Gather around the Table of Plenty Eating is not only an individual delight but also, and mainly, a communal experience. Family reunions mean sharing story after story around the table. The food served becomes the backdrop for a renewal of mutual concerns remembered and new events announced. Those of us who have to travel for business may need to eat alone, but may not relish doing so. Travelers often end up at a local hangout not only to order a beer but to find a bartender or other patrons to converse with. Breaking bread with a friend is why I baked that loaf in the first place. A dinner scheduled to last for perhaps two hours can put us in a zone of leisure that seems to go on without our knowing how so much time has passed. —from the book Table of Plenty: Good Food for Body and Spirit | †Quote
"Men do not fear a powerful hostile army as the powers of hell fear the name and protection of Mary."
— St. Bonaventure † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"Essentially a soldier, the Christian is always on the lookout. He has sharper ears and hears an undertone that others miss; his eyes see things in a particularly candid light, and he senses something to which others are insensible, the streaming of a vital current through all things. He is never submerged in life, but keeps his head and shoulders clear of it and his eyes free to look upward. Consequently he has a deeper sense of responsibility than others. When this awareness and watchfulness disappear, Christian life loses its edge; it becomes dull and ponderous."
— Fr. Romano Guardini, p. 177
AN EXCERPT FROM
Meditations Before Mass † VERSE OF THE DAY
"See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him."
1 John 3:1 |  click to read more | | ST. CECILIA St. Cecilia (3rd c.) is one of the most venerated of the virgin martyrs of Rome. Her name is in the Roman Canon of the Mass. According to tradition she made a private vow of chastity to Jesus, yet her parents promised her in marriage to a suitor. On her wedding night, St. Cecilia told her husband that she had not only made a vow to remain a virgin, but that an angel guarded her purity. Her husband agreed to honor her vow and follow Christ if he could also see her guardian angel. She instructed him to first be baptized, and afterwards he was able to see her angel. Cecilia's brother-in-law also converted, and both men were eventually martyred for their faith; but not without first converting their jailer. St. Cecilia was later arrested and also sentenced to death. An executioner struck three blows but was not successful in severing her head from her body; instead, she survived for three days preaching to those who visited her in prison until her last breath. They lovingly soaked up the blood from her wounds with clothes and sponges. Her relics, along with those of her husband, his brother, and the converted jailor, were placed in the church of St. Cecilia in Rome. Because she sang hymns to Jesus in her heart on her wedding day, St. Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians. Her feast day is celebrated on November 22nd. | Thanksgiving Day
Lectionary: 943-947 Reading 1 SIR 50:22-24 And now, bless the God of all,
who has done wondrous things on earth;
Who fosters people's growth from their mother's womb,
and fashions them according to his will!
May he grant you joy of heart
and may peace abide among you;
May his goodness toward us endure in Israel
to deliver us in our days. Responsorial Psalm PS 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11
R. (see 1) I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
Generation after generation praises your works
and proclaims your might.
They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty
and tell of your wondrous works.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
They discourse of the power of your terrible deeds
and declare your greatness.
They publish the fame of your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your justice.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord Reading 2 1 COR 1:3-9 Brothers and sisters:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always on your account
for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,
that in him you were enriched in every way,
with all discourse and all knowledge,
as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift
as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will keep you firm to the end,
irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful,
and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Alleluia PS 66:16
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Hear now, all you who fear God,
while I declare what he has done for me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel LK 17:11-19 As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten persons with leprosy met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying,
"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"
And when he saw them, he said,
"Go show yourselves to the priests."
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you." | Thursday, November 22, 2018
❂ WORD ON FIRE ❂
-Bishop Barron THANKSGIVING DAY LUKE 17:11-19 Friends, today's Gospel recounts the Lord's healing of ten lepers, only one of whom comes back to give thanks. Leprosy frightened people in ancient times, just as contagious and mysterious diseases frighten people today. But more than this, leprosy rendered someone unclean and therefore incapable of engaging in the act of worship. It is not accidental that the person responsible for examining the patient in ancient Israel was the priest. The priest's job was to monitor the whole process of Israelite worship, very much including who could and couldn't participate in the temple. What is so important about worship? To worship is to order the whole of one's life toward the living God, and in doing so, one becomes interiorly and exteriorly rightly ordered. To worship is to signal to oneself what one's life is finally about. Worship is not something that God needs, but it is very much something that we need. | 2 cents :
Ahhh. Today, we read scriptures dealing with the U.S. traditional "thanksgiving" readings. But, in reality, the rest of the world reads the memorial readings of St. Cecilia Virgin and Martyr. So to tie in righteously with the universal Church, let us focus on what was said in Revelation: "I shed many tears because no one was found worthy
to open the scroll or to examine it.
One of the elders said to me, "Do not weep.
The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed,
enabling him to open the scroll with its seven seals."
Jesus is the Lion AND the Lamb. WHaaaaat? It cost God so much. Let us read the last verse:
"Worthy are you to receive the scroll and break open its seals,
for you were slain and with your Blood you purchased for God
those from every tribe and tongue, people and nation. You made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they will reign on earth."
Unfathomable love. Can you understand how God loves? His love is out of this world. This world is passing. But His love is not of this world. Can you understand this love? Probably not, because we are talking about God Himself!! | Let us pray then: "The Lamb has made us a kingdom of priests to serve our God. Sing to the LORD a new song of praise in the assembly of the faithful. Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king." It feels as if every day is a new day. A new song is to be sung. Your life is a song, let it be a song for Him. This is an act of thanksgiving. | In the Holy Gospel in thanksgiving, it's about the 10 lepers that were healed and only one came back to give thanks. This one was saved. Faith in thanksgiving. In the universal Gospel today it says:
"As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying,
"If this day you only knew what makes for peace– but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides.
They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."
Indeed, eventually Jerusalem was ransacked and destroyed. Supposedly one wall still stands, the "weeping wall" of the outside fence walls of the Jewish temple. To this day people go to the lamentations wall. Lamenting though for what? That they missed the Messiah? He is here! That the fulfillment never came? HE DID! The one who didn't come is the one they had made up in their minds! This is why I always say that if you got God figured out, then you are an atheist. God is a mystery. Such a mystery, that if you saw Him, you would literally die. But Jesus came, in the fullness and representation of God Himself. "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" John 14:9 " "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?"
I haven't told a soul what I am about to tell you. I go to daily Mass, and lately, I don't remember which one, or at what hour, but I do remember me asking our Lord "Lord, is giving thanks to you even worth that much?" And the response came to the heart "It means the world to Me".
Wow. The creator says it means that much to Him? What was our Lord doing hanging on a cross? Giving thanks? Thank you for striking me. Thank you for making me cry. Thank you for not believing Me. Thank you for not even believing in Me. Thank you for spitting in my face. Thank you for your insults. Thank you for cheating on me. Thank you for stabbing Me in the back. Thank you for plucking My beard. Thank you for turning your back to Me when I most needed you. Thank you for not making room for Me when I was a baby. Thank you for not accepting neither Me nor my Mother. Thank you for rejecting the Church I set upon Peter. In a world where you are giving thanks for everything else, except for what is righteousness, know that He is still with us in this ungrateful and cruel world. I just heard of how in my own family last night, a son attacked his own mother. My own Godson! And I cry as I write to you. The mother two days ago, had been yelling and cussing at me and accusing me, spitting in my face as I waited to get punched in the face. I would take it. I was ready to be struck like Jesus and then ready to turn the cheek. After all that, I prayed for her, and over her, and the evil went down and everyone else left. I remained. I CAN love. Love More. Everyone left her but me. I am Jesus. You can be too. Thank you. A baker spit in Mother Teresa's face for asking for free bread for a starving boy. She wiped her face and said "thank you, that was for me, now please...bread for this little boy". The baker repented. The baker gave bread. Salvation came to the whole house. So yes. "Thank You" Jesus says from the cross. I LOVE YOU MORE. I DO! That's why I cried. Because love hurts. A spanish saying says "parece que el que ama mas sufre mas" (it seems as though the one who loves more, suffers more). Can you imagine that God can suffer? Yet suffer means patience. Pator being the root word. Enduring. Keep coming at me with all you got. And then I'll come at you with all my grace and mercy and love. You can not beat mercy to death. It comes back all the more for more. That is why they say that the blood of martyrs is the seed of the church. And we have been experiencing much blood shed in the world on Christians. And Christianity is thriving. For that, I am thankful. I thank God for I am fearfully and wonderfully made...in His image. Like Christ. Like angels. Like Christ's angels. Like His hands and feet. If you are thankful, you are giving.... | adrian from ChurchPop.com: Let us remember why we celebrate Thanksgiving: to thank God for all the blessings in our lives! Below are 10 inspiring quotes from the saints to infuse your soul with the true spirit of Thanksgiving!
"Happiness can only be achieved by looking inward and learning to enjoy whatever life has, and this requires transforming greed into gratitude."
St. John Chrysostom "The best way to show my gratitude is to accept everything, even my problems, with joy." St. Teresa of Calcutta "The secret of happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank God for what He is sending us every day in His goodness."
St. Gianna Beretta Molla "Thank God ahead of time."
Bl. Solanus Casey "O my God, let me remember with gratitude and confess to thee thy mercies toward me." St. Augustine of Hippo "No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks."
St. Ambrose "In all created things discern the providence and wisdom of God, and in all things give Him thanks."
St. Teresa of Avila "Remember the past with gratitude. Live the present with enthusiasm. Look forward to the future with confidence."
St. John Paul II "Get used to lifting your heart to God,
in acts of thanksgiving, many times a day.
Because he gives you this and that.
Because you have been despised.
Because you haven't what you need or because you have.
Thank him for everything, because everything is good."
St. Josemaria Escriva "Would that I could exhaust myself in acts of thanksgiving and gratitude towards this Divine Heart, for the great favor He shows us."
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque "Jesus does not demand great action from us but simply surrender and gratitude."
St. Therèse of Lisieux Thank you, Lord for everything!
Have a blessed Thanksgiving! | |
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