 clickable | | It's Hard to Ask for Help Most of us have balked at doing things in a way that felt demeaning or just contrary to our will. Wanting our way over someone else's way (even if that someone else is God) can mean arrogantly thinking our way is best. Most of us have also felt uncomfortable asking for help. It stings our pride. It often feels easier to be the giver. When we receive without reciprocating, it's uncomfortable. We feel beholden. Most of us don't find it easy to depend on others, unless forced to do so by dire straits. But we are all indebted to God for every breath we take. What do any of us have that is not a gift from God? Being reminded of this keeps us humble in a healthy way. Our spiritual journey is an ongoing process. Whether or not our faith experience is marked by dramatic turning points, there is always room for growth. Like Naaman, we can go forward in peace. God gives us all we need to continue growing in faith as we do our imperfect best to act on what we have already been given. —from the book Fools, Liars, Cheats, and Other Bible Heroes by Barbara Hosbach |  MorningOffering.com | "You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them." — St. Therese of Lisieux Meditation of the Day "O my God, you and you alone are all wise and all knowing! You know, you have determined everything that will happen to us from first to last. You have ordered things in the wisest way, and you know what will be my lot year by year until I die. You know how long I have to live. You know how I shall die. You have precisely ordained everything, sin excepted. Every event of my life is the best for me that it could be, for it comes from you. You bring me on year by year, by your wonderful Providence, from youth to age, with the most perfect wisdom, and with the most perfect love." — Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman, p. 103 An Excerpt From Everyday Meditations Verse of the Day "Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is." 1 John 3:2 |  click to read more | | Saint Romuald (c. 950 – June 19, 1027) In the midst of a wasted youth, Romuald watched his father kill a relative in a duel over property. In horror he fled to a monastery near Ravenna. After three years, some of the monks found him to be uncomfortably holy and eased him out. Romuald spent the next 30 years going about Italy, founding monasteries and hermitages. He longed to give his life to Christ in martyrdom, and got the pope's permission to preach the gospel in Hungary. But he was struck with illness as soon as he arrived, and the illness recurred as often as he tried to proceed. During another period of his life, Romuald suffered great spiritual dryness. One day as he was praying Psalm 31 ("I will give you understanding and I will instruct you"), he was given an extraordinary light and spirit which never left him. At the next monastery where he stayed, Romuald was accused of a scandalous crime by a young nobleman he had rebuked for a dissolute life. Amazingly, his fellow monks believed the accusation. He was given a severe penance, forbidden from offering Mass, and excommunicated—an unjust sentence that he endured in silence for six months. The most famous of the monasteries Romuald founded was that of the Camaldoli in Tuscany. Here began the Order of the Camaldolese Benedictines, uniting the monastic and eremetical lives. In later life Romuald's own father became a monk, wavered, and was kept faithful by the encouragement of his son.
Reflection Christ is a gentle leader, but he calls us to total holiness. Now and then, men and women are raised up to challenge us by the absoluteness of their dedication, the vigor of their spirit, the depth of their conversion. The fact that we cannot duplicate their lives does not change the call to us to be totally open to God in our own particular circumstances. | Reading 1 2 Cor 9:6-11 Brothers and sisters, consider this:
whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,
and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver.
Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you,
so that in all things, always having all you need,
you may have an abundance for every good work.
As it is written: He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever. The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food
will supply and multiply your seed
and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You are being enriched in every way for all generosity,
which through us produces thanksgiving to God. Responsorial Psalm Ps 112:1bc-2, 3-4, 9 R.(1b) Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed the man who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his commands.
His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth;
the upright generation shall be blessed.
R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Wealth and riches shall be in his house;
his generosity shall endure forever.
Light shines through the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious and merciful and just.
R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Lavishly he gives to the poor;
his generosity shall endure forever;
his horn shall be exalted in glory.
R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia. Alleluia Jn 14:23 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him
and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 Jesus said to his disciples:
"Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. "When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door,
and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. "When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to others to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you." | Mass Reading & Meditation for June 19, 2019 Catholic Meditations
Meditation: 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 Saint Romuald, Abbot (Optional Memorial) You are being enriched in every way for all generosity. (2 Corinthians 9:11) Have you ever been asked to make a contribution to a good cause at a time when you were worried about paying the next bill? When Paul decided to take up a collection for the Christian community in Jerusalem, some of the believers in Corinth probably found themselves in such a predicament. They may have wondered why they should give to people hundreds of miles away when they didn't have enough for themselves. "You are being enriched in every way for all generosity," Paul told them (2 Corinthians 9:11). In other words, God is blessing you abundantly so that you can bless other people. Paul wasn't talking only about material blessings here. He was talking about spiritual ones as well. It's similar to what he told the church in Ephesus: God has "blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing" (1:3). God was so generous that he sent his only Son to become one of us and die for us, just so that we would know his love and mercy. It's this understanding of our "richness" in Christ that can move us to be generous. Of course, God isn't asking us to give away all of our money or our time. But neither does he want us to hold things so tightly that we are reluctant to give anything. Maybe he will help you see more clearly all the ways he has provided for you, inspiring you to give some of the money you now spend on entertainment to help the poor. Perhaps your kids are grown, and you now have more free time—time you can donate to your parish. Or maybe you have been blessed with a rich prayer life, and you sense God asking you to devote some of your prayer time to interceding for other people's needs. God is a cheerful giver. Cheerfully he gave us his Son. Cheerfully he continues to forgive our sins and shower us with mercy. Cheerfully he keeps pouring his love into our hearts. Let's ask him for the grace to be as cheerful a giver as he is! "Father, thank you for all you've given me. Show me how to share it." Psalm 112:1-4, 9
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 |  clickable | The Nicene Creed professes not only the fact of God's Incarnation, but also the reason. It was for "our salvation" that the Son of God "came down from heaven." Salvation here has a very specific meaning -- a richness that I fear has been lost over the centuries. —Leila Miller from Raising Chaste Catholic Men | my2cents:
"He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."
How does our Lord give? It is who He gives through. Me and you. | Let us pray: "Lavishly he gives to the poor; his generosity shall endure forever;
his horn shall be exalted in glory. Blessed the man who fears the Lord."
He gives lavishly to the poor? Some do not believe the poor need to be given free handouts.
Does this mean we are not to give? GOD gives lavishly to those who ask...of Himself. | In the Holy Gospel our Lord speaks and says three times: "....your Father who sees in secret will repay you."
Repay you? For what?
Give alms.
Pray.
Fast. | We will be repayed for praying and giving in secret? And for fasting?
Yes.
He loves a giver. .a cheerful giver...giving with great love.
And there lies the secret of joy.
Give to God everything He asks for.
For what He asks for is very little when compared to what He has given us Our very existence |  hear it read | adrian Random Bible Verse1
Proverbs 12:1 (Listen) 12:1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but he who hates reproof is stupid. Thank You Jesus | |
