The Little Girl

Minute Meditations You're Not Alone In times of intense loss and grief, we take our place with Mary as she embraces all our grief in her own as she is silently holding in her arms the stark presence of our suffering God in the lifeless body of her Son. — from Startled By God Blessed Emmanuel Ruiz and Companions (1804-1860)   Not much is known of the early life of Emmanuel Ruiz, but details of his heroic death in defense of the faith have come down to us. Born of humble parents in Santander, Spain, he became a Franciscan priest and served as a missionary in Damascus. This was at a time when anti-Christian riots shook Syria and thousands lost their lives in just a short time. Among these were Emmanuel, superior of the Franciscan convent, seven other friars and three laymen. When a menacing crowd came looking for the men, they refused to renounce their faith and become Muslims. The men were subjected to horrible tortures before their martyrdom. Emmanuel, his brother Franciscans and the three Maronite laymen were beatified in 1926 by Pope Pius XI. Saint of the Day Lives, Lessons and Feast By Leonard Foley, O.F.M.; revised by Pat McCloskey, O.F.M.     Presence I pause for a moment and think of the love and the grace that God showers on me, creating me in his image and likeness, making me his temple.... Freedom Lord, grant me the grace to be free from the excesses of this life. Let me not get caught up with the desire for wealth. Keep my heart and mind free to love and serve you. Consciousness How do I find myself today? Where am I with God? With others? Do I have something to be grateful for? Then I give thanks. Is there something I am sorry for? Then I ask forgiveness.  The Word of God Reading 1 hos 2:16, 17c-18, 21-22 Thus says the LORD: I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. She shall respond there as in the days of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt. On that day, says the LORD, She shall call me "My husband," and never again "My baal." I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the LORD. Responsorial Psalm ps 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 R. (8a) The Lord is gracious and merciful. Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD and highly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable. R. The Lord is gracious and merciful. Generation after generation praises your works and proclaims your might. They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty and tell of your wondrous works. R. The Lord is gracious and merciful. They discourse of the power of your terrible deeds and declare your greatness. They publish the fame of your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your justice. R. The Lord is gracious and merciful. The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works. R. The Lord is gracious and merciful. Gospel mt 9:18-26 While Jesus was speaking, an official came forward, knelt down before him, and said, "My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live." Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his disciples. A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, "If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured." Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, "Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you." And from that hour the woman was cured. When Jesus arrived at the official's house and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion, he said, "Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping." And they ridiculed him. When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose. And news of this spread throughout all that land.   Conversation I begin to talk to Jesus about the piece of scripture I have just read.  What part of it strikes a chord in me?  Perhaps the words of a friend - or some story I have heard recently- will slowly rise to the surface in my consciousness.  If so, does the story throw light on what the scripture passage may be trying to say to me? Conclusion Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.   Meditation: Matthew 9:18-26 View NAB Reading at USCCB.org Subscriber? Login to view archives. 14th Week in Ordinary Time Your faith has saved you. (Matthew 9:22) You've probably watched Olympic figure skating before, but you may not know how complicated the judging is. The judges use instant replay to decide on a technical score for each element of a skater's routine such as jumps or spins. Then they use a component score for factors such as skating skills, choreography, and transitions. For each segment of a routine, the technical score is added to the component score, and a computer selects scores from the judges to get a total score. That's a lot of scoring and calculating, isn't it? Some of us may think that Jesus is like one of these judges. We imagine that he was keeping score of the official with the sick daughter and the woman with the hemorrhage. He must have looked at how much faith they had and decided to give them a passing grade—to hear their prayers and intervene in their lives. But look at the way Matthew tells the story. He doesn't give any indication that these two had any more faith than anyone else. Of course, they believed that he would help them. But so did many in the crowd. What was different about these two people was their determination to get right in front of—or behind—Jesus. The official interrupted Jesus while he was speaking to a crowd. And the woman pushed through all those people to touch Jesus' cloak. Notice too that when they got to him, Jesus didn't subject them to any scrutiny. He responded with love, just as he responds to anyone who comes to him with even a mustard seed of faith. Isn't this great news? What counts with Jesus is that we come to him. It's true that we must believe that he can and will reward those who seek him. But it's okay if you are feeling lost, scared, broken, or not in the right frame of mind. Simply trust Jesus and push through your doubt so that you can encounter him. He may not give you a spectacular healing, but he will give himself to you—his faith, his compassion, his mercy. And that's more than enough to see you through any challenge! "Lord, I'm not asking for perfect faith—just faith! Help me to find the courage to come to you. Today I will trust you in everything, known and unknown!"   Hosea 2:16-18, 21-22; Psalm 145:2-9 my2cents: Today's 5minutos said:   "All death seems absurd.  Even moreso of a young one...her father had come to Christ: 'My daughter has died!'.  Would there be a more clear reality of the absurdity of bringing a child into the world, educate it, and see it die young?  An intolerable  scandal, the body that stays without life in the moment itself can give life!  It has been given life, given the best of self, has been attempted to loved by everyday ordinary gestures; then, like a family, they have attempted to make justice and peace to their surroundings, sharing, forgiving, helping, marvelled at the benefits God has made them able to do with their desires and passions.  But...there they are confronted with the inevitable, the unfixable; the death, that in all aspects seems to be the last word.  Even if they hear of the "God that consoles and saves", nothing can drown this terrible truth, worse than any rebellios yell "My Daughter Has Died!".  Jesus Christ never promised us a magical transformation of the drama of our existence.  Before so many "children" dead (physical or under vices and sins) God has only one answer: takes our lives in His hands and raises us.  Our only recourse in life is to get up and start to love anew, invent newly the communion, fight once again for the justice and liberty.  Being Christian "for real", or be it, with faith, is to hope and live no matter what.  When the weight of the sin says to us not to wait for tenderness, Seduce us and Keep talking to our heart! " It is evident and contradictory in the real experimentation of God in my life, that what an atheist, militant atheists, and all those that claim they believe, there is a real contrast between me and them.  To them, death is the end, no recourse.  To me, death is not the end.  At funeral vigils, I read it often to the people, that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God, NOTHING.  And I'm going to say it again, NOTHING can and ever will separate us from the love of God that He has for us.  The only thing that separates us is... sin.  Holiness is key to living a life of and with God in our lives.  It is evident in the first Holy Scripture, the revival of the just, no longer slaves but friends.  No longer Baal, but Spouse.  If we are the spouse of God that He has died for to live for, that means He is faithful.  What does that mean for me?  Am I faithful?  Jesus was asked to come pray for the dead.  Something many denominations will never do, as if to say death is the end and the souls are in the hands of the Lord and that's it.  If anything, one can not be more alive than when they die.  I am not sitting here telling you a lie.  When I am able through the grace of God to die to my sins, I never feel more free, liberated.  The same is for death.  When my dad had a near death experience, he saw his body on the ground after being electrocuted and thought to himself "that's not me! everybody is going to think that is me!  Please God, I just got married!  What will my mother think!? "  And with a sudden jolt he came back into his earthly body and was able to get up, only to find his cousin had died too, only my dad was the only one that came back to life.  I was born a year later.  I say this only to make us realize, we are not who we think we are...we are more.   I want you to take into consideration, that God .  .     . I'm at a loss of words.   They do no justice to His infinite mercy. We just read about why he turned Baal, the slave to His Spouse. We are His spouse on earth as the Holy Church. We are His children.  If I think I have children, the are already His. Nothing is mine except what God wants...my love. If I've written over 100 songs, they centralize on His love and mercy. A constant call to repentance, to Holiness, to Goodness.  All things contrary to the way of the world. I've already prayed in the moments I've written for 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 parents that have lost a child.  Mary our Mother lost her only Son.  The pain to lose LOVE, because God is Love must have been the most unbearable of pains. Yet He raises her by the hand. Yet He still raises us by the hand. I love you. Trust In Me adrian  Subscribe to the Going4th mailing list.

Going4th,