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Sunday, September 16, 2018

HOW TO GROW IN FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE DURING CATHOLICISM’S WINTER


God made you to know, love and serve Him in this life and to be happy with Him forever in heaven. The Golden Rule is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

In this winter of Catholicism, I recommend the following:

1. Don’t obsess on bad news and the ineffectual and tone deaf leadership of the pope and bishops, pray for them.

2. Go to Mass each Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation, everyday if possible.

3. Pray the Holy Rosary frequently.

4. Go to confession regularly

5. Rediscover the pre-Vatican II ascetic   practices of fasting and abstinence and practice these:

  • Fasting (All days in Lent, except Sundays, the Ember Days, the Vigils of Whitsunday, of All Saints, of the Immaculate Conception and of Christmas Day.): 
    • All Catholics from the completion of their twenty-first year to the beginning of their sixtieth year are bound to observe the Law of fast. The days of fast are the weekdays of Lent, Ember Days, the Vigils of Pentecost, the Immaculate Conception, Christmas. Only one full meal is allowed on a day of Fast. Two other meatless meals are permitted. These meals should be sufficient to maintain strength in accordance with each one's needs. Both of these meals, or collations, together, should not equal one full meal.
    • It is permissible to eat meat at the principle meal on a Fast Day except on Fridays, Ash Wednesday, and the Vigils of Immaculate Conception, Christmas, and Holy Saturday. 
    • Solid foods between meals is not permitted. Liquids, including coffee, tea, milk and fruit juices are allowed. 
    • In connection with problems arising from the Laws of Fast and Abstinence, a confessor or priest should be consulted. Dispensations may be granted for a serious reason concerning health or the ability to work.”
  • Abstinence (The Ember Days, the Vigils mentioned above, the Wednesdays of Lent, Holy Saturdays forenoon, and all Fridays, except Days of Obligation.”)
    • All Catholics seven years and older are obliged to observe the Law of Abstinence.
    • On days of complete abstinence flesh meat, soup or gravy made from meat are not permitted at all. On days of partial abstinence flesh meat, soup or gravy made from meat ar permitted once a day at the principal meal. 
    • Complete abstinence is to be observed on all Fridays of the year, Ash Wednesday, Vigils of the Immaculate Conception and Christmas, and on Holy Saturday. Partial abstinence is to be observed on Ember Wednesdays and Saturdays, and on the Vigil of Pentecost.
Any other ideas?


10 comments:

Mark Thomas said...

I would add...just love the Pope. Do not succumb to the hatred of the Pope that certain folks within and without the Church have promoted.

Rejoice that thanks to the promise of Jesus Christ, the Church of Rome has preserved the True Religion.

The Pope will always teach the True Faith.

Adhere to the following:

Rorate Caeli:

https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2012/11/love-pope-no-ifs-and-no-buts-for.html

"Love the Pope!" - no ifs, and no buts:"

Pope Saint Pius X, 1912 A.D.

"The Pope is the guardian of dogma and of morals; he is the custodian of the principles that make families sound, nations great, souls holy; he is the counsellor of princes and of peoples; he is the head under whom no one feels tyrannized because he represents God Himself; he is the supreme father who unites in himself all that may exist that is loving, tender, divine.

"It seems incredible, and is even painful, that there be priests to whom this recommendation must be made, but we are regrettably in our age in this hard, unhappy, situation of having to tell priests: love the Pope!

"And how must the Pope be loved? When one loves a person, one tries to adhere in everything to his thoughts, to fulfill his will, to perform his wishes. And if Our Lord Jesus Christ said of Himself, "if any one love me, he will keep my word," therefore, in order to demonstrate our love for the Pope, it is necessary to obey him.

"Therefore, when we love the Pope, there are no discussions regarding what he orders or demands, or up to what point obedience must go, and in what things he is to be obeyed;

"when we love the Pope, we do not say that he has not spoken clearly enough, almost as if he were forced to repeat to the ear of each one the will clearly expressed so many times not only in person, but with letters and other public documents;

"we do not place his orders in doubt, adding the facile pretext of those unwilling to obey - that it is not the Pope who commands, but those who surround him; we do not limit the field in which he might and must exercise his authority;

"we do not set above the authority of the Pope that of other persons, however learned, who dissent from the Pope, who, even though learned, are not holy, because whoever is holy cannot dissent from the Pope.

"This is the cry of a heart filled with pain, that with deep sadness I express, not for your sake, dear brothers, but to deplore, with you, the conduct of so many priests, who not only allow themselves to debate and criticize the wishes of the Pope, but are not embarrassed to reach shameless and blatant disobedience, with so much scandal for the good and with so great damage to souls."

— Saint Pius X, Allocution Vi ringrazio to priests on the 50th anniversary of the Apostolic Union, November 18, 1912 A.D.

Pax.

Mark Thomas

rcg said...

Found a Men’s prayer group. Men are always concerned for their family and friends and want God’s aid for them. Our parish has a men’s prayer group sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. Because we are far flung during the week, we coordinate our prayer intentions and share articles and information via encrypted social media. Each wednesday we fast and pray the Rosary whereever we are, mindful of the intentions shared that week by our group. Once a month, or so, we hold adoration and prayer in the church with a short talk by our pastor and chaplin of the Knights. During adoration he hears confessions. Afterwards, we have a pot luck. From that group we get ideas to help the parish and the Knights gather the resources for the ideas that get selected for action. Last Sunday we collected $1,200 for our seminary. We have done parish chores as well as work to establish a Federation of Explorers for the youth. I have shared some photos of our Corpus Christi celebration. That is supported by many in the parish, but mostly the ladies of the Altar Rosary Society.

Starting with the basics you list in the origianl post the parish finds inspiration and the heart to do the external acts that set us appart.

John Nolan said...

'Any other ideas'? Yes. Recover true Catholic worship. Yesterday I attended a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, organized by the English Oratories. Solemn Mass for the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows was offered in the traditional Roman Rite. It included the Sequence 'Stabat Mater'. A week previously I was at a weekend retreat for young Catholic adults at Douai Abbey (Berkshire) as part of a chant schola. Compline, Vespers and two sung Masses, the Saturday one being Solemn. All in the old rite (Dominican and Roman), plus rosary, Eucharistic adoration and Benediction. One girl, from Slovakia, had never before attended an old rite Mass, and was overwhelmed by the experience.

Twenty of the youngsters also attended the chant workshops, some of whom were new to chant.

One young Oratorian priest I spoke with yesterday admitted that he used the old Offertory prayers when celebrating the Novus Ordo, since the new ones were 'dreadful'. And why not? Since the OF and EF are both forms of the one Roman Rite, no 'mixing of rites' occurs. And the Ordinariate Missal, also part of the Roman Rite, allows them.

Dan said...

The pope is so cuddly, what's not to love?

Anonymous said...

Bee here:

Other ideas?

Yes;
-use holy water in the home, blessing each room and portal of your house with a simple prayer, and blessing yourself often with it as well;

-put up blessed crucifixes in your house especially in your bedrooms, but also in your living room and kitchen (if you feel hesitant about this, that may be a red flag as to whether you love God without consideration of human respect);

-Go to confession at least once a month. Think about sins of thought... Sometimes sins of word and deed are easy to remember, but our sins of thought are often not even acknowledged. I don't mean sexual thoughts. I mean thoughts against charity or respect for others.

I was reminded that the first directive St. Francis of Assisi heard from the crucifix was, "Francis, rebuild my Church, which you see is falling into ruins all around you..." Francis thought God meant the physical church of San Damiano, which was a wreck. Now we know what God really meant. How did Francis respond to God's request? By getting mad and making statements and ranting and raving about the scandals? No. He fasted and prayed and lived a life of asceticism, and God changed the world...

Although the following refers to Jesus, we can see how it applies to Francis, who did all he could to imitate Christ:

"Behold, My servant, whom I have chose;
My beloved, in whom My soul is well-pleased.
I will put My spirit upon him
And he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

He will not quarrel nor cry out;
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

A battered reed he will not break off,
and a smoldering wick he will not put out,
until he leads justice to victory.

And in his name the Gentiles will hope." Matt. 12:18-21


Let's ask God to fix this mess. I think He's the only one who knows how.

God bless.
Bee




Woody said...

Find a good Ukrainian Catholic, Byzantine Catholic or Melkite Catholic parish and worship there, drinking in the ancient wisdom and rites of the East.

TJM said...

John Nolan,

I had the pleasure of meeting the Abbot at Douai 5 years ago on the occasion of a memorial for my son-in-law's late father who attended Douai in the 1950s. His father was a great lover of Gregorian Chant, instilled in him by the monks at Douai. The Abbot showed me through the library which was an enriching experience.

60's survivor said...

I think I am going to follow your suggestions Father.

Needless to say, every Catholic-hater in the western hemisphere is taking to the comment sections of every newspaper to attack the Catholic Church. I have made the mistake of trying to defend the Church in these places and it is too much. Between the sheer ignorance, the lies and the massive hatred, I can't possibly respond to all of it quickly or eloquently enough. And to make matters worse, it's hard to blame some of these pathetic people, seeing what kind of example our Catholic leaders are setting.

I will turn to God and try to amend my life.

TJM said...

On balance, the Catholic Church has done far more good, than not. They saved Western Civilization and preserved the best from the Ancient World. They built schools, orphanages, hospitals, etc. The haters will hate (notice the vast majority comes from the political left)

60's survivor said...

TJM,

Of course we know that, but the current crisis is drawing out the worst of the most hateful and ignorant people who are calling the Church a "child rape institution", accusing the Church of being behind all wars, especially religious ones and dredging up every black legend, lie and falsehood ever leveled at Catholics. I am willing to speak up on an individual level, but I am afraid we are so outnumbered at this point that it is going to take God's intervention to enlighten the masses.