MAY 8 Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
ST.
MICHAEL Third Shift Workers’ Day
Psalm 66, verse 16
Come and hear, all you who FEAR God, while I recount what has been done for me.
It is just that we recount how God has removed our faults and how he imputes no guilt on us when we sincerely repent and turn away from our sins and ask for forgiveness. Once He has freed us, it is then that we can gratefully receive the counsels of the Holy Spirit which show us our path.
The Shema Yisrael which is the same prayer the Christ prayed every morning tells us that God is to be loved.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your Heart, and with all your soul, and with your entire mind, and with all your strength.
Christ is the living example of God’s love for us. His heart could not rest until He repaid our debt. His soul was so tormented for love of us that He sweated blood in the garden for us. His mind was ever on us when He multiplied the loaves or healed the sick and with all His strength He offered his life as an eternal sacrifice before the Father. He for love of us took the cup and drank it to the dregs during His passion.
To
help us understand this love of His for us is the mission of the Confraternity of the Passion International[1]
who document the full suffering of our Lord to show us how we are loved knowing
that Christ and His mother weep over lost souls and delight over converted
ones.
Apparition of St. Michael[2]
It is evident from Holy Scripture that
God is pleased to make frequent use of the ministry of the heavenly spirits in
the dispensations of His providence in this world. The Angels are all pure
spirits; by a property of their nature, they are immortal, as is every spirit.
They have the power of moving or conveying themselves at will from place to
place, and such is their activity that it is not easy for us to conceive of it.
Among the holy Archangels, Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are particularly
distinguished in the Scriptures. Saint Michael, whose name means Who is like
unto God? is the prince of the faithful Angels who opposed Lucifer and his
followers in their revolt against God.
Since the devil is the sworn enemy of
God’s holy Church, Saint Michael is given to it by God as its special protector
against the demon’s assaults and stratagems.
Various apparitions of this powerful
Angel have proved the protection of Saint Michael over the Church. We may
mention his apparition in Rome, where Saint Gregory the Great saw him in the
air sheathing his sword, to signal the cessation of a pestilence and the
appeasement of God’s wrath. Another apparition to Saint Ausbert, bishop of
Avranches in France, led to the construction of Mont-Saint-Michel in the sea, a
famous pilgrimage site. May 8th, however, is destined to recall
another no less marvelous apparition, occurring near Monte Gargano in the
Kingdom of Naples.
In the year 492 a man named Gargan was
pasturing his large herds in the countryside. One day a bull fled to the
mountain, where it could not be found. When its refuge in a cave was
discovered, an arrow was shot into the cave, but the arrow returned to wound
the one who had sent it. Faced with this mysterious occurrence, the persons
concerned decided to consult the bishop of the region. He ordered three days of
fasting and prayers. After three days, the Archangel Michael appeared to the
bishop and declared that the cavern where the bull had taken refuge was under
his protection, and that God wanted it to be consecrated under his name and in
honor of all the Holy Angels.
Accompanied by his clergy and people,
the pontiff went to that cavern, which he found already disposed in the form of
a church. The divine mysteries were celebrated there, and there arose in this
same place a magnificent temple where the divine Power has wrought great
miracles. To thank God’s adorable goodness for the protection of the holy
Archangel, the effect of His merciful Providence, this feast day was instituted
by the Church in his honor.
It is said of this special guardian
and protector of the Church that, during the final persecution of Antichrist,
he will powerfully defend it: “At that time shall Michael rise up, the great
prince who protects the children of thy people.”
Judgment Day[3]
How
will the Last Judgment begin?
At the command of
God, the angels, with the sound of the trumpet, shall summon all men to
judgment (i. These, iv. 15). The bodies and souls of the dead shall be again
united, and the wicked shall be separated from the righteous, the just on the right,
the wicked on the left (St. Matt. xxv. 33). The angels and the devils will be
present, and Christ Himself will appear in a bright cloud with such power and
majesty that the wicked, for fear, will not be able to look at Him, but will
say to the mountains, “Fall on us,” and to the hills, “Cover us” (St. Luke
xxiii. 30).
Why
will God hold a general and public judgment?
1. That all may know
how just He has been in the particular judgment of each one.
2. That justice may
at last be rendered to the afflicted and persecuted, while the wicked who have
oppressed the poor, the widow, the orphan, the religious, and yet have often
passed for upright and devout persons, may be known in their real characters and
be forever disgraced.
3. That Jesus Christ
may complete His redemption, and openly triumph over His enemies, who shall see
the glory of the Crucified, and tremble at His power.
How
will the Last Judgment proceed?
The books will be
opened, and from them all men will be judged; all their good and bad thoughts,
words, and deeds, even the most secret, known only to God, will be revealed
before the whole world, and according to their works men will be rewarded or be
damned forever. The wicked shall go into everlasting punishment, but the just
into life everlasting (St. Matt. xxv.46).
Third Shift Workers’ Day
Most
people work during the day, which is lucky for them. Third Shift Workers’ Day
celebrates those who lead more nocturnal lives. Do you ever spare a thought for
the nurses, fire-fighters, supermarket shelf-fillers, and all the other brave
people that work the graveyard shift while you sleep soundly in your soft, warm
bed?
They
are the people that
really keep the world turning, yet they might as well be invisible as far as
most of us are concerned. Inhabiting the strange, monochromatic world of
dreams, they keep us safe from harm, make sure our packages are delivered on
time, and see to it that our morning croissant is freshly baked. Now come on
and drink a toast to the health of third shift workers everywhere. Let’s face it, what with the ravages
wreaked on their immune systems from having their body clock messed around so
much, they’ll be
grateful for it!
PRAYERS AND TEACHINGS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
The Mass
“Why should I go to Mass every
day?”
The Mass is the most perfect form of prayer! (Pope Paul
VI).
For each Mass we attend with devotion, Our Lord sends a
saint to comfort us at death. (Revelation of Christ to St. Gertrude the Great)
St. Padre Pio, the stigmatic priest, said, “The world could
exist more easily without the sun than without the Mass.”
The Cure d’Ars, St. Jean Vianney, said, “If we knew the
value of the Mass, we would die of joy.”
Once, St. Teresa was overwhelmed with God’s goodness and
asked Our Lord, “How can I thank you?” Our Lord replied, “Attend one Mass.”
Rachel’s
Corner
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: Protection
of Traditional Marriage
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face
·
Universal Man Plan
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