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DAY 16 - VIRGIN MOST VENERABLE, PRAY THAT WE RECEIVE THE FRUIT OF CHARITY!

GOD'S WORD

"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." (1 John 4:16)

HEROES' WORDS

"Our hearts were made for you, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you." -St. Augustine

"The fruits of charity are joy, peace, and mercy; charity demands beneficence and fraternal correction; it is benevolence; it fosters reciprocity and remains disinterested and generous; it is friendship and communion: Love is itself the fulfillment of all our works. There is the goal; that is why we run: we run toward it, and once we reach it, in it we shall find rest." -St. Augustine

"Charity brings to life again those who are spiritually dead." -St. Thomas Aquinas

"Charity is the form, mover, mother, and root of all virtues." -St. Thomas Aquinas

MEDITATION

By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear "the fruit of the Spirit: . . . love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." "We live by the Spirit"; the more we renounce ourselves, the more we "walk by the Spirit." (CCC 736)

Fruits of the Holy Spirit: Supernatural works that, according to St. Paul, manifest the presence of the Holy Spirit. The one who performs them recognizes God's presence by the happiness he experiences, and others the divine presence by witnessing these good works (Gal 5:22-23). They are, in other words, identifiable effects of the Holy Spirit. In the Vulgate text they are: charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, and chastity. (Fr. John Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary)

Fruit of the Spirit and fullness of the Law, charity keeps the commandments of God and his Christ: "Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love." (CCC 1824)

Daily Offering

1. Pray the Chaplet of the Holy Face (The "how to" can be found HERE)

2. Pray St. Patrick's Lorica Prayer for the President (See below)

3. Add a daily penance (If you are able, 10,000 steps a day)

Prayer Intention: For the protection, under Mary's Mantle, of the President and his administration.
SAINT PATRICK'S LORICA FOR PROTECTION
(Replace first person with "President Trump")

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In the predictions of prophets,
In the preaching of apostles,
In the faith of confessors,
In the innocence of holy virgins,
In the deeds of righteous men.

I arise today, through
The strength of heaven,
The light of the sun,
The radiance of the moon,
The splendor of fire,
The speed of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of the sea,
The stability of the earth,
The firmness of rock.

I arise today, through
God's strength to pilot me,
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptation of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
afar and near.

I summon today
All these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel and merciless power
that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul;
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me an abundance of reward.

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

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DAY 16 - VIRGIN MOST VENERABLE, PRAY THAT WE RECEIVE THE FRUIT OF CHARITY! GOD'S WORD "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." (1 John 4:16) HEROES' WORDS "Our hearts were made for you, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you."

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As India sped towards independence in the thirties, a frightful prospect emerged before the country's Muslims. Only about a fourth of the country was Muslim, and in a democracy they would be outnumbered.

Jinnah, the Ali Brothers, and others argued that Muslims had been the masters of Hindus, and would not become subservient to them. Jinnah proposed Urdu as the sole national language to the Cripps Mission, a diktat that he repeated when Pakistan was born, and which ultimately led to the creation of Bangladesh.

Today, the population of the subcontinent's Muslims is about 600 million. Some are suggesting that the three nations-India, Pakistan, Bangladesh-should reunite. How feasible is this?

In a reunited India, Muslims would be about one-third of the population. Muslims tend to vote en bloc, so they could easily keep the Sangh Parivar out of power. The prime minister acknowledged as much in 2014 when he refused to entertain the idea of a reunified subcontinent. How ironic though that the very people who call out for an Akhand Bharat do not realize what it might have in store for them.

Hindus in India argue that Muslims here are doing fine since hardly any Muslim wants to migrate to Pakistan. Doing fine is one thing, and accepting your lot is another, although it is certainly true that many Hindus want to leave Pakistan for India. Charges leveled against Muslims are many, openly by the Sanghis, and surreptitiously, by many liberals.

One such charge is that Muslims procreate much more rapidly than Hindus and in fact are aiding and abetting in the subcontinental reunification project. Sanjay Gandhi made population control a dirty word, for Hindus and Muslims alike, and ever since then no government will touch the hot potato. There seems evidence to suggest that Muslims grow more rapidly, but there is also reason to believe that the government sanitized Muslim growth figures in the latest census so as not to cause a scare.

The second charged leveled against Muslims is that they are disloyal to India and loyal to Pakistan. As an example, during Indo-Pak cricket matches they support our neighbor. But seriously who is measuring who's supporting who, and that too how accurately.

Then there is the ultimate loyalty test: They have poor representation in the army, not because the army is communal, but because they themselves are, not wanting to engage fellow Muslims in battle. The Sachar committee pegged the representation of Muslims in the army at around 2%, way below their overall representation in the population of about 15%.

But seriously, this is a tricky one. Many army regiments, even those with even a small contingent of Muslims have a mosque and an imam. Further, the army is not like the business sector: it's engaged in a life-and-death fight with Pakistan, which calls its soldiers warriors of the faith. Out of the fourteen Param Vir Chakras awarded posthumously, one has gone to a Muslim, Abdul Hamid.

While that is neither here or there, perhaps there's scope for both the army and for Muslim leaders to ratchet up representation. So-called Muslim leaders like the younger Owaisi, Zakir Naik, and Imam Bukhari, do a great disservice in this effort by sowing doubt and discord.

Then of course there's the classic question: If Pakistan was meant for Muslims, India consequently was meant for Hindus, so why do they not quit India for Pakistan? Didn't the Hindus of Pakistan quit the country almost en masse in 1947?

First, the founding father of the country, nor his key lieutenants, ever envisioned a truncated-India as only for Hindus. Second, most of the educated and/or rich Muslims migrated to Pakistan, leaving the poor, huddled masses behind. Until 1965, Pakistan prospered because of jute exports and American aid. Muslims still kept migrating there. But now, with the killing fields that Pakistan has become, who would even think of going there?

But counters the prosecution: If you could leave in the good times, why not so in the bad? Well, if the Karachi riots had not broken out in 1947, Hindus wouldn't have left, and were it not for Partition's mayhem, Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus would never have deserted their beloved Lahore. So what is sauce for the geese must remain sauce for the gander. In any case, Partition is done and dusted, and we are 70 years too late for this puerile debate.

And finally there is the forever beef question. Would any layman be allowed to chomp pork in Pakistan? So why allow people to partake of beef in Hindu-majority India, an animal that Hindus hold so close to their heart?

Hindus are largely unworried when Parsis, Christians and even other Hindus consume beef but see red when Muslims do so. Secularism is enshrined in the preamble to the Constitution, its most important page. Cow protection is in the Directive Principles of State Policy.

In the Constituent Assembly, some hindutva types wanted to impose a beef ban. But members from the Northeast stood up to protest. Beef was their staple diet. If banned, they would secede from the Union. So it was shoved under the Directive Principles, wherein lie most things that should stay still-born, or at best, flicker only dimly in the darkness of the night.

States banning beef under this cover may not be violating the letter of the Constitution, but certainly the spirit they are.

There are of course many other issues. Triple talaq, polygamy, and so on and so forth. But the main counter to the Muslim question should be: Why compare India with Pakistan? Per capita GDP wise they are still fairly similar, but Pakistan is an avowedly Islamic nation where the president, the prime minister and the army chief cannot but be a Muslim. India is a relatively secular nation where leaders can, and do, emerge from any faith.

Nations evolve. In California and Texas, there is a fear amongst whites that what they won from Mexico in war, they will lose peacefully because of the fast-growing Hispanic population. But by discriminating against a minority, one only enhances its ghetto mentality and resentment.

If Jats, Marathas, and their like can demand OBC status, when, let's be honest, they have never been disadvantaged in independent India, why does the state quibble in giving a small share of reservation to India's poorest community, its Muslims? Do you want them to feel Indian or not?

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As India sped towards independence in the thirties, a frightful prospect emerged before the country's Muslims. Only about a fourth of the country was Muslim, and in a democracy they would be outnumbered. Jinnah, the Ali Brothers, and others argued that Muslims had been the masters of Hindus, and would not become subservient to them.