 clickable | | Disciples of the Prince of Peace Pained by opportunities missed,
and the many violations of life,
still we give thanks. With humility we acknowledge
our general failure to imagine
much more compassionate alternatives to life in these times. And when at last we realize
we don't know where to go,
we are ready to be led into brighter days. Disciples of the Prince of Peace
live in tension between grief for all that's lost and never can be,
and gratitude for all that's given; an overflow of possibility. —from the book Wandering and Welcome: Meditations for Finding Peace
by Joseph Grant |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
"For a Son of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a man on fire with love, who spreads its flames wherever he goes. He desires mightily and strives by all means possible to set the whole world on fire with God's love. Nothing daunts him; he delights in privations, welcomes work, embraces sacrifices, smiles at slander, and rejoices in suffering. His only concern is how he can best follow Jesus Christ and imitate Him in working, suffering, and striving constantly and single-mindedly for the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls."
— St. Anthony Mary Claret † Meditation of the Day
"Our Lord, by descending into hell, planted (if I may thus express myself), in the spiritual garden of the Church, a mysterious tree, the fruits of which—namely, His merits—are destined for the constant relief of the Poor Souls in Purgatory. The Church Militant must cultivate the tree, and gather its fruits, in order to present them to that suffering portion of the Church which can do nothing for itself. Thus it is with all the merits of Christ; we must labor with Him if we wish to obtain our share of them; we must gain our bread by the sweat of our brow. Everything which Our Lord has done for us in time must produce fruit for eternity; but we must gather these fruits in time, without which we cannot possess them in eternity. The Church is the most prudent and thoughtful of mothers; the ecclesiastical year is an immense and magnificent garden, in which all those fruits for eternity are gathered together, that we may make use of them in time. Each year contains sufficient to supply the wants of all; but woe be to that careless or dishonest gardener who allows any of the fruit committed to his care to perish; if he fails to turn to a proper account those grace which would restore health to the sick, strength to the weak, or furnish food to the hungry! When the Day of Judgment arrives, the Master of the garden will demand a strict account, not only of every tree, but also of all the fruit produced in the garden."
— Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, p. 351-2
An Excerpt From
The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ †Verse of the Day
"'Be still, and know that I am God. I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth!' The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge."
Psalm 46:10-11 |  click to read more | | St. Martin de Porres St. Martin de Porres (1569-1639) was born in Lima, Peru. He was the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed slave woman from Panama, of either African or Native American descent. His parents never married. For the first eight years of his life his father did not acknowledge him, and abandoned the family after Martin's sister was born. St. Martin de Porres was raised in poverty with the societal stigma of being mix-raced. As a young man he served as an assistant to a barber-surgeon where he learned medicine and the care of the sick. When he was 15 he joined the Dominican friars as a helper, eventually becoming a Lay Brother which at the time was forbidden for the children of slaves by Peruvian law. He took on the work of nursing the sick in the Dominican infirmary as well as the sick among the townspeople, even giving a sick man his own bed. He was also made almoner, and begged money to assist his work with the poor and sick. He founded an orphanage, tended to slaves brought from Africa, and dispensed alms to the needy. His prayers and penances were so great that he soon demonstrated miraculous powers. In addition to healing the sick, his other miracles were bi-location, levitation, hidden knowledge, and the ability to communicate with animals. Word of his sanctity spread and people from all walks of life came to him for spiritual direction. St. Martin de Porres is the patron saint of social justice, bi-racial people, African-Americans, hairdressers, barbers, public education, public health, and the poor. His feast day is November 3rd. | Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 486
Reading 1 PHIL 2:5-11 Brothers and sisters:
Have among yourselves the same attitude
that is also yours in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and, found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Responsorial Psalm PS 22:26B-27, 28-30AB, 30E, 31-32 R. (26a) I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
I will fulfill my vows before those who fear him.
The lowly shall eat their fill;
they who seek the LORD shall praise him:
"May your hearts be ever merry!"
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
All the ends of the earth
shall remember and turn to the LORD;
All the families of the nations
shall bow down before him.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
For dominion is the LORD's, and he rules the nations.
To him alone shall bow down
all who sleep in the earth.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
To him my soul shall live;
my descendants shall serve him.
Let the coming generation be told of the LORD
that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born
the justice he has shown.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people. Alleluia
MT 11:28
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel LK 14:15-24 One of those at table with Jesus said to him,
"Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God."
He replied to him,
"A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many.
When the time for the dinner came,
he dispatched his servant to say to those invited,
'Come, everything is now ready.'
But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves.
The first said to him,
'I have purchased a field and must go to examine it;
I ask you, consider me excused.'
And another said, 'I have purchased five yoke of oxen
and am on my way to evaluate them;
I ask you, consider me excused.'
And another said, 'I have just married a woman,
and therefore I cannot come.'
The servant went and reported this to his master.
Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant,
'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town
and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
The servant reported, 'Sir, your orders have been carried out
and still there is room.'
The master then ordered the servant,
'Go out to the highways and hedgerows
and make people come in that my home may be filled.
For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.'" | Daily Meditation: Luke 14:15-24 A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. (Luke 14:16) How about a twist on a familiar parable? We usually read this as a story about God inviting humanity to share in the banquet of eternal life. That's certainly at the heart of this passage. But let's also try exploring it as a story about one of our daily rituals: our prayer time. First, like the dinner host, God is preparing a feast of sorts for us. Every time we come to him in prayer, he is ready to fill us with his Spirit. He seeks to strengthen us so that we can follow Jesus. The Scriptures are rich with imagery of people "feasting" on God's word. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel ate the words of God, and the psalmist declared that God's promises were "sweeter than honey" (Jeremiah 15:16; Ezekiel 3:3; Psalm 119:103). Even today's psalm proclaims that "the lowly shall eat their fill" at the table of the Lord (22:27). Second, like the man in Jesus' parable, God is beckoning us to come join him in this feast. And there is no good reason to decline his invitation. Fields, oxen, and honeymoons—these can represent our work and family life. Even these important and holy vocations are meant to flow out of our relationship with Jesus. They're meant to find their purpose and energy in the grace we receive in prayer. Finally, what about the people who rejected the invitation? Is God angry with us if we miss our prayer time? No. Rather, he goes to creative lengths to get our attention and draw us in from the "highways and hedgerows" of our busy schedules (Luke 14:23). He doesn't want us to miss out on his grace. This different perspective may be helpful if we usually think of God as passively listening while we pray. It's better to see him as actively hosting our prayer, enjoying our company, and offering us nothing but the finest foods. After all, he's the One who has been preparing, inviting, and waiting for us. Today, try to find one or two practical ways to pray like a guest who's been invited to a banquet. Maybe imagine the Lord welcoming you warmly when you "arrive"—or personally feeding you whenever a Scripture verse speaks to you. "Lord, thank you for inviting me to eat with you." Philippians 2:5-11
Psalm 22:26-32 |  clickable | I have found liturgical living in the home to be a beautiful way to connect with my family, my faith, my community, and the long history of our Church.
— Kendra Tierney
from The Catholic All Year Compendium | my2cents:
"Have among yourselves the same attitude
that is also yours in Christ Jesus,....he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and, found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross."
Have this attitude. Have this humble and obedient attitude. You will not believe me when I say, that if we don't have this attitude, we will be struck down by the arrogance that pride can carry us off into. The kind that becomes a simple rejection, of God's will. | We pray today: "To him my soul shall live; my descendants shall serve him. Let the coming generation be told of the LORD that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born the justice he has shown. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people".
I heard of a "blessed" that was eventually killed for not hailing the king of the land above all, and there are rulers today in some nations that want you to hail them above your religion. One time I was invited to join the Free Masons, and I rejected the offer, and when asked why, I said "because I would have to make that above my creed, my beliefs in God, in essence, my religion, because your masonry calls to be above all". The man looked baffled, almost incredulous. I think I left him a morsel to bite on...a morsel of truth. And for this we have talk of our future generation, those said in Holy Scripture, "Yet To Be Born", the unborn, the ones already created in the womb, and the ones coming soon after. Precious beings of our Lord's unfathomable revelation. | Someone said to our Lord: ""Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God."
And that called for the parable, the story that God tells of His Kingdom, and those invited to the banquet of His Kingdom. And this is not the first time He brings up banquets, for He brings up wedding feasts, and performs His first miracle in a banquet wedding feast. There is something significant...why? It is special. That's why. What makes it special? The wedding couple? Or the one being honored? How do you honor the one purpose of the banquet? With your presence. Sometimes I want people to come to a party, birthday party or whatever and I'll text "your presence is the presents". And the excuses they give the king are countless, half are about work, and the other half are about family. Nowadays you can add sports. But there is something way deeper to excuses. There is something terrible, and something horrible about an excuse. Terrible because the one excusing them-self is finding more importance in the unimportant. Money, or temporal affairs. I think of my own family, as important as it is, it cannot be used as an excuse to not do God's will. "It's their birthday....so I can't make it to....". And I've heard it for Sunday Mass, "I can't go, I've got company over". But...what about God's will? What about God's commandments about keeping the Sabbath? What about the invitation to the ultimate banquet sacrifice of God's Son, body on the altar?
Horrible, because it is a direct rejection, just like sin. | Many believe that what I have just said is invalid on the basis of love. I heard a close call when a little brother in Christ said something that got me to thinking on the whole issue that almost got me thinking that "way": "My mom said that if I'm on my way to Mass and someone needs help, then I am to help them before going to Mass, (for example, helping someone with a flat tire on the side of the road)". I didn't say much to that comment in our conversation. But I knew what the truth should be, God knows, He knows our hearts, and we do not have any valid excuse before His precious face and heart. I consider my self somewhat of a Samaritan, I've picked up hitchhikers many times, and have helped who knows how many folks, but rarely has it occurred on the way to Mass, and I try to go daily. I know what I would do, and the severity of Love comes to play. How severe is the situation? Is someone dying? Like that half dead man Jesus spoke about in the parable of the Samaritan. Then stay and get help. Or, is someone wanting an answer to a question? I'll postpone the answer until after Mass, and 9 out of 10 times the problem finds its own solution. Many times, they are obstacles and distractions, to veer you from the Way of Christ.
The horrible situation of choosing to "stay home with company" is the example you are giving to the folks, and the message is clear "you are more important than Church and God". It's like when you choose your kids' sports games over Mass, you show them what reigns supreme....them! Yes, we are to love neighbor and love shows the way, but not by showing them that their way is right, (of staying home or away from our Lord).
In my own home, all company is requested to come to Mass, and if they can't or won't, we'll see them in an hour. It's like when I was in college, and I'd look for work, I'd always state at the beginning of setting work availability (schedules) , and I'd always mention I needed Sundays off (for Mass). In the U.S. we can ask for Saturday afternoons off. Amazingly, it worked.
There must be a set point of the center of your life and the world must know it. Everything must hinge on our creed, our beliefs, and get this: Our True King.
And we must honor our King, not merely out of obedience, but in how Christ did- show extreme Love, stretching His hands out on the cross calling out to "Daddy" in Heaven.
He chose Father God instead of Mother Mary. And it hurt Him to see Mommy dying inside for Him.
He chose Daddy King instead of His own agenda.
He chose to give His life to end the insanity of sin and calamity of death.
He chose the most humble path, something most fear. He chose to be pure and chaste, something the world finds inappropriate. You'd be amazed at how engrossed the world is with pornography and adulterous affairs. Who is King? Who reigns? Who rules your life? Who has your heart, mind, and soul?
Now, think of our Father God and King in Heaven, Jesus.
He chose to show the world the incredible lengths HE would go to, in order to show us How much Daddy really cares, but wait, there's more: He shows us there's much, much more.
My beloved, sin is a trap.
Truth in Jesus is freedom.
I invite you to seek the truth, with all your heart, with all your mind, and soul, and then live it out with all your strength. Lord, our world in the information age is getting cluttered with mixed messages. We need your clarity. We need your grace. We need an open door from within to set foot upon your gates, and there, enter the banquet of Love, the feast of the Heavenly Body, a precious encounter with the light and life source of eternity....Thank you Jesus for the open door invitation | Random Bible verse from online generator: Love Your Enemies 27 "But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | |
