God Give You Peace As I pilgrimed through Assisi that morning, the town began to waken. Street cleaners and sanitation workers began their day. Innkeepers opened their doors and parents sent their children off to school. As the silent morning morphed into a busy day in which other pilgrims and tourists would soon fill the streets, I remembered the greeting that characterized Francis's encounters, "May God give you peace" as I quietly blessed each recently awakened passerby. And so, as we embark with Francis on our daily pilgrimages in mystical activism, I pray, "May God give you peace" on the path you travel, and may your adventures be plentiful as you bring peace and healing to this good earth. Francis encouraged his companions to greet everyone with "May God give you peace." Let that blessing fill your day. Whether spoken or silent, bless everyone you meet. Pray that every encounter brings peace and healing to the world. Experience your kinship with all creation, blessing the human and nonhuman world, including those you are tempted to curse. A life of blessing joins us with all creation and enables us to claim our vocation as God's beloved companions one moment at a time. —from the book Walking with Francis of Assisi: From Privilege to Activism
by Bruce G. Epperly |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
"By reason of His immensity, God is present everywhere; but there are two places where He dwells in a particular manner. One is in the highest heavens, where He is present by that glory which He communicates to the blessed; the other is on earth—within the humble soul that loves Him."
— St Alphonsus Liguori † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"Furthermore, let us produce worthy fruits of penance. Let us also love our neighbors as ourselves. Let us have charity and humility. Let us give alms because these cleanse our souls from the stains of sin. Men lose all the material things they leave behind them in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For these they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve. We must not be wise and prudent according to the flesh. Rather we must be simple, humble and pure. We should never desire to be over others. Instead, we ought to be servants who are submissive to every human being for God's sake. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on all who live in this way and persevere in it to the end. He will permanently dwell in them. They will be the Father's children who do his work. They are the spouses, brothers and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ."
— St. Francis of Assisi, p. 333
AN EXCERPT FROM
Witness of the Saints † VERSE OF THE DAY
"He who keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble."
Proverbs 21:23 |  click to read more | | ST. BRIGID OF IRELAND St. Brigid of Ireland (451–525 A.D.), also known as St. Brigit of Kildare, was born to a pagan Irish chieftain and a Christian slave mother. Being the daughter of a slave woman, she also was a slave, and worked as a dairy maid. She became known for her virtuous life and her charity to the poor. Recognizing her great piety and special graces, a Christian king convinced her father to grant Brigid her freedom. Once free to follow her own course in life, St. Brigid refused marriage, consecrated herself to Christ, and became Ireland's first nun. She also formed Ireland's first convent at Kildare and became its abbess. She went on to found many other religious communities, as well as a School of Art famous for its metal working and illuminated manuscripts. St. Brigid was known for her extraordinary spirituality, even converting her father to the faith after he witnessed her fashioning the sign of the cross from strands of rushes. She was also a contemporary and friend of St. Patrick. When she died, her sisters kept a fire burning in an enclosure at her Kildare convent. This fire burned for centuries, tended by the sisters and not burning out until the 13th century. It was later re-lit and burned for 400 more years until the Protestant revolt. St. Brigid is the patroness of Ireland and many other causes, most notably of dairy and milk maids, chicken farmers, travelers, and sailors. Her feast day is February 1st. | Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 323
Reading I Heb 11:32-40 Brothers and sisters:
What more shall I say?
I have not time to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,
of David and Samuel and the prophets,
who by faith conquered kingdoms,
did what was righteous, obtained the promises;
they closed the mouths of lions, put out raging fires,
escaped the devouring sword;
out of weakness they were made powerful, became strong in battle,
and turned back foreign invaders.
Women received back their dead through resurrection.
Some were tortured and would not accept deliverance,
in order to obtain a better resurrection.
Others endured mockery, scourging, even chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned, sawed in two, put to death at sword's point;
they went about in skins of sheep or goats,
needy, afflicted, tormented.
The world was not worthy of them.
They wandered about in deserts and on mountains,
in caves and in crevices in the earth. Yet all these, though approved because of their faith,
did not receive what had been promised.
God had foreseen something better for us,
so that without us they should not be made perfect. Responsorial Psalm Ps 31:20, 21, 22, 23, 24 R.(25) Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
How great is the goodness, O LORD, which you have in store for those who fear you,
And which, toward those who take refuge in you, you show in the sight of the children of men.
R. Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
You hide them in the shelter of your presence from the plottings of men;
You screen them within your abode from the strife of tongues.
R. Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
Blessed be the LORD whose wondrous mercy he has shown me in a fortified city.
R. Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
Once I said in my anguish, "I am cut off from your sight";
Yet you heard the sound of my pleading when I cried out to you.
R. Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
Love the LORD, all you his faithful ones! The LORD keeps those who are constant, but more than requites those who act proudly.
R. Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord. Alleluia Lk 7:16 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A great prophet has arisen in our midst
and God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mk 5:1-20 Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the sea,
to the territory of the Gerasenes.
When he got out of the boat,
at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him.
The man had been dwelling among the tombs,
and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain.
In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains,
but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed,
and no one was strong enough to subdue him.
Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides
he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones.
Catching sight of Jesus from a distance,
he ran up and prostrated himself before him,
crying out in a loud voice,
"What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?
I adjure you by God, do not torment me!"
(He had been saying to him, "Unclean spirit, come out of the man!")
He asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "Legion is my name. There are many of us."
And he pleaded earnestly with him
not to drive them away from that territory. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside.
And they pleaded with him,
"Send us into the swine. Let us enter them."
And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine.
The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea,
where they were drowned.
The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town
and throughout the countryside.
And people came out to see what had happened.
As they approached Jesus,
they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion,
sitting there clothed and in his right mind.
And they were seized with fear.
Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened
to the possessed man and to the swine.
Then they began to beg him to leave their district.
As he was getting into the boat,
the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him.
But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead,
"Go home to your family and announce to them
all that the Lord in his pity has done for you."
Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis
what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed. | Daily Meditation: Hebrews 11:32-40 Out of weakness they were made powerful. (Hebrews 11:34) Let's look at a couple of the heroes listed in today's first reading. David was just a boy with some stones, and Gideon was a farmer with the odds stacked against him. Yet David defeated Goliath with a slingshot, and Gideon and his three-hundred men defeated a huge Midianite army (1 Samuel 17; Judges 7). How did this happen? They had God on their side, that's how. These men are heroes not because of their natural abilities but because God was working through them—often in spite of their shortcomings. As the author of Hebrews puts it, "Out of weakness they were made powerful" (Hebrews 11:34). Even so, you might think, "I'll never be a hero. God would never choose me for such an important mission." But God has chosen you—and for the most important mission of all: to love and serve him and his people. Sure, you aren't called to slay giants as David did, but there are different "battles" each day in the struggle to love the Lord and those he has placed in your life. There's the internal battle to be patient with your teenager whose emotions are up and down. There's the battle to meet an unrealistic deadline at work without getting resentful or irritable. Some days, you probably crash into bed feeling like you did go to war! God wants to remind us that it's not all on our shoulders. Just as the saints and heroes of our faith did, he wants us to trust in his power and strength. He knows that on our own, we are weak. But when we make the decision to lean on him, he gives us the grace to overcome every challenge we face. So in the heat of a trying moment, remember to pray, "Holy Spirit, help me!" But be prepared as well for those inevitable daily battles by spending a few minutes each morning asking Jesus to give you all that you need for what lies ahead. God has called you to live a heroic life—in whatever form that might take. Even when you doubt yourself, don't doubt God. Your weakness is no match for his love, power, and strength! "Lord, I want to rely on you today!" Psalm 31:20-24
Mark 5:1-20 |  clickable | The father of the prodigal son orders him to be immediately reestablished in all the prerogatives of his rank. So the Lord treats the sinner that returns to Him. With His friendship, He restores to him all he had forfeited by sin– innocence, peace, merits, right to Heaven, all his dignity as a man and as a Christian.
— St. Ignatius of Loyola
from his reflections on the Return of the Prodigal Son | my2cents:
"God had foreseen something better for us, so that without us they should not be made perfect."
Only with us can they be made perfect. Us who are...faithful. Us who can attempt to carry the cross. Us who dare to carry it one more step, one foot in front of the other. Thank God for one more day...one more opportunity to steer the people His way. Beginning with my feet, and where they step. Watch your step. Watch your decisions. | We pray today: "How great is the goodness, O LORD, which you have in store for those who fear you, And which, toward those who take refuge in you, you show in the sight of the children of men."
Who fears the Lord, loves the Lord. Who Loves the Lord does His will. Who does His will strives for the narrow way. And this person shows the children the way...that is narrow. | In the Holy Gospel, a demoniac runs up to our Lord and asks not to be tormented. But it is a story that in the spiritual realm, you cannot see clearly. The Son of David appears before Goliath. On the cross? No, every day in battle is what our Lord does. What is the battle? Goliath is now the Gerasene, the representative of thousands as the enemy. Gera, for short, approaches and taunts the new David, the Son of David. Keep in mind that our Lord is the rock. | What we do not hear is how the complete conversation of conversion began. But we have a clue, that our Lord kept exorcising, because he "(He had been saying to him, "Unclean spirit, come out of the man!"). Gera superficially, did not like it, and the demons were strong, strong enough to resist. Until...a personal question comes our of our Lord: " "What is your name?"
Then things began to change. A direct authority in the exorcism began. Gera, the person did not speak, but Legion did. You see, the demons speak through people. And on that note, they speak through "mediums", sadly, I see all sorts of movie stars turning to "mediums" called "spiritual" and they do not know they too speak to demons. And Legion cut a deal, to be put into pigs. Our Lord does not hurt a creature, but the demons do. Demons hurt us. Gera, with Legion, was a "cutter", always cutting himself. They say this guy suffered tremendously. He lived in the cemetery, among the dead, wishing to be dead. You see, sin wishes you were dead. Someone told me they felt like "quitting". "Quit what?" I asked. He said "everything". And then we met. I encouraged him. And I saw him turn back...to life. For the love of his child. And more importantly, for the love of God. You see, sin makes us face downward. The wages of sin are death. We have much to learn from Gera today, don't we?
Firstly, He ran to Christ.
Secondly, He was delivered after prostrating Himself before God.
Thirdly, He wanted to be a disciple, and was told to do so right where he was at.
Me and you, we should run to Christ for deliverance, thus salvation in Holy Confession. And then, be the light, right where we are at, day by day.
By the way...
What is YOUR name? Lord, I am Yours, and Yours I wish to be. When You ask me my name, that is what I desire to be. For it is in being that we can receive, grace, mercy, and true and everlasting Love from Heaven.... | from your brother in Christ our Lord,
adrian | Random online bible verse: WOW!! The Year of the Lord's Favor
61 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor;1 he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;2 | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment