 clickable | | The Important Questions I've been asked, too often in my life, what I believe. Here's the odd part; I have never once been asked about what nourishes my soul. Or to list what moves me. Or for stories about what warms my blood, sends gooseflesh up my arms, makes me want to dance, make me love life, or laugh and cry at the same time. I've been asked about what is appropriate, but never about what is important. This journal seeks to ask these important questions. —from the book The Gift of Enough: A Journal for the Present Moment by Terry Hershey |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
"To put into practice the teachings of our holy faith, it is not enough to convince ourselves that they are true; we must love them. Love united to faith makes us practise our religion."
— St. Alphonsus Liguori †MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"I do not wish the soul to consider her sins, either in general or in particular, without also remembering the Blood and the broadness of My mercy, for fear that otherwise she should be brought to confusion. And together with confusion would come the Devil, who has caused it, under colour of contrition and displeasure of sin, and so she would arrive at eternal damnation, not only on account of her confusion, but also through the despair which would come to her, because she did not seize the arm of My mercy. This is one of the subtle devices with which the Devil deludes My servants, and, in order to escape from his deceit, and to be pleasing to Me, you must enlarge your hearts and affections in My boundless mercy, with true humility. Thou knowest that the pride of the devil cannot resist the humble mind, nor can any confusion of spirit be greater than the broadness of My good mercy, if the soul will only truly hope therein."
— St. Catherine Of Siena, p. 94
AN EXCERPT FROM
Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena † VERSE OF THE DAY
"But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Acts 1:8 August 14th. |  click to read more | | ST. MAXIMILIAN KOLBE St. Maximilian Kolbe (1894–1941) was born in Poland to a devout Christian family. As a boy he had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She showed him two crowns: a white one for virginity and a red one for martyrdom, and asked him which he would be willing to accept. He replied that he would accept both. He later joined the Franciscans. While studying for the priesthood in Rome, he organized a group of friars and founded the Militia of the Immaculata in 1917 to crusade for consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and to oppose the evil of Freemasonry. From it came the Knights of the Immaculate magazine that reached a circulation of 750,000, as well as a radio show, both of which became a resource for strengthening faith across Poland. He also established a monastery which grew to 800 friars, the largest in the world at the time. In 1930 he traveled to the Far East and founded another monastery in Nagasaki, Japan. He returned to Poland in 1936. During World War II, St. Maximilian Kolbe housed over 3,000 Polish refugees at his monastery. He was eventually imprisoned because of his effective work, and was sent to Auschwitz in 1941. There he endured special cruelty because he was a Catholic priest. St. Maximilian ministered to the prisoners, and offered his life in place of a father who had been condemned to death. After being starved for two weeks and still found alive, Maximilian was killed by lethal injection on August 14, 1941. He is the patron saint of families, drug addicts, prisoners, journalists, and the pro-life movement. His feast day is | Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe (January 8, 1894 – August 14, 1941) "I don't know what's going to become of you!" How many parents have said that? Maximilian Mary Kolbe's reaction was, "I prayed very hard to Our Lady to tell me what would happen to me. She appeared, holding in her hands two crowns, one white, one red. She asked if I would like to have them—one was for purity, the other for martyrdom. I said, 'I choose both.' She smiled and disappeared." After that he was not the same. He entered the minor seminary of the Conventual Franciscans in Lvív–then Poland, now Ukraine– near his birthplace, and at 16 became a novice. Though Maximilian later achieved doctorates in philosophy and theology, he was deeply interested in science, even drawing plans for rocket ships. Ordained at 24, Maximilian saw religious indifference as the deadliest poison of the day. His mission was to combat it. He had already founded the Militia of the Immaculata, whose aim was to fight evil with the witness of the good life, prayer, work, and suffering. He dreamed of and then founded Knight of the Immaculata, a religious magazine under Mary's protection to preach the Good News to all nations. For the work of publication he established a "City of the Immaculata"—Niepokalanow—which housed 700 of his Franciscan brothers. He later founded another one in Nagasaki, Japan. Both the Militia and the magazine ultimately reached the one-million mark in members and subscribers. His love of God was daily filtered through devotion to Mary. In 1939, the Nazi panzers overran Poland with deadly speed. Niepokalanow was severely bombed. Kolbe and his friars were arrested, then released in less than three months, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. In 1941, Fr. Kolbe was arrested again. The Nazis' purpose was to liquidate the select ones, the leaders. The end came quickly, three months later in Auschwitz, after terrible beatings and humiliations. A prisoner had escaped. The commandant announced that 10 men would die. He relished walking along the ranks. "This one. That one." As they were being marched away to the starvation bunkers, Number 16670 dared to step from the line. "I would like to take that man's place. He has a wife and children."
"Who are you?"
"A priest." No name, no mention of fame. Silence. The commandant, dumbfounded, perhaps with a fleeting thought of history, kicked Sergeant Francis Gajowniczek out of line and ordered Fr. Kolbe to go with the nine. In the "block of death" they were ordered to strip naked, and their slow starvation began in darkness. But there was no screaming—the prisoners sang. By the eve of the Assumption, four were left alive. The jailer came to finish Kolbe off as he sat in a corner praying. He lifted his fleshless arm to receive the bite of the hypodermic needle. It was filled with carbolic acid. They burned his body with all the others. Fr. Kolbe was beatified in 1971 and canonized in 1982.
Reflection Father Kolbe's death was not a sudden, last-minute act of heroism. His whole life had been a preparation. His holiness was a limitless, passionate desire to convert the whole world to God. And his beloved Immaculata was his inspiration.
Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe is the Patron Saint of: Addicts
Drug addiction | Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr • Readings for the Memorial of Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, priest and martyr Reading 1 EZ 16:1-15, 60, 63 The word of the LORD came to me:
Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations.
Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem:
By origin and birth you are of the land of Canaan;
your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.
As for your birth, the day you were born your navel cord was not cut;
you were neither washed with water nor anointed,
nor were you rubbed with salt, nor swathed in swaddling clothes.
No one looked on you with pity or compassion
to do any of these things for you.
Rather, you were thrown out on the ground as something loathsome,
the day you were born.
Then I passed by and saw you weltering in your blood.
I said to you: Live in your blood and grow like a plant in the field.
You grew and developed, you came to the age of puberty;
your breasts were formed, your hair had grown,
but you were still stark naked.
Again I passed by you and saw that you were now old enough for love.
So I spread the corner of my cloak over you to cover your nakedness;
I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you;
you became mine, says the Lord GOD.
Then I bathed you with water, washed away your blood,
and anointed you with oil.
I clothed you with an embroidered gown,
put sandals of fine leather on your feet;
I gave you a fine linen sash and silk robes to wear.
I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms,
a necklace about your neck, a ring in your nose,
pendants in your ears, and a glorious diadem upon your head.
Thus you were adorned with gold and silver;
your garments were of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth.
Fine flour, honey, and oil were your food.
You were exceedingly beautiful, with the dignity of a queen.
You were renowned among the nations for your beauty, perfect as it was,
because of my splendor which I had bestowed on you,
says the Lord GOD.
But you were captivated by your own beauty,
you used your renown to make yourself a harlot,
and you lavished your harlotry on every passer-by,
whose own you became.
Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl,
and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you,
that you may remember and be covered with confusion,
and that you may be utterly silenced for shame
when I pardon you for all you have done, says the Lord GOD. Responsorial Psalm ISAIAH 12:2-3, 4BCD, 5-6 R. (1c) You have turned from your anger.
God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.
R. You have turned from your anger.
Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.
R. You have turned from your anger.
Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;
let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!
R. You have turned from your anger. Alleluia See 1 THES 2:13 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Receive the word of God, not as the word of men,
but, as it truly is, the word of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel MT 19:3-12 Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying,
"Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?"
He said in reply, "Have you not read that from the beginning
the Creator made them male and female and said,
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?
So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate."
They said to him, "Then why did Moses command
that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?"
He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts
Moses allowed you to divorce your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.
I say to you, whoever divorces his wife
(unless the marriage is unlawful)
and marries another commits adultery."
His disciples said to him,
"If that is the case of a man with his wife,
it is better not to marry."
He answered, "Not all can accept this word,
but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so;
some, because they were made so by others;
some, because they have renounced marriage
for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever can accept this ought to accept it."
| Daily Meditation: Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63 I will remember the covenant I made with you. (Ezekiel 16:60) Ezekiel's prophecy compares Israel to a beautiful woman who has betrayed the one who rescued and saved her. What a stark and painful reminder to the Israelites of just how far they had strayed from God! And yet despite the unfaithfulness of Israel, God remains faithful. Although he has permitted his people to experience the consequences of their betrayal, he will not withdraw his covenant from them. In fact, he tells them, "I will set up an everlasting covenant with you" (Ezekiel 16:60). As Ezekiel prophesies later in this book, God will provide restoration for his beloved people (chapter 36) and become the shepherd who leads and cares for them (34:15). God is always faithful—that's just who he is. He calls us to faithfulness as well because he knows that it provides the stability and constancy we need for our relationships to flourish. When we know that we can trust someone no matter what, we are more willing to be vulnerable with that person and open our hearts to him or her. And that's how love and intimacy grow: through deeper knowledge of one another. This is especially true in our relationship with the Lord. God is faithful to us, and we can express our faithfulness to him through regular, planned time with him each day. This gives God the space and opportunity to reveal himself to us. It gives him the chance to tell us what's on his heart, and it helps us open more of our hearts to him. In a similar way, God calls us to be faithful in loving and caring for the people he puts in our lives. When we care for our loved ones, even in the midst of their flaws and failures, we are mirroring God's faithfulness to us. Our bond of trust grows deeper and stronger, and it helps us to reveal more of ourselves to each other. Ezekiel couldn't have painted a more graphic picture of his people's unfaithfulness to God. And that's what makes God's response so amazing. He will not abandon his people, ever! May he give us the grace, day by day, to be as faithful as he is. "Father, I praise you for your unending faithfulness to me." (Psalm) Isaiah 12:2-6
Matthew 19:3-12 |  clickable | The definitive truth is also the definitive meaning. To accept or reject the Bible is therefore a decisive matter. Man's destiny depends on it. If we reject the truth of the Bible, we reject life's genuine, original meaning. Since no one can live without meaning, we are forced to create an artificial meaning and live in illusions.
— Fr. Wilfrid Stinissen
from his book The Word is Very Near You | my2cents:
"Rather, you were thrown out on the ground as something loathsome, the day you were born.
Then I passed by and saw you weltering in your blood."
Is this cruelty to babies? In some botched abortions, some babies are weltering in their blood. Does anybody care? It depends on who you ask. Right now, we are facing some fierce people who would say "freedom of choice" to the point that they demand the baby to die. Some of these folks are in government. Watch who you vote for...for they will be your voice. That voice will say "let them die in their blood". And they do, which in our country, there are millions of innocent slaughtered in the last few years. Why? So the mother wouldn't suffer? Lies. They suffer afterwards. Many suffer physical impairments and most psychological problems. | Let us pray: "You have turned from your anger.
God indeed is my savior; I am confident and unafraid. My strength and my courage is the LORD, and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water at the fountain of salvation."
And so it depends on who you ask. Just ask anybody if the world is a bad place. It depends on who you ask the question. If they are depressed, as many are now thanks to the pandemics and low faith turnout, they will probably paint a grim picture. They say suicide temptations have increased among the youth up to nearly 30% within the last few months. Would our Lord let the baby die in its blood? A darkened person would, but not a God fearing person. Because we know the tenets of our Lord and His Holy will. | They asked our Lord: ""Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?"
Our Lord said " "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?"
Modernists (which have always existed) are under the guise of darkness. They say that morals are antiquated, and the modern thing to do is to be free from morality. This is the case in the world where lies run rampant. Case in point is homosexualism where they say to be modern is to accept this implosion on humanity. No longer will there be mother and father, nor two made into one flesh (a baby). Modernists say the world has too many people and to solve the problem, kill them. In comes abortion for population control, contraception, and euthanasia. The picture is getting more grim as the death call is feeding on the weak to the next demographic. Our Lord said: "Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so."
Those who have hard hearts want divorce.
Those who have soft hearts want faithfulness.
Those who have hard hearts want implosion.
Those who have soft hearts want explosion.
And God created the world to continuously expand.
Love is giving.
I don't know about you, but in my life, I've seen the devastation of divorce among many families it is an atrocious nuclear bomb, because families are the nuclei of the world.
Nowadays people don't want divorce...so they don't "really marry". They don't want to get married. There are very few marriages in the Holy Church. And there are many children left out of this Holy Sacrament.
So, what can we do about all this dark talk?
For sure, you can be the light in the darkness right there where you are. Shine and shine the way for people to see the constellation you form with the faithful. Like the stars at night, people can see where you point and to what. They see eventually the source of your light. Some star lights you see are of expired stars that their light took millions of years to get to your eyes. So will be the life of the faithful.
You are making a difference with your prayers.
You are showing fidelity to your spouse...Jesus.
You see, in Holy Matrimony in the Catholic Church, you not only marry a person, but you make an oath with God.
It was intended this way from the beginning.
God is the Love.
That is why God must come first in your relationship.
Anything else is an imposter. | From Bishop Barron:
"Friends, in today's Gospel, Jesus teaches the sacred unity of marriage. The physical, sexual, psychological, economic, and loving bonds between a man and a woman have, ultimately, a sacred purpose: to act as a conduit of the divine life in the world.
How does this work? In the unity of a man and a woman, which becomes in so many ways fruitful, we see an image of the Blessed Trinity: the Father and the Son love one another to such a perfect degree that their love gives birth to the Holy Spirit.
A married couple should see their relationship as an icon of the Holy Trinity—and more to it, a means by which the Trinitarian love bursts forth into the world. The two partners have a mission before God.
St. Paul saw that Christian marriage had a precisely Christian purpose: to symbolize the love of Christ and the Church. As a husband loves his wife (and as she loves him), so does Christ love the Church and the Church (at least ideally) loves him. What does Christ's love for his Church look like? Well, it's a deeply joyful reality, for it is the sharing of the divine life." Lord, help us love you more and more, as you have loved us from the beginning. | Random Bible verse from online generator:
Mt 11:28
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." | 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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