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| Simplicity |  | | I truly seek a very solitary, simple and primitive life with no labels attached. However, there must be love in it, and not an abstract love but a real love for real people. | | |
Blessed Mary Angela Truszkowska
(1825-1899)
 Today we honor a woman who submitted to God's will throughout her life—a life filled with pain and suffering.
Born in 1825 in central Poland and baptized Sophia, she contracted tuberculosis as a young girl. The forced period of convalescence gave her ample time for reflection. Sophia felt called to serve God by working with the poor, including street children and the elderly homeless in Warsaw's slums. In time, her cousin joined her in the work.
In 1855, the two women made private vows and consecrated themselves to the Blessed Mother. New followers emerged. Within two years they formed a new congregation, which came to be known as the Felician Sisters. As their numbers grew, so did their work, and so did the pressures on Mother Angela (the new name Sophia took in religious life).
Mother Angela served as superior for many years until ill health forced her to resign at the age of 44. She watched the order grow and expand, including missions to the United States among the sons and daughters of Polish immigrants.
Mother Angela died in 1899, and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1993.
 Saint of the DayLives, Lessons and FeastBy 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 Everything has the potential to draw forth from me a fuller love and life.
Yet my desires are often fixed, caught, on illusions of fulfillment.
I ask that God, through my freedom
may orchestrate
my desires in a vibrant loving melody rich in harmony.
Consciousness I exist in a web of relationships - links to nature, people, God.
I trace out these links, giving thanks for the life that flows through them.
Some links are twisted or broken: I may feel regret, anger, disappointment.
I pray for the gift of acceptance and forgiveness.
The Word of God 32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on the prisoners, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that you may do the will of God and receive what is promised.
37 "For yet a little while, and the coming one shall come and shall not tarry;38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him."
39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and keep their souls. R. (39a) The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Trust in the LORD and do good,
that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.
Take delight in the LORD,
and he will grant you your heart's requests.
R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Commit to the LORD your way;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will make justice dawn for you like the light;
bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.
R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
By the LORD are the steps of a man made firm,
and he approves his way.
Though he fall, he does not lie prostrate,
for the hand of the LORD sustains him.
R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord. R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Jesus said to the crowds:
"This is how it is with the Kingdom of God;
it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land
and would sleep and rise night and day
and the seed would sprout and grow,
he knows not how.
Of its own accord the land yields fruit,
first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once,
for the harvest has come."
He said,
"To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God,
or what parable can we use for it?
It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground,
is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.
But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants
and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade."
With many such parables
he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.
Without parables he did not speak to them,
but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.
Listen to audio of this reading
Watch a video reflection
Conversation Do I notice myself reacting as I pray with the Word of God? Do I feel challenged, comforted, angry? Imagining Jesus sitting or standing by me, I speak out my feelings, as one trusted friend to another. Conclusion I thank God for these few moments we have spent alone together and for any insights I may have been given concerning the text.
3rd Week in Ordinary Time The seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. (Mark 4:27) In the film Mr. Holland's Opus, the lead character is Glenn Holland, a composer working on a symphony who takes a job as a high school music teacher to support himself and his wife. At first he is frustrated by teaching and dreams only of finishing his composition. But he gradually learns to love his job and to see how much he has taught his students—and how much they have taught him. The film's message is best expressed in a verse from a John Lennon song that Holland sings for his deaf son, Cole: "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." Unexpected results is also a theme in these two parables. The farmer can't predict his harvest from just planting seeds. And someone who knows nothing about mustard plants can't possibly imagine that they grow from such small seeds. But that's the point. It's often the case that when we're working on one thing, God is doing something else in our hearts, creating something new that we can't recognize until we look back and see it. This means that you can relax a bit. Of course, try to stay vigilant at avoiding sin and growing in virtue. But let it be a confident, happy vigilance, secure in the knowledge that God will bring growth in the areas he knows you need the most. Just plant your seeds and tend your garden as you think best, and know that your heavenly Father will bring his good work to completion in you (Philippians 1:6). God doesn't always show us what he is doing in our lives, but that's okay. In fact, it can be very comforting. Rather than expending so much energy trying to figure everything out, we can devote ourselves simply to loving God, loving our neighbors, and helping the needy. If we can focus just on this, we can rest assured that our heavenly Father will take care of everything else! "Lord, thank you that you have an awesome plan for my life—even if I can't see it all. Help me to trust you day by day. Lord, I place my life in your hands!" Hebrews 10:32-39
Psalm 37:3-6, 23-24, 39-40
my2cents:
Today's 5 minutos ends with "...The Christian is someone who 'helps' for that seed to produce its fruit in others. Because of this, 'do not let us disturb God!' destroying 'lands' that He chooses for His seed".
The seed of God is Awesome. Repeat after me, "The Seed of God is Awesome".
The seed of God is Powerful. Repeat after me, "The seed of God is Powerful".
The seed of God is in me. Repeat after me, "The Seed of God is in me".
These are the realities of what the seed of God is and does. Because today's Holy Scriptures are just that, awesome, powerful, and now in us that have consumed through our eyes (windows of the soul). And it is a realm of faith we are speaking of now, something that happens within that allows the seed to grow in our area, in those around us. Because if the seed is the Word and the Word was made flesh and the flesh is JEsus and Jesus is us as the Body of Christ now, truly it is the largest living thing on earth. God's seed has encompassed all, and it was planted on earth, and in our Holy Mother of God...Jesus. And so, it is something to grab a hold and not shrink back, lest we die of wretchedness and hunger. His is a message of opportunity of salvation. His is a message of power and glory, because He was planted in the ground and became the most powerful forever. And all this because of love and obedience, the love of God and the obedience of the Holy Mother and the faith transmitted to Jesus.
Suddenly, everything we do begins to make sense. God has set the model for life. The way has been made known and it has been shown so that you would now live it and make it known and shown. And this is how they will know...by our Love. And our Love is God. And our God will be made known by our Love for one another. The weeds among us have to die, that is, the spirits among us, because ours is a life of battle not against humans but spirits, and principalities. When we witness the march for life, it is tremendous amounts of soldiers and angels waging war on death, and the numbers dwarf those who stand for death. This is a depiction of the reality of Life, the mustard seed, even at conception. And so ultimately, it is a message of life. Life wants to sprout and grow in your soul, and as we know, we grow to Heaven. It is a message to say YES Lord, I accept your Love and Mercy in my life, and I will worship your Love and mercy, and I will praise you and I will adore you because of your Love and mercy.
The Salvation of the Just comes from the Lord. Our God is our salvation, and it is for all the just, those who stand for justice, those who focus solely on Jesus, found in the Eucharist and in one another. Get your head out of darkness. Stop focusing on the bad, but on the good. Shine the light on it so it will grow. Because if it don't grow where you are, it will grow elsewhere, and so ours is a tremendous opportunity to become one with Him, the largest plant of the earth that protects everything under its domain and welcomes the Spirits and Angels to bask in its glory. Triumph has arisen from the Holy Mountain, and the tree of life has decided its roots to come to my dirt, my body, my temple, and I will accept and let it grow, fuel the power and glory that will forever be...
ALL HONOR AND PRAISE TO YOU OH LORD JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD AND SAVIOR
 adrian
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