 clickable | | Making Choices "A single act of love makes the soul return to life." (St. Maximilian Kolbe) A choice he made early in life may have made Maximilian Kolbe's choice near the end easier. He was only twelve when the Blessed Virgin asked him to select between a white crown for purity and a red crown for martyrdom. He said he wanted both. We face choices every day. While they may not result in the immediate prospect of physical death, saying no to God and his people endangers our spiritual future. Maximilian's example reminds us that eternal life is the one that truly matters. Say yes to something today that will cost you time and perhaps some ego, but which you know God desires. ▪ from Brotherhood of Saints: Daily Guidance and Inspiration, by Melanie Rigney
| ▪ | from Brotherhood of Saints: Daily Guidance and Inspiration, by Melanie Rigney | |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
"When you have free moments, go faithfully to prayer. The good God is waiting for you there."
— St. Julie Billiart † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"Many things happen that God does not will. But he still permits them, in his wisdom, and they remain a stumbling block or scandal to our minds. God asks us to do all we can to eliminate evil. But despite our efforts, there is always a whole set of circumstances which we can do nothing about, which are not necessarily willed by God but nevertheless are permitted by him, and which God invites us to consent to trustingly and peacefully, even if they make us suffer and cause us problems. We are not being asked to consent to evil, but to consent to the mysterious wisdom of God who permits evil. Our consent is not a compromise with evil but the expression of our trust that God is stronger than evil. This is a form of obedience that is painful but very fruitful."
— Fr. Jacques Philippe, p. 33
AN EXCERPT FROM
In the School of the Holy Spirit † VERSE OF THE DAY
"So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs."
Mark 16:19-20 |  click to read more | | BL. BARTHOLOMEW OF VICENZA Bl. Bartholomew of Vicenza (1201-1270), also known as Bartholomew of Braganca or Breganza, was born to a noble family in Vicenza, Italy. While studying in Padua he entered the newly established Dominican Order as one of their first friars, receiving the habit from St. Dominic himself. Bartholomew quickly advanced to positions of prominence within the Order, becoming prior and then overseeing several convents. He was sent to preach against the heretics in Lombardy, and was so successful that in 1235 the Holy Father made him Master of the Sacred Palace (an office known as "The Pope's Theologian") a position which was first held by St. Dominic. In this role he also founded a military order of knights for the purpose of maintaining civil order and peace throughout Italy called the Order of the Knights of the Mother of God (or the Knights of St. Mary). He was later made bishop of Cyprus, and also served as papal legate and confessor to St. Louis King of France, who was then leading a crusade in the Holy Land. From this friendship Bartholomew received the gift of a relic of the True Cross and a thorn from the Crown of Thorns. When Bartholomew returned to his native Vicenza as the city's bishop he built a church to house the precious relics called the Church of the Holy Crown. Bl. Bartholomew of Vicenza was an effective mediator between the factions and feuds of his day, even converting the leader of a heretical party back to the Catholic faith. His feast day is October 27th. | Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 480
Reading 1 EPH 5:21-33 Brothers and sisters:
Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.
For the husband is head of his wife
just as Christ is head of the Church,
he himself the savior of the Body.
As the Church is subordinate to Christ,
so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives,
even as Christ loved the Church
and handed himself over for her to sanctify her,
cleansing her by the bath of water with the word,
that he might present to himself the Church in splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
that she might be holy and without blemish.
So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
He who loves his wife loves himself.
For no one hates his own flesh
but rather nourishes and cherishes it,
even as Christ does the Church,
because we are members of his Body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery,
but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church.
In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself,
and the wife should respect her husband. Responsorial Psalm PS 128:1-2, 3, 4-5 R. (1a) Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord. Alleluia See MT 11:25 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
You have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel LK 13:18-21 Jesus said, "What is the Kingdom of God like?
To what can I compare it?
It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden.
When it was fully grown, it became a large bush
and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches." Again he said, "To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?
It is like yeast that a woman took
and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch of dough was leavened." | Daily Meditation: Ephesians 5:21-33 Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21) When we think about marriage, we think about love. But what is love? Is it the excitement that a couple feels as they prepare for their wedding day? Is it the attraction that first brought them together? Is it the sense of solidarity they develop as they build a life together? Those things are all beautiful elements of love, but the picture is far more intricate. That's where today's first reading comes in. When some people hear these verses from Paul's Letter to the Ephesians, they immediately jump to the more controversial parts about how wives should submit to their husbands. But to understand love, let's explore the first verse: "Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Ephesians 5:21). This one sentence gives context to everything that follows. Be subordinate: The word "subordinate" often calls to mind rigid hierarchy—implying that one person is less than another. But that's not Paul's point at all. Remember what he wrote to the Philippians: "Humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but [also] everyone for those of others" (2:3-4). We know how natural it is to look out for ourselves. Love means choosing humility, to place the needs and concerns of someone else above our own. To one another: Submission is something each person does for the other; it's not just for wives or just for husbands. Both need to be eager to serve and care for each other before looking to themselves. Even those who never marry are called to relate this way: to be willing to empty themselves on behalf of one another. To be ready to love. Out of reverence for Christ: Why do we do this? Because we are imitating the sacrificial love of Jesus. He poured himself out for us, his beloved. He endured hardship, suffering, and even death because he considered our needs before his own. He put us ahead of his own desires, and in reverence for his sacrifice, we try to do the same. That's what love is all about. And it's for everyone! "Jesus, help me to love as you love!" Psalm 128:1-5
Luke 13:18-21 |  clickable | It's hard for us who live in the West twenty centuries later to appreciate the meaning of the Book of Revelation. Our first tendency is to simply plug what we read into our own experiences without rolling up our sleeves, getting down on our knees, and trying to understand what it meant back then.
— Dr. Scott Hahn
from The End: A Study of the Book of Revelation | my2cents:
"For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the Church, he himself the savior of the Body."
How does the so called "modern" sexual orientation philosophy make this scripture work? In a nutshell, it can't, and since it discriminates against them, they reject this scripture.
And this is the goal of the agenda, to make man's laws more important than God's laws.
This is the basic tenet of communism, where the common secular thought is to trump all religious thoughts.
What's worse is that thought of impurity, which is the prevalent leader in all thoughts. It is opposite, married or not, straight or not, the impurity factor is the common denominator and open door to destruction, that is in reality, self destruction.
And we can speak of this as an individual, or as an entire nation. And so our Lord says:
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her,
cleansing her by the bath of water with the word,
that he might present to himself the Church in splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
that she might be holy and without blemish."
Husbands are to make their wives holy.
Just as Christ makes the Church holy.
Wives are to be submissive to the husband, honoring and respecting the one that is to die for her, because He loves her more. | We pray today: "Blessed are you who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; blessed shall you be, and favored."
Eat what you sowed. Let it be good food. Let it be good seeds you sow. | Our Lord presents the shortest parable on the mustard seed: "It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches."
What's the point of this famous parable? That size matters, or doesn't? I remember before the pandemics, we had a lot of meetings, and the numbers were dwindling every year, in all ministries. Or, the numbers fluctuated, randomly large numbers or extremely small numbers down to one. Things were difficult, and now? Well, meetings are practically non existent. The large fluctuations are gone. And very few to none meet. What's the point? Our Lord is speaking about Himself. He is the mustard seed. He is the tree that grew from the seed. The stone the architects rejected, the engineers of the world threw away what became the capstone of the world.
And so it is today. He is still the mustard seed that can get implanted in our souls.
Once He takes root, the world sees a refuge. Birds take refuge in the shades from the scorching heat. Think, Sacred Heart of Jesus. If God is talking about the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven, He is speaking about Him and the implantation into His Bride, the Holy Spirit in the Holy Church. He makes it Holy. We must simply be open to holiness. Think purity. Think oneness with Him. Think of the children brought to light. | And He continues: "It is like yeast that a woman took
and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened." Yeast, small quantity, making a big thing. Before the pandemics, I was really getting exasperated with someone opening meetings with the question "where is everybody?". Numbers don't matter my friend. The yeast matters. I call this (yeast) the fire keepers. And you my child, you are a fire keeper for reading this. Your heart will keep the fire going, because it is tending to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I am writing to you in the Holy Spirit, you are being called to something special. Everywhere in the world there is a fire keeper. The keepers of Christ. The keepers of the Word. The keepers of immense love, like a nuclear weapon, that begins in a holy nuclear home. I often relate the Adoration time of the Exposition of the Holy Eucharist as a time to get radiation of Christ infused into our souls. You can feel the Presence. Non believers, and non Catholics have attested they KNOW He is here. Why they don't convert is a whole other story. But we know. We know we must tend to the fire, the fire of God's love. Lord, help us be yeast, help us be seed, help us be You to the whole world you have set us to encounter. For the greater love of our God and Father in Heaven. St. Max Kolbe, who chose the crown of purity and martyrdom, pray for us! | Random Bible verse from online generator:
Ps. 130 : 5 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | |
