Monday Night at the Movies
Stromboli 1950
The 1950 film Stromboli, directed by Roberto Rossellini and starring Ingrid Bergman, is a classic example of Italian neorealism. The movie follows Karin, a displaced Lithuanian woman who marries an Italian fisherman, Antonio, to escape an internment camp. She moves with him to his home on the volcanic island of Stromboli, expecting a better life. However, she soon finds the island harsh and barren, and its people conservative and hostile toward her.
The central theme of the film is Karin's struggle for freedom and identity in an oppressive environment. She faces disdain from the villagers, a language barrier, and an emotionally controlling husband. As she becomes increasingly despondent, she ultimately decides to escape the island, symbolizing her pursuit of personal liberation. The film explores themes of isolation, resilience, and the clash between individual desires and societal expectations.
Christopher’s Corner
· Do not ask everyone’s opinion, but only the opinion of your confessor; be as frank and simple as a child with him. Simplicity of life can drive out demons. Honesty is a weapon to defeat Satan, the Liar. When we lie, we put a foot in his camp, and he will try to seduce us all the more.
· Bucket List trip[3]: USA 70-degree year trip: Niagara Falls
· Eat waffles and Pray for the assistance of the Angels
· Spirit Hour: Wine from Niagara Falls vineyard
· Eat your vegetables! It is fresh vegetable day
· Monday: Litany of Humility
· Foodie-Spaghetti Parm
· today is Bloomsday
JUNE 16 Monday
2
Corinthians, Chapter 7, Verse 11
For behold what earnestness this
godly sorrow has produced for you, as well as readiness for a defense, and
indignation, and fear, and yearning,
and zeal, and punishment. In every way you have shown yourselves to be innocent
in the matter.
Satan
is indeed our adversary but let us focus on what our Lord tells us.
I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid
of those who kill the body but after that can do no more. I shall show you whom
to fear. Be afraid of the one who
after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, be afraid
of that one. (Luke, Chapter 12, Verse 4-5)
Copilot:
2 Corinthians 7 offers profound lessons on fear from a Catholic
perspective, particularly in relation to godly sorrow and spiritual
purification. Here are some key takeaways:
1. Fear of
God Leads to Holiness – The chapter begins by urging believers to cleanse
themselves from defilement, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. This fear
is not terror but reverence, inspiring a life of virtue.
2. Godly
Sorrow vs. Worldly Sorrow – Paul contrasts godly sorrow, which leads to
repentance and salvation, with worldly sorrow, which leads to death. Catholics
view this as a call to embrace contrition and confession, trusting in God's
mercy.
3. Encouragement
Through Fear and Comfort – Paul acknowledges his own fears and anxieties, yet
finds comfort in the faithfulness of the Corinthians. This reflects the
Catholic teaching that fear can coexist with hope, leading to deeper trust in
God.
4. Fear as a
Catalyst for Renewal – The Corinthians’ mourning over their sins shows that
fear of disappointing God can lead to transformation. This aligns with Catholic
teachings on penance and reconciliation.
Which are the fruits of the Holy Ghost? They are the twelve following:
1. Charity.
2.
Joy.
3. Peace.
4. Patience.
5. Benignity.
6. Goodness.
7. Longsuffering.
8. Mildness.
9. Faith.
10. Modesty.
11.
Continency.
12.
Chastity.
These fruits
should be visible in the Christian, for thereby men shall know that the Holy
Ghost dwells in him, as the tree is known by its fruit.
Notice I have
placed the Fruits of the Holy Spirit in stairstep fashion so we may
reflect on them seeing that by concentrating on each step of our growth in the
spirit we may progress closer and closer to our heavenly Father. Today we will
be focusing on the seventh step which is Benignity.
Apostolic Exhortation[1]
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,
Conclusion
110.
I wish to conclude this exhortation by turning to Mary, Our Mother, whom Saint
John Paul II called “‘a woman of the Eucharist’ in her whole life” (Ecclesia
de Eucharistia, no. 53). Let us entrust our Eucharistic life of her Son’s
gift of Himself to her solicitude and care. She lived her faith at the moment
of the Annunciation when she was asked to believe that the One whom she
conceived through the Holy Spirit was the Son of God. For us, before the
Eucharistic mystery we are also asked to believe that the same Jesus Christ,
the Son of God and Son of Mary, becomes present in His full humanity and
divinity under the appearances of bread and wine. Her faith-filled consent
allowed God to be born in her, making her the Ark of the New Covenant. “With
her ‘yes’ she opened the door of our world to God Himself; she became the
living Ark of the Covenant, in whom God took flesh, became one of us, and
pitched His tent among us” (cf. John 1:14). (Spe Salvi, no. 49). She
was the first to receive Jesus in her heart. She became the first tabernacle
where God dwells in the fullest possible sense. After Pentecost but before her
Assumption into heaven, surely she regularly received the Eucharist from the
hands of the Apostles.
111.
Who more than Mary is a star of hope for us so that we can see the way to go as
followers of Jesus Christ, since we have never been this way before? Who more
than Mary can help us renew our faith and fortify our love and devotion to
Jesus in the Eucharist? Confident in her maternal care and intercession, let us
invoke and imitate Our Lady, woman of the Eucharist:
Blessed
Mother, who with your generous “Fiat” unleashed the Fountain of all graces in
our world, intercede for us who desire ever greater faith and devotion in your
Divine Son that we might cooperate with His work of Redemption.
May
the Eucharistic Lord always find in our hearts a welcome dwelling as He did in
yours.
Be
our refuge and companion on our pilgrim way to the heavenly home where with you
and all the Saints we enjoy eternal communion with your Son who is our rock of
refuge in all of life’s storms.
Amen.
Promulgated
on Holy Thursday of the Lord’s Supper, April 1, 2021.
+Thomas J. Olmsted
Bishop of Phoenix
Epistle
of Barnabas[2]
CHAP. IV. — ANTICHRIST IS AT HAND: LET US THEREFORE AVOID JEWISH ERRORS.
It
therefore behooves us, who inquire much concerning events at hand, to search
diligently into those things which are able to save us. Let us then utterly
flee from all the works of iniquity, lest these should take hold of us; and let
us hate the error of the present time, that we may set our love on the world to
come let us not give loose reins to our soul, that it should have power to run
with sinners and the wicked, lest we become like them. The final
stumbling-block (or source of danger) approaches, concerning which it is
written, as Enoch says, "For for this end the Lord has cut short the times
and the days, that His Beloved may hasten; and He will come to the
inheritance." And the prophet also speaks thus: "Ten kingdoms shall
reign upon the earth, and a little king shall rise up after them, who shall
subdue under one three of the kings. In like manner Daniel says concerning the
same, "And I beheld the fourth beast, wicked and powerful, and more savage
than all the beasts of the earth, and how from it sprang up ten horns, and out
of them a little budding horn, and how it subdued under one three of the great
horns." Ye ought therefore to understand. And this also I further beg of
you, as being one of you, and loving you both individually and collectively
more than my own soul, to take heed now to yourselves, and not to be like some,
adding largely to your sins, and saying, "The covenant is both theirs and
ours." But they thus finally lost it, after Moses had already received it.
For the Scripture saith, "And Moses was fasting in the mount forty days
and forty nights, and received the covenant from the Lord, tables of stone
written with the finger of the hand of the Lord;" but turning away to
idols, they lost it. For the Lord speaks thus to Moses: "Moses go down
quickly; for the people whom thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt have
transgressed." And Moses understood [the meaning of God], and cast the two
tables out of his hands; and their covenant was broken, in order that the covenant
of the beloved Jesus might be sealed upon our heart, in the hope which flows
from believing in Him. Now, being desirous to write many things to you, not as
your teacher, but as becometh one who loves you, I have taken care not to fail
to write to you from what I myself possess, with a view to your purification.
We take earnest heed in these last days; for the whole [past] time of your
faith will profit you nothing, unless now in this wicked time we also withstand
coming sources of danger, as becometh the sons of God. That the Black One may
find no means of entrance, let us flee from every vanity, let us utterly hate
the works of the way of wickedness. Do not, by retiring apart, live a solitary
life, as if you were already [fully] justified; but coming together in one
place, make common inquiry concerning what tends to your general welfare. For
the Scripture saith, "Woe to them who are wise to themselves, and prudent
in their own sight!" Let us be spiritually minded: let us be a perfect
temple to God. As much as in us lies, let us meditate upon the fear of God, and
let us keep His commandments, that we may rejoice in His ordinances. The Lord
will judge the world without respect of persons. Each will receive as he has
done: if he is righteous, his righteousness will precede him; if he is wicked,
the reward of wickedness is before him. Take heed, lest resting at our ease, as
those who are the called [of God], we should fall asleep in our sins, and the
wicked prince, acquiring power over us, should thrust us away from the kingdom of
the Lord. And all the more attend to this, my brethren, when ye reflect and
behold, that after so great signs and wonders were wrought in Israel, they were
thus [at length] abandoned. Let us beware lest we be found [fulfilling that
saying], as it is written, "Many are called, but few are chosen."
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Day 364 2846-2856
Catechism of the
Catholic Church
PART
FOUR: CHRISTIAN PRAYER
SECTION TWO-THE LORD'S
PRAYER
Article 3-THE SEVEN
PETITIONS
VI. "And
Lead Us not into Temptation"
2846 This petition goes
to the root of the preceding one, for our sins result from our consenting to
temptation; we therefore ask our Father not to "lead" us into
temptation. It is difficult to translate the Greek verb used by a single
English word: the Greek means both "do not allow us to enter into
temptation" and "do not let us yield to
temptation." "God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself
tempts no one"; on the contrary, he wants to set us free from evil.
We ask him not to allow us to take the way that leads to sin. We are engaged in
the battle "between flesh and spirit"; this petition implores the
Spirit of discernment and strength.
2847 The Holy Spirit
makes us discern between trials, which are necessary for the growth of the
inner man, and temptation, which leads to sin and death. We must also
discern between being tempted and consenting to temptation. Finally, discernment
unmasks the lie of temptation, whose object appears to be good, a "delight
to the eyes" and desirable, when in reality its fruit is death.
God does not want to impose the good, but wants free beings.... There is a
certain usefulness to temptation. No one but God knows what our soul has
received from him, not even we ourselves. But temptation reveals it in order to
teach us to know ourselves, and in this way we discover our evil inclinations
and are obliged to give thanks for the goods that temptation has revealed to
us.
2848 "Lead us not
into temptation" implies a decision of the heart: "For where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also.... No one can serve two
masters." "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the
Spirit." In this assent to the Holy Spirit the Father gives us strength.
"No testing has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful,
and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the
temptation will also provide the way of escape, so that you may be able to
endure it."
2849 Such a battle and
such a victory become possible only through prayer. It is by his prayer that
Jesus vanquishes the tempter, both at the outset of his public mission and in
the ultimate struggle of his agony. In this petition to our heavenly Father,
Christ unites us to his battle and his agony. He urges us to vigilance of the
heart in communion with his own. Vigilance is "custody of the heart,"
and Jesus prayed for us to the Father: "Keep them in your
name." The Holy Spirit constantly seeks to awaken us to keep
watch. Finally, this petition takes on all its dramatic meaning in
relation to the last temptation of our earthly battle; it asks for final
perseverance. "Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is
awake."
VII "BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL"
2850 The last petition
to our Father is also included in Jesus' prayer: "I am not asking you to
take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil
one." It touches each of us personally, but it is always
"we" who pray, in communion with the whole Church, for the
deliverance of the whole human family. the Lord's Prayer continually opens us
to the range of God's economy of salvation. Our interdependence in the drama of
sin and death is turned into solidarity in the Body of Christ, the "communion
of saints."
2851 In this petition,
evil is not an abstraction, but refers to a person, Satan, the Evil One, the
angel who opposes God. the devil (dia-bolos) is the one who "throws
himself across" God's plan and his work of salvation accomplished in
Christ.
2852 "A murderer
from the beginning, . . . a liar and the father of lies," Satan is
"the deceiver of the whole world." Through him sin and death entered
the world and by his definitive defeat all creation will be "freed from
the corruption of sin and death." Now "we know that anyone born
of God does not sin, but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one
does not touch him.
We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the evil
one."
The Lord who has taken
away your sin and pardoned your faults also protects you and keeps you from the
wiles of your adversary the devil, so that the enemy, who is accustomed to
leading into sin, may not surprise you. One who entrusts himself to God does
not dread the devil. "If God is for us, who is against us?"
2853 Victory over the
"prince of this world" was won once for all at the Hour when
Jesus freely gave himself up to death to give us his life. This is the judgment
of this world, and the prince of this world is "cast out." "He
pursued the woman" but had no hold on her: the new Eve, "full of
grace" of the Holy Spirit, is preserved from sin and the corruption of
death (the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of
God, Mary, ever virgin). "Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and
went off to make war on the rest of her offspring." Therefore the
Spirit and the Church pray: "Come, Lord Jesus," since his coming will
deliver us from the Evil One.
2854 When we ask to be
delivered from the Evil One, we pray as well to be freed from all evils,
present, past, and future, of which he is the author or instigator. In this
final petition, the Church brings before the Father all the distress of the
world. Along with deliverance from the evils that overwhelm humanity, she
implores the precious gift of peace and the grace of perseverance in
expectation of Christ's return By praying in this way, she anticipates in
humility of faith the gathering together of everyone and everything in him who
has "the keys of Death and Hades," who "is and who was and who
is to come, the Almighty."
Deliver us, Lord, we
beseech you, from every evil and grant us peace in our day, so that aided by
your mercy we might be ever free from sin and protected from all anxiety, as we
await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Article 4-THE FINAL
DOXOLOGY
2855 The final doxology, "For the kingdom, the power
and the glory are yours, now and forever," takes up again, by inclusion,
the first three petitions to our Father: the glorification of his name, the
coming of his reign, and the power of his saving will. But these prayers are
now proclaimed as adoration and thanksgiving, as in the liturgy of
heaven. The ruler of this world has mendaciously attributed to himself the
three titles of kingship, power, and glory. Christ, the Lord, restores
them to his Father and our Father, until he hands over the kingdom to him when
the mystery of salvation will be brought to its completion and God will be all
in all.
2856 "Then, after the prayer is over you say 'Amen,' which means 'So be it,' thus ratifying with our 'Amen' what is contained in the prayer that God has taught us."
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
·
Rosary
[3] Schultz, Patricia. 1,000 Places to See Before You
Die: A Traveler's Life List Workman Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.
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