This blog is based on references in the Bible to fear. God wills that we “BE NOT AFRAID”. Many theologians state that the eighth deadly sin is fear. It is fear and its natural animal reaction to fight or flight that is the root cause of our failings to create a Kingdom of God on earth. By “the power of the Holy Spirit” we can be witnesses and “communicators” of a new and redeemed humanity “even to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:7 8). This blog is dedicated to Mary the Mother of God.
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Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Candace’s Corner · JESSE TREE: Jesus is Wisdom: Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus in old Bibles) 24:2; Wisdom 8:1 Symbols: oil lamp, open ...
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
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Sunday, December 15, 2024
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Friday, December 13, 2024
Friday, December 20, 2024
NIC’s Corner
· Jesus is Key of David: Isaiah 22:22 Symbols: key, broken chains
· Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice-shortest day of the year
· Fish Friday: Mexican Fish Bake Banuelos
· How to celebrate Dec 20th
o Imagine a day filled with unconventional festivities! Start by wearing your most outlandish sweater, celebrating National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day.
§ Spread cheer by going caroling, embracing the spirit of Go Caroling Day.
· Challenge your friends to a board game marathon in honor of Games Day.
o Keep the fun going with a refreshing glass of sangria on National Sangria Day.
o After some leisurely gaming, honor the classic cathode-ray tube by watching a favorite show or movie.
§ Feel inspired by National Underdog Day to root for the underdog in a sports match or movie.
· Reflect on the historical significance of Sacagawea Day by exploring Native American culture or history.
o As the day winds down, unleash your inner child by playing in the mud as a nod to Mudd Day. Embrace the playful and carefree spirit of childhood with a carefree mud fight or by simply enjoying the sensation of squishing mud between your toes.
33 days to Christmas-Start the 33 days to Eucharistic Glory[5]
Want to start a small group? Download our 33 Days to Eucharistic Glory Study Guide
Day 22
On this 22nd day the reception of the Eucharist renews our purpose to live out the Beatitudes of Christ and build a Kingdom of God.
Copilot:
The reception of the Eucharist profoundly renews our purpose to live out the Beatitudes and build the Kingdom of God in several keyways:
1. Union with Christ: By receiving the Eucharist, believers are united with Christ, whose teachings and example are the foundation of the Beatitudes. This union strengthens their commitment to embodying these values.
2. Spiritual Nourishment: The Eucharist provides the spiritual nourishment and grace needed to live out the Beatitudes, which often require going against worldly values and embracing humility, mercy, and peacemaking.
3. Reflection and Commitment: Participation in the Eucharist involves reflecting on Christ’s life and teachings. This reflection renews one's commitment to living out the Beatitudes in daily life.
4. Strength in Trials: The grace received from the Eucharist provides the strength to persevere in living out the Beatitudes, even in the face of challenges and adversity.
5. Inspiration for Mercy and Compassion: The Eucharist reminds believers of Christ’s infinite mercy and love, inspiring them to show mercy and compassion to others, as called for in the Beatitudes.
6. Promotion of Peace: By partaking in the Eucharist, Catholics are encouraged to be peacemakers in their communities, fostering reconciliation and harmony.
7. Humility and Poverty of Spirit: The Eucharist helps believers embrace humility and recognize their dependence on God, aligning with the Beatitude of being "poor in spirit."
8. Comfort in Mourning: The Eucharist provides comfort and hope for those who mourn, reinforcing the promise that they shall be comforted.
9. Righteousness and Justice: Receiving the Eucharist strengthens the desire to seek justice and righteousness, upholding these Beatitudes in society.
10. Pure Heart: The transformative power of the Eucharist helps believers strive for purity of heart, enabling them to see God more clearly in their lives.
11. Endurance in Persecution: The Eucharist fortifies believers to endure persecution for righteousness' sake, as many saints have exemplified.
12. Community Building: The communal aspect of the Eucharist fosters a sense of solidarity and shared mission among believers, encouraging them to work together to build the Kingdom of God.
13. Living Witness: Finally, the Eucharist empowers believers to be living witnesses of Christ’s love and teachings, spreading the values of the Beatitudes through their actions and words.
Through these ways, the Eucharist continuously renews and inspires Catholics to live out the Beatitudes and actively participate in building the Kingdom of God here on earth.
DECEMBER 20 Ember Friday
GO CARROLLING DAY
2 Kings, Chapter 25, Verse 26
Then all the people, great and small, left with the army
commanders and went to Egypt for FEAR of the Chaldeans.
In view of the modern world, I wonder:
Are we still hiding in the fleshpots of Egypt for fear of the
Chaldeans?
Mary daughter of David help us!
Here we see the last remnants of David’s Kingdom in shambles. Now
the Jews finally realize that Israel’s hope is gone. Yet, God has not totally
snuffed out the line of David and through David’s line will come the Christ.
Oh, that Israel would recognize Him.
The Fall
·
In
the ninth year of his reign, Zedekiah rebels and Nebuchadnezzar besieged
Jerusalem for two whole years.
·
The
famine grows extremely severe in a short period of time.
·
Zedekiah
tries to escape at night with his soldiers, but he gets captured by the
Babylonians (Chaldeans) before they make it very far.
·
The
Chaldeans kill Zedekiah's sons before his eyes, stab his eyes out, and take him
in chains to Babylon.
·
Nebuchadnezzar's
captain of the bodyguard, Nebuzaradan, comes to Jerusalem and burns down the
Temple, the King's palace, and all the houses of the city.
·
The
Babylonian army tears down the city walls. Nebuzaradan takes all the remaining
people to Babylon—except for the very poorest, who still remain to be
vinedressers and do farmwork.
Brunch with the King
·
The
Chaldeans break the bronze pillars that were in the Temple and carry them to
Babylon.
·
They
completely loot all the remaining silver and gold from the Temple, stripping
away all the treasures and bringing them to Babylon.
·
Nebuzaradan
sends the two highest priests of the Temple and the three guardians of the
Temple's threshold to Babylon, where Nebuchadnezzar has them put to death.
·
Shaphan's
grandson, Gedaliah, becomes the new governor of Judah, which has been virtually
emptied out and put in exile.
·
Gedaliah
tells some of the remaining warriors of Judah to put down their weapons and
live peacefully under Babylon's rule.
·
They
do this for a while, but then a warrior named Ishmael leads ten men to kill
Gedaliah.
·
The
remaining people then run away to Egypt, afraid of what the Babylonians will do
to them as punishment.
·
After
thirty-seven years of exile and imprisonment, Jehoiachin is freed by King
Evil-merodoch of Babylon. The king lets Jehoiachin eat at his own table in
luxury and also gives him a generous, regular allowance.
·
In fact, Jehoiachin eats daily at the Babylonian table is an
assertion that there is hope and after the gospel of Matthew, for instance is
quick to name Jesus as “son of David”.
Mary is from the line of David and as Queen of Heaven desires to
lead us to the promised land of Her son. We should listen to Her Fatima
messages.
Fatima
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While conversion and prayer are at the heart
of Mary's messages at Fatima, Portugal, the miracles and unexplained phenomenon
that accompanied the events 100 years ago continue to intrigue believers and
nonbelievers alike. The apparitions of Mary at Fatima in 1917 were not the
first supernatural events reported there. Two years before Mary appeared to the
three shepherd children -- Lucia dos Santos and her cousins, Jacinta and
Francisco Marto -- they saw a strange sight while praying the rosary in the
field, according to the memoirs of Sister Lucia, who had become a Carmelite
nun. "We had hardly begun when, there before our eyes, we saw a figure
poised in the air above the trees; it looked like a statue made of snow,
rendered almost transparent by the rays of the sun," she wrote, describing
what they saw in 1915. The next year, Francisco and Jacinta received permission
to tend their family's flocks and Lucia decided to join her cousins in a field
owned by their families. It was 1916 when the mysterious figure appeared again,
this time approaching close enough "to distinguish its features."
"Do not be afraid! I
am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me," Sister Lucia recalled the angel
saying. The three told no one about the angel's visit and received no more
heavenly visits until May 13, 1917. While the children tended their sheep and
played, they were startled by two flashes of lightning. As they made their way
down a slope, the children saw a "lady all dressed in white" standing
on a small tree. It was the first of six apparitions of Mary, who gave a
particular message or revelation each time:
· May 13, 1917. When asked by the
children who she was and where she came from, the lady said she was "from
heaven" and that she would reveal her identity later. She asked the
children to come back to the Cova da Iria on the 13th day of the month for the
next six months, and she asked them to pray the rosary every day "in order
to obtain peace for the world" and the end of World War I.
· June 13, 1917. The lady said
she would take Francisco and Jacinta to heaven soon while Lucia would remain on
earth for "sometime longer" to establish devotion to the Immaculate
Heart.
· July 13, 1917. The lady said she
would reveal her identity in October and "perform a miracle for all to see
and believe." After telling the children to make sacrifices for sinners,
she revealed three secrets; two of the secrets were not shared publicly until
1941 and the third secret, written down by Sister Lucia and sent to the
Vatican, was not released until 2000.
The first secret involved a vision of hell in
which the children saw "a sea of fire" with demons and human souls
shrieking "in pain and despair." In her memoir, Sister Lucia said
people nearby, who had begun gathering around the children on the 13th of the
month, heard her "cry out" during the frightening revelation.
The second secret was that while World War I
would come to end, a "worse one will break out" if people continued
offending God. The children were told that calamity would be prevented if
Russia was consecrated to the Immaculate Heart. Although Sister Lucia confirmed
that the consecration was done properly by Pope Pius XII in 1942 and by St.
John Paul II in 1984, some Fatima devotees continue to argue that it was not.
The third and
final secret, published 83
years after the Fatima apparitions, was a vision of a "bishop dressed in
white" shot down amid the rubble of a ruined city. The official Vatican
interpretation, discussed with Sister Lucia before its publication, was that it
referred to the persecution of Christians in the 20th century and,
specifically, to the 1981 assassination attempt on the life of St. John Paul
II. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, was prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith at the time of the third secret's
publication in 2000. Presenting the secret and the interpretation to the press,
he said the vision's purpose was not to show an "irrevocably fixed
future" but to "mobilize the forces of change in the right
direction."
· Aug. 19, 1917. The lady again
said she would perform a miracle in October and asked that the money given by
pilgrims be used to build a chapel on the site of the apparitions.
· Sept. 13, 1917. The lady asked
them to continue to pray the rosary "to obtain the end of the war,"
and she said that Jesus, St. Joseph, Our Lady of Sorrows and Our Lady of Carmel
would appear during the miracle in October.
· -- Oct. 13, 1917. Despite the pouring rain, tens of thousands of people went to the Cova da Iria to witness the long-awaited miracle. The lady identified herself as "Our Lady of the Rosary" and said the war would end and the soldiers would return home. After asking that people cease to offend God, she opened her hands, which reflected a light toward the sun. Sister Lucia recalled crying out, "Look at the sun!" As the crowds looked on, the sun appeared to "dance," spinning and changing colors. The children also saw the promised figures of Jesus, St. Joseph and Mary. Amazement at the "dancing sun" turned to panic when the sun seemed to hurl toward earth. Fearing the end of the world, some people screamed and ran, some tried to hide and others remained on their knees, praying for mercy. Then the sun returned to its place. Thirteen years after Mary's final apparition at Fatima, the bishop of Leiria declared the visions of the three shepherd children "worthy of belief" and allowed the veneration of Our Lady of Fatima. However, the bishop did not recognize the "dancing sun" as miraculous.
God’s
Handiwork
Every Christmas although the same in many ways is
always new for each Christmas expresses a hope learned from a lifetime of
praising God. For every Christmas if we open our eyes to truth, we will see the
handiwork of God; the rock of our salvation. Perhaps in these final days of
anticipation it would do us well to reflect on the virtues (Humility,
Generosity, and Chastity) of Mary Christ’s very own mother and in these final
days in some way reflect them in our own lives.
Chastity[1] a pouring out of the soul to God
After the fall of Adam, man's senses became rebellious to reason. As a consequence, chastity is the most difficult of all the virtues to practice. Saint Augustine says: "Of all inner conflicts the most arduous are concerned with chastity. These battles are of daily occurrence, but victory is rare." However, Mary is a shining example of this virtue. Saint Sophronius replies: "God chose a pure virgin for his mother, that she might be an example of chastity to everybody." That is why Saint Ambrose calls Mary "the standard-bearer of virginity." Because of Mary's purity the Holy Spirit declared that she is as beautiful as the turtledove: Your cheeks are beautiful as the turtledove's (Cant 1:9). "A most pure turtledove" is what Aponius calls her. She inspired everybody who saw her with chaste thoughts. Saint Thomas confirms this when he says that the beauty of the Blessed Virgin incited to chastity all who looked at her. Saint Jerome maintains that Saint Joseph remained a virgin as a result of living with Mary. Saint Gregory of Nyssa says that the Blessed Virgin loved chastity so much, that to preserve it she would have been willing to renounce even the dignity of Mother of God. This seems evident from her reply to the archangel:
How shall this happen, since I do not know man? (Lk 1:34).
And from the words she added then: Be it done to me according to your word (Lk 1:38), signifying that she gave her consent on the condition that, as the angel had assured her, she should become a mother only by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. Saint Ambrose says that "anyone who preserves chastity is an angel; anyone who loses it is a devil." Our Lord assures us that those who are chaste become angels: They...shall be as the angels of God in heaven (Mt 22:30). But the unchaste become hateful to God, like devils. Saint Remigius used to say that the majority of adults are lost by this vice. We have quoted Saint Augustine as saying that a victory is very seldom gained in this combat.
Why is this?
Because the means by which the victory may be gained are very seldom used. These means are threefold, according to Bellarmine and the masters of the spiritual life: fasting, the avoidance of dangerous occasions of sin, and prayer.
1. By fasting we mean especially mortification of the eyes and the appetite. Although our Blessed Lady was filled with divine grace, she nevertheless practiced mortification of the eyes, according to Saint Epiphanius and Saint John Damascene. Her glances were always modest, and she never gazed fixedly at anyone. She was so unassuming, even from childhood, that everyone who saw her was charmed by her reserve. Saint Luke remarks that when she went to visit Elizabeth, she went with haste (Lk 1:39), in order to avoid the public gaze. Saint Gregory of Tours maintains that she fasted throughout her life. Saint Bonaventure explains this: "Mary would never have found so much grace if she had not been moderate in her meals, for grace and gluttony do not go together." In short, Mary was mortified in everything, so that it was true to say of her: My hands dripped with myrrh (Cant 5:5).
2. The second means is avoidance of the occasions of sin: He that is aware of the snares shall be secure (Prov 11:15). Saint Philip Neri coined the expression: "In the war of the senses, cowards conquer." By cowards he means those who flee from dangerous occasions. Mary fled as much as possible from the gaze of men. Remember Saint Luke's remark that, in going to visit Elizabeth, Mary went with haste into the hill country. One author calls attention to the fact that Our Lady left Elizabeth before Saint John was born: And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her own house. Now Elizabeth's time was fulfilled that she should be delivered, and she brought forth a son (Lk 1:56-57). Why did Mary not wait for Saint John's birth? Because she wanted to avoid the hubbub and excitement that usually accompany such an event.
3. The third means is prayer. The Wise Man said: And as I knew that I could not otherwise be continent except God gave it...I went to the Lord and besought him (Wis 8:21). Mary revealed to Saint Elizabeth of Hungary that she did not acquire any virtue without effort and without continual prayer. Saint John Damascene calls our Immaculate Mother "a lover of purity." She cannot endure those who are content to be unchaste. And if anybody appeals to her to be delivered from unchastity she will certainly help him. All he has to do is call upon her confidently. The Venerable John of Ávila used to say that many have conquered impure temptations merely through devotion to Mary Immaculate.
The Battle of the Soul and Flesh[2]
Beginning with Cain and Abel, there have
been children of God who obeyed God's commandments, and, on the other hand,
children of Satan, as Holy Scripture, call them, who seek their salvation in
the pleasures of this life. Since the time of Cain and Abel, mankind has been
split into two divisions, one seeking the kingdom of God, the other the kingdom
of the world, the kingdom of Satan. When our Savior conquered Satan, He left
him power over those who make themselves slaves to the sensual pleasures, and
thus there exists an evil force against the Church, and it will exist to the
end of time.
This is a fact that we must keep in
view in order to fully understand and judge the conditions. The realm of
darkness, Satan's realm, stands opposed to the realm of Christ. Satan and his
adherents carry on the warfare against the Church of Christ, as they assaulted
Christ Himself. "As they have persecuted me, they will also persecute
you," so did Christ prophecy. The Church of Christ demands the subjection
of the flesh; she preaches against luxury, pride and selfishness. She preaches
chastity and submission to the commandments of God; she preaches penance alike
to those of high and low station in life. This angers all those who would
indulge in the evil things of this world. They cry: "Let us break her
bonds asunder; and let us cast away her yoke from us." But as Christ
foretold the persecution of His Church, so He also foretold that the gates of
hell would not prevail against her.
Ember Friday[3]
The purpose of these
“mini-Lents” is to pray, fast and to thank God for the gifts He gives us
through nature. They follow the four seasons of the year with the beauty
and uniqueness of each particular season. They are here for us to teach
us to use, with moderation, what God gives us through nature, and to also share
these gifts with the poor.
So
what does this mean for you?
Well,
because of the changes in Church law, not a whole lot; at least not officially.
The mandatory observation of Ember days was excised from Church practice during
the pontificate of Pope Paul VI. But as voluntary practice, there
is much that is salutary in observing the Ember days of the Church.
How
do we observe Ember days?
On
Wednesday and Saturday, we observe partial fast and
abstinence – two small meatless meals, and one full meal that can include meat.
On
Friday, we may have
two small meals and one full meal, but observe total abstinence from meat even
at the main meal. This is identical to the currently observed fasts of Ash
Wednesday and Good Friday.
Spiritual Crib[4]
A special devotion that can be performed during Advent to prepare for the coming of the Infant Savior. It can be adapted for adults and/or children and applied as is appropriate to your state in life.
· 10th day, December 20th: THE SHEPHERDS—Works of Mercy These are so pleasing to our Lord, and we must therefore practice them corporally as well as spiritually. Pray much for poor sinners and for God's dear missionaries who are trying to convert them.
Evening Antiphon
O Key of David, and Scepter of the House of Israel, who
opens and no man shuts, who shuts, and no man opens; Come and bring forth the
captive from his prison, he who sits in darkness and in the shadow of death.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Day
191
The fruits
of Holy Communion
1391 Holy
Communion augments our union with Christ. the principal fruit of receiving the
Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus. Indeed, the
Lord said: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I
in him." Life in Christ has its foundation in the Eucharistic
banquet: "As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father,
so he who eats me will live because of me."
On the feasts of the Lord, when the faithful receive the
Body of the Son, they proclaim to one another the Good News that the first
fruits of life have been given, as when the angel said to Mary Magdalene,
"Christ is risen!" Now too are life and resurrection conferred on
whoever receives Christ.
1392 What
material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves
in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh
"given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit," preserves,
increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism. This growth in
Christian life needs the nourishment of Eucharistic Communion, the bread for
our pilgrimage until the moment of death, when it will be given to us as
viaticum.
1393 Holy
Communion separates us from sin. the body of Christ we receive in Holy
Communion is "given up for us," and the blood we drink "shed for
the many for the forgiveness of sins." For this reason, the Eucharist
cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins
and preserving us from future sins:
For as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we
proclaim the death of the Lord. If we proclaim the Lord's death, we proclaim
the forgiveness of sins. If, as often as his blood is poured out, it is poured
for the forgiveness of sins, I should always receive it, so that it may always
forgive my sins. Because I always sin, I should always have a remedy.
1394 As
bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our
charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living charity
wipes away venial sins. By giving himself to us Christ revives our love
and enables us to break our disordered attachments to creatures and root
ourselves in him:
Since Christ died for us out of love, when we celebrate the
memorial of his death at the moment of sacrifice we ask that love may be
granted to us by the coming of the Holy Spirit. We humbly pray that in the
strength of this love by which Christ willed to die for us, we, by receiving
the gift of the Holy Spirit, may be able to consider the world as crucified for
us, and to be ourselves as crucified to the world.... Having received the gift
of love, let us die to sin and live for God.
1395 By the
same charity that it enkindles in us, the Eucharist preserves us from future
mortal sins. the more we share the life of Christ and progress in his
friendship, the more difficult it is to break away from him by mortal sin. The
Eucharist is not ordered to the forgiveness of mortal sins - that is proper to
the sacrament of Reconciliation. The Eucharist is properly the sacrament of
those who are in full communion with the Church.
Go Caroling Day[6]
Any fan of old classic movies knows that carolers were one
of the hallmarks of any Christmas themed movie. Whether it was “It’s a
Wonderful Life” or Charles Dickens “Christmas Carol”, you could be certain at
some point some warmly bedecked singers would arrive at someone’s door belting
out the traditional songs for Christmas. While caroling is slowly falling out
of style, there’s still time to preserve this time-honored tradition, and Go
Caroling Day is your call to arms. Caroling has a long history in
the world, potentially existing longer than Christmas itself and having moved
into that religious practice from much older roots. This is no surprise, given
that the act of singing has long been a form of religious observance, and
religious hymns are certainly not a new way of honoring one’s faith. Caroling
itself, however, is specifically used to reference those songs and traditions
of Christmas, and for many years was a heavily practiced tradition that many
people eagerly took part in, whether by joining the carolers or by avidly
awaiting their arrival at their doorstep as avatars of Christmas cheer.
Wassailing was another tradition that was quite similar in many ways but was
actually used to travel to the orchards and other places where cider was
produced. It was believed that singing to the trees would promote a good
harvest for the year and was almost exclusively practiced in England.
How to Celebrate Go Caroling Day
Well, one might suppose that the answer is right there
in the name, might they?
The best way to celebrate Go Caroling Day
is to organize a group of friends and relations and get out there and get your
songbird on for this holiday! All of the songs you might want to sing have to
be familiar after all these years, you’ve sung them growing up, as part of your
school choir, and they’re on the radio in multitudinous variations starting
from before Thanksgiving. (That’s another issue, don’t get me started).
However, if you are more of the non-traditional sort, you can still get your
songster on each year by learning the many variations of these holiday songs.
The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society has released three albums all dedicated
to Lovecraftian rewrites of the holidays, and they are nothing short of
fantastic. The point of Go Caroling Day is to get out and share the spirit of
the season, however, you celebrate it, with everyone.
Now get singing!
Fitness Friday[7]
3 Healthy Things to
Do Every Winter Solstice
1. Sleep
deep. Shortest day = longest night. Take advantage of this and plan
for it to be a perfect night of sleep.
Check in with yourself
to evaluate your sleep hygiene. Sleep experts recommend that you establish a
simple ritual before you go to bed to tell your body it is time to rest.
Brush your teeth, wash
your face, read a book or meditate for several minutes before you close the
light. Make your slumber environment clear of stressors by making your room as
dark as possible, turning off the television and silencing your phone.
Set yourself up to be
successful by making your bedroom a sanctuary for sleep.
2. Sweat
often. It’s dark when we leave for work and dark when we return home.
It’s only normal that motivation to move wanes without the friendship of the
sun.
While it’s tempting to
skip the gym in favor of extra time hunkered down, do your best to move each
day, especially today.
Walk an extra few
minutes to a bus or subway stop further away, take the stairs and walk the mall
to incorporate a little more movement into your daily routine.
Also, you don’t have
to be a weekend warrior to enjoy an hour or two of cross-country skiing, a few
minutes on the ice rink, or an afternoon sledding with the kids. Make time
during the week for simple, active pleasure.
The benefits will show
in your mood first. Remember these little bits of movement can not only add up
but can also motivate us to move more and get in a “real” workout.
3. Live
consciously. We spend a lot more time inside when it’s dark and cold
outside. Spending time making your home or office a space that you like to be
in will deflect some of the stress and help you lead a well and healthy life.
Winter cleaning isn’t
so bad when you play your favorite music, and the result often makes you feel
great. Carve out an hour to freshen up your space today.
Light scented candles
and shift some furniture around so that you can enjoy it in a new way. Take a
minute to look at what is and isn’t working in the space you live in so that
you can feel empowered in your world. Take time to appreciate your surroundings
today – those in nature and those you created for yourself.
Acknowledge the winter
solstice this year, and every year going forward. Honor yourself and your work
as you pursue your personal Nutritious Life ambitions for another season. Make
it a day every year that you press the reset button amid the chaos of the
holiday season and focus on you.
As you look forward to sunnier days, remember
to enjoy the darker days, too!
Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: Reparations
for offenses and blasphemies against God and the Blessed Virgin Mary
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
[2]Frings, Math Josef. The Excellence of
the Rosary Conferences for Devotions in Honor of the Blessed Virgin
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