Thursday, January 23, 2025
And Mary said: “My soul
proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For
he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages
call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his
name.
(Luke 1:46-49)
·
do a personal
eucharistic stations of the cross.
·
Religion in the Home for Preschool: January
·
Carnival Time begins in Catholic
Countries.
·
Bucket List trip:
Selinda Reserve, Botswana
·
Make some: Zuercher
Ratsherrentopf
·
Spirit Hour: Poncho Villa cocktail
o
Wake up
on the right foot today by measuring your feet and ensuring your shoes fit just
right. Embrace the nostalgia of handwriting a letter to a loved one while
enjoying a slice of rhubarb pie. To inject some fun, mix and match your clothes
for a clashing outfit that will surely turn heads. Later, channel your inner
athlete in a game of snowplow mailbox hockey, improvising with household items
if necessary.
o
In between
activities, raise awareness for maternal health by sharing informative posts on
social media. Reflect on the importance of health and family over a warm pie,
appreciating the simple joys. Take a moment to appreciate the precision of
measurements while enjoying the delicious pie, savoring each bite.
o As the day winds down, consider hosting a pie-making
contest with friends or family, celebrating the art of baking. Alternatively,
engage in a friendly game of mailbox hockey to unwind and bond with loved
ones. Embrace the spirit of these quirky holidays by reveling in the
festivities and creating lasting memories. Cheers to a day filled with
creativity, laughter, and appreciation for the little things in life.
·
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
Best Place to visit in January: Tucson, Arizona
I’m a big
fan of this vibrant city located in the Sonoran Desert. During the summer
months the temperatures can be very hot, so I visit during the winter months
instead.
It’s been
dubbed the ‘City of Gastronomy’ by UNESCO, and when I’m here I always
sample the tasty cuisine which has been inspired by a huge range of influences
from Spanish and Native American to Mexican. I’m also always charmed by
the spectacular natural beauty which is made up of a stunning surrounding
mountain range, national parks and pine forests.
Om my
trip, I visited the scenic Saguaro National Park, the majestic Mount Lemmon, the
extraordinary Colossal Cave
Mountain Park, the beautiful open-air museums and gardens, and the
interesting old town which was filled with striking Spanish Colonial and
Mexican buildings.
Visitor
Center Address: Southern Tucson Visitor Center, 115 N. Church Ave. Tucson, AZ
85701
Average
temperature – 44 to 64
My personal highlights…
Taking an
underground tour at Kartchner Caverns State Park and discovering the stunning
cave formations.
Visiting Pima Air and Space Museum, the
world’s largest aerospace museum. I thought the narrated tram tour was awesome!
Thursday Feast
Thursday is the day of the week that our Lord gave himself up for
consumption. Thursday commemorates the last supper. Some theologians believe
after Sunday Thursday is the holiest day of the week. We should then try to
make this day special by making a visit to the blessed sacrament chapel, Mass
or even stopping by the grave of a loved one. Why not plan to count the
blessing of the week and thank our Lord. Plan a special meal. Be at Peace.
Dinner Menu
[1] Sheraton, Mimi. 1,000 Foods
To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List (p. 892). Workman Publishing
Company. Kindle Edition.
January 23 Thursday
holy spouses-Capt.
kangaroo
Psalm 34, verse 5-12
5 I sought the LORD, and he answered me, delivered me from all my FEARS. 6 Look to him and be radiant, and your faces may not blush for shame. 7 This poor one cried out and the LORD heard, and from all his distress he saved him. 8 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he saves them. 9 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the stalwart one who takes refuge in him. 10 Fear the LORD, you his holy ones; nothing is lacking to those who fear him. Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you fear of the LORD. 11 The rich grow poor and go hungry but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. 12 Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you fear of the LORD.
While taking a prayer filled hike in the Round Lake, New York; I asked our Lord on the hike to communicate to me as we walked along the way. The Lord spoke to my heart and said that in this world there are two kinds of people those that give and those that get. He said amazingly those that get never get enough and those who give always get enough.
As we walked Christ pointed out to me the things that I should be giving to others.
As I started the hike, I noticed the sign with the map of the hike was reversed and if I did not study it closely I would be lost. Christ urged me to:
· Give good directions.
Walking along I met others walking or riding bikes coming from the opposite direction that looked rather glum and miserable. Christ urged me to greet them. As I did I noticed their expression changed from glum to happy.
· Give greetings.
Walking along I heard music from a tavern near the trail. Christ urged me to:
· Give music and song to gladding other hearts.
Walking along I met a small turtle that on seeing me tucked into his shell. Christ urged me to:
· Give others respect and privacy.
Walking along I passed a stream and notice the path was shady. Christ urged me to:
· Give refreshment to others.
Finally, as I was walking along as the Lord answered me I noticed He had delivered me from all my fears.
Feast of The Holy Spouses[1]
While there
have been feasts of Mary and Joseph as individual saints, and more recently
also a feast of the Holy Family, no feast honoring their marriage has entered
into the universal liturgical calendar of the Church. At least as early as 1413
Jean Gerson had proposed the Feast of the Betrothal. It was introduced into the
missal for the cathedral of Chartres in 1482 and by the Franciscans and
Servite’s in 1537 and thereafter by many other particular liturgical calendars.
Saint Joseph Marello (canonized on November 25, 2001) also introduced it into
the congregation he founded, the Oblates of St. Joseph. The feast had become so
widespread that it was included in the universal Roman Missal under the section
pro aliquibus locis, when in 1961 the revision of the universal liturgical
calendar suppressed such particular feasts, requiring their reintroduction by
groups wishing to preserve them. In 1989 the feast of The Holy Spouses, Mary
and Joseph, was reintroduced into the proper calendar of the Oblates of St. Joseph,
with its proper texts for Mass and for the Liturgy of the Hours. (In 1991 Fr.
Juan Antonio Morán, M.J., in El Salvador also prepared a Mass text for private
use for November 26, when married couples were also invited to renew their
vows.)
The approved
texts for the Oblate version of the Mass are as follows:
·
Entrance
Antiphon: Hail
Mary, Mother of God, united by a sacred bond to Joseph, faithful guardian of
your virginal motherhood.
·
Opening
Prayer: Holy
Father, you joined together by a virginal bond the glorious Mother of your Son
and the just man, Saint Joseph, that they might be faithful cooperators in the
mystery of the Word Incarnate. Grant that we who are united with you by the
bond of baptism may live more intimately in our union with Christ and may walk
more joyfully in the way of love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ….
·
Readings: Isaiah 61:9-11; Galatians 4:4-7;
Luke 2:41-52.
·
Prayer
over the Gifts:
Lord, look graciously upon the gifts which we present at your altar on the
Feast of the Holy Spouses, Mary and Joseph, and enkindle in us the spirit of
your love.
·
Preface: Father, all-powerful and
ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks through
Jesus Christ our Lord. You give the Church the joy of celebrating the feast of
the Holy Spouses, Mary and Joseph: in her, full of grace and worthy Mother of
your Son, you signify the beginning of the Church, resplendently beautiful
bride of Christ; you chose him, the wise and faithful servant, as Husband of
the Virgin Mother of God, and made him head of your family to guard as a father
your only Son, conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, our
Lord. For this gift of your kindness, we join….
·
Communion
Antiphon: Joseph,
son of David, have no fear about taking Mary as your wife. It is by the Holy
Spirit that she has conceived this child.
·
Prayer
after Communion:
Lord, by your holy gifts you have filled us with joy. By venerating the Blessed
Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, her spouse, may we be strengthened in your love-
and live-in continual thanksgiving.
While the feast is celebrated on January 23 in all Oblate houses for all the faithful, the recent emphasis in the Holy Spouses Province of the Oblates of St. Joseph has been to extend a particular invitation to married and engaged couples. They are invited to look to Mary and Joseph as patrons and intercessors for their marriage, and to take them as the model husband and wife to strive to imitate in loving one another selflessly as spouses. Mary and Joseph may be shown to exemplify the two inseparable ends of marriage, love and life, and to refute the mentality of contraception and divorce.
Be a good husbandman[2]
All men are called by God to be husbandmen. Some are called to the priesthood, and they may hear Christ saying to them:
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Mt. 4:19)
Others
are called to the single life and they may serve the Lord via their work and
there are those who are called to the married life, but all are husbandmen.
What makes a good husbandman?
Let
us look at St. Joseph as an example of a good husbandman.
·
St.
Joseph in all his dealings was humble.
·
He
was the provider and protector of Mary and Jesus
·
full
of zeal and great courage,
·
Obedient to the will of
God. Yet he was not rash; and with prudence
pondered.
·
His
decisions trusting in divine providence.
·
He
was a model of workers and
·
an
example of married life and chaste love.
·
He
valued prayer and the hidden life.
·
He
was ready for the call of a neighbor
or to the call of God;
·
He
gave an immediate response.
·
His
was a life of sacrifice; his was a life
of simplicity.
To
be a good husbandman is to:
“Do the ordinary in an extraordinary way.”
Life First[3] 9 Days for
Life
9 Days for Life is a "digital pilgrimage" of prayer and action focused on cherishing the gift of every person's life. A multi-faceted novena highlighting a different intention each day provides reflections, bonus information, and suggested actions. Join to receive the novena through the 9 Days for Life app, daily emails, or daily texts. See below for information on how else you can get involved! #9DaysforLife #OurPrayersMatter
Day Eight:
Intercession: May those nearing life’s end receive medical care that respects their dignity and protects their lives.
Prayers: Our Father, 3 Hail Mary’s, Glory Be
Reflection: The dying process is a sacred time—a final season to seek closure in this life and prepare for the next. We know earthly death is not the end, but rather the door through which we must pass to gain eternal life. The deadly practice of assisted suicide—now legal in several states—shortens or even eliminates this sacred season, carelessly cutting short the life of the patient. To support the “false compassion” of assisted suicide is to see people as a problem to be eliminated. End-of-life care should instead help eliminate or alleviate the patient’s problems, whether they are physical, spiritual, or emotional. Those who die in God’s grace and friendship live forever with Christ. Because of our belief and hope in the Resurrection, we can face death not with fear, but with trust. We pray that society might recognize that every day of our lives is a gift and is always worth living, especially our final days. We need not fear. Christ is with us.
Acts
of Reparation (Choose one.)
·
Sacrifice
some of your free time to do a small act of service, such as making breakfast
for a family member, writing a note of encouragement for a coworker, or praying
for the intentions of a friend.
· Pray a decade of the rosary (www.usccb.org/rosary) for your friends and family who have passed away, as well as the departed who have no one to pray for them.
·
Offer
some other sacrifice, prayer, or act of penance that you feel called to do for
today’s intention.
Catechism of the
Catholic Church
Day
225 1646-1651
The fidelity of conjugal love
1646 By its very nature conjugal love requires the
inviolable fidelity of the spouses. This is the consequence of the gift of
themselves which they make to each other. Love seeks to be definitive; it
cannot be an arrangement "until further notice." the "intimate
union of marriage, as a mutual giving of two persons, and the good of the
children, demand total fidelity from the spouses and require an unbreakable
union between them."
1647 The deepest reason is found in the fidelity of God to
his covenant, in that of Christ to his Church. Through the sacrament of
Matrimony the spouses are enabled to represent this fidelity and witness to it.
Through the sacrament, the indissolubility of marriage receives a new and
deeper meaning.
1648 It can seem difficult, even impossible, to bind
oneself for life to another human being. This makes it all the more important
to proclaim the Good News that God loves us with a definitive and irrevocable
love, that married couples share in this love, that it supports and sustains
them, and that by their own faithfulness they can be witnesses to God's
faithful love. Spouses who with God's grace give this witness, often in very
difficult conditions, deserve the gratitude and support of the ecclesial community.
1649 Yet there are some situations in which living together becomes practically impossible for a variety of reasons. In such cases the Church permits the physical separation of the couple and their living apart. the spouses do not cease to be husband and wife before God and so are not free to contract a new union. In this difficult situation, the best solution would be, if possible, reconciliation. the Christian community is called to help these persons live out their situation in a Christian manner and in fidelity to their marriage bond which remains indissoluble.
1650 Today there are numerous Catholics in many countries
who have recourse to civil divorce and contract new civil unions. In fidelity
to the words of Jesus Christ - "Whoever divorces his wife and marries
another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and
marries another, she commits adultery" The Church maintains that a
new union cannot be recognized as valid, if the first marriage was. If the
divorced are remarried civilly, they find themselves in a situation that
objectively contravenes God's law. Consequently, they cannot receive
Eucharistic communion as long as this situation persists. For the same reason,
they cannot exercise certain ecclesial responsibilities. Reconciliation through
the sacrament of Penance can be granted only to those who have repented for
having violated the sign of the covenant and of fidelity to Christ, and who are
committed to living in complete continence.
1651 Toward Christians who live in this situation, and who
often keep the faith and desire to bring up their children in a Christian
manner, priests and the whole community must manifest an attentive solicitude,
so that they do not consider themselves separated from the Church, in whose
life they can and must participate as baptized persons:
They should be encouraged to listen to the Word of God, to
attend the Sacrifice of the Mass, to persevere in prayer, to contribute to
works of charity and to community efforts for justice, to bring up their
children in the Christian faith, to cultivate the spirit and practice of
penance and thus implore, day by day, God's grace.
PRAYERS AND TEACHINGS OF
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
Catholic Ten Commandments:
I. I am the LORD your God. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.II. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
III. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
IV. Honor your father and your mother.
V. You shall not kill.
VI. You shall not commit adultery.
VII. You shall not steal.
VIII. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
IX. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
X. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods.
Captain Kangaroo[4]
On Oct. 3, 1955, Bob Keeshan stepped onto a nautical-themed set wearing a captain's cap and a jacket with big, kangaroolike pockets. He smiled into the camera and became a television icon. Keeshan would play Captain Kangaroo for 36 years--more than 9,000 performances--to the amusement and betterment of generations of delighted children.
Keeshan died (January 23, 2004) at a hospital in Windsor, Vt., after a long illness. Though no cause of death was announced, he had suffered from cardiac problems since the 1980s. He was 76. Unmistakable with his brushy mustache and bowl haircut, the Captain passed time with his good friend Mr. Green Jeans (Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum), visited with puppet animals such as Bunny Rabbit, whom he scolded for eating too many carrots, and Mr. Moose, who loved knock-knock jokes. The animal characters were voiced by Cosmo "Gus" Allegretti. Ahead of his time in recognizing the importance of early learning, Keeshan's Captain built confidence and intellectual development in children who were having too much fun to notice the lessons. "Play is the work of children," he said. "It's very serious stuff. And if it's properly structured in a developmental program, children can blossom."
Captain Kangaroo most will remember--a grandfatherly figure (though Keeshan was just 28 at the beginning) who spoke directly to the camera, with no audience, no children in the cast, no intermediaries in the conversation he was having with his at-home viewers. "One of the reasons I work in television today," said David Kleeman, executive director of the Chicago-based American Center for Children and Media, "is because, when I was 4 or 5, I said `Hello' to Captain Kangaroo when he came on the screen, and he said `Hello' back to me. I really believed that he was talking to me. And I think he would have agreed. We're losing the generation of children's TV hosts who made a new mass medium personal--who could talk into the camera as though we were the only person on the other side."
In later life Keeshan spoke often about the importance of good parenting. `Role models' "Parents are the ultimate role models for children," he said. "Every word, movement and action has an effect. No other person or outside force has a greater influence on a child than the parent." [Emphasis added]
Keeshan insisted that viewers must always feel special, never just part of a huge audience. He screened advertising to assure that what he considered exploitative commercials would never be shown. Over the years, his stewardship of "Captain Kangaroo" was abundantly rewarded. The show won six Emmy Awards, three Gabriel’s for "uplifting" programming from a Catholic media group and three Peabody Awards.
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters
of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: Protection of Life from Conception until
natural death.
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary.
[3]http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/january-roe-events/nine-days-of-prayer-penance-and-pilgrimage.cfm
[4]Charles
Leroux, Tribune senior correspondent Chicago Tribune, January 24, 2004
[5] Sheraton, Mimi. 1,000 Foods
To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List (p. 892). Workman Publishing
Company. Kindle Edition.
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