|
| Always Remember |  | | In our lives, Lord, you make wondrous things happen that deeply impress us; then as time passes, we forget. Father, deepen my faith in you and my trust in your love and care for me, so I may be strong when difficult times occur that will test my love and loyalty to you. I ask for this grace in Jesus's name, Amen. | | |
St. Hugh of Grenoble
(1052-1132)
Today's saint could be a patron for those of us who feel so overwhelmed by all the problems in the world that we don't know where to begin.
Hugh, who served as a bishop in France for 52 years, had his work cut out for him from the start. Corruption seemed to loom in every direction: the buying and selling of Church offices, violations of clerical celibacy, lay control of Church property, religious indifference and/or ignorance. After serving as bishop for two years, he'd had his fill. He tried disappearing to a monastery, but the pope called him back to continue the work of reform. Ironically, Hugh was reasonably effective in the role of reformer—surely because of his devotion to the Church but also because of his strong character. In conflicts between Church and state he was an unflinching defender of the Church. He fearlessly supported the papacy. He was eloquent as a preacher. He restored his own cathedral, made civic improvements in the town and weathered a brief exile. Hugh may be best known as patron and benefactor of St. Bruno, founder of the Carthusian Order. Hugh died in 1132. He was canonized only two years later.
 Saint of the DayLives, Lessons and FeastBy Leonard Foley, O.F.M.; revised by Pat McCloskey, O.F.M.
Presence Dear Jesus, I come to you today
longing for your presence.
I desire to love you as You love me.
May nothing ever separate me from You. 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 At this moment Lord I turn my thoughts to You. I will leave aside my chores and preoccupations. I will take rest and refreshment in your presence Lord. The Word of God Wednesday of Holy Week The Lord GOD has given me
a well-trained tongue,
That I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear;
And I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
My face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.
The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who upholds my right;
if anyone wishes to oppose me,
let us appear together.
Who disputes my right?
Let him confront me.
See, the Lord GOD is my help;
who will prove me wrong? R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother's sons,
because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak,
I looked for sympathy, but there was none;
for consolers, not one could I find.
Rather they put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving:
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not."
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me. Verse Before the Gospel Hail to you, our King;
you alone are compassionate with our errors. Or Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father;
you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter. One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot,
went to the chief priests and said,
"What are you willing to give me
if I hand him over to you?"
They paid him thirty pieces of silver,
and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
the disciples approached Jesus and said,
"Where do you want us to prepare
for you to eat the Passover?"
He said,
"Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,
'The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near;
in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples."'"
The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered,
and prepared the Passover.
When it was evening,
he reclined at table with the Twelve.
And while they were eating, he said,
"Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."
Deeply distressed at this,
they began to say to him one after another,
"Surely it is not I, Lord?"
He said in reply,
"He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me
is the one who will betray me.
The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
It would be better for that man if he had never been born."
Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply,
"Surely it is not I, Rabbi?"
He answered, "You have said so."
Listen to audio of this reading
Watch a video reflection
Conversation How has God's Word moved me? Has it left me cold? Has it consoled me or moved me to act in a new way? I imagine Jesus standing or sitting beside me, I turn and share my
feelings with him. 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 26:14-25 Subscriber? Login to view archives. Wednesday of Holy Week He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. (Matthew 26:23) What a cryptic saying! Was Jesus trying to reveal the identity of his betrayer? Or was he simply suggesting that all the apostles would betray him in some way or another? After all, each of them had dipped his hand into the dish with Jesus at some point during the meal. It was only as Judas spoke up that he was singled out. Like the Twelve, each of us "dips into the dish" with Jesus whenever we eat his Body and drink his Blood in Communion. Like the Twelve, each of us has betrayed the Lord in some way at one time or another in our lives. And chances are we'll do it again. Why? Because we're only human. This can sound depressing, but there is good news here as well: we are forgiven! Whether we have committed great sins or small ones, it doesn't matter. The Pharisees, who were trying hard but had become inflexible, needed forgiveness just as much as notorious sinners like the prostitutes and tax collectors. And so do we. Whether we have committed murder or are simply harboring a small grudge against someone, we all need Jesus to set us free. This is a message of great hope—not just for ourselves but for the people around us! Every one of us who comes to the table of the Lord is a forgiven sinner. The next time you are at Mass, take a look around and recognize the people gathered with you as part of your family. You are all "dipping into the dish" with Jesus. Thank the Lord that you are all covered by his mercy and love. May this realization bring us to unity with each other as well. Jesus' greatest desire is that all his children will become one as he and his Father are one. Let's ask him today to teach us to be merciful as he is merciful, so that this deep longing of his might be fulfilled! "Thank you, Lord, for your sacrifice on the cross. Please make us one in you as you and the Father are one. Give us true humility and compassion for one another as we strive together to live for you." Isaiah 50:4-9
Psalm 69:8-10, 21-22, 31, 33-34
You Want Us To Prepare
my2cents:
The 1st Holy Scripture says "Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; And I have not rebelled". I have not rebelled, what a powerful statement. I have not turned my back. I gave my face to be slapped and spat on. This is the model Jesus lay out for us disciples, His followers. I open my ear to the Lord, and as I'm typing, I'm listening to Dr. Brant Pitre's lesson on the feast of the unleavened bread at http://www.salvationhistory.com/studies/lesson/the_mystery_of_the_feast_of_unleavened_bread. It is wonderful to open your ear to the Lord. I believe the Lord speaks, but we rebel and do not open our heart. And we are getting to the heart of our Christian faith as we are travelling this Holy Week.
"Lord, in your great love, answer me" prays the Psalms the life of Christ. The words of the Way of the Cross, the stations of the cross are prayed here too "Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak, I looked for sympathy, but there was none; for consolers, not one could I find. Rather they put gall in my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." Later they say on the 12th station:
My people, what have I done to you? or in what have I offended you? Answer me. What more should I have done, and did not do? I led you out of the land of Egypt, and you prepared a cross for me. I opened the Red Sea before you, and you opened my side with a lance. I gave you a royal scepter, and you have given me a crown of thorns. With great power I lifted you up, and you have hung me upon a cross. My people, what have I done to you, or in what have I offended you? Answer me. (from the Reproaches of Good Friday)
He made us gods, royalty for Him and this is how we repay Him? Rebellion. The protestant reformation, in its good intent, in the end, is a rebellion. You see, the devil uses a little truth to make a big lie. "Oh you wouldn't want to hurt the mother of the unborn would you? Better that the child dies". And the brutal onslaught begins of millions and millions per year, on the innocent. Stay with me as we lead on this Holy Week.
Our Lord our God speaks in the Gospel today. It is time to prepare for the passover. I asked the students Monday night after reading these exact readings, "do ya'll know what the passover is?". Not a single one could answer. I had to take a time-out to explain the passover in 2 to 5 minutes. It is VERY important you understand your faith and our faith goes back thousands of years, the Catholic 1st Christians from the Jewish feasts and prayers, all the life of Christ the one who unifies, a stark difference from the one who divides...the devil. Jesus prepares the passover meal. It is the day of preparing the lamb, and He is the perfect unblemished lamb of God. I heard a part of the Mass on EWTN radio on my way to work this morning and the priest was praying the consecration "accept Oh Lord these holy gifts". Jesus was preparing the Holy Gift to God...His body, and gave it to His disciples at the Passover meal they ate without a lamb because the passover included a lamb, but if you have to, you can eat the night before without a lamb, with unleavened bread. You see, Jesus, GOD, would provide the lamb the next day, the prepared lamb that would be the ultimate passover for all of us from death to life and from sin to holiness. Pass-over us death. Just like when the angel of death passed over God's chosen ones when the children of Egypt, the first born would die as the 10th and worst plague for the Egyptians to release, free, the people of God. Those Egyptians had so many gods and none could save them from the One True God. But who were saved? The ones with the blood of the lamb as God told them to mark over their doors. "Ahh that reminds me of the movie Exodus we saw at the movies" some students say. "Well, did they show you when they crossed the sea and were fed mana, bread, from Heaven?" I asked in return, "uhh, no it stopped before that". You see there's more to our faith than we care. No (care)- are we in the rebellion? Because Jesus did not rebel. He consecrated Himself the night before He would be slaughtered, literally, bound up, blood poured out, and stabbed.
All for what? Well, let's just say, the day you die, you will know.
Let's just say, the value we place in life will give you the worth of your eternal life.
Judas valued silver as more than loyalty to God...rebellion.
I said "the church loses" many. Of the millions of Catholics in the U.S., maybe a quarter are going to Church as they ought. And out of those, maybe a quarter are giving as they ought. And out of those, maybe a tenth are opening their hearts as they ought. What the world needs now is the life of Christ in Holy Week.
Do you see? HOLY week. Why is this the only "HOLY" week of the year? Some workers come to me to ask for Thursday and Friday off and I look at them in their face "why do you want these days? Are you going to make them Holy?". The truth strikes them, their color changes. They know they are taking them for themselves and their so called "family" but what about the family of GOD!? Who are the family? All who lived actual Holy Week WITH CHRIST OUR LORD. And they are waiting in HOLY MASS every single time. I don't mean to pick on people, but I do mean to arouse as we read in today's first Holy Scripture "The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, That I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them."
GET UP AND GET READY...
God Wants to Consecrate the World.
 adrian
A Song I recorded before Lent I share with you before its release in October to all my loved ones,
listen if you like: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4wOfb8vAX80VGpjdXE1TjNnNk0/view?usp=sharing
it's an Easter Song asking the Lord to be sanctified. Rock song, played best loud with an open heart
no rebellion, no sin, nothing but HIM FOR OUR WHOLE LIFE
Subscribe
podcast of today's my2cents:http://www.hipcast.com/podcast/HS2yJb
|
going4th-20150401090450.mp3