Monday, November 25, 2024

 Monday Night at the Movies

Anthony Harvey, The Abdication, 1974.

Christopher’s Corner-St. Christopher is still a saint.

·         Eat waffles and Pray for the assistance of the Angels

·         Novena for the Twenty-fifth Day of every Month

·         Andrew Carnegie, born on November 25, 1835

·         Monday: Litany of Humility

·         How to celebrate Nov 25th

o   Wake up feeling blasé? It’s time to kickstart your day with a parfait for breakfast. Create your own unique combo of yogurt, granola, and fruit.

o   Next, spend quality time with your dad – no excuses. Play catch, watch a game, or simply chat. Show genuine camaraderie and appreciation.

o   It’s Statehood Day, celebrate the rich heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina in your own way.

o   Feeling empowered? Support your favorite brands online or in-store. Grab a coffee and revel in the joy of shopping. Find those special deals or treat yourself to something small.

o   While you’re at it, don’t forget to join the fight against violence towards women. Educate yourself and raise awareness on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

o   Make a difference. End your day on a flavorful note. Whip up a cool gazpacho soup – no cooking required. Enjoy the medley of fresh veggies and herbs in every spoonful. As the day winds down, set a reminder for important tasks. It’s Shopping Reminder Day after all. Plan your week, jot down lists, and stay organized. Cheers to a fulfilling day, however motley it may seem.

NOVEMBER 25 Monday-Saint Catherine of Alexandria

OCTAVE OF THE KING

 

Tobit, Chapter 5, Verse 21

Tobit reassured her: “Do not worry! Our son will leave in good health and come back to us in good health. Your own eyes will see the day when he returns to you safe and sound. So, do not worry; do not FEAR for them, my sister.

 

It is natural to fear something you cannot control. Christ could not be controlled by the men in charge of the Temple system; so they feared Him and they feared the crowd that followed Him. Christ’s message was good news to the crowd who were but pawns in the Jewish Temple system of wealth and power. We in times of trouble should be like Tobit and seek to walk all the days of our lives in paths of truth and righteousness. It was Tobit who defied those in power to do an act of mercy by burying the dead. While his neighbors mocked him and said to one another: He is still not afraid! Once before he was hunted down for execution because of this very thing; yet now that he has scarcely escaped, here he is again burying the dead!” (Tobit 2:8) Love makes sacrifices. He (Christ) laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers. (1 John 3:16)

 

Tobit[1]

1. On the first night out, Tobias and Raphael/Azariah camped by the Tigris River.
2. When Tobias went to bathe, a fish jumped out of the water and tried to swallow his foot.  Scholars see much symbolism in this event.  Typically, water represents chaos; then it’s an attempt to disrupt their trip.  “Feet” sometimes has sexual connotations; then it’s an attack on his manhood.
3. Azariah told him to grab the fish.
4. He hauled it out on the shore, and Azariah told him to cut out the heart, liver, and gall bladder.  What he couldn’t eat, he salted and took with them.  Since he ate it, it could not have been an unclean fish. (Now, as an angel, Azariah never ate anything, which he will point out later in the story.  Tobias, however, didn’t catch on to any of this.)
5. Along the way, the angel told Tobias what to do with those fish parts.

Most of us by the grace of God are never confronted with such terrors as Tobit. Yet, we too in our quiet lives can lay down ourselves in service to our brothers.

 

John McCain in his book Character is Destiny[2] highlights the life of John Wooden who in his own quiet way as a Basketball coach made a huge difference in countless lives of young men growing up teaching them the power of COOPERATION. Coach Wooden was a modest man who inspired young men under his tutelage, leading by example; teaching them wisdom and decency to become both winners and good men.

 

McCain states Wooden:

 

He cared about his players and paid strict attention to teaching them the small and big things that would help them become the best basketball players they could be, and, most important, the best men they could be. He would bench a player for using profanity or for criticizing a teammate or for treating an opponent disrespectfully. He expected his players to dress appropriately, be courteous to everyone, acknowledge their other teammates when they scored, and to refrain from showing excessive emotions on the court. He taught them dignity, based, as dignity is, on self-respect and respect for others. And he taught them not only the usefulness of teamwork, five men all playing their assigned roles, but the virtue of cooperation, and the sense of satisfaction it provided to an individual.

 

Coach Wooden[3] taught that success is, “peace of mind that is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” Coach Wooden developed a Pyramid of Success which he taught his players which not only helped them win at the game of basketball but also in the game of life.

 St. Catherine of Alexandria

St. Catherine of Alexandria (November 25th), virgin and martyr. Invoked against diseases of the tongue, protection against a sudden and unprovided death. Patroness of Christian philosophers, of maidens, preachers, wheelwrights and mechanics. She is also invoked by students, orators, and barristers as "the wise counselor."

The account of her martyrdom is legendary and defies every attempt to cull out the historical kernel. Old Oriental sources make no mention of her. In the West her cult does not appear before the eleventh century, when the crusaders made it popular. She became the patroness of philosophical faculties; she is one of the "Fourteen Holy Helpers." The breviary offers the following:

 Catherine, virgin of Alexandria, devoted herself to the pursuit of knowledge; at the age of eighteen, she surpassed all her contemporaries in science. Upon seeing how the Christians were being tortured, she went before Emperor Maximin (311-313), upbraided him for his cruelty, and with convincing reasons demonstrated the need of Christian faith in order to be saved. Astounded by her wisdom, the Emperor ordered her to be kept confined, and having summoned the most learned philosophers, promised them magnificent rewards if they could confound the virgin and turn her from belief in Christ. Far from being successful, a considerable number of the philosophers were inflamed by the sound reasons and persuasiveness of Catherine's speech with such a love for Jesus Christ that they declared themselves willing to offer their lives for the Gospel.

 Then the Emperor attempted to win her by flattery and by promises, but his efforts proved equally fruitless. He ordered her whipped with rods, scourged with leaden nodules, and then left to languish eleven days without food in prison. The Emperor's wife and Porphyrius, general of the army, visited Catherine in prison; her words brought both to Christ and later they too proved their love in blood. Catherine's next torture consisted of being placed upon a wheel with sharp and pointed knives; from her lacerated body prayers ascended to heaven and the infernal machine fell to pieces. Many who witnessed the miracle embraced the faith. Finally, on November 25 Christ's servant was beheaded (307 or 312). By the hands of angels her body was carried to Mt. Sinai, where it was interred in the convent which bears her name.

 Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch.

 Patron: Apologists; craftsmen who work with a wheel (potters; spinners; etc.); archivists; attorneys; barristers; dying people; educators; girls; jurists; knife grinders; knife sharpeners; lawyers; librarians; libraries; maidens; mechanics; millers; nurses; old maids; philosophers; potters; preachers; scholars; schoolchildren; scribes; secretaries; spinners; spinsters; stenographers; students; tanners; teachers; theologians; turners; unmarried girls; wheelwrights.

 Things to Do:

• St. Catherine was invoked by young girls seeking husbands. If you have children, you could use this feast to discuss the qualities of a good spouse. You could bake St. Catherine's wigs and have your discussion as part of the fun (a spoon full of sugar).
• Read more about St. Catherine.
• St. Catherine's remains are in St. Katherine's Monastery on Mt. Sinai. The Monastery, a 1,600-year-old fortress at the base of Mt. Sinai, is inhabited by Coptic monks (not in union with Rome). Inside the chapel is believed to be the Burning Bush, through which God first appeared to Moses. Read more about the history of the Church of Alexandria and the Council of Chalcedon where the Coptic Church broke from the bark of Peter and pray for the reunion of all Eastern Churches under the Pope.

 Octave of Christ the King[4]

Upon research I have discovered there is no Octave of Christ the King of the Universe. However, I propose to make a retreat; an octave from now through the first Sunday of Advent.

The "eighth day" or octava dies was associated with the weekly Christian celebration of the resurrection of Christ every "eighth day", which became a name for Sunday. As circumcision was performed on the "eighth day" after birth, the number 8 became associated also with baptism, and baptismal fonts have from an early date often been octagonal. The practice of octaves was first introduced under Constantine I, when the dedication festivities of the basilicas at Jerusalem and Tyre, Lebanon were observed for eight days. After these one-off occasions, annual liturgical feasts began to be dignified with an octave. The first such feasts were Easter, Pentecost, and, in the East, Epiphany. This occurred in the fourth century and served as a period of time for the newly baptized to take a joyful retreat.

·         I plan to attend Mass daily or via EWTN or the internet

·         Mediate on the virtues of Mary (Humility, Generosity, Chastity, Patience, Temperance, Understanding/love and Wisdom. One for each day.

·         Fast doing the Daniel fast (Monday-Saturday).

·         Exercise-Universal Man Plan.

 Humility is a skill you need in this life and the next[5]

 Humbleness, or humility is perhaps an underrated virtue. It sounds like a very Biblical trait. Indeed, many of the great religious leaders have been described (and celebrated) as humble.

 However, just because humility is old-fashioned does not mean that it is no longer important.

 This page explains more about the meaning of humility, and how it is an important part of developing self-esteem, self-worth, and assertiveness, without aggression or anger.

 What is Humility?

 ·         humility, n. the state or quality of being humble: lowliness of mind: modesty.

 ·         humble, adj. low: lowly: modest: unpretentious: having a low opinion of oneself.

 Chambers English Dictionary, 1988 edition

 These definitions make humility sound like a very negative quality. But humility, as practiced by the great religious leaders, was not negative. Their opinions of themselves were low only in the sense that they understood that they were not more important than others. They also understood that they were not less important than others, either. Jesus, for example, was not afraid to fight for his right to speak out for others, especially those who were poor and struggling, and he spoke to those in authority in exactly the same way as he spoke to everyone else.

 In other words, humility is not being a ‘doormat’ and allowing people to walk all over you.

 Instead, it is an understanding that every human is equally valuable: a recognition that you are worth no more or less than anyone else.

 Why does humility matter?

 One of the reasons why humility seems old-fashioned is that we are often made to feel that we need to look out for ourselves, because nobody else will do so.

     “It’s a dog-eat-dog world, you know!”

 This point of view suggests that you need to be aggressive to get what you need in life, which, along with pride, is perhaps the very opposite of humility.

 Our pages on Assertiveness, however, argue that it is more appropriate to be assertive: to be able to stand up for yourself and others, putting your point of view calmly.

 Assertiveness is very definitely compatible with humility: it recognizes that everyone has an equal right to be heard and enables everyone to put their point across. Indeed, it is quite possible to argue that not only is assertiveness compatible with humility, but humility is absolutely essential for developing assertiveness.

 In other words, without recognition that you are no more or less important than others, it is impossible to recognize that everyone has an equal right to be heard or, indeed, to listen to others openly.

 What about the fit between humility and self-esteem?

 Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself. Our definition says that humility is ‘having a low opinion of oneself’, which is clearly closely linked to self-esteem. Being humble, however, does not mean having a poor opinion of yourself, but rather accepting yourself and your many good qualities, as well as your limitations, recognizing that others also have good qualities and are equally valuable.

 Developing Humility

 For many of us, humility is one of the hardest traits to develop, because it has to start with a recognition that you are not always right, and that you do not have all the answers.

 It also requires acceptance of yourself which many of us find challenging.

 It is relatively easy to be humble when you are at the bottom of the tree, as it were: new in a job, or very junior. The more senior you get, however, the more likely you are to have people looking to you for answers, and the more you find yourself believing that you can help.

 If you are not careful, you can reach senior positions—just the moment at which you most need humility—believing that you are more or less infallible.

 To try to cultivate humility, you may want to try one or more of these activities:

 ·         Spend time listening to others.

 ·         A key quality of humbleness is to value others and enable them to be heard. Spending time listening to others, and drawing out their feelings and values, enabling them to express themselves, is a very powerful way to start to understand this.

 ·         It is important to remember that you are not trying to solve their problems or answer them: just listen and respond to them as a fellow human.

 ·         There is more about this in our pages on Listening Skills.

 ·         Practice mindfulness and focus on the present.

 ·         A key part of mindfulness is accepting what is, rather than judging and commenting on it. An important element of humility is accepting yourself with all your faults, rather than judging yourself for your shortcomings. That doesn’t mean you should not strive to improve, but positively, rather than berating yourself for your negative qualities.

 ·         Be grateful for what you have.

 ·         In other words, take the time to ‘count your blessings, and be thankful for them. It is easy to get sucked into a negative spiral of wanting more, whether in yourself, or externally. Taking time to stop, and remember what you have to be grateful for, is a good way to cultivate a humble, and positive, frame of mind.

 ·         Ask for help when you need it.

     There is, as many of us will ruefully recognize, a form of pride that lies in being able to solve our own problems. Humility, therefore, lies in recognizing when we need help, and being able to ask for it appropriately.

 ·             Seek feedback from others on a regular basis.

     This is, perhaps, particularly important for leaders, but we can all gain from hearing what others think of us. Take time to ask others to provide feedback, anonymously if necessary, and make it clear that you welcome their opinions. Listen to the feedback openly and then be grateful.

 ·             Review your actions against the language of pride.

     Pride and arrogance, which also cover smugness, snobbery, and vanity, are unpleasant words. It can sometimes be hard to avoid feeling a bit proud of ourselves, or vain, or even snobbish. It is often quite pleasant to feel like that, for example, if we have done something good, and everyone is praising us. However, we tend not to call these feelings by name, because the words themselves carry negative connotations.

    To cultivate humility, review your feelings against the words: ask yourself ‘was that snobbish?’, was I being a bit vain then?’, and be honest about the answers. Recognizing and naming these feelings for what they are is a good step towards humility.

 Looking after your physical and mental health is important. It is, however, not enough. Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs suggests that most of us need more than that. We need to know that we are living our ‘best life’: that we are doing all we can to lead a ‘good life’ that we will not regret later.

 A final thought 

Humility may sound old-fashioned, but that does not mean that a little humbleness is not as important now as ever. 

In an era in which many bemoan the growing ‘selfishness’ and ‘I’ focus of the world, perhaps we should all strive to develop a humbler approach. 

Read more at: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/humility.html

Catechism of the Catholic Church

PART TWO: THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY

SECTION TWO-THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH

          Day 166

1210 Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony. the seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life: they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian's life of faith. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life.

1211 Following this analogy, the first chapter will expound the three sacraments of Christian initiation; the second, the sacraments of healing; and the third, the sacraments at the service of communion and the mission of the faithful. This order, while not the only one possible, does allow one to see that the sacraments form an organic whole in which each particular sacrament has its own vital place. In this organic whole, the Eucharist occupies a unique place as the "Sacrament of sacraments": "all the other sacraments are ordered to it as to their end."

1212 The sacraments of Christian initiation - Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist - lay the foundations of every Christian life. "The sharing in the divine nature given to men through the grace of Christ bears a certain likeness to the origin, development, and nourishing of natural life. the faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life. By means of these sacraments of Christian initiation, they thus receive in increasing measure the treasures of the divine life and advance toward the perfection of charity."

1213 Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word."

1214 This sacrament is called Baptism, after the central rite by which it is carried out: to baptize (Greek baptizein) means to "plunge" or "immerse"; the "plunge" into the water symbolizes the catechumen's burial into Christ's death, from which he rises up by resurrection with him, as "a new creature."

1215 This sacrament is also called "the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit," for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one "can enter the kingdom of God."

1216 "This bath is called enlightenment, because those who receive this [catechetical] instruction are enlightened in their understanding
. . . ." Having received in Baptism the Word, "the true light that enlightens every man," the person baptized has been "enlightened," he becomes a "son of light," indeed, he becomes "light" himself:

Baptism is God's most beautiful and magnificent gift....We call it gift, grace, anointing, enlightenment, garment of immortality, bath of rebirth, seal, and most precious gift. It is called gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own; grace since it is given even to the guilty; Baptism because sin is buried in the water; anointing for it is priestly and royal as are those who are anointed; enlightenment because it radiates light; clothing since it veils our shame; bath because it washes; and seal as it is our guard and the sign of God's Lordship.

II. Baptism in the Economy of Salvation

Prefiguration’s of Baptism in the Old Covenant

1217 In the liturgy of the Easter Vigil, during the blessing of the baptismal water, the Church solemnly commemorates the great events in salvation history that already prefigured the mystery of Baptism:

Father, you give us grace through sacramental signs which tell us of the wonders of your unseen power.

In Baptism we use your gift of water, which you have made a rich symbol of the grace you give us in this sacrament.

1218 Since the beginning of the world, water, so humble and wonderful a creature, has been the source of life and fruitfulness. Sacred Scripture sees it as "overshadowed" by the Spirit of God:

At the very dawn of creation

your Spirit breathed on the waters,

making them the wellspring of all holiness.

1219 The Church has seen in Noah's ark a prefiguring of salvation by Baptism, for by it "a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water":

The waters of the great flood

you made a sign of the waters of Baptism,

that make an end of sin and a new beginning of goodness.

1220 If water springing up from the earth symbolizes life, the water of the sea is a symbol of death and so can represent the mystery of the cross. By this symbolism Baptism signifies communion with Christ's death.

1221 But above all, the crossing of the Red Sea, literally the liberation of Israel from the slavery of Egypt, announces the liberation wrought by Baptism:

You freed the children of Abraham from the slavery of Pharaoh,

bringing them dry-shod through the waters of the Red Sea,

to be an image of the people set free in Baptism.

1222 Finally, Baptism is prefigured in the crossing of the Jordan River by which the People of God received the gift of the land promised to Abraham's descendants, an image of eternal life. The promise of this blessed inheritance is fulfilled in the New Covenant.

Daily Devotions/Practice

·         Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: The sanctification of the Church Militant.

·         Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

·         Drops of Christ’s Blood

·         Universal Man Plan

·         Rosary

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[1]http://www.biblewise.com/bible_study/characters/tobit-and-tobias.php

[2] McCain, John; Salter, Mark (2005-10-25). Character Is Destiny.

[3] http://www.coachwooden.com/pyramid-of-success

[4]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octave_(liturgy)

[5]https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/humility.html