• Good Pupils

    From Weedy@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jan 2 23:37:43 2022
    Good Pupils

    "Christians must seek to advance toward God evey day and always to
    rejoice in God or in his gifts. Our exile here on earth is very short,
    and our native land is timeless. Here we seek devotion to God, but
    there we rest.

    We must calculate our gains daily. We must be not only eager listeners
    but careful workers. This school of life, in which God is the only
    teacher, looks for good pupils who will not desert but remain loyal."
    --St. Augustine--Sermon 16A, 1

    Prayer: May God in his mercy grant that every day we may be troubled,
    tried, disciplined, or make some progress.
    --St. Augustine--Sermon 16A, 12

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    January 3: - The Most Holy Name of Jesus

    Memorial
    • 3 January
    • 14 January (Franciscans, Carmelites, Augustinians)
    • 15 January (Dominicans)
    • 1 January (Eastern Churches; Lutheran)
    • 7 August (Anglican)

    Today, and all days, we honor the Holy Name of Jesus (The letters IHS
    are an abbreviation of Jesous, the Greek name for Jesus). We do this
    not because we believe that there is any supernatural or intrinsic
    power hidden in the letters composing it, but because the Name of
    Jesus reminds us of all the blessings we receive. To give thanks for
    these blessings we revere the Holy Name, just as we honor His Passion
    by revering His Cross.

    The Name of Jesus, called upon with confidence and faith yields
    assistance in our bodily needs, gives consolation in spiritual trials,
    protects us against Satan and his trickery, and grants us blessings
    and grace far beyond our imagination. This is why the Church concludes
    her prayers with reverence, using the words: "Through Our Lord Jesus
    Christ.”

    Everything that exists was created in and through the Son of God. The
    name of Jesus is debased if any Christian uses it as justification for
    berating others. Jesus reminds us that because we are all related to
    Him we are, therefore, all related to one another.

    Today, as we pray the Holy Rosary, we call upon our Lord and Savior,
    Jesus Christ, to fill our hearts with love and forgiveness for all of
    our brothers and sisters on the earth, as well as for ourselves. We
    remember that we are all related through Christ, whose Most Holy Name
    should never be used as a weapon against others. We remember the words
    of Mary, the Mother of God, at Beauraing, and pray always for
    conversion, and the strength and conviction to make sacrifices for
    those around us.
    by Jacob

    Quote: “Glorious name, gracious name, name of love and of power!
    Through you sins are forgiven, through you enemies are vanquished,
    through you the sick are freed from their illness, through you those
    suffering in trials are made strong and cheerful. You bring honor to
    those who believe, you teach those who preach, you give strength to
    the toiler, you sustain the weary” (St. Bernardine of Siena).

    Saint Quote:
    Admirably saith St. Irenæus, “To follow the Saviour is to partake of salvation: to follow, the light is to partake of light, now they who
    are in the light do not themselves illuminate the light, but are
    enlightened by it.”


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    Act of Reparation for Blasphemies Uttered
    Against the Holy Name

    The Sign which the angel gave the shepherds to help them find the
    new-born Savior, points to His lowliness: "This shall be a sign to
    you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in
    a manger." No other new-born baby who was wrapped in poor swaddling
    clothes and lying in a manger, a feeding trough for animals, could be
    found anywhere else but in a stable. Thus in lowliness the King of
    heaven, the Son of God, chose to be born, because he came to destroy
    the pride that had been the cause of man's ruin.

    The prophets had already foretold that our Redeemer was to be treated
    as the vilest of men on earth and that He was to be overwhelmed with
    insults. How much contempt had not Jesus indeed to suffer from men! He
    was called a drunkard, a trickster, a blasphemer and a heretic. What
    ignominies He endured in His Passion! His own disciples abandoned Him;
    one of them sold Him for thirty pieces of silver, and another denied
    having ever known Him. He was led in bonds through the streets like a
    criminal; He was scourged like a slave, ridiculed as a fool, crowned
    with thorns as a mock king, buffetted and spit upon, and finally left
    to die, hanging on a cross between two thieves, as the worst criminal
    in the world. "The noblest of all," says Saint Bernard, "is treated as
    the vilest of all." But the Saint adds, "The viler Thou art treated,
    the dearer Thou art to me." The more I see Thee, my Jesus, despised
    and put to shame, the more dear and worthy of my love dost Thou become
    to me.

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