 clickable | | Is Your Work a Vocation? It doesn't take much looking in our economy to see that in fact there is a great deal of work that doesn't pray, work that disconnects us from our sources of life rather than moves us toward wholeness. For work to pray, it must have a sense of vocation attached to it—we must feel some calling toward that work and the wholeness of which it is a part, that there is something holy in good work. Vocation is a calling and prayer is a call and response, deep calling to deep. For work to pray, to be vocation, it must be brought into a larger conversation. "The idea of vocation attaches to work a cluster of other ideas, including devotion, skill, pride, pleasure, the good stewardship of means and materials," Wendell Berry writes. It is these "intangibles of economic value" that keep us from viewing work as "something good only to escape: 'Thank God it's Friday.'" —from the book Wendell Berry and the Given Life by Ragan Sutterfield |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
"Put your heart aside. Duty comes first. But when fulfilling your duty, put your heart into it. It helps."
— St. Josemaria Escriva † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"In the old days, when there was less education and discussion, perhaps it was possible to get on with a very few simple ideas about God. But it is not so now. Everyone reads, everyone hears things discussed. Consequently, if you do not listen to Theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones—bad, muddled, out-of-date ideas. For a great many of the ideas about God which are trotted out as novelties today are simply the ones which real Theologians tried centuries ago and rejected."
— C. S. Lewis, p. 155
AN EXCERPT FROM
Mere Christianity † VERSE OF THE DAY
"Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand."
Isaiah 41:10 |  click to read more | | ST. LYDIA PURPURARIA St. Lydia Purpuraria, also called Lydia of Thyatira (1st. c), was a pious and wealthy woman involved in the textile trade in Philippi, Macedonia. She and her husband manufactured and traded in the lucrative business of purple dyes and fabrics, a luxury for the elite. Lydia was a worshiper of the true God, and when St. Paul's missionary journeys brought him to Philippi in about 50 A.D., God opened Lydia's heart to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Lydia and her family became St. Paul's very first converts to Christianity, as mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. After her family was baptized, Lydia invited Paul and his companion, St. Timothy, to stay in her home. Lydia served the Lord through her gift of hospitality, and her home became a meeting place for the early Christians. After Paul and Silas were released from prison, it was to Lydia's home that they first went to meet and encourage the believers gathered there. St. Lydia's feast day is August 3. | Saint Peter Julian Eymard (February 4, 1811 – August 1, 1868)
Born in La Mure d'Isère in southeastern France, Peter Julian's faith journey drew him from being a priest in the Diocese of Grenoble in 1834, to joining the Marists in 1839, to founding the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament in 1856. In addition to those changes, Peter Julian coped with poverty, his father's initial opposition to Peter's vocation, serious illness, a Jansenistic overemphasis on sin, and the difficulties of getting diocesan and later papal approval for his new religious community. His years as a Marist, including service as a provincial leader, saw the deepening of his Eucharistic devotion, especially through his preaching of Forty Hours in many parishes. Inspired at first by the idea of reparation for indifference to the Eucharist, Peter Julian was eventually attracted to a more positive spirituality of Christ-centered love. Members of the men's community which Peter founded alternated between an active apostolic life and contemplating Jesus in the Eucharist. He and Marguerite Guillot founded the women's Congregation of the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. Peter Julian Eymard was beatified in 1925, and canonized in 1962, one day after Vatican II's first session ended.
Reflection In every century, sin has been painfully real in the life of the Church. It is easy to give in to despair, to speak so strongly of human failings that people may forget the immense and self-sacrificing love of Jesus, as his death on the cross and his gift of the Eucharist make evident. Peter Julian knew that the Eucharist was key to helping Catholics live out their baptism and preach by word and example the Good News of Jesus Christ. | Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 407/408
Reading 1 Jer28 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah,
in the fifth month of the fourth year,
the prophet Hananiah, son of Azzur, from Gibeon,
said to me in the house of the LORD
in the presence of the priests and all the people:
"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
'I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Within two years I will restore to this place
all the vessels of the temple of the LORD which Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon, took away from this place to Babylon.
And I will bring back to this place Jeconiah,
son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah,
and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon,' says the LORD,
'for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.'" The prophet Jeremiah answered the prophet Hananiah
in the presence of the priests and all the people assembled
in the house of the LORD, and said:
Amen! thus may the LORD do!
May he fulfill the things you have prophesied
by bringing the vessels of the house of the LORD
and all the exiles back from Babylon to this place!
But now, listen to what I am about to state in your hearing
and the hearing of all the people.
From of old, the prophets who were before you and me prophesied
war, woe, and pestilence against many lands and mighty kingdoms.
But the prophet who prophesies peace
is recognized as truly sent by the LORD
only when his prophetic prediction is fulfilled. Thereupon the prophet Hananiah took the yoke
from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it,
and said in the presence of all the people:
"Thus says the LORD: 'Even so, within two years
I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
from off the neck of all the nations.'" At that, the prophet Jeremiah went away. Some time after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke
from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah,
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:
Go tell Hananiah this:
Thus says the LORD:
By breaking a wooden yoke, you forge an iron yoke!
For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
A yoke of iron I will place on the necks
of all these nations serving Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
and they shall serve him; even the beasts of the field I give him. To the prophet Hananiah the prophet Jeremiah said:
Hear this, Hananiah!
The LORD has not sent you,
and you have raised false confidence in this people.
For this, says the LORD, I will dispatch you from the face of the earth;
this very year you shall die,
because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.
That same year, in the seventh month, Hananiah the prophet died. Ps119 Responsorial Psalm
R. (68b) Lord, teach me your statutes.
Remove from me the way of falsehood,
and favor me with your law.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Take not the word of truth from my mouth,
for in your ordinances is my hope.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Let those turn to me who fear you
and acknowledge your decrees.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Let my heart be perfect in your statutes,
that I be not put to shame.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Sinners wait to destroy me,
but I pay heed to your decrees.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
From your ordinances I turn not away,
for you have instructed me.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes. Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Rabbi, you are the Son of God;
you are the King of Israel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt14 Jesus made the disciples get into a boat
and precede him to the other side of the sea,
while he dismissed the crowds.
After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
When it was evening he was there alone.
Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore,
was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it.
During the fourth watch of the night,
he came toward them, walking on the sea.
When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified.
"It is a ghost," they said, and they cried out in fear.
At once Jesus spoke to them, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid."
Peter said to him in reply,
"Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."
He said, "Come."
Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus.
But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened;
and, beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him,
and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
After they got into the boat, the wind died down.
Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying,
"Truly, you are the Son of God." After making the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret.
When the men of that place recognized him,
they sent word to all the surrounding country.
People brought to him all those who were sick
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak,
and as many as touched it were healed. | Daily Meditation: Jeremiah 28:1-17 You have preached rebellion against the Lord. (Jeremiah 28:16) It's human nature. We all want to hope for the best, to see conflict resolved and suffering healed. That's what seemed to motivate the prophet Hananiah. He wanted to see Judah return to the days of prosperity it had enjoyed before the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and took its king into captivity. But Hananiah missed the point. Don't worry, he seemed to be saying. No need to repent. Just keep on doing what you're doing, and God will restore you. And that's what Jeremiah called "preaching rebellion" (Jeremiah 28:16). Jeremiah didn't enjoy rebuking Hananiah. His heart was breaking for his people. He knew that God wanted to protect and reunite them, but their sin was an immense roadblock. They needed to return to God in repentance. Living as a conquered people was painful, but it helped show them how they had fallen away from the Lord. It was a chance to change and turn back to God before they were exiled themselves. We all have times when we want to pretend everything is fine. Or we want to blame our troubles on someone else. That's when we need to face the challenging but merciful message of the gospel. The sad truth is that some of the negative things in our lives are the consequence of our own sin. Yes, God loves us and wants to give us good things. And yes, he calls us to conversion. He wants us to be free, but we can't ignore the need to repent. When we avoid dealing with our sins, we make things worse. When we close our ears to everything but the outcome we want, we cut ourselves off from the healing and renewal God wants to give us. The Lord always has more for us. And because he has so much for us, he is always calling us to change, to align ourselves a little more closely with him. So take a moment to reflect on what God is calling you to do. Are you listening to the prophets of the world who tell you everything is fine? Or are you heeding the call to repentance so that you can experience the freedom God wants to give you? "Lord, I want to be at peace. Help me to turn to you more deeply so that I can experience even more freedom!" Psalm 119:29, 43, 79-80, 95, 102
Matthew 14:22-36 |  clickable | Our Lord calls us to be 'like little children', not childish in understanding, but childlike in trusting love. I feel this most keenly in the moment of receiving the Host on the tongue: mouth open, like a little bird. At first, it made me feel awkward, abashed, not like an adult. This was all to the good. I am reminded that it is not by being a confident academic, a defender of the faith, that I somehow merit this grace; rather, I am a child coming to her Father, secure in the knowledge that she is loved completely.
— Holly Ordway
from her book Not God's Type | my2cents:
"A yoke of iron I will place on the necks
of all these nations serving Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon..."
A morning feed says that a government body declared themselves "essential work" and all they do overrides all safety protocols for the pandemics. Why bring this up? Churches are tagged not essential. That's why. But they are the backbone of our country, faith. Yet, another feed reads that in front of the courthouse they burned flags and bibles. Anti-nation and anti-Christ. Knocking on doors. Knocking for a chance to enter and....take over. | We pray today: " Lord, teach me your statutes.
Remove from me the way of falsehood, and favor me with your law."
God's law is a law of Love. It faces us towards God Himself who is Love itself. We shall uphold His law above all. | We heard what happened to our first Pope: ".. he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened;
and, beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Why did you doubt? Why DO YOU doubt my child? What distracts you and fills you with fear? Where is that gift of the Holy Spirit called courage? | From Bishop Barron (Word on Fire) today:
"Friends, in today's Gospel, Jesus comes to his disciples walking on the water. Whenever we encounter the disciples in a boat, we are dealing with the Church, the barque of Peter. Here we see the beginning of the Church's journey through time.
Winds and waves toss the barque. Anyone acquainted with Church history knows the truth of this—and it's a special comfort for those enduring our tumultuous times. We are engaged in a spiritual warfare, a battle not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities.
Early in the morning, the disciples saw Jesus coming toward them, "walking on the sea." Terrified, they cried out. But Jesus calmed them with the words, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." Then Peter said, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."
Peter stands preeminently for the Church across the ages. And here is the Church at its best, reaching out in confidence to Christ. The fruit of that confidence is participation in the Lord's power: "Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus." Relying on our own power, we can do nothing. But relying on him, we can do anything." Jesus caught Him by the hand. I remember one year I was whitewater rafting. Waves engulfed us and our boat flipped and we all went into the water. I remember the instructions on what to do if you are caught in the freezing waters. I was under the boat and couldn't get to the edge for some reason, under water, hearing rocks and currents underwater. Suddenly I was lifted up with a powerful force, and I was saved. It was an amazing feeling to be saved. In an instant I was saved. But I followed instructions...and they helped me be saved. This is God's law. Love them, and love Him, and be saved.
Want the Nation restored? It's on you my friend. Return full heartedly. Let us do what God wants and no longer what we want. Forget sports. Forget fashion, shows, recreation. That's just stuff. We don't need all that. We need what is essential...God in our lives, the rock, the Savior.
He will save us all if we turn to Him in complete love and trust through it all.... | Random Bible verse from an online generator:
James 1 :5
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. | 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 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment