 clickable | | Love for the Sake of the Other Whenever we speak about love, we are speaking about relationship. Bonaventure wrote that love is the gravity of the soul; it is what pulls us toward God. We could also say that love is the glue of the universe; it is what constantly holds everything together even when things fall apart. It is simply impossible to think of love sitting on an island all alone. Love likes company. Love means going out to the other for the sake of the other. —from the book The Humility of God: A Franciscan Perspective by Ilia Delio, OSF |  MorningOffering.com | † Saint Quote
"In this life our lot is not to enjoy God, but to do his holy will."
— St. Teresa of Avila † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"I desire that you know more profoundly the love that burns in My Heart for souls, and you will understand this when you meditate upon My Passion. Call upon My mercy on behalf of sinners; I desire their salvation. When you say this prayer, with a contrite heart and with faith on behalf of some sinner, I will give him the grace of conversion. This is the prayer: 'O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You.' "
— St. Faustina Kowalska, p. 186-7
AN EXCERPT FROM
Diary of St. Faustina † VERSE OF THE DAY
"For it is written, 'As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.' So then, each of us will be accountable to God."
Romans 14:11-12 |  click to read more | | ALL DOMINICAN SAINTS November 7th is the Feast of All Saints of the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans. Founded by a Spaniard, St. Dominic de Guzman, in France in the early 13th century, the order has 14 canonized saints and 215 beatified among its mendicant friars, cloistered nuns, active sisters, lay members, and fraternities. The special charism of the Dominican order is to study and preach for the salvation of souls. Over the centuries, the unnamed Dominican martyrs are counted in the tens of thousands, including many among the Martyrs of Nagasaki and the Martyrs of Vietnam. Some of the most famous Dominican saints include St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Rose of Lima, St. Martin de Porres, Pope St. Pius V, St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Hyacinth, St. Louis de Montfort, St. Albert the Great, St. Louis Bertrand, St. Catherine de Ricci, St. Hyacinth, St. Margaret of Hungary, St. Peter Martyr, and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. | Saint Didacus (c. 1400 – November 12, 1463) Didacus is living proof that God "chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong." As a young man in Spain, Didacus joined the Secular Franciscan Order and lived for some time as a hermit. After Didacus became a Franciscan brother, he developed a reputation for great insight into God's ways. His penances were heroic. He was so generous with the poor that the friars sometimes grew uneasy about his charity. Didacus volunteered for the missions in the Canary Islands and labored there energetically and profitably. He was also the superior of a friary there. In 1450, he was sent to Rome to attend the canonization of Saint Bernardine of Siena. When many of the friars gathered for that celebration fell ill, Didacus stayed in Rome for three months to nurse them. After he returned to Spain, he pursued a life of contemplation full-time. He showed the friars the wisdom of God's ways. As he was dying, Didacus looked at a crucifix and said: "O faithful wood, O precious nails! You have borne an exceedingly sweet burden, for you have been judged worthy to bear the Lord and King of heaven" (Marion A. Habig, OFM, The Franciscan Book of Saints, p. 834). San Diego, California, is named for this Franciscan, who was canonized in 1588.
Reflection We cannot be neutral about genuinely holy people. We either admire them or we consider them foolish. Didacus is a saint because he used his life to serve God and God's people. Can we say the same for ourselves? | Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 488
Reading 1 Rom 14:7-12 Brothers and sisters:
None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.
For if we live, we live for the Lord,
and if we die, we die for the Lord;
so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.
For this is why Christ died and came to life,
that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
Why then do you judge your brother or sister?
Or you, why do you look down on your brother or sister?
For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God;
for it is written: As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God. So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God. Responsorial Psalm Ps 27:1bcde, 4, 13-14 R. ( 13) I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life's refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
One thing I ask of the LORD;
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.
R. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. Alleluia Mt 11:28 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 15:1-10 The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
"This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
So Jesus addressed this parable to them.
"What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
And when he does find it,
he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home,
he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,
'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.'
I tell you, in just the same way
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance. "Or what woman having ten coins and losing one
would not light a lamp and sweep the house,
searching carefully until she finds it?
And when she does find it,
she calls together her friends and neighbors
and says to them,
'Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.'
In just the same way, I tell you,
there will be rejoicing among the angels of God
over one sinner who repents." | Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Luke 15:1-10 31st Week in Ordinary Time This man welcomes sinners and eats with them. (Luke 15:2)
__
Jesus certainly knew how to stir up trouble: hang around with sinners. Worse yet: eat with them. This scandalized faithful, law-abiding Jews like these Pharisees and scribes. Their identity as God's chosen people set them apart from the nations around them. So fraternizing with wrongdoers would make them—and Jesus—unclean. But Jesus wasn't trying to anger people or violate purity codes; he wanted people to understand the vastness of God's plan. Jesus had come to share his Father's love with everyone. Jesus' mission to reach out to people who are ignored or shunned has continued in the lives of Christians over the centuries. In fact, this sacrificial love for the outcast and the poor became one of the defining characteristics of the early Church. Tertullian (AD 160–225) expressed this pagan observation: "It is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. See, they say, how they love one another. . . . See, they say about us, how they are ready even to die for one another." In today's first reading, St. Paul reminds us that "none of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself" (Romans 14:7). Our call remains the same, whether in the first century or the twenty-first. We were created to reach out to other people. We are fully alive only to the extent that we strive to be men and women for others. How do you deal with the "unpopular" people God puts in your path? This could mean a homeless person or someone else society looks down on. Or it could be someone you just prefer to avoid: someone who needs a ride, and helping them would inconvenience you. Someone with a difficult personality, and spending time with them requires a great amount of patience. Perhaps the best thing to do in these situations is to take just one more step forward. Go ahead and do that uncomfortable or inconvenient thing that you are resisting. Go ahead and pay the cost. You'll never regret obeying God's command to live in love. Because as you reach out in this way, you'll meet Jesus. "Lord, help me to take that one step forward to reach out to someone today." Romans 14:7-12
Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14 |  clickable | Living for the Faith is as good a witness to Christ as dying for the Faith.
—Scott Hahn
from The End | my2cents:
"Or you, why do you look down on your brother or sister?
For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God"
There is a scripture Mt5:45 that says "so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." The light comes to all the same. What we do with the light is the difference. What we do with the rain makes the difference. What is in the rain drops? Nutrients, and all sorts of other microbiological systems, and above all...life sustenance. Think the drops of blood of Jesus. Think transubstantiation. If there is one thing that does not settle well with me, it is to hear others looked down upon, and even worse, when I do it myself. God does not want this. My 9th graders blurted something in class and I said 'that is uncharitable". But how would we know what is an act against love and charity if we were not adhering our lives to the Son and the water? | We pray today: "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear?...One thing I ask of the LORD; this I seek: To dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD and contemplate his temple."
"I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living."
Where is the land of the living? I read many of these verses in funerals. There is talk about having no fear "Be Not Afraid" and "The Lord is my Shepherd" in Psalm 23. And dwellings in Heaven and so on. Is the land of the living here? Among the walking dead? The Promised land is at hand. | Our Lord says something peculiar:
""What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?"
It's as if He is suggesting that everybody should automatically do what HE is doing.
It is a talk that comes from Genesis. How? It is a restoration project that started long ago. God came immediately to save the lost. "Where are you Adam and Eve? Why are you hiding? Why are you ashamed? Who told you this?" He caught them red handed. They (we) were originally pure and holy saints. Now they were marred with sin. Now God had to help them with the healing process because of the big gaping wounds they had received. Think Christ. Think the cross and His lacerations. He came to heal by being struck. How many times do we hear of people saved...only after they were beaten?
Would you leave all your friends and family to save a lost soul? Would you give up your life to save a soul? Would you leave the Highest of Heavens of safety, bliss, and security, to be dragged on the streets and tortured publicly, to save one soul? | Let's ask Simon of Cyrene.
"Simone, father of Rufus and Alexander, you experienced personally the touch of Christ our Good Shepherd when they told you to help Him carry His cross. You saw how badly beaten and in condition He was. Would you do what He did? Afterall, your encounter with His eyes said to you "I did this for YOU".
-Simon says: "After touching Him and helping Him, something happened. He touched ME. I didn't touch Him. If I touched Him it was by accident. I didn't want my clothes full of blood. I didn't want people to think I was associated with Him. I was a coward. I was afraid to lay down my life. I had a family to look out for. I had then, to look out for myself. please excuse me, something is happening with my heart and throat and eyes. Those blood filled eyes, they had a tear in them. They looked at me, and I saw the eyes of my Father whom I missed so very much all my life. They looked at me and I realized THIS IS MY FATHER. I helped my poor Father up. I lugged that cross with all my might as He stumbled to get up and walk. He was so weak, yet so strong. How was He even walking at this point? Something else was driving Him, something out of this world. Now, from Heaven, I can tell you what it was...LOVE! HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH! Your Father LOVES YOU my child." Don't ever forget that. Let that message carry you through to the next life.
My refuge. Do Not Be afraid. I Do It For You. Mercy came running when Mercy heard that your name and that your life was at stake.
Yes you are worth it. All that blood and suffering. You are so dearly loved.
There is my friend....no greater love than this......... |  hear it read | adrian Random Bible Verse 1
Matthew 5:23–24 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
->Thank You Jesus<-
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