 clickable | | Being in Love with God Being in Love with GodSlavish imitation is not what holiness is about, but rather it's about learning to love God in our own time and place with its own sensibilities and ways of following in the footsteps of Jesus with all our heart and mind and soul. It's about doing and making choices commensurate with our own capacities, our own strength and/or weakness of mind and body. We don't have to be nutty to be a saint, but being in love with God will sometimes move us to do things that others will consider nutty or unbalanced. —from Surrounded by Love: Seven Teachings from Saint Francis by Murray Bodo, OFM |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
"In everything, whether it is a thing sensed or a thing known, God Himself is hidden within."
— St. Bonaventure † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"What made the holy apostles and martyrs endure fierce agony and bitter torments, except faith, and especially faith in the resurrection? What is it that today makes true followers of Christ cast luxuries aside, leave pleasures behind, and endure difficulties and pain? It is living faith that expresses itself through love . . . It is because of faith that we exchange the present for the future."
— Pope Benedict XIV, p. 205
AN EXCERPT FROM
Witness of the Saints † VERSE OF THE DAY
"[There is] one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift."
Ephesians 4:4-7 |  click to read more | | ST. BRUNO St. Bruno (1030-1101) was born to a noble and prominent family in Cologne, Germany. He was well educated and excelled in his studies, and became a priest around the year 1055. He went on to direct and teach at the episcopal school at Reims for many years, earning a reputation as a learned scholar. After also serving as the chancellor of his archdiocese, he and a few companions left their positions in the diocese in order to follow a path of greater religious observance. In 1084 Bruno settled in the Chartreuse Mountains in France with a small group of scholars who, like himself, desired to become contemplative monks. This was the beginning of the Carthusian order founded by St. Bruno, combining the solitary life of hermits with the conventual life of religious observance. These alpine monks embraced a strictly disciplined life of poverty, labor, prayer, and fasting. After living six years of strict asceticism, St. Bruno was called to Rome by the Pope, who was his former student, to assist with the troubles and controversies rocking the Church. Bruno became a close advisor to the Pope and was allowed to return to monastic life only if he remained nearby within Italy, leading Bruno to establish a second Carthusian monastery there in 1095. St. Bruno wrote many manuscripts and commentaries during his life. His feast day is celebrated on October 6th. | Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 GAL 1:13-24 Brothers and sisters:
You heard of my former way of life in Judaism,
how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure
and tried to destroy it,
and progressed in Judaism
beyond many of my contemporaries among my race,
since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions.
But when he, who from my mother's womb had set me apart
and called me through his grace,
was pleased to reveal his Son to me,
so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles,
I did not immediately consult flesh and blood,
nor did I go up to Jerusalem
to those who were Apostles before me;
rather, I went into Arabia and then returned to Damascus.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas
and remained with him for fifteen days.
But I did not see any other of the Apostles,
only James the brother of the Lord.
(As to what I am writing to you, behold,
before God, I am not lying.)
Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
And I was unknown personally to the churches of Judea
that are in Christ;
they only kept hearing that "the one who once was persecuting us
is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."
So they glorified God because of me. Responsorial Psalm PS 139:1B-3, 13-14AB, 14C-15 R. (24b) Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
O LORD, you have probed me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother's womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way. Alleluia LK 11:28 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are those who hear the word of God
and observe it.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel LK 10:38-42 Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
"Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me."
The Lord said to her in reply,
"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her." | Daily Meditation: Luke 10:38-42 Mary has chosen the better part. (Luke 10:42) Anyone who has hosted an event in their home knows the feeling of running behind schedule on time-sensitive tasks. Imagine somebody telling you, "No rush on those things. Just sit with your guests and let them talk about what's important to them. Maybe later you can think about the food." Your eyebrows would go up, right? That's probably how Martha felt when Jesus praised her sister, Mary, for choosing to join the other disciples and listen to him instead of helping serve the meal. And yet, the account of this brief interaction ends rather abruptly with Jesus' words: "Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her" (Luke 10:42). Jesus wanted Martha and Mary to be with him in the midst of the other disciples. While the responsibility of hosting was important, these women still needed to receive the "food" of the word of God and the encouragement of the broader Church—just as we do. Another example of this principle of receiving spiritual food is in today's first reading. The apostle Paul explains that after his conversion on the road to Damascus, he spent three years in Arabia, living with the believers there while he preached to the Gentiles (Galatians 1:17). He did not tackle his new life alone, and he did not focus only on preaching and serving the Lord. He was careful to stay connected to the church there and to seek their help in understanding and living out the new life he had just experienced. The Christian life is a mixture of activity and openness to God's grace. The more we receive encouragement from the Lord and our brothers and sisters in Christ, the more joyful and fruitful our acts of service will become. So be sure to take time every day to sit quietly and invite Jesus to speak to your heart. But also make it a point to reach out to a friend from your parish. Don't do all the talking either. Listen to the Lord; honor your brother or sister in Christ. Believe that those moments spent in fellowship are not a waste—they're a slice of eternity! "Jesus, help me to listen and receive from you today." |  clickable | An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.
— G.K. Chesterton
from In Defense of Sanity: The Best Essays of G.K. Chesterton | my2cents:
""...the one who once was persecuting us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."
So...there is a chance. There is a chance for those persecutors to be converted. Someone must've prayed for Saul's conversion. And prayers were heard. And Saul became Paul. Saul means great one. Paul means the small one. There is a big lesson here, because we must become less of ourselves, and more of Christ. | We pray today: "O LORD, you have probed me and you know me; you know when I sit and when I stand; you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize, with all my ways you are familiar. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way." So who do you look to for guidance? Seek the Lord. In everything you do. | We heard Martha: ""Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?"
What a weird question. Did she ask this question in front of everyone? Did she put Mary in her place by bringing up the issue? It was bothering Martha. So she did what we all should do. Martha was holy. She sought the Lord for an answer. She didn't go demand Mary to help, she wanted to know the truth. So she went to our Lord. And our Lord soothed her with words of everlasting life. | "Martha, Martha" He said. Just to hear Him say your name once would be enough to change your life, but He said her name twice in a row, compassion and mercy.
"... you are anxious and worried about many things." my child. "There is need of only one thing."
Only one thing is necessary. One thing to worry about. One thing to stress about. Are you ready for it? Trust.
"Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her."
Mary chose what? Jesus. To be with Him. When we are not with Him in our hearts, we stress. And the stress makes some depressed. And some who are depressed...become lost in pain, and that's all they see and feel.
What our Lord does is reveal Himself to Martha.
"You have stressed about this for too long, I am not telling Mary to leave my side, I am inviting you to leave everything...and follow Me, be with Me always".
Martha soon served love.
If once she did things out of obligation, now she did it out of love.
And that is what I want you to do from now on. Serve, not out of obligation, but out of sheer love for our Lord Jesus.
It's not always easy. Seasoning life with mercy is not easy. Just look to the cross. Look at a crucifix. Tell me if that looks easy. Seeing our Lord slaughtered and left to die hung on a tree. Mercy doesn't look easy. It cost something. The message of the cross is foolishness to world, to the dying. But it means everything, that's what our Lord chose to be His message to the world to live. So Martha seasoned her servings. It hurts my friend. Love hurts. Being the one that loves more is not easy. So how does our Father do it? How does He make it happen? He gives from Heaven. There is no earthly way to repay Him, is there? Can you give Him back what He gave you?
There is one thing my friend. Want to know? Want to know what we can give and He'll receive in Heaven? It'll cost you, but it reaches His arms and heart..it is what we hold near and dear in our hearts....love. I ask that we begin to serve what He served on the cross. Lord, thank you for so much love. Let us show you, like Martha and Mary how we so desire to honor you, with everything we do and are... | Random Bible verse from online generator: WOW 1 Corinthians 13:4–6
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;1 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | |
