 clickable | | Christ Calls Us to the Here and Now Following Christ does not mean that we have to give up our jobs, schools, love of sports and entertainment, playing video games, or our social media handles. At least, not necessarily. What it means is that we need to let go of everything that produces anxiety in us and takes up our time without any benefit to ourselves or the world; it means giving up the trivial worries that merely keep us busy, give us something to think about, offer an escape, or hide us from what really matters. Christ calls us to the here and now. He wants us to be present to people and things that actually make a difference. If we want to be his disciples, there is no time to waste living in a world that doesn't exist. The kingdom is at hand, and it's the only world we need. —from the book Let Go: Seven Stumbling Blocks to Christian Discipleship by Casey Cole, OFM |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
"Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire."
— St. Catherine of Siena † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"We do find, it is true, great battles to fight, and great hardships to master; but that good Mother makes herself so present and so near to her faithful servants, to enlighten them in their darknesses and their doubts, to strengthen them in their fears, and to sustain them in their struggles and their difficulties, that in truth this virginal path to find Jesus Christ is a path of roses and honey compared with other paths."
— St. Louis de Montfort, p. 82
AN EXCERPT FROM
True Devotion to Mary † VERSE OF THE DAY
"May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light."
Colossians 1:11-12 |  click to read more | | ST. RICHARD THE KING St. Richard the King (c. 720 A.D.), also known as Richard the Pilgrim, was a Saxon king born in Wessex, England, who was related by blood to the royal house of Kent. His brother-in-law was St. Boniface, and three of his children are numbered among the saints: St. Willibald, St. Winnebald, and St. Walburga. When Willibald was gravely ill as a child, Richard's prayers for his son are said to have saved his life. He wrapped his child in a blanket and took him to the foot of a large crucifix erected near their village, and the child recovered. When Willibald was grown, he convinced his father and brother to accompany him on a missionary pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land. St. Richard agreed, renounced his royal estate, and embarked on the journey with his two sons, while his daughter entered a convent. In Italy he became sick and died, and was buried in Tuscany at the Church of San Frediano. Numerous miracles are reported to have occurred at his tomb. Some of his relics were transported to Eichstatt, Germany, where his son Winnebald would become Bishop. His feast day is celebrated on February 7th. | Friday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 327 Reading 1 Sir 47:2-11 Like the choice fat of the sacred offerings,
so was David in Israel.
He made sport of lions as though they were kids,
and of bears, like lambs of the flock.
As a youth he slew the giant
and wiped out the people's disgrace,
When his hand let fly the slingstone
that crushed the pride of Goliath.
Since he called upon the Most High God,
who gave strength to his right arm
To defeat the skilled warrior
and raise up the might of his people,
Therefore the women sang his praises,
and ascribed to him tens of thousands
and praised him when they blessed the Lord.
When he assumed the royal crown, he battled
and subdued the enemy on every side.
He destroyed the hostile Philistines
and shattered their power till our own day.
With his every deed he offered thanks
to God Most High, in words of praise.
With his whole being he loved his Maker
and daily had his praises sung;
He set singers before the altar and by their voices
he made sweet melodies,
He added beauty to the feasts
and solemnized the seasons of each year
So that when the Holy Name was praised,
before daybreak the sanctuary would resound.
The LORD forgave him his sins
and exalted his strength forever;
He conferred on him the rights of royalty
and established his throne in Israel. Responsorial Psalm 18:31, 47 and 50, 51 R. (see 47b) Blessed be God my salvation!
God's way is unerring,
the promise of the LORD is fire-tried; he is a shield to all who take refuge in him.
R. Blessed be God my salvation!
The LORD live! And blessed be my Rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
Therefore will I proclaim you, O LORD, among the nations,
and I will sing praise to your name.
R. Blessed be God my salvation!
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed,
to David and his posterity forever.
R. Blessed be God my salvation! Alleluia 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 Mk 6:14-29 King Herod heard about Jesus, for his fame had become widespread,
and people were saying,
"John the Baptist has been raised from the dead;
that is why mighty powers are at work in him."
Others were saying, "He is Elijah";
still others, "He is a prophet like any of the prophets."
But when Herod learned of it, he said,
"It is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up." Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison
on account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
"It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
Herodias had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers,
and the leading men of Galilee.
His own daughter came in and performed a dance
that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
"Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you."
He even swore many things to her,
"I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom."
She went out and said to her mother,
"What shall I ask for?"
Her mother replied, "The head of John the Baptist."
The girl hurried back to the king's presence and made her request,
"I want you to give me at once on a platter
the head of John the Baptist."
The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner
with orders to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter
and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. | Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Sirach 47:2-11 4th Week in Ordinary Time The Lord forgave him his sins and exalted his strength. (Sirach 47:11) What a shining portrait Ben Sira, the author of Sirach, paints for us of King David! "As a youth he slew the giant and wiped out the people's disgrace. . . . When he assumed the royal crown, he battled and subdued the enemy on every side. . . . With his whole being he loved his Maker and daily had his praises sung" (Sirach 47:4, 6-8). This is a bright picture of a great warrior, a mighty king, a renowned musician, and a great lover of God. But what about David's adultery with Bathsheba? His conspiracy to have Uriah abandoned and killed in battle? Wouldn't this suggest a darker portrait, stained with sin? It seems as if there are two faces to David. David truly was a "man after [God's] own heart" (Acts 13:22). But there's no denying that his sins had a terrible impact on himself, his family, and all of Israel. Ben Sira was a masterful portrait artist, and he knew what he was doing when he chose to highlight David's love for God over his grievous sins. When David fell into sin, he turned back to God, and "the Lord forgave him his sins" (Sirach 47:11). David still had to live with the consequences of what he had done, but he didn't have to do it alone. God kept his covenant with David and with Israel. The Lord never forgot his promises. Eventually, he even established Jesus—a descendant of King David—as the One to bring redemption and healing, not only to Israel, but to the whole world. Our lives may not hold the radical contrast of light and shadow that David's did, but we all have our bright and dark "faces." Even so, we can all experience the mercy that David experienced. That's because God has made provision for our waywardness. He has given us the great gift of repentance in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We often think of repentance and going to Confession as a burden, or at least an embarrassing inconvenience. But David's story tells us that it is nothing less than a path back to the Lord and a protection against crippling guilt. Just as God forgave David, he is eager to forgive you. He wants nothing more than to shower you with his mercy and strengthen you! "Lord Jesus, thank you for forgiving me and welcoming me back!" Psalm 18:31, 47, 50-51
Mark 6:14-29 |  clickable | For love of your children, guard the faith. For love of your grandchildren, transmit the faith, whole and entire. For the love of Christ, study the faith. Read it. Learn it. Live it. And fall in love with it.
— Dr. Scott Hahn
from The Splendor of the Church | my2cents:
"The LORD forgave him his sins and exalted his strength forever."
There is forgiveness. And there is much to make atonement for. Today, we have much to atone for. And this happens only through our Lord Jesus. | Today: "Blessed be God my salvation! You who gave great victories to your king and showed kindness to your anointed, to David and his posterity forever." | In the Holy Gospel we heard: "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."
For this, Herod harbored a secret hatred. The kind that kills.
Sounds bad, right? What kind of hatred do you harbor? And what does harbor mean? It means that you take it in, and hold on to, right?
But to harbor evil? To give safeguard to evil? | Bishop Barron said today:
"Friends, today's Gospel gives an account of Herod's murder of John the Baptist. John is a proto-martyr, anticipating the martyrdom of many Christians.
Martyrdom has always been an important chapter of the Christian story, from believers in the early Church who refused to sacrifice to Rome's pagan gods, to great saints of the Middle Ages such as Thomas Becket and Thomas More who refused to compromise their beliefs for the sake of the state, to modern martyrs killed in what St. John Paul II called odium caritatis, "hatred of charity," such as Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador.
In the early twenty-first century, martyrdom remains a stunningly common fact of Christian life. One high-end estimate for the number of Christian martyrs killed each year is one hundred thousand, while the low end is around eight thousand—ranging from one new martyr every five minutes to one every hour.
The example of the martyrs draws people to wonder what it is that would induce so many to make the ultimate sacrifice. The Church Father Tertullian said that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church," and it's a rare case of a theological maxim for which there's actually empirical confirmation." So is there hatred out there? What does it look like?
The first thing I read today was about how a favorite catholic talk show was taken off youtube for "hate speech". The video was about 7 secrets exorcists want you to know. Many abortion videos are considered hate. Now the speech against evil and the demonic is hate. The devil wants you to believe there is no hell, and there is no real devil. And if you mention truths, it is considered hate. So, who is the judge of hatred? Because they say God hates sin.
So, who is right? God...or the world? So many have lost their lives for choosing God, Jesus Christ. |  click to hear a message | ->Random Bible Verse 1<
Proverbs 16:7
7 When a man's ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Thank You Lord | If one day you don't receive these, just visit my website Going4th.com, surely you'll find me there. God Bless You! Share the Word. Share this, share what is good | |
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