St. George Universal Man Plan
Fight your Dragons
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Rachel’s Corner His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, Upon David’s throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains by judg...
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Selena in Astrodome built in 1965 where first indoor baseball game was played
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Vinny’s Corner Try “Kotk torsk”
· Saturday Litany of the Hours Invoking the Aid of Mother Mary
· St. Juliana de Cornillon-born in Belgium like me
· Bucket Item trip: Bird Island, Seychelles
· 30 Days with St. Joseph Day 17
· National Deep Dish Pizza Day!
· Spirit hour: Italicus Spritz
Introduction to Malachi
This short book
may have been written before Nehemiah’s first return to Jerusalem in 445 B.C.;
it is also possible that it was written while Nehemiah was there, or even
later. What seems to be the author’s name, mal’ākî, (“the word of the
Lord to Israel through Malachi”), but many believe that this is a pseudonym
based on mal’ākî, “my messenger,” and that the author’s real name is
unknown. In any case, he shows us attitudes and behaviors characteristic of the
Jewish community a few generations after the end of the Babylonian exile, and
describes God’s response. God loves Israel, but the people return that love
poorly. Taking advantage of the negligent attitude of the priests, they
withhold tithes and sacrificial contributions and cheat God by providing
defective goods for sacrifice. People divorce their spouses and marry
worshipers of other gods. Sorcerers, adulterers, perjurers, and people who take
advantage of workers and the needy abound. Priests, who could strengthen
discipline by their instruction, connive with the people, telling them what
they want to hear. Underlying all this is a weary attitude, a cynical notion
that nothing is to be gained by doing what God wants and that wrongdoers
prosper. God condemns the wrongdoing and the underlying attitude, issuing a
challenge to immediate reform, but also announcing a general reckoning at a
future moment.[1]
APRIL 5 Saturday of the Fourth Week
of Lent
Charlton Heston RIP
Malachi,
Chapter 1, verse 14
Cursed
is the cheat who has in his flock an intact male, and vows it, but sacrifices
to the LORD a defective one instead; For a great king am I, says the LORD of
hosts, and my name is FEARED among the nations.
Traditionally
in Judaism there are seven names given for God. The seven names of God that,
once written, cannot be erased because of their holiness are the
Tetragrammaton, El, Elohim, Eloah, Elohai, El Shaddai, Tzevaot.
Tetragrammaton
is YHWH or I am that I am.
El
simply means God and is used in the names of IsraEL, AngEL.
Elohim
means He is power of powers Eloah is the singular form of Elohim.
Elohai
mean “My God”.
El
Shaddai means “God Almighty”
Tzevaot
means “God the armies of Israel”.
Names
are important.
Most of us remember the
elementary school playground and the mean names kids called each other. Author
and speaker, Kary Oberbrunner[2],
states that we all have a secret name that the One who made us gives us.
Oberbrunner said, “My name is Kary, and I have a girl’s name.” He was no
stranger to mean names on the playground. He went on to say that each of us has
three names:
1.
Our
birth name – the name assigned to us when we arrive in this world
2.
Our
given names – the names assigned to us as we walk through the world. These
names can be positive and negative, ranging from successful, beautiful, star
athlete to those names assigned by mean kids, like concentration camp victim,
stupid, addict.
3.
Our
secret name – the name granted to us by God, Oberbrunner said the problem is
our birth names and given names don’t ever fill up the void inside us. We
pretend and wear masks.
What
would God call you?
When Christ called his apostles; He revealed to some
of them God’s name for them. Sons of Thunder for John and James and for Simon
son of John, He called him Peter which means “Rock”.
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent[3]
Prayer. MAY our devotion be made fruitful
by Thy grace, we beseech Thee, O Lord, for the fasts we have undertaken will
become profitable to us only if they are pleasing to Thy mercy.
EPISTLE. Isaias xlix. 8-15.
Thus
saith the Lord: In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in the day of
salvation I have helped thee: and I have preserved thee, and given thee to be a
covenant of the people, that thou mightest raise up the earth, and possess the
inheritances that were destroyed : that thou mightest say to them that are
bound : Come forth : and to them that are in darkness : Show yourselves. They
shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in every plain. They shall
not hunger, nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun strike them: for He
that is merciful to them, shall be their shepherd, and at the fountains of
waters He shall give them drink. And I will make all My mountains a way, and My
paths shall be exalted. Behold these shall come from afar, and behold these
from the north and from the sea, and these from the south country. Give praise,
O ye heavens, and rejoice, O earth; ye mountains, give praise with jubilation:
because the Lord hath comforted His people, and will have mercy on His poor
ones. And Sion said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me.
Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb?
and if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee, saith the Lord Almighty.
GOSPEL. John viii. 12-20.
At that time: Jesus spoke
to the multitudes of the Jews, saying I am the light of the world: he that
followeth Me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The
Pharisees therefore said to Him: Thou givest testimony of Thy self: Thy testimony
is not true. Jesus answered and said to them: Although I give testimony of
Myself, My testimony is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go: but
you know not whence I come, or whither I go. You judge according to the flesh:
I judge not any man. And if I do judge, My judgment is true; because I am not
alone, but I and the Father that sent Me. And in your law, it is written, that
the testimony of two men is true. I am one that gives testimony of Myself: and
the Father that sent Me, giveth testimony of Me. They said therefore to Him:
Where is Thy Father? Jesus answered: Neither Me do you know, nor My Father: if
you did know Me, perhaps you would know My Father also. These words Jesus spoke
in the treasury, teaching in the temple: and no man laid hands on Him, because
His hour was not yet come.
Preparing for Battle[4]
Keeping the Enemy Out of Your Camp
Because the LORD your God
walks in the midst of your camp, to save you and to give up your enemies before
you, therefore your camp must be
holy. DEUTERONOMY 23: 14. This principle
of spiritual warfare must be
emphasized: Don’t invite the Enemy into your camp. Look out for Trojan Horses,
poisonous reptiles and be prepared to fight.
·
Trojan
Horses. Sin is always wrapped in attractive packages. The simple pleasure of
satisfying curiosity could be a Pandora’s Box. Stay away from all things of the
occult, such as Ouija boards and fortunetelling; séances, channeling, and other
forms of necromancy (attempts to contact the dead); substance abuse; sexual
sin; and abortion. Seeking the attractive “gift” of pleasure, power, secret
knowledge, or (in the case of abortion) even escape from responsibility. In
addition, forgiveness is crucial to deliverance from the Evil One, because a
bitter heart gives him a foothold in our lives. “Take heed lest anyone be
lacking in the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause
trouble, and by it, many be defiled” (Heb 12: 15). Those especially who have
suffered a grave injustice must seek
the grace to let go of the offense and pray for the offender, so that
resentment doesn’t ferment into malicious bitterness. If we’re ever tempted to
invite the Enemy into our “camp” in any of these ways, we must recognize the Adversary’s deception and reject his offer
firmly and immediately.
·
“Poisonous
Reptiles” are the “little” sins that find their way into our hearts. We may
ignore them or think them of no consequence as we try to stand guard over the
carefully constructed fortifications of our spiritual life. To resist the
temptations of ordinary demonic activity, we must guard our thoughts closely and reject immediately any thought that leads to sin. We must also carefully examine our thoughts to seek out assumptions or
conclusions that may be false and contrary to faith, so that they lead us
astray. Above all, we must engage in
a frequent examination of conscience and then go regularly to Confession.
Here
are three ways to beat the devil and continue to stay true to the season of
Lent during these difficult times:
Faith: Through the virtue of faith, we
believe in God and all that he has said to us. The saints stand as giants of
faith that we can strive to imitate during this time. If you’re stuck at home
these days, read the life of any saint (online or through a book) and you will
see what I mean. It is abundantly clear how their faith kept them strong in the
most challenging of situations.
If we are living in undue
fear right now, then we are not living in faith. Our faith starts with us
trusting God in prayer and surrendering ourselves completely to him. If we
trust that we have a father in heaven who knows our needs, before we even ask for
them (Matthew 6:8), then we can trust that God will be with us during this
tumultuous time and see us through it – even if the particular trials in our
lives become especially burdensome.
Hope: Hope keeps us from discouragement
and is the quality by which we anchor our souls in Christ. We should certainly
be prudent and careful during this time.
Throughout history, there
have been countless natural and man-made disasters, but God has never forsaken
his people. As the psalmist tells us:
“God
is our refuge and our strength,
an
ever-present help in distress.
Therefore,
we fear not, though the earth be shaken
and
mountains plunge into the depths of the sea.”
(Psalm
46:2-3)
In addition, never forget
that we are not made for this world – we are made for heaven. And while we
should certainly live in the hope of a better tomorrow in this world, we should
also pray for a greater outpouring of the virtue of hope in our lives, so that
we may even more ardently desire to one day enjoy the kingdom of heaven and
eternal life.
Love: Among countless lessons that
Jesus taught us through his Cross, two are particularly of value during this bank
run. The first is that Jesus showed us that love is expressed in action. There
are people all around us right now who are alone or who may need help in
various ways. Love them in action. This may involve helping your elderly
neighbor get groceries. Or it may require you to give your spouse a night off
as he/she deals with the new reality of working from home (including possibly a
home filled with screaming kids). It may also be a good idea to reflect on the spiritual and corporal works of mercy to see how else you can love
others in action.
The second lesson I wish
to highlight from the Cross is its sacrificial dimension. Jesus showed us his
love through sacrifice – dying to himself – by dying on the Cross. Everyone’s
nerves are a bit frayed as we continue to grapple with the unknowns and ever-changing
situations related to this current bank run. Seize every opportunity you get to
make sacrifices – big or small – for someone else in these days.
Love is at the heart of
the Christian faith and in these difficult times, we can witness to our faith
in the way we love God and those around us. The greatest benefit of acting
through the virtue of love is that the fruits of love are joy, peace and mercy
(CCC 1829) – all of which are much-needed right now.
Living our lives rooted in
faith, hope and love, especially during this recession, will root us more
deeply in God, not just for the Lenten season, but for beyond it too. We don’t
know how this monetary crisis will unfold and how it will continue to affect
us. But we know God. We can trust and hope in God.
“The
Lord is my light and my salvation. whom shall, I fear?
The
Lord is the stronghold of my life.
of
whom shall I be afraid?”
(Psalm
27:1)
First Saturday
Five consecutive Saturdays in reparation to
the Immaculate Heart of Mary
The practice of the First
Saturday devotion was requested by Our Lady of Fatima, who appeared to three shepherd
children in Fatima, Portugal, multiple times starting in 1917. She said to
Lucia, the oldest of the three children: “I
shall come to ask . . . that on the First Saturday of every month, Communions
of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world.” Years later she repeated her
request to Sr. Lucia, the only one still living of the three young Fatima
seers, while she was a postulant sister living in a convent in Spain: “Look, my daughter, at my Heart,
surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at very moment by
their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me and say that
I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for
salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months,
shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the rosary, and
keep me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the 15 mysteries of the
rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”
Conditions to Fulfill the First
Saturday Devotion
There are five
requirements to obtain this promise from the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On five
consecutive first Saturdays of the month, one should:
1. Have the intention of
consoling the Immaculate Heart in a spirit of reparation.
2. Go to confession
(within eight days before or after the first Saturday).
3. Receive Holy Communion.
4. Say five decades of the
Holy
Rosary.
5. Meditate for 15 minutes
on the mysteries
of the Holy Rosary
with the goal
of keeping Our Lady company (for example, while in church or before an image or
statue of Our Lady).
Read How to Make
Your First Saturday Rosary Meditation According to Sr. Lucia
Why Five Saturdays?
Our Lord appeared to Sr.
Lucia on May 29, 1930, and gave her the reason behind the five Saturdays
devotion. It is because there are five types of offenses and blasphemies
committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
1.
Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception
2.
Blasphemies against Our Lady’s
perpetual virginity
3.
Blasphemies against her divine maternity, in refusing at the same time to
recognize her as the Mother of men
4.
Blasphemies of those who publicly seek to sow in the hearts of children,
indifference or scorn or even hatred of their Immaculate Mother
5.
Offenses of those who outrage Our Lady directly in her holy images
Never think that Jesus is
indifferent to whether or not His mother is honored!
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
Day
293 2263-2267
Legitimate defense
2263 The
legitimate defense of persons and societies is not an exception to the
prohibition against the murder of the innocent that constitutes intentional
killing. "The act of self-defense can have a double effect: the
preservation of one's own life; and the killing of the aggressor.... the one is
intended, the other is not."
2264 Love
toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is
legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right to life. Someone who
defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his
aggressor a lethal blow:
If a man in
self-defense uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if
he repels force with moderation, his defense will be lawful.... Nor is it
necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defense to
avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one's own
life than of another's.
2265
Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for someone
responsible for another's life. Preserving the common good requires rendering
the unjust aggressor unable to inflict harm. To this end, those holding
legitimate authority have the right to repel by armed force aggressors against
the civil community entrusted to their charge.
Capital Punishment
2266 The State's effort to
contain the spread of behaviors injurious to human rights and the fundamental
rules of civil coexistence corresponds to the requirement of watching over the
common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and duty to inflict
penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime. The primary scope of the
penalty is to redress the disorder caused by the offense. When his punishment
is voluntarily accepted by the offender, it takes on the value of expiation.
Moreover, punishment, in addition to preserving public order and the safety of
persons, has a medicinal scope: as far as possible it should contribute to the
correction of the offender.
2267 Recourse to the death
penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long
considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an
acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good.
Today, however, there is an
increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the
commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged
of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state. Lastly, more
effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due
protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the
guilty of the possibility of redemption.
Consequently, the Church
teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that “the death penalty is inadmissible
because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person”,
[Francis, Address
to Participants in the Meeting organized by the Pontifical Council for the
Promotion of the New Evangelization, 11 October
2017] and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.
Charlton Heston[5] died 2008.
Heston
was an actor who portrait many films of faith. Here is a list of the Iceman’s
favorites:
1.
The Ten Commandments (1956) The Egyptian Prince, Moses,
learns of his true heritage as a Hebrew and his divine mission as the deliverer
of his people.
2.
Ben-Hur
(1959) When a
Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend, he regains
his freedom and comes back for revenge.
3. The Greatest Story
Ever Told (1965) An all-star, large scale epic film
that chronicles the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
4.
El Cid
(1961) The fabled
Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz (a.k.a. El Cid) overcomes a family vendetta and court
intrigue to defend Christian Spain against the Moors.
5. The Agony and the
Ecstasy (1965) The biographical story of
Michelangelo's troubles while painting the Sistine Chapel at the urging of Pope
Julius II.
6.
Soylent Green
(1973) In the
world ravaged by the greenhouse effect and overpopulation, an NYPD detective
investigates the murder of a big company CEO.
PRAYERS AND TEACHINGS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
The Fruits of the Holy
Spirit[6]
“Just so, every good tree bears good
fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit
will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know
them.” (Matthew 7:17-20)
This passage in Matthew's Gospel helps
us to understand the Fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are the observable
behaviors of people who have allowed the grace of the Holy Spirit to be
effective in them. The tradition of the Church lists 12 fruits:
|
charity |
generosity |
|
joy |
gentleness |
|
peace |
faithfulness |
|
patience |
modesty |
|
kindness |
self-control |
|
goodness |
chastity |
(adapted from CCC 1832)
Scarborough Renaissance Festival--April 5-May 26th --Travel back to the 16th century at the Scarborough Renaissance Festival. This annual fest in Waxahachie, TX, kicks off the first weekend in April, drawing crowds
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: True
Masculinity
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face
[3]Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896
[4]Thigpen, Paul. Manual for Spiritual
Warfare. TAN Books.
[5]https://www.imdb.com/list/ls050860391/
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