The altar at The Immaculate Conception
Farm Street, London
Posted on 11/27/2014 7:17:36 PM PST by Salvation
| Luke | |||
| English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
| Luke 21 |
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| 29. | And he spoke to them in a similitude. See the fig tree, and all the trees: | Et dixit illis similitudinem : Videte ficulneam, et omnes arbores : | και ειπεν παραβολην αυτοις ιδετε την συκην και παντα τα δενδρα |
| 30. | When they now shoot forth their fruit, you know that summer is nigh; | cum producunt jam ex se fructum, scitis quoniam prope est æstas. | οταν προβαλωσιν ηδη βλεποντες αφ εαυτων γινωσκετε οτι ηδη εγγυς το θερος εστιν |
| 31. | So you also, when you shall see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is at hand. | Ita et vos cum videritis hæc fieri, scitote quoniam prope est regnum Dei. | ουτως και υμεις οταν ιδητε ταυτα γινομενα γινωσκετε οτι εγγυς εστιν η βασιλεια του θεου |
| 32. | Amen, I say to you, this generation shall not pass away, till all things be fulfilled. | Amen dico vobis, quia non præteribit generatio hæc, donec omnia fiant. | αμην λεγω υμιν οτι ου μη παρελθη η γενεα αυτη εως αν παντα γενηται |
| 33. | Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. | Cælum et terra transibunt : verba autem mea non transibunt. | ο ουρανος και η γη παρελευσονται οι δε λογοι μου ου μη παρελθωσιν |
Friday, November 28
Liturgical Color: Green
Today the Church honors St. Stephen
the Younger. He was a monk in
Constantinople during the 8th century.
Because he refused the emperor's
demands to embrace the Iconoclast
heresy, he was stoned to death with
several companions.
Daily Readings for:November 28, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)
Collect: Stir up the will of your faithful, we pray, O Lord, that striving more eagerly to bring your divine work to fruitful completion, they may receive in greater measure the healing remedies your kindness bestows. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
ACTIVITIES
o Advent and the Year of the Eucharist
o Advent Wreath: Background and How To Make Your Own Wreath
o Advent Wreath: Making Your Own
o Celebrating Advent and Christmas
o Practical Suggestions for Christian Living (Anointing of the Sick)
o Praying for the Dead and Gaining Indulgences During November
o Religion in the Home for Elementary School: November
o Religion in the Home for Preschool: November
o Teaching Children About Sickness and Death
PRAYERS
o November Devotion: The Holy Souls in Purgatory
o Little Litany of the Holy Souls
o Out of the Depths - De Profundis
o Novena to St. Francis Xavier - The Novena of Grace
LIBRARY
o Advent Invites Us to Perceive the Presence of God | Pope Benedict XVI
o Advent Wreath: Prayers and Explanation | Unknown
o Advent: A Cry of Hope of the Church and the Just | Pope Benedict XVI
o Advent: Awaiting God's Justice | Pope Benedict XVI
o Our Whole Life Should Be An 'Advent' | Pope John Paul II
o See Advent's Meaning Through Mary | Pope Benedict XVI
o The Advent Wreath | Fr. William Saunders
· Ordinary Time: November 28th
· Friday of the Thirty-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time
Old Calendar: St. Catherine Laboure, virgin & religious; St. James of the Marches, priest (Hist)
Traditionally today is the feast of St. Catherine Laboure. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to her, a member of the Daughters of Charity, three times in 1830 and commissioned her to have made the Miraculous Medal and to spread a devotion to it. St. Catherine Laboure was canonized in 1947. It is also the feast of St. James of the Marches who grew up in the turbulence of early 15th Century Europe. Wars were being waged across Western Europe, and the Papal seat of authority was divided between Italy and France.
During the final week of the ecclesiastical year, the language of the liturgy becomes very earnest and impressive. The Last Judgment with all its terrors is approaching. By this reminder the Church desires to make us realize our responsibilities, but she also desires to show us in Christ's judgment His crowning victory and the completion of His work of redemption. We should be inspired with confidence and very great hope at the thought that He who will come to judge us is the very same who came into this world to save us. Throughout the liturgical year the Church never ceases to remind us of this.
St. Catherine Laboure
St Catherine Labouré was born on the 2nd of May 1806 at Fainles-Moutiers, a picturesque village of Burgundy, France. She was the ninth child in a happy family of eleven. God made known the choice of this soul by marking her at an early age with the seal of suffering, for when she was only nine years old she lost her mother.
Saint Catherine Labouré responded to the divine call by entering the Community of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in Paris. Here, during the first months of her novitiate, she was favored with a number of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin, who confided to her the mission of having the Miraculous Medal made.
Until shortly before her death Saint Catherine kept a strict silence concerning these apparitions, speaking of them only to her confessor, according to the instructions of Our Lady.
During 46 years Saint Catherine witnessed the wonders and miracles wrought through the Medal. During all this time, carefully guarding her secret of the apparitions, she humbly performed her commonplace duties, devoting herself especially to the care of the infirmed men of Enghien, a suburb of Paris. For this she is called the patroness of seniors.
On the 31st of December 1876, Saint Catherine left this earth for heaven, to contemplate there her Immaculate Queen whose love and beauty had captured her heart on earth.
Her body was exhumed 57 years later and found in perfect condition. Even death respected her who had enjoyed the extraordinary privilege of resting her hands on the knees of the Blessed Virgin for more than two hours during one of the apparitions. Saint Catherine was canonized by Pope Pius XII on July 27, 1947.
The simplicity of Saint Catherine's life endears her to everyone. She became a saint by doing her commonplace duties well, for God. This "Saint of Ordinary People" has the secret of sanctity for us all.
Excerpted from Central Association of the Miraculous Medal
Things to Do:
St. James of the Marches
The small town of Montebrandone, on the eastern coast of Italy, called the March of Ancona, gave birth to this Saint in the year 1391. While still young he was sent to the University of Perugia, where his progress in learning soon qualified him to be chosen preceptor to the children of a young gentleman of Perugia. He went with him to Florence, to aid in the administration of a juridical office the nobleman had obtained there; but realizing that he was about to be engulfed in the whirlpool of worldly excesses in which he found himself, Saint James applied himself to prayer and recollection, and thought of entering the Carthusian Order.
When traveling one day near Assisi, however, he went into the Church of the Portiuncula to pray, and moved by the fervor of the holy men who there served God and by the example of their blessed founder Saint Francis, he determined to petition in that very place for the habit of the Order. He was then twenty-one years of age; he received the habit near Assisi, at the convent of Our Lady of the Angels. He began his spiritual war against the world, the flesh and the devil in prayer and silence in his cell, joining extraordinary fasts and vigils to his assiduous prayer. He fell ill with a number of different illnesses which for thirty years he endured with heroic patience, without ever exempting himself from saying Holy Mass or assisting at the offices in common. For forty years he never passed a day without taking the discipline.
When, through the response of the Mother of Heaven to his prayers, he became able to preach, he carried out that ministry with such great fervor and power that he never failed to touch the most hardened hearts and produce truly miraculous conversions. He joined Saint John of Capistrano to preach a crusade against the Turks, who had become masters of Constantinople and were terrorizing Western Europe. At Buda he effected the miraculous cessation of a furious sedition by simply showing the crucifix to the people; the rebels themselves took him upon their shoulders and carried him through the streets of the city. At Prague he brought back to God many who had fallen into error, and when a magician wanted to dispute with him, he rendered him mute and thus obliged him to retire in confusion. He traveled through the northern Provinces, into Germany, Dalmatia, Hungary, Poland, Norway and Denmark and many other places; he went without any provisions other than his confidence in God. If he found no aid or was without lodging he rejoiced in his union with Lady Poverty, to whom he was joined by his religious profession.
When he was called back to Italy to labor against a heresy, he acquired new persecutors who attempted in several ways, including ambushes, poison, calumny and the arousing of seditions against him, to do away with him. But God delivered him each time from the most adroitly conceived artifices. When chosen as Archbishop of Milan, he fled, and could not be prevailed on to accept the office. He brought about several miracles at Venice and at other places, often by the simple Holy Name of Jesus written on a paper. He raised from dangerous illness the Duke of Calabria and the King of Naples. The Saint died in the Franciscan convent of the Holy Trinity near Naples, to which city the Holy Father had sent him at the prayer of its King, Ferdinand. The date was the 28th of November of the year 1476; he was ninety years old, and had spent seventy of those years in religion.
Excerpted from Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 13; Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).
34th Week in Ordinary Time
I saw a new heaven and a new earth. (Revelation 21:1)
Heaven is hard to imagine, isn’t it? A gigantic throne, emerald rainbows, crystalline rivers, an enormous sea of glass, and streets of gold—these are some stunning images that both reveal and veil the glory that is God’s eternal home. That’s because something so awe inspiring can’t be described adequately in words. So what does John mean when he speaks of a “new heaven”?
The answer is that the heaven of John’s vision isn’t new, but it is improved—because of us! Every time heaven gets a new saint, a little more glory is added. And when the last saint arrives, heaven will be “new” because the spotless Church will finally be ready for her bridegroom. Can you imagine all those saints together? Such marvelous splendor, and all of it a reflection of the ultimate splendor coming from Jesus the King!
But back to us. We are “new” as well. As Paul wrote, in Christ we are a “new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Of course, we know we aren’t ready to meet the bridegroom yet. But the Holy Spirit, whom we have received, is the first installment on our heavenly dwelling. So while we are on earth, we may feel a bit like renters who have put a down payment on their first home. We can’t wait to get there!
With that in mind, try not to focus on the old in your prayer today, but on the new. No, you’re not perfect yet. But Jesus certainly is, and his Spirit lives in you! As you come before him in worship, let him give you a glimpse of your heavenly home. Let this glimpse move you out into the world with the good news that everyone can become a new creation. Remember: every person who enters the kingdom makes heaven that much more stunning!
“Father, thank you for the privilege of worshipping at your throne! In your presence I have the fullness of joy. Keep working in me so that I can draw more and more people into your new creation.”
Psalm 84:3-6, 8; Luke 21:29-33
Daily Marriage Tip for November 28, 2014:
As Christmas shopping accelerates, seek simplicity. Enjoy homemade fun (playing games, singing) and homemade treats today.
| The Kingdom Is Near | ||
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November 28, 2014. Friday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
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Luke 21:29-33 Jesus told his disciples a parable. "Consider the fig tree and all the other trees. When their buds burst open, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near; in the same way, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." Introductory Prayer: Dear Jesus, I believe in you and in the Kingdom you are building in and through me. I believe in the value of my sacrifice and struggles united to yours. I hope to arrive to heaven when you say it is time. I wish to spend myself for those I should love the most. Petition: Thy Kingdom come, both now and forever! 1. See for Yourselves: In today’s Gospel, Jesus is responding to the disciples’ anxious plea for a “when” and a “with what warning” the end will come (Luke 21:7). He tells them some signs that will precede the imminent fall of Jerusalem as well as the coming of the Son of Man “on the clouds.” But these will all be very apparent, like the coming of summer. So don’t be obsessed with figuring out the “when.” Focus on living and knowing the Kingdom of God now. How easily we are distracted with all that happens around us, yet how difficult it is to be aware of the Kingdom and its demands in my heart and my relations to others in my life! What efforts do I make to discover and to know the present demands of his Kingdom in my life? 2. The Kingdom of God Will Come: Jesus has used many images to describe the Kingdom of God. Like the mustard seed, it is hard to recognize at first. It begins small and grows slowly. But it will come, and this must be our daily prayer of desire: “Thy Kingdom Come!” We must resist a very real temptation. Almost unconsciously we want it to be a worldly Kingdom that will come during our lifetime. We work and pray as though we will soon arrive at our goals and rest from all our spiritual labors. This leads us to get easily discouraged at our lack of progress in prayer and virtue, no less than with the problems that surround us. No, we must live with hope, pushing forward with growing confidence that the Lord will bring his Kingdom to fulfillment, both in us and in the world – when the time is right. Whose kingdom am I seeking? 3. My Words Will Not Pass Away: Another temptation in awaiting the Kingdom is to despair of the times of trial through which we must pass. But in the words of St. Theresa of Jesus, “all things pass,” only God remains. Nothing we suffer will remain as the Kingdom approaches. And yet all these “trials” are the most valuable and powerful means to bring about the Kingdom in our own souls and in the lives of others, especially in those who wander. Use the tools of the Kingdom: Suffer trials with faith, and respond with a love that gives them an eternal value. May we never lose a moment in which to merit graces and to build the Kingdom that comes. In the end, only what we have done for God and for our brothers and sisters remains. Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, give me a greater faith and confidence that every cross and burden, no matter how trivial or small, is a means to love. I want to build your Kingdom with you. Keep me focused on the opportunities and demands of the present moment. Resolution: I will make one small sacrifice at a meal today for someone I wish I could help more. By Father Edward Hopkins, LC |
November 28, 2014
Jesus asks us to contemplate the phenomena of nature to learn how to read and interpret the things which are happening in the world. To make this discernment is not easy. By reflecting together as Christians, the light appears. And the light is this: to experience in everything that happens the call not to remain in the past, nor in the present, but rather to keep the horizon open and to perceive in everything that happens an arrow directed toward the future – the eschatological reality of the second coming of Christ the King, and the end of the world and judgment day.
Today, many people live worried concerning the end of the world. In the New Testament the return of Jesus is always a reason for joy and peace! This must be our Christian attitude. For us, Jesus has come, and is already among us especially present in the Holy Eucharist. He is also at our side in our struggle for justice, for peace and fullness of life. But this has not as yet been attained. For this reason, we await with hope and perseverance for the total liberation of humanity and of nature until He comes and transforms everything into a new heaven and a new earth.
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