 clickable | | Christ Is the Book of Life Christ is the Book of Life. Somehow we still do not read this book properly. We buy lots of books hoping to find the answers to our many questions of life; yet, we do not know how to read this "Book of Life," the "Book of Christ." What does it require to read a book? It requires time, quiet, patience, attentiveness to the written words, imagination and emotions. Reading a book, if it is a good book, should move us from one level of life to another because once the mind is moved to insight and the heart is changed, life is never the same. Reading a good book is experiential. It is living in the drama of someone else's life or it may be allowing the drama of the story to touch one's own life. The two stories—the story of the book and the history of the reader—merge. The horizon of the book and the horizon of the reader become one and a new horizon emerges, the horizon of insight or a new understanding of life. This is how we should read the Book of Life, in a way that we come to a new horizon of life, new insight. —from the book The Humility of God: A Franciscan Perspective by Ilia Delio, OSF |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
"I know now that true charity consists in bearing all of our neighbors' defects—not being surprised at their weakness, but edified at their smallest virtues."
— St. Therese of Lisieux † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"The life of prayer calls for continuous battles. It is the most important and the longest effort in a life dedicated to God. This effort has been given a beautiful name: it is called the guard of the heart. The human heart is a city; it was meant to be a stronghold. Sin surrendered it. Henceforth it is an open city, the walls of which have to be built up again. The enemy never ceases to do all he can to prevent this. He does this with his accustomed cleverness and strength, with stratagem and fury ... he succeeds all along the line to distract us and entice us away from the divine presence. We must always be starting again. These continual recoveries, this endless beginning again, tires and disheartens us far more than the actual fighting. We would much prefer a real battle, fierce and decisive. But God, as a rule, thinks otherwise. He would rather we were in a constant state of war."
— Dom Augustin Guillerand, p. 57
AN EXCERPT FROM
The Prayer of the Presence of God † VERSE OF THE DAY
"But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me."
Micah 7:7 |  click to read more | | ST. RAYMOND OF PENAFORT St. Raymond of Penafort (1175–1275) was born in Spain to the noble family of Aragon. As a child he received an excellent education and displayed a great love for the Blessed Mother. After studying and teaching philosophy and law he entered the Order of Preachers. He preached the Crusades and encouraged the faithful to defend their civilization from foreign threats. To aid his preaching, Raymond requested that his fellow Dominican, St. Thomas Aquinas, write his epic Summa Contra Gentiles for the conversion of non-Catholics, especially Muslims. It is said that at least 10,000 Muslims were converted to the Catholic faith as a result of Raymond's evangelistic labors. Together with King James of Aragon and St. Peter Nolasco he founded the Order of Our Lady of Ransom (Mercedarians), a group that worked to free Christians enslaved by the Moors. Known for his great mind and great sanctity, St. Raymond was the Pope's personal confessor and close adviser. As a trained lawyer, he was also chosen to compile the Church's legal documents into one source of canon law which was then used for centuries. He also wrote a manual of moral theology for confessors. St. Raymond is famous for the miracle of sailing from the island of Majorca to Barcelona using his cape for a raft, in protest of the King of Aragon's refusal to dismiss his mistress. St. Raymond of Penafort is the patron of lawyers and canon lawyers. His feast day is January 7. | more on today's saint..... Saint Raymond of Peñafort's Story Since Raymond lived into his hundredth year, he had a chance to do many things. As a member of the Spanish nobility, he had the resources and the education to get a good start in life. By the time he was 20, he was teaching philosophy. In his early 30s he earned a doctorate in both canon and civil law. At 41 he became a Dominican. Pope Gregory IX called him to Rome to work for him and to be his confessor. One of the things the pope asked him to do was to gather together all the decrees of popes and councils that had been made in 80 years since a similar collection by Gratian. Raymond compiled five books called the Decretals. They were looked upon as one of the best organized collections of Church law until the 1917 codification of canon law. Earlier, Raymond had written for confessors a book of cases. It was called Summa de Casibus Poenitentiae. More than simply a list of sins and penances, it discussed pertinent doctrines and laws of the Church that pertained to the problem or case brought to the confessor. At the age of 60, Raymond was appointed archbishop of Tarragona, the capital of Aragon. He didn't like the honor at all and ended up getting sick and resigning in two years. He didn't get to enjoy his peace long, however, because when he was 63 he was elected by his fellow Dominicans to be the head of the whole Order, the successor of Saint Dominic. Raymond worked hard, visited on foot all the Dominicans, reorganized their constitutions and managed to put through a provision that a master general be allowed to resign. When the new constitutions were accepted, Raymond, then 65, resigned. He still had 35 years to oppose heresy and work for the conversion of the Moors in Spain. He convinced Saint Thomas Aquinas to write his work Against the Gentiles. In his 100th year, the Lord let Raymond retire.
Reflection Raymond was a lawyer, a canonist. Legalism can suck the life out of genuine religion if it becomes too great a preoccupation with the letter of the law to the neglect of the spirit and purpose of the law. The law can become an end in itself, so that the value the law was intended to promote is overlooked. But we must guard against going to the opposite extreme and seeing law as useless or something to be lightly regarded. Laws ideally state those things that are for the best interests of everyone and make sure the rights of all are safeguarded. From Raymond, we can learn a respect for law as a means of serving the common good. | Tuesday after Epiphany
Lectionary: 213
Reading 1 1 JN 4:7-10 Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
In this way the love of God was revealed to us:
God sent his only-begotten Son into the world
so that we might have life through him.
In this is love:
not that we have loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Responsorial Psalm PS 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8 R. (see 11) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The mountains shall yield peace for the people,
and the hills justice.
He shall defend the afflicted among the people,
save the children of the poor.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you. Alleluia LK 4:18 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Lord has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor
and to proclaim liberty to captives.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel MK 6:34-44 When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.
By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said,
"This is a deserted place and it is already very late.
Dismiss them so that they can go
to the surrounding farms and villages
and buy themselves something to eat."
He said to them in reply,
"Give them some food yourselves."
But they said to him,
"Are we to buy two hundred days' wages worth of food
and give it to them to eat?"
He asked them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see."
And when they had found out they said,
"Five loaves and two fish."
So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass.
The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties.
Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples
to set before the people;
he also divided the two fish among them all.
They all ate and were satisfied.
And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments
and what was left of the fish.
Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men. | Catholic Meditations
Meditation: 1 John 4:7-10 Saint Raymond of Penyafort (Optional Memorial) In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us. (1 John 4:10) What exactly "love" means is subject to any number of interpretations. St. John, however, is clear and specific. Love comes from God. John also tells us what love looks like: God sending his own Son to pardon all of our sins and offer us a personal relationship with him. Think about that for a moment. God's love, which comes first, is costly to himself but free to us. First. God's love always comes first. Before it even dawned on you to receive his love or to love him back, he was already pouring his love upon you. Before you had any idea of following him, he loved you and sent his Son for you. Before your baptism, your confirmation, or any conscious decision to love and serve him, God made a way for you to do it. Even should you never accept it, God would still offer you his love fully and unconditionally. Costly. Love is not just kind feelings or well-wishing aimed at other people—even people who have hurt us or disappointed us. Neither is it just a broad tolerance of different types of people. Love, as God himself showed us, is giving another person something precious to you. Sometimes it's your time, like when you put down the novel you are reading to help your spouse find the car keys. Sometimes it's your forgiveness. Or your patience. Or your listening ear. It could be any number of things. Mostly, love is laying down—sacrificing—your desires and preferences in order to lift up someone else. Free. Love is giving without expecting or demanding anything in return. It's giving what you have so that someone else might have it too: the comfort of your presence at a hospital bedside, an encouraging word to a dejected friend, some spare change offered to a homeless man. It's a free gift, a gift that brings you as much joy giving it away as it brings to the person receiving it. If it is valuable to you and if you freely give it to someone else, that is love. Isn't this what God did when he sent his Son to live among us? "Father, thank you for your love: first, costly, and free. Help me to love as you have loved me." Psalm 72:1-4, 7-8
Mark 6:34-44 |  clickable | There is no good reason why Catholics, Anglicans, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants should not study the Bible together. And there are many good reasons why they should. It is their common foundation and source; and returning to that common trunk together is bound to lead to greater mutual understanding and unity among all the different branches of Christendom.
— Peter Kreeft from Probes | my2cents:
"In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins."
That verse tells us how God's love works and how He expect it to work in us.
Not that we are loved, but that we can love.
Boy is that hard. Whence someone attacks you verbally or spiritually, by the way, has anyone ever attacked you spiritually? It's not always the insults, or even physical abuse, I mean, a real life cursing to enter your soul....it exists. And you have to be aware, and to heal from these takes much effort and prayer. I digress, back to love. Who can love outwardly? Some shallow in faith, shallow rooted, they will look for and find any excuse, or scapegoat to leave the faith. "You see that person in the church? That's why I left the church". It happens and it happens more often than we'd like to admit. So, great job pointing out the problem. What is the solution? Love. Ok? Easy enough? No. Love costs something. What does it cost God? Nothing? In Eternity, Love exists forever. On earth, then, is love quantified, only poured out so much? Limited? No. But we limit love. Love knows no boundaries. But we put walls up. Whence that attack comes, the walls come up. And someone retreats...inside the walls. Yet, the war continues. The war for your soul. People in real life exist to hack away at our walls against love. Real life saints exist, and angels, and the very Existence of God in our real world. Anything and everything to prove that love exists, a sacrificial love that dares to give. | Let us pray: "Lord, every nation on earth will adore you. The mountains shall yield peace for the people, and the hills justice. He shall defend the afflicted among the people, save the children of the poor."
Let's talk about the defense of the afflicted, and about saving the children...and the poor. | Jesus was told to let the people go, for they were probably famished, tired, and hungry. A grain of good truth is told to Him. "Let's not let them suffer". It is the line that anti-life people say, whom call themselves "choice". In order for the mom not to suffer in her ego and her own plans, let the child die. Such was the story in the movie star awards, one got her golden statue and thanked her sacrificed children she had slaughtered, and said "see ya'll up in heaven some day". And she was handed her golden statue and was escorted away. Someone always has to pay the price. Usually...the innocent. It costs something. In this case, the children had the greater love. The actress said "please vote in your own self interests". Very well said "vote selfishly". She said "I did all this myself". No room for God, no room at the inn...for humility. Another channel showed a group of young teens performing, showing their story of their war torn country, and they were in tears after performing the heart warming story. But, the movie star judges chose a man in makeup, showing a derogatory message to the world. Someone had to pay the price for all that. | In comes, the one who pays continuously. Protestants detest the notion of suffering. They said "Jesus paid the price once and for all". These are lies from the pits of hell. Jesus pays continuously. His was an ETERNAL sacrifice. He suffers in the forever now. Those lashings and abuse Jesus took is all the abuse we still lash on him...all acts against Love. And God is love. Next time you decide to go for some juicy gossip, to look down on others, think about who is paying the price for injustice. Justice weeps tears of blood, they stream in the forever moment of the crucifixion. Precious blood of Jesus...pray for us sinners both now and forever....
Jesus says now "YOU FEED THEM"
Jesus fed us.
He took like the rib, and let man be born. Of Himself. He fed life out of Himself. Wo-man, means born of man, and we are talking the Son of Man. We are made in His image. The most beautiful stories in existence are those of sacrificial love, where the other stands to gain more than the one giving. Selflessness. Emptying of oneself as if crucified on the cross.
FEED THEM. He teaches His disciples how to feed the countless famished souls in the world. Think of our priestly ordination now. These people that are abusive and sinful? They are babies with dirty diapers...they stink, yes, but someone like Mother Teresa must get their hands dirty. Someone doing all the legwork like today's saint, or Mother Angelica. Someone must be actively involved day in and day out in this great act of ...mercy...what is love.... |  click to hear a message | Random Bible Verse 1 Psalm 27:14
Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! Thank You Lord | |
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