 clickable | | Everything Is Gift Gratefulness strengthens a sense of belonging. There is no closer bond than the one which gratefulness celebrates, the bond between giver and thanks-giver. Everything is gift. Grateful living is a celebration of the universal give-and-take of life, a limitless "yes" to belonging. —from the book The Way of Silence: Engaging the Sacred in Daily Life |  MorningOffering.com | † Saint Quote "Guard against anger. But if it cannot be averted, let it be kept within bounds. For indignation is a terrible incentive to sin. It disorders the mind to such an extent as to leave no room for reason."
— St. Ambrose † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"No creature ever loved Jesus Christ more ardently, nor showed more perfect submission to His will, than Mary, His mother. If then, this Savior, immolated for us sinners, gave His mother to us, an advocate and intercessor for all time, she cannot but comply with His request, and will not refuse us her assistance. Let us, then, not hesitate to implore her pity; let us have recourse to her with great confidence in all our necessities, as she is an inexhaustible source of blessing, bestowing her favors in proportion to the confidence placed in her."
— Dom Lorenzo Scupoli, p. 152
AN EXCERPT FROM
Spiritual Combat † VERSE OF THE DAY
"This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day."
John 6:40 |  click to read more | | ST. LEONARD OF NOBLAC St. Leonard of Noblac (d. 559 A.D.) also known as St. Leonard of Limoges, was a French nobleman in the court of Clovis I, King of France. He was converted to the Christian faith, along with the King, by St. Remigius, Bishop of Rheims. After his conversion he abandoned his worldly pursuits, left the royal court, and followed St. Remigius as a disciple. He obtained special permission from the king to release any prisoners whom he deemed worthy of pardon. He declined an offer of a bishopric and entered the monastery at Orleans to live a life of prayer and penance. Desiring greater solitude and penance than what the monastery allowed, he withdrew into a forest to live as a hermit. He built a small cell and lived on herbs and fruits. He soon attracted followers who joined him in his ascetic life. In thanksgiving for his prayers that the Queen of France would safely deliver her child, St. Leonard was given a large tract of royal land in Noblac. There the saint built an abbey where he served as abbot until his death. A village grew around the abbey that still exists today, named Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat. Numerous shrines are dedicated to St. Leonard across Europe, and thousands of miracles are credited to his intercession. He is the patron saint of prisoners and women in labor. His feast day is November 6th. | Saint Nicholas Tavelic and Companions
(1340 – November 14, 1391) Nicholas and his three companions are among the 158 Franciscans who have been martyred in the Holy Land since the friars became custodians of the shrines in 1335. Nicholas was born in 1340 to a wealthy and noble family in Croatia. He joined the Franciscans, and was sent with Deodat of Rodez to preach in Bosnia. In 1384, they volunteered for the Holy Land missions and were sent there. They looked after the holy places, cared for the Christian pilgrims, and studied Arabic. In 1391, Nicholas, Deodat, Peter of Narbonne, and Stephen of Cuneo decided to take a direct approach to converting the Muslims. On November 11, they went to the huge Mosque of Omar in Jerusalem and asked to see the Qadix—Muslim official. Reading from a prepared statement, they said that all people must accept the gospel of Jesus. When they were ordered to retract their statement, they refused. After beatings and imprisonment, they were beheaded before a large crowd. Nicholas and his companions were canonized in 1970. They are the only Franciscans martyred in the Holy Land to be canonized. The Liturgical Feast of Saint Nicholas Tavelic and Companions is November 14.
Reflection Francis presented two missionary approaches for his friars. Nicholas and his companions followed the first approach—live quietly and give witness to Christ—for several years. Then they felt called to take the second approach of preaching openly. Their Franciscan confréres in the Holy Land are still working by example to make Jesus better known. | Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 487
Reading 1 Rom 13:8-10 Brothers and sisters:
Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, You shall not commit adultery;
you shall not kill;
you shall not steal;
you shall not covet,
and whatever other commandment there may be,
are summed up in this saying, namely,
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Love does no evil to the neighbor;
hence, love is the fulfillment of the law. Responsorial Psalm Ps 112:1b-2, 4-5, 9 R.( 5a) Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
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 is gracious and lends to those in need.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He dawns through the darkness, a light for the upright;
he is gracious and merciful and just.
Well for the man who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
R. Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
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 is gracious and lends to those in need.
or:
R. Alleluia. Alleluia 1 Pt 4:14 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you,
for the Spirit of God rests upon you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 14:25-33 Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
"If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.'
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way,
everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple." | Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Romans 13:8-10 31st Week in Ordinary Time The one who loves another has fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:8) Lose weight overnight! Develop one simple habit to make your marriage the best! Instantly fix your budget! Everyone wants quick fixes—effortless ways to accomplish things we find hard to do. St. Paul's assertion here, that love is the fulfillment of all the commandments, can sound like that same kind of thinking. Satisfy every one of the commandments in the Bible with one simple line of action? Sign me up! But just as with all simple and instant solutions, reading the fine print can be illuminating. Love is not simple, and it's definitely not always easy. As St. Paul famously wrote, it requires patience and kindness. It requires that we not be jealous, quick-tempered, boastful, or proud. We can't brood over injuries or rejoice in wrongdoing (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). The Greek word for this type of love, agape, conveys the sense of giving without expecting anything in return. Loving someone like that is hard, and for most of us, it doesn't come naturally. For all of us, it's work, the labor of a lifetime. Even more to the point, we can't do it on our own. It requires extravagant amounts of divine grace. Mercifully, God delights in lavishing that grace on anyone who asks. He delights in giving it to anyone who humbly acknowledges that they just can't say "I forgive you" one more time . . . or wait patiently for the slow steps of an aging parent or a distracted toddler . . . or resist directing scorn or sarcasm at an irritating coworker or thoughtless driver. Every ordinary day presents opportunities for you to show sympathy or thoughtfulness to someone else or to refuse to entertain resentful or egotistic thoughts. Every ordinary day you can grow in the love that is the fulfillment of the law, because God will help you. Even if you don't feel like God is giving you the grace you need at the moment, believe that he is, and then act on it. As C. S. Lewis once wrote, "When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him" (Mere Christianity). And that actually does begin with one simple step! "Father, I need your grace today to love people patiently, kindly, and selflessly." Psalm 112:1-2, 4-5, 9
Luke 14:25-33 |  clickable | For Catholics, the Bible is "of a whole" — each part helps to explain other parts. The story of salvation reveals the covenant of God with creation and humanity in particular. It is primarily the story of God's faithfulness and mankind's sin and repeated failure to be faithful.
—Scott Hahn
from The End | my2cents:
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no evil to the neighbor".
Love does NO evil to the neighbor.
Evil does enough on its own, but Love does not. God does no evil. How does the creator, even of Evil, do no evil? That is the number one atheist question, and even of some supposed believers, right? "How can a 'good' god allow evil?".
The theology book called GENESIS in the Holy Bible explains it. Whence that one took a bit of the forbidden fruit, all hell broke loose. It was freedom to choose. And today "choice" means death. We should not be so free. We should be closed to what the world offers. But love remains. God remains. If He ever thought of giving us freedom, the whole of Mercy has been created to reconcile us. What evils will you do today? It won't take much of your weakness to make great evils happen. Therefore...be strong. Be strong enough for the narrow gate is open. The gate takes brute strength to enter, it will sheer off many things on you, even your skin, whatever it takes to live...forever. | Let us pray: "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. Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need." Lending to the needy is an act of graciousness. Last night in friendship group, a conversation about a particular poor lady came up, she sings in choir, and is very giving. Just this week she asked if I had an apartment for a homeless lady she cared very much for. How can a materially poor person give so much? Her husband, in the meeting, said she is the most giving person he knows. What does she give if she has no money? She gives of herself...what is from above...great love. | Our Lord said today: ""If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple."
He ends today with "In the same way,
everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple."
And everywhere in between He speaks of construction, and planning, and wars. | Wars are evil, aren't they? Not if war is on evil. It is time to stop thinking about physical wars though. We are always in a spiritual war, even if you don't want a fight, the fight will come to you, attacks. As we spoke of the poor lady, giving all sorts of high praises about her, she texted our choir group saying she was now going to quit choir and who knows what else. I found out she was told that I said she couldn't sing (in tune). Funny. Funny how the devil works. I knew she couldn't sing, but I invited her into the choir many many times! To this day she is not the best singer in tune (but I am helping her), but to me, she is a most valuable asset to the choir. I told the group "she moves the whole congregation with her praise and worship" singing from the heart. It's like the devil heard our high praises and then attacked her. Interesting. I was aggravated on many fronts. First, that she would listen to the devil whisper doubts in her ear. Second, that the devil was trying to disrupt, divide, and destroy. Everything was going just fine, and then this happened.
Back to the war. What does a Christian soldier do? Today's saints took a direct approach. Franciscans speaking up, unafraid...to lose their lives. For what? FOR LOVE. For GOD!
Too many are unafraid to "speak their minds" but this just causes arguments. Needless talk and aggravation. After our meeting I was going to go to the person's house that was causing division. But I had to stop myself. After giving the right mind, the goal was to get them to hate their sinful ways and lifestyle, I was going to run them through the gauntlet of hell and brimstone, calling down fire from heaven to consume them. Instead, I drove past their house and blessed and prayed and commanded evil to leave that household which has them penetrated,for they are not even going to church anymore.
War is unending. So take into consideration what is at stake.
That poor lady texted me when I got home. She said she was very hurt. I said "your pride was hurt....you are one of the best things that has happened to this choir lately".
In the end she got humbled. She said to me "Thank you so much, I will not be quitting I can't and won't let our God down".
AMEN CHRISTIAN SOLDIER.
I'm witnessing pride take people down left and right in every single ministry and ruining families and killing unborn.
That is why I dare say, I've yet to meet a humble soul. I've only seen one truly humble soul, and I see Him every time I go to the Holy Sacraments.
A picture of Him hanging on a tree shows me just how humble one needs to be.
He renounced not only all His possessions for love of me and you, but His entire WILL Not even angels can do what He did. And yet, He says we CAN do what He did and more. "Lord, help me to hate everything that makes me hate following you truly".
I love you, help me love you MORE AND MORE |  hear it read | adrian Random Bible Verse 1
Matthew 12:36–37 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Thank You Jesus | |
