``Where
the Bishop is, there let the multitude of believers be;
even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church'' Ignatius of
Antioch, 1st c. A.D
Sexagesima Sunday
With Sexagesima
Sunday -- the 6th Sunday before Easter -- we go more deeply into the
theme of our banishment due to sin and, therefore, our need of a
Savior. Last week, on Septuagesima Sunday,
the Divine Office focused on
the fall of Adam and Eve; this week, the focus is on Noe (Noah) -- Adam
and Eve's 7th great grandson -- who
survived the deluge with his family while others perished due to their
sinfulness (on next Sunday -- Quinquagesima
Sunday -- Abraham will take our attention).
Today, please tell your children the story of Noe (Genesis 6-9), and
teach them how Noe's Ark is a type of the Church -- a foreshadowing of
Her. Teach them how Noe, his family, and the animals on board were
saved, and how it is the same with those in the Church today if they
persevere to the end. Below is a pdf
of
excerpts from the
Book of Genesis from the Catholic Children's Bible (Saint Mary's Press,
2013) that you can use, along with a pdf of coloring pages that include
Creation, Adam and Eve, Noe, and Abraham:
At Mass today, the Parable of the Sower is recounted. It can be found
in Matthew 13:1-23 and Mark 4:1-29, but today's reading is from Luke
8:4-15:
And when a very
great multitude was gathered together, and hastened out of the cities
unto him, he spoke by a similitude. The sower went out to sow his seed.
And as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and it was trodden down,
and the fowls of the air devoured it.
And other some fell upon a rock: and as soon as it was sprung
up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.
And other some fell among thorns, and the thorns growing up
with it, choked it.
And other some fell upon good ground; and being sprung up,
yielded fruit a hundredfold. Saying these things, he cried out: He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear.
And his disciples asked him what this parable might be. To
whom he said: To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of
God; but to the rest in parables, that seeing they may not see, and
hearing may not understand.
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. And
they by the way side are they that hear; then the devil cometh, and
taketh the word out of their heart, lest believing they should be
saved. Now they upon the rock, are they who when they hear, receive the
word with joy: and these have no roots; for they believe for a while,
and in time of temptation, they fall away. And that which fell among
thorns, are they who have heard, and going their way, are choked with
the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit.
But that on the good ground, are they who in a good and perfect heart,
hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience.
Teach your
children how we "stay on the Ark" by not just hearing, but doing the
word of God -- by loving God and our neighbor, by making our hearts
like the Sacred Heart of Jesus. To learn more
about this and all of the other of Christ's parables, see The Parables of Lord Christ.
Teach your children, too, what the real symbolism of the rainbow is! We
must
"take back the rainbow" and proclaim its real meaning, a meaning given
to it by God Himself! While
you're at it, you can teach them about the science of rainbows for fun
and interest (a mnemonic to remember the colors of the rainbow -- red,
orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet -- is "Roy G. Biv").
And rainbow cakes don't have to be for the purpose of condoning
nefarious things! You can make one using box mixes and dyeing a cup of
batter red, another cup orange, etc., and baking the layers (they will
be thin and will bake very quickly -- roughly 10 or 15 minutes -- so
watch them carefully!) or you can use this recipe adapted from the
Divas Can Cook website:
Rainbow Cake
2 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
1 cup butter softened
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Food coloring: red, yellow, blue, green
Frosting:
12 oz cream cheese softened
1 1/2 cups butter softened (do not melt)
6 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 325 F. Generously grease and flour 6 (9-inch
cake pans.) If you, like most people, have fewer than 6 pans, bake the
layers off in rounds, being sure to grease and flour the pans before
each round.
In a large bowl cream together sugar and butter. Mix in eggs
until thoroughly incorporated. Mix in vanilla extract, buttermilk and
heavy cream. Mix in half of the flour, baking powder, and salt. When
mixture is combined, mix in the rest of the flour.
Divide the batter into six bowls (about 1 cup of batter per
bowl) Add food coloring to each bowl to create a vibrant red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, and violet. (see note on how to make colors) Pour
each colored batter into the prepared pans and spread out into an even
layer. (layers will be thin). Bake for 10-15 minutes or until center is
set. Do not overbake. Keep a close eye on them as some ovens run hotter
and these are thin layers.
Remove from oven and let cakes cool in the pan until pans are
warm enough to touch. Run a spatula around the edges of the pans to
loosen the cake and then very carefully remove the cakes from the pans.
Place on a cooling rack and cool completely.
Meanwhile make the cream cheese frosting by creaming together
cream cheese and butter. Mix in powdered sugar and vanilla. Place the
violet layer down first and frost. Followed by the blue layer, green
layer, yellow layer, orange layer and finally the red layer. (frost
between each layer)
Place a thin coat of the icing on the cake to create a crumb
coat. This will make the cake even all around and seal any loose
crumbs. Once the crumb coat is set, finish frosting the cake. Slice
& serve! (To create more defined layers of frosting between the
colors, place the frosted cake in the fridge to allow the cream cheese
frosting to firm up before slicing)
Note: Be sure to add
in enough food coloring to the batter
to make the colors very vibrant. To make orange, create a vibrant
yellow and then add drops of red until you have orange. To make violet
make a vibrant red and add drops of blue.
As to music for the day, how about "Noah" from the Jubalaires?
Well, it's a, oh
Noah
Oh oh Noah, Oh oh Noah
God's gonna ride on the wind and tide
(Well it's a) Oh oh Noah
Oh oh Noah (Oh ho), Oh Noah
God's gonna ride on the wind and tide
Brother Noah, my God's talking (God's gonna ride on the wind
and tide)
Say you'll ride on the wind and tide
Hey children stop, be still, and listen to me
God walked down to the rowdy sea
He declared that evil had descended to man
And then he decided to destroy the land
He spoke to Noah and Noah stopped
He said "Noah, I want you to build me an ark"
I want you to build it three cubits long
I want you to build it big and strong
I want it thirty high and fifty wide
So it will withstand the wind and tide
Oh oh Noah
Oh oh Noah (Oh ho), Oh Noah
God's gonna ride on the wind and tide
(Well it's a) Oh oh Noah
Oh oh Noah (Oh ho), Oh Noah
God's gonna ride on the wind and tide (God's gonna ride on
the wind and
tide)
Brother Noah, Brother Noah, my God's talking (God's gonna
ride on the
wind and tide)
Say you'll ride on the wind and tide
Well after the foundation was laid
Then Noah began to hew and build
The ringing of the hammer cried judgment
The hewing of the saw cried sin and repent
A hundred years he hammered and sawed
Building the ark by the grace of God
When the ark was done God's voice was heard
He said, "Now, Noah let me tell you what to do."
"Call in the animals two by two."
So he called them in the ark two by two
He called the bird, the oxen, the kangaroo
Then he called in Japeth, and Ham, and Shem
Then God began to flood the land
He raised his hands to heaven on high
Shook the stars and they moved from the sky
Shook the mountains, he troubled the sea
Hitched the wind, his chariot decree
He steped on land and stood on the shore
And declared that time there wouldn't be no more
Oh Noah, Oh oh Noah
Oh oh Noah
God's gonna ride on the wind and tide
From the classical world, Bach gives us his BWV 18 (Gleichwie
der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel Falt) which he wrote for Sexagesima
Sunday:
Readings
Sexagesima Sunday
From "The
Christian Year"
by Blessed John
Keble
So he drove out the
man, and placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims and a
flaming sword, which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of
life. -- Genesis iii. 24.
Foe of mankind! too bold thy race:
Thou runn’st at such a reckless pace,
Thine own dire work thou surely wilt confound:
'Twas but one little drop of sin
We saw this morning enter in,
And lo! at eventide the world is drown’d.
See here the fruit of wandering eyes,
Of worldly longings to be wise,
Of Passion dwelling on forbidden sweets:
Ye lawless glances, freely rove;
Ruin below and wrath above
Are all that now the wildering fancy meets.
Lord, when in some deep garden glade,
Of Thee and of myself afraid,
From thoughts like these among the bowers I hide,
Nearest and loudest then of all
I seem to hear the Judge’s call:
"Where art thou, fallen man? come forth, and be thou tried."
Trembling before Thee as I stand,
Where’er I gaze on either hand
The sentence is gone forth, the ground is curs’d:
Yet mingled with the penal shower
Some drops of balm in every bower
Steal down like April dews, that softest fall and first.
If filial and maternal love
Memorial of our guilt must prove,
If sinful babes in sorrow must be born,
Yet, to assuage her sharpest throes,
The faithful mother surely knows,
This was the way Thou cam’st to save the world forlorn.
If blessed wedlock may not bless
Without some tinge of bitterness
To dash her cup of joy, since Eden lost,
Chaining to earth with strong desire
Hearts that would highest else aspire,
And o’er the tenderer sex usurping ever most;
Yet by the light of Christian lore
'Tis blind Idolatry no more,
But a sweet help and pattern of true love,
Shewing how best the soul may cling
To her immortal Spouse and King,
How He should rule, and she with full desire approve.
If niggard Earth her treasures hide,
To all but labouring hands denied,
Lavish of thorns and worthless weeds alone,
The doom is half in mercy given
To train us in our way to Heaven,
And shew our lagging souls how glory must be won.
If on the sinner’s outward frame
God hath impress’d his mark of blame,
And even our bodies shrink at touch of light,
Yet mercy hath not left us bare:
The very weeds we daily wear
Are to Faith’s eye a pledge of God’s forgiving might.
And oh! if yet one arrow more,
The sharpest of th’ Almighty’s store,
Tremble upon the string‹a sinner’s death‹
Art Thou not by to soothe and save,
To lay us gently in the grave,
To close the weary eye and hush the parting breath?
Therefore in sight of man bereft
The happy garden still was left,
The fiery sword that guarded shew’d it too;
Turning all ways, the world to teach,
That though as yet beyond our reach,
Still in its place the tree of life and glory grew.
