Posts
Claire’s Corner-Stan Lee’s Birthday born 1922 died 2018
· Today in honor of the Holy Trinity do the Divine Office giving your day to God. To honor God REST: no shopping after 6 pm Saturday till Monday. Don’t forget the internet
· Read-Theodore Dresser’s (died today 1945) writer of “Sister Carrie” a Novel about the killing of childlike innocence.
· How to celebrate Dec 28th
o Start off your day by reaching out to a friend for National Call a Friend Day. Have a chat, catch up, or make plans for later. Next, celebrate National Download Day by discovering and downloading a new app, song, or podcast. Treat yourself to some chocolate candies for National Chocolate Candy Day. Indulge in your favorite sweet treats or try something new. For National Card Playing Day, gather some friends or family and enjoy a friendly card game. Make it more interesting with some snacks and drinks. Take a break and watch a short film for National Short Film Day. Explore different genres and styles to find something that resonates with you. Reflect on the importance of friendship and togetherness on Holy Innocents Day. Show appreciation for your loved ones and the bonds you share. End the day by saying the Pledge of Allegiance for Pledge of Allegiance Day. Honor your country and take a moment to reflect on its values. Embrace this unique assortment of holidays to connect, relax, and enjoy the little things in life.
Around the World in Perfect Weather: A 52‑Week Dream Trip
❄️ Patagonia Finale • Bariloche, Argentina
December 28, 2025 – January 3, 2026
Dec 28 – Flight to Bariloche (Feast of the Holy Family, Sunday)
• Flight: Freeport → Miami → Buenos Aires → Bariloche ($845–$1,050 round‑trip per person, 2–3 stops)
• Mass: Catedral Nuestra Señora del Nahuel Huapi – Holy Family Sunday Mass at 11:00 AM, 8:00 PM, or 9:30 PM
• Lodging: Hotel Tres Reyes ($120/night)
• Meals: ~$70/day (Argentine steakhouse dinner + Swiss‑style chocolate dessert)
• Symbolic Act: Journal on “Holy Family in Patagonia” — reflect on family roots at the edge of the Andes
Dec 29 – Glacial Lake Horizon (Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas)
• Visit: Nahuel Huapi Lake Tours
• Mass: Daily Mass at 11:00 AM or 8:00 PM
• Lodging: Hotel Tres Reyes (~$120/night)
• Meals: ~$65/day (lakefront café lunch + local wine supper)
• Symbolic Act: Collect a stone from the lakeshore as a symbol of endurance
Dec 30 – Alpine Chocolate Communion (Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas)
• Walk: Calle Mitre – Bariloche’s famous chocolate shops (Chocolate Guide)
• Mass: Daily Mass at 11:00 AM or 8:00 PM
• Lodging: Hotel Tres Reyes (~$120/night)
• Meals: ~$70/day (Swiss‑style chocolate tasting + Argentine dinner)
• Symbolic Act: Share chocolate with fellow travelers as a gesture of joy
Dec 31 – New Year’s Eve Benediction (Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas)
• Mass: Catedral Nuestra Señora del Nahuel Huapi – Vigil of Mary, Mother of God at 8:00 PM (Holy Day of Obligation Vigil)
• Lodging: Hotel Tres Reyes (~$120/night)
• Meals: ~$80/day (celebratory New Year’s Eve supper with Malbec wine)
• Symbolic Act: Journal on “Patagonia’s horizon” — reflect on endings and beginnings at the year’s close
Jan 1 – Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (New Year’s Day, Holy Day of Obligation)
• Mass: Catedral Nuestra Señora del Nahuel Huapi – Solemnity Mass at 11:00 AM or 8:00 PM
• Lodging: Hotel Tres Reyes (~$120/night)
• Meals: ~$70/day (New Year’s brunch + lakeside supper)
• Symbolic Act: Leave a written prayer in the cathedral — “Mary, guide this new year’s journey”
Jan 2 – Mountain Trek & Reflection (Octave of Christmas)
• Visit: Cerro Otto – cable car ride and panoramic trek
• Mass: Daily Mass at 11:00 AM or 8:00 PM
• Lodging: Hotel Tres Reyes (~$120/night)
• Meals: ~$65/day (mountain café lunch + Argentine supper)
• Tickets: ~$15 cable car
• Symbolic Act: Journal on “Heights of mercy” — reflect on ascent as spiritual growth
Jan 3 – Farewell to Patagonia (Octave of Christmas)
• Visit: Civic Center & Patagonia Museum – cultural farewell
• Mass: Daily Mass at 11:00 AM or 8:00 PM
• Lodging: Hotel Tres Reyes (~$120/night)
• Meals: ~$65/day (farewell supper with local wine)
• Tickets: ~$10 entry
• Symbolic Act: Write a closing note of gratitude for the year’s pilgrimage and leave it at the museum
💰 Cost Snapshot (Dec 28 – Jan 3 Bariloche Week)
Lodging (7 nights): ~$840
Meals (7 days): ~$475–$490
Tickets/Activities: ~$40–$50
Local Transport (bus/taxi): ~$150–$180
Flight Bahamas → Bariloche: ~$845–$1,050 round‑trip per person
➡️ Total per person: ~$2,350–$2,600 for the Bariloche week
December 28 Sunday after Christmas
Holy Family-Holy Innocents-Four Calling Birds-Card Playing
Matthew, Chapter 2, Verse 21-22
He rose, took the child and his mother, and
went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of
his father Herod, he was AFRAID to go back
there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of
Galilee.
To Joseph the gift of
dreams and visions was given but to some is giving the gift of tongues. To
which many years ago (50 to be exact February 1975) at the birth of my
first-born daughter I had gone to the Gunpowder Inn, in Bermuda, to
celebrate her birth, with a couple of Native American friends. At the time
I was in the Navy Seabees, and we worked together.
When I had got there,
all of the sudden, I got an overwhelming feeling that I needed to speak in
tongues to P. Graves and I did. I felt stupid and fearful, but I spoke to him
in languages I knew not and used sign, too. He told me I used 800-year-old
languages that only a handful of people knew. The simple message from Christ
was that he (P. Graves) who was the last living war chief of the Blackfoot
tribe was not to assume his chieftainship and to let his son become chief or
otherwise there would be much blood.
I never heard from P.
Graves again after 1974 but as far as I know; no Blackfoot, has participated in
any Wounded Knee violence.
Wounded Knee: Trouble
Continues At Pine Ridge
“The troubles at Wounded Knee were not over after the siege. A virtual civil war broke out between the opposing Indian factions on the Pine Ridge reservation, and a series of beatings, shootings and murders left more than 100 Indians dead. When two FBI agents were killed in a 1975 gunfight, the agency raided the reservation and arrested AIM leader Leonard Peltier for the crime. The FBI crackdown coupled with AIM’s own excesses ended its influence at Pine Ridge. In 1977, Peltier was convicted of killing the two FBI agents and sentenced to life in prison. To this day, Peltier’s supporters continue to maintain his innocence and seek a presidential pardon for him.”[1]
Copilot
On December 28, the Sunday after Christmas, the
Church honors the Holy Family and remembers the Holy Innocents. Matthew’s
Gospel tells of Joseph, who rose, took the child and his mother, and warned in
a dream, departed for Galilee rather than return to Judea under Archelaus. His
obedience shows that divine warnings are not given for spectacle but for the
preservation of life. The day’s symbols—four calling birds and card
playing—remind that voices of truth often arrive unexpectedly, and that
leadership is always a hand dealt with risk, discernment, and grace. In the
shadow of Wounded Knee and Pine Ridge, where violence claimed many lives, the
lesson is clear: heed the warnings, step aside from pride, and let peace
prevail.
ON
KEEPING THE LORD'S DAY HOLY[2]
CHAPTER I
DIES DOMINI
The Celebration of the Creator's Work
From
the Sabbath to Sunday
18.
Because the Third Commandment depends upon the remembrance of God's saving
works and because Christians saw the definitive time inaugurated by Christ as a
new beginning, they made the first day after the Sabbath a festive day, for
that was the day on which the Lord rose from the dead. The Paschal Mystery of
Christ is the full revelation of the mystery of the world's origin, the climax
of the history of salvation and the anticipation of the eschatological
fulfilment of the world. What God accomplished in Creation and wrought for his
People in the Exodus has found its fullest expression in Christ's Death and
Resurrection, though its definitive fulfilment will not come until the Parousia,
when Christ returns in glory. In him, the "spiritual" meaning of the
Sabbath is fully realized, as Saint Gregory the Great declares: "For us,
the true Sabbath is the person of our Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ".
This is why the joy with which God, on humanity's first Sabbath, contemplates
all that was created from nothing, is now expressed in the joy with which
Christ, on Easter Sunday, appeared to his disciples, bringing the gift of peace
and the gift of the Spirit (cf. Jn 20:19-23). It was in the Paschal
Mystery that humanity, and with it the whole creation, "groaning in
birth-pangs until now" (Rom 8:22), came to know its new
"exodus" into the freedom of God's children who can cry out with
Christ, "Abba, Father!" (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6). In the
light of this mystery, the meaning of the Old Testament precept concerning the
Lord's Day is recovered, perfected and fully revealed in the glory which shines
on the face of the Risen Christ (cf. 2 Cor 4:6). We move from the
"Sabbath" to the "first day after the Sabbath", from the
seventh day to the first day: the dies Domini becomes the dies
Christi!
Sunday
after Christmas
(Goffine’s
devout instructions 1896)
Introit of the Mass.
WHILE all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of her course, Thy almighty Word, O Lord, leapt down from heaven, from Thy royal throne ' ' (Wis. xviii. 14, 15). " The Lord has reigned; He is clothed with beauty; the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded Himself" (Ps. xcii. 1).
Prayer.
Almighty and eternal God, direct our actions so as to be pleasing to Thee, that, in the name of Thy beloved Son, we may deserve to abound in good works. Amen.
EPISTLE. Gal. iv. 1-7.
Brethren: As long as the heir is a child, he different nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all: but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed by the father: so, we also, when we were children, were serving under the elements of the world. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, that He might redeem them who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father. Therefore, now he is not a servant, but a son. And if a son, an heir also, through God.
How are we to understand the words, “God sent His Son, made under the law, that He might redeem them who were under the law?”
St. Paul here speaks to such Christians among the Galatians as were formerly Jews, and who supposed themselves yet bound to keep the observances of the Law of Moses; he shows them that by His death on the cross He dispensed with the Law, abolished its types and ceremonies, and redeemed the Jews from the curse and bondage to which it subjected them, delivering them thereby from sin and eternal death. We have received still greater favors than the Jews, because in our ancestors we were converted from Paganism to Christianity, and from children of the devil were made by faith heirs of God. Let us show how we value such blessings by living as children of God, in faith, love, confidence, patience, and innocence, shunning sin as the only real evil; unless we would forfeit our name and privileges as Christians, and voluntarily become a second time the slaves of the devil.
GOSPEL. Luke ii. 33-40.
At that time Joseph and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning Him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, His Mother: Be hold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was far advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow until fourscore and four years, who departed not from the temple, by fasting and prayers serving night and day. Now she at the same hour coming in, confessed to the Lord; and spoke of Him to all that looked for the redemption of Israel. And after they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their city Nazareth. And the child grew, and waxed strong, full of wisdom: and the grace of God was in Him.
Why did Mary and Joseph wonder at these things?
They were filled with joyous wonder that Simeon was enabled by divine inspiration to recognize the child Jesus as the promised Messias, and to say such great things of Him.
What does it mean to bless?
To give or wish something good to anyone; in the first of these senses God alone blesses, because all goods of soul or body which we have, or wish to have, come from Him; in the second sense, angels and men may bless us, in wishing us whatever is good, and in praying for it to God.
Have we examples of blessing in Scripture?
Yes, an angel blessed Jacob (Gen. xxxii. 29); Jacob, when dying, blessed his children and grandchildren (Gen. xlviii. 15); Melchizedek blessed Abraham (Gen. xiv. 19); Rebecca was blessed by her brother (Gen. xxiv. 60); and the priests blessed the people. Our Savior also blessed His disciples with up lifted hands.
Is it good for parents to bless their children?
Yes, for God fulfils blessings of good parents, as He did those, for example, of the patriarchs Isaac and Jacob. "The father's blessing established the houses of the children, but the mother's curse rooted up the foundations" (Eccles. iii. 11).
What virtue is there in the priest's blessing?
Very great virtue: because it is given in the name of the Church, through the merits of Jesus Christ, and comes from God Himself, whose ministers and stewards the priests are. Parents should see that their children are blessed by the priests who may come to visit them, as the children were brought to Our Savior, that He might lay His hands on them, and bless them (Matt. xix. 13).
How is Christ the fall and resurrection of many in Israel?
He is the fall, that is, the damnation, of those who do not receive Him, though they know Him to be the Savior of the world; and of those also who believe in Him, and receive His holy teaching, but do not live according to it. " If Christ had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin " (St. John xv. 22). He is the resurrection or salvation of those who believe in Him, receive His doctrine, and live according to it.
What is the meaning of, “He is a sign which shall be contradicted"?
This was a prophecy that Jesus Christ, His life, works, teaching, and institutions should be the object of continual contradiction on the part of sensual and worldly wisdom. It was fulfilled in the blasphemies and persecutions of the Jews and gentiles, and is confirmed by infidels of all ages, as well as by those Christians who, as St. Bernard says, contradict His humility by their pride, His poverty by their avarice, His fasting by their intemperance, His purity by their impurity, His zeal by their sloth ; thus confessing Him with their lips, but denying Him by their deeds. They are not faithful and sincere towards Jesus, and do not love Him, for they do not obey His holy will; they are Christians only in name, of whom Christ is not the resurrection, but the fall, for they are yet the slaves of sin.
What is meant by those words, " thy own soul a sword shall pierce?”
That Mary would have to suffer inexpressible pains and sorrows that would pierce her heart as with a sword.
Time made this plain; for how often was not her beloved Son pursued and persecuted?
Yet the greatest grief she felt must have been when she saw her Son in His sufferings and death, hanging, like a malefactor, on the cross.
What else is to be learned from this gospel?
First, widows may learn from Anna, who
departed not from the temple, how to serve God, by fasting and prayer, "
for the widow that liveth in pleasures is dead while she is living (i. Tim. v.
6).
Secondly, parents may learn to be careful that their children increase not only in skill and wealth, but rather in the grace of God, by living pious, edifying, and peaceable lives before God and men.
Exhortation
Today is the last Sunday of the year. Ponder with care on the truths and doctrines which the holy Church has laid before thee in the epistles and gospels; thank God with thy whole heart for the great favors and benefits which thou hast received in the incarnation and birth of Jesus Christ; examine thyself also whether thy faith is living and efficient, that thou mayest have the hope of being a child and heir of God;
ask thyself whether, during the past year, Christ has been thy fall or thy resurrection?
hast, thou confessed Him in heart and deed, or hast thou been a Christian only in name?
With such exercises and examinations occupy
thy mind until the New Year, that thou mayest be prepared to begin it worthily.
Feast of the Holy Family[3]
According to the
Mosaic Law, a Hebrew boy was not part of the family until he was circumcised
eight days after his birth; only then was he given his name, i.e., his identity
as an individual and as a son of Abraham. But there is a deeper reason as well.
Paradoxically, it is only after we have contemplated the various revelations of
the Light to both Jew and Gentile that we can appreciate the period of Jesus'
life that is shrouded in obscurity. It is because we now know who the boy Jesus
truly is that we can understand the importance of His family and the excellence
of His so-called hidden life. Like the shepherds of Bethlehem, we now recognize
Him as the Messiah for whom the Jews yearned; like the Magi, whose gifts
bespoke their convictions, we now recognize Him as a King worthy of gold, as
God worthy of frankincense, and as the Suffering Servant to be one day buried
with myrrh. And like the Blessed Virgin, who -- as we learn from the Gospel on
this feast-- kept all these things in her heart, we are now in a position to
appreciate the unique role of His Holy Family in the economy of our salvation. The
Feast
of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph holds up the domestic
life of Jesus, his mother, and foster father as the perfect model for
all Catholic households. As Pope Leo XIII explains, there is a lesson in this
family for everyone: for fathers, for mothers, for children; for nobility (the
Holy Family was from the royal house of David), for the poor (they gave up
their possessions in fleeing to Egypt), and so on. There are no prescribed or
uniform customs for the feast, but that does not mean no observances were made.
The following is an account from Father Weiser of Holy Family Sundays at our
own parish, Holy Trinity German Church, in the 1940s.
The
annual Holy Childhood procession, on the feast of the Holy Family, is one of
the most attractive ceremonies. In former years this procession was called the
"Shepherds' Procession" as the children marched through the church
dressed as shepherds and shepherdesses -- a lovely relic of popular medieval
piety (Holy Trinity Parish, 1844-1944, p. 37).
This
feast is also an ideal time to pray any of the devotions to the Holy Family
that are given in the Raccolta, the Church's old
official list of indulgences. The fact that many of these prayers are no longer
indulgenced does not make them any less meaningful or worthy of use. Let us reflect that the Holy family
was holy because of how they interacted with each other and the world.
A good practice during the twelve nights of
Christmas would be to turn off the TV and to rest and have joyful prayer with
the family. It is good to remember that Christ’s primary teachers in the
faith were Joseph and Mary. We also should remember to not rely on
schools to bring up our children in devotion to the Lord and that we are the
primary teachers of Faith, Hope and Love in our families (Especially in
light of COVID 19)
The Holy Family
Marriage is too often conceived as the sacrament which unites a man and a woman
to form a couple. In reality, marriage establishes a family, and its purpose is
to increase the number of the elect, through the bodily and spiritual fecundity
of the Christian spouses.
1.
Every marriage intends children. Although Mary and Joseph were not united in a
carnal way, their marriage is a true marriage: an indissoluble, exclusive
union, wholly subordinated to the child. Mary and Joseph are united only in
order to bring Jesus into the world, to protect and raise him. They have only
one child, but he contains the whole of mankind, even as Isaac, an only child,
fulfilled the promise made to Abraham of a countless progeny.
2.
The purpose of every marriage is to establish a Christian family. The Holy
Family observed the religious laws of Israel; it went in pilgrimage to
Jerusalem every year with other Jewish families (Lk. 2:41). Jesus saddens and
amazes his father and his mother because to their will and company he prefers
"to be in his Father's house". Thus it may happen that God's will
obliges the family to make disconcerting sacrifices. Yet every Christian family
must live in harmony and in prayer, which are the pledges of joy and union.
3.
"He remained obedient to them." Jesus was God. And through the
fullness of grace Mary stood above Joseph. Nevertheless — if we except the
event in the Temple — Joseph remained the head of the family; he took the
initiative (as when the Holy Family fled to Egypt), and in Nazareth Jesus
obeyed his parents.
—Excerpted
from Bread and the Word, A.M. Roguet
Things to Do[4]
·
Let
us imitate the Holy Family in our Christian families, and our family will be a
stronghold and a prefiguration of the heavenly family. Say a prayer dedicating
your family to the Holy Family. Also pray for all families and for our country
to uphold the sanctity of the marriage bond which is under attack.
·
Read
more about Pope
Leo XIII
who instituted the Feast of the Holy Family and read his encyclical On
Christian Marriage.
You can also check out the Vatican's page of Papal
documents on the Family.
·
Read
the explanation of Jesus' knowledge in the activities section. Read Pope Pius
X's Syllabus of Errors which condemns
the modernist assertion that Christ did not always possess the consciousness of
His Messianic dignity.
·
Have
the whole family participate in cooking dinner. You might try a Lebanese meal.
Some suggestions: stuffed grape leaves, stuffed cabbage rolls, lentils and
rice, spinach and meat pies, chicken and dumplings, hummus, Lebanese bread,
tabbouleh — a Lebanese salad and kibbi, a traditional Lebanese dish of
specially ground meat mixed with spices and cracked wheat. This is the same
kind of food that Mary served Jesus and St. Joseph. It's healthy and delicious.
Christmas Calendar[5]
Reflect: "Christmas celebrates the fruit of Mary and Joseph's trust in God. The long-awaited Messiah, sent to save us from our sins and win back the eternal blessedness lost by Adam's sin, is born. The Son of God is like us in all things but sin. We learn from the Incarnation that our success is in God's hands. Without the Father's love, we would be lost for all eternity. Mary and Joseph sacrificed greatly to make the arduous journey to Bethlehem, to obey God's directive to flee into Egypt, and to go to Nazareth to raise Jesus. Ambiguity, uncertainty, and brokenness touched the Holy Family. Their lives teach us that we cannot understand God's designs. This wonderful lesson urges parents to put their families in God's hands and trust that their efforts will bear fruit. Faithful parents are examples for us, single or married. We, too, are to put ourselves in God's hands. In so doing, God's grace helps us realize better the depths of who we are and what we are called to become."
Pray: Pray for families.
At
the start of the New Year, make a commitment to pray together as a family every
day
Feast of the Holy Innocents[6]
DECEMBER 28.
THE account of the martyrdom of these
children is given in the gospel of to-day. The Church justly honors them as
martyrs, since they confessed Christ, if not by the mouth, yet by their death,
which they suffered by reason of Herod s hatred against Christ.
The Introit of the Mass reads: “Out of the mouth of infants and suckling’s Thou hast perfected praise, because of Thy enemies, O Lord. O Lord, how admirable is Thy name in the whole earth.”
Prayer.
O God, Whose praise the martyred innocents confessed on this day not by speaking, but by dying mortify in us all the evils of vices, that our life also may confess by actions Thy faith, which our tongue proclaims.
EPISTLE. Apoc. xiv. 1-5.
In those days I beheld a Lamb standing upon Mount Sion, and with Him a hundred forty-four thousand having His name, and the name of His Father written on their foreheads…
GOSPEL. Matt. ii. 13-18.
At that time: An angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and take the child and His Mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee: for it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy Him…
What people
are like Herod?
All those who destroy children, in body or in soul; for example,
unmanly men who are cruel to their wives while with child, who strike them,
incite them to anger, or terrify them; heedless parents who neglect their
little ones, who do not take pains to keep them clean and healthy; those
corrupt and godless women who destroy the fruit of their shame either before or
after birth, and while yet unbaptized. But more cruel than all these, and even
than Herod himself, are they who scandalize little children by impure
conversations, by indecent songs, by acts of impurity in their presence, or by
inciting them to the like; for thereby they plunge the souls of the children
into destruction.
Innocents Day[7]
In
many religious communities, Innocents' Day was the traditional feast for the
youngest members. In keeping with the upside-down spirit of Twelfth night, the
youngest novice had the privilege of sitting at the first place or even of
being abbot for a day. Feast of the Holy Innocents is a day for the younger
members of the family or religious community. Some kind of "baby food" -- such as a hot cereal
with sugar and cinnamon -- is generally served to them. In the family, the
youngest member is also the "celebrity" of the day, especially if he
is a baby. Customs like decorating the crib or
blessing the baby
are
appropriate ways of observing the feast. Today, on the day in which little ones
shed their blood for Christ, was the festival for choirboys and students.
Feast of
the Holy Innocents - Day Four[8]
The Holy Innocents saved the Child Jesus from
death by King Herod by the shedding of their own blood. The Holy Innocents are
the special patrons of small children, who can please the Christ Child by being
obedient and helpful to parents, and by sharing their toys and loving their
siblings and playmates.
The feast of the Holy Innocents is an
excellent time for parents to inaugurate the custom of blessing their children.
From the Ritual comes the form which we use on solemn occasions, such as First
Communion. But parents can simply sign a cross on the child's forehead with the
right thumb dipped in holy water and say: May God bless you, and may He be the
Guardian of your heart and mind—the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Blessing
O Lord, Jesus Christ, Who didst embrace and lay thy
hands upon the little children when they came to thee, and didst say to them:
"Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for the
kingdom of heaven is theirs, and their angels always see the face of my
Father," — look with a Father's eye upon the innocence of these children
and their parents' devotion, and bless them this day through our ministry. By
thy grace and goodness let them make progress in desiring thee, loving thee,
fearing thee, obeying thy commandments — thus coming to their destined home,
through thee, Savior of the world, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit
livest and reignest, God, forever and ever. Amen.
- Day Four activity (Holy Innocents)
- Day Four recipe (Blanc Mange)
Today I will ask the Lord to bless all my seven children! (Claire,
Christopher, Candace, Dara, Rachel, Nicole and Vincent)
Four Calling Birds
Today in the song the 12 days of Christmas the 4th day we sing of the Four Calling Birds which represent the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. During the upcoming year it would make a worthy project to read them all. These gospels will help us to be persons of courage.
Christmas Calendar[9]
Read: Read today about the Holy Innocents who were put to death by King Herod.
Reflect:
The
observances of the Christmas season illuminate many key themes for the
faithful. Meditate today on this one:
"The sacredness of human life and the wonderful event that is every birth, since the Word of life came amongst men and was made visible through his birth of the Virgin Mary (see 1 Jn 1:2)."
Pray the Rosary for life today.
Act:
Add
an intercession
for life
that has particular meaning for your family to the mealtime blessing today.
Bible in a
Year Day 180 Giving Time to God
As we
conclude the book of Amos, we hear Amos rebuke the people for grudgingly giving
their time to God, as in prayer or on the sabbath, and counting the minutes
until they could do whatever they wanted. Fr. Mike points out that if we don't
give our hearts and minds to God, we won't be able to stand heaven, where
prayer and praise are everlasting. The readings are 2 Kings 13-14, Amos 7-9,
and Psalm 124.
Card Playing Day[10]
The
holiday season has come and gone, and the end of the year is in sight.
You
know what you need to do now?
That’s right, you need to sit back and play out a few
rounds of solitaire, or maybe get the family together for a night of Texas
Hold’em, Slap Jack, or War. Whatever your pleasure, Card Playing Day is a
chance to wind down from all the kerfuffle of the season by engaging in a card
game or three. Playing cards are thought to have first been introduced to the
world in China before spreading across the globe to India, Persia, and
ultimately every corner of this… sphere. Ok, so that corner thing never has made
sense, unless you’re talking about a rectangular playing card, which thankfully
we are! A whole pack of them in fact. Playing cards have always been the last
bastion of entertainment in inclement weather, and thus were a favorite of the
winter holidays.
After
all, before the invention of television and electricity, what was one to do
when you’d heard all of Uncle Joe’s story, and couldn’t possibly bring yourself
to lay your eyes on another dog-eared novel?
That’s right, you play cards! There are numerous games
that exist in the world, hundreds from every culture imaginable. Some games are
unique to a particular region, or at least distinct to it (Like Baccarat) or
can be found in variations all over the world while clearly being recognizable
(like poker). Others still involve the use of playing boards as a utility in
keeping track of points, such as cribbage. Card Playing Day is an opportunity
and excuse to return to this age-old form of entertainment, and to spend a
little time alone, or connecting with your family.
How to celebrate
Card Playing Day
Well, the simplest way to celebrate Card Playing Day is, of course, to participate in the aforementioned past-time! However, if you’re really looking to make an experience out of Card Playing Day, you may consider trying to learn a variation of a game you already know, or even learning a completely new card game altogether. There’re countless games out there you can learn, and if the game you know has lost its appeal, it’s time to learn another one! We also suggest getting out there and investing in a new deck of cards, there are limitless variations on style and theme, and a new deck can make a new game even more fun!
Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: Binding and
suppressing the Devils Evil works.
·
Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
