† Quote of the Day "Heaven could not span its Creator, but the faithful soul, and only it, becomes its dwelling place and seat, and it becomes so in virtue of charity of which the impious lack." — St. Clare of Assisi Today's Meditation "Virtues allow us to become excellent - more fully and perfectly human - by disposing us to perform good acts, to perfect ourselves, and to give the best of ourselves. When we possess the virtues, it becomes easier and more natural and enjoyable for us to do the right things. We're able to maximize our human powers. Virtues make us and our actions good." —Kevin Vost, PSY.D., p.112-113
An excerpt from The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit Daily Verse
"Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him." — John 14:21 | St. Ambrose Edward Barlow St. Ambrose Edward Barlow (1585-1641) was born near Manchester, England, to a noble family. He was baptized Catholic at his birth, but was raised Protestant when Catholicism was outlawed by the reigning monarchy. His grandfather died while imprisoned for his Catholic faith, and his father had two-thirds of his estate confiscated for refusal to conform to the Church of England. Ambrose returned to Catholicism as an adult, recognized his vocation to the priesthood, and traveled to France to enter seminary. He was ordained in 1617 in the Order of St. Benedict. He returned to England to minister to underground Catholics in his native south Lancashire for 24 years, being financially supported with a pension arranged by his grandmother. Ambrose said Mass daily and administered the sacraments secretly to avoid detection by the authorities. He was arrested four times during his priesthood, each time being released without charge. When the king issued a decree that all Catholic priests should immediately flee the country or be arrested and condemned as traitors, St. Ambrose chose to stay, reasoning that he could not die a better death than to be martyred for being a Catholic priest. On April 25, 1631, just as he ended Easter Sunday Mass at Morley Hall near Manchester, he was arrested by a 400-strong armed mob led by the local Anglican vicar. He freely admitted to the charge of being a Catholic priest, and gave a defense of the true faith before his judge. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, quartered, and boiled in oil on September 10, 1641. His dead body was publicly displayed on a pike as a warning to other Catholic priests. St. Ambrose Edward Barlow is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. His feast day is September 10th. | Tuesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 1 Cor 6:1-11 Brothers and sisters:
How can any one of you with a case against another
dare to bring it to the unjust for judgment
instead of to the holy ones?
Do you not know that the holy ones will judge the world?
If the world is to be judged by you,
are you unqualified for the lowest law courts?
Do you not know that we will judge angels?
Then why not everyday matters?
If, therefore, you have courts for everyday matters,
do you seat as judges people of no standing in the Church?
I say this to shame you.
Can it be that there is not one among you wise enough
to be able to settle a case between brothers?
But rather brother goes to court against brother,
and that before unbelievers? Now indeed then it is, in any case,
a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another.
Why not rather put up with injustice?
Why not rather let yourselves be cheated?
Instead, you inflict injustice and cheat, and this to brothers.
Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the Kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived;
neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers
nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites nor thieves
nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers
will inherit the Kingdom of God.
That is what some of you used to be;
but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified,
you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and in the Spirit of our God. Responsorial Psalm Ps 149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b R. (see 4) The Lord takes delight in his people.
Sing to the LORD a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches;
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people. Alleluia See Jn 15:16 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I chose you from the world,
That you may go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 6:12-19 Jesus departed to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.
| Daily Meditation: 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 You have had yourselves washed, . . . sanctified, . . . justified. (1 Corinthians 6:11) When St. Paul addresses the Corinthian believers in today's first reading, he's talking to all of them as a group. That's why he says you have had yourselves—not yourself—washed and sanctified and justified. Paul wants them to understand that they had all been radically changed by the Lord Jesus. They have all been brought into the one family of God. So it matters how they treat one another. Behaviors like suing one another, cheating, or acting unjustly are not worthy of what Christ has done for them. The same applies to us. You have been . . . Washed. Through Baptism, you were cleansed and transformed. You received the grace to share in the divine life. Your prior way of life needs to stay in the past because you have been forgiven. When you look at fellow believers, you need to see them, too, as persons who have been infused with the divine life. They have received God's grace. They are temples of his Holy Spirit. And if God shows them mercy, so should you. Sanctified. When you were anointed with sacred oil at your Baptism, you were set apart. You bear the indelible mark of belonging to Christ. Not only were you decisively changed, but you and every other baptized person embarked on the lifelong process of sanctification, growing in grace and likeness to God. As you look at other believers, remember that they, too, have been set apart and deserve to be treated with deep respect and honor. Justified. Baptism cleansed you from your sins and made you righteous in the eyes of God. In the same way your own sin was forgiven, so was the sin of your brothers and sisters in the Lord. Each one of us has received God's boundless grace, an unmerited gift. And so your starting position as you relate to other Christians should be one of reverence for God's grace at work in them. What wonderful graces you have received from the Lord! And so have your brothers and sisters in Christ! "Jesus, help me to see all believers as fellow members of your family!" Psalm 149:1-6, 9
Luke 6:12-19 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: | In the Holy Scripture we hear today:
"And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all........."_ end quote. | From Bishop Barron: "Friends, in today's Gospel, Jesus chooses the Twelve, whom he names Apostles.
In the apse of the church of San Clemente in Rome, there is a gorgeous twelfth-century mosaic, which gives visual expression to the call of the Twelve. At the center of the composition is the crucified Jesus. Surrounding the cross are twelve doves, symbolizing the Apostles who would fly around the world with the message of salvation.
No biblical figure is ever given an experience of God without receiving, at the same time, a commission. Moses spies the burning bush, hears the sacred name of Yahweh, and is then told to go back to Egypt to liberate his people; Isaiah enjoys an encounter with God amidst the splendor of the temple liturgy and is then sent to preach; Saul is overwhelmed by the luminosity of the risen Jesus and is subsequently called to apostleship.
Now the Apostles are not simply a distant memory; rather, they live on through what we call the apostolic succession. Therefore, the apostolicity of the Church is our guarantee that we are, despite many developments and changes across the centuries, still preserving the faith that was first kindled in that company of Jesus' friends....." end quote Bishop Barron.
What is the "apostolic succession" that Bishop Barron brings up?
The Apostles that Jesus our Lord chose, they lay their hands on the next disciples, and the next ones did the same until today, we have the direct laying of hands and power given to our Bishops. Our Bishops are then the apostolic successors of the chosen ones. And the Bishops lay their hands on us in the Holy Sacraments.
Our Lord had spent the night praying about this, who would be chosen. And then He went to practice what He preached about baptizing all and healing all.
That's what the church needs to focus on, the mission of Jesus on earth, to do His will. It seems that we teach so many things, but we miss the center focal point of it all. We miss the mark, and this is what the word "sin" means in the oldest languages to "miss the mark". We are missing the point of being a follower of the Way. He, Jesus, He is the Way to live, talk, walk, and breathe in prayer. So many things want to detract us from being Christ followers first. So many worldly lures and anxieties, which I call out as the old trick called "bait and switch" or as youngsters in social media today would call "click bait". You get tricked into tuning into something that is not really there.
But our faith is true. And to be in the faith is work. You must take the root word of discipline, "disciple" and follow the way. This is a disciplined lifestyle, with purity, and obedience being an intricate making of the whole, all in efforts that we would love truly.
What will it take for you to give your life to our Lord as He gave His life for you personally?
The disciples simply answered a call, then they saw miracles, miracles they did not expect.
The Lord has called you by now, this you know, otherwise, you wouldn't be reading or hearing this message.
This life is about...His Kingdom.
Let no one else deceive you. It is real. He desires a Kingdom focused on God, and God is Love. It has taken many lives, including the very life of our Lord to prove this.
Lord, My King, may we truly live out Thy Holy Will! |  audio | Random Bible Verse 1
Ephesians 4:26–27 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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