Candace’s Corner
· Make reparations to the Holy Face-Tuesday Devotion
· Pray Day 3 of the Novena for our Pope and Bishops
· Tuesday: Litany of St. Michael the Archangel
· How to celebrate Nov 19th
o How about starting your day by channeling your inner entrepreneur? Research some small business ideas, brainstorm ways to make them a reality, or start a side hustle. Embrace the spirit of Entrepreneurs’ Day by exploring your innovative side and taking the first steps towards your own venture.
o Next up, celebrate National Working Daughters Day by showing appreciation for all the hardworking daughters out there. Reach out to a fellow working daughter and plan a virtual coffee break or send a thoughtful message. It’s a simple way to acknowledge the balancing act many women perform on a daily basis.
o For lunch, why not honor National Kentucky Day by whipping up a homemade Kentucky-inspired meal? Try your hand at making fried chicken, cornbread, or a comforting bourbon-infused dish. It’s a delicious nod to the flavors of the South.
o In the afternoon, indulge in some friendly competition on National Play Monopoly Day. Gather your household or organize a virtual game night with friends. Monopoly is a classic board game that never fails to entertain and bring people together.
o As evening approaches, take a moment to appreciate the beauty of discovery on Discovery of Puerto Rico Day. Explore Puerto Rican culture through music, food, or art. Try cooking a traditional Puerto Rican dish or tuning into some salsa music for a mini cultural escape.
o Wrap up your day with a mini camping experience on National Camp Day. Set up a tent in your backyard or create a cozy indoor campsite. Roast marshmallows, share stories, and enjoy the simple pleasure of being in nature, even if it’s just for one night.
NOVEMBER 19 Tuesday
WORLD TOILET DAY
Tobit, Chapter 2,
Verse 8
A
righteous person cannot just ignore justice. Tobit must do the work the Lord
has appointed him, hell or high water.
Tobit[1]
- Within forty
days, however, Sennacherib’s sons assassinated him.
- His successor
appointed Ahiquar (Tobit’s nephew) over all the treasury accounts.
- Previously,
Ahiquar had held the position of cupbearer in Sennacherib’s court.
So he had a long history of court service and was well-respected.
- Ahiquar’s name
means “My divine brother is precious.”
- Because of his
position, he was able to intercede on behalf of Tobit.
- Tobit was
forgiven and allowed to come out of hiding.
- Later, when he
and his family were about to celebrate the festival of Weeks/Pentecost,
Tobit was filled with gratitude because they had so much food and saddened
because so many others had little/none.
- He told his
son to go out into the city and invite to dinner those who were homeless
and poor. In so doing, Tobit was trying to instill the same
values into his son.
- Tobias came
back with a report that another Jew was lying dead in the marketplace
(obviously a public execution of sorts).
- Without
hesitation, Tobit rose up from the table and grabbed the body and buried
it.
Helping the Poor[2]
Righteous people have a
professed interest in helping the poor. It is hard to find anyone who’s
anti-poor. What matters are not platitudes— we’re all in favor of clean air,
too—what counts are the kinds of policies we adopt. Good intentions matter, but
not much: great damage has been done in the name of helping people. Hitler said his policies would save Western
civilization. Stalin and Mao said they would create a utopia. They were all
genocidal maniacs.
If we want to help the
poor, we should at least know who they are. Census data tell us that nearly all
the poor in this country live in houses or apartments that are in good
condition and aren’t overcrowded.
·
More
than 80 percent of the poor own an air conditioner, two-thirds have cable TV,
and half own a computer. Fully 96 percent of poor parents say their children
were not hungry for even a single day in the past year. By any historical
measure, there are practically no poor people left in America.
·
When
we compare our “poor” to the poor in other nations today, we learn why I chose
quotation marks to describe ours.
·
It
would be wrong to conclude that we should therefore do nothing to help those
who are not affluent. As Catholics, we have a moral obligation to help those in
need.
·
At
a minimum, our energy and dollars should be directed at those who can’t help
themselves. As for able bodied persons who are not affluent, the most
charitable thing we can do is to enable them to become self-reliant.
·
Champions
of the poor who oppose school vouchers cannot be taken seriously; it is
minority children in the inner city who suffer.
·
Fraud
is rampant.
When my oldest daughter
was a 12-year-old, I brought her to the office on “Bring Your Daughter to Work
Day” (this trendy idea didn’t last long). On our way to work, a man was
standing next to a table with a huge jug; UHO was inscribed on it (United Homeless
Organization). He asked us to give, but I refused. My daughter wanted to know
why. When we got to my office, I explained my reasoning. I downloaded stories
on my computer showing what a fraud UHO was. Caryn learned that virtually all
the money went to the operators and the street hustlers. Three years ago, New
York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (now governor) said, “UHO exploits the good
intentions of people who thought their charitable donations were helping to
fund services for the homeless. Instead, their donations go directly to UHO’s principals and workers, who abused the
organization’s tax-exempt status to line their own pockets.” Some things
never change. Over the summer, it was reported that those who live in New York
City’s Caribbean neighborhoods are buying groceries with their Electronic
Benefit Transfer cards (food stamps for those on welfare) and sending them
overseas. There are literally hundreds of 45-to-55-gallon cardboard and plastic
barrels that line the walls in virtually every Caribbean supermarket. The food
is being shipped to relatives in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. But
not all of it: some is being resold by rip-off artists.
Dishonesty
is also rampant.
Bread
for the World is a
prominent liberal organization that collects donations for the alleged purpose
of helping the poor. Not a dime pays for bread: All proceeds go to lobbyists
who pressure politicians to spend more money on poverty programs.
Back in the 1980s,
celebrities organized a well-publicized campaign to help the poor. “Holding Hands Across America” garnered
the support of legions of public figures (even the Reagans were roped into it).
It raked in hundreds of millions.
Unfortunately for the
poor, two out of every three dollars raised was spent to pay for the bash. More
recently, when a donor sent great New York pastrami sandwiches to the “Occupy
Wall Street” gang, the pro-poor demonstrators told the homeless who asked for
some to get lost. The soup was for the poor.
Helping the poor is a
noble cause, but it can also become a fool’s errand.
·
We
need to ask who the intended beneficiaries are, and what, if anything, can be
expected of them in return.
·
We
need to know how much of the money goes to administrative costs, and how much
is spent on the target group.
·
We
need to know if there is a face-to-face relationship between donors and
recipients, or just a money transfer.
·
We
need to know about fraud and dishonesty.
One of the great things
about Mother Teresa is that she never sought the limelight. She simply went
about her business helping the poor and comforting the sick and dying. It’s our
good fortune that she was “discovered” and introduced to the world. She’s the
proper role model, not those who stand on street corners asking for “spare
change,” or white-collared professionals who manipulate public sentiment for
self-serving reasons.
Eight
Levels of Charity-seek the highest good.[3]
Maimonides defines eight levels in giving
charity (tzedakah), each one higher than the
preceding one.
On an ascending level,
they are as follows:
- When donations are given grudgingly.
- When one gives less than he should, but does so cheerfully.
- When one gives directly to the poor upon being asked.
- When one gives directly to the poor without being asked.
- Donations when the recipient is aware of the donor's identity, but the donor still doesn't know the specific identity of the recipient.
- Donations when the donor is aware to whom the charity is being given, but the recipient is unaware of the source.
- Giving assistance in such a way that the giver and recipient are unknown to each other. Communal funds, administered by responsible people are also in this category.
- The highest form of charity is to help sustain a person before they become impoverished by offering a substantial gift in a dignified manner, or by extending a suitable loan, or by helping them find employment or establish themselves in business so as to make it unnecessary for them to become dependent on others.
Imagine
if we did this…maybe the world wouldn’t be such a toilet?
Catechism of the Catholic
Church
Day 160
The liturgical year
1168 Beginning with the Easter
Triduum as its source of light, the new age of the Resurrection fills the whole
liturgical year with its brilliance. Gradually, on either side of this source,
the year is transfigured by the liturgy. It really is a "year of the
Lord's favor." The economy of salvation is at work within the
framework of time, but since its fulfillment in the Passover of Jesus and the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the culmination of history is anticipated
"as a foretaste," and the kingdom of God enters into our time.
1169 Therefore Easter is not
simply one feast among others, but the "Feast of feasts," the
"Solemnity of solemnities," just as the Eucharist is the
"Sacrament of sacraments" (the Great Sacrament). St. Athanasius calls
Easter "the Great Sunday" and the Eastern Churches call Holy
Week "the Great Week." the mystery of the Resurrection, in which
Christ crushed death, permeates with its powerful energy our old time, until
all is subjected to him.
1170 At the Council of Nicaea
in 325, all the Churches agreed that Easter, the Christian Passover, should be
celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon (14 Nisan) after the
vernal equinox. the reform of the Western calendar, called "Gregorian"
after Pope Gregory XIII (1582), caused a discrepancy of several days with the
Eastern calendar. Today, the Western and Eastern Churches are seeking an
agreement in order once again to celebrate the day of the Lord's Resurrection
on a common date.
1171 In the liturgical year the
various aspects of the one Paschal mystery unfold. This is also the case with
the cycle of feasts surrounding the mystery of the incarnation (Annunciation,
Christmas, Epiphany). They commemorate the beginning of our salvation and
communicate to us the first fruits of the Paschal mystery.
The sanctoral in the liturgical
year
1172 "In celebrating this annual cycle of the mysteries of Christ, Holy Church honors the Blessed Mary, Mother of God, with a special love. She is inseparably linked with the saving work of her Son. In her the Church admires and exalts the most excellent fruit of redemption and joyfully contemplates, as in a faultless image, that which she herself desires and hopes wholly to be."
1173 When the Church keeps the
memorials of martyrs and other saints during the annual cycle, she proclaims
the Paschal mystery in those "who have suffered and have been glorified
with Christ. She proposes them to the faithful as examples who draw all men to
the Father through Christ, and through their merits she begs for God's
favors."
World Toilet Day[4]
World Toilet Day aims to raise awareness of sanitation and hygiene issues around the world. Poor sanitation and hygiene refer to lack of access to clean drinking water, toilets and showers. Poor sanitation drastically increases the risk of disease and malnutrition, especially for women and children. Today, 2.6 billion people, about one-third of the population on the planet, do not have access to proper sanitation, a problem that kills nearly 1 million young children every year. World Toilet Day was designated by the United Nations in July 2013. It is celebrated annually on November 19 as people all over the world take action and support the basic human right of access to clean water and sanitation.
World Toilet Day Facts & Quotes
·
1 in 8 people in the world practices open
defecation, meaning that the person must relieve him/herself without cover or
shelter from other people.
·
The average person spends one hour and 42
minutes a week on the toilet, or nearly 92 days over his/her lifetime.
·
Diarrhea is the second leading cause of deaths
in children under age 5 in developing countries. Diarrhea is primarily due to
poor hygiene and sanitation.
·
The 2030 Agenda calls on us to renew our efforts
in providing access to adequate sanitation worldwide. We must continue to
educate and protect communities at risk, and to change cultural perceptions and
long-standing practices that hinder the quest for dignity. – Ban Ki-moon,
Secretary-General of the United Nations.
World Toilet Day Top Events and Things to Do
·
Watch a movie about toilets and the importance
of sanitation. Some suggestions are: Guts For Change (2015), A
New Culture of Water (2004) and A Thirsty World (2012).
·
Spread awareness by using the hashtag #WorldToiletDay,
#WeCantWait and #ToiletAccessIsARight.
·
Tour a local sanitation plant. Sanitation
plants throughout the US exist to recycle and clean water while properly
disposing of human excrement and other waste.
·
Donate to the World Toilet Organization. All
proceeds are used by the organization to help break the taboo around the toilet
and sanitation crisis. They help lobby governments, public and private sector
stakeholders to prioritize sanitation on the agenda.
·
Read a book about toilets and the importance
of sanitation. Some suggestions are: Sanitation & Water Supply in
Low-Income Countries, Sitting Pretty An Uninhibited History of the
Toilet and The Big Necessity.
·
Check out Earthship
technology.
To
Squat or Not That is the Question
Enter the Squatty Potty[5]
One time, I took a dump in my backyard because the toilet
had been broken for two weeks (blame our absentee slumlord). My best friend
never let me live it down, but you know what? I didn't care, because on that
crisp fall day in 2007, when the gas station whose toilets I had been relying
on was unexpectedly closed, I learned something. Specifically, I learned that
pooping outside is… kind of pleasant. But it wasn't until the advent of the Squatty Potty that I
really started to analyze why that was. Basically, if you use a Western toilet
on the reg, you're fighting against your body's anatomy. But now, there's a way
to poop optimally that doesn't involve squatting behind the
shrubs and hoping a neighbor won't walk by (though I do recommend everyone try
that at least once). Here it is.
You don't know squat. The Squatty Potty is a small
footstool designed to fit a toilet's curves. The idea is to elevate your feet
and knees, so your body is closer to a squatting angle -- a natural pooping
position -- than the upright position imposed on it by a porcelain throne. This
isn't just hippie BS, either. There's actual science as to why a squat is the
way to go when moving your bowels. "Defecating is actually really complicated
and involves a lot of nerves and muscles relaxing and moving," says Dr. Michelle
Cohen, a gastroenterologist at Mount Sinai. "When you sit, the
puborectalis muscle is pulled in around the colon to create an angle, so the
stool can't drop out."
Think of a kinked hose and you might be able to picture
what's happening in your colon as the puborectalis muscle stays tight around
it. In some cases, particularly in people with constipation or dyssynergic defecation (when your
muscles fail to relax, making pooping more difficult), sitting with your thighs
perpendicular to the ground can make it much harder to poop. Enter the Squatty
Potty
The Squatty Potty was born in 2010 because of this exact
scenario. "They say necessity is the mother of invention," says Bobby
Edwards, CEO and co-creator of the defecation device. "My mother was
constipated. It was definitely out of need." Edwards says his mother's
physical therapist explained that constipation is, in many cases, "an
anatomical thing," and that if she elevated her feet while eliminating, it
would change the angle of the colon and make the whole process work smoothly,
the way nature intended. She propped her feet up on a stool and loved the
results, but the process wasn't ideal. "She couldn't quite get comfortable
with a regular stool, and it was in the way in the bathroom," Edwards
says. "I was taking design classes, and she asked if I could design a
stool for the toilet, with the height and width to simulate a natural
squat."
Boy, could he. Edwards made five prototypes before hitting
on the perfect model. Delighted, his mother gave proto-Squatty Potties to
constipated friends for Christmas gifts. "She thought everybody needed to
be squatting," Edwards says. Word of mouth spread, and in 2012, Edwards
launched the website. A media blitz ensued, and the rest is history.
Putting the potty to the test. I was pretty intrigued by the "squatting is better" maxim, so much so that I tried literally squatting on my toilet. Surprisingly (or not?), a militant vegan has uploaded a YouTube video about how to do exactly that. It was a little weird, and there was some serious splash back when shit hit the water, but I could tell stuff was rearranging itself in my colon -- that's the medical terminology, right? It felt good and correct, and I understood why my cats wear such serene, noble expressions when they poop.
Not only is that method impractical, but it’s also probably dangerous for older folks, people with physical challenges or injuries, and, well, everyone, honestly. I needed to try the real deal. The Squatty Potty was delivered to my office in a freaking huge (but mercifully unmarked) brown cardboard box. I sneaked it out to my car, hoping to dodge co-workers and the inevitable, "Ooh, what's that?" The box contained the white plastic stool, a Burger King-like crown with the hashtag #pooplikeroyalty, and a button that read "I Pooped Today!" (Though Squatty Potty entreats its Twitter followers to "share your Poop Like Royalty pics! #pooplikeroyalty," only one brave soul had risen to the challenge as of press time.)
Daily
Devotions/Practice
·
Unite
in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting:
Today's Fast: Conversion of Sinners
·
Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary.
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