 clickable | | Held in God's Love Set aside your formal prayers today and bring before God the deepest desires and fears that you hold close in your heart. Talk to God the way you would talk to your closest friend. And then take time to sit in silence with God. Let yourself be held in God's love, listening to the divine heartbeat in the world around you and in the depths of your own heart. —from the book The Hope of Lent: Daily Reflections from Pope Francis by Diane M. Houdek |  clickable: The Following is from MorningOffering | †Saint Quote
"If you truly want to help the soul of your neighbor, you should approach God first with all your heart. Ask him simply to fill you with charity, the greatest of all virtues; with it you can accomplish what you desire."
— St. Vincent Ferrer † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"The soul that does not attach itself solely to the will of God will find neither satisfaction nor sanctification in any other means, however excellent by which it may attempt to gain them. If that which God Himself chooses for you does not content you, from whom do you expect to obtain what you desire?... It is only just, therefore, that the soul that is dissatisfied with the divine action for each present moment should be punished by being unable to find happiness in anything else."
— Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade, p. 14
AN EXCERPT FROM
Abandonment to Divine Providence † VERSE OF THE DAY
"Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my cry of supplication. In the day of my trouble I call on you, for you will answer me."
Psalm 86:4-7 |  click to read more | | BL. ANACLETO GONZALEZ FLORES Bl. Anacleto Gonzalez Flores (1888–1927) was the second of twelve children born to a poor family in Jalisco, Mexico. He was baptized the day after his birth. As he grew, a priest recognized his intelligence and recommended that he enter the seminary. Anacleto studied there for a time before discerning that he was not called to the priesthood. Instead he became an attorney, husband, and father, as well as an activist for his Catholic faith. He was a prolific writer and dedicated catechism teacher, and attended daily Mass. He joined the Catholic Association of Young Mexicans (ACJM) in addition to starting another Catholic lay organization committed to resisting the fierce persecution of the Catholic Church under the infamous Mexican dictator, Calles. Initially he participated only in the non-violent resistance against Calles, until four members of the ACJM were murdered in 1926. Their deaths spurred Anacleto to lend support to the armed resistance movement. Anacleto did not take up arms but instead gave speeches to encourage Catholics to support the Cristeros, the Catholic army fighting against Calles. Anacleto was captured during the Cristero War on April 1, 1927, and was brutally tortured before being martyred by firing squad. His feast day is April 1st. | Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent Reading 1 Is 65:17-21 Thus says the LORD:
Lo, I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
The things of the past shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness
in what I create;
For I create Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight;
I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and exult in my people.
No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there,
or the sound of crying;
No longer shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not round out his full lifetime;
He dies a mere youth who reaches but a hundred years,
and he who fails of a hundred shall be thought accursed.
They shall live in the houses they build,
and eat the fruit of the vineyards they plant. Responsorial Psalm Ps 30:2 and 4, 5-6, 11-12a and 13b
R. (2a) I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clear
and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O LORD, you brought me up from the nether world;
you preserved me from among those going down into the pit.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Sing praise to the LORD, you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger lasts but a moment;
a lifetime, his good will.
At nightfall, weeping enters in,
but with the dawn, rejoicing.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
"Hear, O LORD, and have pity on me;
O LORD, be my helper."
You changed my mourning into dancing;
O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me. Verse Before the Gospel Am 5:14 Seek good and not evil so that you may live,
and the LORD will be with you. Gospel Jn 4:43-54 At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee.
For Jesus himself testified
that a prophet has no honor in his native place.
When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him,
since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast;
for they themselves had gone to the feast. Then he returned to Cana in Galilee,
where he had made the water wine.
Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum.
When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,
he went to him and asked him to come down
and heal his son, who was near death.
Jesus said to him,
"Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe."
The royal official said to him,
"Sir, come down before my child dies."
Jesus said to him, "You may go; your son will live."
The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.
While the man was on his way back,
his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live.
He asked them when he began to recover.
They told him,
"The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon."
The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him,
"Your son will live,"
and he and his whole household came to believe.
Now this was the second sign Jesus did
when he came to Galilee from Judea.
| Meditation: Isaiah 65:17-21 4th Week of Lent I am about to create. (Isaiah 65:17) For centuries it has been traditional for baptismal fonts to have eight sides. The first seven sides were meant to represent the seven days of creation. The eighth side, however, represented God's ongoing, unending work of creation, both in the world and in each of his people. When a child is baptized, he or she is baptized into that eighth day—another new creation ready to inherit the kingdom of God! Isn't that wonderful? God is never finished creating! He is still making new things every day. He is also at work every day making everything that already exists "new" (Revelation 21:5). Every day we see God creating in the world around us. Plants are pollinated and multiply; seeds mature into berries; volcanic lava creates new land formations. Every day the world shifts and changes a bit as God continues his active, creative work around us. Now, just as God is still creating in the natural world, he is also still creating in the spiritual world. Every day he creates new openings for you to receive his love and to experience healing and grace in your relationships. Every day he opens new doors for you to share your faith. Although not as dramatic as volcanic lava, these too are manifestations of the "new creation" that God is forming in us and around us. We're just about halfway through Lent. Now is a good time to look back for signs of his creative work. Where do you feel a bit new? Then look forward to the creation yet to come. Where do you see new seeds about to blossom forth? Especially when it comes to matters of the heart, God is infinitely creative. He knows where you need renewal—in your prayer life, in your habits, and in your troubling relationships—and he is working to bring it about. You may see yourself as a work in progress, but God sees you, as well as everything he creates, and calls it "good" (Genesis 1:31). As Isaiah promised, God has a wonderful future in store for you, one that will bring you joy and amazement (65:18). So welcome the ways that God is making you new right now, and have faith that he's not finished yet! "Father, help me to recognize your ongoing, creative work in me." Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13
John 4:43-54 |  clickable | [At the crucifixion] right when the Devil thinks he's defeating God, God defeats him. This is how God takes things that are bad and makes them for good. All things works together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purposes.
—Steve Ray
from Stations of the Cross |  Click to see the Devotional Calendar | | 2cents:
"Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth...". And they say that in Heaven things are always new, eternally amazing. Have we begun this sense of wonder in our lives? Before I go on, I want to thank you for your prayers for the prison retreat this past weekend, as one of the final testimonies came from a prisoner "of all my years in prison, this is the best moment I've ever had". Funny, it wasn't for me, it was a tough retreat, really tough. But for many of them, it was something completely new and amazing. I guess God does make things new, amen? | Let us pray: "I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me. I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clear and did not let my enemies rejoice over me." I've got to say, the enemies we make are hard to deal with. You make friends enemies and enemies into friends. What do I mean? Who you should've been friends with, you abandon, and those you should not be with you turn to as friends. We have taken a departure from our Lord in our country in the last generation. The new generation must be made new. And it is going to start with me and you. We have to be the voice of hope and endurance and perseverance. Let us turn to our Lord for hope. | A man's son is dying, and so He seeks Jesus, finds our Lord, and begs for Him to come heal His son, yet our Lord says ""Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe." What does this mean? It means "Where is your faith?" And the man simply says "Sir, come down before my child dies." What does this mean? It means "Lord, healer, I beg you, you are the only one of all the people in the world that can come save my child". Jesus heard this faith, with spiritual ears and at that moment, the child was saved. | There is nothing more atrocious than to see your child suffering to death, just ask Mother Mary. People would do anything to help their beloved child. But, believe it or not, there are some in the world that do not have this capability of love. A child is abandoned, They are left to roam the world. Some make it, some wind up in prison. And worse, the only thing they've latched on to for nourishment are drugs and other addictions. I wonder about this suffering that some endure in prisons. Please, always pray for God to reach their souls and give them grace to find Him through the darkness. The child suffers. How in the world can they ever see something new? It would be only through you and our Lord working through you too. They say that our prayers in the other side of life, our prayers are more powerful than we care to believe. The more holy the prayers, from the sincere heart, the more efficacious they become. What our Lord asks for here is faith. Our Lord said, "Your son will live," and he and his whole household came to believe. In the prisons, most there are because of a lack of a real father in their lives. The men that I went with to put on the retreat are older men, a couple of them were over 80 years old. This brought some to tears. They love the old men. I'm the odd one out, I'm not as old and I'm not a white man. But sometimes I feel like I'm seen as an old man. Last week the post office lady asked me if my mom was my wife, and they've asked me if my wife is my daughter. I tell people that most of my friends in church are old men. I guess when I'm 70, people will think I'm 90 or 100 years old. I digress. The whole household came to believe, and they come to be baptized. To be transformed. To be made new. That's what happens with an encounter with our Lord. But it takes effort. Like Michelangelo's painting of a weak faint effort on our part meeting God's strong finger. We must strive to always be in touch with our Lord. He is our life's center....the source and summit... |  click to hear the bible verse | adrian Random Bible Verse
Matthew 5:4 (Listen)
4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Thank You Jesus | |
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