Saturday, January 4, 2025

Vinny’s Day Try “Arnaki me Patates”

· Saturday Litany of the Hours Invoking the Aid of Mother Mary

· Plan winter fun:

o Soak in hot springs

o Hit the snow slopes

o Ride a snowmobile

o Go for a dog sled ride

o Ride a hot air balloon

· Bucket Item trip: Go on a Safari

· Get a balanced life month

· Throw a “Perihelion Day” party

JANUARY 4 First Saturday

St. Elisabeth ANN SETON-11^TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS-Spaghetti

Jeremiah, Chapter 30, Verse 5

Thus says the LORD: We hear a cry of FEAR: terror, not peace.

Do you always believe what you hear?

Is our God a God of terror or peace?

God promised His people the Jews that he would restore them in the Promised Land. Israel exists today as a fulfillment of that promise. The only terror God gave was on Himself by the sacrifice of Christ. Pray for the conversion of Israel that they may know the truth being like Rahab.

In her time Rahab saved the spies of Israel.

Why?

She knew the truth that God was with Israel. Rahab was a survivor and a sinner; she knew God had given the land to Israel. If you know the truth you do not swerve from it. Rahab was saved from the fate of Jericho because of her action not just good will toward Israel. James in his epistle puts it this way:

Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called “the friend of God.” See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route?

Rahab was saved by her faith and actions by the God of Israel and as a result she is not only saved but the Christ the Messiah descends from Boaz her son.

First Saturday Devotion^{^[1]}

The practice of the First Saturday devotion was requested by Our Lady of Fatima, who appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, multiple times starting in 1917. She said to Lucia, the oldest of the three children: “I shall come to ask . . . that on the First Saturday of every month, Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world.” Years later she repeated her request to Sr. Lucia, the only one still living of the three young Fatima seers, while she was a postulant sister living in a convent in Spain: “Look, my daughter, at my Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at very moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me, and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the rosary, and keep me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the 15 mysteries of the rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”

Conditions to Fulfill the First Saturday Devotion

There are five requirements to obtain this promise from the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On five consecutive first Saturdays of the month, one should:

1. Have the intention of consoling the Immaculate Heart in a spirit of reparation.

2. Go to confession (within eight days before or after the first Saturday).

3. Receive Holy Communion.

4. Say five decades of the Holy Rosary.

5. Meditate for 15 minutes on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary with the goal of keeping Our Lady company (for example, while in church or before an image or statue of Our Lady).

Read How to Make Your First Saturday Rosary Meditation According to Sr. Lucia

Why Five Saturdays?

Our Lord appeared to Sr. Lucia on May 29, 1930, and gave her the reason behind the five Saturdays devotion. It is because there are five types of offenses and blasphemies committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary:

1. Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception

2. Blasphemies against Our Lady’s perpetual virginity

3. Blasphemies against her divine maternity, in refusing at the same time to recognize her as the Mother of men

4. Blasphemies of those who publicly seek to sow in the hearts of children, indifference or scorn or even hatred of their Immaculate Mother

5. Offenses of those who outrage Our Lady directly in her holy images

Never think that Jesus is indifferent to whether or not His mother is honored!

Widow Saint[2] Elizabeth Ann Seton

This wife, mother and foundress of a religious congregation was born Elizabeth Ann Bayley on August 28, 1774, in New York City, the daughter of an eminent physician and professor at what is now Columbia University. Brought up as an Episcopalian, she received an excellent education, and from her early years she manifested an unusual concern for the poor.

In 1794 Elizabeth married William Seton, with whom she had five children. The loss of their fortune so affected William's health that in 1803 Elizabeth and William went to stay with Catholic friends at Livorno, Italy. William died six weeks after their arrival, and when Elizabeth returned to New York City some six months later, she was already a convinced Catholic. She met with stern opposition from her Episcopalian friends but was received into full communion with the Catholic Church on March 4, 1805.

Abandoned by her friends and relatives, Elizabeth was invited by the superior of the Sulpicians in Baltimore to launch a school for girls in that city. The school prospered, and eventually the Sulpician superior, with the approval of Bishop Carroll, gave Elizabeth and her assistants a rule of life. They were also permitted to make religious profession and to wear a religious habit.

In 1809 Elizabeth moved her young community to Emmitsburg, Maryland, where she adopted as a rule of life an adaptation of the rule observed by the Sisters of Charity, founded by St. Vincent de Paul. Although she did not neglect the ministry to the poor, and especially to Negroes, she actually laid the foundation for what became the American parochial school system. She trained teachers and prepared textbooks for use in schools; she also opened orphanages in Philadelphia and New York City. She died at Emmitsburg on January 4, 1821, was beatified by Pope John XXIII in 1963, and was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1975.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton - Day Eleven[3]

Elizabeth Seton was born of a wealthy and distinguished Episcopalian family. She was baptized in the Episcopal faith and was a faithful adherent of the Episcopal Church until her conversion to Catholicism.

· Day Eleven activity (Story Time)

· Day Eleven recipe (Colonial Wassail)

Today’s menu is in anticipation of today’s saint.

Christmas Calendar

Read: Today we remember the first native-born citizen of the United States to be canonized as a saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton.

Reflect: Only if people change will the world change; and in order to change, people need the light that comes from God, the light which so unexpectedly [on the night of Christmas] entered into our night.

Pray: Pray for the intersession of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton today.

Act: Aim to put these practices of building a domestic Church into action.

11th day of Christmas

The 11 pipers piping is a sign for the eleven faithful apostles. It is interesting to note that Judas’ sin was due to fear, greed, pride, and envy. Today would be a good day to read about the remaining 11 pipers and their courage to create a Kingdom of God that changed the world.

Spaghetti Day[4]

One of the world’s favorite dishes, spaghetti, is more than deserving of its own little holiday. And because it is both simple and delicious, spaghetti is the perfect dish to make to bring out your inner chef, even if you don’t have all that much cooking experience!

Many people don’t know that the first historical reference to boiled noodles suggests that the Arabs invented the dish thousands of years ago, long before it became a staple of Italian cuisine.

What’s especially remarkable about this is that historical records actually refer to dried noodles being purchased from a street vendor, which means that pasta has been sold in stores since at least the 5th century A.D.! Of course, today we associate pasta with the Italians, who revolutionized the dish and invented a wide variety of pasta shapes.

The first Western pasta was likely long, thin forms made in Sicily around the 12th century; till this day, spaghetti is the most common round-rod type of pasta and in Italian, “spaghetti” means “little lines.” However, the popularity of pasta only spread across the whole country of Italy after the establishment of pasta factories in the 19th century, substantially shortening the time needed for making dishes like spaghetti and enabling the mass production of pasta for the Italian market.

The steady flow of Italian immigrants to the United States brought traditional Italian dishes with it, and spaghetti was offered in restaurants as early as the 19th century. Spaghetti then gained popularity all over the world.

Spaghetti Day Recipe

Ingredients: (serves 2)

1/2 medium onion
1-1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
200g tin chopped tomatoes
20g pack basil leaves, chopped finely
200g dried spaghetti (roughly half of a 500g pack)
100g ball mozzarella
a few pinches of salt & a bit of oil for the pasta

Preparation:

Peel the onion and the garlic and chop both finely. Set a large frying pan over medium heat and when hot, pour in the oil then add the onion. Cook the onion for about 4-5 mins, or until it softens, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, cook 2 mins more until fragrant. Then, add the tomatoes and half the basil. Leave to gently bubble for 15 mins or so, stirring occasionally–the sauce should become thick and pulpy. Break up any large clumps of tomato with the back of a wooden spoon.

Pour water ¾ of the way up your largest pot. Heat over a high heat and add several large pinches of salt and a spoon or so of oil. When water has reached a rolling boil, put the spaghetti in it. Giving it a stir every now and then stir to separate the pasta, cook it according to pack instructions, usually about 10 mins. Before you finish cooking it, taste a strand of the pasta. It should be just soft, but not mushy. Scoop out a cup of water before draining and set aside (this will help to loosen your sauce). Put the drained pasta back into its cooking pan, then pour in the tomato sauce.

Give everything a good stir. The sauce should just coat the pasta, but if it is thick and looks dry, stir in a few spoons of the pasta water you set aside before. If it is watery, cook over a low heat for 2-3 mins or until evaporates, stirring often.

Use your hands to break the mozzarella into chunky pieces and stir through the pasta along with the remaining basil leaves.

Serve straight away.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Day 206

"Heal the sick . . ."

1506 Christ invites his disciples to follow him by taking up their cross in their turn. By following him they acquire a new outlook on illness and the sick. Jesus associates them with his own life of poverty and service. He makes them share in his ministry of compassion and healing: "So they went out and preached that men should repent. and they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them."

1507 The risen Lord renews this mission ("In my name . . . they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.") and confirms it through the signs that the Church performs by invoking his name. These signs demonstrate in a special way that Jesus is truly "God who saves."

1508 The Holy Spirit gives to some a special charism of healing so as to make manifest the power of the grace of the risen Lord. But even the most intense prayers do not always obtain the healing of all illnesses. Thus St. Paul must learn from the Lord that "my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness," and that the sufferings to be endured can mean that "in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his Body, that is, the Church."

1509 "Heal the sick!" The Church has received this charge from the Lord and strives to carry it out by taking care of the sick as well as by accompanying them with her prayer of intercession. She believes in the life-giving presence of Christ, the physician of souls and bodies. This presence is particularly active through the sacraments, and in an altogether special way through the Eucharist, the bread that gives eternal life and that St. Paul suggests is connected with bodily health.

1510 However, the apostolic Church has its own rite for the sick, attested to by St. James: "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders [presbyters] of the Church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." Tradition has recognized in this rite one of the seven sacraments.

A sacrament of the sick

1511 The Church believes and confesses that among the seven sacraments there is one especially intended to strengthen those who are being tried by illness, the Anointing of the Sick:

This sacred anointing of the sick was instituted by Christ our Lord as a true and proper sacrament of the New Testament. It is alluded to indeed by Mark, but is recommended to the faithful and promulgated by James the apostle and brother of the Lord.

1512 From ancient times in the liturgical traditions of both East and West, we have testimonies to the practice of anointings of the sick with blessed oil. Over the centuries the Anointing of the Sick was conferred more and more exclusively on those at the point of death. Because of this it received the name "Extreme Unction." Notwithstanding this evolution, the liturgy has never failed to beg the Lord that the sick person may recover his health if it would be conducive to his salvation.

1513 The Apostolic Constitution Sacram unctionem infirmorum, following upon the Second Vatican Council, established that henceforth, in the Roman Rite, the following be observed:

The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given to those who are seriously ill by anointing them on the forehead and hands with duly blessed oil - pressed from olives or from other plants - saying, only once: "Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up."

Daily Devotions/Activities

· Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: An increase of the Faithful.

· Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

· Drops of Christ’s Blood

· Universal Man Plan

· Pray for our nation.

· Rosary.