 clickable | | The Spiritual Problem of Our Time The great spiritual problem of the day is being "like fish out of water." A life without spiritual regularity drifts through time with little to really hang onto when life most needs an anchor. Instead, we often get caught up in someone else's agenda most of our lives. We put the cell aside for work and its never-ending deadlines. We forget the cell when we need it most and make play a poor substitute for thought and prayer. We think that we can run our legs off doing, going, finding, socializing, and still stay stolid and serene in the midst of the pressure of it all. And then we find ourselves staring at the ceiling one night and thinking to ourselves, "There must be more to life than this." —from the book In God's Holy Light: Wisdom from the Desert Monastics by Sister Joan Chittister |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
"One should not say that it is impossible to reach a virtuous life; but one should say that it is not easy. Nor do those who have reached it find it easy to maintain."
— St. Anthony of the Desert † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"That which our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did and suffered for all men, He did and suffered for each one in particular; and He would not have thought it too much to do if it had been a question of saving only a single soul. The salvation of a soul is, then, the price of the blood of God, the price of the death of God, the price of the greatest sacrifice that God, clothed in our human nature, could possibly make! This is incomprehensible! ... It proves that the dignity of a soul is beyond understanding—for God to abase Himself, for God to annihilate Himself, for God to sacrifice Himself, only to save that soul and make it happy forever! ... As for us, who believe humbly and firmly all that God has revealed to us, let us learn, by the contemplation of God upon a Cross, what is the value of our souls. Let us not lose our soul; let us not prostitute it to creatures; and to make sure of our eternal salvation, which cost so much to the Son of God, let us beg of Jesus Christ Himself to take charge of it, to lead us in the right way and guide us always. Such an inestimable treasure runs too great a risk in our own hands. Let us trust it to God and our Savior. Let us make Him the Master of our liberty, which we may so easily abuse, and the abuse of which may bring about such terrible consequences. Once abandoned to the safe and infallible guidance of His grace, we have no more to fear. He loves us too much, He takes too much interest in our salvation, ever to lose the price of His blood and His sufferings."
— Fr. Jean Nicholas Grou, p. 7-9
AN EXCERPT FROM
The Spiritual Life † VERSE OF THE DAY
"Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him."
Proverbs 30:5 |  click to read more | | ST. SEBASTIAN St. Sebastian (d. c. 288 A.D.) was born in Gaul, present-day France, to wealthy Italian parents. According to tradition he went to Rome to serve and encourage the Christians who were being persecuted under the Roman Emperor Diocletian. To do so effectively and without suspicion, he enrolled in the Roman army as an officer. In this position he did much to encourage the faith of the Christians in the face of brutal martyrdom, and in the process made many new converts through his gift of healing. Once he was discovered to be a Christian, he was seized by Roman officers, tied to a tree, and shot through with arrows. He survived this, and was healed by St. Irene of Rome. Being fully recovered, he returned to preach to Diocletian himself. Diocletian then had him beaten to death with clubs. St. Sebastian is the patron of many causes, most notably of archers, athletes, police officers, soldiers, and against plague victims and enemies of religion. St. Sebastian's feast day is January 20th. | Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 1 Sm 15:16-23 Samuel said to Saul:
"Stop! Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night."
Saul replied, "Speak!"
Samuel then said: "Though little in your own esteem,
are you not leader of the tribes of Israel?
The LORD anointed you king of Israel and sent you on a mission, saying,
'Go and put the sinful Amalekites under a ban of destruction.
Fight against them until you have exterminated them.'
Why then have you disobeyed the LORD?
You have pounced on the spoil, thus displeasing the LORD."
Saul answered Samuel: "I did indeed obey the LORD
and fulfill the mission on which the LORD sent me.
I have brought back Agag, and I have destroyed Amalek under the ban.
But from the spoil the men took sheep and oxen,
the best of what had been banned,
to sacrifice to the LORD their God in Gilgal."
But Samuel said:
"Does the LORD so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as in obedience to the command of the LORD?
Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission than the fat of rams.
For a sin like divination is rebellion,
and presumption is the crime of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the command of the LORD,
he, too, has rejected you as ruler." Responsorial Psalm 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23 R. (23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
"Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold."
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
"Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?"
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
"When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God."
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God. Alleluia Hb 4:12 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of God is living and effective,
able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mk 2:18-22 The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.
People came to Jesus and objected,
"Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"
Jesus answered them,
"Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins." | Meditation: Mark 2:18-22 Saint Fabian, Pope and Martyr (Optional Memorial) New wine is poured into fresh wineskins. (Mark 2:22) What's new with you? That kind of question might make us uncomfortable. Does there need to be anything new with us? We might really appreciate the predictability of life, with all our comfortable routines and friendships and activities. But do the dependable boundaries surrounding our lives hide or even stifle the vibrant life of Christ that we received in Baptism? Think about the powerful effect that new life had on the people who encountered Jesus in the Gospels. It healed ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19). It enabled Zacchaeus not only to ask forgiveness but to offer restitution to his victims (19:1-10). It gave James and John and Matthew new careers (Mark 1:19-21; 2:13-21). It brought Mary of Bethany into the role of a disciple (Luke 10:39). It released Paul and Silas from jail and enabled their captors to accept Christ (Acts 16:16-40). What about you? You have received the same Holy Spirit who was so active in Jesus and his first followers. So how can you be like that flexible wineskin, ready to expand in new, unexpected directions? What might it look like for you? For one believer, it involved inviting neighbors into her home every week to share coffee and study the Scriptures. It led a certain barber to offer his skills to prison inmates as a way to boost their sense of dignity. For a mom used to making school lunches for her children, it led her to bring her family to a local homeless shelter and pack bagged meals for children. She even tucked a small toy and an encouraging message into each one. These and many other, smaller examples can give you a glimpse of the "new wine" of the Holy Spirit (Mark 2:22)—the vibrant, vital life that has been poured into your own heart. The opportunities to stretch and allow that life to flow from you and bless the people around you are endless. Think of how this might be already happening in your life. Then dare to ask God what new thing he may want to do through you this week. Ask him to show you how you can stretch enough to cooperate with him. "Holy Spirit, expand my heart and my vision to make more room for the new life you have given me." 1 Samuel 15:16-23
Psalm 50:8-9, 16-17, 21, 23 |  clickable | Descriptions by eyewitnesses of the miracles associated with the saints in their lifetimes are just as dependable and clear as any other evidence of historical events. There is no ground to reject them other than a dogmatic belief that there is no Almighty God who is able to alter the course of an individual life.
— Sigrid Undset
from Catherine of Siena | my2cents:
"Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams."
Yesterday our bible study focused on the words of our Lord Jesus "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Mt 9:13.
I wonder if there is such a thing as a "disgraceful sacrifice"?
A soiled sacrifice. What am I talking about? Me. Me being me. Me not being Christ. Me not being holy and all His in all things of the sense of the word....purity. | Today we pray: ""Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline and cast my words behind you?"
Blabbering. Protestants, the anti-Catholics too, they say we blabber in the rosary. Is there a grain of truth to that? Only if it is from the teeth out and nothing is happening internally.
Just like they say many words and it means nothing....consider it all, taking the name of the Lord in vain. And then it becomes all things vanity. So do I pray perfectly? Nope. I blabber sometimes. Or many times at times. Empty words. But it is in our trying, to be sincere...to Christ, there is a difference. | In the Holy Gospel, they asked our Lord: ""Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" Why do they fast and you don't? They asked our Lord.
Why do we do lawful things and you don't? They asked our Lord.
Why do they have to pray like that and you don't? They asked our Lord.
Who knows how much fasting Jesus and His disciples were doing for these hypocrites.
Who knows how much true praying and sacrificing they were doing for the haters. Strong word right? They were following Christ but one of the followers carried the death blow. What is more hatred than that? Hidden aggression? Nope. Just a complete false load of ideals. | Our Lord answered a question with a question. It is for you to answer, for He will not answer it for you. "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast." They have the bridegroom and they do not fast. The purpose of fasting is to be closer to our Lord. Once He's gone, it's time to fast.
Is it time for you to get closer to our Lord? That's the whole point of fasting; want your prayers heard? Fast. Want to be more intimately united with Him, Fast. Want your prayers answered? Wait.
So our Lord asked for a consideration of the heart: "No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away...".
The old will pull away the new? Or the new will pull away the old? What is stronger? The new, right? The old is not enough, for integrity.
"Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined."
And it's all about the new, the New Covenant, for new hearts.
He is asking for a new you.
He didn't say throw away the old, for the old is good, but He said now is the time for the New Covenant.
A seal between us and Him in Heaven.
And what beautiful container to hold His precious blood will be offered?
Yours.
Your temple, your body, your mouth....your heart. |  click to hear a message | Random Bible Verse 1 Proverbs 3:1
"Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart" 3 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,
2 for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Thank You Lord | |
