 clickable | | In Praise of Grandparents The very same behavior from me that upset my father, he somehow found excusable, even cute, from my own children. It took more childish misconduct to frustrate him. As one comedian observed, "These are not the same people who raised us. These are older people trying to get into heaven." The birth order effect can reemerge with grandchildren. My parents saw the arrival of eighteen grandchildren in twenty years. Mom wallpapered her family room with pictures of grandkids one through ten. She stuck kid-drawn stick figures of the last eight to her refrigerator. They were in color, though. Grandkids, their love, life's flexibility, birth order mellowing—it all adds up to the chance to smell more roses and fewer diapers. So why didn't you have the grandchildren first? —from Being a Grandparent: Just Like Being a Parent ... Only Different! by Dr. Ray Guarendi |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
"You are rewarded not according to your work or your time but according to the measure of your love."
— St. Catherine of Siena † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"We are the holy Church. But I do not say 'we' as though to indicate only we who are here, you who have just been listening to me. I mean all of us who are here and by the grace of God faithful Christians in this church, that is, in this city; all those in this region, in this province, across the sea, all those in the whole world. Such is the Catholic Church, our true mother, the true spouse of so great a husband."
— St. Augustine, p. 87
AN EXCERPT FROM
Augustine Day by Day † VERSE OF THE DAY
When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.
Luke 12:11-12 |  click to read more | | ST. ANNE & ST. JOACHIM St. Anne and St. Joachim (1st c. B.C.) are the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the maternal grandparents of Jesus. Their names have been preserved in Church tradition since the second century, although little is known of their lives. It is believed that St. Joachim and St. Anne, although wealthy, lived a devout and simple life of voluntary poverty, chastity, and generosity to the poor. According to legend, after long years of suffering from infertility and praying for a child, Joachim and Anne were each separately visited by an angel in their old age, who announced that they would give birth to a very special child. Their moment of joy at this happy news is depicted with their embrace and kiss at the Golden Gate in Jerusalem. It was from their holy and chaste marriage that the Immaculate Conception was brought into the world. According to tradition, when the Child Mary was three years old, they dedicated her to God and presented her to live in the Jerusalem temple until the time of her betrothal to St. Joseph. St. Anne is the patroness of unmarried women, wives, expectant mothers, pregnancy, women in labor, grandmothers, childless couples, and against poverty and sterility. Women praying to meet their future spouse often turn to St. Anne. St. Joachim is the patron of fathers and grandfathers. Their feast day is July 26th. | Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1 Ex 20:1-17 In those days:
God delivered all these commandments: "I, the LORD, am your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
You shall not have other gods besides me.
You shall not carve idols for yourselves
in the shape of anything in the sky above
or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth;
you shall not bow down before them or worship them.
For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God,
inflicting punishment for their fathers' wickedness
on the children of those who hate me,
down to the third and fourth generation;
but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation
on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments. "You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain.
For the LORD will not leave unpunished
him who takes his name in vain. "Remember to keep holy the sabbath day.
Six days you may labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God.
No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter,
or your male or female slave, or your beast,
or by the alien who lives with you.
In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth,
the sea and all that is in them;
but on the seventh day he rested.
That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. "Honor your father and your mother,
that you may have a long life in the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you. "You shall not kill. "You shall not commit adultery. "You shall not steal. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house.
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife,
nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass,
nor anything else that belongs to him." Responsorial Psalm Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11 R.(John 6:68c) Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
The command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
The ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
They are more precious than gold,
than a heap of purest gold;
Sweeter also than syrup
or honey from the comb.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life. Alleluia See Lk 8:15 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 13:18-23 Jesus said to his disciples:
"Hear the parable of the sower.
The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom
without understanding it,
and the Evil One comes and steals away
what was sown in his heart.
The seed sown on rocky ground
is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.
But he has no root and lasts only for a time.
When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
he immediately falls away.
The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,
but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
and it bears no fruit.
But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold."
| Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Matthew 13:18-23 Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Memorial) The seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it. (Matthew 13:23) What is your opinion of the sower in this parable? Do you think he cares about where his seeds land? Perhaps you picture him randomly dropping seeds here and there without a thought. Some seeds land on the path. So be it. Some land on the rocky ground and don't take root. So be it. And some are lucky enough to land on rich soil, where they will thrive. So be it. But if God is the farmer who is planting that seed, why would he decide to scatter his seeds on soil that won't bear fruit? What farmer would be so careless? God is not being careless; he just knows that we can change. He knows we aren't stuck with being one type of "soil" our whole lives. He knows that any kind of soil can be tilled, reclaimed, and eventually bear fruit. So he scatters his seed on hearts that are hard and full of weeds. So what are some "rocks" and "thorns" that may be in the soil of our hearts? Commenting on this passage, Pope Francis suggested that rocky ground might be the superficial heart that doesn't have much soil. When we have "rocks of laziness," he said, we don't go deep enough with the Lord because we fail to persevere. The thorns are vices such as idolizing wealth and living only for ourselves and our possessions. According to Pope Francis, "If we cultivate these thorns, we choke God's growth within us." Francis went on to encourage us. When we bring our "rocks" and "thorns" to God in Confession and prayer, "Jesus, the Good Sower, will be glad to . . . purify our hearts" (Angelus Address, July 16, 2017). Spend some time today asking God to show you the "rocks" and "thorns" in your life. What might be preventing you from fully hearing and understanding God's word (Matthew 13:23)? What might be keeping you from flourishing and bearing fruit for him? Believe that God wants your heart to be rich soil. If you ask him, he will pull out the weeds. And not only that—he will rain down his grace on you so that you can continue to bear fruit for him! "Lord, thank you for sending me your word and the grace to hear and understand it!" Exodus 20:1-17
Psalm 19:8-11 |  clickable | We have a task ahead as we raise our sons to understand their own mission and identity as men. We must never concede even one inch to those who would have us train our men out of their very manhood.
—Leila Miller
from Raising Chaste Catholic Men | my2cents:
"I AM the Lord YOUR GOD. . .
You shall not have other gods besides me. . .
For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God..."
We hired a young man a couple days ago, and I was told to take him to town for an errand. On the journey, the opportunity arose somehow, to speak about our faith. Immediately, it became apparent that he was brought up in another religion, and his dad was a "Pastor" of a church in Mexico. When it came time to explain my Catholic faith, I brought up all the false accusations against us "worshipping saints and Mary". He said "yeah, it says in the bible you should never take a knee to man made images" and then I brought up the cross, the symbol of the cross, the sign, and I explained what it means, "foolishness to those who are perishing but salvation to those who believe". A couple minutes more and I was teaching him about the rosary. By the end of the journey he said he'd never met a Catholic that actually knew the bible. And we left it at that. And he never came back after his first day of work. You can have all my statues and pictures, but you should also take my faith into consideration...like him, let me explain! God is jealous and punishes those with other gods. If what we do as Catholics was truly evil, billions would be punished along with many protestants...but that is not the case, for we only worship God alone! Amen? In the Old Testament, other gods were easy to identify, but in the New Testament, it is difficult, for we live in the New Testament. And we are leading to the Final Testament. Oh yes! The fulfillment of the Messiah that has come! He has promised to come! And another and final chapter will be written and done! So what other gods did Jesus mention? For sure, Mammon, and all things evil, but he did also mention how we put other things before Him...even family. Boy I get blood boiling when I say that, but it is true. Yet how hard is it to put that one out there in broad daylight! Center of your life. | Let us pray:
"The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The command of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eye. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life..."
What if I said another silly proposition, contrary to what most believe? And it goes like this: "What if all that matters is God's happiness and not your own?" What would please God most? Or, is there a false little god ruling your world my child?" | In the Holy Gospel, our Lord speaks:
"Hear the parable of the sower."
The parable becomes the seed, and we become the dirt that we already are. The Word has the power of everlasting life. Will the Word take in our lives, and our souls? You heard the story, on the path, the devil came like the crows and snatched it away because our hardened heart would not hear it or bear it, have no time for it, therefore, have no care for it. There are many souls like this.
On the other side of the road, rocks, seeds took, and then the little plant died, faith gone, wilted because a lack of roots, roots like the Holy Sacraments and tending to them constantly, and roots like being in faithful communion, a strong accountability group to help you through those tough times of doubt. But, it happens that some come and go, there are many more souls like this than the previous I'd say because in the world there are tough paths but much more rocky land. | Now things are getting deeper and more interesting: "The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit." Ah yes. Anxiety and riches seem to trifle most in our country and most other countries. A real concern for riches leads to anxiety for many. But anxiety comes for many other reasons too. Many are anxious about many things and fail to choose the better part...Martha. Your worldly concerns soon forget the center of life, the center of the life of Mary. Soon other gods rear their faces, Mammon is one, and the other...it is called Me. Selfish Me. Me is an odd person, very disfigured when God is not the center. Disfigured souls are in Purgatory and in Hell. They look monstrous, they do not look human at all, maybe a mere semblance for some, but in hell, well, some exorcists say that if we could see these spirits, they would be worse than we could even imagine, vile to the extreme. And there are more souls like this than all the previous groups. And now the fertile rich group, the fertile soil.
It is said that Saints Joachim and Anne were holy souls, even wealthy. Yes, and holy and chaste souls are hard to come by. But the Word has come into their lives. Jesus, their grandSON. Boy, what a fruit huh? Fruit of holiness and chastity? Fruit of pure love of God? Fruit of faithfulness? Yes, Mary was born and embodied all these things and passed these traits on to our Lord. Yes, good can come from bad, just look at Adam and Eve and God's mercy. We shouldn't put evil ahead of God's mercy as the world tends to do.
We should encompass the world with God's mercy and compassion.
Easier said than done? Well, yes and no.
Yes if you live a life full of grace.
No if you have shallow roots, a shallow faith.
We can make our tap root reach to Jesus and grow into a most fruitful tree.
A tree that bases its life on 3 things.
Father - Sunlight
Son - Dirt and water
Holy Spirit - Air
We all receive the sun.
We can all tap in.
But we must all live life in the Holy Spirit, breathing life into our lives. Jesus is all of these for He is of God and is God. Lord, help us be the fertile soil.
Lord, help us be yours until forever. |  hear it read | adrian Random Bible Verse1
2 Corinthians 9:7 (Listen) 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Thank You Jesus | |
