†Saint Quote of the Day
"O my God, fill my soul with holy joy, courage and strength to serve You. Enkindle Your love in me and then walk with me along the next stretch of road before me."
–St. Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) †Today's Meditation
"Natural love is sufficient for earthly parents, but the love which [Joseph] bore to Jesus, as His appointed father, was not a mere human love, it was also a super eminently divine love; for, in loving his Son he was exercising the most perfect love of God; since He whom he called his Son was at the same time his God. As in creatures all is finite, so all is capable of increase. What, then, may we imagine, must have been the growth of this ardent love in the heart of our saint during the long period which he spent with Jesus! Those things which tend naturally to add to human love, in him ministered fresh fuel to the divine flame within him. The constant association with the Son of God made Man and given to him as his own Son, the serving Him and being served by Him for thirty years, and, we must add, their marvelous resemblance created a bond between them which was unequaled of its kind."
—Edward Healy Thompson, p. 363 An Excerpt From
The Life & Glories of Saint Joseph †Daily Verse
"I know that whatever God does endures for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has made it so, in order that men should fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away."
–Ecclesiastes 3:14 |  click to read more | | St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (1891–1942) was born as Edith Stein in Prussia, the youngest of eleven children from a devout Jewish family. She was a bright and gifted child, and as she matured she became an atheist. She went on to receive a doctorate in philosophy, studying under the famous philosophers Heidegger and Husserl. Despite her atheism, she was affected by several friends who displayed a great passion for the Catholic faith. One day, while staying at a friend's home, she saw the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila. She read it from cover to cover, and after finishing it she exclaimed, "This is the Truth." Edith was baptized in Cologne, Germany in 1922. From there she taught for a time at a Dominican school and studied St. Thomas Aquinas and other Catholic philosophers. When the rise of anti-semitism forced her to resign from a teaching post, she wrote to Pope Pius XI asking him to publicly denounce the Nazis. Discerning a call to the religious life, she became a Carmelite nun in Cologne 1934, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross after her special devotion to the Cross of Christ. When the Nazi threat grew in Germany, her Order transferred her to a convent in the Netherlands for safety. There Edith grew in her desire to offer her life for the salvation of souls. The Nazis eventually came for her, and she, along with her sister Rose, who was also a convert, were sent to the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz. They were both killed in the gas chamber. St. Edith Stein is the patroness of martyrs and Europe. Her feast day is August 9th. | Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Nm 13:1-2, 25–14:1, 26a-29a, 34-35 The LORD said to Moses [in the desert of Paran,]
"Send men to reconnoiter the land of Canaan,
which I am giving the children of Israel.
You shall send one man from each ancestral tribe,
all of them princes." After reconnoitering the land for forty days they returned,
met Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the children of Israel
in the desert of Paran at Kadesh,
made a report to them all,
and showed the fruit of the country
to the whole congregation.
They told Moses: "We went into the land to which you sent us.
It does indeed flow with milk and honey, and here is its fruit.
However, the people who are living in the land are fierce,
and the towns are fortified and very strong.
Besides, we saw descendants of the Anakim there.
Amalekites live in the region of the Negeb;
Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites dwell in the highlands,
and Canaanites along the seacoast and the banks of the Jordan." Caleb, however, to quiet the people toward Moses, said,
"We ought to go up and seize the land, for we can certainly do so."
But the men who had gone up with him said,
"We cannot attack these people; they are too strong for us."
So they spread discouraging reports among the children of Israel
about the land they had scouted, saying,
"The land that we explored is a country that consumes its inhabitants.
And all the people we saw there are huge, veritable giants
(the Anakim were a race of giants);
we felt like mere grasshoppers, and so we must have seemed to them." At this, the whole community broke out with loud cries,
and even in the night the people wailed. The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:
"How long will this wicked assembly grumble against me?
I have heard the grumblings of the children of Israel against me.
Tell them: By my life, says the LORD,
I will do to you just what I have heard you say.
Here in the desert shall your dead bodies fall.
Forty days you spent in scouting the land;
forty years shall you suffer for your crimes:
one year for each day.
Thus you will realize what it means to oppose me.
I, the LORD, have sworn to do this
to all this wicked assembly that conspired against me:
here in the desert they shall die to the last man." Responsorial Psalm Ps 106:6-7ab, 13-14, 21-22, 23 R. (4a) Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
We have sinned, we and our fathers;
we have committed crimes; we have done wrong.
Our fathers in Egypt
considered not your wonders.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
But soon they forgot his works;
they waited not for his counsel.
They gave way to craving in the desert
and tempted God in the wilderness.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
terrible things at the Red Sea.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Then he spoke of exterminating them,
but Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach
to turn back his destructive wrath.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people. Alleluia Lk 7:16 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A great prophet has arisen in our midst
and God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 15: 21-28 At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
"Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon."
But he did not say a word in answer to her.
His disciples came and asked him,
"Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us."
He said in reply,
"I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me."
He said in reply,
"It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs."
She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters."
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
"O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish."
And her daughter was healed from that hour. | Daily Meditation: Numbers 13:1-2, 25–14:1, 26-29, 34-35 We ought to go up and seize the land, for we can certainly do so. (Numbers 13:30) God had delivered the Israelites from captivity in Egypt, led them through the Red Sea, and brought them across the desert. Now they stood on the cusp of the Promised Land, just across the Jordan River. That land, flowing "with milk and honey" (Numbers 13:27), was finally within reach! But as we see in today's first reading, receiving that gift did not come easily. The Israelites had sent twelve men to scout out the area. The scouts returned and reported that it was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey; they even brought back some of its fruit (Numbers 13:23). But after seeing mighty armies and men who looked like giants, ten of the scouts were gripped by fear. How could the people possibly defeat these foes and take hold of God's gift of this new land? But rather than succumbing to fear, Caleb and Joshua remained undeterred. They didn't disagree with the scouts' assessment, nor did they boast in their own strength to overcome. Instead, they remembered the promise of God and trusted in it. God had delivered them in Egypt, he had promised them the land, and he would "bring us in to this land and give it to us" (Numbers 14:8). Eventually Joshua would lead the next generation of Israelites to victory in the Promised Land (Joshua 3). But it would take time—including a long delay because of the people's lack of faith—to receive this gift from God. As he did for Israel, God has promised us gifts. Jesus came to give us life in abundance (John 10:10)! But like the Israelites, we face giants that stand in our way. Struggles with health, finances, or broken relationships may seem to block our path to a life of freedom. To be sure, these are significant foes. But when we turn our attention from the obstacles and fix our eyes on God's promises, we'll see victory. The more we trust in the Lord, the more we'll recognize the early signs of new life and the beginnings of God's promises being fulfilled. We'll begin to taste the fruit of peace and hope. Slowly but surely, our giants will begin to lose their power. We will say with Caleb, "We can certainly seize the land." "Lord, I trust in your promises today!" Psalm 106:6-7, 13-14, 21-23
Matthew 15:21-28 | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"Caleb, however, to quiet the people toward Moses, said,
"We ought to go up and seize the land, for we can certainly do so."
But the men who had gone up with him said,
"We cannot attack these people; they are too strong for us."
So they spread discouraging reports among the children of Israel....." end of verse. As you know of me, I'm in a lot of ministries and I have a lot of employees in family business and I have a lot of family. What I've noticed in the whole lot of people I minister to and deal with, is that there is a commonality in most of the problems...there is a whiff, or a hint of negativity...and this negativity could often be correlated to a lack of faith, and this lack of faith could be said a distrust in God Himself, and a distrust of someone means there is a lack of true connection, and a true love. Thus happens in a no-communication situation. Most of the problems around, especially in relationships and hardships is because of communication errors or a lack of communication. This is all the devil needs to do to disrupt a family, a team, a parish, or even a nation. Just mess with the message and see what happens. And this mess we get into would be easier to get out of...if we have faith, trust, a true love of God and neighbor. | We pray today:
"They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
terrible things at the Red Sea.
Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people......"_ end of Psalm. | In the Gospel today we heard:
"She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters."
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
"O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish."
And her daughter was healed from that hour.
...." end of Gospel verse. What marvels are accomplished though, when you do have faith. Worlds are saved with and through faith. What world do you live in? And does that world need salvation? The world has always needed salvation, a savior.
And God saw this. He saw this and became the Savior, as if He wasn't already, the great I AM.
As if He didn't know it from the beginning.
He knew. He knows.
But our life is given freely, so that we may take to His Holy will. That a fruit He desires be truly formed and born, and given to Heaven. Such was the very life of our Savior, Jesus the Christ, the Messiah.
The woman from Cana, came pleading our Lord, where as once we lacked faith to enter the land of Cana, now the Canaanites where coming to our Lord for salvation. We feared entering Cana, to battle, to beat Giants, but now that they were conquered, now they needed to show us once again, what faith means.
The whole of God's actions throughout history are meaningful messages to awaken us to a greater faith, more than ever before.
And so, because I fight daily negativity across the board, in faith, family, and work, I have to become the opposite. I have to become that beacon of hope, and faith, and the very embodied body of Christ.
Jesus came to give bread to the faithful.
And even the non-followers can show faith, sometimes greater than a so called "faithful follower".
I say that because I am thinking of myself.
I think of my blind friend in the nursing home that just passed away. I visited him almost weekly, and I did it to visit Jesus. And my visits were sometimes long, for he loved to talk, and I'd drift away on my cell phone, trying to listen as I do anyway with non blind people. I hate that about me. That I cannot give of myself totally to Jesus.
That yes, I am always giving of myself, my time, my talents, my money treasures, but....there's something lacking my friend....I'm not giving my heart 100%.
And the lesson again, makes me shudder...thinking, I am only a half christian.
That's how I see myself. I've a long way to go to true faith, and you know I equate faith with love. |
Let us pray.
Lord, You know my heart and You know my ways.
Forgive me for being persistent and incessant in my pleas, but please, never let me stop pleading...so that when I meet Thee face to face, I may obtain what I desire from Thee....Thy Holy Face of Mercy, true love, to complete me. |  Click To Hear | Random Bible Verse 1
Galatians 5:24 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
