 clickable | | We Each Have Our Own Path God loves us so much that, not only did he make us a creation unto ourselves, but in doing so, he gifted us with a particular way to return that love that is fit for no other person. In simply being our true selves, doing nothing more than becoming the unique person that God created us to be, we give glory to God and follow our own particular path of holiness. That's it! We are not to imitate the lives of the saints or do what others define for us; our path to holiness is not made by scrupulously following the path of a holy person who has gone before us. What is asked of me may not be asked of you. What you are capable of may not be what I am capable of. Each and every one of us has been created differently, for God's own glory, and we each have our own path to follow. —from the book Let Go: Seven Stumbling Blocks to Christian Discipleship by Casey Cole, OFM |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
"Prayer is the best preparation for Holy Communion. Prayer is the raising of the mind to God. When we pray we go to meet Christ Who is coming to us. If our Creator and Savior comes from heaven with such great love, it is only fitting that we should go to meet Him. And this is what we do when we spend some time in prayer."
– St. Bernardine of Siena † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"God cannot cease to love me. That is the most startling fact that our doctrine reveals. Sinner or saint He loves and cannot well help Himself. Magdalen in her sin, Magdalen in her sainthood, was loved by God. The difference between her position made some difference also in the effect of that love on her, but the love was the same, since it was the Holy Spirit who is the love of the Father and the Son. Whatever I do, I am loved. But then, if I sin, am I unworthy of love? Yes, but I am unworthy always. Nor can God love me for what I am, since, in that case, I would compel His love, force His will by something external to Himself. In fact, really if I came to consider, I would find that I was not loved by God because I was good, but that I was good because God loved me. My improvement does not cause God to love me, but is the effect of God's having loved me."
— Fr. Bede Jarrett, p. 51
AN EXCERPT FROM
Classic Catholic Meditations † VERSE OF THE DAY
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."
Ephesians 6:10-12 |  click to read more | | Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 – March 7, 1274)
By universal consent, Thomas Aquinas is the preeminent spokesman of the Catholic tradition of reason and of divine revelation. He is one of the great teachers of the medieval Catholic Church, honored with the titles Doctor of the Church and Angelic Doctor. At five he was given to the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino in his parents' hopes that he would choose that way of life and eventually became abbot. In 1239, he was sent to Naples to complete his studies. It was here that he was first attracted to Aristotle's philosophy. By 1243, Thomas abandoned his family's plans for him and joined the Dominicans, much to his mother's dismay. On her order, Thomas was captured by his brother and kept at home for over a year. Once free, he went to Paris and then to Cologne, where he finished his studies with Albert the Great. He held two professorships at Paris, lived at the court of Pope Urban IV, directed the Dominican schools at Rome and Viterbo, combated adversaries of the mendicants, as well as the Averroists, and argued with some Franciscans about Aristotelianism. His greatest contribution to the Catholic Church is his writings. The unity, harmony, and continuity of faith and reason, of revealed and natural human knowledge, pervades his writings. One might expect Thomas, as a man of the gospel, to be an ardent defender of revealed truth. But he was broad enough, deep enough, to see the whole natural order as coming from God the Creator, and to see reason as a divine gift to be highly cherished. The Summa Theologiae, his last and, unfortunately, uncompleted work, deals with the whole of Catholic theology. He stopped work on it after celebrating Mass on December 6, 1273. When asked why he stopped writing, he replied, "I cannot go on…. All that I have written seems to me like so much straw compared to what I have seen and what has been revealed to me." He died March 7, 1274.
Reflection We can look to Thomas Aquinas as a towering example of Catholicism in the sense of broadness, universality, and inclusiveness. We should be determined anew to exercise the divine gift of reason in us, our power to know, learn, and understand. At the same time we should thank God for the gift of his revelation, especially in Jesus Christ.
Saint Thomas Aquinas is the Patron Saint of: Catholic Schools
Colleges
Schools
Students | Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor of the Church Reading 1 2 Sm 6:12b-15, 17-19 David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom
into the City of David amid festivities.
As soon as the bearers of the ark of the LORD had advanced six steps,
he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
Then David, girt with a linen apron,
came dancing before the LORD with abandon,
as he and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD
with shouts of joy and to the sound of the horn.
The ark of the LORD was brought in and set in its place
within the tent David had pitched for it.
Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
When he finished making these offerings,
he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.
He then distributed among all the people,
to each man and each woman in the entire multitude of Israel,
a loaf of bread, a cut of roast meat, and a raisin cake.
With this, all the people left for their homes. Responsorial Psalm 24:7, 8, 9, 10 R. (8) Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Lift up, O gates, your lintels;
reach up, you ancient portals,
that the king of glory may come in!
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Who is this king of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle.
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Lift up, O gates, your lintels;
reach up, you ancient portals,
that the king of glory may come in!
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Who is this king of glory?
The LORD of hosts; he is the king of glory.
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord! Alleluia Mt 11:25
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mk 3:31-35 The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him told him,
"Your mother and your brothers and your sisters
are outside asking for you."
But he said to them in reply,
"Who are my mother and my brothers?"
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
"Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother." | Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Mark 3:31-35
Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Memorial) Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother. (Mark 3:35) Is Jesus really being dismissive of his family members, including his very own mother, Mary? On the surface, it might seem so. But if we understand this passage to mean that Jesus treated his close family members harshly, we are missing an important point about the kingdom he came to inaugurate. Jesus took the occasion of his family's interrupting him to show yet again how the kingdom of God changes everything. It even invites us to reconsider the meaning of family! By his words, Jesus showed us that "family" isn't restricted any more to relations by blood or adoption or marriage. "Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother," Jesus taught (Mark 3:35, emphasis added). Of course, we all have our immediate families and our extended families. But Jesus is telling us that we are also members of the biggest, most extended family in history: the household of God. In this family, we are united not by human blood but by Jesus' own blood shed on the cross and by the saving waters of Baptism. And what a wondrous family it is! We have God as our father, Jesus as our brother, and Mary as our mother. We have the saints in heaven who intercede for us. And here on earth, we have brothers and sisters—in our parish, at work, in our neighborhoods, and in our families—who are willing to walk alongside us, pray for us, and support us in our faith. With God's grace, we can do the same for them, loving and caring for them as we would our own blood relatives. We might still wonder if Mary's feelings were a bit hurt by Jesus' words. But remember, Mary was not only Jesus' mother; she was also his disciple. As she pondered what it meant to follow Jesus, she must have realized that his mission was also her mission, his family also her family. Was she ready to embrace Jesus' new definition of what it meant to be family? Of course! May we do the same. "Jesus, thank you for calling me to belong to your family. Help me to love and joyfully serve my brothers and sisters in Christ." 2 Samuel 6:12-15, 17-19
Psalm 24:7-10 |  clickable | A scientia crucis [knowledge of the Cross] can be gained only when one comes to feel the Cross radically.
— St. Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)
from Edith Stein and Companions | my2cents:
"Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD." King David was a priest. He offered sacrifices to the Lord. He praised God.
"When he finished making these offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts." Is this beginning to sound like Holy Mass?
"He then distributed among all the people, to each man and each woman in the entire multitude of Israel, ... bread..."
Does this sound like Eucharist? And then the final blessing:
"With this, all the people left for their homes."
A warrior celebrated Mass. And in the lineage, the Son of David is presented...Christ our Lord, Jesus. | Today we pray: "Lift up, O gates, your lintels;
reach up, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may come in! Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle."
And David danced and danced in praise, worship, and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament already in the Ark. And today that Sacrament is Jesus who was carried in by Mother Mary. | Today they told our Lord who was crowded in and unreachable: ""Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you."
Protestants will say " AHA! You see! Jesus had brothers and sisters!" Yes, but not blood relations.
Us church family call each other brothers and sisters up to today. Back then, everybody was called cousins or brothers and sisters. It meant what Jesus meant: "Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."
So, tell me now, how does it feel to be called God's brother? Or for you to be His sister? Or....even...His mother? Lectio Divina asks us to put ourselves into the story, make it real, put yourself in the shoes of the first, second, and third person. How do you feel? | Because if you are doing God's will, you are well off. And if you are well off, you are charged to look out for those that are not well off. You have been given riches from Heaven, grace. How do you use that grace? Or is it squandered? The will of Our Father is not that difficult to discern, because discernment comes in prayer and a yearning of the Holy Spirit, a special call. There is great beauty, and great challenge in doing God's will. It is not all easy and there are no guarantees you'll be perfectly immune to harm. There is no utopia on earth, because utopias end. Even in Heaven something ended for some angels...our vital union with our Lord and our God. That is the tragedy of a death. Some believe that is the end. But for us who follow the one who defeated death, we know it is not the end.
Today, Christ does a special calling in the Holy Gospel. He invites us to be in His family. Chosen.
You are so blessed, if you only knew.
And so what is the will of Our Father? A sincere love of Him above all. Don't you like to feel loved? God knows it.
In other scripture, we heard that those looking for Him had said "He's gone crazy".
Yes, crazy in love. God came to be with His people. And they flocked to Him, hungry. Starving. Dying. The impure touched Him, and He let Himself be touched. And His Holy Sacrifice, purifies the world.
I no longer call you strangers, but friends. I no longer call you friends, but family. I no longer call you family, but my very body....on earth. . . . .
Randomly opening the book Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis:
"He will help us, for He has gone the way before us.
See, how our King marches before us, and He will fight for us. Let us follow Him courageously, fearing no perils. Let us be ready to die for Him in battle; and let us not stain our honor by abandoning the way of the cross. CHRIST: "I am more pleased, My Child, when you are patient and humble under adversity than when you feel devout and consoled in prosperity. Why are you so upset when someone says an unkind word about you?
It could have been worse, but even so, you should not let it disturb you. Forget about it; it is not the first, or anything new, and it will not be the last, if you live long enough. You are so courageous as long as no opposition comes your way. You also can give good advice and can encourage others with your words; but when some unexpected trouble turns up on your own doorstep, your good advice and moral support fail you. Think over your great frailty which you often experience in such trifling difficulties. Yet it is for your spiritual help that these and similar things are permitted to happen to you." |  click to hear a message | ->Random Bible Verse 1< Psalm 55:22
22 Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. Thank You Lord | |
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