 clickable | | The Genius of the Twelve Steps The absolute genius of the Twelve Steps is that it refuses to bless and reward what looks like any moral worthiness game or mere heroic willpower. It spotted the counterfeit and "drags it publicly behind it in a triumphal parade" (Colossians 2:15). With Gospel brilliance and insight, A.A. says that the starting point and, in fact, the continuing point, is not any kind of worthiness at all but in fact unworthiness! ("I am an alcoholic!") Suddenly religion loses all capacity for elitism and is democratic to the bone. This is what Jesus affirmed in prostitutes, drunkards, and tax collectors, and what Paul praised when he said, "It is when I am weak that I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10). —from the book Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps by Richard Rohr, OFM |  MorningOffering.com | †Holy Quote
"As the pilot of a vessel is tried in the storm; as the wrestler is tried in the ring, the soldier in the battle, and the hero in adversity: so is the Christian tried in temptation."
— St. Basil the Great † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"Our confidence in God must be founded on His infinite goodness and on the merits of the Passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, with this condition on our part: that we should preserve and recognize in ourselves an entire and firm resolution to belong wholly to God, and to abandon ourselves in all things, and without any reserve, to His Providence. Observe that I do not say that we must feel this resolution to belong wholly to God, but only that we must have it and recognize it in ourselves; we must not concern ourselves with what we feel or do not feel, since the greater part of our feelings and satisfactions are only the movements of self-love. Neither must it be supposed that in all this practice of abandonment and indifference, we shall never have desires contrary to the will of God, or that nature will never shrink with repugnance from the dispositions of His good pleasure, for these will often occur. The virtues of abandonment and indifference reside in the higher region of our soul; the lower region, generally speaking, has nothing to do with them. We must remain at peace, and paying no attention whatever to what that lower nature desires, we must embrace the divine will and unite ourselves to it—whatsoever this may entail. There are very few persons who reach this height of perfect self-renunciation; nevertheless, we must all aim at it, each according to his little measure."
— St. Francis de Sales, p. 22-23
AN EXCERPT FROM
The Art of Loving God † VERSE OF THE DAY
"But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ."
2 Thessalonians 3:3-5 |  click to read more | | ST. WILLIAM OF BOURGES St. William of Bourges (1155–1209), also known as St. William the Confessor, was born to a noble family in France. He was educated under his uncle who was an archdeacon, and from a young age turned away from the world and gave himself over to religion and learning. He became a priest and later entered religious life in a Cistercian monastery, an order famous for strict discipline. St. William was known to be a cheerful man and a hard worker, and pure of heart. He was chosen to be Archbishop of Bourges in the year 1200, much to his dismay. He left the solitude of the monastery out of obedience and entered into the public life of a bishop, throwing himself wholeheartedly into serving both the spiritual and physical needs of the poor. As bishop he continued his great austerities. He had a great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and would spend much time in prayer at the foot of the altar. He was known for performing miracles both during his life and after his death. He died kneeling at prayer, and by request was buried wearing his hair shirt and lying in ashes. His feast day is January 10. | Friday after Epiphany
Lectionary: 216
Reading 1 1 Jn 5:5-13 Beloved:
Who indeed is the victor over the world
but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the one who came through water and Blood, Jesus Christ,
not by water alone, but by water and Blood.
The Spirit is the one who testifies,
and the Spirit is truth.
So there are three who testify,
the Spirit, the water, and the Blood,
and the three are of one accord.
If we accept human testimony,
the testimony of God is surely greater.
Now the testimony of God is this,
that he has testified on behalf of his Son.
Whoever believes in the Son of God
has this testimony within himself.
Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar
by not believing the testimony God has given about his Son.
And this is the testimony:
God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son.
Whoever possesses the Son has life;
whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you so that you may know
that you have eternal life,
you who believe in the name of the Son of God. Responsorial Psalm 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20 R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia Mt 4:23 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 5:12-16 It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was;
and when he saw Jesus,
he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said,
"Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean."
Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,
"I do will it. Be made clean."
And the leprosy left him immediately.
Then he ordered him not to tell anyone, but
"Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing
what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them."
The report about him spread all the more,
and great crowds assembled to listen to him
and to be cured of their ailments,
but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray. | Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Luke 5:12-16 Christmas Weekday I do will it. Be made clean. (Luke 5:13) Last September, the Vatican opened the cause for canonization of John Bradburne, a British man who died in 1979 after spending fifteen years serving people with leprosy in Zimbabwe. Bradburne was known and loved for his ability to look past the disease and deformities of the people he cared for and treat them with dignity and respect. One example was a woman named Veronica. She was so filled with distress because of her disfigured face that no one recalled ever seeing her smile. But then one day, in front of everyone, Bradburne said to her, "Oh, Veronica, when you get to heaven, you will look so beautiful, really beautiful." His tone was so sincere and matter-of-fact that she smiled for the first time. The experience was life changing. Veronica became a source of comfort to many other people afterward. She ran (although toeless) to their beds when they were distressed and never missed an opportunity to offer words of consolation to dying comrades. Bradburne had touched her with his words and healed her heart. According to the World Health Organization, the number of people with leprosy, or Hansen's disease, has decreased dramatically over the past twenty years: from 5.2 million people down to just over 175,000. But while instances of Hansen's disease are becoming rarer, instances of social isolation and exclusion are growing exponentially. People on every part of the social and economic spectrum struggle to feel connected, valued, and loved. Longing for human contact, they feel like Veronica or like the man in today's Gospel. You can be Christ to these people. By the grace of his Spirit, you can learn to see them through his eyes of love. You may or may not be able to bring them physical healing or healing of their memories. You may or may not be able to help them reconcile with someone who has hurt them. But you can bring them the healing that comes from encountering Jesus. Through your words and actions, you can show them that they are not alone. You can show them that Jesus sees them, values them, and loves them deeply. "Lord, give me the courage to reach out and touch the lonely and forgotten with your love." 1 John 5:5-13
Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20 |  clickable | We must make a conscious effort to surrender our entire life over to Jesus Christ. In order to do that, you must stay in contact with Jesus Christ 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Everything you do has to go through and be approved by Jesus Christ.
— Jesse Romero
from The Devil in the City of Angels | my2cents:
"Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"
What a beautiful setup for what is about to transpire in today's Gospel. And fortunately for us...it speaks about the believer.
I write to you, I use people I know, and mostly myself as examples of terrible sinners, of how we all can be. But that is not who we are at our core...at our core we are called to be believers, and to believe is to follow, and to follow is to give way to the Way, our Lord. | Let us pray: "He has granted peace in your borders; with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word! Praise the Lord, Jerusalem."
His command, how simple is His command right? A simple saying of a Word? Right? Praise the Lord. Do you believe? Things go deeper than this, as the Word goes deeper into your heart. | In the Holy Gospel, we have the story of an untouchable soul, an outcast, someone not even allowed in Church! Know anybody like that? Many of these stay home. Many are forced into "nursing homes" and others are locked up in "prisons". How bad is this leprous disease? It is pretty contagious, or so is believed. How is it spread? A quick search says:
"Most scientists believe that leprosy is transmitted from one person to another in infected respiratory droplets. While this may be one way in which the disease is spread, more than 50 percent of the people who develop leprosy have no confirmed contact with an infected person. Factors that may influence how leprosy is transmitted include: ▪ Environmental conditions
▪ The degree of susceptibility of the person
▪ The extent of exposure. "
Interesting huh? They say you can sit by a leper, you can shake their hands, you can even hug them! But, no. We can't. And we won't. It is flat out scary. And Jewish laws demanded to stay far away.
They say St. Francis' life was transformed by this very act...he was afraid of the leper, he rode his horse away from him, and remorse tore him up inside, and so, he decided to go hug and kiss the leper, he rode away, looked back and the leper had disappeared, and his life was forever changed to be the super saint we know him to be.
He had to die to himself, kill himself on the spot, and Jesus entered in. He may very well have kissed the face of God. As ugly as we see with human eyes.
So what causes and spreads leprosy? Now I compare it to sin.
The Environment. In the cursillo, we learn to conquer the environment.
The susceptibility of the person. We must learn to not be susceptible....to sin and the temptations that lure us into sin.
*The extent of exposure. The longer we are exposed to sin, the more we give in, the more likely we will end up being sin.
| ▪ | Environmental conditions | | ▪ | The degree of susceptibility of the person | | ▪ | The extent of exposure. "
Interesting huh? They say you can sit by a leper, you can shake their hands, you can even hug them! But, no. We can't. And we won't. It is flat out scary. And Jewish laws demanded to stay far away.
They say St. Francis' life was transformed by this very act...he was afraid of the leper, he rode his horse away from him, and remorse tore him up inside, and so, he decided to go hug and kiss the leper, he rode away, looked back and the leper had disappeared, and his life was forever changed to be the super saint we know him to be.
He had to die to himself, kill himself on the spot, and Jesus entered in. He may very well have kissed the face of God. As ugly as we see with human eyes.
So what causes and spreads leprosy? Now I compare it to sin.
The Environment. In the cursillo, we learn to conquer the environment.
The susceptibility of the person. We must learn to not be susceptible....to sin and the temptations that lure us into sin.
*The extent of exposure. The longer we are exposed to sin, the more we give in, the more likely we will end up being sin. | | Sin deforms the soul. That is why Jesus says at the door of Heaven "I do not know you" when the person is knocking Lord Lord Open up for me! He won't, He can't! You are a stranger. He does not recognize you. You are a thief. You are a danger. Spiritual leprosy is on the rise. Deformed souls are depraved. They want violence, like zombies, they thirst for...death. They want you to die like them. Do not fall for the lies and the deception.
Shall we fear them and stay away from them? No. I said do not fall for temptation. If you are approached by one, simply touch their soul with the love of God. DO IT. Much is expected of you.
Do you remember the story of a stranger in dark glasses that walked right up the middle during Mass and walked back out in our parish this past weekend? I was given his name, and told he was arrested. The person that told me was his old friend, who said that this poor man went with the wrong crowds and things went from bad to worse and he said "please, he really needs prayer". I saw his picture and I already knew he was a soul that needed to be touched. Now, who will reach out to him like Jesus? He needed something. He took holy water. He was calling for attention. The friend said "I saw him, and caught him walking out...I told him he was welcome any time...and I hugged him". Fear and love. Some fear love, some fear to love, and some give love freely. What can make a zombie come back to life? Love. Because God is love. How do we conquer a society that is more and more hostile to love? And God is love.
We just talked about the environment. We talked about being susceptible. And spoke about exposure.
You must be in the environment, but not of the environment. You must not be susceptible, you must be fully guarded with grace and the Holy Spirit. (We are speaking military terms now, but not physical arms). And the exposure count. My brothers shared recently that a hater (zombie) asked him to come talk with him, and instead, he attacked him, and how? He flashed his phone to him and said "check this out!" and it was a pornographic thing. Do you know what this does to a susceptible man? It is a spiritual demonic attack. My brother though was guarded with grace. And then another brother spoke about how he invited him into his home, and he could sense demonic action, or so he said...may have been psychological (which is more often the case).
And I heard it with women too. Several times this week "I don't like her" they said "because she did this and that". Another spiritual attack, to make you be divisive and takes sides. In the church, we have people doing and saying dumb things all the time. But the church family can have grace to live longer...together. Whereas, those disgraced, can not live together. Therefore:
Be formed.
Be transformed to be formed.
St. Francis was.
St. Francis was touched by Jesus about 1,000 years after Jesus walked this earth.
St. Francis was a leper that was healed from fear of love. From that moment on He would touch Jesus always...never letting go.
Pray for us St. Francis.
We too are afraid. I'm probably the biggest coward. I saw an old neighbor sick in a bed in a nursing home a couple months ago. It pains me to say this. But, I as I passed by, I just passed by and excused myself, "she looks asleep, I'll visit some other time". But it was an excuse, a gross one. And I never went. Her son took her home later. And a couple days ago, she passed away, very frail they say, couldn't eat for weeks. I'm ashamed, and hurt. And I will face the music when I will have to provide the music at the funeral. With what face can I present myself? I've already prayed for them. I have sinned against love, charity. I was visiting a blind lonely man there, but I had a chance to visit ... Jesus that day. And that day passed.
They say we have started a new year. That may be true if you follow the worldly views and calendars. That date doesn't matter. It is always the appropriate time to start anew.
I had a new student in CCD this week, well, not really new, she just had stopped coming for months. She walked in late. I decided not to make a big deal. Bad thing was that I forgot her name, I'm like that. She refused to talk or answer any questions the whole time.
Didn't matter, I was happy she was there. Come in, give me a hard time. We can work with that. Because my love (of God) will conquer anything and tear down any wall. I'm a work in progress that can help your work in progress.
And your work in progress helps my work in progress.
And all of this as we progress to Heaven....together. Lord, We need you. We always need you. I asked one to pray yesterday as he suffered an attack. Today, I asked him if he prayed, he said no. I pray for him. His was a physical attack, with anxiety, and so forth. If only we could pray to you together Lord. This world would be transformed...by the Word. Your word Lord. Only Speak the Word...and we shall be healed.... |  click to hear a message | Random Bible Verse 1 Proverbs 15:31
31 The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.
32 Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. Thank You Lord | |
