Advent Series - December 6

JMJ

December 6

Happy feast of St. Nicholas!

Jacob (now named Israel) had 12 sons.
These sons would become the fathers of the 12 Tribes of Israel.

Their names were;
1) Ruben 2) Simeon 3) Levi
4) Juda 5) Dan 6) Nephtali
7) Gad 8) Aser 9) Issachar
10) Zabulon 11) Joseph 12) Benjamin

Jacob’s favorite child was Joseph, the first born son of his wife Rachel.
Jacob gave Joseph a beautiful coat of many colors.
The other boys were jealous, and they sold Joseph as a slave to some Egyptian traders.
The boys told their father that a wild animal had killed Joseph. (Poor Jacob. He was deceived again!)

The slave traders sold Joseph to a rich Egyptian. That Egyptian’s wife told lies about Joseph and got him sent to prison because he refused to do wrong. Things looked pretty bad for Joseph, but he trusted in God.

In prison, Joseph met 2 men who had strange dreams. Joseph told them what their dreams meant; one of the men would be hanged and the other would be set free.
Things turned out just as Joseph said. After a time, Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt had a strange dream also. No one could tell him what his dream meant. Then the man who had been freed remembered Joseph and told Pharaoh about Joseph and his special gift.

The Pharaoh sent for Joseph and Joseph told him what his dreams meant; the land of Egypt would have 7 years of good crops, followed by 7 years when no food would grow.
Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of storing food to prepare for the famine.
The day came when no crops would grow, but because of Joseph,the people of Egypt were well provided for.

Meanwhile, due to the famine, Joseph’s family had run out of food but they heard it was possible to buy food in Egypt.
The brothers set out for Egypt. When they got there they did not recognize Joseph.
Joseph remembered them, however. He forgave his brothers and invited the whole family to come and live in Egypt where there was plenty of food.

Let’s remember Joseph when we’re having a bad day. Everything fits into God’s plan, and God brings good out of evil. When things are not going as we hoped, that’s when we can show God that we love Him and trust Him.

So Jacob (Israel) and his sons went to live in Egypt. At first things went well, but then the Old Pharaoh died.
The new Pharaoh did not trust the children of Israel.
We read before how God told Abraham that He would give to His people the land of Chanaan, but only after they spent 400 years as slaves in a strange land.(Gen 15)
This marks the beginning of their 400 years of exile.

The children of Israel had many children. They grew to be so many, that after 400 years, the Egyptians were afraid they would take over Egypt. The Pharaoh who ruled then decided to do something about it. He ordered all Hebrew baby boys to be killed.

It was then that Moses was born. Moses, of course was a Hebrew baby boy, so his life was in danger.
Moses’ mother placed him in a basket on the Nile River to escape being killed.
His older sister followed to watch over him. When an Egyptian princess found Moses, she wanted to take care of him. Moses’ sister stepped out of the rushes and offered to find a nurse to take care of the baby. Can you guess who she “found”?

Moses grew up in the palace of the Pharaoh, but he stayed loyal to his own people. One day, he saw an Egyptian being cruel to a Hebrew. Moses got so angry that he killed the Egyptian. After that, Moses knew he had to leave Egypt or be killed as well.
Moses went to live in the desert for many years. One day, he saw a bush that was on fire, yet it did not burn to ashes. God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, telling him to go to Pharaoh and ask that the Hebrews be allowed to go into the desert and make sacrifices to God.

The Israelites worked to build Pharaoh’s cities so Pharaoh was not thrilled with the idea of them leaving to go into the desert. In fact, he thought that the Hebrews must have too much time on their hands to come up with such an idea. To punish them, Pharaoh ordered the Hebrews to make bricks without straw. Anyone not supplying the same number of bricks would be whipped. Now this was not fair at all, since you could not make bricks without straw!

The people of Israel were upset. They told Moses that Pharaoh had used his visit as a reason to persecute them.
And God said to Moses, “I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, wherewith the Egyptians have oppressed them: and I have remembered My covenant. Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord who will bring you out from the work prison of the Egyptians, and will deliver you from bondage” (Ex 6:5-6)

We will read tomorrow about how God fulfilled His promise.

Facts and Opinions - An Explanation

+ JMJ When a person's assumptions are events outside of their control they form an opinion and, in my experience, assert this opinion to be fact. So ... it is important to define some terms:

The Curious Case of Steve Skojec and the Dangers of Deep Diving into the Crisis Sub-Titled: The Failings of Others

+ JMJ It's been a while now since Steve Skojec sold 1P5 and abandoned the Catholic Faith. I've been a 'Trad' since 1982 and in those 40+ years I seen this death-spiral before with a similar end point. It seems that anyone who jumps into the fray unprepared for the enormous task of righting wrongs will, eventually, become discouraged by not the task but the people who surround them. I remember when Skojec complained of the treatment his family received from a traditional priest. This seems to have been the start of the end for him. So what can we learn from the likes of Steve Skojec, Michael Voris (maybe?), Louie Verrecchio, Gerry Matatix and other celebrity Catholics? Probably quite a lot about what not to do. First, don't burn out on the crisis? When you burn out, on work or anything else, little things assume a more greater importance than they are due. This is one of my 'canary in the coal mine' signals that I've been stretching myself too thin

Morning and Evening and other sundry Prayers

+ JMJ Along the theme of P^3 (Prayer, Penance, Patience), and for my own reference ... here is a collection of Morning and Evening prayers from the Ideal Daily Missal along with some additional prayers. In this crisis of the Church, I do not think it is possible to do too much prayer, penance and have patience. P^3

Comparision of the Tridentine, Cranmer and Novus Ordo Masses

+ JMJ I downloaded the comparison that was linked in the previous article on the mass (here) . ... a very good reference! P^3 From: Whispers of Restoration (available at this link) . CHARTING LITURGICAL CHANGE Comparing the 1962 Ordinary of the Roman Mass to changes made during the Anglican Schism; Compared in turn to changes adopted in the creation of Pope Paul VI’s Mass in 1969 The chart on the reverse is a concise comparison of certain ritual differences between three historical rites for the celebration of the Catholic Mass Vetus Ordo: “Old Order,” the Roman Rite of Mass as contained in the 1962 Missal, often referred to as the “Traditional Latin Mass.”The Ordinary of this Mass is that of Pope St. Pius V (1570) following the Council of Trent (1545-63), hence the occasional moniker “Tridentine Mass.” However, Trent only consolidated and codified the Roman Rite already in use at that time; its essential form dates to Pope St. Gregory the Great (+604), in whose time the R

What the heck is a congregation of "Pontifical Right"

+ JMJ In a discussion with a friend the question occurred to me that I didn't actually know was is involved in being a religious order of 'pontifical right'. I had a vague notion that this meant they reported to Rome as opposed to the local diocese. I'm also aware that, according to the accounts I have heard, the Archbishop received 'praise' and the written direction to incardinate priests directly into the SSPX. This is interesting because it implies that the SSPX priests were no longer required to incardinate in the local diocese but in the SSPX. This is something that belongs to an order of 'pontifical right'. Anyway here's some definitions: Di diritto pontificio is the Italian term for “of pontifical right” . It is given to the ecclesiastical institutions (the religious and secular institutes, societies of apostolic life) either created by the Holy See or approved by it with the formal decree, known by its Latin name, Decretu

Tradicat

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