Advent Series - December 7

JMJ

December 7

Pharaoh would not let the Israelites leave Egypt so God sent sufferings; 10 plagues to encourage Pharaoh to change his mind.
Pharaoh was very stubborn, though and with each plague, he still refused to let the Hebrews go.

The 10 plagues were:

water in the Nile River turned to blood
frogs
dust was changed to small insects
flies
a disease killed all the cattle
sores called boils broke out on people and animals
hail and lightning
locusts (grasshoppers) ate all the plants
darkness
every first born Egyptian boy died.

Before God sent the tenth plague, He told the people of Israel that each household must kill a lamb and spread its blood on the doorway of their homes. When the angel of death went through Egypt, it would see the blood of the lamb and pass over that house, sparing the boys inside. For this reason that night was called the Passover. Every year, the Jewish people celebrate the Passover in remembrance of that night in Egypt.

In fact, Our Lord was celebrating the Passover with His 12 Apostles at the Last Supper; the night before His death. The Paschal lamb was a symbol of Our Lord, since He died to save all of mankind. St. John the Baptist called Our Lord, “Lamb of God”. Our Lord is the true Paschal Lamb, by Whose blood we are all redeemed.

Finally, after the tenth plague, Pharaoh agreed to let the Israelites go free. So 600 thousand men of Israel, together with their families and cows, sheep and goats all left Egypt together. That was ALOT of people!!!

After the Israelites had gone, Pharaoh changed his mind. He got his army together and chased after them. The Israelites were on the shores of the Red Sea when they saw Pharaoh's army coming in the distance. You can imagine their panic! They had nowhere to run! Moses prayed to God for help and God told Moses to stretch forth his rod. Then an amazing thing happened! God made the waters of the Red Sea divide. A strip of dry land appeared so that the people could go across. Imagine what it was like to cross the sea, with towering walls of water on either side!

Pharaoh and his army followed the Hebrews, right through the Red Sea. This was not a very smart move on his part…
Once the Israelites were safely across, God allowed the waters to return. Pharaoh and his army were drowned!

Now the Israelites were in the desert. God took care of His children. He guided them with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night. God sent them food from heaven, which formed on the ground every morning. When the Israelites first saw the strange sight, they all turned to each other saying “Manhu?” Manhu means, “What is this?” in Hebrew. So they called the food “Manna” from the word, “Manhu”. (Exodus 16)

God told the Hebrew people to gather only enough Manna for each day. Anything extra would spoil. God did this so that the people would come to trust in His loving Providence. This was the Hebrew’s daily bread; a prefigurement of our Daily Bread; God Himself, Food for our souls Whom we can receive every day in the Holy Eucharist!

Moses and the children of Israel made their way to Mount Sinai where they were supposed to make sacrifices to God. The offering of sacrifice was important because it helped them remember how much they owed to God. Also, for 400 years the Israelites had lived in a pagan land, surrounded by false gods. Some of those false gods had been calves, sheep and goats. By demanding the sacrifice of calves, sheep and goats, God was helping the Israelites to remember that these things were only creatures and to reject the false gods of Egypt.

When they reached Mount Sinai, God called Moses to come up the mountain alone to pray. God gave Moses the 10 Commandments; those laws He wanted His people to obey, written on tablets of stone. God also gave instuctions as to how the Isrealites were to worship Him.

Moses stayed on Mount Sinai 40 days and 40 nights. While Moses was on the Mountain, the Israelites got restless. They made a false god; a statue of a golden calf and began to worship it.
When Moses returned and saw what was happening he threw down the stone tablets in anger and they broke.

With the help of the sons of Levi, who had remained faithful, Moses destroyed the idol and punished those who had worshiped the false god.
God commanded Moses to bring 2 more tablets of stone up the mountain and again engraved the Law on them.

God also commanded the Israelites to build the Ark of the Covenant; a beautifully decorated chest. It held the treasures of God to His people; the stone tablets of the 10 Commandments and some manna.
To reward their faithfulness, the sons of Levi were made guardians of the Ark of the Covenant.

The Israelites also made a tent, called a tabernacle which would act as a house for the Ark, until they came to the promised land where they could build a proper temple.
That tabernacle was a symbol of the tabernacle on the altar in church where the Blessed Sacrament is kept; Our Lord Jesus Christ; God Himself!!

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

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

De Veritate - St. Thomas Aquinas - What is necessary to believe explicitly?

I was recently introduced to a work of St. Thomas De Veritate ( Source ) in the course of an argument concerning the minimum content of explicit faith. When I submitted the following quote as proof: Theological faith, that is, a supernatural faith in Revelation, is necessary, and this is an effect of grace (D 1789); nemini unquam sine ilIa contigit iustificatio (D 1793). As far as the content of this faith is concerned, according to Hebr. 11, 6, at least the existence of God and retribution in the other world must be firmly held, necessitate medii (by the necessity of means) with explicit faith. In regard to the Trinity and the Incarnation, implicit faith suffices. The supernatural faith necessary for justification is attained when God grants to the unbeliever by internal inspiration or external teaching a knowledge of the truths of Revelation, and actual grace to make the supernatural act of faith. Cf. De verite 14, I I.Ott - Fundamentals of Dogma p241 In response my opponent wrot

Thirty Days Prayer to Our Lady -

+ JMJ Providence has cast this prayer in my path twice in the last week. I decided to post it here in order to have a copy handy. P^3 Prayer Penance Patience Source Intro Prayer With the condition of affairs in the cultural, political and physical world in a state of disarray we enter Lent - Ash Wednesday - February 25th - 2004 - more compelled then ever to pursue, diligently and faithfully, our personal road to holiness. It is a long, difficult path each of us treads, however, we do know the journey can be sweeter and more blessed if we travel it with others. Jesus has told us: "Wherever two or more are gathered in my name, I am with you." And there are many other biblical passages, as well, that urge us to love and help one another. A 'Thirty Day Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary ' was said by many Catholics during troubled times in their lives up until Vatican II. While looking through old stored away boxes, I came across a small white prayer b

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

Tradicat

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