 clickable | | It's All about Forgiveness If we don't get forgiveness, we're missing the whole mystery. We are still living in a world of meritocracy, of quid-pro-quo thinking, of performance and behavior that earns an award. Forgiveness is the great thawing of all logic, reason, and worthiness. It is a melting into the mystery of God as unearned love, unmerited grace, the humility and powerlessness of a Divine Lover. Forgiveness is the beginning, the middle, and the end of the whole gospel, as far as I can see. Without radical and rule-breaking forgiveness—received and given—there will be no reconstruction of anything. It alone breaks down our damnable worldview of trying to buy and sell grace. Grace is certainly the one gift that must always be free, perfectly free, in order for it to work. Without forgiveness, there will be no future. We have hurt one another in too many historically documented and remembered ways. The only way out of the present justified hatreds of the world is grace. —from The Wisdom Pattern: Order, Disorder, Reorder by Richard Rohr, OFM |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
"The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest."
— St. Thomas More PRAYER DURING CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
O clement, O loving, O sweet Mother Mary,
We, your children of every nation,
Turn to you in this pandemic.
Our troubles are numerous; our fears are great.
Grant that we might deposit them at your feet,
Take refuge in your Immaculate Heart,
And obtain peace, healing, rescue,
And timely help in all our needs.
You are our Mother.
Pray for us to your Son.
Amen. PRAYER OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen. † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"God wishes us to be meek even toward ourselves. When a person commits a fault, God certainly wishes him to humble himself, to be sorry for his sin, and to purpose never to fall into it again; but he does not wish him to be indignant with himself, and give way to trouble and agitation of mind; for, while the soul is agitated, a man is incapable of doing good."
— St. Alphonsus De Liguori, p. 259
AN EXCERPT FROM
The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori † VERSE OF THE DAY
"Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful. Let Israel be glad in its Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre. For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory."
Psalm 149: 1-4 |  click to read more | | ST. DOMINIC HENARES St. Dominic Henares (1764-1838) was born to a poor family in Spain. He joined the Dominican Order and was ordained a priest in 1790. Ten years later he was sent as a missionary to the Far East. He went from Mexico to the Philippines, and finally to North Vietnam. He became Bishop of Phunhay, Vietnam, in 1803. In 1831 the Vietnamese emperor officially prohibited Catholicism and severely persecuted the Church. Whole villages were sent into exile; priests were arrested and subjected to the most terrible tortures before they were killed. Those who helped capture them were richly rewarded. Bishop Henares was arrested and beheaded in Nam Dinh on June 25, 1838; the soldiers and villagers who participated in his arrest received generous compensation. St. Dominic Henares is one of an estimated 130,000 to 300,000 Catholics martyred for the faith in Vietnam between the 15th and 20th centuries. They were canonized together by Pope St. John Paul II in 1988. St. Dominic Henares' feast day is June 25, and the collective memorial for 117 of the Vietnamese Martyrs is November 24. | Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 374 Reading 1 2 Kgs 24:8-17 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
His mother's name was Nehushta,
daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
He did evil in the sight of the LORD,
just as his forebears had done. At that time the officials of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
attacked Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
himself arrived at the city
while his servants were besieging it.
Then Jehoiachin, king of Judah, together with his mother,
his ministers, officers, and functionaries,
surrendered to the king of Babylon, who,
in the eighth year of his reign, took him captive.
And he carried off all the treasures
of the temple of the LORD and those of the palace,
and broke up all the gold utensils that Solomon, king of Israel,
had provided in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had foretold.
He deported all Jerusalem:
all the officers and men of the army, ten thousand in number,
and all the craftsmen and smiths.
None were left among the people of the land except the poor.
He deported Jehoiachin to Babylon,
and also led captive from Jerusalem to Babylon
the king's mother and wives,
his functionaries, and the chief men of the land.
The king of Babylon also led captive to Babylon
all seven thousand men of the army,
and a thousand craftsmen and smiths,
all of them trained soldiers.
In place of Jehoiachin,
the king of Babylon appointed his uncle Mattaniah king,
and changed his name to Zedekiah. Responsorial Psalm 79:1b-2, 3-5, 8, 9 R. (9) For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple,
they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
They have given the corpses of your servants
as food to the birds of heaven,
the flesh of your faithful ones to the beasts of the earth.
R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.
They have poured out their blood like water
round about Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury them.
We have become the reproach of our neighbors,
the scorn and derision of those around us.
O LORD, how long? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealousy burn like fire?
R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.
Remember not against us the iniquities of the past;
may your compassion quickly come to us,
for we are brought very low.
R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.
Help us, O God our savior,
because of the glory of your name;
Deliver us and pardon our sins
for your name's sake.
R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us. Alleluia Jn 14:23 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him
and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 7:21-29 Jesus said to his disciples:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,'
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day,
'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?
Did we not drive out demons in your name?
Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?'
Then I will declare to them solemnly,
'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.' "Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined." When Jesus finished these words,
the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority,
and not as their scribes. | Daily Meditation: 2 Kings 24:8-17 He deported all Jerusalem. (2 Kings 24:14) It must have been an exciting time for Jehoiachin. As the newly installed king of Judah, he had wealth and power at his fingertips—and he was only eighteen years old! Jehoiachin, also called Jeconiah, came to power at a turbulent time in Jerusalem, as the region was facing the threat of imminent destruction from Babylon. In less than four months, Jerusalem was attacked and Jehoiachin was exiled to Babylon. All of his treasures were either confiscated or destroyed. We find out later that he spent many years in prison before his release. Was Jehoiachin surprised by the unexpected turns his life took? He shouldn't have been. For years, the prophet Jeremiah had been predicting disaster if God's people—Jehoiachin included—did not repent and turn back to the Lord (Jeremiah 22:20-30). He warned especially that the sins of their leaders would bring destruction upon the whole nation. But just like the kings before him, Jehoiachin refused to listen. Think of how young Jehoiachin was when he heard Jeremiah's warnings. Maybe he reminds you of some teenagers in your life today, or of yourself at that age. You may not have thought that you needed advice from the adults around you—or from God, for that matter. You might have been more focused on material things than on praying or going to Mass. Like Jehoiachin, you might have even been doing "evil in the sight of the Lord" (2 Kings 24:9). If this describes you, let it inspire you with a deeper hope for the young people in your life. Every day is a new chance for them to come to the Lord and deepen their faith. It happened to you—and it could happen to them. God never gives up on his people, and neither should we. Eighteen years after his capture, Jeconiah was released from prison and treated with honor by the new king of Babylon (2 Kings 25:27-30). We don't know what his life was like after that. It's possible that, with all that time for self-reflection, he came to repentance and a living faith in the Lord. Remember, all things are possible with God! "Lord, pour out your Spirit on the young people in my life!" Psalm 79:1-5, 8-9
Matthew 7:21-29 |  clickable | We don't know what it is to be loved with an infinite love, because we're finite. In this day and age of one problem after another, people need to know that there is a God, that God loves you, and he is ready to forgive and to heal.
— Mother Angelica
from A Mother's Words of Wisdom | my2cents:
"He did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his forebears had done."
He failed to heed the warnings. For years I asked this young man to heed, to come back to church, but instead he went backwards, and led his family astray, now, they are in a world of trouble. For years I asked another to stop his addiction, and he has failed, he tried finally seeking professional help, but once he saw the price tag, he gave up. It would cost thousands of dollars he does not have. He cannot afford it. And I could go on and on, and you know well what has happened to many who have failed to heed the warnings. What happened to the warnings? Well, they are taken as advice, not commands. They are taken as suggestions, not as God's laws. They are seen as...not important. But you still want to wear the name of "God's child". | We pray today: "Help us, O God our savior,
because of the glory of your name; Deliver us and pardon our sins for your name's sake. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us." | In the Holy Gospel we hear: ""Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven."
I am afraid of these words. They are scary. Not for all those others I've warned and prayed for, but for my very self. How true have I been with Christ? What does this mean? How two-faced am I? Because I have prophesied, and I have prayed for evil to go away in Jesus name, and I have seen and prayed for mighty deeds in His name, and I still say "Lord, Lord".
Only the one who does God's will. What does this mean? Aren't you doing God's will if you're out evangelizing, and expelling demons? Aren't you doing His will if you are out preaching? Aren't you doing God's will if you are healing others in His name?
There is a person that dies, and you seem to really only remember the evil he done. He never reconciled with those he offended, and now he must meet His maker. When you die, it is too late, how can you reconcile? He had done what is evil. He had caused much harm. Can you start to see?
"...everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand."
A few years ago, I took a loved one with me one time to ride motorcycles, and I knew he had been in and out of rehabs for years. I said "you know drugs are often laced with evils (demonic spirits, spells, and satanic)" but he still eventually died of what was probably an overdose. He said he loved Jesus. He had a personal relationship with Jesus he said, and it seemed he had formed his own religion, non-non-denominational. Yet something else was over-powering. I loved him. He had at one time a wife and children. He had told me secrets, like how he lived as a homeless person. He had no reason to do so, he had family that loved him, I loved him. How can I judge him? I'm only bringing it up because of what pulls us all, either together or apart. Drugs kept us apart. They always will, and they always do. Why? Because evil keeps us apart. Always has, always will. Can you start to see?
You must act.
I told a loved one this week "everything is unraveling because you threw out the BOOK" and I was talking about the law, the Bible, Jesus Himself, the Word Made Flesh. Once you throw out the book, all things morals and what's good for us goes out the door. You throw out the rules and make your own. And that does not work. Never has, never will. Evil lies to you. Evil lies and accuses you. Evil tempts you. Evil asks you to be a double faced liar. I say that because I'm talking even about myself. Am I a two faced liar to God? For years we had a young guy we hired as a mechanic, he excelled in learning, we could depend on him 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I felt after so much my dad the boss depended on him, that the boss saw him even as a son. I didn't mind, I thought it was great, shoot, I ain't ever had a brother! We could hang out, and work together. But after a while I began to notice something. He began to do more and more moonlighting jobs, side jobs, mechanic work for other people, other customers, even some we'd done mechanic work for ourselves.
A few more years of that, and the relationship soon deteriorated, distrust came in, and he didn't seem to care that much for us anymore until one day he said he was going on his own to do full time mechanic for himself, and said he'd give us a couple more weeks, which actually became a couple more days, and then he was gone. I remember telling him "you know, now that you are quitting, I'll probably never see you again" and he denied it, saying he'd always be around. And to this day, we never talk anymore.
Why or how does this story relate? We are faithful, I am faithful...supposedly, right? Dependable, but honest? Faithful, but ... true? I don't know you, but I know me. My fight is to be true, 100% of the time. And what's good about the fight on my part is that you will gain more than me. | From Bishop Barron today:
"Friends, in today's Gospel Jesus gives us the parable about building on rock or on sand. On what precisely is the whole of your life built?
Your heart is your deep center, the place where you are most authentically yourself. That is your point of contact with God. There you will find the energy that undergirds the other areas of your life: physical, psychological, emotional, relational, and spiritual.
If you are rooted in God at the level of your heart, then you will be following the intentions and commands of God, and you can withstand anything. But this does not mean that if we follow God's commands, the winds and floods will not come.
In Jesus' parable, both builders, the one who follows the commands of God and the one who doesn't, experience the rain and the floods that symbolize all the trials and temptations and difficulties at the surface of life. But if at the very center of your life you are linked with God—that power that is here and now creating the cosmos—then the storms and floods will come, but they will not destroy you." back to yours truly,
Not everyone who says "Lord, Lord" will enter, but read into it more...that means that there are some that will, not everyone, but there will be people entering that say "Lord, Lord". Never stop. He is encouraging us; to be consistent, persistent, in seeking perfection, the truth of Life which is the Way, Jesus Himself, and He will give us the means, grace, and mercy to do so. You can do this, you can over-power what seems to over-power you because we have consumed Him and this is good news...He is in us! He's-Us, JESUS!
That's why I sometimes end with JESUS I LOVE YOU ,
because I know you are reading this.
Pray for me Lord, I need you so much, because I get so lost in worldly things, bad news, even temptations, anxiety, loss of hope, depressing things all around, not much response in ministries...I need you Lord, I do, every hour of every single day...be with us Lord. Help me be true, help us all here be true to be truly one with YOU!
I am trusting You with my prayer... | Random bible verse from an online generator:
WOW!
James 1:12 12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. | 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 | |
