The Gospel of the Family Truly Christian families are known by their fidelity, their patience, their openness to life, and their respect for the elderly…the secret to this is the presence of Jesus in the family. Let us therefore propose to all people, with respect and courage, the beauty of marriage and the family illuminated by the Gospel! And in order to do this let us approach with care and affection those families who are struggling, forced to leave their homeland, broken, homeless or unemployed, or suffering for any reason; let us approach married couples in crisis or separated. Let us be close to everyone through the proclamation of this Gospel of the family, the beauty of the family. —from the book The Blessing of Family | † QUOTE
"All the science of the Saints is included in these two things: To do, and to suffer. And whoever has done these two things best, has made himself most saintly."
— Saint Francis de Sales † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"By accepting the sufferings 'offered' by life and allowed by God for our progress and purification, we spare ourselves much harder ones. We need to develop this kind of realism and, once and for all, stop dreaming of a life without suffering or conflict. That is the life of heaven, not earth. We must take up our cross and follow Christ courageously every day; the bitterness of that cross will sooner or later be transformed into sweetness."
— Fr. Jacques Philippe, p. 49
AN EXCERPT FROM
Interior Freedom † VERSE OF THE DAY
Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
John 14:23-24 |  click to read more | | Saint Vincent de Paul (1580 – September 27, 1660) The deathbed confession of a dying servant opened Vincent de Paul's eyes to the crying spiritual needs of the peasantry of France. This seems to have been a crucial moment in the life of the man from a small farm in Gascony, France, who had become a priest with little more ambition than to have a comfortable life. The Countess de Gondi—whose servant he had helped—persuaded her husband to endow and support a group of able and zealous missionaries who would work among poor tenant farmers and country people in general. Vincent was too humble to accept leadership at first, but after working for some time in Paris among imprisoned galley slaves, he returned to be the leader of what is now known as the Congregation of the Mission, or the Vincentians. These priests, with vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and stability, were to devote themselves entirely to the people in smaller towns and villages. Later, Vincent established confraternities of charity for the spiritual and physical relief of the poor and sick of each parish. From these, with the help of Saint Louise de Marillac, came the Daughters of Charity, "whose convent is the sickroom, whose chapel is the parish church, whose cloister is the streets of the city." He organized the rich women of Paris to collect funds for his missionary projects, founded several hospitals, collected relief funds for the victims of war, and ransomed over 1,200 galley slaves from North Africa. He was zealous in conducting retreats for clergy at a time when there was great laxity, abuse, and ignorance among them. He was a pioneer in clerical training and was instrumental in establishing seminaries. Most remarkably, Vincent was by temperament a very irascible person—even his friends admitted it. He said that except for the grace of God he would have been "hard and repulsive, rough and cross." But he became a tender and affectionate man, very sensitive to the needs of others. Pope Leo XIII made him the patron of all charitable societies. Outstanding among these, of course, is the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, founded in 1833 by his admirer Blessed Frédéric Ozanam. Reflection
The Church is for all God's children, rich and poor, peasants and scholars, the sophisticated and the simple. But obviously the greatest concern of the Church must be for those who need the most help—those made helpless by sickness, poverty, ignorance, or cruelty. Vincent de Paul is a particularly appropriate patron for all Christians today, when hunger has become starvation, and the high living of the rich stands in more and more glaring contrast to the physical and moral degradation in which many of God's children are forced to live. Saint Vincent de Paul is the Patron Saint of:
Charitable Societies | Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest Reading 1 Eccl 1:2-11 Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth,
vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!
What profit has man from all the labor
which he toils at under the sun?
One generation passes and another comes,
but the world forever stays.
The sun rises and the sun goes down;
then it presses on to the place where it rises.
Blowing now toward the south, then toward the north,
the wind turns again and again, resuming its rounds.
All rivers go to the sea,
yet never does the sea become full.
To the place where they go,
the rivers keep on going.
All speech is labored;
there is nothing one can say.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing
nor is the ear satisfied with hearing. What has been, that will be;
what has been done, that will be done.
Nothing is new under the sun.
Even the thing of which we say, "See, this is new!"
has already existed in the ages that preceded us.
There is no remembrance of the men of old;
nor of those to come will there be any remembrance
among those who come after them. Responsorial Psalm Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17bc
R. (1) In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
You turn man back to dust,
saying, "Return, O children of men."
For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday, now that it is past,
or as a watch of the night.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
You make an end of them in their sleep;
the next morning they are like the changing grass,
Which at dawn springs up anew,
but by evening wilts and fades.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
Prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge. Alleluia Jn 14:6
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father except through me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 9:7-9 Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening,
and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying,
"John has been raised from the dead";
others were saying, "Elijah has appeared";
still others, "One of the ancient prophets has arisen."
But Herod said, "John I beheaded.
Who then is this about whom I hear such things?"
And he kept trying to see him.
| Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Luke 9:7-9 Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest (Memorial) He kept trying to see him. (Luke 9:9) Rumors were flying. Speculation was high. Who was this Jesus of Nazareth? Where did he come from, and what did he really want? Was he John the Baptist, back from the dead? A new incarnation of the prophet Elijah? Or just some rabble-rouser from Galilee? For Herod, this was an especially perplexing predicament. He had already taken care of John the Baptist. But it seemed that Jesus' presence and his preaching pricked his conscience on the matter. Maybe God really was trying to speak to him through John—and now through this Jesus. Still, Herod's vision was clouded. Aware that he was in a sinful relationship with his wife but unwilling to make any change, he couldn't break through the fog to come to faith. Of course, none of us are the same as Herod. But like him, we may want to see the Lord but be hampered by blurred vision. Unforgiveness, bitterness, fear, and anxiety—all of these and more can keep us in a fog. But nothing is more capable of holding us back than unrepented sin. John the Baptist brought Herod's sin to light by criticizing Herod's marriage to Herodias, his brother's wife. Herod could have repented. He could have found a way out of his immoral union, but he ended up feeling forced to silence John's voice instead. The Holy Spirit can clear away any clouds that are obscuring your vision. Through the gift of repentance, you can cooperate with him in this work. In fact, getting into the habit of repenting at the end of every day is probably one of the best ways to sharpen your vision. Every evening, look over your day, and ask the Spirit to help you identify anything that you may have thought or said or done that was displeasing to the Lord. Then simply ask for forgiveness and for the Spirit's help to do better tomorrow. If the sin is serious enough, resolve to bring it to Confession as soon as you can. Then end by thanking God for his mercy. Over time, your vision will become clearer, simply because you are giving the Holy Spirit room to work in your heart. "Come, Holy Spirit, and remove the clouds that keep me from seeing clearly." Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
Psalm 90:3-6, 12-14, 17 | my2cents: We heard today: "What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?" What profit? How many dollars? Is that what matters? What are you working for? I asked kids last night a question "what is your heart set on? It wasn't one certain thing, it was several, school, family, friends, religion. I brought up the question of order. One even said gender is what they set their heart on. All these things are fleeting. But the Son remains forever. What is your heart set on? Let us pray: "In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge. You turn man back to dust, saying, "Return, O children of men." Return to Me says our Lord. Return with what? What can you carry into the next life? A fallen brother said at a meeting "all we will take is our memories, and here, people will only lament your going away for a couple of weeks". Is that true? Men fade away, to the tune of millions and now billions. They fade, we fade. And so our only hope is in our Lord, so...again, what is your heart set on? In the Holy Gospel, the main person talked about is Herod, but its all about Jesus. Isn't it? Herod is looking for Jesus? "He kept trying to see Him". Did he have a bit of remorse for killing Saint John the Baptist? Why was he looking out for Him? Because now he's really afraid for his life? His Kingship? His little kingdom? Ahh. Yes, when our Lord says to leave everything and follow Him, he does ask for your kingdom doesn't he? Not really. He is asking for all your love. Your life, yes. He isn't asking for your fading temporal things. When we are asked to tithe, we are being asked for a bit of our love. When we are asked to join Him for a while, it is a bit of your love, your life. Isn't it? So why are we afraid? We are afraid?
Temporal matters do matter though. We are temporarily in this world. They say Jesus is in the world among us. Are you trying to see Him? Or are you living as though you know, but it doesn't matter? He is out there. And He is coming. When you run into Him, will you take Him in? Or will you pass Him along to get tortured like King Herod? He washed his hands and Pilate washed his hands, all pretending to be neutral, but the more neutral you are, the worse things are for the poor one being passed on...this child, of God, our Father...our Savior
I believe you care. But do we love? I believe we try, but, do we love? Faith is what we are learning. To grow, to go to Heaven, right? But what good is Heaven if you don't love God wholeheartedly? That's who Heaven is for. Not for people who turn away from Him and are neutral with Him.
Take care.
Take great care.
Of your soul, yes, but of your faith all the more! I am with you
Our Lord says.... | |
