Monday, January 13, 2025

Christopher’s Corner

· Full Wolf Moon

o According to the almanac today we are having a Full Wolf Moon; plan to go with your children or grandchildren around a fire and howl a little at the moon having fun together. Also, you could sit down together and listen to the music from Peter and the Wolf. As a child this was one of my favorite record albums that I would make my mother play repeatedly much to her distress.

Sauna-its a Swedish thing

Plough Monday-It's a British Thing

· Spirit hour[4]: Today is St. Hilary who is known as the “Hammer of the Ariens” have a “Velvet Hammer” during your spirit hour.

· National Oatmeal Month “My last name in German is oatmeal”

· Eat waffles and Pray for the assistance of the Angels

· Try[5]: “Bento” Japanese five-course meal in a box.

· Religion in the Home for Preschool: January

· Carnival Time begins in Catholic Countries.

· Bucket List trip[6]: The Iditarod-Alaska

· Monday: Litany of Humility

· Drops of Christ’s Blood

· National Pizza Week

· 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

· How to celebrate Jan 13th

o Ready for a day filled with unexpected fun? Start by embracing creativity with a vision board. Gather old magazines, newspapers, and glue.

o Cut out images and words that inspire you. Place them on a board to create a visual representation of your goals and dreams.

o Next up, indulge in a peachy treat like Peach Melba. Grab canned peaches, vanilla ice cream, and raspberry sauce. Layer them up for a fruity delight. Feeling musical?

o Celebrate Public Radio Broadcasting Day by tuning in to your favorite station.

o If you’re feeling crafty, make a sticker collage. Collect stickers from around the house and decorate a notebook or your laptop.

o Take a break with a bubble bath featuring a rubber ducky.

o For dinner, cook up a Korean American fusion dish.

o Combine flavors for a unique meal. Cap off your day by remembering Stephen Foster with a sing-along or concert of his classic songs.

JANUARY 13 Plough Monday

Jeremiah, Chapter 40, Verse 9

Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men: “Do not be AFRAID to serve the Chaldeans. Stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, so that everything may go well with you.

Israel has been warned and finally they are captured by the Chaldeans and taken to Babylon. God has promised to bring them back after they have been chastised for not trusting God nor taking actions as He directed. God wants us to take action to ensure the Kingdom is here and now. To do this we must have faith but we must also prepare for success.

John Maxwell, noted author of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Series states that all Christian leaders need to learn the proper balance between faith and preparation or planning.[1]

Law#4-The Law of Navigation: Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course. To make it happen, you have to take action. You must do what you know needs doing. You must do it when it needs to be done. Don’t wait. You can make it happen. Knowing how is not the key. Taking action is.

Where should you start?

1. Follow your conscience.

What do you feel you should do?

What do you want to do?

2. Consider your passion.

What do you get excited about?

What do you need to do?

3. Consider your natural talents.

What are you naturally good at without much effort?

What hobbies do you have?

What interests do you have?

4. Consider what society needs and values.

What do you love to do so much you would do it for free, but people are willing to pay others to do?

What do you see others doing that you would like to do?

If you want to find your purpose, you must get on the seldom traveled road to significance filled with setbacks, roadblocks, obstacles, and detours. This road leads to your purpose. You must develop the vision in order to see where you want to be next. Then, you must take the steps to move from where you are to where you want to be. You should always be grateful for where you are and what you have, but you should never be satisfied.[2]

Blessed is those who hear the word of God and observe it.

(Lk. 11:28)

Plough Monday[3] is the traditional start of the English agricultural year. While local practices may vary, Plough Monday is generally the first Monday after Twelfth Day (Epiphany), 6 January. The day traditionally saw the resumption of work after the Christmas period.

As we begin our working year let us remember that our primary work in the world as a follower of Christ is to do his will for us putting our hand on the plough and looking forward to the year; may all of our days and rows be straight.

No man, having put his hand ... - To put one's hand to a plow is a proverbial expression to signify undertaking any business. In order that a plowman may accomplish his work, it is necessary to look onward - to be intent on his employment - not to be looking back with regret that he undertook it. So, in religion, He that enters on it must do it with his whole heart, He that comes still loving the world - still looking with regret on its pleasures, its wealth, and its honors - that has not "wholly" forsaken them as his portion, cannot be a Christian, and is not fit for the kingdom of God. How searching is this test to those who profess to be Christians! And how solemn the duty of all people to renounce all earthly objects, and to be not only "almost," but "altogether," followers of the Son of God! It is perilous to tamper with the world - to look at its pleasures or to seek its society. He that would enter heaven must come with a heart full of love to God; giving "all" into his hands, and prepared always to give up all his property, his health, his friends, his body, his soul to God, when he demands them, or he cannot be a Christian. Religion is everything or nothing. He that is not willing to sacrifice "everything" for the cause of God, is really willing to sacrifice nothing.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Day 215

The ordination of deacons - "in order to serve."

1569 "At a lower level of the hierarchy are to be found deacons, who receive the imposition of hands 'not unto the priesthood, but unto the ministry."' At an ordination to the diaconate only the bishop lays hands on the candidate, thus signifying the deacon's special attachment to the bishop in the tasks of his "diakonia."

1570 Deacons share in Christ's mission and grace in a special way. The sacrament of Holy Orders marks them with an imprint (“character") which cannot be removed and which configures them to Christ, who made himself the "deacon" or servant of all. Among other tasks, it is the task of deacons to assist the bishop and priests in the celebration of the divine mysteries, above all the Eucharist, in the distribution of Holy Communion, in assisting at and blessing marriages, in the proclamation of the Gospel and preaching, in presiding over funerals, and in dedicating themselves to the various ministries of charity.

1571 Since the Second Vatican Council the Latin Church has restored the diaconate "as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy," while the Churches of the East had always maintained it. This permanent diaconate, which can be conferred on married men, constitutes an important enrichment for the Church's mission. Indeed it is appropriate and useful that men who carry out a truly diaconal ministry in the Church, whether in its liturgical and pastoral life or whether in its social and charitable works, should "be strengthened by the imposition of hands which has come down from the apostles. They would be more closely bound to the altar and their ministry would be made more fruitful through the sacramental grace of the diaconate."

IV. The Celebration of This Sacrament

1572 Given the importance that the ordination of a bishop, a priest, or a deacon has for the life of the particular Church, its celebration calls for as many of the faithful as possible to take part. It should take place preferably on Sunday, in the cathedral, with solemnity appropriate to the occasion. All three ordinations, of the bishop, of the Priest, and of the deacon, follow the same movement. Their proper place is within the Eucharistic liturgy.

1573 The essential rite of the sacrament of Holy Orders for all three degrees consists in the bishop's imposition of hands on the head of the ordinand and in the bishop's specific consecratory prayer asking God for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and his gifts proper to the ministry to which the candidate is being ordained.

1574 As in all the sacraments, additional rites surround the celebration. Varying greatly among the different liturgical traditions, these rites have in common the expression of the multiple aspects of sacramental grace. Thus in the Latin Church, the initial rites - presentation and election of the ordinand, instruction by the bishop, examination of the candidate, litany of the saints - attest that the choice of the candidate is made in keeping with the practice of the Church and prepare for the solemn act of consecration, after which several rites symbolically express and complete the mystery accomplished: for bishop and priest, an anointing with holy chrism, a sign of the special anointing of the Holy Spirit who makes their ministry fruitful; giving the book of the Gospels, the ring, the miter, and the crosier to the bishop as the sign of his apostolic mission to proclaim the Word of God, of his fidelity to the Church, the bride of Christ, and his office as shepherd of the Lord's flock; presentation to the priest of the paten and chalice, "the offering of the holy people" which he is called to present to God; giving the book of the Gospels to the deacon who has just received the mission to proclaim the Gospel of Christ.

V. Who Can Confer This Sacrament?

1575 Christ himself chose the apostles and gave them a share in his mission and authority. Raised to the Father's right hand, he has not forsaken his flock but he keeps it under his constant protection through the apostles, and guides it still through these same pastors who continue his work today. Thus, it is Christ whose gift it is that some be apostles, others pastors. He continues to act through the bishops.

1576 Since the sacrament of Holy Orders is the sacrament of the apostolic ministry, it is for the bishops as the successors of the apostles to hand on the "gift of the Spirit," The "apostolic line." Validly ordained bishops, i.e., those who are in the line of apostolic succession, validly confer the three degrees of the sacrament of Holy Orders.

Daily Devotions

· Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: Catholic Politicians & Leaders

· Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

· Drops of Christ’s Blood

· Universal Man Plan

· Rosary