Day 7
Saving Grace: (3 minutes) Question(s) of the day...
1. "What is a saint?" 2. "I'd like to know more about praying to the Saints." 3." Why are saints dismembered and(for one) placed in the altars of Catholic churches?"
1. A saint is a friend of God. A saint is someone who allows God to work in their life. A saint is someone who has been baptized (although they are still "in the making"). In the final analysis, a saint is someone in heaven. Every soul in heaven is a saint. So if you want to go to heaven, you should want to be a saint!
2. We pray to saints not because they perform miracles or necessarily grant us our request. We pray to them to ask for their intercession. We ask them to pray for us. St. James says "the fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful." (James 5:16). Death does not separate us. Just as I ask family and friends to pray for me I can ask St. Peter to pray for me. Canonized saints are the ones the Church has proven are in heaven. It takes two miracles resulting from the intercession of a saint's prayer before they can be canonized. These miracles must be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be authentic, and the church is very strict in doing so. It often takes hundreds of years after death before a person is officially canonized.
3. When you ask why saints are dismembered, I assume you mean relics. A first class relic is a body part of a saint, most often a chip of bone. I know this sounds pretty odd, but it is kind of like a mother who saves a lock of hair from her baby's first haircut as a reminder. A saint's sacred remains are often placed under altars, and this is something that been done since the earliest times of the Church when they would place martyrs under the altar or have mass in the catacombs. Some saints are incorrupt, meaning that when their graves are uncovered for their beautification their bodies are found totally incorrupt, as if they are just sleeping, often with a sweet perfume radiating from them, decades or even centuries after their death. If you go to Europe you can see some of these incorruptible saints. Pretty cool. Relics are considered sacramentals in the form of popular piety, which should always lead us to the liturgy, which is "far superior to any of them" according to the catechism. (CCC 1675)
I am not a theologian, so here is how I see it. People pay thousands of dollars for game worn or autographed jerseys of professional athletes. They want to have a jersey the player actually wore and touched. Well, the relics are a small part of God's "game jersey". He worked through those souls to get many people to heaven. The fact that 10 miles from my house is a chip of bone from the real St. Peter, all the apostles, and hundreds of saints is absolutely fascinating to me. They are not just fairy tales, they were real people, and relics make that evident. Many miracles are associated with relics. In fact the remains of St. Philomena weren't discovered until 1500 years after her death in the catacombs of St. Priscilla in Rome in 1803. Nobody knew who she was, they just knew her name, when she lived, and that she was a martyr from her tomb markings. The remains were brought to a nearby parish, and instantly the town was flooded with miraculous cures....so much so that St. Philomena was canonized solely based on the power of her intercession. More on that amazing story later!
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. I don't care what you do...walk, run, jog, elliptical, exercise bike, jumping jacks, pushups, sit-ups...just get your heart pumping and your lungs breathing. As the 23.5 hours video pointed out, this is the best thing you can do for your physical and emotional well-being. (If you missed the video, you can see it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo) Very few people feel like exercising when they start (congrats if you do), but everybody is glad they did when they are done.
Instructor's manual: (5 minutes) Get the memo: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/
Need to Know Him (2 Minutes) Story of the Day
Armando
I remember hearing the story of a boy named Armando. His father was taking him to school one day. When the father dropped the boy off, he said, “I love you my son, remember, Daddy will always be there for you.” Later that afternoon, an enormous earthquake devastated the city. You probably remember reading about it in the papers. The father quickly rushed to the school, only to find that the school building was demolished. He knew his son was in the northwest corner of the building, so he ran over there and began to dig through the rubble. He continued digging for many hours. After 5 or 6 hours he had found no trace of his son. He continued to dig. After 12 hours some of the people came over to the father and said, “It’s no use, there are no more survivors. We are very sorry. You should go and get some rest.” The father replied, “I know my son is in this building, I told him I would always be there for him. I will not quit until I find him.” The father continued digging. Fifteen hours had gone by, and then 18, and then 24. Many of the people there began to this think the father was crazy, hysterical. Still, the father continued to dig and dig. Finally, after 48 hours of digging, he removed a large piece of debris and saw the face of his son staring up at him. Armando turned to several of the other kids who were trapped along with him and he was heard to say, “You see, I told you my daddy was coming for us.”
No matter what you have done or what kind of trouble you are in, the Father will always be there for you. He will never lose hope for you. He will never abandon you. No matter how far you wander or what you do, you can’t outrun him. He will never stop searching for you. He believes you are worth every drop of his blood, and any voice that says otherwise is from the enemy….if you forget that, look at a crucifix.
Theology of the Body: (3 Minutes) Movie clip: Watch this scene from Spiderman and reflect on the fact that you have a great power in your free will. Your free will is like a fire. Fire can bring romance, warmth, and prepare food for nourishment...but left undisciplined, it can bring chaos and destruction. It can harm you and everyone it encounters if you let it run wild. With great power comes great responsibility. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5d6rTQcU2U
Sacrifice and Service: (10 seconds) Say this simple prayer: "Lord, I offer up the sacrifices and sufferings of this day for......" Pick any soul...lost sheep, family, friends, enemies, strangers, souls in purgatory...anybody. When you get busy and
distracted just remember, other souls are counting on you. You have the power to help get souls to heaven....don't waste it. You may offer up your days for whomever you please....friends, family, strangers, souls in purgatory, enemies.....however, I strongly encourage you to offer up each day of this challenge for "disengaged Catholics" or "lost sheep". Let's bring them home.
Saving Grace: (3 minutes) Question(s) of the day...
1. "What is a saint?" 2. "I'd like to know more about praying to the Saints." 3." Why are saints dismembered and(for one) placed in the altars of Catholic churches?"
1. A saint is a friend of God. A saint is someone who allows God to work in their life. A saint is someone who has been baptized (although they are still "in the making"). In the final analysis, a saint is someone in heaven. Every soul in heaven is a saint. So if you want to go to heaven, you should want to be a saint!
2. We pray to saints not because they perform miracles or necessarily grant us our request. We pray to them to ask for their intercession. We ask them to pray for us. St. James says "the fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful." (James 5:16). Death does not separate us. Just as I ask family and friends to pray for me I can ask St. Peter to pray for me. Canonized saints are the ones the Church has proven are in heaven. It takes two miracles resulting from the intercession of a saint's prayer before they can be canonized. These miracles must be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be authentic, and the church is very strict in doing so. It often takes hundreds of years after death before a person is officially canonized.
3. When you ask why saints are dismembered, I assume you mean relics. A first class relic is a body part of a saint, most often a chip of bone. I know this sounds pretty odd, but it is kind of like a mother who saves a lock of hair from her baby's first haircut as a reminder. A saint's sacred remains are often placed under altars, and this is something that been done since the earliest times of the Church when they would place martyrs under the altar or have mass in the catacombs. Some saints are incorrupt, meaning that when their graves are uncovered for their beautification their bodies are found totally incorrupt, as if they are just sleeping, often with a sweet perfume radiating from them, decades or even centuries after their death. If you go to Europe you can see some of these incorruptible saints. Pretty cool. Relics are considered sacramentals in the form of popular piety, which should always lead us to the liturgy, which is "far superior to any of them" according to the catechism. (CCC 1675)
I am not a theologian, so here is how I see it. People pay thousands of dollars for game worn or autographed jerseys of professional athletes. They want to have a jersey the player actually wore and touched. Well, the relics are a small part of God's "game jersey". He worked through those souls to get many people to heaven. The fact that 10 miles from my house is a chip of bone from the real St. Peter, all the apostles, and hundreds of saints is absolutely fascinating to me. They are not just fairy tales, they were real people, and relics make that evident. Many miracles are associated with relics. In fact the remains of St. Philomena weren't discovered until 1500 years after her death in the catacombs of St. Priscilla in Rome in 1803. Nobody knew who she was, they just knew her name, when she lived, and that she was a martyr from her tomb markings. The remains were brought to a nearby parish, and instantly the town was flooded with miraculous cures....so much so that St. Philomena was canonized solely based on the power of her intercession. More on that amazing story later!
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. I don't care what you do...walk, run, jog, elliptical, exercise bike, jumping jacks, pushups, sit-ups...just get your heart pumping and your lungs breathing. As the 23.5 hours video pointed out, this is the best thing you can do for your physical and emotional well-being. (If you missed the video, you can see it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo) Very few people feel like exercising when they start (congrats if you do), but everybody is glad they did when they are done.
Instructor's manual: (5 minutes) Get the memo: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/
Need to Know Him (2 Minutes) Story of the Day
Armando
I remember hearing the story of a boy named Armando. His father was taking him to school one day. When the father dropped the boy off, he said, “I love you my son, remember, Daddy will always be there for you.” Later that afternoon, an enormous earthquake devastated the city. You probably remember reading about it in the papers. The father quickly rushed to the school, only to find that the school building was demolished. He knew his son was in the northwest corner of the building, so he ran over there and began to dig through the rubble. He continued digging for many hours. After 5 or 6 hours he had found no trace of his son. He continued to dig. After 12 hours some of the people came over to the father and said, “It’s no use, there are no more survivors. We are very sorry. You should go and get some rest.” The father replied, “I know my son is in this building, I told him I would always be there for him. I will not quit until I find him.” The father continued digging. Fifteen hours had gone by, and then 18, and then 24. Many of the people there began to this think the father was crazy, hysterical. Still, the father continued to dig and dig. Finally, after 48 hours of digging, he removed a large piece of debris and saw the face of his son staring up at him. Armando turned to several of the other kids who were trapped along with him and he was heard to say, “You see, I told you my daddy was coming for us.”
No matter what you have done or what kind of trouble you are in, the Father will always be there for you. He will never lose hope for you. He will never abandon you. No matter how far you wander or what you do, you can’t outrun him. He will never stop searching for you. He believes you are worth every drop of his blood, and any voice that says otherwise is from the enemy….if you forget that, look at a crucifix.
Theology of the Body: (3 Minutes) Movie clip: Watch this scene from Spiderman and reflect on the fact that you have a great power in your free will. Your free will is like a fire. Fire can bring romance, warmth, and prepare food for nourishment...but left undisciplined, it can bring chaos and destruction. It can harm you and everyone it encounters if you let it run wild. With great power comes great responsibility. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5d6rTQcU2U
Sacrifice and Service: (10 seconds) Say this simple prayer: "Lord, I offer up the sacrifices and sufferings of this day for......" Pick any soul...lost sheep, family, friends, enemies, strangers, souls in purgatory...anybody. When you get busy and
distracted just remember, other souls are counting on you. You have the power to help get souls to heaven....don't waste it. You may offer up your days for whomever you please....friends, family, strangers, souls in purgatory, enemies.....however, I strongly encourage you to offer up each day of this challenge for "disengaged Catholics" or "lost sheep". Let's bring them home.
