2. Second Week of Lent, Monday: Lent and Easter with the Church Fathers. 

    Dorotheus of Gaza, Directions on the Spiritual Life, XV, 160 

    Introduction  

    Hope entered the world with the incarnation of Christ: that hope which "does not disappoint" (Rm 5:5), which turns the gravest sin into an occasion for repentance and redemption, which gives us the daily and constant opportunity for salvation in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist, and which during Lent yearly renews our desire to participate anew in the Resurrection so that we can celebrate in the Father's house. 
    Reflection   

    So it is, brothers, that he who preserves himself rightly during these holy days is blessed; indeed, even if it should happen - given the human condition - that a man sin out of weakness or negligence, behold that God has granted him these holy days: if he endeavours to reflect on himself with vigilance and humility and to repent during this period; he is purified of the entire year's sins; he draws closer to the blessed day of the resurrection and can participate, without incurring judgment, in the whole mysteries. Through the penance of these holy days, he has become a new man and continues to celebrate with God in spiritual joy and delight.

    From Mozart’s Great Mass in C Major, the "Coronation Mass," here is Et Incarnatus Est, words from the Credo – the Word was made Flesh – and beautifully sung by Regula Mühlemann. 

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  3. Second Week of Lent, Sunday: Lent and Easter with the Church Fathers.

    Hermas, The Shepherd, Similitude V

    Introduction

    Fasting can be easy, but sticking your neck out in solidarity and taking time away from other things are definitely the proving grounds. Certainly not everyone can go on missions or volunteer projects, but all of us know at least one person who might need care, attention, a ready smile and a kind word. Charity can begin in the home, on the steps, down the side walk, at school, on the campus, at work, or with friends.

    Reflection

    I wish to teach you what type of fasting is complete and acceptable to the Lord. Listen to me. God does want pointless fasting: offering such fasting to God does nothing for holiness. You must offer a different kind of fasting to God, which is this: do nothing wicked in your life, but serve the Lord with a pure heart; obey his commandments and progress in his precepts; allow no evil desire to enter your soul, but trust in God. If you do this, if you have fear of God in this way, you will remain far away from all unrighteous works and you will live in God. If you do this, your fasting will be great and acceptable to the Lord.

    Our Father

    Hail Mary

    Glory be

     

     

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  4. First Week of Lent, Saturday, March 15: Lent and Easter with the Church Fathers. 

    St. John Chrysostom, Discourse II: Concerning Lazarus  

    Introduction 

    Math has never been my favourite subject, and I have always struggled to understand it, many times without success.With Christ, all of the diagrams and formulas go out the window, and I am happily confused. I certainly do not understand everything, but I like to reflect particularity on these points: my goods are not my own, but the Lord's; the more I have the more I have to give; and If I keep everything for myself, I will be left with nothing. I'd say that settling accounts with Christ's method is a great way to overcome our limitations in math, and in many other areas.

    Reflection

    Our goods belong to the Lord, regardless of their origin: and if we rare generous toward the poor with them, we will receive in great abundance. If the Lord have allowed you to have more than others, it is not that you can waste it in licentiousness, debauchery, gluttony, luxurious attire, or other comforts, but so that you can share it with those in need. If a public administrator, has been entrusted with a portion of the king's money, and he neglects to distribute it to those to whom it was pledged in order to use it for his own pleasures, he will pay the penalty for it and bring about his own ruin. In the same way, the rich person like an administrator who receives money for distribution to the poor, who has the charge of sharing it with his fellow servants in need.  
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  6. First Week of Lent, Friday, March 14: Lent and Easter with the Church Fathers. 

    St. Diadochus of Photike, A Hundred Chapters on Spiritual Perfection, 42

    Introduction

    Lent offers us the occasion t gauge on the wholeness of the human person,  giving us the occasion to integrate body and soul through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. If we do not demand and seek a healthy internal and external balance in our faith journey, we run the risk of becoming "whitewashed tombs" (Mt 23:27): men and women who aim for the minimum and don't want to take flight.

    Reflection

    Self-mastery is the common denominator of all the virtues; those who seek self-mastery must be masters of themselves in all things. Just a as the amputation of any member of the human body disfigures the whole person, if the missing part is scarcely significant, likewise a man who ignores a single virtue ruins - and how can he not know it? - all of the beauty of self-mastery. It is therefore necessary to take to heart not just the virtues regarding the body, but also that can purify our inner self.
    What advantage will a man gain, for example, in keeping his body virgin but allowing his soul to be seduced by the demon of disobedience? Or, rather, how is it possible to crown a man who refrains from gluttony and every bodily appetite but has not taken care to control his conceit and craving for glory, or tolerated even a short-lived affliction - since the divine scale will give as recompense the light of justice, in accordance with their merits, to those who have carried out works of justice with a spirit of humility?

    Ceaseless Prayer 

    "Those who desire to free themselves from their corruption ought to pray not merely from time to time but at all times; they should give themselves always to prayer, keeping watch over their intellect (nous) even when outside places of prayer. When someone is trying to purify gold, and allows the fire of the furnace to die down even for a moment, the material which he is purifying will harden again. So, too, a man who merely practises the remembrance of God from time to time, loses through lack of continuity what he hopes to gain through his prayer." –"On Spiritual Knowledge," 97, Philokalia 1, pp. 293-94. 

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  7. The arrogant PM Justin Trudeau has resigned, and the new leader Mark Carney is yet to become the new prime minister. Trudeau has shut down Parliament for over 2 months, but this has not stopped the Liberals from spending (wasting) tax dollars Canada doesn’t have.

    Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development, just announced $272.1 million in new funding for 14 projects in Bangladesh and the Indo-Pacific region. The highest amount will go to a development bank: 

    Canada's pledge for the replenishment of the Asian Development Bank’s Asian Development Fund (ADF 14)
    Funding: $127 million over 4 years
    Partner: Asian Development Bank
    The ADF provides grants to the poorest and most vulnerable member countries in the Asian Development Bank. ADF’s goal is to support poverty reduction and improve the quality of life of people living in lower income developing countries in the Indo-Pacific Region. ADF 14 focuses on climate action, disaster preparedness, supporting small island developing states, gender equality and countries in fragile and conflict affected situations.

    Gender equality and climate action must be badly needed in Bangladesh. Then, we have minister Omar Alghabra who was just appointed Canada’s new Special Envoy for Syria. Why not exploit the changing political map. Alghabra wants to build a more democratic and inclusive Syria. On X he posted this: "Today, the government of Canada announced several key measures to help the Syrian people build a stable country that respects all of its citizens: - $84 million in humanitarian aid - Easing economic sanctions - Restoring diplomatic relation." Yes, let Christian churches at home be burned and desecrated, but Canada must help rebel groups in Syria establish an anti-Christian "government".

    In short, the Liberals are giving money to a “country” led by people who have already killed thousands of Christians and other minorities. We should expect this from the Liberals who have a pushed a fake narrative at home of mass graves at residential schools, essentially accusing Catholic priests and nuns of murdering Indigenous children. And proposed legislation that would make it a crime to deny the lie. Yes, a Canadian law to back a lie.

    The Liberals seem to have no respect for Canadians and their tax dollars. The Liberals are spending money that Canada does not have, and doing so without the approval of Parliament. The cost will be added to the largest accumulated national debt in Canada's history. For the year 2024-2025, the projected debt is $2.3 trillion. Canadians will soon not be able to repay the debt. If the reckless spending continues, Canada will be bankrupt. The government will not be able to borrow money to pay the cost of running the country. This is how a banana republic operates. Canada's enemy is not the opposition or President Donald Trump. The enemy is within.

    What the Liberals are doing is further weakening and dividing Canada. They are showing no respect for Canadians, even as they talk about being united and strong. Mark Carney will become the new PM; however, the Liberal abuse of power has gone from bad to worse. Canadians must make sure the Liberals don’t get re-elected, if Canada as we know it has a chance to survive.


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  8. Mark Carney is the new Liberal Party leader to replace Justin Trudeau. He will be sworn in as PM tomorrow. Carney made it clear in his victory speech that the enemy of Canada is Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and President Donald Trump. It took the Trump threat of tariffs for the Liberal party to suddenly discover the value of defending Canada. It was Trudeau who claimed Canada was a post-nation state with no core values, and that he admired China. But that was the Liberal then, and this the Liberal now.

    Carney pretends to be an outsider but is in fact an insider. As a top zero agenda banker both Canada and England, he fully supports climate change and woke policies. He hasn't mentioned anything about the damage done by the Liberals, in the last ten years, to Canada morally and economically.

    The chosen Liberal prince pretends that nothing bad has happened. The media is already brainwashing Canadians. No need to remember Liberal decisions to cancel pipelines and push a green plan to derail the economy and generate inflation. Or to mention the highest accumulated national debt in Canada's history.

    Can Carney be trusted? Who is the man? Should Canadians make him PM? Will the real Mark Carney please stand up? Watch this video produced by independent media outlet Juno News, not the mainstream media funded by the Liberal government through tax dollars like CBC, to get answers to these questions. 

    The informative documentary is appropriately called, "The Truth About Carney." Canadians need to know whether Carney can be trusted before they vote in the next federal election. By the way, the Carney team has banned independent media at their events. We wonder why? We would not be surprised if You Tube soon takes the video down. Do share it with family and friends.

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  10. First Week of Lent, Thursday, March 13: Lent and Easter with the Church Fathers. 

    Theophilus of Alexandra, Easter Letter   

    Introduction

    Preparing for Easter means preparing for a great feast, the most important one of the liturgical year. Joy becomes the adornment of our hearts, which reach out toward the divine while resting on earth. Good habits must be ready to go for the feast. May all of our thoughts be on God; may spiritual readings and prayers be light for our journey during these days.
    Reflection 

    Dear brothers and sisters, let us unite our voices once again to praise Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, and let us eagerly respond to the invitation of the prophet, who says, "Sing to the Lord a new song" (Is 42:10). May those of us who share in the faith that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven joyously welcome and celebrate the upcoming feasts, which the entire world celebrates along with us. The invitation has been sent in a loud voice by one of the wise men: "Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with merry heart, because it is now that God favours your works." (Eccl (9:7). Indeed, those who do good, and have ceased feeding on the milk of their youth to nourish themselves on more solid food, have a more profound understanding of things divine. Sated by this spiritual nourishment, they have God himself, who approves and gives witness to their lives.
    The author of Ecclesiastes addresses the following words to these table companions: "At all times let your garments be white, and spare not the perfume for your head" (Eccl 9:8). This is so that dressed with virtue, they might imitate the radiance of the sun, pour oil over their intellect through the daily reading of the Sacred Scripture, and prepare the lamp of their conscience so that, in accordance with the Gospel, it may shine for everyone in the home.

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  11. The Liberal Party has elected Mark Carney as their new leader to replace PM Justin Trudeau who resigned. In his speech after his victory, Carney had all good things to say about the Liberal party and the outgoing prime minister. It was all Liberal cheers, smiles and applause. Carney who has never been elected to any political position could now become Canada's prime minister.

    Carney said he will follow the example set by Trudeau to unite Canada and fight against the American tariffs. We can only assume Carney has conveniently chosen to forget all that Trudeau has done to divide the country and weaken the economy. We won't even mention the push for abortion, euthanasia and marijuana. And the over 50,000 opioid related deaths since Trudeau became PM. It should be declared a national crisis.

    While in power, the Liberal government has accumulated the largest national debt ever. Trudeau declared martial law on truckers peacefully protesting vaccine mandate and knockdowns. Trudeau has stated that Canada is a post-nation state with no core values, and he admires China. But why bring the truth at the coronation ceremony of the new Liberal leader. It's time distract and move on.

    Carney revealed his strategy when the federal election is called: erase the damage done to Canada economically and morally in the last ten years. Instead, play the President Donald Trump card. The Liberal platform: we're all united as Canadians against Trump and his ally Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. America and Poilievre are the enemy of Canada, not what the Liberals have done. Carney cares about people because he's a Liberal, not that he's Catholic. From what he said, he worships at the altar of the Liberal party.

    We have a message for Mark Carney. It comes from the rock band called The Who. Carney might even remember them. It's in the form of a song called, "Won't Get Fooled Again." Let's hope Canadians are paying attention, and stand united to make sure the Liberals won't be re-elected. Canadians must not be fooled again.

    Won’t Get Fooled Again  
     
    We'll be fighting in the streets
    With our children at our feetAnd the morals that they worship will be goneAnd the men who spurred us onSit in judgment of all wrongThey decide and the shotgun sings the song
     
    I'll tip my hat to the new ConstitutionTake a bow for the new revolutionSmile and grin at the change all aroundPick up my guitar and playJust like yesterdayThen I'll get on my knees and prayWe don't get fooled again
     
    A change, it had to comeWe knew it all alongWe were liberated from the fold, that's allAnd the world looks just the sameAnd history ain't changed'Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war
     
    I'll tip my hat to the new ConstitutionTake a bow for the new revolutionSmile and grin at the change all aroundPick up my guitar and playJust like yesterdayThen I'll get on my knees and prayWe don't get fooled again, no, no
     
    I'll move myself and my family asideIf we happen to be left half-aliveI'll get all my papers and smile at the skyFor I know that the hypnotized never lie
     
    Do you?
     
    Yeah 
    There's nothing in the streetLooks any different to meAnd the slogans are effaced, by-the-byeAnd the parting on the leftIs now parting on the rightAnd the beards have all grown longer overnight
    I'll tip my hat to the new ConstitutionTake a bow for the new revolutionSmile and grin at the change all aroundPick up my guitar and playJust like yesterdayThen I'll get on my knees and prayWe don't get fooled againDon't get fooled again, no, no
    YeahMeet the new bossSame as the old boss

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  12. First Week of Lent, Wednesday, March 12: Lent and Easter with the Church Fathers. 

    St. Leo the Great, Sermon, 21, 3  

    Introduction

    It's nice to feel loved in spite of ourselves and in spite of everything. God loves us above all things, and his embrace is all-encompassing. Feeling loved stirs up love; it is an awareness that God calls each of us to recognize the uniqueness of every person, to rediscover our dignity, and to acknowledge the need for daily conversion. 

    Reflection  

    O dearly beloved, let us therefore thank God our Father, through his Son, in the Holy Spirit. By means of the great love with which he loves us, he had mercy on us; and since we had died in sin. he gave us life back in Christ, so that in him we would be a new creation and a new work of his hands. Let us strip off the old man and his ways of action; and, given that we have been admitted to participate in the family of Christ, let us renounce the works of the flesh. Become aware, O Christian, of your dignity; and having been made a participant in the divine nature, do not return to your prior baseness through behaviour unworthy of your family.  

    Remember who your head is, and of whose body you're a member. Recall that you're stripped away from the power of the shadows and carried into the light of the kingdom of God. The Sacrament of Baptism has made you a temple of the Holy Spirit: do not cause such a great guest to flee because of your poor conduct; do not put yourself again into the slavery of the devil, for the price by which you were ransomed is the blood of Christ. He ransomed you out of mercy, but he will judge you in the truth of he who reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

    Prayer fir the Intercession of St. Leo the Great  

    God our Father,
    you will never allow the powers of hell
    to prevail against your Church,
    founded on the rock of the apostle Peter.
    Let the prayers of Pope Leo the Great
    keep us faithful to your truth
    and secure in your peace.
    Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
    who lives and reigns with you
    in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
    one God, for ever and ever.
    Amen.

     


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  14. First Week of Lent, Tuesday, March 11: Lent and Easter with the Church Fathers.

    St. Basil the Great, Homily on Fasting, 8 

    Introduction

    It's the period of Lent and the time of preparation for the central even of Christianity: Easter! Yes, preparation as when preparing for an important party or meeting. We need to infuse it wit the same passion, dedication, attention, and desire - but clearly in this case multiplying it all for God! Lent is, therefore, an excellent occasion, made up of forty intense days, for living with a focus on prayer, fasting and good works. Difficult? certainly not "easy," but why not think of it as "pleasing"?

    Reflection

    Fasting is an occasion for joy. Indeed, just as thirst makes a drink sweeter and hunger makes a meal more appetizing, so fasting seasons the pleasure of eating. It sets itself squarely in the middle, interrupting the continuity of the pleasure of eating, thereby making the food more desirable and flavourful. For this reason, if you wish to prepare a delicious meal, prepare it with fasting. But if you overindulge, you unknowingly render it insipid; for, by giving into an excess of appetite for a flavour, you suppress that flavour. Indeed, nothing is so desirable that it will become nauseating after continually eating it. But that which we rarely taste, we eagerly enjoy. Thus, he who created us saw to it that his gifts would always be appreciated because of their constant changing throughout life. Do you not see how the sun is more radiant after night? That walking is more serene after sleeping?And that health is more readily appreciated after its opposite has been experienced? So, a meal is more delightful after fasting: both for the wealthy who eat well, and for those whose fare is simple and frugal.

    A Prayer of St. Basil the Great   

    O God and Lord of the Powers, and Maker of all creation, Who, because of Thy clemency and incomparable mercy, didst send Thine Only-Begotten Son and our Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind, and with His venerable Cross didst tear asunder the record of our sins, and thereby didst conquer the rulers and powers of darkness; receive from us sinful people, O merciful Master, these prayers of gratitude and supplication, and deliver us from every destructive and gloomy transgression, and from all visible and invisible enemies who seek to injure us. 

    Nail down our flesh with fear of Thee, and let not our hearts be inclined to words or thoughts of evil, but pierce our souls with Thy love, that ever contemplating Thee, being enlightened by Thee, and discerning Thee, the unapproachable and everlasting Light, we may unceasingly render confession and gratitude to Thee: The eternal Father, with Thine Only-Begotten Son, and with Thine All-Holy, Gracious, and Life-Giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.


     



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Welcome To This Blog
Welcome To This Blog
A warm welcome to everyone to this blog. This blog is an effort by Lou Iacobelli, a Canadian and father who cares about life, family and Canada. My hope is that you will find this humble media project of evangelization useful. The aim to help educate and activate Christians and all people of good will with the overall goal of restoring Canada to a "culture of life." May you always be encouraged to seek the Truth as the first step in seeking understanding.
Deuteronomy 30,19
Deuteronomy 30,19
See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity; I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.
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About Me
About Me
Catholic father, grandfather and retired high school teacher. We're pro-life and pro-family. We believe in the right to life because without it there are no other rights. We stand for freedom of speech and the autonomy of the family.
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1 Timothy 2:1-5
1 Timothy 2:1-5
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
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