🧀The Cheese & Crackers = Quotes by St. Philip Neri, St. Anselm, and St. Robert Bellarmine
🌽The Veggies = My 2💰
🍟The Potatoes = “Why Is Incense Used During Mass?”, by Fr. William Saunders
🍗The Meat = Book: “The Prayer of the Presence of God, Movement Towards Him Who Is”, by Dom Augustin Guillerand, O. Cart (Part 1of 2)
🍰The Dessert = YouTube Video: “Spiritual Warfare and Communism, “Burden of Proof”, by Fr. Ripperger (Part 03 Segment 19)
🧿 “No one will have any other desire in heaven than what God wills; and the desire of one will be the desire of all; and the desire of all and of each one will also be the desire of God.” By St. Anselm
🎾 ““Let prayer delight thee more than disputations, and the charity which builds up more than the knowledge which puffs up.” By St. Robert Bellarmine
📖Hebrews 8:10 “But this is the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord:I will put my laws in their minds and I will write them upon their hearts.I will be their God, and they shall be my people”
(MC=my comments) were: No ifs, ands, or buts, it is finished. Jesus deflated the works of darkness from the cross, yes after those days. The deal was sealed in blood, in the Precious Blood of Jesus. Are we not part of the house of Israel, we who have accepted the Messiah,He who was, who is, and He who will come again. It’s to be cognizant of the fact that the law must be in my minds, then from there falling down to our hearts. The imprints will be in the playbook that directs our actions. The mind speaks to the body, then the action is carried out. And how will we be His people? To me it is my means of being mindful of the laws, precepts, and commands that we have been given. Written upon hearts, being obedient, we’ll be on one accord with the Lord our God. Yes, it can truly be said that they cannot achieve wicked goals by lying and deceiving us, because the truth is in His Laws that are in our minds. He also wrote them in our Hearts.
📖Hebrews 10:16 “This is the covenant I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord:‘I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them upon their minds”
(MC=my comments)= First salvation was extended to the Jews specifically, then we gentiles are blessed to be grafted on the vine. Thanks be to God the call is clear to the gentiles, and we are the “them”. The blood of Jesus brings us extreme favor, because instead of putting the laws in our minds first, He puts the laws on our hearts, and afterwards write them on our minds. This way we have a greater chance to succeed, cutting to the chase and following the tugging on our hearts and not leaning on our own understanding. Also love makes obedience possible and much easier.
📖Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days—oracle of the LORD. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people”
(MC=my comments)= Now it’s like the whole house is for all who so will, let him come, the door is open, and it’s open wide. Who says? Thus says the Lord, so let us respond to His invitation and the law will be placed within, not just upon the heart. With that we say, come Holy Spirit, we are thy dwelling place, come, come, come. Empowered by the Holy Spirit we will be able to live as the Father so desires.
It was interesting to notice how different bible translations were thought provoking:
📙Berean Literal Bible
The word used was “putting‘ My Laws. Putting is immediate, it is happening as God speaks, indicating no delay. So putting is like a continual process, a refuel as is needed, for we leak.
📙King James Bible
What stands out in this version it that it says “put the law in their inward parts“ and write it in their hearts. It seems if it is in our conscience and sub-conscience a solidifying effect can take place.
📙New King James Version
What stands out is ”In the mind” and ”on their hearts. Stating on the heart rather than “in”, might just mean to me it goes in deeper when a person is more surrendered and open, allowing God to work deep in the interior.
📙New International Version
Standing out is the phrase: “After that time”, because most other translations say after “those days”. After that time can mean to me, after a person really opens up to the Lord and invites Him in to work within, a transformation can occur.
📙English Standard version
Noticed that the words used here were: “shall be my people”. Most translations used the words “ will be”. To me “will be” seems like a more sure thing, where as “shall be” might depend on circumstances, whether there is the cooperation necessary to assure something happen.
Info from this site: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/why-is-incense-used-during-mass-1041
“Why Is Incense Used During Mass? Why do priests use incense at Mass? Where does it come from?--
The use of incense in the ancient world was common, especially in religious rites where it was used to keep demons away. Herodotus, the Greek historian, recorded that it was popular among the Assyrians, Babylonians and Egyptians. In Judaism, incense was included in the thanksgiving offerings of oil, rain, fruits, wine
📖Numbers 7:13-17 “His offering consisted of one silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels and one silver basin weighing seventy shekels according to the sanctuary shekel, both filled with bran flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one gold cup of ten shekels’ weight filled with incense; one bull from the herd, one ram, and one yearling lamb for a burnt offering; one goat for a purification offering; and two bulls, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs for a communion sacrifice. This was the offering of Nahshon, son of Amminadab”
The Lord instructed Moses to build a golden altar for the burning of incense which was placed in front of the veil to the entrance of the meeting tent where the ark of the covenant was kept.
📖Exodus 30:1-10 “1For burning incense you shall make an altar of acacia wood, with a square surface, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high, with horns that are of one piece with it. Its grate on top, its walls on all four sides, and its horns you shall plate with pure gold. Put a gold molding around it. Underneath the molding you shall put gold rings, two on one side and two on the opposite side, as holders for the poles used in carrying it. Make the poles, too, of acacia wood and plate them with gold. This altar you are to place in front of the veil that hangs before the ark of the covenant where I will meet you. On it Aaron shall burn fragrant incense. Morning after morning, when he prepares the lamps, and again in the evening twilight, when he lights the lamps, he shall burn incense. Throughout your generations this shall be the regular incense offering before the LORD. On this altar you shall not offer up any profane incense, or any burnt offering or grain offering; nor shall you pour out a libation upon it. Once a year Aaron shall purge its horns. Throughout your generations he is to purge it once a year with the blood of the atoning purification offering. This altar is most sacred to the LORD”
We do not know exactly when the use of incense was introduced into our Mass or other liturgical rites. At the time of the early Church, the Jews continued to use incense in their own Temple rituals, so it would be safe to conclude that the Christians would have adapted its usage for their own rituals.
In the liturgies of Ss. James and Mark, which in their present form originate in the fifth century, the use of incense is mentioned. A Roman Ritual of the seventh century marks it usage in the procession of a Bishop to the altar and on Good Friday. Moreover, in the Mass, an incensation at the Gospel appears very early; at the offertory, in the 11th century; and at the Introit, in the 12th century. Incense was also used at the Benedictus and Magnificat during Lauds and Vespers about the 13th century, and for the exposition and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament about the 14th century. Gradually, its usage was extended to the incensing of the celebrant and assisting clergy.
The purpose of incensing and the symbolic value of the smoke is that of purification and sanctification. For example, in the Eastern Rites at the beginning of Mass, the altar and sanctuary area were incensed while Psalm 50, the "Miserere," was chanted invoking the mercy of God. The smoke symbolizes the prayers of the faithful drifting up to heaven: the Psalmist prays, "Let my prayer come like incense before you; the lifting up of my hands, like the evening sacrifice"
📖Psalm 141 “A psalm of David. LORD, I call to you; hasten to me; listen to my plea when I call. Let my prayer be incense before you; my uplifted hands an evening offering. Set a guard, LORD, before my mouth, keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not let my heart incline to evil, to perform deeds in wickedness. On the delicacies of evildoers let me not feast. Let a righteous person strike me; it is mercy if he reproves me. Do not withhold oil from my head while my prayer opposes their evil deeds. May their leaders be cast over the cliff, so that they hear that my speeches are pleasing. Like the plowing and breaking up of the earth, our bones are strewn at the mouth of Sheol. For my eyes are upon you, O LORD, my Lord; in you I take refuge; do not take away my soul. Guard me from the trap they have set for me, from the snares of evildoers. Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while only I pass over them safely”
Incense also creates the ambiance of heaven: The Book of Revelation describes the heavenly worship as follows: "Another angel came in holding a censer of gold. He took his place at the altar of incense and was given large amounts of incense to deposit on the altar of gold in front of the throne, together with the prayers of all God's holy ones. From the angel's hand, the smoke of the incense went up before God, and with it the prayers of God's people."
In the General Instruction of the Roman Missal incense may be used during the entrance procession; at the beginning of Mass, to incense the altar; at the procession and proclamation of the Gospel; at the offertory, to incense the offerings, altar, priest and people; and at the elevation of the Sacred Host and chalice of Precious Blood after the consecration. The priest may also incense the Crucifix and the Paschal Candle. During funeral Masses, the priest at the final commendation may incense the coffin, both as a sign of honor to the body of the deceased which became the temple of the Holy Spirit at Baptism and as a sign of the faithful’s prayers for the deceased rising to God.
The usage of incense adds a sense of solemnity and mystery to the Mass. The visual imagery of the smoke and the smell remind us of the transcendence of the Mass which links heaven with earth, and allow us to enter into the presence of God.”
“St. John Damascene’s definition of prayer is well known. "Prayer," he says, "is asking God for what is fitting." We must probe this thought thoroughly, draw from the words their substance, separate its parts and, having done so, restore them to the deep life of this substance which sustains them and gives then life. This definition of prayer falls, then, into two parts which are, as it were, its matter and form. Prayer is an asking, but an asking of God, and consequently bears the impress of him to whom it is addressed. We can ask God only for what he wants us to ask of him, and he can will only what is conformable to his will. Now since God is one of the `terms' of prayer-that is, we pray to him- and since he is infinite Order, prayer is a request essentially "ordered," in other words consonant with the order of God himself. What is that order? It is what he is-Being himself: that Being from whom, by whom, and for whom all things are.
📖John 1:3 “All things came to be through him, All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life
and
📖Colossians 1:16 For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him”
He is our Beginning and our End.
📖Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, ” says the Lord God, “the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.”
He is the light of our mind and the strength of our will. He is Truth, Goodness and Beauty unalloyed, the source of all joy and the ocean of all life. What is "fitting," therefore - what we must ask God for - is himself; to be united with him, to be transformed in him: to possess him and to be possessed by him. We should ask to enter, by grace, into such intimate relations with him as unite us to him; to become his sons by a communication as complete as possible of his Spirit of Love; to share in that joy and in that life which is his joy and his life: in short, to share in joy itself and Life itself. The Scriptures are full of this prayer, which is constantly bubbling up like water-springs on a high mountain. "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance, says the Psalmist
📖Psalms 15.5) ... For what have I in heaven, and besides thee what do I desire upon earth ... Thou art the God of my heart, and my portion for ever."
📖Psalms 72, 25-26 “Whom else have I in the heavens? None beside you delights me on earth. Though my flesh and my heart fail, God is the rock of my heart, my portion forever”
In the case of the intelligent being, to possess is to see the object of one's love and to find one's complete happiness in it. What we see enters into us by an image, which makes the object present to us-we say expressly it 're-presents' it to us. This presence allows us to contemplate it, and that contemplation in turn engraves in us the features of what we see. Once engraved, these features are like a continual presence, which perpetually renews our joy. There is another kind of knowledge and presence which brings neither possession nor pleasure. The object is within us, but it is not part of ourselves. We do not make use of it, nor have we any desire to profit by it. We are content with the image, but we experience no conscious need for any immediate, direct contact with the reality it represents. We do not love that object, for it is not our `good'. We do not seek to be united with it, or to be transformed in it; we are content merely to know what it is and that it exists; but that knowledge awakens in us no desire for a more intimate union with it, or for mutual self-surrender. We rightly love what is "good," but that object does not seem to be our good.”
Video link: https://youtu.be/hcLwif1yOy4