Choose to reflect on the Life of Saint Joseph (left column) or on the Fullness of Sacramental Life (right column)
Announce
Life of Saint Joseph
5th Sorrow and 5th Joy
The Flight to Egypt;
The Overturning of Idols
Holy Scripture
1 Samuel 3: 10
Pray
Speak, Lord …
R. Your servant is listening.
Holy Scripture
Luke 2: 26, 28-30
When they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.
Holy Scripture
Luke 1: 38
Pray
I am the Lord’s servant …
R. Let it be done according to thy Word.
Reflect
When Herod initiated the martyrdom of the Holy Innocents, Joseph and and Mary experienced sheer terror. To safeguard their lives and the life of the Child Jesus, they had to flee their homeland. Tradition holds that upon arriving at their new home in Egypt, Joseph first confronted the prevalent belief in false idols. He joyfully affirmed his own faith by physically overturning the idols that surrounded him. We must likewise flee from the near occasions of sin, abandoning our homeland if it is a danger to our souls. For the protection of our children, we must make our homes sanctuaries, free from false idols. This may require confronting, challenging, and overturning the false idols of our day. Our Lord is not interested in an “open relationship” in which we tolerate empty addictions (such as gambling, pornography, “social” media, or substance abuse), false idols (such as fame or fortune or power), secular pseudo-religions (such as climate alarmism, nature worship, sexual license, and radical identity ideologies based on economic class, ethnicity or race, sex or gender), or cults of human sacrifice (such as abortion and euthanasia). The relationship to which Christ invites us is an exclusive relationship. We must exclude fake gods from our lives.
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Announce
Fullness of Sacramental Life
Holy Eucharist and Personal Relationship
Holy Scripture
1 Samuel 3: 10
Pray
Speak, Lord …
R. Your servant is listening.
Reflect
In the absence of a regular supply of food, we grow increasingly, desperately, hungry. To a hungry person, there is no substitute for food. Neither a symbol, nor thought or emotion, nor the distant, theoretical availability of food will satisfy our need to be fed. The institution of the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist reveals our hunger for communion with the Creator. We long for, and are dependent on, the Real Presence of our Lord, and nothing less will satisfy our hunger. In the Blessed Sacrament, Christ invites us to nourish and renew a personal relationship with Him. Just as His friendship was available to the Apostles when Our Lord walked in their midst, we are invited to know Him in the Real Presence.
Holy Scripture
Luke 1: 38
Pray
I am the Lord’s servant …
R. Let it be done according to thy Word.
Proceed either to the next decade or to the Litany of Trust (using the CLOSING prayers navigation link at the top of the page)