NIC’s Corner
Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our Salvation (Psalm 68:19)
· Foodie: National Barbecue Day-Better to smoke in this life than the next.
· Catholic Activity: Religion in the Home for Preschool: May
· Bucket List trip: Happiest Place on Earth-no its not Disneyland
· Spirit Hour: St. Brendan's Cocktail
· Iceman’s 40 devotion
· Get an indulgence
· Operation Purity
MAY 16 Friday of
the Fourth Week of Easter
ST.
SIMON STOCK
2 Maccabees, Chapter 3, Verse 29-30
29 As Heliodorus lay speechless because of God’s action and deprived
of any hope of recovery, 30 the people praised the Lord who had marvelously glorified his own
place; and the temple, charged so shortly before with FEAR and
commotion, was filled with joy and gladness, now that the almighty Lord had
appeared.
As Mr. H approaches the temple both he and his associates encounter the living God where upon he and his associates are thrown into panic and fainting. Then a rider on the magnificent horse charges H and his two companions, who fall to the ground unconscious. Mr. H is then unceremoniously carried away
on a stretcher, utterly helpless. The people praise God who has
protected the temple. H fearful of his death, have his supporters ask the high
priest to pray for him which the High priest does, and Mr. H now proclaims
God’s power and majesty, and the story continues with:
·
Simon Maccabee opposes the high priest, Onias.
·
Onias is disposed as high priest by his brother Jason who bribes
the king and is part of the Hellenistic party.
·
Jason doesn’t pay his bribe in a timely manner and is supplanted
by Menelaus who offers more but does not pay as promised then is on the run.
·
The king marches with is army to squash the cities that are not
with the program and leaves his trusted henchman Andronicus in charge who
promptly murders the ex-high priest, Onias.
·
Menelaus plunders the temple of its golden vessels and booms back
on top, bribes away.
·
Jason the bad man with no money dies in exile. Do we see a pattern
here?
·
Antiochus IV then attacks the Jews and profanes the temple.
·
Antiochus IV then proscribes Jewish practices and persecutes the
religious.
St.
Simon Stock[1]
Saint Simon
Stock was born to a very illustrious family in Kent County, England (c. 1165),
of which his father was governor. His mother was devoted to the Virgin Mary,
and Simon was not yet one year old when he was heard clearly articulating the
Angelic salutation several times. When he was twelve, Simon began to live as a
hermit in the hollow of a trunk of an oak, where he got the nickname “stock” or “trunk”. Within this wilderness
retreat, his continual prayers ascended to heaven and he spent twenty years in
the most complete solitude, feeding his soul with the celestial delights of
contemplation.
Having
voluntarily chosen to deprive himself of human conversation, he was favored
with that of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the angels who urged him to persevere
in his life of sacrifice and love. The Queen of Heaven told him that some
hermits from Palestine would soon land in England, adding that he should join
those men whom she considered as her servants.
Indeed, Lord
John Vesoy and Lord Richard Gray of Codnor returned from the Holy Land,
bringing with them several hermits from Mount Carmel. Simon Stock joined them
in 1212 and was elected Vicar General of the Carmelite Order in 1215. He begged
the Virgin Mary by fervent prayers and tears to defend this Order, which was
devoted to her, and she appeared in a dream to Pope Honorius III, so the pope
finally confirmed the Rule of Carmelites in 1226.
Another time
the Mother of God appeared to Simon, surrounded by a dazzling light and
accompanied by a large number of blessed spirits, with the scapular of the
order in her hand. This scapular she gave him with the words:
“Hoc erit tibi et cunctis Carmelitis privilegium, in hoc
habitu moriens salvabitur” –
This shall be
the privilege for you and for all the Carmelites, that anyone wearing this
habit shall be saved.
Through Saint
Simon Stock the devotion of the scapular spread throughout the world, not only
among the people, but also among kings and princes who found themselves very
honored to wear the sign of the servants of the Blessed Virgin. Stock breathed
his last in the city of Bordeaux while visiting monasteries, in the 20th year
of his office as Vicar General. The Church added his last words to the Angelic
salutation: “Holy Mary,
Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.”
Mary’s
Promise to Those Who Wear the Scapular
Our Lady gave St. Simon a scapular
for the Carmelites with the following promise, saying: Receive, My beloved son,
this habit of thy order: this shall be to thee and to all Carmelites a
privilege, that whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire
…. It shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger, and a pledge of
peace.
Another important aspect of wearing
the Scapular is the Sabbatine Privilege. This concerns a promise made by Our
Lady to Pope John XXII. In a papal letter he issued, he recounted a vision that
he had had. He stated that the Blessed Virgin had said to him in this vision,
concerning those who wear the Brown Scapular: “I, the Mother of Grace, shall
descend on the Saturday after their death and whomsoever I shall find in
Purgatory, I shall free, so that I may lead them to the holy mountain of life
everlasting.”
Conditions and Rituals Attached to The Scapular
According to Church tradition, there
are three conditions necessary to participate in this Privilege and share in
the other spiritual benefits of the Scapular: wear the Brown Scapular, observe
chastity according to your state in life, and pray the Rosary. In addition to
the Sabbatine Privilege, enrollment in the Brown Scapular also makes a person
part of the Carmelite family throughout the world. They therefore share in all
of the prayers and good works of the Carmelite Orders. Participation in the
Carmelite family also, of course, places you in a special relationship with the
Carmelite saints, especially St. Elijah, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the
Cross, St. Therese of Lisieux, and, most importantly, Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
In order to receive the spiritual
blessings associated with the Scapular, it is necessary to be formally enrolled
in the Brown Scapular by either a priest or a lay person who has been given
this faculty. Once enrolled, the enrollment is for life and need not be
repeated. Anyone, adult or infant, who has not previously been enrolled may be
enrolled in the Brown Scapular.
Value and Meaning of The Scapular
Many popes and saints have strongly
recommended wearing, the Brown Scapular to the Catholic Faithful, including St.
Robert Bellarmine, Pope John XXII, Pope Pius Xl, and Pope Benedict XV. For example,
St. Alphonsus said: “Just as men take pride in having others wear their livery,
so the Most Holy Mary is pleased when Her servants wear Her Scapular as a mark
that they have dedicated themselves to Her service, and are members of the
Family of the Mother of God.”
Pope Pius XII went so far as to say:
“The Scapular is a practice of piety which by its very simplicity is suited to
everyone and has spread widely among the faithful of Christ to their spiritual
profit.” In our own times, Pope Paul VI said: “Let the faithful hold in high
esteem the practices and devotions to the Blessed Virgin … the Rosary and the
Scapular of Carmel” and in another place referred to the Scapular as: “so
highly recommended by our illustrious predecessors.”
Apostolic
Exhortation[2]
Veneremur Cernui – Down in Adoration
Falling
of The Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of
Phoenix,
to Priests, Deacons, Religious and the Lay Faithful of the Diocese of Phoenix
on the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist
My beloved Brothers and Sisters in
Christ,
Part I
Eucharist –
Mystery to Be Revered
10. We cannot speak of the
Eucharist without being confronted by its awesome mystery. It is no wonder that
it is the central point of division between Catholics and other Christians. As
early as the second century, we have record of Christians being accused of
cannibalism by the pagan Romans because they ate and drank the Body and Blood
of Christ (cf. First and Second Apologies of St. Justin Martyr). Since
the Protestant Reformation, many Christians stopped believing in the real
presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Instead, they hold a certain religious
service on Sundays but not the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
11. The perennial biblical verse where
the Christian conflict begins and ends is the Bread of Life discourse: “Very
truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his
blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have
eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true
food and my blood is true drink” (Jn 6:53-55).
12. Jesus meant exactly what He said –
He is truly present in the Eucharist. Some say that these words are figurative
or that Jesus was only speaking symbolically when He said, “Whoever eats my
flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life”. However, if Jesus had meant it
as a symbol, He would not have repeated this message seven times in this
dialogue: “My flesh is true food, my blood is true drink”. The Jews
understood what He really meant, and they responded with incredulity, “How
can this man give us His flesh to eat?”. Despite the uproar caused by His
teaching, Jesus did not soften His claim. On the contrary, He strengthened it.
Up to this point, the Gospel of Saint John uses the ordinary Greek word for
“eat” (phagein). After the indignant question from the Jews, John shifts
to a stronger word “to chew” or “to munch” (trogein). To capture the
force of this word, we could translate, not as: “Whoever eats my flesh”;
but “Whoever feeds on my flesh”.
To be continued…
Catechism of the
Catholic Church
Day 334 2598
PART
FOUR: CHRISTIAN PRAYER
SECTION
ONE-PRAYER IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
CHAPTER
ONE-THE REVELATION OF PRAYER - THE UNIVERSAL CALL TO PRAYER
Article 2-IN
THE FULLNESS OF TIME
2598 The drama of prayer is fully revealed to us in
the Word who became flesh and dwells among us. To seek to understand his prayer
through what his witnesses proclaim to us in the Gospel is to approach the holy
Lord Jesus as Moses approached the burning bush: first to contemplate him in
prayer, then to hear how he teaches us to pray, in order to know how he hears
our prayer.
Jesus prays.
2599 The Son of God who became Son of the Virgin
learned to pray in his human heart. He learns to pray from his mother, who kept
all the great things the Almighty had done and treasured them in her
heart. He learns to pray in the words and rhythms of the prayer of his
people, in the synagogue at Nazareth and the Temple at Jerusalem. But his
prayer springs from an otherwise secret source, as he intimates at the age of
twelve: "I must be in my Father's house." Here the newness of
prayer in the fullness of time begins to be revealed: his filial prayer, which
the Father awaits from his children, is finally going to be lived out by the
only Son in his humanity, with and for men.
2600 The Gospel according to St. Luke emphasizes the
action of the Holy Spirit and the meaning of prayer in Christ's ministry. Jesus
prays before the decisive moments of his mission: before his Father's witness
to him during his baptism and Transfiguration, and before his own fulfillment
of the Father's plan of love by his Passion. He also prays before the
decisive moments involving the mission of his apostles: at his election and
call of the Twelve, before Peter's confession of him as "the Christ of
God," and again that the faith of the chief of the Apostles may not fail
when tempted. Jesus' prayer before the events of salvation that the Father
has asked him to fulfill is a humble and trusting commitment of his human will
to the loving will of the Father.
2601 "He was praying in a certain place and when
he had ceased, one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to
pray."' In seeing the Master at prayer the disciple of Christ also
wants to pray. By contemplating and hearing the Son, the master of prayer, the
children learn to pray to the Father.
2602 Jesus often draws apart to pray in solitude, on
a mountain, preferably at night. He includes all men in his prayer, for he
has taken on humanity in his incarnation, and he offers them to the Father when
he offers himself. Jesus, the Word who has become flesh, shares by his human
prayer in all that "his brethren" experience; he sympathizes with
their weaknesses in order to free them. It was for this that the Father
sent him. His words and works are the visible manifestation of his prayer in
secret.
2603 The evangelists have preserved two more explicit
prayers offered by Christ during his public ministry. Each begins with
thanksgiving. In the first, Jesus confesses the Father, acknowledges, and
blesses him because he has hidden the mysteries of the Kingdom from those who
think themselves learned and has revealed them to infants, the poor of the
Beatitudes. His exclamation, "Yes, Father!" expresses the depth
of his heart, his adherence to the Father's "good pleasure," echoing
his mother's Fiat at the time of his conception and prefiguring what he will
say to the Father in his agony. the whole prayer of Jesus is contained in this
loving adherence of his human heart to the mystery of the will of the Father.
2604 The second prayer, before the raising of
Lazarus, is recorded by St. John. Thanksgiving precedes the event:
"Father, I thank you for having heard me," which implies that the
Father always hears his petitions. Jesus immediately adds: "I know that
you always hear me," which implies that Jesus, on his part, constantly
made such petitions. Jesus' prayer, characterized by thanksgiving, reveals to
us how to ask: before the gift is given, Jesus commits himself to the One who
in giving gives himself. The Giver is more precious than the gift; he is the
"treasure"; in him abides his Son's heart; the gift is given "as
well."
The priestly prayer of Jesus holds a unique place in
the economy of salvation. A meditation on it will conclude Section One. It
reveals the ever present prayer of our High Priest and, at the same time,
contains what he teaches us about our prayer to our Father, which will be
developed in Section Two.
2605 When the hour had come for him to fulfill the
Father's plan of love, Jesus allows a glimpse of the boundless depth of his
filial prayer, not only before he freely delivered himself up (“Abba . . . not
my will, but yours."), but even in his last words on the Cross, where
prayer and the gift of self are but one: "Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do", "Truly, I say to you, today you will be
with me in Paradise", "Woman, behold your son" -
"Behold your mother", "I thirst."; "My God,
My God, why have you forsaken me?" "It is
finished"; "Father, into your hands I commit my
spirit!" until the "loud cry" as he expires, giving up his
spirit.
2606 All the troubles, for all time, of humanity
enslaved by sin and death, all the petitions and intercessions of salvation
history are summed up in this cry of the incarnate Word. Here the Father
accepts them and, beyond all hope, answers them by raising his Son. Thus is
fulfilled and brought to completion the drama of prayer in the economy of
creation and salvation. the Psalter gives us the key to prayer in Christ. In
the "today" of the Resurrection the Father says: "You are my
Son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your
heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession."
The Letter to the Hebrews expresses in dramatic terms
how the prayer of Jesus accomplished the victory of salvation: "In the
days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries
and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his
godly fear. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he
suffered, and being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to
all who obey him."
Armed Forces Day Build Up
US Air Force[3]
Fighting at 25,000 feet in thin,
freezing air that no warriors had ever encountered before, bomber crews battled
new kinds of assaults on body and mind. Air combat was deadly but intermittent:
periods of inactivity and anxiety were followed by short bursts of fire and
fear. Unlike infantrymen, bomber boys slept on clean sheets, drank beer in
local pubs, and danced to the swing music of Glenn Miller’s Air Force band,
which toured U.S. air bases in England. But they had a much greater chance of
dying than ground soldiers. In 1943, an American bomber crewman stood only a
one-in-five chance of surviving his tour of duty, twenty-five missions. The
Eighth Air Force lost more men in the war than the U.S. Marine Corps. The
bomber crews were an elite group of warriors who were a microcosm of America —
white America, anyway. (African Americans could not serve in the Eighth Air
Force except in a support capacity.) The actor Jimmy Stewart was a bomber boy,
and so was the “King of Hollywood,” Clark Gable. And the air war was filmed by
Oscar-winning director William Wyler and covered by reporters like Andy Rooney
and Walter Cronkite, all of whom flew combat missions with the men. The
Anglo-American bombing campaign against Nazi Germany was the longest military
campaign of World War II, a war within a war. Until Allied soldiers crossed
into Germany in the final months of the war, it was the only battle fought
inside the German homeland.
US Space Force[4]
The U.S. Space Force (USSF) is a new branch of the
Armed Forces. It was established on December 20, 2019 with enactment of the
Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act and will be stood-up over
the next 18 months. The USSF was established within the Department of the Air
Force, meaning the Secretary
of the Air Force has overall responsibility for the USSF, under the
guidance and direction of the Secretary of Defense. Additionally, a four-star
general known as the Chief
of Space Operations (CSO) serves as the senior military member of the
USSF. The CSO is a full member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Mission
The USSF is a military service that organizes,
trains, and equips space forces in order to protect U.S. and allied interests
in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint force. USSF
responsibilities include developing military space professionals, acquiring
military space systems, maturing the military doctrine for space power, and
organizing space forces to present to our Combatant Commands.
Space Capabilities
The new, independent U.S. Space Force will maintain
and enhance the competitive edge in space while adapting to new strategic
challenges. Spacelift operations at the East and West Coast launch bases
provide services, facilities and range safety control for the conduct of NASA
and commercial space launches. Through the command and control of all defense satellites,
satellite operators provide force-multiplying effects – continuous
global coverage, low vulnerability and autonomous operations. Satellites
provide essential in-theater secure communications, weather and navigational
data for ground, air and fleet operations and threat warning. Ground-based
and space-based systems monitor ballistic missile launches around the world to
guard against a surprise missile attack on North America. A global network of
space surveillance sensors provides vital information on the location of
satellites and space debris for the nation and the world. Maintaining space
superiority is an emerging capability required to protect U.S. space assets
from hostile attacks.
Fitness Friday
Try the St. Peter Universal Man Plan-In
honor of Pope Leo XIV
Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in
fasting: For the Poor and Suffering
·
Litany of the Most
Precious Blood of Jesus
·
Offering
to the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Make reparations to the Holy Face
·
Drops
of Christ’s Blood
·
Universal
Man Plan
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