From Around the Year with the Trapp Family by Maria Von Trapp
There is one more feast of Our Lord which comes late in the year, on the last Sunday of October–the feast of Christ the King.
According to the Church calendar, this seems like a recent feast instituted only in 1925. But one glance at the Gospel of the day shows us that it actually goes back to the first Good Friday when Pilate said to Jesus, “Art Thou the King of the Jews?” and Jesus answered, “Thou sayest it.”
This carries us many hundreds of years back into the Old Testament, when God’s chosen people were living in a theocracy, ruled by judges, God speaking to them through the mouths of His prophets.
Then one day the Jewish people wanted “to be as the others”; they saw all the neighboring peoples ruled by kings, and so they went to their prophet Samuel and asked him: “Give us a king to judge us as all other nations have.”
Reluctantly Samuel told the Lord what the people demanded of him, and God pled with his unruly people. “Tell them,” He said, “what will befall them if I give them a king. He will take their sons and make them his soldiers. He will take their men to work his fields. He will take their daughters to be his cooks and bakers. He will take their best fields and vineyards and olive orchards. Moreover, he will take a tenth from all they grow and also from their flocks.”
But all His pleading availed Him little. The people stubbornly repeated, “Nay: but there shall be a king over us. We want to be like other nations and our king shall judge us and go out before us and fight our battles for us!”
Finally the Lord said to Samuel, “Hearken to their voice and make them a king.”
And then it happened as God had foretold it. The kings throughout the ages took their men and women, their young men and maidens, their best fields and meadows and a tenth of all they grew and of all their flocks, and many a time the people cried to the Lord to take away a bad king, but the Lord would not hearken any more.
As if now in our time God had opened His ear once more to the pleading of His people, he presents His Son to us as Christ the King, Whose Kingdom is not of this world, Who is above and beyond all human politics, but Who is eager to be our King so that we may be His people.
The forerunner of our modern feast of Christ the King is the age-old feast of the Epiphany, when the three Magi fall down prostrate and adore the King, bringing among their gifts gold to give Him.
On the feast of Christ the King, our table decoration might relate to the character of the day. Together with the little ones, the mother could make a golden crown either of cardboard or of gold foil, as centerpiece of the table.
For most people, Halloween is just a fun (or sinister) secular holiday that stands on its own. But it actually used to be an important part of a short liturgical season focused on death, Allhallowtide… Read more here.
Beautiful Blessed Marriage Wire Wrapped Rosary! Lovely, Durable… Each link is handmade and wrapped around itself to ensure quality. Available here.
A book of your favorite litanies….
Chosen by God for the incomparable vocation of spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster father of Our Lord Jesus Christ; St. Joseph received magnificent divine graces and favors not granted even to the Old Testament Patriarchs. Known as the most humble of men; St. Joseph received from Almighty God the authority to command both Our Lady and the Son of God Himself; and in Heaven he continues to have great intercessory power with God.
The Divine Favors Granted to St. Joseph shows how this greatest of the Patriarchs is the patron of all Christians and how wonderfully he answers prayers; plus; it gives many of the ways of honoring him and many prayers to request his intercession. One of the finest books on St. Joseph; it will surely inspire the reader with a profound devotion to this great “Patron of the Universal Church.” Impr. 176 pgs;
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“Have courage, women and Catholic girls, under the banner of Christ King and under the patronage of the Queen of Mothers, work for the restoration of home, family and society.” ~Pope Pius Xii This last quote was awesome especially with the feast day on Sunday! Thank you and I love the pictures!
Those picture are amazing, I had never heard of this before. Thank you!
LOVE TEXT SISTER GOD BLESS YOU I WISH ALL FOLLOWED POLAND GOOD PRIMER . RAZMIŠLJANJA P. AREKA0
P. Arek Krasicki: Možemo li usrećiti Boga?
BY MARIJA S. · PUBLISHED 25/10/2021 · UPDATED 27/10/2021
“Mislim kako su Isusove riječi i za mene poticaj kako bih mogao provjeriti svoju ljubav prema Bogu i bližnjemu”, poručuje p. Arek Krasicki.
Foto: Pexels
O pitanju kako možemo usrećiti Boga na temelju Evanđelja promišlja doc. dr. sc. p. Arkadiusz Krasicki, CSSp, profesor na Teološko-katehetskom odjelu Sveučilišta u Zadru.
“Usrećiti Boga
(Mt 22, 34-40)
Možemo li usrećiti Boga? Čini se da na ovo pitanje nema odgovora. Zar Boga trebamo usrećiti? To bi značilo kako Bog sada nije sretan. Sjedi negdje u fotelji sav tužan jer ga mi nismo usrećili. Međutim, Boga ipak trebamo usrećiti. Na koji način? Odgovor nam nudi tekst Shema iz Starog zavjeta, Dekalog i Isusove riječi koje obuhvaćaju sve prethodne: ‘Ljubi Gospodina Boga svojega svim srcem svojim, i svojom dušom, i svim umom svojim.’ I ‘Ljubi bližnjega svoga kao sebe samoga’. Izraelci su na Sinaju sklopili s Bogom savez. Prva rečenica Dekaloga počinje: ‘Nemoj imati drugih bogova uz mene.’ (Izl 20,3). Pobožni Židovi su tri puta po danu molili Shema: ‘Slušaj Izraele, Bog, Tvoj Bog je jedini Bog!’ (Pnz 6, 4). To je upravo ono što traži Bog od čovjeka dok traži njegovu ljubav: ‘Slušaj, ja sam jedan i nema drugih bogova’. Kada čovjek odgovori na taj Božji poziv, usrećuje Boga. To znači iskazuje mu ljubav. Priznaje ga jedinim jer nema drugih bogova. To znači živjeti istinu o sebi i usrećiti Boga.
Malo zbunjuje ljubav prema Bogu kao zapovijed. Da, to je činjenica, ali drugačije čovjek se ne bi oslobodio mržnje prema sebi i prema drugima. Čovjek koji mrzi postaje neljudsko biće. Čovjek koji šuti jer mrzi svoju ženu i druge ljudi postaje tiranin. Ni jednom zapovijedi nikoga ne možeš prisiliti na ljubav. Bog ne očekuje od tebe da mu svaki dan po sto puta kažeš: „Volim te!“ On čak to i ne traži. On traži samo da svaki dan živiš svoju vjeru. Da se potpuno pouzdaješ u Boga, u najtežim i najradosnijim trenucima. On traži tvoje pouzdanje i priznanje kako je On jedini u tvojem životu. To je dokaz ljubavi. Tu su angažirani tvoje srce i tvoja duša. To znači cijeli čovjek.
Usrećiti Boga možemo i kada ljubimo bližnje kao sebe. Tu postoje dvije opcije: ljubiti bližnje – ukućane i ljubiti bližnje nepoznate. Ne radi se opet o osjećajima. Tvoji će te osjećaji uvijek prevariti. Bog ne traži tvoje osjećaje, nego tvoju praktičnu ljubav. Prije svega, to je ljubav prema najpotrebitijim i koji nemaju ni otkud pomoći. Prepušteni su sami sebi. Neki su ugnjetavani. Njihov vapaj Bogu je najjači. Kako kaže prorok: „Ti postiš, ali te ne čujem jer krik tvoga brata kojeg ugnjetavaš jači je od tvojega posta i molitve“. Nepravda brata u potrebi vapi Bogu. Te dvije zapovijedi ljubavi prema Bogu i prema čovjeku su poput dviju ploča na koje je Bog svojim prstom utisnuo deset riječi. Jedna se ploča s tri prve zapovijedi odnosi na Boga, dok druga sa sedam zapovijedi se odnosi na čovjeka.
Ne bih želio isključivo teoretski govoriti o ljubavi prema Bogu i bližnjemu. To može svatko. Mislim kako su Isusove riječi i za mene poticaj kako bih mogao provjeriti svoju ljubav prema Bogu i bližnjemu. Ako želiš, možeš zajedno sa mnom. Prije svega, odbacimo sve lažne bogove! Strah koji nas uništava zamijenimo potpunim pouzdanjem u Boga. Zar nisu nam sve vlasi na glavi prebrojene? To je praktični stav vjernika: pouzdati se u jedinog Boga. To je dokaz ljubavi prema Bogu.
Svi volimo čuti kako nas netko ljubi, voli. To tako ulijeva određenu sigurnost. No više od riječi, vrijede djela. Ako netko vidi moje namrgođeno lice, teško će se otvoriti na Božju ljubav. Potražimo među svojima najbližima one ‘zapostavljene’. Možda dugo nisi razgovarao s bakom ili djedom. Možda tvoj rođak potpuno sam provodi kod kuće vrijeme i čeka da mu se javiš. Pored tebe prolaze nepoznati ljudi. Možda za prvu ruku bit će dovoljno da pohvališ nekoga tko je pospremao, napravio neki ukras na izlogu. Malim koracima ćeš aktivirati veliko djelo istinite ljubavi. Sam ćeš se iznenaditi kako je to moguće. To će biti istinita ljubav koja ne traži uzvrat. Tako ćemo usrećiti Boga. To znači da sve više postajemo njemu slični. Ljubav je moguća. Ljubiti Boga i bližnjega postaje moguće po ljubavi koja dolazi od Boga. Ona je ispunjenje cijele Objave, to jest Svetog pisma. Dozovi Duha Svetoga koji puno više može nego tvoja pobožnost. On je ljubav.”
Piše: p. Arek