†Quote of the Day "If only I could put into everybody's heart the fire I have in my breast, which makes me burn with such love for the Heart of Jesus and the Heart of Mary!"
–St. Jacinta Marto Today's Meditation "God gives us certain abilities and interests and they are truly that: gifts. This means we should approach them with gratitude and mission. Comparing ourselves to others, then, is pointless and begrudges the giver. How exquisite that we all have different gifts. And the reality that he's bestowed them on us should embolden us to develop them and serve him and others through them."
–Carrie Gress and Noelle Mering, p.123 Daily Verse "But you are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises" of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."
–1 Peter 2:9 |
St. Francisco (1908-1919) and St. Jacinta Marto (1910–1920) were siblings and the youngest of the three shepherd children, who, along with their cousin, Lúcia Santos, witnessed three apparitions of an angel in 1916 and six apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1917 while tending sheep in the countryside of Fatima, Portugal. They were entrusted by Our Lady of Fatima with many messages and warnings for the world, and that they were to do penance and pray for the conversion of sinners. Both became prayerful mystics, much wiser than their age, on account of these visits. Although only young children, they faithfully offered up many sacrifices as Our Lady requested, by praying the rosary daily, giving their lunches to the poor, denying themselves water on hot days, wearing a rough rope next to her skin, calmly facing ridicule on account of the apparitions, and bravely enduring the suffering that ended in their deaths. The Blessed Mother told Francisco and Jacinta that they would die young and that she would soon come to take them to heaven. Francisco and Jacinta both fell sick from influenza in 1918. Francisco died first, and Jacinta the next year after a long illness and two hospitalizations. They were canonized by Pope Francis on May 13, 2017, the 100th anniversary of the first Apparition of Our Lady of Fátima. Their feast day is February 20th. | Tuesday of the First Week of Lent Reading 1 Is 55:10-11 Thus says the LORD:
Just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it. Responsorial Psalm PS 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19 R. (18b) From all their distress God rescues the just.
Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
R. From all their distress God rescues the just.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R. From all their distress God rescues the just.
The LORD has eyes for the just,
and ears for their cry.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
R. From all their distress God rescues the just.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
R. From all their distress God rescues the just.
Verse Before the Gospel Mt 4:4b
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. Gospel Mt 6:7-15 Jesus said to his disciples:
"In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. "This is how you are to pray: Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. "If you forgive men their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions."
| Daily Meditation: Isaiah 55:10-11 Giving seed to the one who sows . . . (Isaiah 55:10) John didn't grow up in a religious household. But he was drawn to the Catholic faith during his college years and began attending Mass. He went through RCIA and married a committed Catholic woman, and together they raised four children. The whole family was faithful to attending Mass; not even snowstorms kept them away! A successful businessman, John was able to retire young. He then started his own business as a handyman. Even today, he still charges his clients far less than the going rate because he views his work as a mission to help people, many of whom haven't been as fortunate. "God has blessed me," he likes to say, "and I think it's right that I share those blessings." Where did that generosity come from? Quite possibly from something that happened every Sunday as John sat in church: God was sending out his word, as today's first reading says, and watering his faith. The words he heard in the readings each week settled deep in his heart and made him more and more "fertile and fruitful" in imitating Christ's love (Isaiah 55:10). Every Sunday, God is sowing the seed of his word into the hearts of countless men and women like John. We may not always see it, but God's words are bearing fruit. One may look like a single wildflower, but imagine the beauty God sees as he looks at all the people whose faithfulness only he knows! So it is with the good works that spring from each of us as we hear God's word. Those actions might not seem like much to us, but God takes a different view. If you are reading this, know that God is planting the seed of his word in you. He promises that this seed "shall not return to me void" (Isaiah 55:11). It will bear fruit. Even if you can't see it right now, you can trust that it will happen. It may need some time. It may need a little extra watering as well. But the seed is there, waiting for just the right time and just the right conditions. Just keep listening to the Lord and trying to respond to what you hear! "Father, help me to trust in the power of your word to change the world, one believer at a time." Psalm 34:4-7, 16-19
Matthew 6:7-15 |  click to hear 2cents | Reflections with Brother Adrian:
Audio English | In the Gospel today we heard:
"Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
"This is how you are to pray:
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,...." end of Gospel verse.
. . . | From Bishop Barron today:
"Friends, today's Gospel is Matthew's version of the Lord's Prayer. I want to reflect on the first verses. How wonderful that, in Luke's version, it comes directly from the prayer of Jesus himself. It is as though the prayer that he teaches them sums up the content of his own prayer.
We call God "Father" when we pray. We call him Abba, Daddy. The same intimacy that Jesus has with his Abba he invites us to share. We don't just imitate his prayer, the way we would imitate the prayer of any spiritual teacher; rather, we enter into the dynamics of his own being when we pray.
"Hallowed be thy name." May your name be held holy. The first thing we ask is that we might honor him, that we might make him first in our lives, that he might be set apart from everything else. Job, family, money, success, the esteem of others, our friends—all of it is good, but none of it is to be held holy in this sense.
If we get this wrong, we get everything else wrong. If we don't hold his name holy above all, everything becomes profane. "
End Quote Bishop Barron.
One day, everyone who knows me will know of my experience with our Lord; the out of body experience in which I saw Him on the cross, and the biggest takeaway was to realize something deep inside, my being realized without a doubt of who was on the cross, and it was the most strangest experience, and it was a "knowing" that Him on the cross was My Father, and Our Father dying for us all.
And what is even stranger is having to give witness, because when you hear someone's story, it sometimes doesn't move you as much as it moved the person that it happened to. It's like when our Lord said that even if a dead man comes back to life and tells the world, not everyone would believe.
But so it is. You can read the entire bible, but in the end, it is really up to you to believe it or not.
And this is why I persist in reaching out to the world, as if to plead unceasingly, something burns inside that makes the message pour forth even if I don't want it.
A couple days ago, my nephew came to drop off a cooler he had borrowed for his son's first year birthday on the weekend. I had two of my little sons with me, and one interrupted asking my nephew "when are you going to have him baptized".
It was an awkward question, firstly because they are not catholic anymore, even though I am my nephew's godfather when he was baptized as an infant. Secondly, because that is the burning and yearning prayer I've been praying for my non-baptized family members, even praying daily with my wife and kids rosaries asking for our loved ones to come to the Lord and be baptized.
Well, the beans were spilled. And I told my nephew the truth, that his baptism has made his life different than those who are not baptized, and that we shouldn't let others wait until they "feel like it" to get baptized, because we are blessing souls with the Holy Spirit, integrating into the body of Christ. And this is good, and this is what the first apostles did in the first church.
And so, today we recall the Lord's prayer.
Our Father...Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be done! Lord, let Thy will be done according to Thy word, in my soul, and all souls we are connecting to daily and forever. |  Click for Audio | Random Bible Verse 1
Matthew 5:5 5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
