† Quote of the Day "Often, actually very often, God allows his greatest servants, those who are far advanced in grace, to make the most humiliating mistakes. This humbles them in their own eyes and in the eyes of their fellow men." — St. Louis de Montfort Today's Meditation "Know, dearest daughter, how, by humble, continual, and faithful prayer, the soul acquires, with time and perseverance, every virtue. Wherefore should she persevere and never abandon prayer... The soul should advance by degrees, and I know well that, just as the soul is at first imperfect and afterwards perfect, so also is it with her prayer. She should nevertheless continue in vocal prayer, while she is yet imperfect, so as not to fall into idleness. But she should not say her vocal prayers without joining them to mental prayer, that is to say, that while she is reciting, she should endeavor to elevate her mind in My love, with the consideration of her own defects and of the Blood of My only-begotten Son, wherein she finds the breadth of My charity and the remission of her sins." —St. Catherine Of Siena, p. 92
An excerpt from Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena Daily Verse "When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."" — Luke 1:41-45 | St. Elizabeth Of The Visitation St. Elizabeth of the Visitation (1st c.) was the wife of Zachary (Zechariah), a temple priest, and the cousin and close companion of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is the one whom Our Lady visited in haste after the Annunciation. The Angel Gabriel had told Mary that Elizabeth was expecting a miraculous child in her old age. Upon hearing Mary's voice, who was then carrying the Son of God in her womb, Elizabeth's unborn child leaped in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. It was with Elizabeth that Mary first shared the joy of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. St. Elizabeth gave birth to St. John the Baptist, the prophet who prepared the way for Jesus' ministry. St. Elizabeth is described in the Gospel of Luke as "righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments of the Lord blamelessly." St. Elizabeth shares a feast day with her husband, Zachary, on November 5th. | Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 PHIL 2:5-11 Brothers and sisters:
Have among yourselves the same attitude
that is also yours in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and, found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Responsorial Psalm PS 22:26B-27, 28-30AB, 30E, 31-32 R. (26a) I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
I will fulfill my vows before those who fear him.
The lowly shall eat their fill;
they who seek the LORD shall praise him:
"May your hearts be ever merry!" R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
All the ends of the earth
shall remember and turn to the LORD;
All the families of the nations
shall bow down before him. R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
For dominion is the LORD's, and he rules the nations.
To him alone shall bow down all who sleep in the earth.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
To him my soul shall live;
my descendants shall serve him.
Let the coming generation be told of the LORD
that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born
the justice he has shown.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people. Alleluia MT 11:28 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel LK 14:15-24 One of those at table with Jesus said to him,
"Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God."
He replied to him,
"A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many.
When the time for the dinner came,
he dispatched his servant to say to those invited,
'Come, everything is now ready.'
But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves.
The first said to him,
'I have purchased a field and must go to examine it;
I ask you, consider me excused.'
And another said, 'I have purchased five yoke of oxen
and am on my way to evaluate them;
I ask you, consider me excused.'
And another said, 'I have just married a woman,
and therefore I cannot come.'
The servant went and reported this to his master.
Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant,
'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town
and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
The servant reported, 'Sir, your orders have been carried out
and still there is room.'
The master then ordered the servant,
'Go out to the highways and hedgerows
and make people come in that my home may be filled.
For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.'"
| Daily Meditation: Philippians 2:5-11 Have among yourselves the same attitude. (Philippians 2:5) How can we possibly imagine what it was like for the eternal, all-holy Son of God, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, to have "emptied himself," as St. Paul says in today's first reading (Philippians 2:7)? And how can we take on "the same attitude" (2:5)? Analogies may fall short, but it's still worth trying. Imagine, for instance, that someone has gifted you with a lifetime VIP pass to a famous concert hall. Upon arriving there, you are escorted to a beautiful reception area with the best champagne and the finest hors d'oeuvres. Then, just before the show, you are taken to the finest seat in the house! Now imagine freely giving up that lifetime pass and becoming a bathroom attendant at the venue instead. You are constantly at work. You have to treat even the most annoying guests with deference and respect. You don't even get to enjoy the concert! This gives us some sense of what Jesus gave up when he became a man. He freely let go of his heavenly "privileges" and took on the humblest of roles: "a slave" (Philippians 2:7). He who sat at the Father's right hand now walked among sinners like us. He who was worshipped and adored by angels endured suspicion, malice, and hardness of heart from his enemies and selfishness and misunderstanding from his friends. He who dwelt in eternal glory was nailed to a cross like a convicted criminal. All for you! Doesn't this fill your heart with gratitude and love for the Lord? Doesn't it make you want to bow down before him in worship? But don't stop there. Take on this "same attitude"! Ask the Lord what that looks like for you. Ponder what it means for you to empty yourself and humble yourself in imitation of the Lord. Just know that Jesus honors every act of service you perform. He rejoices every time you lower yourself to lift someone up. And he promises to fill you with his life and love every time you empty yourself for his sake. Believe that he will lift you up just as he is lifted up! "Jesus, thank you for emptying yourself for me! Teach me how to empty myself for the people in my life." Psalm 22:26-32
Luke 14:15-24 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Click to hear Audio | In the Holy Scripture we hear today:
"One of those at table with Jesus said to him,
"Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God."
He replied to him,
"A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many.
When the time for the dinner came,
he dispatched his servant to say to those invited,
'Come, everything is now ready.'
But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves....." end quote. | From Bishop Barron:
"Friends, today's Gospel likens the kingdom of heaven to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. Notice that the father (God the Father) is giving a banquet for his son (God the Son), whose bride is the Church. Jesus is the marriage of divinity and humanity—and we his followers are invited to join in the joy of this union.
The joyful intimacy of the Father and the Son is now offered to us to be shared. Listen to Isaiah to learn the details of this banquet: "On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines."
Now, there is an edge to all of this. For it is the king who is doing the inviting, and it is a wedding banquet for his son. We can see how terribly important it is to respond to the invitation of the King of kings.
We have heard the invitation of God to enter into intimacy with him, to make him the center of our lives, to be married to him in Christ—and often we find the most pathetic excuses not to respond...." end quote Bishop Barron.
What if in our journey in and through life, we are fooled to enjoy all the wrong things.
We are trained to value the wrong things. We seek pleasure as treasure, instead of seeking the treasure of God's heart.
I'm finding little gems, hidden, in the places hidden in plain site. Sometimes at home, dealing with my kids, I see how God sees. A little gem.
Sometimes, in group faith sharing, little gems, as if God Himself where there among 2 or 3 of us gathered in His name.
Sometimes in a nursing home, or a prison, where the forgotten have a heart of God that seeks to be loved, that is all, not forgotten or discarded.
And then He comes in the smallest of ways, in a morsel of bread that He claims is His precious body.
Then we could exclaim like in today's Scripture as the man told our Lord to open the Gospel today: "Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God."
Yesterday, we were told to invite people to eat, those that could never pay us back.
At night, before the nightly rosary, I asked our kids to gather around to discuss that gospel. To sum up the discussion I said "I sometimes feel like I am that one person that could never pay God back, yet He invites me always".
Today, our Lord invites so many to His feast, of Himself.
How could we honor Him with such a tremendous invitation. How do we prepare ourselves to receive Him?
I am preparing many teenagers that I teach the Holy Sacraments. But my focus has been for them to desire our Lord, not to just learn about things about Him.
This is a challenge, for to teach that in of itself, means that I have to desire Him above all things, all people, all other loves, whereby, at His invitation, I will have no excuse than to oblige in Holy obedience.
Who are we that we should deny Him anything?
Today, our 1st Scripture beckons:
"Have among yourselves the same attitude
that is also yours in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and, found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross." |  audio | Random Bible Verse 1
2 Corinthians 3:4–6 4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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