 clickable | | The American Catholic Story Religious history must involve more than recounting old events. Catholics proclaim that God lived on this earth as Jesus and that God continues to guide the church through the Holy Spirit. In other words, God lives in history. Part of me has known that since I was a child. In this book I do not offer a comprehensive history. This is not the story of American Catholicism. This is one collection of stories that I hope will stimulate further conversation. I touch upon some key themes that arose throughout the lives of Catholics living with the land we now know as the United States of America. Through the stories of the people that I choose to tell, I offer glimpses into the long, sometimes painful, and always holy lives of the people who built the Church —from the book American and Catholic: Stories of the People Who Built the Church by C. Walker Gollar |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
"We must pray literally without ceasing— without ceasing—in every occurrence and employment of our lives . . . that prayer of the heart which is independent of place or situation, or which is rather a habit of lifting up the heart to God as in a constant communication with Him."
— St. Elizabeth Ann Seton †Meditation of the Day "Among the various indications that make the holiness of God known to men, the most convincing sign is the holiness of men, who are sanctified by the divine indwelling . . . In teaching us the words, 'hallowed be Thy name,' our Lord also bids us, when we pray, to ask that God may be glorified by our lives. The sense of the prayer is this: 'Grant us so to live, that all men may glorify Thee through us.' God is sanctified or hallowed in the minds of other men through us, to the extent that we are sanctified by Him. Hence when we say: 'hallowed be Thy name,' we pray, as Cyprian remarks, that God's name may be hallowed in us. Following the lead of Christ, who says: 'Be holy, because I am holy,' we beg that we, who have been sanctified in Baptism, may persevere in the state in which we began. Furthermore we pray daily to be sanctified in order that we, who daily fall, may wash away our sins by a constant process of purification." — St. Thomas Aquinas, p. 350-51 An Excerpt From Aquinas' Shorter Summa †Verse of the Day Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6 |  click to read more | | The American Catholic Story Religious history must involve more than recounting old events. Catholics proclaim that God lived on this earth as Jesus and that God continues to guide the church through the Holy Spirit. In other words, God lives in history. Part of me has known that since I was a child. In this book I do not offer a comprehensive history. This is not the story of American Catholicism. This is one collection of stories that I hope will stimulate further conversation. I touch upon some key themes that arose throughout the lives of Catholics living with the land we now know as the United States of America. Through the stories of the people that I choose to tell, I offer glimpses into the long, sometimes painful, and always holy lives of the people who built the Church —from the book American and Catholic: Stories of the People Who Built the Church by C. Walker Gollar | Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 380
Reading 1 Gn 22:1b-19 God put Abraham to the test.
He called to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
Then God said: "Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love,
and go to the land of Moriah.
There you shall offer him up as a burnt offering
on a height that I will point out to you."
Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey,
took with him his son Isaac, and two of his servants as well,
and with the wood that he had cut for the burnt offering,
set out for the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham got sight of the place from afar.
Then he said to his servants: "Both of you stay here with the donkey,
while the boy and I go on over yonder.
We will worship and then come back to you."
Thereupon Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering
and laid it on his son Isaac's shoulders,
while he himself carried the fire and the knife.
As the two walked on together, Isaac spoke to his father Abraham:
"Father!" he said.
"Yes, son," he replied.
Isaac continued, "Here are the fire and the wood,
but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?"
"Son," Abraham answered,
"God himself will provide the sheep for the burnt offering."
Then the two continued going forward. When they came to the place of which God had told him,
Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it.
Next he tied up his son Isaac,
and put him on top of the wood on the altar.
Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.
But the LORD's messenger called to him from heaven,
"Abraham, Abraham!"
"Here I am," he answered.
"Do not lay your hand on the boy," said the messenger.
"Do not do the least thing to him.
I know now how devoted you are to God,
since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son."
As Abraham looked about,
he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket.
So he went and took the ram
and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son.
Abraham named the site Yahweh-yireh;
hence people now say, "On the mountain the LORD will see."
Again the LORD's messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said: "I swear by myself, declares the LORD,
that because you acted as you did
in not withholding from me your beloved son,
I will bless you abundantly
and make your descendants as countless
as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore;
your descendants shall take possession
of the gates of their enemies,
and in your descendants all the nations of the earth
shall find blessingBall this because you obeyed my command." Abraham then returned to his servants,
and they set out together for Beer-sheba,
where Abraham made his home.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 115:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
‐--------------
R.(9) I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Not to us, O LORD, not to us
but to your name give glory
because of your kindness, because of your truth.
Why should the pagans say,
"Where is their God?"
R. I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Our God is in heaven;
whatever he wills, he does.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the handiwork of men.
R. I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
They have mouths but speak not;
they have eyes but see not;
They have ears but hear not;
they have noses but smell not.
R. I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Their makers shall be like them,
everyone who trusts in them.
The house of Israel trusts in the LORD;
he is their help and their shield.
R. I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia. Alleluia 2 Cor 5:19 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 9:1-8 After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town.
And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,
"Courage, child, your sins are forgiven."
At that, some of the scribes said to themselves,
"This man is blaspheming."
Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said,
"Why do you harbor evil thoughts?
Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,'
or to say, 'Rise and walk'?
But that you may know that the Son of Man
has authority on earth to forgive sins"–
he then said to the paralytic,
"Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home."
He rose and went home.
When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe
and glorified God who had given such authority to men. | Mass Reading & Meditation for July 4, 2019
Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Genesis 22:1-19 Independence Day (USA) (Optional Memorial) God put Abraham to the test. (Genesis 22:1) What sort of God asks for human sacrifice? The famous "testing of Abraham" is a troubling account—that is, until we learn that God never intended for him to actually sacrifice Isaac. Throughout the story, God was giving Abraham opportunities to deepen his trust and faith. And Abraham passed the tests, all of them, with flying colors. From the outset, Abraham deferred to God's direction. He didn't hesitate in following God's command, even though it meant sacrificing what was most precious to him. The next test of their relationship arrived swiftly when God chose not to provide a map or tell Abraham exactly where to go. All he said was Head toward Moriah, and I'll tell you where to stop. It's the sort of navigational help that most people dread! Still, Abraham went along with it. And sure enough, after three days of wandering, God showed him the place. Another part of God's test was psychological. Would Abraham remain steadfast, even when heading toward his son's death? Yes, he would. Abraham assured Isaac of God's faithfulness, even when Isaac asked him the heart-wrenching question "Where is the sheep for the burnt offering?" (Genesis 22:7). In all of these moments, we see why Abraham is called the "father of faith" (see Romans 4:16). But it would also be appropriate to call him a father with great faith. He was an example to Isaac, and he's an example for anyone trying to follow God. Although not as dramatic as Abraham's story, certain aspects of our devotion to God might seem just as absurd to outside observers: getting up early on a Sunday to go to Mass, for example. Following the Church's teaching on sexual morality, trying to teach our children virtues that go against the prevailing philosophies of the world, giving up our freedom to care for an ailing parent—all of these put our faith in God on display. If you do any of these things, take heart. You are also a father or mother with great faith. Just as God looked kindly on Abraham's faith during that difficult journey, he sees and honors your sacrifices. And as he led Abraham, he will lead you into an even closer relationship of trust with him. "Lord, thank you for seeing my faith. Help me to trust you more." Psalm 115:1-6, 8-9
Matthew 9:1-8 |  clickable | In his earthly living and dying, Jesus perfectly accomplishes the ideal that the righteous man of the Old Testament attempted to display in his own life. The sole aim of Jesus' existence, in other words, is the pure glorification of the Father. It is to do, not his own will, but the Father's that he came; it is not his own teaching that he proclaims but the teaching of the One who sent him. —Hans Urs von Balthasar from Hans Urs von Balthasar on the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises | From Bishop Barron today:
Thursday, July 4, 2019 Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 9:1-8 Friends, in our Gospel today Jesus heals a paralytic, but not before first forgiving his sins: "People brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.'" Jesus read the hearts of scribes who had decided he was blaspheming, and so he replied, "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk?'" When no reply came, Jesus sent the man off home carrying his stretcher. The story affirms that Jesus offers us forgiveness and healing. Even though we are sinners, even though we are hopeless in our hatred and stupidity, even though we had gone (and would still go today) to the limits of killing God's own Son, God still loves us; God still forgives us. We know that nothing can possibly separate us from the love of God because we hear in the greeting of the risen Jesus that any and every sin can be forgiven. |  hear it read | adrian Random Bible Verse1
Micah 6:8 (Listen) 8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness, [1]
and to walk humbly with your God? Thank You Jesus | |
No comments:
Post a Comment