In the Footsteps of Jesus St. Francis was not a medieval theologian, but a wisdom figure, a teacher of wisdom who used sayings, stories, and rituals to show us how we can allow God to transform our lives. In this, as in everything else, he was following in the footsteps of Jesus, who is the mystery of the fullness of God among us. —from the book Surrounded by Love: Seven Teachings from Saint Francis | †Saint Quote
"Let all creation help you to praise God. Give yourself the rest you need. When you are walking alone, listen to the sermon preached to you by the flowers, the trees, the shrubs, the sky, the sun and the whole world. Notice how they preach to you a sermon full of love, of praise of God, and how they invite you to proclaim the greatness of the one who has given them being."
— St. Paul of the Cross †MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"True devotion to Our Lady is constant. It confirms the soul in good, and does not let it easily abandon its spiritual exercises. It makes it courageous in opposing the world in its fashions and maxims, the flesh in its weariness and passions, and the devil in his temptations; so that a person truly devout to our Blessed Lady is neither changeable, irritable, scrupulous nor timid. It is not that such a person does not fall, or change sometimes in the sensible feeling of devotion. But when he falls, he rises again by stretching out his hand to his good Mother. When he loses the taste and relish of devotions, he does not become disturbed because of that; for the just and faithful client of Mary lives by the faith (Heb. 10:38) of Jesus and Mary, and not by natural sentiment."
— St. Louis De Montfort, p. 55
AN EXCERPT FROM
True Devotion to Mary † VERSE OF THE DAY
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."
John 6:35 |  click to read more | | Saint Narcissus of Jerusalem (d. c. 216) Life in second- and third-century Jerusalem couldn't have been easy, but Saint Narcissus managed to live well beyond 100. Some even speculate he lived to 160. Details of his life are sketchy, but there are many reports of his miracles. The miracle for which Narcissus is most remembered was turning water into oil for use in the church lamps on Holy Saturday when the deacons had forgotten to provide any. We do know that Narcissus became bishop of Jerusalem in the late second century. He was known for his holiness, but there are hints that many people found him harsh and rigid in his efforts to impose Church discipline. One of his many detractors accused Narcissus of a serious crime at one point. Though the charges against him did not hold up, he used the occasion to retire from his role as bishop and live in solitude. His disappearance was so sudden and convincing that many people assumed he had actually died. Several successors were appointed during his years in isolation. Finally, Narcissus reappeared in Jerusalem and was persuaded to resume his duties. By then he had reached an advanced age, so a younger bishop was brought in to assist him until his death. Reflection
As our life spans increase and we face the bodily problems of aging, we might keep Saint Narcissus in mind and ask him to help us face our developing issues. | Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Eph 4:32–5:8 Brothers and sisters:
Be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,
as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us
as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.
Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you,
as is fitting among holy ones,
no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place,
but instead, thanksgiving.
Be sure of this, that no immoral or impure or greedy person,
that is, an idolater,
has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty arguments,
for because of these things
the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient.
So do not be associated with them.
For you were once darkness,
but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light. Responsorial Psalm Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
R. (see Eph. 5:1) Behave like God as his very dear children.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Behave like God as his very dear children.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Behave like God as his very dear children.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Behave like God as his very dear children. Alleluia Jn 17:17b, 17a
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth;
consecrate us in the truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 13:10-17 Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said,
"Woman, you are set free of your infirmity."
He laid his hands on her,
and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath,
said to the crowd in reply,
"There are six days when work should be done.
Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day."
The Lord said to him in reply, "Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?"
When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.
| Meditation: Luke 13:10-17 A woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit. (Luke 13:11) Imagine how this woman's affliction affected her everyday life. She couldn't look up at the sky. She needed help to reach items over her head. It was next to impossible to find a comfortable spot to sit or sleep. Much Jewish thinking at the time made a correlation between illness and sin (John 9:2). God rewarded a virtuous person with good health and punished sinners with misfortune of every sort, including disease. Since this woman bore an obvious disability, she must have done something terrible to deserve it. So people probably avoided her, not only because her appearance made them uncomfortable, but because they feared contamination by contact with her unholiness. Burdened by actual and imagined guilt, this woman must have searched her heart over and over, trying to find out what she had done to deserve this affliction. At the same time, she also persevered in her faith and trust in God. Why else would she have been at the synagogue? Seeing her faith, Jesus spoke words of freedom and touched her. She was healed instantly, and her immediate reaction was to praise God! Not only had Jesus straightened her back; he freed her from guilt and isolation as well. Many things keep us from standing up and giving glory to God. It could be a physical illness for which we subtly blame God. It could be a fractured relationship or the memory of a past sin that we doubt God will forgive. Whatever it is, after carrying such burdens for years, we can get used to having them. We hardly notice that we are compensating for our supposed disabilities, maybe by avoiding new situations or withdrawing into ourselves. Think of your most challenging situation. Is it too hard for Jesus? Absolutely not! Is there a sin too big for Jesus to forgive? No. Is he punishing you for some past misdeed? Of course not. So follow this woman's lead. Go to Jesus, in the "inner synagogue" of your heart and the sanctuary of your Church. Be where he is so that he can see you, touch you, and set you free. "Father, release me from everything that burdens my spirit, especially shame and guilt." Ephesians 4:32–5:8
Psalm 1:1-4, 6 | 2 cents :
"Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,
as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma."
Our Lord doesn't say "would you like to be imitators of God?" NO. He says "BE imitators of God". What's more, He says 'BE Perfect!" The world has us fooled into setting into "I'm not perfect (therefore why try?)" mentality. Once again, a grain of truth but no the whole truth. Evil distorts the truth. The rest of the truth is found in our Lord. Perfection...the Christ. The Love of God. He shows us that it is possible to reach perfection. For that let us go forth. | Let us Pray: "Behave like God as his very dear children. Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked Nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night." Behave. Behave, watch your tongue, silly talk is evil talk. Silly music, silly shows, silly games. When you were a child, you used to act like a child. But now...you know better. You know the sincerity, the authenticity of a true Christ follower. What matters now, is your love of Christ. For that, I want to thank you...for your prayers. This weekend, we had a trip to Heaven, and now that we are back, we pray, and we pick up and cherish our cross, the cross of obedience, yes, but that is only propelled by the love of Our Father. | In comes our Lord in the Holy Gospel. ""Woman, you are set free of your infirmity." Bishop Barron from Word On Fire online says in his reflection today:
"Friends, today's Gospel gives us a wonderful story Jesus of performing a miracle, something he still does today. I want to draw your attention to an extraordinary book by Protestant scholar Craig Keener titled Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts. The most surprising section of the book contains his reports of some of the millions of miracles that come, even today, from all over the world. I'll relay to you just one case from Keener's book. Ed Wilkinson's eight-year-old son was found to have two holes in his heart. Surgery was scheduled and, while he was waiting, Ed prayed, but he was struggling with doubts. When his son asked whether he was going to die, his father was honest with him. Ed's pastor decided to hold a prayer service for the boy, during which hundreds gathered to pray for his recovery. The day of the surgery arrived, and Ed was told the surgery would take four to six hours. After about a half hour, the surgeon entered the waiting area, and Ed feared for the worst. Instead, the doctor had inexplicable news: there were no holes in the boy's heart. They had simply closed up." So that's how the story ends? Should it have "The End" tacked at the end of the story? NO. The story should end like this "and the congregation got together for the sole purpose to give thanks to God for the miracle of life, and the little boy gave the rest of his life to God! And it may well have but how incomplete is our story until we are thankful.
Rightly so, the very word Eucharist means "thanksgiving". Giving thanks. That's how our life should be and end, in thanksgiving. I posted a picture of two boys laughing and hugging because I used it in my talk this weekend. What does that picture show? Boys in the love of God shining. At the end, you will see another picture, of some orphans in line, of this orphanage in Mexico I am in contact with. They sent it over the weekend. One boy has his hands clasped as if in prayer...thanksgiving. No mommy. No daddy. But with eyes closed with Our Father who provides what's needed to survive in this world....His Love. And that's why He sent His only Son, His Love.
From this day forth, love will be tested. It will be proved.
Christ: "How much do you love Me?"
Us: "I don't know, tell me how much You love me!"
Christ: "Look at me on the cross, I love you that much...and more!" | |
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