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My Prayer Box
the
Newsletter of My Catholic Tradition
“You cannot strengthen the
weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help the
wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You
cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You
cannot help men permanently by doing for them what
they could and should do for themselves.” -
Abraham Lincoln
To subscribe to the newsletter, please follow this
link. |
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Health Notes |
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Food for (Positive) Thought |
There's Nothing Fishy
About Omega-3s
Fat is an essential part of any healthy diet.
But before you start adding wheels of cheese
to your grocery list, make sure you know which
fats are the healthiest. Omega-3s are some of
the best!
Omega-3 fats, a form of polyunsaturated fat
named for its multiple pairs of double-bonded
carbons, are unsaturated fats. This type of
fat is found predominantly in cold-water fish
such as salmon, as well as flaxseed, walnuts,
and almonds. |
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Like
monounsaturated fat, omega-3 fats improve heart
health by keeping cholesterol levels low. They can
also aid in stabilizing an irregular heartbeat
(arrhythmia) and reducing blood pressure. Omega-3
fatty acids act as natural blood thinners,
reducing the "stickiness" of blood cells (or
platelet aggregation), which can lead to blood
clots and stroke.
In numerous studies over the years, participants
suffering from inflammatory diseases such as
rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Raynaud's disease
have reported less joint stiffness, swelling,
tenderness, and overall fatigue when taking
omega-3s.
This fat may inhibit the production of carcinogens
within the body, thus aiding in cancer prevention
and treatment. It turns out that even your brain —
which is 60 percent fat — needs omega-3 to
function properly. This wonder fat has even been
shown to relieve symptoms of depression and other
mood disorders! |
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From a Company
Newsletter |
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Who
is |
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Osee |
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(the Prophet also known as Hosea) |
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Introduction
Osee,
also known as Hosea, whose name signifies a
savior, was the first in the order of time
among those who are commonly called lesser
prophets.
They are called the lesser prophets not
because they are of lesser importance and
stature but because their prophecies are
short.
He prophesied in the kingdom of Israel, (that
is, of the ten tribes) about the same time
that Isaiah prophesied in the kingdom of
Judah. |
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The word of the
LORD comes to Osee, the son of Beeri, in the days
of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah,
and in the days of Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of
Israel. The LORD says to Osee to go and take a
harlot wife and harlot's children for the land
gives itself to harlotry, turning away from the
LORD.
So he goes and
takes Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim; and she
conceives and bears him a son. The LORD says to
Osee to give him the name Jezreel, for in a little
while the LORD will punish the house of Jehu for
the bloodshed at Jezreel and bring to an end the
kingdom of the house of Israel.
When she
conceives again she bears a daughter, whom the
LORD tells Osee to give her the name Lo-ruhama,
for the LORD no longer feels pity for the house of
Israel: rather, He abhors them utterly. Yet for
the house of Judah the LORD feels pity and He will
save them. But the LORD says that he will not save
them by war, by sword or bow, by horses or
horsemen.
After she weans
Lo-ruhama, she conceives and bears a son. The LORD
says to Osee to give him the name Lo-ammi, for
they are not His people, and He will not be their
God.
The LORD at this time has vowed to disown Israel
because their worship of Baal and harlotry, which
Gomer signifies. He promised that He will take
back His grain in its time, and His wine in its
season; He will snatch away His wool and His flax,
with which she covers her nakedness. |
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The LORD
promises that He will punish her for the days
of the Baals, for whom she burnt incense,
while she decked herself out with her rings
and her jewels, and, in going after her lovers
and forgetting the LORD.
But mercy
from the LORD is on its way. He promises to
lead her into the desert and speak to her
heart. From there He will give her the
vineyards she had, and the valley of Achor as
a door of hope. She shall respond there as in
the days of her youth, when she came up from
the land of Egypt. |
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The LORD says that
He will make a covenant for them on that day, with
the beasts of the field, with the birds of the
air, and with the things that crawl on the ground.
Bow and sword and war He will destroy from the
land, and He will let them take their rest in
security.
The LORD says
that He will espouse in Osee in right and in
justice, in love and in mercy; in fidelity, and he
shall know the LORD. On that day the LORD says
that He will respond to the heavens, and they
shall respond to the earth; the earth shall
respond to the grain, and wine, and oil, and these
shall respond to Jezreel.
The LORD says that He will sow him for himself in
the land, and He will have pity on Lo-ruhama. He
will say to Lo-ammi, "You are my people," and he
shall say, "My God!"
Again the LORD says to Osee to give his love to a
woman beloved of a paramour, an adultress. Even as
the LORD loves the people of Israel, though they
turn to other gods. So Osee buys her for fifteen
pieces of silver and a homer and a lethech of
barley.
Then Osee says to her that many days she shall
wait for him and she shall not play the harlot or
belong to any man. In turn Osee tells her that he
will wait for her. for the people of Israel shall
remain many days without king or prince, without
sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or
household idols.
Osee then says
that the people of Israel shall turn back and seek
the LORD, their God, and David, their king. They
shall come trembling to the LORD and to his
bounty, in the last days. The number of the
Israelites shall be like the sand of the sea,
which can be neither measured nor counted. Whereas
they are called, "Lo-ammi," they shall be called,
"Children of the living God."
Then the people
of Judah and of Israel shall be gathered together.
They shall appoint for themselves one head and
come up from other lands, for great shall be the
day of Jezreel. |
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To be continued . . .
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If There Is No God
by
Dennis Prager
Dennis Prager is one
of America's most respected conservative
thinker and author. He broadcasts in Los
Angeles in his nationally syndicated radio
show.
This is the first few points that Dennis makes
if there is no God. |
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We are
constantly reminded about the destructive
consequences of religion -- intolerance, hatred,
division, inquisitions, persecutions of
"heretics," holy wars. Though far from the whole
story, they are, nevertheless, true. There have
been many awful consequences of religion.
What one almost never hears described are the
deleterious consequences of secularism -- the
terrible developments that have accompanied the
breakdown of traditional religion and belief in
God. For every thousand students who learn about
the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem Witch
Trials, maybe two learn to associate Gulag,
Auschwitz, The Cultural Revolution and the
Cambodian genocide with secular regimes and
ideologies.
For all the problems associated with belief in
God, the death of God leads to far more of them.
So, while it is not possible to prove (or
disprove) God's existence, what is provable is
what happens when people stop believing in God.
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1. |
Without God
there is no good and evil; there are only
subjective opinions that we then label "good"
and "evil." This does not mean that an atheist
cannot be a good person. Nor does it mean that
all those who believe in God are good; there
are good atheists and there are bad believers
in God. It simply means that unless there is a
moral authority that transcends humans from
which emanates an objective right and wrong,
"right" and "wrong" no more objectively exist
than do "beautiful" and "ugly." |
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2. |
Without God,
there is no objective meaning to life. We are
all merely random creations of natural
selection whose existence has no more
intrinsic purpose or meaning than that of a
pebble equally randomly produced. |
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Life is
ultimately a tragic fare if there is no God.
We live, we suffer, we die -- some
horrifically, many prematurely -- and there is
only oblivion afterward. |
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4. |
Human beings
need instruction manuals. This is as true for
acting morally and wisely as it is for
properly flying an airplane. One's heart is
often no better a guide to what is right and
wrong than it is to the right and wrong way to
fly an airplane. The post-religious secular
world claims to need no manual; the heart and
reason are sufficient guides to leading a good
life and to making a good world. |
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5. |
If there is no
God, the kindest and most innocent victims of
torture and murder have no better a fate after
death than do the most cruel torturers and
mass murderers. Only if there is a good God do
Mother Teresa and Adolf Hitler have different
fates. |
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To read the rest of
this article,
please click here. |
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Our
Faith: What you might want to know about |
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The
Sacrament of the Eucharist |
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The Office of Catechism
of the United States Congress of Catholic Bishops
website puts our knowledge of the Catholic
Faith to a test!
This
is just a sample. |
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1. |
Which of these
statements regarding the
Eucharist
are true? |
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In the
Eucharist we unite ourselves with the
heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal
life. |
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The
Eucharist is the source and summit of the
Christian life. |
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All of the
ministries and sacraments of the Church
are bound up with the Eucharist. |
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As the
source of one's spiritual life, the
Eucharist must be the first sacrament to
be received. |
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a, b and c.
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The
Sacrament of the
Eucharist
is called the Lord's Supper because |
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of its
connection with the supper which the Lord
took with the disciples on the eve of the
Passion. |
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it
anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb
in the heavenly Jerusalem. |
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this was
the Latin equivalent of the Jewish term,
"Passover." |
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a, b and c. |
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a and b. |
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3. |
Which of these is
not another name for the
Eucharist?
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The
Heavenly Liturgy |
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b. |
The
Breaking of the Bread |
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c. |
The
Eucharistic Assembly |
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The Holy
Sacrifice |
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Holy
Communion |
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4. |
True or False:
The Eucharist is also called Holy Mass because it
concludes with the sending forth of the faithful
to fulfill God's will in their lives. |
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5. |
True or False:
Since the Catholic Church teaches that Christ is
really present in the bread and wine, the
sacrifice of the Eucharist is then a re-sacrifice
of Christ on the altar. |
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6. |
True or
False:
In the celebration of the Eucharist with the
apostles and his commandment to them to
celebrate it until His return, Jesus
constitutes the apostles as priests of the New
Testament.
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7. |
True or False:
The gospel of John has no counterpart of any kind
to the Last Supper accounts of the Gospels of
Matthew, Mark, and Luke. |
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8. |
True or
False:
There is no instance in the New Testament of a
Eucharistic meal aside from the accounts of
the Last Supper. If you answered true, explain
why this is so. If your answer is false, give
examples. |
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9. |
True or
False:
In the Eucharist we raise ourselves above
concern with the material order of creation in
order to maintain a spiritual union with the
Father. |
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10. |
We speak of the
Eucharist as a memorial of Christ's sacrifice.
In the sense that Sacred Scripture uses the
term 'memorial'
we mean that |
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we promise
to conform our lives to Christ's as the
events of his life are made present to us. |
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Christ's
unique sacrifice is made real, present and
sacramentally offered. |
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we remember
what Christ has done for us. |
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d. |
we are to
recreate visually the historical event as
food for meditation. |
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e. |
a and b. |
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To
learn more about Our Faith, please
click here. |
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Twenty-second
Sunday in Ordinary Time
August
31,
2008
Then Peter took Jesus aside and
began to rebuke him,
“God forbid, Lord! No such thing
shall ever happen to you.”
He turned and said to Peter,
“Get behind me, Satan! You are an
obstacle to me. You are thinking
not as God does, but as human
beings do. - Matthew
18:22-23 |
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First Reading from the Book of Jeremiah |
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Jer 20:7-9 |
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You
duped me, O LORD, and I let myself be duped; you
were too strong for me, and you triumphed. All the
day I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me.
Whenever I speak, I must cry out, violence and
outrage is my message; the word of the LORD has
brought me derision and reproach all the day.
I say to myself, I will not mention him, I will
speak in his name no more. But then it becomes
like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my
bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure
it. |
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Responsorial From the Book of Psalms |
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Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6,
8-9 |
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R. My soul is
thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without
water.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be
satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
You are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
My soul clings fast to you;
your right hand upholds me.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
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Second Reading from the Letter to the Romans |
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Rom 12:1-2 |
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I
urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of
God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.
Do not conform yourselves to this age but be
transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you
may discern what is the will of God, what is good
and pleasing and perfect. |
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Reading From the Gospel of Matthew |
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Mt 16:21-27 |
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Jesus began to show his disciples that he must
go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the
elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to
rebuke him,
“God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever
happen to you.”
He turned and said to Peter,
“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to
me. You are thinking not as God does, but as
human beings do.”
Then Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny
himself, take |
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up
his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his
life for my sake will find it.
What
profit would there be for one to gain the whole
world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give
in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in
his Father’s glory, and then he will repay all
according to his conduct.” |
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Suggested Readings |
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Happiness Is a Serious
Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual
by Dennis Prager.
In this unique blend of self-help and moral
philosophy, talk-radio host Dennis Prager
asserts that we're actually obligated to be
happy, because it makes us better people.
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Praying With Frederic Ozanam
(Companions for the Journey Series)
-
Paperback, by Ronald Cm Ramson (Author) |
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Praying With Louise De
Marillac (Companions for the Journey Series)
by Audrey Gibson (Author), Kieran Kneaves
(Author) |
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Praying with Vincent de
Paul (Companions for the Journey)
2004, by Thomas McKenna
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The Rise of Christianity:
How the Obscure, Marginal, Jesus Movement Became
the Dominant Religious Force ....
(Paperback) by Rodney Stark
(Author)
From the Publisher
"... this account of Christianity's remarkable
growth within the Roman Empire |
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is already the subject of much fanfare. "Anyone
who has puzzled over Christianity's rise to
dominance... must read it," ...
Read the first page. |
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Living Liturgy:
Spirituality, Celebration, and Catechesis for
Sundays and Solemnities, Year A,
2008 (Paperback) by C.PP.S. Joyce Ann Zimmerman
(Author), Thomas A. Greisen (Author), S.N.D. de
N. Kathleen Harmon (Author), M.S. Thomas L.
Leclerc (Author) |
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"Perfect for home use or to prepare for weekly
liturgy . . . It includes help for the
celebration, ideas for catechesis on the
particular event, and ways to understand the
readings more deeply. Finally, it includes
sample questions from which priests, deacons,
lay groups, ministers and others can jump off
into deeper discussion." |
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Straight Answers, Answers
to 100 Questions about the Catholic Faith
by Ph.D Rev. William P.
Saunders (Author)
Review by: Reverend William G. Curlin Bishop of
Charlotte
Straight Answers offers Catholics a simple and
direct response to the many questions concerning
the Catholic Church. It spells out profound
truths in very |
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simple language for all who seek a better
understanding of their Faith. I highly recommend
it for Catholics, both young and old. |
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The Power of Intention:
Learning to Co-create Your World Your Way
From Amazon:
After years of spiritual study and reflection,
inspirational speaker and |
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bestselling
author Wayne Dyer has emerged a highly esteemed
teacher. His current message about tapping into
the power of intention may sound like good old
positive thinking: just stay focused on what you
want, rather than focusing on the lack of having
what you want. But the teaching here goes deeper
than just controlling thoughts (although he does
acknowledge that thought control is a
surprisingly challenging and significant
endeavor).
This book might
help readers land a better job, but it's more
relevant for those who are ready to detach from
an ego-driven life filled with quick fixes of
happiness and step into a more authentic,
joyful, and spiritually fulfilling life. His
core teachings speak to tapping into a universal
source of energy that can also be called the
"power of intention." |
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The Chariot of Israel:
Exploits of the Prophet of Elijah
THE CHARIOT OF ISRAEL: When Elijah was caught up
to heaven, his disciple Elisha cried out, "the
chariot of Israel, and its horsemen." Elisha was
referring not to the chariot but to the prophet.
This study of Elijah’s life will captivate you
as it walks you through a pivotal period in
Israel’s history, and illustrative maps will
give you a better picture of the physical
geography of this ancient land. |
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Read
more about the Liturgical Year |
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The Origins of the
Liturgical Year (Pueblo Books)
by Thomas J. Talley (Author) The Rev. Dr.
Thomas J. Talley, Professor of Liturgics
at the General Theological Seminary in New
York, is one of the leading liturgists in
the country. He gives us a fresh
examination of the complex history of the
Liturgical Year. |
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The Cultural World
of Jesus: Sunday by Sunday, Cycle C.
(Bestseller! the Cultural World of Jesus:
Sunday by Sunday)
by John J. Pilch (Author)
Reader
Review: The book by Pilch provides those
who not only fill the pulpits across this
country but also all interested in the
cultural world in which Jesus lived with a
lot of pertinent information that sheds
light on a lot of areas that have been
"muddled" in the past. Yes, I highly
recommend this book. - James Mauldin |
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Learn
more and read the Old Testament. |
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Preaching from the
Old Testament
by Elizabeth Achtemeier (Author) Reader
Review: The author of these thirty-two
short chapters begins and ends with the
assumption that problems we experience
with the Old Testament are our problem,
not the Bible's. This subordinating of the
Bible reader to the well-weathered book he
holds in his hand opens doors, not to
forced harmonisations of problematic
passages, but to fresh reappraisal of
difficult texts on their own terms. -
David A. Baer |
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The Navarre Bible:
Pentateuch (The Navarre Bible: Old
Testament)
This volume helps you make the first five
books of the Old Testament a vital part of
your spiritual reading and practical
growth in the Christian life. It contains
the full English and Latin texts of these
books, along with extensive and faithfully
Catholic commentaries. Like other volumes
in the world-renowned Navarre Bible
series, these commentaries draw on Church
documents, the exegesis of Fathers
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and Doctors of the Church, and the works of
contemporary spiritual writers — particularly
St. Josemaría Escrivá, who initiated the
Navarre Bible project. |
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Comments and Suggestions are Most Welcome.
If you have any comments or contributions,
please
use the form in this link.
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Our Engine |
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and the website is powered by Site Build It!
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by
This
volume of commentary on the New English Bible text of the First Book of Kings
follows the pattern of the now well-established series on the Old and New
Testaments. The main divisions of the text are those provided by the New English
Bible itself, but these are further subdivided for the purposes of the
commentary, which is printed in short sections following the relevant portion of
the text.
