| MINUTE MEDITATIONS
St. Paul the Hermit (c. 233-345)  Paul was reportedly born in Egypt, where he was orphaned by age 15. He was also a learned and devout young man. During the persecution of Decius in Egypt in the year 250, Paul was forced to hide in the home of a friend. Fearing a brother-in-law would betray him, he fled in a cave in the desert. His plan was to return once the persecution ended, but the sweetness of solitude and heavenly contemplation convinced him to stay. He went on to live in that cave for the next 90 years. A nearby spring gave him drink, a palm tree furnished him clothing and nourishment. After 21 years of solitude a bird began bringing him half of a loaf of bread each day. Without knowing what was happening in the world, Paul prayed that the world would become a better place. St. Anthony of Egypt [January 17] attests to his holy life and death. Tempted by the thought that no one had served God in the wilderness longer than he, Anthony was led by God to find Paul and acknowledge him as a man more perfect than himself. The raven that day brought a whole loaf of bread instead of the usual half. As Paul predicted, Anthony would return to bury his new friend. Thought to have been about 112 when he died, Paul is known as the "First Hermit." His feast day is celebrated in the East; he is also commemorated in the Coptic and Armenian rites of the Mass. Comment: The will and direction of God are seen in the circumstances of our lives. Led by the grace of God, we are free to respond with choices that bring us closer to and make us more dependent upon the God who created us. Those choices might at times seem to lead us away from our neighbor. But ultimately they lead us back both in prayer and in fellowship to one another. PresenceDear Lord as I come to you today FreedomLord, you created me to live in freedom. ConsciousnessTo be conscious about something is to be aware of it. Dear Lord help me to remember that You gave me life. Thank you for the gift of life. Teach me to slow down, to be still and enjoy the pleasures created for me. The Word of GodReading 11 SM 3:1-10, 19-20During the time young Samuel was minister to the LORD under Eli, a revelation of the LORD was uncommon and vision infrequent. One day Eli was asleep in his usual place. His eyes had lately grown so weak that he could not see. The lamp of God was not yet extinguished, and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD where the ark of God was. The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, "Here I am." Samuel ran to Eli and said, "Here I am. You called me." "I did not call you," Eli said. "Go back to sleep." So he went back to sleep. Again the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli. "Here I am," he said. "You called me." But Eli answered, "I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep." At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD, because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet. The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time. Getting up and going to Eli, he said, "Here I am. You called me." Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth. So Eli said to Samuel, "Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" When Samuel went to sleep in his place, the LORD came and revealed his presence, calling out as before, "Samuel, Samuel!" Samuel answered, "Speak, for your servant is listening." Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect. Thus all Israel from Dan to Beersheba came to know that Samuel was an accredited prophet of the LORD. Responsorial Psalm PS 40:2 AND 5, 7-8A, 8B-9, 10 R. (8a and 9a) Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. I have waited, waited for the LORD, and he stooped toward me and heard my cry. Blessed the man who makes the LORD his trust; who turns not to idolatry or to those who stray after falsehood. R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. Sacrifice or oblation you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me. Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not; then said I, "Behold I come." R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. "In the written scroll it is prescribed for me. To do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart!" R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. I announced your justice in the vast assembly; I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know. R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. Gospel MK 1:29-39 On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them. When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him. Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, "Everyone is looking for you." He told them, "Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come." So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee. ConversationJesus, You always welcomed little children when you walked on this earth. Teach me to have a childlike trust in you. To live in the knowledge that You will never abandon me. ConclusionGlory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, 1st Week in Ordinary Time The fever left her and she waited on them. (Mark 1:31)
Imagine Simon's mother-in-law and her friend chatting over tea. "What happened at your house the other day?" the friend asked. Simon's mother-in-law said, "Well, I was pretty sick. I had a high fever, my whole body ached, and all I wanted to do was rest. But Jesus came into my room anyway and held my hand. Moments later, I felt so good that I began to make lunch for Simon and his friends. I was so excited by what happened that I had to get out and tell other people about it. "I've discovered—both from my experience and from talking to other people—that when you meet Jesus, something happens inside of you. You can't help but act. That day, I did what I know how to do best. I didn't feel obligated; I could have kept lying in bed, but when you feel that kind of love, you just want to find ways to love people in return. "I think that the love just starts to spill over. At least that's what happened that day. Word got out that Jesus had come to visit, and by nightfall the house was filled with sick or unhappy people, and he touched them all. "What was unusual for me was that I didn't mind all these strangers at my door. Normally, I would be cautious, but something changed in me that day, and I felt a new kinship with these people whom I had never met. Some of them I may not have even liked before then, but it didn't matter. We were all looking for the same thing. We had all been brought together by a desire to be with Jesus. They felt like long-lost brothers and sisters, and I had no problem welcoming them." "So that's all?" her friend asked. "You felt his love when he healed you, and that made you open your door to other people, and they were healed as well?" "Yes. I know it sounds silly, but that's what happened. And it's happened for so many other people. You should try to find Jesus yourself. It's amazing what he can do!" "I've got to find him! There are so many things I need help with." "Lord, touch every heart with your healing love. Move us all to serve one another."
1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19-20; Psalm 40:2, 5, 7-10 God speaks, and we need to learn how to respond. We need to learn to discern His voice among the noise of the world. As a matter of fact, that is how the book ended "Theology For Beginners". It ended with an exhortation to the lay people, all of us who are not clergy, priests, and other ordained religious. But can I call them religious alone? All of us are called to be religious, because after all, things we love we are basically religious to anyway! So, why aren't we religious to our Lord? And if you are, you'll be bound to His Holy Bride, the Holy Church. Samuel was called, but thought it was not the Lord speaking, his ears and mind were not open to the fact that it could've been something or someone else. For me and you, the same could happen. But, an act of intelligence is to notice a pattern. He speaks to our feeble minds in patterns so that we may understand and realize to come to Him. Ever notice something happening repeatedly to you, as if a message were trying to come across? This is how the Holy Spirit works, very subtle, very beautiful, very amazing. I want you to be open to this very fact. What's awesome is that you will feel the call, "hey, He is calling me!" He Does Love Me! He Does Want Me!" Of course He does silly, he knows who all will be born ahead of time and enough for the end of time. I'm reverting and alluding to parts of the exhortation of the book, because I loved how it ended, appealing to the lay people as soldiers of God. No better arms will reach the souls than those of the lay. This is why it is crucial for clergy to be extremely Holy so the arms will be holy. This is why it is extremely crucial for those of us in arms to be holy so that those we touch will become holy, healed, and loved. But first comes love. I can not reach to those who are lost without taking care of their phsyical needs first, I won't come up to an ailing person and say "hey, uh, you need Jesus" LOL, no, that's not the way our Lord heals, He lifted up the woman in the Gospel, He grabbed her hand, and showed love. Love automatically sends the message. The book Theology for Beginners said though, that we can not just live by example, which is great, but we need to speak, for our utterance must convey the message, and the message we must know by heart, we must come to know self and know Him, for this, we are to be religious. The book said "Religious illiteracy was bad enough when practically nobody was literate anyway. But what we have now is stranger and more dangerous. To be secularly literate and religiously illiterate produces an unbalance within the man. He finds himself with two eyes which do not focus-a strong eye which sees life as the world sees it, a weak eye which sees life as Faith declares it to be. The temptation is overwhelming to close one eye, the weak eye naturally." It will always be more natural to shut down the weak faith. That is concupiscence and that is our fallen nature of Eve. What we have to learn is to be disciplined and strong. Jesus worked hard, into the night, and then got up early to start His day right...with our Father. They said "people are waiting for you" and He replied "Let us go on". The same message is for us, the faithful. The book by EJ Sheed, ended with the epilogue, The Layman In The Church. I got chills reading the title, because this is actually one of the rollos, talks, of a cursillo. I absolutely love it. I will skip around the intro just to give you a taste of what it says "By Confirmation, the layman is the miles of the Church Militant. The Church on earth is at war, an army therefore. It's officers are the clergy, we are the rank and file, the simple soldiery...We must consider our part in the warfare. To begin with we must understand what the warfare is. It is being fought not simply to enlarge the Church, but to bring souls into union with Christ. It is the strangest of wars which is fought for the enemy, not against him. Even the term enemy must not be allowed to mislead." Yesterday I said Jesus saw beyond the yelling man. We have to look beyond the yells, what is really going on here? Someone made a slanderous remark about our family business yesterday. After getting on the nerves of all, I made a realization, "that is someone we have to pray for". And if you really REALLY do this, you will gain peace, and love for the enemy. What if at Heaven's gates you show up and you are asked "where is 'so and so'? That person you never wanted to talk to?" Backwards, it's all backwards when you truly live the life of God. Because it is so, we have to learn how to discern His voice among all the "noise". This is one of the first steps a soldier of Christ must take. And then respond truly and rightly, boldly, and lovingly, "Speak Lord, Here I Am, Your Servant Is Listening!" Subscribe | ||||||
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