 clickable | | The Sacrament of the Present Moment In letters written in 1740, Jean-Pierre de Caussade (ordained member of the Society of Jesus) wrote about the sacrament of the present moment. We are invited to choose to live each day as a sacrament (as a gift), enabling us to see, to hear, to taste, and to touch grace—the goodness of God's presence in our world. We need to bring this sacrament back and allow it to be front and center in our lives. I'm pretty sure that St. Francis would agree. Franciscan spirituality is an incarnational earthy spirituality. Put simply: God is close, never far away. —from the book This Is the Life: Mindfulness, Finding Grace, and the Power of the Present Moment by Terry Hershey |  MorningOffering.com | † Saint Quote
"Is it not a wonderful thing, that he that is the Lord and author of all liberty, would thus be bound with ropes and nailed hand and foot unto the Cross?"
— St. John Fisher † Meditation of the Day
"We frequently need other people's help to figure out what God wants of us. It is relatively easy to sort out what is bad from what is good, but it is much more difficult to sort out what is good from what is better and what is bad from what is worse. The Holy Spirit gives us the counsel we need through external and internal signs of grace."
— Rev. Jude Winkler, p. 35
An Excerpt From † Verse of the Day
"Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But wicked people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."
2 Timothy 3:12-15 |  click to read more | | St. John of Capistrano St. John of Capistrano (1385-1456) was born in Capistrano, Italy. After the death of his father, his mother sent him to study law in Perugia where he rose to prominence. He achieved great success as a lawyer and was appointed governor of Perugia. He was an upright leader who refused bribes and corruption. While attempting to negotiate a peace treaty he was imprisoned, which gave him opportunity to assess the direction of his life and the state of his soul. After having a vision of St. Francis of Assisi, John left the world and entered religious life as a Franciscan friar. He was taught theology by St. Bernardine of Siena, and together the two worked to reform the Franciscan order. St. John traveled throughout Italy preaching for the salvation of souls, combating the heresies of his day, and winning many souls away from schism and heresy. Merchants would suspend their business as great crowds gathered to hear him preach in the public squares. He was also known as a healer, and many of the sick were brought to him to be cured. St. John was frequently used as an ambassador by the Holy See which allowed him to preach across the Holy Roman Empire, earning him the name "Apostle of Europe." He also preached a crusade against the Muslim Turks for the emancipation of Hungary. He was present at the Battle of Belgrade and led the charge of the Christian army under a banner monogrammed with the Holy Name of Jesus, to which he had a great devotion, urging the crusaders to invoke the name of Jesus for success in battle. The victory of the Christian army was attributed to his efforts. St. John of Capistrano is the patron of judges, military chaplains, lawyers, and jurists. His feast day is October 23rd. | Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Rom 6:12-18 Brothers and sisters:
Sin must not reign over your mortal bodies
so that you obey their desires.
And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin
as weapons for wickedness,
but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life
and the parts of your bodies to God
as weapons for righteousness.
For sin is not to have any power over you,
since you are not under the law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law
but under grace?
Of course not!
Do you not know that if you present yourselves
to someone as obedient slaves,
you are slaves of the one you obey,
either of sin, which leads to death,
or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin,
you have become obedient from the heart
to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted.
Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness. Responsorial Psalm Ps 124:1b-3, 4-6, 7-8 R.(8a) Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Had not the LORD been with us,
let Israel say, had not the LORD been with us–
When men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive;
When their fury was inflamed against us.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Then would the waters have overwhelmed us;
The torrent would have swept over us;
over us then would have swept the raging waters.
Blessed be the LORD, who did not leave us
a prey to their teeth.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
We were rescued like a bird
from the fowlers' snare;
Broken was the snare,
and we were freed.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord. Alleluia Mt 24:42a, 44 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Stay awake!
For you do not know when the Son of Man will come.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 12:39-48 Jesus said to his disciples:
"Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." Then Peter said,
"Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?"
And the Lord replied,
"Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward
whom the master will put in charge of his servants
to distribute the food allowance at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so.
Truly, I say to you, he will put him
in charge of all his property.
But if that servant says to himself,
'My master is delayed in coming,'
and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,
to eat and drink and get drunk,
then that servant's master will come
on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour
and will punish the servant severely
and assign him a place with the unfaithful.
That servant who knew his master's will
but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will
shall be beaten severely;
and the servant who was ignorant of his master's will
but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating
shall be beaten only lightly.
Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more."
| Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Luke 12:39-48 Saint John of Capistrano, Priest (Optional Memorial) If the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. (Luke 12:39) It may seem odd that Jesus would compare himself to a thief when preaching about his Second Coming. Also, why did he use the example of a harsh master who punishes his servants for not being ready? Maybe he did it as a wake-up call for people who have neglected their relationship with God. But what about those of us who have been trying our best to follow him? Should we start worrying too? Certainly not. Jesus doesn't want to frighten us into the kingdom. There is no doubt an element of mystery regarding Jesus' Second Coming. No matter how spiritual we are, it's going to surprise us. We know that he will come "upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:30). But we don't know exactly what that will look like or when it's going to happen. We can only expect that when the infinite enters the finite, the status quo of everyday life will be disrupted. Since Jesus' return will astonish everyone, we might suppose there's no way to prepare for it. But Jesus tells us that our entire Christian life hinges on being ready. The best way to do that is by practicing readiness every day. Not the readiness of someone dreading a coming disaster, but the readiness of a disciple living in trust and faith. That kind of readiness involves being attentive and flexible, holding our own agendas loosely, and trusting that God has a perfect—if sometimes mysterious—plan for our lives. So try to be open to the surprising ways Jesus may want to speak to you, not just through his word, but through the gentle voice of the Spirit or through the actions and words of the people around you. As you go through your day, be open to the interruptions that come. Those unexpected requests from relatives, friends, or coworkers may be Jesus giving you an opportunity to serve him. You don't have to wait for the end of the world to see him; he's knocking at your door right now! "Lord, I want to be ready to welcome you in whatever way you come into my life today." Romans 6:12-18
Psalm 124:1-8 |  clickable | Golden bowls of incense which are the prayers of the saints reminds us that incense is to help us focus on joining our prayers with the prayers of the saints in heaven. The senses enable ours to be elevated -- it isn't just aesthetics, it's sacramentality.
—Scott Hahn
from The End | my2cents:
"But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart..."
You have become obedient! Thanks be to God! These are words of encouragement from Heaven. Perfection will follow suit. | Let us pray: "Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Then would the waters have overwhelmed us;
The torrent would have swept over us;
over us then would have swept the raging waters.
Blessed be the LORD, who did not leave us
a prey to their teeth."
Some atheists ask "why did God invent hell and sends people there?" Some ask "why did he make the world and put us with the devil?"
Isn't that the focus of most? The devil? Evil? Darkness? That's all they seem to care about. I once wrote a song, and I wonder why I haven't written any in the last year, the same year we had no English Men's cursillos, anyway, the song said "if the world was all white, we would be blind", that is we wouldn't disinguish the writings on a white paper. Amen? Through the evils we did to our Lord on the cross, we can now see His great and infinite Love, Amen? | Our Lord said "You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come."
Yesterday I sang at a funeral. Today will be another one. Monday, Father here was at another one from a previous Parish. My consolation is that I've witnessed 3 baptisms prior to that. Life in the Spirit. Souls born. I chose a scripture to read and it said just that "Stay awake!" for the acclamation verse.
How can we stay awake? Pray. Pray always. And pray some more. How? Meditation? Yes. Contemplation? Yes. Orally? YES. Pray always. It is our life connection. And what about the life blood? That's where Jesus our Lord comes in. | "Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more."
What does this mean? For sure, it means whole lot! Now that you know, you are entrusted with much. With much what though? Many souls? Yes. But much more. You have been entrusted with the children of God. Amen? What does that mean? His Love. You've been entrusted with His Love. Be careful not to despise one of these little ones. Be careful how you treat them in front of them and behind them (behind their backs). Treat them as God's child. Treat their sins/infirmities with great care. Wounds need tenderness. Sins wound people. Some are severely debilitated. Drugs is always a good visual for what sins do to a soul. Drugs alter minds and thoughts. So does sin. Enough drugs and time changes the body and hurts the body. So does sin. More than that, drugs eventually lead to death. So does sin. You see?
Much is demanded of you. You who know scripture thus know Jesus.
You are entrusted to the world to bring about salvation, healing, and so much grace.
What's that? You need grace? Get you some! You have been availed the Sacraments and the Rosary.
Let us go forth in the name of Our Lord.
He trusts, He Loves.
You have been entrusted with much..... |  hear it read | adrian Random Bible Verse 1
Psalm 105:7–8 7 He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, Thank You Jesus | |
