Archive | December 31, 2011
Prevent a Hangover – Wikihow
Wikihow.com/Prevent-a-Hangover
I do not drink. I have other vices. Drinking to get drunk is asking for trouble. Just drink with a meal and stop. Drinking to excess is intemperance, and a sin. Drinking and driving is just wrong. Don’t do it. Pick a designated driver who will not drink. Pedestrians and others on the road need you to drive your best. Even being tipsy makes your cognition depleted, and unfit to drive. Take a Taxi home, or call a relative, to come get you. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” the old maxim says.
I hope you have a safe and responsible celebration. Remember: for Catholics, Sunday is a Holy Day of Obligation. In the USA, January 1, is a Holy Day of Obligation, too.
I hope you have a Happy & Holy New Year!
Mother of God – January 1, 2012
Sunday January 1, 2012
Mary, Mother of God – Solemnity
Readings at Mass
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First reading
Numbers 6:22-27
The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ‘Say this to Aaron and his sons: “This is how you are to bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace.”
This is how they are to call down my name on the sons of Israel, and I will bless them.’
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Psalm
Psalm 66:2-3,5,6,8
O God, be gracious and bless us.
O God, be gracious and bless us
and let your face shed its light upon us.
So will your ways be known upon earth
and all nations learn your saving help.
O God, be gracious and bless us.
Let the nations be glad and exult
for you rule the world with justice.
With fairness you rule the peoples,
you guide the nations on earth.
O God, be gracious and bless us.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
May God still give us his blessing
till the ends of the earth revere him.
O God, be gracious and bless us.
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Second reading
Galatians 4:4-7
When the appointed time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law and to enable us to be adopted as sons. The proof that you are sons is that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts: the Spirit that cries, ‘Abba, Father’, and it is this that makes you a son, you are not a slave any more; and if God has made you son, then he has made you heir.
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Gospel Acclamation
Heb1:1-2
Alleluia, alleluia!
At various times in the past
and in various different ways,
God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets;
but in our own time, the last days,
he has spoken to us through his Son.
Alleluia!
________
Gospel
Luke 2:16-21
The shepherds hurried away to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child they repeated what they had been told about him, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds had to say. As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; it was exactly as they had been told.
When the eighth day came and the child was to be circumcised, they gave him the name Jesus, the name the angel had given him before his conception.”
Information from: Universalis.com
****HAPPY_NEW_YEAR_2012****
Tower of Babel Painting, Artifact, Biblical Record
This above photograph was found in the Norwegian business man, Martin Shoyen’s new book; “Cuneiform Royal Inscriptions and Related Texts in The Schoyen Collection.”
This stone is 2,500 years old. The man depicted on it is King Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled Babylon, 2,500 years ago. He’s the idiot who ordered this Tower of Babel” to be built, to reach a false god. God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had other ideas. He botched the King’s plans, by making everyone speak from then on, another language. God pretty much, fixed King Nebuchadnezzar II’s butt by fouling up his foolish plans.
Information from: DailyMailOnline
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The Tower of Babel, oil painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1563; in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
Courtesy of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
Painting Sources: EncyclopediaBritannicaWebsite
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Read more about it in the Bible:
GENESIS CHAPTER 11, Verses 1-9
“Tower of Babel.”
The whole world had the same language and the same words.
When they were migrating from the east, they came to a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.
They said to one another, “Come, let us mold bricks and harden them with fire.” They used bricks for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, and so make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered all over the earth.”
The LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the people had built.
Then the LORD said: If now, while they are one people and all have the same language, they have started to do this, nothing they presume to do will be out of their reach.
Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that no one will understand the speech of another.
So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
That is why it was called “Babel” because there the LORD confused the speech of all the world. From there the LORD scattered them over all the earth.”
Biblical Passages from: USCCB_Website_Genesis11:1-9
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Te Deum – English Translation
Te Deum
“We praise Thee, O God: we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship Thee and the Father everlasting.
To Thee all Angels:
to Thee the heavens and all the Powers therein.
To Thee the Cherubim and Seraphim cry with unceasing voice:
Holy, Holy, Holy: Lord God of Hosts.
The heavens and the earth are full of the majesty of Thy glory.
Thee the glorious choir of the Apostles.
Thee the admirable company of the Prophets.
Thee the white-robed army of Martyrs praise.
Thee the Holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge.
The Father of infinite Majesty.
Thine adorable, true and only Son
Also the Holy Ghost the Paraclete.
Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
Thou having taken upon Thee to deliver man
didst not abhor the Virgin’s womb.
Thou having overcome the sting of death
didst open to believers the kingdom of heaven.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God
in the glory of the Father.
We believe that Thou shalt come to be our Judge.
We beseech Thee, therefore, help Thy servants:
whom Thou has redeemed with Thy precious Blood.
Make them to be numbered with Thy Saints in glory everlasting.
Lord, save Thy people:
and bless Thine inheritance.
Govern them and lift them up forever.
Day by day we bless Thee.
And we praise Thy name forever:
and world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, this day to keep us without sin.
Have mercy on us, O Lord: have mercy on us.
Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us:
as we have hoped in Thee.
O Lord, in Thee have I hoped:
let me never be confounded.”
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“Frankly, the popular focus is on the end of the secular year, but on this, the seventh day of Christmas, a “Plenary Indulgence” may be gained, under the usual conditions, by reciting the Te Deum in thanksgiving for the past year.”
Quote source from: FishEaters.com
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“Te Deum” is The Most Famous Catholic Hymn of Thanksgiving to God.
Te Deum quoted from: ChantCD.com
“It is attributed to Nicetas, bishop of Remesiana in Dacia (modern-day Romania), who lived in the late 4th century. It is amazing how far back the Catholic faith goes! It is not just a dry statement found in Catholic apologetics manuals — it is the absolute truth. The Catholic Church has indeed been around for almost 2000 years. That is one of the most awe-inspiring facts to meditate on!”
