The Precious Blood"Prayer to the Precious Blood" written by St. Elizabeth Ann Seton: Lord Jesus, by faith in Your merits, I now take Your Precious Blood and sprinkle it over myself and my family right from the crown of my head to the very soles of my feet. I claim total and complete protection for my life and my family. Lord Jesus, keep me free today from evil, sin, temptation, Satan’s attacks and afflictions, fear of darkness, fear of man, sickness, diseases, doubts, anger, all calamities and from all that is not of thy Kingdom. Fill me, Lord Jesus, with the gift of Your Holy Spirit, and grant me the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, understanding and discernment so that I will live today in Your glory by doing that which is right. Amen.
† Saint Quote:“Who will teach me what is most pleasing to God, that I may do it?” St. Kateri Tekakwitha Meditation quote"My daughter, know that My Heart is mercy itself. From this sea of mercy, graces flow out upon the whole world. No soul that has approached Me has ever gone away unconsoled. All misery gets buried in the depths of My mercy, and every saving and sanctifying grace flows from this fountain." Jesus to St. Faustina Kowalska, (1777) An excerpt from Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska - Divine Mercy in My Soul Daily VerseCome now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Isaiah 1:18-20
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EWTN Daily Saint
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St Kateri TekakwithaPatron Saint of: Native Americans, ecologists, and people in exile
Feast Day: July 14
Find a Devotional St. Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680), also known as the 'Lily of the Mohawks,' was born in present-day New York. Her father was a Mohawk chief, and her mother an Algonquin who had been converted to the Christian faith by Jesuit missionaries. When Kateri was four years old, a smallpox epidemic killed her entire family and left her partially blind, disfigured, and crippled. She was raised by her uncle, who detested the Christians. As she grew up, Kateri longed for the Catholic faith of her mother, and was very drawn to the missionaries evangelizing near her village. At the age of twenty she was baptized with the name Catherine (which was translated as “Kateri”) after St. Catherine of Siena. Her uncle opposed her conversion to Christianity, and as a result she was ostracized by her people and treated harshly. When it was clear that her life was in danger, a priest helped her flee to a French Jesuit mission in Montreal, Canada—a journey of over 200 miles alone and on foot. There she lived a solitary life of prayer and penance, rejecting an opportunity for marriage. Her great sanctity, virtue, and love for Christ amazed everyone who knew her. She was also known as a miracle-worker. Kateri died of illness at the age of twenty-four. She was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 1980, and canonized in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI as the first Native American saint. Kateri is the patron saint of environmentalists, orphans, exiles, and those who are ridiculed for their piety. Her feast day is July 14.
SAINT OF THE DAY Podcast VIDEO
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Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin [In the Dioceses of the United States]Lectionary: 390 Reading 1Isaiah 7:1-9 In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah,
Rezin, king of Aram,
and Pekah, king of Israel, son of Remaliah,
went up to attack Jerusalem,
but they were not able to conquer it.
When word came to the house of David that Aram
was encamped in Ephraim,
the heart of the king and the heart of the people trembled,
as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind. Then the LORD said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz,
you and your son Shear-jashub,
at the end of the conduit of the upper pool,
on the highway of the fuller’s field, and say to him:
Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear;
let not your courage fail
before these two stumps of smoldering brands
the blazing anger of Rezin and the Arameans,
and of the son Remaliah,
because of the mischief that
Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah,
plots against you, saying,
“Let us go up and tear Judah asunder, make it our own by force,
and appoint the son of Tabeel king there.” Thus says the LORD:
This shall not stand, it shall not be!
Damascus is the capital of Aram,
and Rezin is the head of Damascus;
Samaria is the capital of Ephraim,
and Remaliah’s son the head of Samaria. But within sixty years and five,
Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation.
Unless your faith is firm
you shall not be firm! Responsorial PsalmPsalm 48:2-3a, 3b-4, 5-6, 7-8 R. (see 9d) God upholds his city for ever.
Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, fairest of heights,
is the joy of all the earth.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
Mount Zion, “the recesses of the North,”
is the city of the great King.
God is with her castles;
renowned is he as a stronghold.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
For lo! the kings assemble,
they come on together;
They also see, and at once are stunned,
terrified, routed.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
Quaking seizes them there;
anguish, like a woman’s in labor,
As though a wind from the east
were shattering ships of Tarshish.
R. God upholds his city for ever. AlleluiaPsalm 95:8 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. GospelMatthew 11:20-24 Jesus began to reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum: Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the nether world. For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
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Praise to You Oh Lord Jesus Christ!
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From Word Among Us WAU.org
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Daily Meditation: Isaiah 7:1-9Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm! (Isaiah 7:9) What a dilemma! King Ahaz of Judah had refused to enter into a military alliance with Syria and the northern king of Israel against the mighty Assyrians. But now Syria and Israel were threatening to attack his kingdom, and that was sending all of Judah into a panic. Should Ahaz join these two nations and risk being drawn into an attack on Assyria? Or should he refuse and risk retaliation from these would-be allies? There seemed to be no good answer. That is, not until the prophet Isaiah showed up with a simple message from the Lord: Be brave and resist the pressure campaign. These two nations are nothing more than “stumps of smoldering brands” (Isaiah 7:4). The Lord will be faithful, but “unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm!” (7:9). Faith. That’s the key. Isaiah was urging Ahaz to place his faith in the Lord and not in an alliance with Syria and Israel. Ahaz couldn’t avoid one war by laying the groundwork to start a different one. Especially not when he was dealing with an army as large and fierce as that of the Assyrian Empire. No amount of human cunning can be as effective as faith in the Lord. Unless your faith is firm. Not perfect, just firm. That’s the kind of faith that God wanted from Ahaz—and from us as well. A faith willing to take measured risks because you trust that God will be with you. Willing to stare down uncertainty because you know that the Lord is bigger than your worries. Willing to deny yourself some pleasure that risks leading you into sin. Willing to take decisive action that you believe will bring someone closer to experiencing the Lord—and willing to learn from your mistakes. This is what firm faith looks like. It’s firm, not because you are strong, but because you know that God is strong. It’s firm, not because you’ve been having a good day, but because you know that whatever kind of day you’re having, the Lord is always faithful to his promises. It’s firm because the One you believe in is the solid Rock of salvation. King Ahaz had to decide if he would make his faith firm or if he would give in to fear and intimidation. What will you decide today? “Jesus, help me to place my trust in you!” Psalm 48:2-8
Matthew 11:20-24
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Reflections with Brother Adrian:
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From today's Holy Gospel: "... Jesus began to reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented. .... ”
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From Bishop Barron:
"The point is that when God’s own ordo appears in the world, he necessarily judges the disorder that surrounds him. To judge, in the biblical sense of the term, means to bring into the light, to throw into sharp relief. When good and evil are confused or intermingled, divine judgment separates them, clarifying the issue. " end quote.
From Roberto Juarez:
"Capernaum was an important city. Jesus says to him, "Are you going to climb heaven? You will go down into the abyss." With these words remember that pride always ends up falling. True greatness does not consist in the privileges received. It consists in responding humbly to grace. God will not ask us how many gifts we receive. He will ask us what we did with them.
Today's Gospel is not intended to frighten us, but to awaken us. Jesus reminds us that the grace received asks for a response. It is not enough to admire Christ. It is necessary to follow it. It is not enough to listen to his Word. We must let it transform our lives.
Let us ask him today for the grace never to get used to his presence. May each Eucharist continue to be a new event for us. May each Gospel reading touch our hearts again. And that, grateful for all the gifts received, we may respond with a life of continuous conversion, so that the Lord may not find in us a hardened heart, but a good soil where his grace can bear abundant fruits of holiness and love." end of Roberto quote.
God came down to show mighty deeds, more than ever before, and in person!
They say that he accomplished so many things that it was not possible to write it down, to fill volumes and volumes of books perhaps.
And our Lord came and said " it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
Why do we not repent?
Repent from evil. If only we knew the evil that holds us...even from repenting.
It is like the wolf that chokes the lamb by the throat, so it will not make a sound...to haul it away to devour.
Repentance is our call to the Shepherd.
Repentance is our salvation.
This is why our Lord speaks with harsh, very strong words.
Why? Because, we are not watching out...for ourselves!
He keeps saying "don't touch the hot stove!" but we still keep going at it like a child that does not listen, or grasp the concept.
So what can we do?
Probably what you do not want to do.
Ask Him to reveal the truth, that you probably do not want to see...or to speak out loud, in a confession.
Ask Him and see what happens.
I remember one time, I reached up to the skies and said "God, I don't want to suffer purgatory, I want to be with you, not separated".
And then the most terrible thing happened...I was in an accident, that cracked my pelvis, excruciating and dangerous. I was in ICU. I was alone. My most devastating thing...yes, I saw my kids crying for their daddy, and I thought myself a goofball...I hurt them when I hurt myself. But that did not hurt me as much as one thing...that I was going to miss Holy Mass.
I not only hurt my family, but since I was not going to lead the congregation in Choir, now the congregation, the community would suffer in a sense.
Can you begin to see what hurting does to self and to others?
Our Lord calls us out to stop hurting ourselves...with sin!
Sin is atrocious, it is poison covered in sweet sugars.
Sin looks like pleasures.
Sin sounds like pleasures.
Sin feels like pleasures.
Not all pleasures are bad, no, but, pleasures often replace God's measures.
He is saying like Hosea and through Hosea "Come BACK to Me". His arms are open wide in the confessional.
His arms are open wide on the cross. That is how God came and died. For that image of the Father to be imprinted on all of humanity.
Shame on us for not repenting.
Shame on us for not realizing.
Shame on us for not opening our arms and our heart to Him.
Because not only did God have His arms stretch beyond human ability...but His inflamed heart was pierced...and so His Precious Heart was opened as well beyond human capacity.
Heaven is speaking to you right now in private.
Heaven is speaking now in public.
This message is supreme.
For God So LOVES the world.
That He is FOREVER offering Himself. If only we turn to Him at every moment of our lives....
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Random Bible Verse 1
Colossians 3:9–10 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self1 with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Word of the Lord!
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God Bless You! Peace
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