· 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.
· Religion in the Home for Preschool: January
· Carnival Time begins in Catholic Countries.
· Fish Friday: Honey Bourbon Salmon
· Spirit Hour: Champagne Cocktail
· Bucket List trip: Bora Bora
· Try: Asian Pear
· Plan winter fun:
- Soak in hot springs
- Hit the snow slopes
- Ride a snowmobile
- Go for a dog sled ride
- Ride a hot air balloon
January 12 Sunday-Baptism
of the Lord
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
9 Go up onto a high mountain, Zion, herald of good news! Cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news! Cry out, do not FEAR! Say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God!
One of
my favorite representations of the Lord’s delight with us is a statue of Joseph
and the baby Jesus. Jesus and Joseph are playing. Joseph is slightly bent with
the baby Jesus giggling crawling over the back of Joseph and peeking over his
shoulder looking at his face in peek a boo fashion and delight is all over both
of their faces. How can we fear when we have a God who loves us so! In times of
tribulation when we feel courage being drained from our souls let us remember
the courage of blessed Saint Joseph reflecting on his courage, strength and of
course gentleness with our Lord Jesus. In times of trouble let us call on the
aid of St. Joseph reflecting on this portion of the litany of Saint Joseph[1].
Baptism
of Jesus[2]
A closing celebration of Christ's initial
manifestations to the world through His life and early ministry, especially in
His baptism by St. John.
"Seek the Lord while he
may be found, call upon him while he is near" (Is
55, 6).
These words from the second part of the Book of Isaiah ring out on this Sunday that ends the Christmas season. They are an invitation to go more deeply into the meaning for us of today's Feast, the Baptism of the Lord. In spirit let us return to the banks of the Jordan where John the Baptist administered a Baptism of repentance, exhorting to conversion. Coming up to the Precursor is Jesus, and with his presence he transformed that gesture of repentance into a solemn manifestation of his divinity. A voice suddenly comes from heaven: "You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased" (Mk 1, 11) and, in the form of a dove, the Spirit descends upon Jesus. In that extraordinary event, John saw realized what had been said about the Messiah born in Bethlehem, adored by the shepherds and the Magi. He was the very One foretold by the prophets, the beloved Son of the Father; we must seek him while he can be found and call upon him while he is at hand. In Baptism every Christian personally meets him; he is inserted into the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection and receives a new life, which is the life of God. What a great gift and what a great responsibility!
Blessing
of Water[3]
The commemoration of our
Lord's Baptism in the Jordan led to a number of impressive blessings concerning
water. In Palestine, the river Jordan itself was blessed, with
throngs of the faithful immersing in it three times to obtain the blessing,
while in Egypt, the whole Christian population and its livestock would show up
for the blessing of the Nile and
do the same thing. In Byzantium,
Epiphany water was blessed in church and then distributed. Rome followed this custom, instituting
it on the Vigil of the feast. The formula for the blessing may be found in the
Roman ritual.
Renewal
of Baptismal Vows
Dear brethren, through the
Paschal Mystery we have been buried with Christ in Baptism, that we may walk
with him in newness of life. And so, let us renew the promises of Holy Baptism,
which we once renounced Satan and his works and promised to serve God in the
holy Catholic Church.
And so, I ask you:
V.
Do you renounce Satan?
R. I do.
V.
And all his works?
R. I do.
V.
And all his empty show?
R. I do.
ON KEEPING THE LORD'S DAY HOLY[4]
CHAPTER II
DIES CHRISTI
The Day of the Risen Lord
and of the Gift
of the Holy Spirit
The weekly Easter
20. According to the common witness of
the Gospels, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead took place on
"the first day after the Sabbath" (Mk 16:2,9; Lk 24:1; Jn
20:1). On the same day, the Risen Lord appeared to the two disciples of Emmaus
(cf. Lk 24:13-35) and to the eleven Apostles gathered together (cf. Lk
24:36; Jn 20:19). A week later — as the Gospel of John recounts (cf.
20:26) — the disciples were gathered together once again, when Jesus appeared
to them and made himself known to Thomas by showing him the signs of his
Passion. The day of Pentecost — the first day of the eighth week after the
Jewish Passover (cf. Acts 2:1), when the promise made by Jesus to the
Apostles after the Resurrection was fulfilled by the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit (cf. Lk 24:49; Acts 1:4-5) — also fell on a Sunday. This
was the day of the first proclamation and the first baptisms: Peter announced
to the assembled crowd that Christ was risen and "those who received his
word were baptized" (Acts 2:41). This was the epiphany of the
Church, revealed as the people into which are gathered in unity, beyond all
their differences, the scattered children of God.
First Sunday After Epiphany
AT the Introit of the Mass the Church animates us to adore
and obey God willingly and joyfully. "Upon a high throne I saw a man
sitting, Whom a multitude of angels adored, singing together, Behold Him, the
name of Whose empire is eternity " (Dan. vii.). " Sing joyfully to
God, all the earth: serve the Lord with gladness ' ' (Ps. xcix. 2). Glory be to
the Father, etc.
Prayer.
Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord, in Thy heavenly mercy, the
prayers of Thy suppliant people, that they may both see what they ought to do
and may be enabled to do what they see. Amen
EPISTLE. Rom. xii. 1-5.
Brethren: I beseech you, by the mercy of God, that you
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your
reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be reformed in the
newness of your mind: that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable,
and the perfect will of so God. For I say, by the grace that is given me, to
all that are among you, not to be more wise than it behoveth to be wise, but to
be wise unto sobriety, and according as God hath divided to everyone the
measure of faith. For as in one body we have many members, but all the members
have not the same office: we being many are one body in Christ, and every one
members one of another in Christ Jesus our Lord.
How can we present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy
and pleasing to God?
By keeping the body and its members clean
from all sin, serving God with soul and body. Thus, to serve God, with our soul
and body, is our reasonable service, and the vocation of every Christian.
What does St. Paul mean by the comparison of ' ' one
body and many members ' ‘?
He means that we Christians belong all to
one body, the Church, the head of which is Christ. Now, as all the members the
body work for its welfare, so should every Christian minister to the wants of
all in the Church. One should join the other in the work of salvation; should
instruct or punish, warn, admonish, or correct, as there is occasion for it.
This is true love, such as we ought to have, one for another, and happy are we
when we thus love in word and deed.
Aspiration.
Grant, O Jesus, that I may present my soul and body a living
sacrifice, holy and pleasing, to Thee, by mortification, humiliation, and
contrition, and that I may never defile them by impurity, gluttony, lust,
vanity, or pride; give me also Thy grace, O my Savior, to love my neighbor as
myself, for we are one body in Christ, and each one members of one another.
GOSPEL. Luke ii. 42-52.
When Jesus
was twelve years old they going up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the
feast, and having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus
remained in Jerusalem, and His parents knew it not. And thinking that He was in
the company, they came a day's journey and sought Him among their kinsfolk and
acquaintance. And not finding Him, they returned into Jerusalem seeking Him.
And it came to pass that after three days they found Him in the temple sitting
in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking them questions. And all
that heard Him were astonished at His wisdom and His answers. And seeing Him,
they wondered. And His Mother said to Him:
Son, why hast Thou done so to us?
behold Thy father and I have sought Thee
sorrowing. And He said to them:
How is it that you sought Me? did you not know that I
must be about My Father's business?
And they understood not the word that He
spoke unto them. And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and was
subject to them. And His Mother kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus
advanced in wisdom and age, and grace with God and men.
What are we Christians to learn by this?
That we should never miss an opportunity
to go to church, particularly on Sundays and holy-days, and there assist at the
public services, with inward and outward devotion. Parents should learn from
Joseph and Mary to take their children to church and school, and to teach them
their prayers and the other exercises of religion.
What lesson does the infant Jesus teach us?
That we also should attend religious
instructions, the sermon, and catechism, to learn what is necessary in regard
to our salvation.
What do we learn by those words, " Jesus was
subject to them"?
That children should obey their parents.
When the God-Man was thus subject to His poor Mother and to His foster-father,
who was a plain mechanic, those children should blush who are ashamed of their
parents, or refuse to assist them in their old age, poverty, or distress.
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
Day
214
The ordination of priests -
co-workers of the bishops
1562
"Christ, whom the Father hallowed and sent into the world, has, through
his apostles, made their successors, the bishops namely, sharers in his
consecration and mission; and these, in their turn, duly entrusted in varying
degrees various members of the Church with the office of their
ministry." "The function of the bishops' ministry was handed
over in a subordinate degree to priests so that they might be appointed in the
order of the priesthood and be co-workers of the episcopal order for the proper
fulfillment of the apostolic mission that had been entrusted to it by
Christ."
1563
"Because it is joined with the episcopal order the office of priests
shares in the authority by which Christ himself builds up and sanctifies and
rules his Body. Hence the priesthood of priests, while presupposing the
sacraments of initiation, is nevertheless conferred by its own particular
sacrament. Through that sacrament priests by the anointing of the Holy Spirit
are signed with a special character and so are configured to Christ the priest
in such a way that they are able to act in the person of Christ the head."
1564
"Whilst not having the supreme degree of the pontifical office, and
notwithstanding the fact that they depend on the bishops in the exercise of
their own proper power, the priests are for all that associated with them by
reason of their sacerdotal dignity; and in virtue of the sacrament of Holy
Orders, after the image of Christ, the supreme and eternal priest, they are
consecrated in order to preach the Gospel and shepherd the faithful as well as
to celebrate divine worship as true priests of the New Testament."
1565 Through
the sacrament of Holy Orders priests share in the universal dimensions of the
mission that Christ entrusted to the apostles. the spiritual gift they have
received in ordination prepares them, not for a limited and restricted mission,
"but for the fullest, in fact the universal mission of salvation 'to the
end of the earth,"' "prepared in spirit to preach the Gospel
everywhere."
1566 "It
is in the Eucharistic cult or in the Eucharistic assembly of the faithful
(synaxis) that they exercise in a supreme degree their sacred office; there,
acting in the person of Christ and proclaiming his mystery, they unite the
votive offerings of the faithful to the sacrifice of Christ their head, and in
the sacrifice of the Mass they make present again and apply, until the coming
of the Lord, the unique sacrifice of the New Testament, that namely of Christ
offering himself once for all a spotless victim to the Father." From
this unique sacrifice their whole priestly ministry draws its strength.
1567 "The
priests, prudent cooperators of the episcopal college and its support and
instrument, called to the service of the People of God, constitute, together
with their bishop, a unique sacerdotal college (presbyterium) dedicated, it is,
true to a variety of distinct duties. In each local assembly of the faithful
they represent, in a certain sense, the bishop, with whom they are associated
in all trust and generosity; in part they take upon themselves his duties and
solicitude and in their daily toils discharge them." priests can
exercise their ministry only in dependence on the bishop and in communion with
him. the promise of obedience they make to the bishop at the moment of
ordination and the kiss of peace from him at the end of the ordination liturgy
mean that the bishop considers them his co-workers, his sons, his brothers and
his friends, and that they in return owe him love and obedience.
1568 "All
priests, who are constituted in the order of priesthood by the sacrament of
Order, are bound together by an intimate sacramental brotherhood, but in a
special way they form one priestly body in the diocese to which they are
attached under their own bishop. . ;" The unity of the presbyterium
finds liturgical expression in the custom of the presbyters' imposing hands,
after the bishop, during the Ate of ordination.
Party at Winterskol in Aspen[5]
January 12-14
Raise
a toast to winter in Aspen’s annual Winterskol
Festival. The
winter tradition is more than 60 years strong and was started by a lodge owner
who wanted to enliven the Aspen winter season following Christmas. Today, the
four-day winter fest includes a snow sculpture competition, a soup cook-off and
a downhill race with apple strudel at the finish line.
Thru January 31
The Canadian Rockies is the place for adventure in January. Besides the predictable winter activities — skiing, snowshoeing, skating — Jasper in January hosts fat bike snow races, sleigh riding, dog sledding and ice climbing. And that’s just during the day, Jasper’s evenings offer wine and whiskey tasting, food-a-paloolza, live music, entertainment, kids’ scavenger hunts, plus stargazing and northern-light viewing with s’mores.
Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: Victims
of clergy sexual abuse
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
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