 clickable | | Deeply Committed to God The saint [Bernard of Clairvaux] and the scholar [Peter Abelard] were each deeply religious in their views of God and love and about the meaning of life. Don't for a second imagine that Peter had anything at all to do with what we today call atheists or secularists. They both dedicated their lives to understanding divine revelation, but then differed on how to hear it, where to discover it, and how to know it was true. In a time that was itself rife with faith dissenters—usually in the form of cynical poets, including a lot of former monks—they stood resolutely against them. Some philosophers and poets at that time wrote of the good in contrast to God, spoke of erotic and passionate love as what was real, in contrast to the spiritual love of, and for, the divine, or praised pleasure, saying that people of strong character needn't mess with the mumbo jumbo surrounding the God of the Bible or the God who is personally interested in the lives of human beings. Peter and Bernard stood together against these. They stood in the line of Augustine and Jerome as men who were educated and skilled in these pagan literatures, and had roots in the writings of Plato, Cicero, and others, but who had "baptized" them with the teachings of Christ on love, sin, and redemption. —from the book The Saint vs. The Scholar: The Fight Between Faith and Reason, By Jon M. Sweeney |  MorningOffering.com | † Saint Quote
"Let us love the cross very much, for it is there that we discover our life, our true love, and our strength in our greatest difficulties."
— St. Maria de Mattias † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"To the extent that we abandon our personality to Him, He will take possession of our will and work in us. We are no longer ruled by commands coming from the outside, as from a cruel master, but by almost imperceptible suggestions that rise up from within. We feel as if we had wanted all along to do those things He suggests to us; we are never conscious of being under command. Thus our service to Him becomes the highest form of liberty, for it is always easy to do something for the one we love."
— Fulton J. Sheen, p. 182
AN EXCERPT FROM
Peace of Soul † VERSE OF THE DAY
"A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. The rich and the poor have this in common."
Proverbs 22:1-2 |  click to read more | | ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430 A.D.) was born in North Africa to a pagan father and a Christian mother, St. Monica. His mother did her best to raise him in the Christian faith, but Augustine, a brilliant and promising young student, was carried away into wordly attractions, lust for women, and pagan philosophies. This put his faith and morals into a state of crisis for many years. His waywardness gave his holy mother great pain and anxiety as she watched her son pursue materialistic ambitions and keep company with heretical sects. Through her constant prayers and the holy preaching of St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, St. Augustine came to recognize the truth of Christianity; but only after several spiritually tumultuous years of seeking God through his philosophical studies. He underwent a profound conversion and was baptized, after which he lived a holy life of purity, prayer, and penance. His life is one of the greatest sinner-to-saint stories in the history of the Church. St. Augustine eventually became a priest, bishop, theologian, writer, and the founder of a religious order of priests. He was declared a Doctor of the Church and is considered one of the most influential saints and theologians to have ever lived, one whose writings are widely read to this very day. His feast day is celebrated on August 28. Reflection Augustine is still acclaimed and condemned in our day. He is a prophet for today, trumpeting the need to scrap escapisms and stand face-to-face with personal responsibility and dignity.
Saint Augustine is the Patron Saint of: Printers
Theologians | Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Reading 1 1 Thes 2:9-13 You recall, brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery.
Working night and day in order not to burden any of you,
we proclaimed to you the Gospel of God.
You are witnesses, and so is God,
how devoutly and justly and blamelessly
we behaved toward you believers.
As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his children,
exhorting and encouraging you and insisting
that you walk in a manner worthy of the God
who calls you into his Kingdom and glory. And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly,
that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us,
you received it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God,
which is now at work in you who believe. Responsorial Psalm Ps 139:7-8, 9-10, 11-12ab R.(1) You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
Where can I go from your spirit?
From your presence where can I flee?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I sink to the nether world, you are present there.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there your hand shall guide me,
and your right hand hold me fast.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall hide me,
and night shall be my light"–
For you darkness itself is not dark,
and night shines as the day.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord. Alleluia 1 Jn 2:5 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever keeps the word of Christ,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 23:27-32 Jesus said,
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside,
but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth.
Even so, on the outside you appear righteous,
but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You build the tombs of the prophets
and adorn the memorials of the righteous,
and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,
we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets' blood.'
Thus you bear witness against yourselves
that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets;
now fill up what your ancestors measured out!" | Meditation: 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Memorial) . . . the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe. (1 Thessalonians 2:13) Today is the feast of St. Augustine. So let's take a look at how Augustine experienced God's word "at work": through another Christian. When Augustine arrived in Milan to teach rhetoric in the pagan schools there, he heard of the reputation of Ambrose, Milan's bishop. The people loved him, and that sparked first interest and then admiration in Augustine. He felt drawn to Ambrose and often listened to him as he preached. But Augustine needed more than persuasive preaching. As Ambrose took Augustine under his wing and treated him like a son, the walls around Augustine's heart began to crumble. "I began to love him at first not as a teacher of the truth . . . but simply as a man who was kind and generous to me" (Confessions, 5.13). Clearly, it was the love that Ambrose showed him that made the biggest difference. For Augustine, Ambrose had become a living word of God. Similarly, the word was at work in the witness of Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy as they ministered to the Thessalonians. The way they loved the people, their dedication to the gospel, and their hard work moved the people to hear and embrace the good news of Christ. Can it be any different for us? It's through our actions that we show people what it means to live the good news. It's in the rough-and-tumble of everyday life that the Spirit can make us into living words of God. How does this happen? Think about your own experience of faith. Recall the people who have taken you under their wings, especially when you were struggling or felt directionless. God gave them to you so that you could see what it looks like to live for him. Their commitment to prayer and their willingness to care for you touched you and drew you to the Lord. Let the examples of these people teach you how to be a living word yourself. Look for small ways to reach out to the people in your life, and believe that God will bless you. Even a tiny act of love can soften a heart. "Jesus, help me to become your living word." Psalm 139:7-12
Matthew 23:27-32 |  clickable | Every moment comes to you pregnant with a divine purpose; time being so precious that God deals it out only second by second. Once it leaves your hands and your power to do with it as you please, it plunges into eternity, to remain forever whatever you made it.
—Ven. Fulton J. Sheen
from Go to Heaven | "As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his children,
exhorting and encouraging you and insisting that you walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into his Kingdom and glory."
The Father treats His children how? He exhorts. He encourages. He insists that we walk worthy. This falls flat on the protestant basis "faith alone". We must be found worthy. We must be insistent and consistent with Our Father too, that we may be found worthy. That we may walk and not grow weary, nor faint. God insists and we must insist. We must insist on Love and Love must insist on us! Amen? I'm encouraging you to always insist! Insist on others. One thing I've noticed, I'm a pesky fellow. I'm always hounding my brothers to come to meet me and do church things. Some do, some don't, but I persist and I insist. And sometimes they have to insist and persist me! And this is good. Let the calling rub you and finally move you. For God calls us His children, and so we must walk as the Father walks, and talk as the Father talks. Now we are speaking of the Holy Spirit, in various tongues. Now we move in the way He desires. Walk funny. His way is funny. It doesn't match to what we want. And so our will goes versus His will. Keep this in mind. Today we pray: "You have searched me and you know me, Lord. If I say, "Surely the darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light"– For you darkness itself is not dark, and night shines as the day."
They say there is no night time in Heaven. A girl painted a picture of Heaven, and everything is meant to be perfect. As beautiful as the image was, it spoke to me, because it seemed this nice little mansion didn't have people living there...is it vacant? Or, better yet, were the people off worshiping God? The latter seemed more fitting, for the opposite occurs in Heaven. Where on earth there is not time for God, in Heaven there is no time for worldly things. | In the Holy Gospel, our Lord speaks: "You hypocrites...on the outside you appear righteous,
but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing."
Who are these "whitewashed tombs" our Father is calling out? Can you think of a few hypocrites? But before you tell me who they are, let me continue with our Lord's words today: "...you hypocrites... you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,
we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets' blood.' Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets; now fill up what your ancestors measured out!"
Hindsight is 20/20 easy to judge. The hypocrites point the finger. Always. I've heard of many conversions stories, and I hear a common denominator, the fact that they called everyone in church a hypocrite, but later found out that they themselves were THE hypocrite. We make ourselves out to be better than others. We think we are not like "them". I hate to hear that in ministries. Talking about "them" the "people". We blame "them" parents for bringing us CCD students that don't care. We blame "them" men for not wanting to come to retreats and conferences. It's like having a waiter that hates the customers, all of them.
Is that a servant of God? Is that what the servant is serving? Hatred instead of Love? A snake instead of a loaf of bread? | "Now fill up what your ancestors measured out" . Jesus said in Luke6:38: "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." 39 Jesus also told them a parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?"
Last night, I went to my back yard to check on flowers at a statue of our Blessed Mother. It was dark. I used the phone light to shine. I saw what appeared to be bedding and so I looked for a snake, and I found a rattle snake climbing the tree limbs. Why do I bring this up? Why bring up a deadly animal around a statue? My wife had told me that there were 7 little yellow birds up that tree. Had I not cared about our Lady's flowers, I would not have caught the deadly snake in time.
You see? Show me love and I'll show you light.
If you see light, you are in the presence of God always.
I insist to you now.
And this is Heaven. |  hear it read | adrian Random Bible Verse1
Romans 8:37 (Listen) 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Thank You Jesus | |
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