 clickable | | The Power of Enough We know there is power in the word enough. We carry this capacity to honor the present into every encounter and relationship, meaning that we honor the dignity that is reflected by God's goodness and grace. Every encounter, every relationship, is a place to include, invite mercy, encourage, receive, heal, reconcile, repair, say thank you, pray, celebrate, refuel, and restore. —from the book This Is the Life: Mindfulness, Finding Grace, and the Power of the Present Moment by Terry Hershey |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
"You must ask God to give you power to fight against the sin of pride which is your greatest enemy—the root of all that is evil, and the failure of all that is good. For God resists the proud."
— St. Vincent de Paul † Meditation of the Day
"Christ is the second person of the Blessed Trinity, true God and true man, eternally united with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Just as there can be no separation within Christ's human nature, so there can be none within His divine nature. Just as we cannot separate Christ's body from His blood, or His soul from His body and blood, so we cannot separate Christ from the other persons in the Trinity. Time after time, we hear the priest pray to the Father at the end of the opening prayer of the Mass: We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever."
— Vinney Flynn, p. 25
An Excerpt From
7 Secrets of the Eucharist † Verse of the Day
"Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?"
Hebrews 1:14 |  click to read more | | St. Cassian of Imola St. Cassian of Imola (4th c.) was the Bishop of Brescia near Milan, Italy. When a wave of persecution erupted under the Roman Emperor, Cassian fled to Imola, Italy, where he found work as a schoolmaster teaching children how to read and write. He was a disciplined and effective educator. In addition to instructing his students in the Christian faith, he also taught them a form of shorthand that allowed them to write as fast as they could speak. A city official discovered that Cassian was a Christian and denounced him to the government authorities. Cassian was arrested and ordered to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods, which he refused. As punishment the local judge ordered that he be stripped, bound, and tied to a stake. He was then turned over to his pagan students, numbering about 200, to be tortured to death. His students used their iron styli (writing instruments) to mercilessly carve into his skin and slowly stab him to death. St. Cassian died from the many wounds inflicted all over his body. St. Cassian of Imola is the patron saint of students, school teachers, shorthand writers, court reporters, stenographers, and parish clerks. His feast day is August 13th. | Saints Pontian and Hippolytus Saint of the Day for August 13
(d. 235)
Two men died for the faith after harsh treatment and exhaustion in the mines of Sardinia. One had been pope for five years, the other an antipope for 18. They died reconciled. Pontian. Pontian was a Roman who served as pope from 230 to 235. During his reign he held a synod in Alexandria which confirmed the excommunication of the great theologian Origen. Pontian was banished to exile by the Roman emperor in 235, and resigned so that a successor could be elected in Rome. He was sent to the "unhealthy" island of Sardinia, where he died that same year of harsh treatment. With him was Hippolytus with whom he was reconciled. The bodies of both were brought back to Rome and buried as martyrs with solemn rites. Hippolytus. As a priest in Rome, Hippolytus—the name means "a horse turned loose"—was at first "holier than the Church." He censured the pope for not coming down hard enough on a certain heresy—calling him a tool in the hands of one Callistus, a deacon—and coming close to advocating the opposite heresy himself. When Callistus was elected pope, Hippolytus accused him of being too lenient with penitents, and had himself elected antipope by a group of followers. He felt that the Church must be composed of pure souls uncompromisingly separated from the world: Hippolytus evidently thought that his group fitted the description. He remained in schism through the reigns of three popes. In 235, he also was banished to the island of Sardinia. Shortly before or after this event, he was reconciled to the Church, and died in exile with Pope Pontian. Hippolytus was a rigorist, a vehement and intransigent man for whom even orthodox doctrine and practice were not purified enough. He is, nevertheless, the most important theologian and prolific religious writer before the age of Constantine. His writings are the fullest source of our knowledge of the Roman liturgy and the structure of the Church in the second and third centuries. His works include many Scripture commentaries, polemics against heresies, and a history of the world. A marble statue dating from the third century, representing the saint sitting in a chair, was found in 1551. On one side is inscribed his table for computing the date of Easter; on the other, a list of how the system works out until the year 224. Pope John XXIII installed the statue in the Vatican library.
Reflection Hippolytus was a strong defender of orthodoxy, and admitted his excesses by his humble reconciliation. He was not a formal heretic, but an overzealous disciplinarian. What he could not learn in his prime as a reformer and purist, he learned in the pain and desolation of imprisonment. It was a fitting symbolic event that Pope Pontian shared his martyrdom. | Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 EZ 12:1-12 The word of the LORD came to me:
Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house;
they have eyes to see but do not see,
and ears to hear but do not hear,
for they are a rebellious house.
Now, son of man, during the day while they are looking on,
prepare your baggage as though for exile,
and again while they are looking on,
migrate from where you live to another place;
perhaps they will see that they are a rebellious house.
You shall bring out your baggage like an exile in the daytime
while they are looking on;
in the evening, again while they are looking on,
you shall go out like one of those driven into exile;
while they look on, dig a hole in the wall and pass through it;
while they look on, shoulder the burden and set out in the darkness;
cover your face that you may not see the land,
for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel. I did as I was told.
During the day I brought out my baggage
as though it were that of an exile,
and at evening I dug a hole through the wall with my hand
and, while they looked on, set out in the darkness,
shouldering my burden. Then, in the morning, the word of the LORD came to me:
Son of man, did not the house of Israel, that rebellious house,
ask you what you were doing?
Tell them: Thus says the Lord GOD:
This oracle concerns Jerusalem
and the whole house of Israel within it.
I am a sign for you:
as I have done, so shall it be done to them;
as captives they shall go into exile.
The prince who is among them shall shoulder his burden
and set out in darkness,
going through a hole he has dug out in the wall,
and covering his face lest he be seen by anyone. Responsorial Psalm PS 78:56-57, 58-59, 61-62 R. (see 7b) Do not forget the works of the Lord!
They tempted and rebelled against God the Most High,
and kept not his decrees.
They turned back and were faithless like their fathers;
they recoiled like a treacherous bow.
R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!
They angered him with their high places
and with their idols roused his jealousy.
God heard and was enraged
and utterly rejected Israel.
R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!
And he surrendered his strength into captivity,
his glory in the hands of the foe.
He abandoned his people to the sword
and was enraged against his inheritance.
R. Do not forget the works of the Lord! Alleluia PS 119:135 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Let your countenance shine upon your servant
and teach me your statutes.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel MT 18:21–19:1 Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
"Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
'Pay back what you owe.'
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
But he refused.
Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed,
and went to their master and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?'
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart." When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee
and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan. | Daily Meditation: Matthew 18:21–19:1 Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. (Matthew 18:27) When Jesus told this parable, he described the heart of the gospel message. A servant who owed a debt so large he could never repay was forgiven by a very generous ruler. Like that servant, we owe a debt we can't pay on our own, and like him, we have been forgiven by our merciful Father in heaven. So let's join together today to praise our God, whose mercy knows no bounds. "Heavenly Father, thank you for your compassion. Though you know every sin in my past, you offer me freedom and forgiveness. You see my struggle to forgive the ones who have hurt me. You know the ways I disregard your word or demand my own way. I am like this servant, standing before you with a great debt and no way out. But you look at me with love and compassion. Though I fall again and again, you cancel my debt and welcome me back. "Loving God, this is the way you have always been. The Scriptures tell how you persistently offered your mercy and drew people to yourself. From the moment our first parents turned from you, your love never stopped. You called Abraham into a covenant relationship (Genesis 12). You called the people of Israel out of Egypt, freeing them from slavery and revealing your great mercy (Exodus 12). You sent prophets like Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah to speak your word to your people, even in the midst of their sin. "Merciful Lord, you look upon us with kindness even today. Yours is a love that continues to reach out to us and offers to lift the burden of our sins. You are present with us through family, friends, and the sacraments to mediate your grace to us. Thank you that what we cannot do for ourselves, you freely desire to do for us! "Father, the relief that the servant felt at having his debt forgiven did not make him merciful to his fellow servants. Help me not to repeat his mistake. Teach me to share your mercy with the people I meet, especially those who need it most. Make me more like you." "Merciful God, I praise you for your compassion and mercy on me. Thank you for having forgiven me completely!" Ezekiel 12:1-12
Psalm 78:56-59, 61-62 |  clickable | Go and tell your servant David, 'Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in?'
— 2 Samuel 7:5 | my2cents:
"'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'
One had mercy, the greater. The other did not have mercy, the lesser. The lesson is then, if the greater can have mercy, who are you not to have mercy? As I've mentioned to you before, I gaze upon the countenance of Christ before writing to you. As I gaze and meditate, a message comes across "Lord, I look at Your majestic face of all truth, and I cannot dare to ask for anything. It is not You who needs to be merciful on me, rather, I need to be merciful with You". Does not Christ live among us? Often hidden in the unforgivable? | We pray today: "Do not forget the works of the Lord! They angered him with their high places
and with their idols roused his jealousy.
God heard and was enraged and utterly rejected Israel."
How can we make ourselves attractive to God? Have the same interests, no? What interests Him should interest you. What He likes, you should like. Opposites don't attract. I saw my barber a few weeks ago, he had a zip to his step and a song on his throat, and he said he was engaged with a woman he couldn't believe how much they had in common. The same way with us. You would be wise to find the interests of the one you want and share in them. The interests of God are easy to attain, once we get over ourselves. It is humus, the very stuff we are made of that makes us human, and the root word is humility. | Today's first Holy Scripture said: "I am a sign for you:
as I have done, so shall it be done to them".
And God had mercy on our souls.
And so we should be merciful, to the worst.
"...in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart."
Why would this not be proof of purgatory?
Jesus says Father will punish each of us...unless.
And it boils down to the heart. To forgive from...the heart. Not teeth out. Not leaving things in limbo. Not just avoiding each other. But to forgive from the heart, to forgive truly...and then you will be truly forgiven. Because the story of great debt forgiven means just that...completely forgiven. | I am afraid my friend. I am afraid of His just punishment. One day away from Him is like 1,000 years. The longing is worse than anything. Perhaps this is what we need? To develop a longing for Him?
What is mercy? Only those who have tasted mercy can explain.
I can talk about my confession and forgiveness, but you won't know until you go.
Mercy is like they say in Divine Mercy, unfathomable. And this relates to the depths of mercy. Can the blood He poured out on the cross...dry up? Has it dried up already? They say there is a miracle vile of saint blood that liquefies ever so often. It hasn't dried up. So long as it is contained. What causes blood to not dry up ever? Who's blood was it? St. Januarius (St. Gennaro), a bishop martyred after being caught encouraging a deacon in prison. He was killed for being a loving and good shepherd to his flock. That's the kind of thing that makes blood last...Love. They say when there is wars and famines, the 600 year old blood will not liquefy often if any at all. Back to the blood of Christ. You are that vessel my friend. In the Eucharist, you are given what it takes to have blood...of mercy.
Be merciful then. Not to sin, but to the sinner. They say we are hostile if we do not believe in worldly things. It is they who are hostile to the truth.
They just threatened a church for trying to have service in a casino that allows more capacity. They were reprimanded in our free country, for uniting to pray. And the real danger is the threat they offer, not that they got together, choosing to pray than to play games.
And so let us not play games with our faith anymore. The real danger is the punishment God gives, not the punishment government gives. This life will end anyway, why not put an end to it already and let God live?
There is a way out, we need to suck the poison out of the snakebite. Nobody in the world is citing the truth behind violence...pornography. This deadly poison is taking souls left and right....to hell. This coupled with pride, it is a real fuel for flames of real world torture. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said referring to Genesis "first comes nudity, then comes violence". Nudity was coined and their eyes were opened, and began to see darkness, pain, and violence, leading to death.
What interests God? Purity. Those purely for His will.
This is why Jesus is the model of all virtues and angels.
Jesus our King calls upon this interest of God. To know Him only.
To Love Him only. And naturally, we will love one another rightly.
We would give our live for one another...because mercy knows no bounds.... | Random Bible verse from online generator:
Ephesians 4:26–27
26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. | 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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