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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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Who
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Ezekiel
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Part III: The New
Israel |
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On the tenth day of the month beginning the
twenty-fifth year of their exile, fourteen
years after the city is taken, the LORD comes
upon Ezekiel and brings him in divine visions
to the land of Israel, where He sets him down
on a very high mountain.
On it there a city is being built before
Ezekiel. The LORD gives Ezekiel the dimensions
of the temple that is to be built, how the
temple will be laid out and how it will be
governed. The LORD specifies that the priests
who have charge of the temple will be the
Zadokites, the only Levites who may come near
to minister to the LORD.
Then the LORD leads Ezekiel to the gate which
faces the east, and there he sees the glory of
the God of Israel coming from the east. He
hears a sound like the roaring of many waters,
and the earth shone with his glory. The vision
is like that which Ezekiel saw |
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when
the LORD came to destroy the city, and like that
which he had seen by the river Chebar. Ezekiel
falls prone as the glory of the LORD enters the
temple.
The spirit lifts Ezekiel up and brings him to the
inner court, which is filled with the glory of the
LORD.
Then Ezekiel hears someone speaking to him from
the temple.
The voice says to him:
Son of man, this is where my throne shall be, this
is where I will set the soles of my feet; here I
will dwell among the Israelites forever. Never
again shall they and their kings profane my holy
name with their harlotries and with the corpses of
their kings (their high places).
When they placed their threshold against my
threshold and their doorpost next to mine, so that
only a wall was between us, they profaned my holy
name by their abominable deeds; therefore I
consumed them in my wrath.
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From now on they shall put far from me their
harlotry and the corpses of their kings, and I
will dwell in their midst forever.
Then the LORD orders Ezekiel to describe the
temple to the house of Israel - its
measurements and its design, its exits and
entrances, and all its statutes and laws. He
tells Ezekiel to write these down for them to
see, that they may carefully observe all its
laws and statutes.
The LORD also declares the law of the temple:
its whole surrounding area on the mountain top
shall be most sacred.
The LORD then instructs Ezekiel to set apart a
sacred tract of land for the LORD that will be
sacred, in which the sanctuary, the holy
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of
holies shall be built. The sanctuary shall be the
sacred part of the land belonging to the priests,
the ministers of the sanctuary, who draw near to
minister to the LORD; it shall be a place for
their homes and pasture land for their cattle.
The LORD says that these priests shall come from
the line of Zadok who cared for His sanctuary when
the Israelites strayed from Him. They shall draw
near Him to minister to Him, and they shall stand
before Him to offer Him fat and blood.
On the other hand, the LORD says to Ezekiel the
Levites, who departed from Him when Israel strayed
from Him to pursue their idols, they shall bear
the consequences of their sin. They shall serve in
His sanctuary as gatekeepers and temple servants;
they shall slaughter the holocausts and the
sacrifices for the people, and they shall stand
before the people to minister for them.
The LORD also specifies the offerings of the
people to the prince of Israel who in turn shall
offer sacrifices to the LORD. The LORD further
specifies what the sacrifices should be and when
to offer them
The LORD tells Ezekiel that the dishonest of the
royalty, whom in collusion with the rich created a
monopoly of land ownership thus evicting the
people, shall stop. The LORD also stresses honesty
among those in business to have fairness with the
people. |
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Then the LORD brings Ezekiel back to the
entrance of the temple, and Ezekiel sees water
flowing in a river from the sanctuary. The
LORD tells Ezekiel that the water shall empty
into the sea, which it makes fresh. Wherever
the river flows, every sort of living creature
that can multiply shall live, and there shall
be abundant fish, for wherever this water
comes the sea shall be made fresh.
The LORD says that the fishermen shall be
standing along it spreading their nets for of
fish shall be like those of the Great Sea,
very numerous. Only its marshes and swamps
shall not be made fresh; they shall be left
for salt. |
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The
LORD tells Ezekiel that along both banks of the
river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their
leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail. Every
month they shall bear fresh fruit, for they shall
be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their
fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for
medicine.
The Lord GOD tells Ezekiel the boundaries within
which he shall apportion the land among the twelve
tribes of Israel with Joseph having two portions.
All of them shall have a like portion in this land
which He swore to give to their fathers as their
inheritance.
The LORD tells Ezekiel that he shall distribute
this land among the tribes of Israel. They shall
allot it as inheritances for themselves and for
the aliens resident in their midst who have bred
children among them. The aliens shall be to them
like native Israelites; along with them the aliens
shall receive inheritances among the tribes of
Israel. In whatever tribe the alien may be
resident, there he shall assign him his
inheritance, says the Lord GOD. |
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What
is
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Holy
Trinity Sunday
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From the New Advent,
Catholic Encyclopedia: |
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The first Sunday after Pentecost,
instituted to honor the Most Holy Trinity.
In
the early Church no special Office or day was
assigned for the Holy Trinity. When the Arian
heresy was spreading the Fathers prepared an
Office with canticles, responses, a Preface, and
hymns, to be recited on Sundays.
In
the Sacramentary of St. Gregory the Great (P.L.,
LXXVIII, 116) there are prayers and the Preface
of the Trinity. The Micrologies (P.L., CLI,
1020), written during the pontificate of Gregory
VII (Nilles, II, 460), call the Sunday after
Pentecost a Dominica vacans, with no special
Office, but add that in some places they recited
the Office of the Holy Trinity composed by
Bishop Stephen or Liège (903-20) By other the
Office was said on the Sunday before Advent.
Alexander II (1061-1073), not III (Nilles, 1.
c.), refused a petition for a special feast on
the plea, that such a feast was not customary in
the Roman Church which daily honored the Holy
Trinity by the Gloria, Patri, etc., but he did
not forbid the celebration where it already
existed. John XXII (1316-1334) ordered the feast
for the entire Church on the first Sunday after
Pentecost.
A
new Office had been made by the Franciscan John
Peckham, Canon of Lyons, later Archbishop of
Canterbury (d. 1292). The feast ranked as a
double of the second class but was raised to the
dignity of a primary of the first class, 24 July
1911, by Pius X (Acta Ap. Sedis, III, 351). The
Greeks have no special feast. Since it was after
the first great Pentecost that the doctrine of
the Trinity was proclaimed to the world, the
feast becomingly follows that of Pentecost.
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RESPECT FOR LIFE, THE
FOUNDATION OF CIVIL COEXISTENCE |
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VATICAN CITY,
12 MAY 2008 (VIS) - This morning in the
Vatican, the Holy Father received members of
the Italian organisation Movement for Life,
led by their president Carlo Casini.
Opening his address to them, Benedict XVI
recalled how the year 2008 marks the 30th
anniversary of the legalisation of abortion
in Italy. "It is your intention", he told
his audience, "to suggest profound
reflections on the human and social effects
the law has produced in the civil and
Christian community during that period".
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"We cannot but
recognise", he went on, "that, in practical
terms, defending human life has become more
difficult today, because a mentality has been
created that progressively devalues human life
and entrusts it to the judgement of individuals.
A consequence deriving therefrom is lessened
respect for the human person, a value that lies
at the foundation of any form of civil
coexistence, over and above the faith a person
may profess."
Abortion "not only has not resolved the problems
afflicting many women and no small number of
families, but it has opened another wound in our
societies" said the Holy Father. He also called
for combined efforts to ensure that
"institutions once again focus their activities
on defence of human life and priority concern
for families. ... Families must be helped, using
all legislative means to facilitate their
formation and their educational work in the
difficult social context of today."
"It is necessary to bear concrete witness to the
fact that respect for life is the first form of
justice that must be applied. For those who have
the gift of faith this becomes an imperative
that cannot be deferred. ... Only God is the
Lord of life. Each human being is known, loved,
wanted and guided by Him, ... and each has his
origins in God's creative plan."
The Pope pointed out that this year also marks
the 60th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, and he praised the
Movement for Life's commitment "in the political
sphere, assisting and encouraging the
institutions to ensure that correct recognition
is given to the words 'human dignity.'
"Your initiative in the European Parliament's
Commission for Petitions, in which you affirm
the fundamental values of the right to life from
the moment of conception, of the family founded
on the marriage of a man and a woman, of the
right of all conceived human beings to be born
and educated in a family of parents, is further
confirmation of the solidity of your commitment
and your full communion with the Church's
Magisterium which has always proclaimed and
defended such values as 'non negotiable.'"
Benedict XVI concluded by thanking his audience
for their service "to the Church and to society.
How many human lives have you saved from death!
Continue along this path and do not be afraid,
so that the smile of life may triumph on the
lips of all children and their mothers."
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AC/ITALIAN MOVEMENT FOR
LIFE/...VIS 080512 (500) |
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So
you think you know -
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Jesus Christ, Son of God |
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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. |
True or
false.
To be a Christian, it is necessary that one
believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
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2. |
True or false.
Jesus Christ is God by adoption, which is the
reason we also can become partakers of the
divine nature. |
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3. |
Why is the child born of
Mary called
"Jesus"? |
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Because the
name "Jesus" means "God saves."
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b. |
Because he
will save his people from their sins. |
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c. |
Because the
name "Jesus" means "the anointed one." |
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d. |
Because the
name "Jesus" means "the sinless one."
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e. |
a and b. |
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4. |
True or false.
The assertion of Jesus as "Lord" is an
implicit recognition that we submit our
personal freedom to Jesus and the Father. |
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5. |
True or false.
It is because Jesus is both God and man that
he alone can be the mediator between God and
man. |
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6. |
Which of
the following are
true?
Choose none, some, or all of the below. |
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a. |
The Word
became flesh for us in order to save us by
reconciling us with God. |
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b. |
The Word
became flesh so that we might know God’s
love. |
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c. |
The Word
became flesh to be our model of holiness.
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d. |
The Word
became flesh to make us partakers of the
divine nature. |
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Which of
the following statements is
false?
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The word
"Christ" comes from the Greek translation
of the Hebrew Messiah, which means
"anointed." |
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Jesus
fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in
his threefold office of priest, prophet,
and king. |
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The term
"Christ" became the name proper to Jesus
only because he accomplished perfectly the
divine mission that "Christ" signifies.
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God called
Joseph to take Mary as his wife so that
Jesus, who is called Christ, would be born
of the wife of Joseph into the messianic
line of David. |
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Jesus
accepted his rightful title of Messiah,
understood as one who would break the
political oppression of the Chosen People. |
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8. |
True or false.
The truth that Jesus is true God and true man
means that he has both a human and a divine
nature. |
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9. |
True or false.
Jesus is a human person. |
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10. |
True or false.
Jesus has not only a divine intellect and
will, but a human intellect and will. |
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To
learn more about Our Faith, please
click here. |
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The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
May 18, 2008
God so loved the world that he gave
his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him
might not perish but might have
eternal life - John 3:16 |
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First Reading from the Book of Exodus |
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Ex 34:4b-6, 8-9 |
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Early in the morning Moses went up Mount Sinai as
the LORD had commanded him, taking along the two
stone tablets.
Having come down in a cloud, the LORD stood with
Moses there and proclaimed his name, "LORD."
Thus
the LORD passed before him and cried out,
"The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God,
slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity."
Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship.
Then he said, "If I find favor with you, O Lord,
do come along in our company. This is indeed a
stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and
sins, and receive us as your own. |
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Responsorial From Deutoronomy:
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Dn 3:52, 53, 54,
55, 56 |
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R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
praiseworthy and glorious above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
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Second Reading from the Second Letter to the
Corinthians |
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2 Cor 13:11-13
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Brothers and sisters, rejoice.
Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with
one another, live in peace, and the God of love
and peace will be with you.
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
All the holy ones greet you.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of
God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with
all of you. |
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Reading From the Gospel of John |
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Jn 3:16-18 |
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God so loved the world that
he gave his only Son,
so that
everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world might be saved
through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but
whoever does not believe has already been
condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the
only Son of God. |
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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)
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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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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.
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.
by John J. Pilch (Author)