Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Candace’s Corner-start of Indian Summer

· How to celebrate Nov 12th

o Wake up in the morning and rummage through your sock drawer for the oddest pair you can find. Celebrate individuality by embracing the mismatched chaos of Odd Socks Day.

§ Head to the kitchen, whip up a comforting pot of chicken soup. Indulge in a warm bowl to soothe your soul on National Chicken Soup for the Soul Day.

· As lunchtime rolls around, order a pizza loaded with all your favorite toppings minus the controversial anchovies. Dive into a slice on National Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies Day.

o For dinner, savor a delicious French dip sandwich from a local deli or try your hand at making one yourself. Toast to resilience and strength on National Survivors’ Day.

o visit a local pet store and spend some time appreciating these often-overlooked furry companions? Fancy Rat & Mouse Day calls for a nod to our tiny friends.

o Take a moment to raise awareness about pneumonia and its prevention. Educate yourself and others on World Pneumonia Day.

o Tanya Harding’s Birthday 1970

NOVEMBER 12 Tuesday-Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr

FRENCH DIP DAY

Isaiah, Chapter 10, verse 24

Therefore, thus says the Lord, the GOD of hosts: My people, who dwell in Zion, do not FEAR the Assyrian, though he strikes you with a rod, and raises his staff against you as did the Egyptians.

Who is it you fear; who are the Assyrians in your life?

God asks us to trust in Him. Even in the worst of situations God is with you.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me,

delivered me from all my fears.

(Ps. 34:5)

Sometimes the Lord asks us to go out into the desert to face our fears for it is in this barren place we can grow in faith like Abraham and Moses and have an encounter with the living God. Deserts are fearful places and are full of rocks, pointy things, snakes, spiders and the indescribable beauty of God’s creation. By encountering God in the desert, we learn that the very same stones that somehow get in our shoes and make progress impossible are the very same stones that lay foundations, bridges and roads. In the desert we can search for God; avoid of our distractions and find Him. In the desert we can write out our sins and confess them to God. In the desert we can shed our old lives like the snake sheds its skin and find a new perspective for life. It is during this time alone with He that IS; we make a spiritual change of clothes. In the desert we can make an all-night vigil and with the coming of the new day we can proclaim as in the Negro spiritual: When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me. For it is in the desert that we can quit deluding ourselves and be doers of the word and not hearers only. For it is in the desert we can find the strength to keep ourselves unstained by the world and find that pure and undefiled religion is to care for others in their afflictions.

Saint Josaphat[1]

Josaphat Kuncewitcz was born about the year 1580 at Vladimir, Volhynia, [part of the Polish province of Lithuania at the time] and given the name John at baptism. While being instructed as a child on the sufferings of our Savior, his heart is said to have been wounded by an arrow from the sacred side of the Crucified. In 1604 he joined the Ukrainian Order of Saint Basil (Basilians), lived as a monk in a very mortified life, went barefoot even in winter, refrained from the use of wine and flesh-meat, and always wore a penitential garb. In 1614 he was appointed archimandrite of Vilna, Russia and four years later archbishop of Polotzk; in this position he worked untiringly for Church reunion. He was a great friend of the poor, once even pledged his archepiscopal omophorion (pallium) to support a poor widow. The foes of union decided to assassinate him. In a sermon, he himself spoke of his death as imminent. When he visited Vitebsk (now in Russia), his enemies attacked his lodging and murdered a number of his companions. Meekly the man of God hastened toward the mob and, full of love, cried, "My children, what are you doing? If you have something against me, see, here I am." With furious cries of "Kill the papist!", they rushed upon him with gun and sword. Josaphat's body was thrown into the river but emerged, surrounded by rays of light, and was recovered. His murderers, when sentenced to death, repented their crime and became Catholics.

Things to Do:[2]

· Pray to St. Josaphat for the reunion of the separated Eastern Churches.

· Read Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter on the Eastern Churches, Orientale Lumen.

· Read more about St. Josaphat from

o The Basilica of St. Josaphat

o Saints Alive

o Catholic Online

o Patron Saints Index

· Read Pius XI's Encyclical Ecclesiam Dei on St. Josaphat and Pius XII's encyclical Orientales Omnes Ecclesias (On The Reunion Of The Ruthenian Church With Rome) .

· Learn more about the different Eastern Rites which are in union with the Pope.

· Josaphat is the patron saint of Ukraine, but his life has Russian, Polish and Lithuanian influences.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

IV. The Sacraments of Salvation

Day 153

1127 Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify. They are efficacious because in them Christ himself is at work: it is he who baptizes, he who acts in his sacraments in order to communicate the grace that each sacrament signifies. the Father always hears the prayer of his Son's Church which, in the epiclesis of each sacrament, expresses her faith in the power of the Spirit. As fire transforms into itself everything it touches, so the Holy Spirit transforms into the divine life whatever is subjected to his power.

1128 This is the meaning of the Church's affirmation that the sacraments act ex opere operato (literally: "by the very fact of the action's being performed"), i.e., by virtue of the saving work of Christ, accomplished once for all. It follows that "the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient, but by the power of God." From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister. Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them.

1129 The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation. "Sacramental grace" is the grace of the Holy Spirit, given by Christ and proper to each sacrament. the Spirit heals and transforms those who receive him by conforming them to the Son of God. The fruit of the sacramental life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the faithful partakers in the divine nature by uniting them in a living union with the only Son, the Savior.

French Dip Day[3]

The French Dip sandwich, though the name says otherwise, is an American invention. Since nothing of the sandwich is very close at all to any kind of French cuisine, it is assumed it was named after the style of bread that was used, which is, of course, French bread.

The sandwich is made of a long baguette, sliced in half, and piled high with tender roast beef or sometimes other meat options. The defining factor is the small bowl of au jus (bouillon-esque broth) that is served with it, into which the sandwich is meant to be dipped. Some people like to add a slice of Swiss cheese on top, just for some extra flavor and fun.

Daily Devotions

· 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.

· Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: Holy Priests, Consecrated and Religious.

· Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

· Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

· Drops of Christ’s Blood

· Universal Man Plan

· Rosary