Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Candace’s Corner-Try “Veracruz-Style Red Snapper”
· Pray Day 1 of the Novena for our Pope and Bishops
· Tuesday: Litany of St. Michael the Archangel
· Bucket List trip: Australian Wine Country
· Carnival Time begins in Catholic Countries.
· Spirit Hour: Hunter Valley Wine
· 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
· How to celebrate Jan 28th
· Ever wondered how to make the most out of a day filled with kazoo tunes, LEGO creations, blueberry pancakes, vacation planning, speaking up, Viking celebrations, CO2 reductions, daisies, data privacy, rattlesnakes, community engagement, ladybug gifts, Geoffroy’s cats, and army pride? Start your morning with a stack of blueberry pancakes while drafting your dream vacation itinerary. Take a moment to appreciate nature with a bouquet of daisies and reflect on ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Engage with your community by attending a local event or volunteering. Embrace your creativity by building something out of LEGO bricks and celebrating the art of data privacy. Speak up about something you’re passionate about, maybe even participating in a kazoo concert or rattlesnake roundup. Honor military service with a moment of remembrance or gratitude. Throughout the day, keep an eye out for ladybugs and Geoffroy’s cats. End your day with a toast to the joy of embracing the weird and wonderful world we live in. Cheers to a day filled with unexpected celebrations!
JANUARY 28 Tuesday-Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas
Baruch, Chapter 6, Verse 14
Baruch
who was the scribe of Jeremiah argues against the temptation to worship
Babylonian gods. He sets forth reasons such as they are weak, helpless,
attended by unworthy ministers who use these frightening gods with weapons to
enslave and control the masses and in like manner the priests frightened the
Jews into condemning Christ. To this Peter testifies,
“The
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers,
has glorified his servant Jesus whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s
presence, when he had decided to release him. You denied the Holy and Righteous
One and asked that a murderer be released to you. The author of life you put to
death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.”(Act
3:13-15)
Christ
now compels us-Do not fear. We are
blessed because we are the receivers of the apex of God’s graces through Jesus
Christ and He has given us His own mother as our mother. Even greater is the
salvation we have received via the action of Divine Mercy.
If
you are afraid to start again or are discouraged by failure it is because you
do not understand you can do nothing without Christ. Therefore if you have
sinned go to confession and receive His Body and Blood: being renewed.
I
remember in 2006 when I and my wife Mary were blessed with being able to make a
trip to Israel. I was reflecting upon the graces I had received. I was thanking
the Lord for I had touched the spot on the earth where He was born, and I had
touched the spot where He had died, and I had touched the spot where He had
ascended into heaven. I was prideful and thought how lucky I am. Then my Lord
reminded me that a greater grace still awaits me and everyone in the Holy
Eucharist. Be honest, humble yourself and make a sincere effort. Leave all else
in His hands-saying: Jesus I Trust in You! Pride wants immediate success. Be
brave and renew your intentions, make a resolution daily to do the will of God
and seek to please Him.
Aids in Battle[1]
This Blood, if rightly received, drives away demons and keeps them
far away from us, while it calls to us both angels and the Lord of angels. For
wherever they see the Lord’s Blood, demons flee, and angels run to gather
together. For this Blood, poured forth, washed clean all the world. . .
. Those who share this Blood stand with angels and archangels
and the heavenly powers above, clothed in Christ’s own kingly robe, and having
the armor of the Spirit. In fact, greater than everything I have yet described
is this: Those who share this Blood are clothed with the King Himself.
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church[2]
Thomas Aquinas
thoughts on Fear
Article 1. Whether God can be feared?
I answer that, Just as hope has two objects, one
of which is the future good itself,
that one expects to obtain, while the other is someone's help, through whom one
expects to obtain what one hopes for, so, too, fear may have two objects, one of which is the very evil which a
man shrinks from, while the other is that from which the evil may
come. Accordingly, in the first way God, Who is goodness
itself, cannot be an object of fear; but He can be an object of fear in the
second way, in so far as there may come to us some evil either
from Him or in relation to Him. From Him there comes the evil of
punishment, but this is evil not
absolutely but relatively, and, absolutely speaking, is a good.
Because, since a thing is said to be good through
being ordered to an end, while evil implies
lack of this order, that which excludes the order to the last end is altogether
evil,
and such is the evil
of fault. On the other hand the evil of
punishment is indeed an evil, in so
far as it is the privation of some particular good, yet
absolutely speaking, it is a good, in so
far as it is ordained to the last end. In relation to God the evil of
fault can come to us, if we be separated from Him: and in this way God can and
ought to be feared.
Article 2. Whether fear is fittingly divided into filial, initial, servile and worldly fear?
I
answer that,
We are speaking of fear now, in so far as it makes us turn, so to speak, to God or away
from Him. For, since the object of fear is an evil,
sometimes, on account of the evils he fears, man
withdraws from God,
and this is called human
fear; while sometimes, on account of the evils he fears, he
turns to God
and adheres to Him. This latter evil is
twofold, viz. evil
of punishment, and evil
of fault. Accordingly if a man turn to God and
adhere to Him, through fear of punishment, it will be servile fear; but if it
be on account of fear of committing a fault, it will be filial fear, for it
becomes a child to fear offending its father. If, however, it be on account of
both, it will be initial fear, which is between both these fears.
Article 3. Whether worldly fear is always evil?
I
answer that,
moral acts and habits
take their name and species
from their objects. Now the proper object of the appetite's
movement is the final good: so
that, in consequence, every appetitive
movement is both specified and named from its proper end. For if anyone were to
describe covetousness
as love of work because men work on account of covetousness,
this description would be incorrect, since the covetous man seeks
work not as end but as a means: the end that he seeks is wealth,
wherefore covetousness
is rightly described as the desire or the love of wealth, and
this is evil.
Accordingly, worldly love is, properly speaking; the love whereby a man trusts
in the world as his end, so that worldly love is always evil. Now
fear is born of love, since man fears the
loss of what he loves, as Augustine
states. Now worldly fear is that which arises from worldly love as from an evil root,
for which reason worldly fear is always evil.
Saint Thomas Aquinas’ thoughts on
fear:[3]
1. Fear is a shrinking back from evil. Hence, we cannot fear God in
himself, for God is infinite goodness. But one is said to fear God in
the sense of fearing the evil of being separated from God by sin, and in the
sense of fearing to incur his punishments for sin.
2. Fear is called servile fear when it is the dread of punishment
alone. It is called filial fear or chaste
fear when it is primarily the dread of offending God, our loving father.
Between these two types of fear is initial fear, which is properly the
beginning of filial fear, and differs
from it only as imperfect differs from perfect. There is another type of fear
called worldly fear which is the dread of losing temporal things to
which the heart clings as to the ultimate good.
3. Worldly fear is always evil,
for it discounts God and eternity, and dreads only the loss of creatural goods.
4. Servile fear is not good in
point of its servility, but it is good inasmuch as it recognizes and dreads the
evil that attends upon sin. From such a dread a person may readily rise to the
higher and noble type of fear, and through this, to charity and repentance.
5. However, servile fear is
essentially different from filial
fear. Servile fear dreads punishment;
filial fear dreads offending God.
These two types of fear differ in their specific objects, and therefore differ
essentially from each other.
6. Yet servile fear, as we have
seen, has a good aspect, and, in this respect, it comes from the Holy Ghost;
but it is not the gift of the Holy Ghost that we call fear. Hence, servile fear, in so far as it is good,
can remain in the soul which has charity, that is, which is in the state of
sanctifying or habitual grace, and therefore in the friendship and love of God.
7. Wisdom is knowledge of God together with the will to serve him and
possess him. Now, the beginning of wisdom itself is faith, for by faith we know
God and are directed to him. But the beginning of wisdom, in the sense of what
arouses one and stirs one to be wise, is fear. This beginning of wisdom is both servile fear and filial fear; such fear puts spurs to a man, so to speak, and makes
him cultivate wisdom. In this sense, "the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 110).
8. Initial fear is, as we have
said, beginning fear. Both servile
fear and filial fear may be, in some
way, the start of fearing the Lord. Yet initial
fear is closer to filial fear than to
servile fear; indeed, it is, properly
speaking, an imperfect form of filial
fear.
9. Filial or chaste fear of the Lord is one of the
seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. By it we revere God and avoid what separates us
from him.
10. Filial fear increases with
charity, for the more one loves God, the more one fears to offend him. Servile fear loses its servility as
charity increases, and then, as the non servile dread of deserved punishments,
it decreases in the glow of charity. For charity fixes the soul more and more
on God, and thus the thought of self, and even of deserved punishment of
oneself, becomes less and less. Besides, the greater one's charity is, the more
confident is one's soul of escape from punishment. And thus, finally, the only
fear in the charity-filled soul is filial
fear.
11. Filial fear will exist in a
perfected state in heaven. It cannot be the same as it is during earthly life,
for in heaven all possibility of losing or offending God will be taken away. Servile fear will not exist at all in
heaven.
12. The first beatitude, "Blessed are the poor inspirit," corresponds to the gift of fear. For if a man fears God perfectly, as he may do by the gift, he does not pridefully seek to be rich or honored but is humble and poor inspirit.
Things to do:[4]
· Read G.K. Chesterton's biography, St. Thomas Aquinas, The Dumb Ox, which is full of Chestertonian profundity and wit online or purchase it from Amazon.
·
Dive
into the intellectual depth and beauty of St. Thomas' thought in his Summa
Theologiae. Familiarize yourself with his method of inquiry by reading his
section on God's attributes, especially the goodness of God. Here is a Bibliography in English.
·
Nearly
everyone, especially young people, knows and appreciates the story of St.
Thomas chasing the prostitute from his room with a burning log. (She was sent
by his wealthy family to tempt him away from the religious life.) After he
drove away the temptress, two angels came to him and fastened a mystical
chastity cord around his waist. Buy or fashion your own chastity belt, easy to
make from braided yarn or thin, soft rope. (St. Joseph chastity belts are
available at some Catholic shops.) This would be a beautiful alternative or
addition to the "True Love Waits" chastity pledge and ring. It is a
wonderful low-key symbol for self-conscious teens. It also serves as an
excellent reminder to pray daily for the virtue of chastity.
·
Meditate
upon the profound humility of St. Thomas Aquinas, whose intellectual capacity
far surpasses any since his time. He stopped writing at the end of his life
after having a vision of the glory of God, claiming that 'All that I have
written seems to me like straw compared to what has now been revealed to me.'
How often do we take pride in our own intellectual achievements, fully
crediting them to ourselves?
·
If
you are a student or teacher, or at all concerned about the crisis of Catholic
education, make ample use of the Prayer to
St. Thomas Aquinas for Schools
and the Prayer to
the Angel of Schools.
·
Read
Pope Leo XIII's encyclical, Aeterni
Patris,
strangely relevant to our time in its exhortation towards a renewal in
philosophical study with a focus on the Angelic Doctor, Saint Thomas Aquinas.
·
Finally,
read Pope John Paul II's encyclical, Fides et
Ratio,
especially the section on The enduring originality of the thought of St.
Thomas Aquinas. He expresses a similar intent to that of Pope Leo XIII's in
the following words, "If it has been necessary from time to time to
intervene on this question, to reiterate the value of the Angelic Doctor's
insights and insist on the study of his thought, this has been because the
Magisterium's directives have not always been followed with the readiness one
would wish."
·
From
the Catholic Culture library: Light from
Aquinas , The
Meaning of Virtue in St. Thomas Aquinas and The
Philosophy of Woman of St. Thomas Aquinas. For many more documents search the library for
"Aquinas".
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
§ Day 230-231 1691-1698
PART
THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST
1691
"Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God's own
nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning. Remember who is
your head and of whose body you are a member. Never forget that you have been
rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of the Kingdom of
God."1
1692 The
Symbol of the faith confesses the greatness of God's gifts to man in his work
of creation, and even more in redemption and sanctification. What faith
confesses, the sacraments communicate: by the sacraments of rebirth, Christians
have become "children of God," "partakers of the divine
nature."3 Coming to see in the faith their new
dignity, Christians are called to lead henceforth a life "worthy of the
gospel of Christ."4 They are made capable of doing so by the
grace of Christ and the gifts of his Spirit, which they receive through the
sacraments and through prayer.
1693 Christ
Jesus always did what was pleasing to the Father, and always lived in
perfect communion with him. Likewise Christ's disciples are invited to live in
the sight of the Father "who sees in secret," in order to become
"perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."
1694
Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, Christians are "dead to sin and alive
to God in Christ Jesus" and so participate in the life of the Risen
Lord. Following Christ and united with him, Christians can strive to
be "imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love" by
conforming their thoughts, words and actions to the "mind . . . which is
yours in Christ Jesus," and by following his example.
1695
"Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our
God," "sanctified . . . (and) called to be
saints," Christians have become the temple of the Holy
Spirit. This "Spirit of the Son" teaches them to pray to the
Father and, having become their life, prompts them to act so as to bear
"the fruit of the Spirit" by charity in action. Healing the
wounds of sin, the Holy Spirit renews us interiorly through a spiritual transformation. He
enlightens and strengthens us to live as "children of light" through
"all that is good and right and true."
1696 The way
of Christ "leads to life"; a contrary way "leads to
destruction." The Gospel parable of the two ways remains ever present
in the catechesis of the Church; it shows the importance of moral decisions for
our salvation: "There are two ways, the one of life, the other of death;
but between the two, there is a great difference."
1697
Catechesis has to reveal in all clarity the joy and the demands of the way of
Christ. Catechesis for the "newness of life" in him should
be:
-a catechesis of the Holy Spirit, the interior Master of life according to
Christ, a gentle guest and friend who inspires, guides, corrects, and
strengthens this life;
-a catechesis of grace, for it is by grace that we are saved and again it is by
grace that our works can bear fruit for eternal life;
-a catechesis of the beatitudes, for the way of Christ is summed up in the
beatitudes, the only path that leads to the eternal beatitude for which the
human heart longs;
-a catechesis of sin and forgiveness, for unless man acknowledges that he is a
sinner he cannot know the truth about himself, which is a condition for acting
justly; and without the offer of forgiveness he would not be able to bear this
truth;
-a catechesis of the human virtues which causes one to grasp the beauty and
attraction of right dispositions towards goodness;
-a catechesis of the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and charity, generously
inspired by the example of the saints; -a catechesis of the twofold commandment
of charity set forth in the Decalogue;
-an ecclesial catechesis, for it is through the manifold exchanges of
"spiritual goods" in the "communion of saints" that
Christian life can grow, develop, and be communicated.
1698 The first
and last point of reference of this catechesis will always be Jesus Christ
himself, who is "the way, and the truth, and the life." It is by
looking to him in faith that Christ's faithful can hope that he himself
fulfills his promises in them, and that, by loving him with the same love with
which he has loved them, they may perform works in keeping with their dignity:
I ask you to
consider that our Lord Jesus Christ is your true head, and that you are one of
his members. He belongs to you as the head belongs to its members; all that is
his is yours: his spirit, his heart, his body and soul, and all his faculties.
You must make use of all these as of your own, to serve, praise, love, and
glorify God. You belong to him, as members belong to their head. and so he
longs for you to use all that is in you, as if it were his own, for the service
and glory of the Father.
For to me,
to live is Christ.
Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: The
Sick, afflicted, and infirmed.
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
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