This is a great week to be talking about liturgical living. As Catholics, we don't just live our faith, we celebrate it! This is one of the beautiful things about being Catholic. Living by the liturgical calendar is fascinating as there is always a saint or custom to learn about that will no doubt enrich your life. In learning about simplicity, liturgical living has its place as it is a concrete way to bring your faith into everyday life. It encompasses many of the disciplines of simplicity that we have already addressed - prayer, obedience, discipline, wonder, rest, etc. Liturgy is "the work of God" and the official public worship of the Church and is thus distinguished from private devotion. The liturgy is divine worship that the Church offers to God every hour of every day, most namely the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The rhythm of this worship is set by the liturgical calendar which gives the universal Church unison and coherence by putting heaven and earth on the same clock. This calendar spells out all the solemnities, feast days and seasons we celebrate throughout the year. As we celebrate a feast day here on earth, the angels and saints in heaven are doing the same in a far more excellent way. This is what a basic Liturgical Calendar looks like...
Liturgical living can help you simplify your life by calling you to live in unity with the universal church. You don't have to try and figure it out all on your own. Knowing what to celebrate and when simplifies your life and helps you to focus on what really matters. In January of last year, I came across a digital calendar that syncs to your phone calendar! Even though I prefer my paper calendar, I love having the liturgical feast of the day first thing on my phone calendar. I am so grateful for The Little Rose Shop for making this unique tool free and easy to use. Check it out here: DIGITAL LITURGICAL CALENDAR
I really love living liturgically (imperfectly, I might add!) and the balance it provides. There is celebrating, mourning, fasting, feasting, working, resting, repenting, giving and receiving. Basically, everything you could ever want or need in living the rhythm of Catholic life. Here are two of my favorite go-to sites for applying the liturgical calendar to daily life: CATHOLIC ALL YEAR SHOWER OF ROSES
spiritual We just celebrated Laetare Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Lent, yesterday. The theme is always joy and it comes from the entrance antiphon (Isaiah 66:10-11): “Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning; exalt and be satisfied at her consoling breast.”
Laetare is Latin for rejoice and is the first word in the verse above. On Laetare Sunday the Church expresses hope and joy in the midst of our Lenten fast and penance (similar to Gaudete Sunday in Advent) by allowing flowers to adorn the altar and changing the liturgical color from purple to rose. This change in color and decor gives us a little glimpse of the joy that awaits us at Easter, just before we enter into the days of Passiontide.
Take this opportunity today to keep the joy from yesterday's celebration going. With eyes of hope, keep in the back of your mind what awaits you on Easter Sunday - the reality that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, and that our hearts will always be filled with joy!
Being aware of the liturgical calendar, traditions and customs assists us in celebrating the beauty of our faith. Here are some dates to add to your calendar if you haven't already:
March 17th - Passion Sunday (and St. Patrick's Day)
March 19th - Solemnity of St. Joseph
March 24th - Palm Sunday
March 28th - Holy Thursday
March 29th - Good Friday
March 30 - Holy Saturday
March 31 - Easter Sunday
(The Solemnity of the Annunciation normally celebrated on March 25th has been moved to April 8th. This is because March 25th is Monday of Holy Week.)
self Commit anew to your Lenten sacrifices and obligations this week. Take one day at at time, stay focused and make your sacrifices for Christ. ~GRAYSCALE your phone if you went back to color over the weekend.
~40 minutes of intentional movement. Consider adding some dumbbell weights to your current intentional movement routine. I came across these workouts and wanted to share as they are SIMPLE and short. You may feel so good after one workout that you want to do another! Everything is spelled out for you and videos for technique and form are linked. This is definitely a keeper!
service Celebrate your family's patron saint feast days by looking up the dates and writing them on your calendar or putting them in your digital phone calendar (repeat yearly so you will always have it). LOOK UP YOUR SAINTS HERE
today's recipe
This recipe came from my mother-in-law over 25 years ago and has been a staple in our rotating menu. She would be thrilled to know her grandchildren make it now for their own family and friends. She was a big fan of quick, easy and tasty!
PEPPER STEAK
Ingredients
2 lbs round steak, cut into thin strips (I sometimes use stew meat)
1 Tbsp avocado oil
1/4 cup chopped onion (or more to taste)
2 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups beef broth
1 medium tomato, sliced
1/2 cup cold water
3-4 Tbsp corn starch (or other thickening agent)
1/4 cup good quality soy sauce or aminos
2 green bell peppers cut into thin strips
(serve over rice, quinoa, noodles, whatever you and your family like)
Instructions
heat oil in large, deep skillet and brown meat.
add onion, garlic powder, salt and pepper, stirring to combine
add broth, reduce heat and simmer 20-30 minutes. (This is a good time to prepare the rice or noodles that you will be serving this over.)
add the sliced tomato and stir
in a measuring cup, mix the cold water, cornstarch and soy sauce then add to meat mixture, stirring as it thickens
add green pepper slices and heat until they are crisp
serve over rice, noodles, quinoa, etc
Thank you for following along.
Please reach out to me if you have any questions or comments.
katie@integratedlife.co
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