| Minute Meditations
St. Rose of Viterbo Rose achieved sainthood in only 18 years of life. Even as a child Rose had a great desire to pray and to aid the poor. While still very young, she began a life of penance in her parents' house. She was as generous to the poor as she was strict with herself. At the age of 10 she became a Secular Franciscan and soon began preaching in the streets about sin and the sufferings of Jesus. Viterbo, her native city, was then in revolt against the pope. When Rose took the pope's side against the emperor, she and her family were exiled from the city. When the pope's side won in Viterbo, Rose was allowed to return. Her attempt at age 15 to found a religious community failed, and she returned to a life of prayer and penance in her father's home, where she died in 1251. Rose was canonized in 1457. Comment: The list of Franciscan saints seems to have quite a few men and women who accomplished nothing very extraordinary. Rose is one of them. She did not influence popes and kings, did not multiply bread for the hungry and never established the religious order of her dreams. But she made a place in her life for God's grace, and like St. Francis before her, saw death as the gateway to new life. Quote: Rose's dying words to her parents were: "I die with joy, for I desire to be united to my God. Live so as not to fear death. For those who live well in the world, death is not frightening, but sweet and precious." 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 I will ask God's help, Consciousness In God's loving presence I unwind the past day, The Word of God Reading 1 1 cor 3:18-23Brothers and sisters: Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool, so as to become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written: God catches the wise in their own ruses, and again: The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you, Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future: all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God. Responsorial Psalm ps 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6R. (1) To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it. The LORD's are the earth and its fullness; the world and those who dwell in it. For he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. R. To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it. Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD? or who may stand in his holy place? He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. R. To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD, a reward from God his savior. Such is the race that seeks for him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob. R. To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it. Gospel lk 5:1-11While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him. Conversation Jesus you speak to me through the words of the gospels. May I respond to your call today. Teach me to recognise your hand at work in my daily living. Conclusion Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, 22nd Week in Ordinary Time Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch. (Luke 5:4 )
If you've ever seen a motorboat on a lake, you know that it is rarely sitting still. Usually it is powering over the water at high speed or moving adeptly to give a water skier a good ride. When you're driving a motorboat, your goal is usually to cover a lot of space. When it comes to receiving revelation from God, however, your goal is the exact opposite. Jesus doesn't want you to skim the surface quickly; he wants you to drop anchor. There is no rush to get to the other side of the lake. Just sit quietly, ready to receive whatever he wants to give you. When Jesus told Peter to lower his net into the deep water, Peter had to make a decision. Would he give up and go home? Or would he go back out and wait some more? Because he followed Jesus' words, he was able to pull in a tremendous catch. But he received an even greater blessing: he saw that Jesus was no ordinary man. He saw a holy man whose word had power. He saw a man worth following, someone who could make him fruitful spiritually and not just materially. Peter cast his net into the deep waters of God's love, and he was rewarded far beyond his expectations. How can you cast your net into deep water? There are times when Jesus will ask you to stay with him a little longer so that he can give you a taste of his love, his power, or his truth. He may ask you to take a second, third, or fourth look at a Scripture passage from Sunday Mass. Rather than rushing off, stop and linger. You may end up spending a whole week on one single verse! But that's okay. Just imitate Peter, sitting quietly in his boat, waiting for a miracle. Cast your net deeper because your Savior has a glorious catch waiting for you. Just push past the objections and do it. Knowing Jesus, hearing his voice, receiving his life—these are the blessings that await everyone who puts out into deep water! "Thank you, Lord, for inviting me to linger in your presence. Help me to cast my net deep so that I don't miss a single gift you have for me."
1 Corinthians 3:18-23; Psalm 24:1-6
my2cents: Oh Wow! What a catch! Too bad nowadays that usually is said for other things other than for God's Kingdom. The cursillo and the movements that stem from cursillos, like ACTS, and many other programs, usually churn out fishers of men (men as in all mankind). Some like to fish, some don't. Fishing is an art. It calls on patience. Knowing where the fish are (environment), so you have to know and you have to be in action. Using different lures and bait. I say this because I've applied it and still working it. Many times my hook is a crucifix. It catches an eye and the mouth begins to open to nibble at the bait...Jesus. Today's 1st Holy Scripture said "God catches the wise in their own ruses". God catches men and women, many times will catch you offguard and that's when a metanoia happens, a life changing occurrence. Sounds like the Gospel right? Before though we read/prayed the Psalm "To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it" and the earth is filled with billions of men and women...belongs to God. The world does not belong to you. He made it. The world does not belong to the devil, its just in it. The world belongs to Our Father God. That means me, a man made of earthly materials belongs to Father God. He wants us that belong to Him to catch what belongs to Him. Peter and the sons of Zebedee were amazed. Stay with me. This had to have been such a moment in this poor fisherman's life that he just know he could trust the rest of his entire life to this Son of God to whom he exclaimed "Depart from me Lord! For I am a sinful man". Last night in our co-worker bible study, someone said something about fertilizer for faith, and I said "we are like manure, and God plants a beautiful splendid seed there in this pile of poo, our sinful being, and makes this plant of the soul begin to grow, mostly because we can appreciate the amount of mercy having known sin". Depart from me Lord! And God says "No, I will not depart from you, I choose you to do my will on earth as it is in Heaven". What you have here is God speaking direct to the heart of man. These words caught the fisherman. The bait? Perhaps the miracle, but what reeled him in was the fact that God wanted him. So don't you ever feel like you are not wanted. Oh how I wish so many people living in sin would come help the Church and let the Church help them. But we have people coming to Church that continue living in sin. So what's the difference? I'll tell you the difference. The answer is in the heart. God knows who is climbing and growing to Heaven. This message is for you. The 5minutos ended today with 'Do you prefer to let yourself be caught by Jesus, or keep "swimming" in the sea of your "preferences"?" I told the men that God gave us commandments because He loves us and wants us. A brother said at the meeting that he couldn't forgive another brother for the last couple weeks for offending him. They made up in my presence this past weekend. And I told the brother in the meeting, it was you that was hurting more than him. That is why God wants you to forgive, for you. He wants you to be happy. That's why He tells us what to do. But we don't care, or don't know better. But now we do. Because it's not I that told you, but God. Therefore, His is a message of love. That of the cross, that of coming to be with Him, follow Him, and TRUST in Him. I asked the group last night "so what is mercy?". Answers came, "forgiveness" said one, and another "goodness", and another said "Love". I said "love wraps up the other answers then, because love is merciful and good". Can you trust in His Mercy? Let this be the bait. And let His message reel you in closer and closer to Him. GOD I WANT TO BE WITH YOU  adrian | |||||||
Going4th,
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