 clickable | | Take Time to See Clearly In this world darkened by despair and deep division,
we fumble dimly,
to see past self-interest, fears, and endless feuding. But even looking down we can see beyond,
like the pilgrim seeking clarity
who found a limpid pool,
and bending down
glimpsed the Milky Way
mirrored in the deep. Then gazing heavenward,
gaped and gasped
at the cosmic show above,
while awe-filled silence taught:
the stiller you become,
the clearer will your reflection be. —from the book Wandering and Welcome: Meditations for Finding Peace
by Joseph Grant |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
"Persevere in labors that lead to salvation. Always be busy in spiritual actions. In this way, no matter how often the enemy of our souls approaches, no matter how many times he may try to come near us, he'll find our hearts closed and armed against him."
— St. Cyprian of Carthage † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"Many are heading straight on for purgatory. They live until their last hour, even though they are seriously ill, even on their deathbed, as if everything is all right. Exclusively directed to the earthly, they don't think at all about calling upon the mercy of God. Although by doing so they would be spared at least a severe purgatory. For God is infinitely merciful for all who call upon Him and trust Him."
AN EXCERPT FROM
Hungry Souls ⛪ TODAY'S FEAST DAY ALL SOULS DAY
November 2nd is All Souls Day, sometimes called the Day of the Dead. On this day, and during the month of November, the Church prays in a special way for the souls of the faithful departed, and individuals pray especially for those whom they have known and loved. The Holy Souls in purgatory died in the mercy of God, thus they are called "holy." However, because they still had attachment to sin at the time of their death, they must undergo the spiritual purification of their souls before they are able to fully love God with their whole heart, mind, and soul for all eternity. As they are nevertheless part of the communion of saints, they depend upon us to help ease their suffering and quickly advance them through their purification so that they can join the saints in heaven. Those in purgatory cannot pray for themselves, this is why they are also called "poor." They can no longer merit anything for themselves and rely entirely on living souls to pray and make sacrifices on their behalf. † VERSE OF THE DAY
"I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins."
Isaiah 43:25 |  click to read more | | BLESSED JOHN BODEY
Blessed John Bodey (1549-1583) was born in Wells, England, the son of a wealthy merchant and former mayor. He studied at Oxford and became an Oxford Fellow in 1568 at the age of 19. Later he, along with seven others, was deprived of his fellowship for being a Roman Catholic by the Anglican Bishop of Winchester. Bodey, a married layman and schoolmaster, was arrested in 1580 for continuing to practice the Catholic religion and rejecting England's newly-established heretical Church of England. He was kept in iron shackles for three years, which he called his "school of patience." In 1583 he was tried for treason, both for being a faithful Roman Catholic and for repudiating King Henry VIII's claim of supremacy of the Church in England over against the Holy Father. Bodey wrote that his iron chains were earning him glory in heaven, even kissing the chain halter around his neck. He was executed under Queen Elizabeth on November 2, 1583 by being hanged, drawn, and quartered at Andover. He died with the name of Jesus on his lips. His mother rejoiced that her son persevered to the end and won the crown of martyrdom; she gave a feast in honor of him being numbered among the saints in heaven. John Bodey was beatified in 1929 and is one of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales. His feast day is November 2nd. | Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed The Church has encouraged prayer for the dead from the earliest times as an act of Christian charity. "If we had no care for the dead," Augustine noted, "we would not be in the habit of praying for them." Yet pre-Christian rites for the deceased retained such a strong hold on the superstitious imagination that a liturgical commemoration was not observed until the early Middle Ages, when monastic communities began to mark an annual day of prayer for the departed members. In the middle of the 11th century, Saint Odilo, abbot of Cluny, France, decreed that all Cluniac monasteries offer special prayers and sing the Office for the Dead on November 2, the day after the feast of All Saints. The custom spread from Cluny and was finally adopted throughout the Roman Church. The theological underpinning of the feast is the acknowledgment of human frailty. Since few people achieve perfection in this life but, rather, go to the grave still scarred with traces of sinfulness, some period of purification seems necessary before a soul comes face-to-face with God. The Council of Trent affirmed this purgatory state and insisted that the prayers of the living can speed the process of purification. Superstition easily clung to the observance. Medieval popular belief held that the souls in purgatory could appear on this day in the form of witches, toads or will-o'-the-wisps. Graveside food offerings supposedly eased the rest of the dead. Observances of a more religious nature have survived. These include public processions or private visits to cemeteries and decorating graves with flowers and lights. This feast is observed with great fervor in Mexico. Reflection Whether or not one should pray for the dead is one of the great arguments which divide Christians. Appalled by the abuse of indulgences in the Church of his day, Martin Luther rejected the concept of purgatory. Yet prayer for a loved one is, for the believer, a way of erasing any distance, even death. In prayer we stand in God's presence in the company of someone we love, even if that person has gone before us into death. | The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls) Lectionary: 668 Reading 1 WIS 3:1-9 The souls of the just are in the hand of God,
and no torment shall touch them.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;
and their passing away was thought an affliction
and their going forth from us, utter destruction.
But they are in peace.
For if before men, indeed, they be punished,
yet is their hope full of immortality;
chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,
because God tried them
and found them worthy of himself.
As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.
In the time of their visitation they shall shine,
and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;
they shall judge nations and rule over peoples,
and the LORD shall be their King forever.
Those who trust in him shall understand truth,
and the faithful shall abide with him in love:
because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,
and his care is with his elect. Responsorial Psalm PS 23:1-3A, 3B-4, 5, 6 R. (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows. R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me. Reading II ROM 6:3-9 Brothers and sisters:
Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death?
We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death,
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father,
we too might live in newness of life. For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his,
we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.
We know that our old self was crucified with him,
so that our sinful body might be done away with,
that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.
For a dead person has been absolved from sin.
If, then, we have died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him.
We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more;
death no longer has power over him. Alleluia MT 25:34 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come, you who are blessed by my Father;
inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel JN 6:37-40 Jesus said to the crowds:
"Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day." | Daily Meditation: Wisdom 3:1-9 As gold in the furnace, he proved them. (Wisdom 3:6) As we commemorate All Souls' Day today, we might light a candle at church in honor of our loved ones who have died. Or we might display their photos in our homes. Many cultures devote today to remembering deceased friends and family members—and to pray for them. But why exactly should we pray for the dead? It's all about our desire for them to experience the joys of heaven. We know that because Jesus died and rose from the dead, every one of us has the hope of heaven. Jesus has forgiven us, defeated death, and opened the doors to eternal life. But we also know that the effects of sin can still take their toll, even when we are in friendship with God. Think about times when someone forgave you for an angry outburst or hurtful word, but the pain that you caused that person still lingered. Can any of that coexist with God? Those lingering consequences of sin? The mixed motives? No. Thanks be to God that when we die in friendship with him, we are saved. But for those persistent effects of sin, God offers us opportunities to be purified and cleansed even more deeply, like gold that is refined to remove impurities (Wisdom 3:6). In his encyclical Spe Salvi [Saved in Hope], Pope Benedict XVI says that when we come face-to-face with Jesus, "all falsehood melts away." As we encounter him whose love has conquered all evil, "we absorb the overwhelming power of his love" into our hearts. That love is so strong that it burns away whatever evil or sin remain in us. Benedict calls this "the pain of love" (47). It's something that can be painful—but joyful too—because it ultimately brings us salvation. We can look at it as God's way of loving the sin out of us. So take heart! God wants to keep cleansing you, even after death. He wants to bring you into the joys of heaven—you and all your loved ones. So pray for your loved ones. Ask the Holy Spirit to help them pass through this "pain of love" so that they can see God face-to-face! "Lord, bring all those who have died in friendship with you into heavenly joy!" Psalm 23:1-6
Romans 5:5-11
John 6:37-40 |  clickable | It's my hope that liturgical living in the home will mean that the Catholic faith will continue to be a part of the daily lives and the yearly routines of my children as they grow into adulthood.
— Kendra Tierney
from The Catholic All Year Compendium | my2cents:
"As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself." I heard a while back the monetary dollar value of a human being, the physical body, what it's cost is if you could sell it for parts and stuff, and if I remember correctly, it was about a million dollars. If we were to ask our Lord what the worth is, He would say that human beings do not know how to value life as He does. For Billions of lives He gave us His life...His son, God from God, light from light. A million dollars is dirt grains. What does this mean? It means you will never know what God thinks and knows to be true love. We get a hint at His son's death. As He shows the Way. | We pray today: "You spread the table before me in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want".
I sing these verses and Psalm 23 quite often at funerals, and there have been many this year in our small town. These words are engraved in my mind and heart. What table? The altar. The Sacrifice. What oil? Faith life. I shall not want. What does this mean? If you are found wanting in the bible, it means you are found lacking. You lack one thing. And that one thing is what God asks. | We heard today: "Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death..." Are you ready for the chalice, the baptism into a new life? I'm teaching RCIA and the students are getting excited for baptism. My job is to develop a hunger in these students. A real appetite for the table offering. And there, we bring our sacrifice to unite to His.
Question:what are you bringing to the table? Our Lord shows what to bring: "I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me." | Today we focus our prayers on the dead. Doesn't that sound weird? To protestants, this is the equivalent of blasphemy. But to Jews and Catholics, this is not anything else but honoring life, both now and the hereafter. They are physically dead, their earthly bodies are degenerated, but God makes all things new. At the end of the world, our bodies will be resurrected, united with our life in the Soul. This is why we are to honor our bodies,(and no cremation) and remember the precious dead, who are alive in the next state. God hears our prayers for the deceased, our loved ones we miss. And we pray for them. And our prayers are efficacious, and even more so if you are doing His will. I listen more to my obedient kids than the others, not that I don't listen to the others at all, but there is a love offering involved now.
"For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day."
Who sees Him?
The pure of heart do. Who believes in Him? The faithful do.
Who sees AND believes? The faithful and pure.
I have seen Him. And it is awkward to say this, because not everyone sees Him. And I do not consider myself totally pure. It's like those saints that said they could see their guardian angel. By the way, you better get to knowing your guardian angel, they can guide you straight to the gates of heaven.
If I decide not to tell you how or when or what I saw, would you still believe me?
What if I had no words to explain what I saw? What makes things worse is that the ridicule and scorn ensues, mostly on myself, "why me?" It's not fair to anyone else. And why can't I translate and emanate the love of God as He does in my heart and soul? My prayers I think go daily for the deceased. I think of a song that says "even if a mother forget you, I will never forget you". That is God's word. Because countless souls are forgotten. That is why this day is critical. Remember. Memento mori...remember death. Remember we are finite creatures. Remember the infinite calls us finite to Himself.
It is such a holy day...when we become the offering....no take-backs. Lord, today we pray for all souls, we pray not only for our loved ones, but for the forgotten, the abandoned, for their sins to be forgiven, for mercy Lord, help us discern your precious will... | Random Bible verse from online generator: Hearing and Doing the Word 19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Still reading? LOL.
I'll be singing this song today, Lord willing: COME TO MEhttps://youtu.be/x0lSm4VljlY | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | |
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