Sunday

Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what the next day will bring forth. Let your neighbor praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips. – Proverbs 27:1-2

THE only thing we can count on is God and His Providence  (fatherly protection) for us.   Each day brings unforeseen events.

Prayer:  O my God I firmly believe that Thou art one God in three Divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; I believe that Thy Divine Son became man, and died for our sins, and that he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, who canst neither deceive nor be deceived. (Act of Faith)

Monday

To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

2 A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
4 A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing… . – Ecclesiastes 3:1-5

NOTICE that each action has an opposite reaction…we need to ask for the Lord’s wisdom to know which to do at the right time.

Prayer:   O Lord come to my assistance, O Lord make haste to help me.

 

Tuesday

Those who fear the Lord will seek His approval, And those who love Him will be filled with the law. Those who fear the Lord will prepare their hearts And will humble their souls before Him. We will fall into the hands of the Lord And not into the hands of men; For as His majesty is, so is His mercy.  – Book of Sirach 2:16-18

FEAR is not dread unless we are sinful and know we are disobeying  the Lord.  Fear of the Lord is a safeguard for us to seek His Will and do what is right knowing there are real  consequences if we don’t, but, all for our benefit.

Prayer:  May Christ be with us! May Christ be before us! May Christ be in us, Christ be over all!
May Thy Grace, Lord, Always be ours, This day, O Lord, and forevermore. Amen.
Prayer for the Faithful of St. Patrick  Part 2

 

Wednesday

Do not be rash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth;
Therefore let your words be few.
3 For a dream comes through much activity,
And a fool’s voice is known by his many words.

4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it;
For He has no pleasure in fools.
Pay what you have vowed—
5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay. – Ecclesiastes 5:2-5

IDLE words are the source for innumerable troubles.  Rarely does silence cause problems.

 

Prayer:   Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight O Lord my strength and my redeemer.

 

Thursday

My son, do not deprive the poor of his living, And do not keep eyes in need waiting. Do not grieve a soul who is hungry, Nor provoke to anger a man in despair. Do not trouble a heart that was made resentful, And do not put off the gift of a man in need. Do not reject a suppliant who is afflicted, Nor turn your face away from a poor man. Do not turn your eye away from a needy man… – Book of Sirach 4:1-5

FAILING to help those truly in need when we can is a kind of theft and in many cases is worse than outright ‘stealing’ from someone in the usual manner.

Prayer:  Our Father, Who art in  Heaven, hallowed by Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Friday

We can barely form a conjecture of the things upon the earth, And the things at hand we find with toil; But who has searched out the things in the heavens? Who has known Your counsel, Unless You have given him wisdom And sent him Your Holy Spirit from on high? – Wisdom of Solomon 9:16-17

TRUE knowledge only comes from the Holy Spirit, most often whispered by our guardian angel in our spiritual ear.

Prayer:  O Lord, our God, in Thy goodness and love for men forgive me all the sins I have committed today in word, deed or thought. Grant me peaceful and undisturbed sleep. Send Thy Guardian Angel to guard and protect me from all evil. For Thou art the guardian of our souls and bodies, and to Thee we ascribe glory, to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
*(Evening Prayer and Confession of Sins)

 

Saturday
But when the Savior says: “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; receive it and enter it,” He thereby teaches us to submit our hearts and souls to the divine Gospel, to build our entire inner, spiritual life according to the Gospel commandments. So our thoughts and desires, characteristics and inclinations, love and hate—everything must be submitted to the word of God. And when we reach this state, and when our entire inner life is subordinated to the Gospel, then our external actions will also be good and pleasing to God; then our whole being will enter the Kingdom of God.
– St Gabriel of Imereti

SALVATION cannot be obtained by faith alone.  One of major ‘works’ is on ourselves which is called sanctification…making ourselves holy through practices reveal to the Church by the Holy Spirit.

Prayer:  Preserve O Lord while waking and guard us while sleeping that awake we may watch with Christ and asleep we may rest in peace.