Sunday, October 13, 2024
o Wake up and embrace liberated comfort, ditching the bra for a carefree start.
o Engage in a reflective walk, channeling spirituality while enjoying the peaceful serenity of a procession.
o Show appreciation for those who guide and inspire you, perhaps surprising your pastor with a homemade treat or heartfelt note.
o Exercise your brain with puzzles and brainteasers, nurturing your mind on National Train Your Brain Day.
o Indulge in a sweet treat or two, celebrating the colorful and delicious world of M&M’s.
§ Whip up a batch of Yorkshire pudding, savoring the warm and comforting flavors.
· For dinner make something for National Curry Week
o Embrace failure as a learning opportunity, setting aside time to reflect on past mistakes and plan for future success.
o Transfer a small sum to your son to show love and support, even from afar.
o Embrace skepticism, questioning the world around you and seeking answers.
o Lastly, commemorate Disaster Day by learning about past mishaps and how to prepare for the unexpected. So go ahead, embrace the oddities!
Introduction to 1 Kings[1]
Populated with majestic kings, beautiful princesses, scheming nobles, powerful wizards, and the quintessential evil queen, 1 Kings could almost be set in a fairy-tale world full of griffins and unicorns and magical swords. In fact, if you ever get bored with it, just use your imagination to throw in some fantasy elements, and it'll be better than Lord of the Rings. 1 Kings contains two very different central characters: King Solomon and Elijah. These two could hardly be more different: Solomon is rich (3:13), Elijah is not (as far as we can tell); Solomon lives in a spectacular palace (7:1-12), Elijah is often homeless (17:3-5; 19:4-5); Solomon has servants at his beck and call (4:1-21), Elijah gets his food by begging (17:10-13) or heavenly delivery service (17:6; 19:5-7); Solomon is dignified and eloquent (4:32-34), Elijah is snarky (18:27); Solomon uses his brain (3:23-28), while Elijah uses brute, elemental force (18:37-40); Solomon is cool and calculated (2:22-34), Elijah is a hot-headed spitfire (18:21); in the end Solomon succumbs to temptation (11:4), whereas Elijah (in 2nd Kings) is so pure he's taken directly to heaven before he even has a chance to die (2 Kings 2:11). By presenting these guys side-by-side in the same book, 1 Kings allows us to see both of them more clearly. They're like Captain Kirk and Spock. Woody and Buzz. Carlton and Will. They're convenient, cooperative opposites, and each helps us to better understand the other. And they're not the only foils you'll find in 1 Kings. You'll find a lot of opposites if you keep your eyes open, including within the same character/object/place. Amid all of these dissimilarities scattered across the pages, you'll start to see themes and patterns emerging that can help you understand the mythical enchanted kingdom epic that is 1 Kings.
Why Should I Care?
What would you do if you had superpowers?
Would you use them only for good?
Would you finally achieve world peace?
Or just make your own life easier?
Of course, you wouldn't
use it for evil… right?
Maybe just a little bit?
Some revenge?
A pinch of pleasure here and there?
What's the point of all that power if you can't use it to
make yourself happy, right?
Would your powers worry you at all?
They say absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Are you sure you could handle it?
Okay. We're done grilling you now.
1 Kings is the story of what happens to Israel after its
greatest king, David (of David and
Goliath fame), dies. Though his son, Solomon, looks for a while like
he'll follow in ol' dad's footsteps, in the end he sets Israel up for disaster.
As civil war breaks out and the people's rulers get worse and worse with each
generation, we see that the stories in 1st Kings (some of which spill over into
the next book, 2 Kings) are dominated by people with a lot of power—sometimes
almost god-like power: Solomon possesses supernatural wisdom and unfathomable
riches; Elijah has the very elements at his disposal; Ahab and Jezebel command
legions of soldiers and priests; and the list goes on. How they each behave
under these circumstances can be instructive for all of us, because although it
might not seem like it now, you possess a lot of power and will probably gain a
whole lot more of it as you grow up. Money, education, influence, position,
physical strength, emotional awareness, and so on can all give you power over
other people.
What are you going to do with it?
The difference between Superman and
General Zod
lies in how each uses his powers. Although you probably can't leap tall
buildings in a single bound, you do have the power to change the world in a
million ways, whether subtly or in more visible ways. As you read about the
extreme powers at play in 1 Kings, try to see past the sheer razzle-dazzle of
it all and think about stuff like this. Someday, when you're a powerful
politician, teacher, surgeon, mentor, writer, scientist, or mom, the world will
be glad you did.
October 13 Twenty-First Sunday after
Pentecost
1 Kings, Chapter 1, Verse 49-50
49 All the guests of Adonijah got up
trembling, and went each their way, 50 but Adonijah, in FEAR of Solomon, got up and went to
grasp the horns of the altar.
In
King David’s old age, he developed circulatory problems, and a beautiful young
woman named Abishag was brought to the king to attend him and “keep him warm.”
Abishag slept in the king’s bed to provide body heat, though she and David were
never sexually intimate (1 Kings 1:1–4). After David’s death, his son Solomon
became king. Shortly afterward, another of David’s sons, Adonijah, who had at
one time tried to take over the kingdom, hatched another plot to wrest control
from King Solomon. Adonijah’s first step was to ask Solomon’s mother,
Bathsheba, to secure Solomon’s permission to give him Abishag as a wife.
Adonijah’s request seems innocuous enough, but it was full of subterfuge.
Solomon’s initial response was one of indignation. He said to his mother,
“Why
do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah?
You might as well request the kingdom for him—after
all, he is my older brother” (1 Kings 2:22). Solomon rightly saw Adonijah’s
desire to marry Abishag as part of his brother’s ongoing attempt to take over
the kingdom of Israel. In those days of royal harems, taking possession of a
king’s concubines was a declaration of one’s right to the throne. This had been
one of Absalom’s methods when he led a coup against David (2 Samuel 16:22).
Since Abishag was considered part of David’s harem, her marriage to Adonijah
would have strengthened the usurper’s claim to the throne. In judgment for
Adonijah’s request, Solomon said, “God do so to me and more also if this word
does not cost Adonijah his life!” (1 Kings 2:23). He quickly sent Benaiah, one
of their father’s mighty men, to execute Adonijah. The tension between Adonijah
and Solomon had been longstanding. Adonijah was older than Solomon and
therefore, under normal circumstances, in line before Solomon for the throne.
But God promised that Solomon would be king. Adonijah had already attempted to
set himself up as king while David was still alive; when David was notified of
the plot, he quickly made Solomon’s kingship official (1 Kings 1:38–40).
Adonijah’s followers had fled, leaving him in a situation where he could have
been killed for his rebellion. King Solomon mercifully granted Adonijah his
life on the condition that he pay homage to the king and give up his claim to
the throne (1 Kings 1:52–53).[2]
What does it mean to
grasp the horns of the altar? [3]
The
innocent blood of the bull represents life over death rubbed on the horn of
salvation. The horns represent salvation, forgiveness of sins, and power over
death, strength, and mercy for mankind which put together describes God.
Rubbing the blood on the horn with a finger illustrates reconciliation of man
with God and no death when the horn is touched because the sacrificial blood
stands in the gap between man and God on his finger. So, this is access to God
through the blood of no sin which Adam housed before he disobeyed God. Adam had
this power to cover Eve but chose disobedience instead of utilizing his power.
Jesus is the blood between the finger and horn. That's the intercession for
man.
ON KEEPING
THE LORD'S DAY HOLY[4]
CHAPTER I
DIES DOMINI
The Celebration of the Creator's
Work
"Through him all things
were made" (Jn 1:3)
8. For the Christian, Sunday is above
all an Easter celebration, wholly illumined by the glory of the Risen Christ.
It is the festival of the "new creation". Yet, when understood in
depth, this aspect is inseparable from what the first pages of Scripture tell
us of the plan of God in the creation of the world. It is true that the Word
was made flesh in "the fullness of time" (Gal 4:4); but it is
also true that, in virtue of the mystery of his identity as the eternal Son of
the Father, he is the origin and end of the universe. As John writes in the
Prologue of his Gospel: "Through him all things were made, and without him
was made nothing that was made" (1:3). Paul too stresses this in writing
to the Colossians: "In him all things were created, in heaven and on
earth, visible and invisible .... All things were created through him and for
him" (1:16). This active presence of the Son in the creative work of God
is revealed fully in the Paschal Mystery, in which Christ, rising as "the
first fruits of those who had fallen asleep" (1 Cor 15:20),
established the new creation and began the process which he himself will bring
to completion when he returns in glory to "deliver the kingdom to God the
Father ..., so that God may be everything to everyone" (1 Cor
15:24,28).
Already at the dawn of creation,
therefore, the plan of God implied Christ's "cosmic mission". This Christocentric
perspective, embracing the whole arc of time, filled God's well-pleased
gaze when, ceasing from all his work, he "blessed the seventh day and made
it holy" (Gn 2:3). According to the Priestly writer of the first
biblical creation story, then was born the "Sabbath", so
characteristic of the first Covenant, and which in some ways foretells the
sacred day of the new and final Covenant. The theme of "God's rest"
(cf. Gn 2:2) and the rest which he offered to the people of the Exodus
when they entered the Promised Land (cf. Ex 33:14; Dt 3:20; 12:9;
Jos 21:44; Ps 95:11) is re-read in the New Testament in the light
of the definitive "Sabbath rest" (Heb 4:9) into which Christ
himself has entered by his Resurrection. The People of God are called to enter
into this same rest by persevering in Christ's example of filial obedience (cf.
Heb 4:3-16). In order to grasp fully the meaning of Sunday, therefore,
we must re-read the great story of creation and deepen our understanding of the
theology of the "Sabbath".
Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost[5]
AT the Introit of the Mass is said
the prayer of Mardochai, which may be used in all necessities and adversities. “All
things are in Thy will, O Lord, and there is none that can resist Thy will; for
Thou hast made all things, heaven and earth, and all things that are under the
cope of heaven. Thou art Lord of all. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who
walk in the law of the Lord”.
Prayer.
Preserve, we beseech Thee, O Lord,
Thy family by continued mercy, that by Thy protection they may be free from all
adversity, and in good works be devoted to Thy name.
EPISTLE. Ephesians vi. 10-17.
Brethren: Be strengthened in the
Lord, and in the might of His power. Put you on the armor of God, that you may
be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the
rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the
high places. Therefore, take unto you the armor of God, that you may be able to
resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. Stand, therefore,
having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of
justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace: in all
things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all
the fiery darts of the most wicked one. And take unto you the helmet of
salvation; and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God).
Explanation.
In this epistle the holy apostle
encourages us to combat against evil and points out both our enemy and the
weapons we are to use. He exhorts us to protect ourselves by,
1, the girdle that is, truth, by
virtue of which we despise the goods of earth.
2, the breastplate that is,
justice, which renders to God, our neighbor, and ourselves what is due to each.
3, the shoes that is, readiness in
regulating our lives by the Gospel.
4, the shield that is, faith, by
the doctrines and promises of which we render harmless the fiery darts of the
devil.
5, the helmet that is, the hope of
eternal salvation, which enables us to endure all temporal misfortune.
6, the sword that is, the word of
God, which, when we use it after the example of Jesus, the most powerful enemy
cannot resist (Matt. iv.).
Thus armed, we shall be conquerors
in the combat with Satan, and gain the crown of victory.
GOSPEL. Matt, xviii. 23-35
At that time. Jesus spoke to His disciples this
parable: The kingdom of God is likened to a king who would take an account of
his servants. And when he had begun to take the account, one was brought to him
that owed him ten thousand talents. And as he had not wherewith to pay it, his
lord commanded that he should be sold, and his wife and children, and all that
he had, and payment to be made. But that servant, falling down, besought him,
saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And the lord of that
servant, being moved with pity, let him go, and forgave him the debt. But when
that servant was gone out, he found one of his fellow-servants that owed him a
hundred pence; and laying hold of him, he throttled him, saying: Pay what thou
owest. And his fellow-servant, falling down, besought him, saying: Have
patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast
him into prison, till he paid the debt. Now his fellow-servants, seeing what
was done, were very much grieved, and they came and told their lord all that
was done. Then his lord called him and said to him: Thou wicked servant! I
forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest me: shouldst not thou then
have had compassion also on thy fellow servant, even as I had compassion on
thee? And his lord, being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he paid
all the debt. So also, shall My heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not
everyone his brother from your hearts.
What
would Jesus teach by this parable?
The king is God; the servant is mankind; the ten
thousand talents, equal to ten million dollars, signify the enormous and excessive
debts which men contract by their sins against God: a sum so exceedingly great
as to show clearly that the debt of man to God is without limit, and truly
overwhelming. The hundred pence, a small sum, equal to perhaps six or seven
dollars, denotes the offences which others have given us, and which, in
comparison with our offences against God, are insignificant. By this parable, therefore,
Jesus intended to say: As God forgives your immense debts if you sorrowfully
pray for forgiveness, so ought you to forgive your fellowmen their
comparatively light debts when they ask forgiveness of you. Unless you grant
it, you shall receive no pardon from My Father.
Who is like that unmerciful
servant?
All
unmerciful and hard-hearted people; particularly.
1.
rulers
who oppress the people by excessive taxes.
2.
those
who oppress widows and orphans and keep from servants the wages due them.
3.
those
who have no patience with their debtors but deprive them of house and goods
rather than be indulgent to them. God will deal with such men in the otherworld
as they have dealt with their neighbors in this.
4.
Finally,
all persons who will not forgive injuries done them, but preserve hatred in
their hearts, who bring such as have injured them before the courts, and even
seek to injure them out of revenge.
How can they hope to obtain mercy? What is meant by forgiving from the heart?
It is to banish from the heart all hatred and desire
of revenge; to bear in our hearts a sincere love towards our enemy, and to
manifest it by works of charity. If we
think of the multitude of sins which God has forgiven us, how can we refuse to
forgive trifling wrongs against ourselves? At any rate, let us not
forget that God forgives us only when we also forgive from the heart.
Ejaculation. Merciful God grant me grace to be
truly merciful towards my fellowmen, as Thou art towards me.
Prayer.
O God, Who, through the patience of Thine only
begotten Son, hast humbled the pride of our old enemy, mercifully grant that,
by considering what He has suffered for us, we may cheer fully and patiently
bear our adversities, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen,
During the night of 12-13 October, it had rained throughout, soaking the ground
and the pilgrims who make their way to Fátima from all directions by the
thousands. By foot, by cart and even by car they came, entering the bowl of the
Cova from the Fátima-Leiria road, which today still passes in front of the
large square of the Basilica. From there they made their way down the gently
slope to the place where a trestle had been erected over the little holm oak of
the apparitions. Today on the site is the modern glass and steel Capelhina
(little chapel), enclosing the first chapel built there and the statue of Our
Lady of the Rosary of Fátima where the holm oak had stood. As for the children,
they made their way to the Cova amid the adulation and skepticism which had
followed them since May. When they arrived, they found critics who questioned
their veracity and the punctuality of the Lady, who had promised to arrive at
noon. It was well passed noon by the official time of the country. However,
when the sun arrived at its zenith the Lady appeared as she had said she would.
"What do you want of me?"
I want a chapel built here in my honor. I want you to continue
saying the Rosary every day. The war will end soon, and the soldiers will
return to their homes.
"Yes. Yes." "Will you tell me your name?"
I am the Lady of the Rosary.
"I have many petitions from many people. Will you grant
them?"
Some I shall grant, and others I must deny.
People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins.
They must not offend our Lord anymore, for He is already too much
offended!
"And is that all you have to ask?"
There is nothing more.
As the Lady of the Rosary rises toward the east, she turns the
palms of her hands toward the dark sky. While the rain had stopped, dark clouds
continued to obscure the sun, which suddenly bursts through them and is seen to
be a soft spinning disk of silver.
"Look at the sun!"
From this point two distinct apparitions were seen, that of the
phenomenon of the sun seen by the 70,000 or so spectators and that beheld by
the children alone. Lucia describes the latter in her memoirs. After our Lady
had disappeared into the immense distance of the firmament, we beheld St.
Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady robed in white with a blue mantle,
beside the sun. St. Joseph and the Child Jesus seemed to bless the world, for
they traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands. When, a little later, this
apparition disappeared, I saw Our Lord and Our lady; it seemed to me to that it
was Our Lady of Sorrows (Dolors). Our Lord appeared to bless the world in the
same manner as St. Joseph had done. This apparition also vanished, and I saw
Our Lady once more, this time resembling Our Lady of Carmel. [Only Lucia would
see the later, presaging her entrance into Carmel some years later.] This would
be the last of the apparitions of Fátima for Jacinta and Francisco. However,
for Lucia Our Lady would return a seventh time, in 1920, as she had promised
the previous May. At that time Lucia would be praying in the Cova before
leaving Fátima for a girl’s boarding school. The Lady would come to urge her to
dedicate herself wholly to God. As the children viewed the various apparitions
of Jesus, Mary and Joseph the crowd witnessed a different prodigy, the now
famous miracle of the sun.
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART ONE: THE PROFESSION
OF FAITH
SECTION
TWO-I. THE CREEDS
CHAPTER THREE-I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
ARTICLE 8-"I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT"
Paragraph 4. CHRIST'S FAITHFUL -
HIERARCHY, LAITY, CONSECRATED LIFE
Day
122
871
"The Christian faithful are those who, inasmuch as they have been
incorporated in Christ through Baptism, have been constituted as the people of
God; for this reason, since they have become sharers in Christ's priestly,
prophetic, and royal office in their own manner, they are called to exercise
the mission which God has entrusted to the Church to fulfill in the world, in
accord with the condition proper to each one."
872 "In
virtue of their rebirth in Christ there exists among all the Christian faithful
a true equality with regard to dignity and the activity whereby all cooperate
in the building up of the Body of Christ in accord with each one's own
condition and function."
873 The very
differences which the Lord has willed to put between the members of his body
serve its unity and mission. For "in the Church there is diversity of
ministry but unity of mission. To the apostles and their successors Christ has
entrusted the office of teaching, sanctifying and governing in his name and by
his power. But the laity are made to share in the priestly, prophetical, and
kingly office of Christ; they have therefore, in the Church and in the world,
their own assignment in the mission of the whole People of
God." Finally, "from both groups [hierarchy and laity] there
exist Christian faithful who are consecrated to God in their own special manner
and serve the salvific mission of the Church through the profession of the evangelical
counsels."
I. THE
HIERARCHICAL CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH
Why the
ecclesial ministry?
874 Christ
is himself the source of ministry in the Church. He instituted the Church. He
gave her authority and mission, orientation and goal:
In order to shepherd the People of God and to increase its
numbers without cease, Christ the Lord set up in his Church a variety of
offices which aim at the good of the whole body. the holders of office, who are
invested with a sacred power, are, in fact, dedicated to promoting the
interests of their brethren, so that all who belong to the People of God . . .
may attain to salvation.
875
"How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? and how are
they to hear without a preacher? and how can men preach unless they are
sent?" No one - no individual and no community - can proclaim the
Gospel to himself: "Faith comes from what is heard." No one can
give himself the mandate and the mission to proclaim the Gospel. the one sent
by the Lord does not speak and act on his own authority, but by virtue of
Christ's authority; not as a member of the community, but speaking to it in the
name of Christ. No one can bestow grace on himself; it must be given and
offered. This fact presupposes ministers of grace, authorized and empowered by
Christ. From him, they receive the mission and faculty ("the sacred
power") to act in persona Christi Capitis. the ministry in which Christ's
emissaries do and give by God's grace what they cannot do and give by their own
powers, is called a "sacrament" by the Church's tradition. Indeed,
the ministry of the Church is conferred by a special sacrament.
876
Intrinsically linked to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry is its
character as service. Entirely dependent on Christ who gives mission and
authority, ministers are truly "slaves of Christ," in the image
of him who freely took "the form of a slave" for us. Because the
word and grace of which they are ministers are not their own, but are given to
them by Christ for the sake of others, they must freely become the slaves of
all.
877
Likewise, it belongs to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry that it
have a collegial character. In fact, from the beginning of his ministry, the
Lord Jesus instituted the Twelve as "the seeds of the new Israel and the
beginning of the sacred hierarchy." Chosen together, they were also
sent out together, and their fraternal unity would be at the service of the
fraternal communion of all the faithful: they would reflect and witness to the
communion of the divine persons. For this reason every bishop exercises
his ministry from within the episcopal college, in communion with the bishop of
Rome, the successor of St. Peter and head of the college. So also priests
exercise their ministry from within the presbyterium of the diocese, under the
direction of their bishop.
878 Finally,
it belongs to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry that it have a
personal character. Although Chnst's ministers act in communion with one
another, they also always act in a personal way. Each one is called personally:
"You, follow me" in order to be a personal witness within the
common mission, to bear personal responsibility before him who gives the
mission, acting "in his person" and for other persons: "I
baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ...";
"I absolve you...."
879
Sacramental ministry in the Church, then, is at once a collegial and a personal
service, exercised in the name of Christ. This is evidenced by the bonds
between the episcopal college and its head, the successor of St. Peter, and in
the relationship between the bishop's pastoral responsibility for his
particular church and the common solicitude of the episcopal college for the
universal Church.
Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: Victims
of clergy sexual abuse.
·
Today in honor of the
Holy Trinity do the Divine Office giving your day to God. To honor God REST: no
shopping after 6 pm Saturday till Monday. Don’t forget the internet.
·
Religion
in the Home for Preschool: October
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
[3]http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/3961/what-is-the-significance-of-taking-hold-of-the-horns-of-the-altar
[5]Goffines Devout Instructions, 1896
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