†Saint Quote
"O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams."
— St. Augustine † MEDITATION OF THE DAY†
"The strength of the soul consists in its faculties, passions and desires, all of which are governed by the will. Now when these faculties, passions and desires are directed by the will toward God, and turned away from all that is not God, then the strength of the soul is kept for God, and thus the soul is able to love God with all its strength."
— St. John of the Cross, p. 259
AN EXCERPT FROM
Ascent of Mt. Carmel †VERSE OF THE DAY
"And now, children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be put to shame by him at his coming."
1 John 2:28 |  click to read more | | ST. GENESIUS OF ROME St. Genesius of Rome (d. 303 AD) was a renowned actor and playwright, the leader of a popular acting troupe during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. When the Emperor was killing Christians, Genesius wrote plays to mock them and expose their secret rites to ridicule. To research for a play mocking baptism, he went to a priest pretending to desire the sacraments and was fully instructed as a catechumen. Genesius prepared his play and instructed the other actors in their parts. On performance day the Emperor was present. Genesius played the lead character seeking baptism, and the rite was performed in such a ludicrous manner that all present laughed. As the water was poured over Genesius' head by an actor playing the priest's part, Genesius saw a vision of the heavens opened and the hand of God touching him. He also saw an angel who showed him that his many sins had been washed away through the valid baptism he had just received. At that moment Genesius' heart was changed by the Holy Spirit and he believed in the truth of Christianity. At the conclusion of the play Genesius boldly declared his new faith, recounting how he had been a scoffer until that moment. He implored the audience, including the Emperor, to follow Christ. The crowd thought this was part of the performance, but once they understood it was real, Genesius was seized. The Emperor, furious, subjected him to cruel tortures daily to make him renounce his faith in Christ. Genesius staunchly refused and was beheaded. The Christians collected his body and buried him with the other martyrs. St. Genesius is the patron saint of comedians, dancers, actors, musicians, printers, and torture victims. His feast day is August 25th. | Wednesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 427
Reading I 1 Thes 2:9-13 You recall, brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery.
Working night and day in order not to burden any of you,
we proclaimed to you the Gospel of God.
You are witnesses, and so is God,
how devoutly and justly and blamelessly
we behaved toward you believers.
As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his children,
exhorting and encouraging you and insisting
that you walk in a manner worthy of the God
who calls you into his Kingdom and glory. And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly,
that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us,
you received it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God,
which is now at work in you who believe. Responsorial Psalm 139:7-8, 9-10, 11-12ab R. (1) You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence where can I flee?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I sink to the nether world, you are present there.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
If I take the wings of the dawn, if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there your hand shall guide me, and your right hand hold me fast.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light"–
For you darkness itself is not dark, and night shines as the day.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord. Alleluia 1 Jn 2:5 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever keeps the word of Christ,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 23:27-32 Jesus said,
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside,
but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth.
Even so, on the outside you appear righteous,
but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You build the tombs of the prophets
and adorn the memorials of the righteous,
and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,
we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets' blood.'
Thus you bear witness against yourselves
that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets;
now fill up what your ancestors measured out!" | Daily Meditation: Matthew 23:27-32 You are like whitewashed tombs. (Matthew 23:27) Why would Jesus compare the scribes and Pharisees to whitewashed tombs? It wasn't just because of the disconnect between a nice outward appearance and what was really inside. The answer also lies in Jewish tradition and ritual impurity. According to Mosaic law, Jews could make themselves ritually impure—and require a weeklong purification process—if they came too close to a grave. In an attempt to keep this from happening, each year before Temple pilgrimages began, tombs around Jerusalem were whitewashed. More than just a beautification project, the whitewashing served as a warning for the pilgrims to stay clear of something that would impede their worship. So yes, Jesus chose this image partly to give a graphic picture of the nature of these men's hypocrisy—a beautiful exterior filled with hidden corruption. But he also chose it as a strong warning about what to stay away from, both for his disciples and for us today. You could almost say that Jesus was himself applying whitewash to the Pharisees and scribes. It was as if he was exposing their religious hypocrisy for everyone—including us—to see. Jesus knows how easy it is to fall into a trap similar to the one that ensnared these religious leaders. He knows how much we try to look as if we have it all together, like the way we may put on a serene face even though we're seething about an argument we had in the car on the way to church. He also knows we might say or do things just to appear righteous when we know we're hiding some kind of sin. So he marked the "tombs" of his opponents' hypocrisy to make sure we don't veer too close to the same thing. Take a lesson, then, from the whitewash Jesus put on the Pharisees and scribes. Listen for God's voice in your conscience and pay attention to the warnings he gives you. Bring your heart to the one who can clean you from the inside. Then the outside will take care of itself. "Lord, help me to be on the alert for your warnings so that I can see and avoid hypocrisy in myself." 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13
Psalm 139:7-12 |  Listen to 2cents | "As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his children,
exhorting and encouraging you and insisting
that you walk in a manner worthy of the God
who calls you into his Kingdom and glory."
Who is a good friend, my friend?
A good friend is one who leads ever closer to Christ. A good friend is one who knows love and wants you to know God's love. A good friend encourages you to be saintly, to be holy, to remain to God's commandments. I am encouraging you daily, I hope. And this is what a friend in Christ will do, encourage you always. | We pray in the Holy Psalms:
"Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence where can I flee?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I sink to the nether world, you are present there. You have searched me and you know me, Lord."
I sometimes sing a song with these Holy Psalms, it is called "You are Near" by Dan Schutte. It says "where can I run from Your love?...you guard me from the foe and lead me in ways everlasting. Lord you have searched my heart." On that singing note, let's go to our Lord. | Our Lord speaks:
""Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside,
but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth.
Even so, on the outside you appear righteous,
but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing."
And so in these reflections, we must always put ourselves in the story, it is a good part of "lectio divina" when being immersed into Holy Scripture. You must breathe, pray, and then read, and put yourself in the story, and then digest the whole word. Imagine our Lord telling all "you are whitewashed tombs". On the outside all is great, but on the inside?
I've always compared living people to zombies, because literally there are walking dead people...dead spiritually. They want to devour those who are alive, the attack souls that are alive....because supposedly they are hungry.
And Christ gives His life for the living dead.
Our Lord says of them that they "..appear beautiful on the outside,
but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth."
Vanity on the outside, pride, haughty, chest sticking out, chin up, walking pouty and proudly they go. Is that the walk and talk of a Christ follower? And when they open their mouths, what spews out? Nothing good, right?
So how can we wake up from zombie mode?
How can we become alive in the Spirit? *How can we help zombies? How can we help them come out of their miserable lives? If you want the answer, I cannot say, because I'm afraid I am not fully alive. I know many zombies, and I've not awakened them, but I am leading them slowly...to Jesus. Try something unique when trying to wake them up, like a direct-Christ-like approach. And this takes grace, and prayer, and sacrifice. Now we are speaking terms of a true following of our Lord. | Let's pray:
Lord, I do not want to be a white washed tomb, filled with dead bones and filth.
I want to be alive, with You, with flesh on my bones and clean, with Your precious blood, that precious blood coursing through my body, giving light and life to the world You have me in. | from your brother in Christ,
Adrian |  click to hear | Random bible verse generator: 2 Timothy 4:7
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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