Father: Christ Jesus. "No one has ascended into heaven but he who
descended from heaven, the Son of man." Left to its own natural
powers humanity does not have access to the "Father's house", to
God's life and happiness. Only Christ can open to man such access that we,
his members, might have confidence that we too shall go where he, our Head and
our Source, has preceded us.
662 "and I, when I am
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." The lifting
up of Jesus on the cross signifies and announces his lifting up by his
Ascension into heaven, and indeed begins it. Jesus Christ, the one priest of the
new and eternal Covenant, "entered, not into a sanctuary made by human
hands. . . but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our
behalf." There Christ permanently exercises his priesthood, for he
"always lives to make intercession" for "those who draw near to
God through him". As "high priest of the good things to
come" he is the centre and the principal actor of the liturgy that honours
the Father in heaven.
663 Henceforth Christ is seated
at the right hand of the Father: "By 'the Father's right hand' we
understand the glory and honour of divinity, where he who exists as Son of God
before all ages, indeed as God, of one being with the Father, is seated bodily
after he became incarnate and his flesh was glorified."
664 Being seated at the
Father's right hand signifies the inauguration of the Messiah's kingdom, the
fulfilment of the prophet Daniel's vision concerning the Son of man: "To
him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and
languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which
shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed."
After this event the apostles became witnesses of the "kingdom [that] will
have no end".
IN BRIEF
665
Christ's Ascension marks the definitive entrance of Jesus' humanity into God's
heavenly domain, whence he will come again (cf Acts 1:11); this humanity in the
meantime hides him from the eyes of men (cf Col 3:3).
666 Jesus
Christ, the head of the Church, precedes us into the Father's glorious kingdom
so that we, the members of his Body, may live in the hope of one day being with
him forever.
667 Jesus
Christ, having entered the sanctuary of heaven once and for all, intercedes
constantly for us as the mediator who assures us of the permanent outpouring of
the Holy Spirit.
Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: For
the Poor and Suffering
·
Eat waffles and Pray for the assistance of the Angels
·
Religion
in the Home for Preschool: September
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Monday: Litany of
Humility
·
Rosary
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