† Quote of the Day "Do not be anxious: go straight on, forgetful of self, letting the spirit of God act instead of your own." — St. Julie Billiart Today's Meditation "True devotion to Our Lady is holy; that is to say, it leads the soul to avoid sin and to imitate the virtues of the Blessed Virgin, particularly her profound humility, her lively faith, her blind obedience, her continual prayer, her universal mortification, her divine purity, her ardent charity, her heroic patience, her angelic sweetness and her divine wisdom. These are the ten principal virtues of the most holy Virgin." — St. Louis De Montfort, p. 55
An excerpt from True Devotion to Mary Daily Verse "For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not a human being but God, who [also] gives his holy Spirit to you." — 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 | St. Marcellin Champagnat St. Marcellin Champagnat (1789–1840) was born to a peasant family near Lyons, France, in the same year the French Revolution erupted. He grew up amid the havoc and instability it left in every area of life. Like many other children, St. Marcellin was poor and illiterate due to the collapse of education. Yet a visiting priest encouraged him to enter the seminary, which he did at the age of sixteen despite his poverty. Because of his lack of education he struggled academically, which inspired him to combat the illiteracy and spiritual poverty resulting from the violence and chaos of the French Revolution. With hard work, prayer, and the support of his family, he was ordained in 1816. The following year he bought a simple house, opened a school, and recruited other peasant men to join him in a new community devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and committed to giving young people a proper Christian education. He made his school year flexible with the farming seasons, and the fees were affordable to the poor. His congregation became The Little Brothers of Mary, now called The Marist Brothers. They were dedicated to the education of youth, especially the most neglected. When Marcellin died his order had 48 establishments in France with 278 Brothers. Today there are 5,100 Brothers working in over 80 countries. St. Marcellin Champagnat's feast day is June 6th.
Find a devotional for this saint Subscribe to The Saint of the Day Podcast | Thursday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Tm 2:8-15 Beloved:
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David:
such is my Gospel, for which I am suffering,
even to the point of chains, like a criminal.
But the word of God is not chained.
Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen,
so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus,
together with eternal glory.
This saying is trustworthy: If we have died with him
we shall also live with him;
if we persevere
we shall also reign with him.
But if we deny him
he will deny us.
If we are unfaithful
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny himself. Remind people of these things
and charge them before God to stop disputing about words.
This serves no useful purpose since it harms those who listen.
Be eager to present yourself as acceptable to God,
a workman who causes no disgrace,
imparting the word of truth without deviation. Responsorial Psalm Ps 25:4-5ab, 8-9, 10 and 14 R. (4) Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him,
and his covenant, for their instruction.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord. Alleluia See 2 Tm 1:10 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mk 12:28-34 One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
"Which is the first of all the commandments?"
Jesus replied, "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these."
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God."
And no one dared to ask him any more questions. | aily Meditation: Mark 12:28-34 You are not far from the Kingdom of God. (Mark 12:34) Jesus offered high praise to this scribe when he told him that he was "not far from the Kingdom of God" (Mark 12:34). That's because the scribe's words to Jesus revealed that he understood the significance of what Jesus had been teaching: that love is at the heart of the Law. To love God and neighbor, he said, "is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices" (12:33). How much hope must have flooded this man's heart when he heard Jesus commend him! And who could blame him? We all would love to hear Jesus say these same words to us! That's because when we love both God and neighbor, we are not only getting closer to God's kingdom, we are actually helping to usher it in. And we all want to be part of that great work! As followers of Christ, then, love of God and neighbor must be the motivation behind all our actions. If not, we could easily fall into a more functional mode of discipleship, where we serve others or obey the Lord only out of duty or obligation. Without love in our hearts, we may even begin to resent how hard it can be to follow Jesus. And we certainly won't be getting much closer to God's kingdom! That's why it's helpful to do a "heart check" every now and then and ask if love is still the foundation for our lives. We might find that perhaps we aren't so eager to serve as we once were. Or maybe we find excuses not to pray. We might discover times when we were thinking of our own needs before the needs of others. Or maybe we have become too easily annoyed with other people or more critical of them. But don't despair if you discover that your love has grown lukewarm. The Holy Spirit is only too willing to renew your heart if you ask him. God is love, and you can trust him to fill you with that love—a pure, unselfish love that longs to give itself away—even if you have to keep asking for it every day! That's how the kingdom of God breaks forth. May it begin with each of us! "Come, Holy Spirit, and fill me once more with love for you and my neighbor." 2 Timothy 2:8-15
Psalm 25:4-5, 8-10, 14 |  HEAR it read by AI | Reflections with Brother Adrian: | In the Holy Scripture we hear today:
"Which is the first of all the commandments?"
Jesus replied, "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these......" end quote. | From Bishop Barron today:
"Friends, our Gospel for today features the Word of God himself telling us what stands at the heart of the Law. A scribe poses, as a kind of game, the following question: "Which is the first of all the commandments?" There were hundreds of laws in the Jewish system. So it was a favorite exercise of the rabbis to seek out the single rule that somehow clarified the whole of the Law.
So Jesus gives his famous answer: "The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
What does that mean? The Law is finally about love, and the love of God and neighbor are inextricably bound to one another. If we love God but hate our neighbors, we're wasting our time.
Why are the two loves so tightly connected? Because of who Jesus is. Jesus is not just a human being, and he is not just God. He is the God-man, the one in whom divinity and humanity come together. Therefore, it's impossible to love him as God without loving the humanity that he's created and embraced." end quote Bishop Barron.
Today's Scripture, in my opinion, is the golden rule for all rule of life. Love God above all, and love thy neighbor as yourself.
Question though, how can you love others as yourself?
Some people don't even care about themselves! And that there can be very dangerous, right? Like all the other commandments, we must always fall back to the higher commandments for the answer. And all roads lead to the first commandment.
Because when we strive to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, then we will love our neighbors more than anything. And because some are ignorant in what neighbor means, we must explain that it isn't just those that live next door to you in your neighborhood! Jesus was asked once who "neighbor" is really and our Lord responded with the parable of the Good Samaritan.
All those passing by the beat up fellow were the neighbor, but only one of them was a good neighbor, a real neighbor, a real Christ follower, a real human lover, and thus, a real God lover.
You see how we went up to the first commandment there?
How many hitchhikers have you picked up lately? How many poor people have you helped out lately? How many poor abandoned people do you pass by every single day? How many times have you passed by Christ?
Do you want an answer? If you have a conscious with God, you will answer honestly and think real hard and probably answer that you fail Him daily. I know I do, and I'm a guy in a dozen ministries, some of them direct outreach to the poor. Yesterday I drove by a guy that used to ask me for money all the time, and I saw him strapped to some weird thing on the floor. I just drove right by. Yesterday, I drove by the church, and drove right past our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, without giving it much effort or thought. Yesterday, I drove by the nursing home, didn't even dawn on me I should pray at least on my way through for them, or all those in the hospital. And these are just a few of the things on top of my head as I speak to you, who knows how many countless other ways I have failed my neighbors. Lord have mercy on my soul! Do you think all these things will be ignored on the day of our judgement? If you go to new protestant churches, they'll preach 'once saved always saved", but the more true Christian church should be true and say like the Catholic first Christians believe, that we are saved only by the Grace of God. And that is a clue of where we are to head to do God's will. To be open and to avail yourself to the grace to love like God in a true and sacrificial manner.
In my visit under the Virgin Mother's veil into the realms of Heaven, I saw something in a blur, but I knew what was happening, there were love offerings being brought to the tune of millions upon millions to the throne, the altar of God our Father.
In these realms, there is this thing of just knowing. You know what others are saying without them saying. You know what an action is fully just by seeing the action. What I knew from this vision, is that these were sacrificial love offerings from earth to Heaven, and boy, do they make for a glorious and most beautiful light, like a fuel like no other. Fruits? Yes. Fruits of labor? Yes. But did God need that? Probably not, but we do. And it is a beautiful thing to think that we can offer to God something precious. It is actually a gift. Faith then is a gift. Love is a gift. I've often equated those two words, that faith is love and love is faith. Do I love God really? Faith will answer it here.
I have so many examples of love to give, but I will not take more of your time. Time is precious. It is a gift too! Things go deep real quick here. Think of our offerings to God! Think of things that we don't like to do, clean toilets for others, clean other people's messes and not taking any credit, think of those terms as where I would go with many stories of true love of God. Think of instead of giving up, to fight another day, another life for God, and this becomes another life for Love, our God. Sacred Heart of Jesus, Be My Love! |  Click for Audio | Wow, listen to this other type of love offering too!
Today's Random Bible Verse:
Random Bible Verse 1
Ephesians 4:29 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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