†Saint Quote "Be gentle to all, and stern with yourself." — St. Teresa of Avila † MEDITATION OF THE DAY "The works of man, whether they are good or bad, are not always isolated, transitory acts; more often, especially in the case of the leaders of nations and those who are invested with public authority, they continue to subsist after they are concluded, either in the memory of other men or in public acclaim, as a result of the consequences they have had and the scandal they have caused. Thus, at first sight, a particular, secret crime seems to be only a private, personal deed; but it becomes social on account of its effects. Certainly it is of faith that there is a particular judgment, and that every man, at the instant of his soul's departure from the body, appears before the tribunal of God to hear his eternal sentence pronounced. Yet this judgment cannot suffice, and it is essential that it should be followed by another public judgment, in which God will not examine the actions in isolation and taken in themselves, but will examine them in their effects upon other men, in the good or evil deriving from them for families and peoples—in a word, in the consequences they produced and which those who perpetrated them ought to have foreseen." — Fr. Charles Arminjon, p. 94 AN EXCERPT FROM The End of the Present World TODAY'S FEAST DAY ⛪ OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (1251 A.D.) is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with the Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites lived as hermits on Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land beginning in the 12th century. In the middle of their hermitages they built a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, who became the protectress of the Carmelites under the title of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a Carmelite hermit, St. Simon Stock, under this title and gave him a piece of cloth—the brown scapular—as a sacramental to be worn by the faithful to whom she promised her special protection. At the apparitions in Fatima, in addition to appearing as Our Lady of the Rosary, the Virgin Mary appeared as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Her feast day is July 16th. View Scapulars. † VERSE OF THE DAY "But you, beloved, remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, for they told you, "In [the] last time there will be scoffers who will live according to their own godless desires." These are the ones who cause divisions; they live on the natural plane, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life." Jude 1:17-21 | click to read more | | ST. MARIE MAGDALEN POSTEL St. Marie Magdalen Postel (1756–1846) was born in a fishing village in Normandy, one of seven children of a middle class family. As a child she became famous for her generosity; she would often give her food and belongings to the needy, acts for which she was often rebuked. She was educated by Benedictine nuns and decided to devote her life to the service of God. She took a private vow of chastity, and at the age of 18 opened her own school for girls. This began her life mission dedicated to the education of children. The school ran for five years until the French Revolution shut it down. During that time of great turmoil she used the school to house fugitive priests. She also encouraged the faithful amidst the terrible persecution, and was granted special permission to keep in her possession the Blessed Sacrament to give to those who were in immediate danger of death. She continued her work in education after the unrest subsided, founding a religious community called 'The Poor Daughters of Mercy' living under the rule of the Third Order of St. Francis. The community was later renamed 'Sisters of the Christian Schools of Mercy' taking the rule of St. John Baptist de la Salle, founder of the Christian Brothers, a religious order dedicated to the education of children. St. Marie Magdalen's school for girls was so effective that it was declared the best-run organization of its kind. St. Marie Magdalen Postel died at the age of 90 after seeing her community grow and spread. Her feast day is July 16th. | Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 393 Reading I Ex 11:10—12:14 Although Moses and Aaron performed various wonders in Pharaoh's presence, the LORD made Pharaoh obstinate, and he would not let the children of Israel leave his land. The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, "This month shall stand at the head of your calendar; you shall reckon it the first month of the year. Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month every one of your families must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each household. If a family is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join the nearest household in procuring one and shall share in the lamb in proportion to the number of persons who partake of it. The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then, with the whole assembly of Israel present, it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight. They shall take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of every house in which they partake of the lamb. That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. It shall not be eaten raw or boiled, but roasted whole, with its head and shanks and inner organs. None of it must be kept beyond the next morning; whatever is left over in the morning shall be burned up. "This is how you are to eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand, you shall eat like those who are in flight. It is the Passover of the LORD. For on this same night I will go through Egypt, striking down every first born of the land, both man and beast, and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt—I, the LORD! But the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you. "This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution." Responsorial Psalm 116:12-13, 15 and 16bc, 17-18 R. (13) I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord. How shall I make a return to the LORD for all the good he has done for me? The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the LORD. R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord. Precious in the eyes of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones. I am your servant, the son of your handmaid; you have loosed my bonds. R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord. To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the LORD. My vows to the LORD I will pay in the presence of all his people. R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord. Alleluia Jn 10:27 R. Alleluia, alleluia. My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord, I know them, and they follow me. R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 12:1-8 Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath." He said to the them, "Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath." | Daily Meditation: Matthew 12:1-8 The Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath. (Matthew 12:8) Do you know the very first thing that's called "holy" in the Bible? It isn't a place like a temple or a shrine, but a time. It's the sabbath (Genesis 2:3). God made the sabbath holy so that his people could join him in resting and finding refreshment in the beauty of what he had created (Exodus 31:17). From the very beginning, the sabbath has been a gift to God's people: a sign of his eternal love for them and a celebration of our freedom from oppression. By observing the sabbath, the Jewish people enter a sacred time when they worship God and celebrate their special relationship with him. It's no wonder, then, that some Pharisees were ruffled by the way Jesus' disciples seemed to disregard the sabbath. The problem was that they didn't recognize Jesus as "Lord of the sabbath" (Matthew 12:8), so they couldn't see that just by being with Jesus, the disciples were fulfilling God's command. Every moment they spent with Jesus was sacred time! What about us? The Catechism teaches that we can follow the "rhythm and spirit" of the sabbath even today (2176). Every Sunday, we can enter into a sacred time when we rest our bodies and ask God to refresh our spirits. Recalling the day when Jesus rose from the dead, we can celebrate our freedom from sin by gathering as God's people and worshipping him. As we set aside this time to be with the Lord and each other, Jesus comes to us and offers us his grace to help us grow in holiness. Think about how the disciples became hungry and searched for food in today's Gospel. We also grow spiritually hungry, and crave refreshment and renewal. And in his goodness, that's exactly what our heavenly Father offers us in his gift of the Eucharist. When we eat this spiritual food, we enter "sacred time" in a special way. Sanctified by the Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation, we join the angels in their own endless hymn of praise to the Lord. Sunday is only two days away. How will you set aside this time and make it sacred? "Jesus, Lord of the sabbath, I'm hungry for your rest." Exodus 11:10–12:14 Psalm 116:12-13, 15-18 | Listen to 2cents | my2cents: ""This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution." And it becomes the eternal institution...in Christ, because Christ fulfills the Old Testament in Himself, it is God fulfilling all things in perfection. | We pray in the Holy Psalms: "To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the LORD. My vows to the LORD I will pay in the presence of all his people. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord." And the eternal institution is the Holy Institution of the Holy Eucharist. Here is where pay vows of thanksgiving, for the very word "Eucharist" means thanksgiving. This acceptance and promise to Heaven is in Him...the eternal sacrifice. | Our Lord speaks: "I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath." You see, the Pharisees had called Him out and His disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath. They were hungry. But the law says no work is allowed on the Sabbath, like picking wheat. A technicality? For even animals have to eat. What were the men to eat? It'd be like saying to someone stranded with a flat tire "I can not help you put on that spare tire". Or it'd be like the Terry case when Pope and Saint John Paul II was dying, and Terry, a paralyzed woman was not allowed even a cup of water to survive because of the law of man. Sounds ridiculous right? But to this day, courts in Texas are being had for a little black baby girl who is being forced to be taken off life support against her mother's wishes. Laws of man are against life if the law is given for man to make up his own laws, like in a dictatorship, where the "chosen one" makes laws against humanity, beginning with freedom of religion. A dictatorship can become its own religion. It's called "moral relativism". And it becomes all about you. Sound familiar? Then the fight against God is against mercy and life itself...our Lord Jesus. Therefore, humility, time, patience, and hope is called for. Therefore...Be Mercy. I All things faith. I was asked to lead a funeral vigil this week and I ended with "Show God you Love Him by loving one another and being merciful to one another". | Let's pray: Lord, legalities turns us into pride mongrels. Things out of respect get turned to the inside, where a personal implosion takes place. I pray, that I (state your name) may always seek mercy first, and then sacrifice of self, myself, in Your Precious Name, for the sake of Thy Kingdom, because You are worthy of all my love, and all my actions. So I pray for Your blessing to do Your Holy Will now and forever. amen. | from your brother in Christ our Lord, adrian P.S. Pray for a group of us men heading to a conference of men in Christ. There are men in the group in dire need to come to a better and closer life of and with Christ, for salvation of self and family and nation. | click to hear | Random Bible Verse from online generator: Revelation 4:11 11 "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com God Bless You! Peace | | |
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