Day 37
SAVING GRACE: (5 minutes)
The world doesn't need another John Paul II or Mother Teresa. They played their part. The world needs you. If you don't play your part it won't get played. Your ordinary life has an extraordinary mission. "Be who you are and be that well." -St. Francis de Sales
One of you just forwarded me this song by Danielle Rose called "The Saint that is Just Me"
This song really hits home for me, maybe it does for you as well. Listen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh_fSNz6NvQ
Athletics: (30 Minutes) We will use the acronym S.P.O.R.T.S to focus on 6 virtues that will keep you focused all 40 days.
Virtue of the day: Teamwork...Help other souls get to heaven. Exercise for 30 minutes today and offer up your sacrifice for another soul. Remember life is a relay race. The saints ran their race. Now the baton is in your hands. Run yours.
Instructor's manual: (2 minutes) Question of the day
Where did the bible come from?
The bible came from the Jewish Scriptures (the Old testament) and the Catholic Church. It was Church councils who decided which books belong in the New Testament and were inspired by God, hundreds of years after Christ. The Catholic bible has 73 books, and the Protestant bible has 66. (Martin Luther removed some of the books after the Protestant Reformation) The world can thank the Catholic Church for giving us the bible. Interestingly, there is no where in the bible that speaks about "bible alone" theology that many Protestants believe. The bible says, "The Church is the pillar and foundation of truth." (Tim 3:15) We believe in sacred Scripture and sacred Tradition. For most of the history of Christianity, very few people owned a bible (there was no printing press) and even if they did have one most people couldn't read. The faith was handed on by oral tradition and guided by the Magisterium of the Church who is guided by the Holy Spirit. The Church teaches us that sacred scripture is divinely inspired, written by God through human authors. There are no errors in the bible. The Bible is Christocentric, meaning everything is pointing to Christ...in the old and the new testament. That is why St. Jerome said, "To be ignorant of scripture is to be ignorant of Christ."
Need to Know Him (3 minutes) Story of the Day
A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner. In their rush to catch the plane home and with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly-missed boarding........ ALL BUT ONE!!! He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned. He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor. He was glad he did. The 16-year-old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her; no one stopping and no one to care for her plight. The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket. When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this $50 for the damage we did. Are you okay?"She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly."As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister...." He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, "Are you Jesus?" He stopped in mid-stride and he wondered. He gently went back and said, "No, I am nothing like Jesus - He is good, kind, caring, loving, and would never have bumped into your display in the first place. "The girl gently nodded: "I only asked because I prayed for Jesus to help me gather the apples. He sent you to help me, Thank you for hearing Jesus, Mister." Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?" Do people mistake you for Jesus? That's our destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and grace. If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting scripture and going to church. It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day. You are the apple of His eye even though you, too, have been bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked up you and me on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit.
(author unknown)
Theology of the Body: (2 minutes) The voice of the enemy... (video clip might be scary for children)
Watch this scene from Spiderman. The Green Goblin represents the devil. He is the voice of the enemy, and he will always come to you with a proposal....serve yourself, not others. Choosing the way of the hero causes misery he'll say. If you try to help people they will kick you in the face he'll say. It's true...if you live an authentic Catholic life and try to help people live the truth they may persecute you for it and call you a menace. The voice of truth says, "Help them anyway! Be a superhero...live the truth and become the saint God created you to be...no matter what the cost. God's way is better and its worth fighting for, living for, and dying for. The enemy is a liar. Don't fall for his deceptions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vng1P29QbX4
Sacrifice and Service: (30 seconds) Mother Teresa had this poem on her wall in Calcutta...
"Anyway"
People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
(original version written by Kent Keith)
SAVING GRACE: (5 minutes)
The world doesn't need another John Paul II or Mother Teresa. They played their part. The world needs you. If you don't play your part it won't get played. Your ordinary life has an extraordinary mission. "Be who you are and be that well." -St. Francis de Sales
One of you just forwarded me this song by Danielle Rose called "The Saint that is Just Me"
This song really hits home for me, maybe it does for you as well. Listen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh_fSNz6NvQ
Athletics: (30 Minutes) We will use the acronym S.P.O.R.T.S to focus on 6 virtues that will keep you focused all 40 days.
Virtue of the day: Teamwork...Help other souls get to heaven. Exercise for 30 minutes today and offer up your sacrifice for another soul. Remember life is a relay race. The saints ran their race. Now the baton is in your hands. Run yours.
Instructor's manual: (2 minutes) Question of the day
Where did the bible come from?
The bible came from the Jewish Scriptures (the Old testament) and the Catholic Church. It was Church councils who decided which books belong in the New Testament and were inspired by God, hundreds of years after Christ. The Catholic bible has 73 books, and the Protestant bible has 66. (Martin Luther removed some of the books after the Protestant Reformation) The world can thank the Catholic Church for giving us the bible. Interestingly, there is no where in the bible that speaks about "bible alone" theology that many Protestants believe. The bible says, "The Church is the pillar and foundation of truth." (Tim 3:15) We believe in sacred Scripture and sacred Tradition. For most of the history of Christianity, very few people owned a bible (there was no printing press) and even if they did have one most people couldn't read. The faith was handed on by oral tradition and guided by the Magisterium of the Church who is guided by the Holy Spirit. The Church teaches us that sacred scripture is divinely inspired, written by God through human authors. There are no errors in the bible. The Bible is Christocentric, meaning everything is pointing to Christ...in the old and the new testament. That is why St. Jerome said, "To be ignorant of scripture is to be ignorant of Christ."
Need to Know Him (3 minutes) Story of the Day
A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner. In their rush to catch the plane home and with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly-missed boarding........ ALL BUT ONE!!! He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned. He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor. He was glad he did. The 16-year-old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her; no one stopping and no one to care for her plight. The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket. When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this $50 for the damage we did. Are you okay?"She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly."As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister...." He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, "Are you Jesus?" He stopped in mid-stride and he wondered. He gently went back and said, "No, I am nothing like Jesus - He is good, kind, caring, loving, and would never have bumped into your display in the first place. "The girl gently nodded: "I only asked because I prayed for Jesus to help me gather the apples. He sent you to help me, Thank you for hearing Jesus, Mister." Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?" Do people mistake you for Jesus? That's our destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and grace. If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting scripture and going to church. It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day. You are the apple of His eye even though you, too, have been bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked up you and me on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit.
(author unknown)
Theology of the Body: (2 minutes) The voice of the enemy... (video clip might be scary for children)
Watch this scene from Spiderman. The Green Goblin represents the devil. He is the voice of the enemy, and he will always come to you with a proposal....serve yourself, not others. Choosing the way of the hero causes misery he'll say. If you try to help people they will kick you in the face he'll say. It's true...if you live an authentic Catholic life and try to help people live the truth they may persecute you for it and call you a menace. The voice of truth says, "Help them anyway! Be a superhero...live the truth and become the saint God created you to be...no matter what the cost. God's way is better and its worth fighting for, living for, and dying for. The enemy is a liar. Don't fall for his deceptions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vng1P29QbX4
Sacrifice and Service: (30 seconds) Mother Teresa had this poem on her wall in Calcutta...
"Anyway"
People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
(original version written by Kent Keith)
