†Saint Quote
"Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you - for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart."
–St. Therese of Lisieux †Today's Meditation
"In that blessed [Christmas] night also Joseph became the patron, the vicar, and the patriarch of the whole Catholic Church. It is certain, St. Athanasius tells us, that the stable where Jesus was born is 'a figure of the Church, whose altar is the manger, whose vicar is Joseph, whose ministers are the shepherds, whose priests are the angels, whose great High-Priest is Jesus Christ, and whose throne is the Blessed Virgin.'"
— Edward Healy Thompson, p. 233 An Excerpt From
The Life and Glories of St. Joseph, p233 †Daily Verse
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."
–Hebrews 13:8 |  click to read more | | St. Victoria St. Victoria (d. 250 A.D.) was a Christian noblewoman from Rome. She, together with her sister, St. Anatolia, were forced into arranged marriages with two pagan noblemen. Both Victoria and Anatolia desired to devote themselves entirely to God rather than marry. Upon this refusal, their suitors denounced the sisters as Christians to the authorities under the persecution of Roman Emperor Decius. The sisters were seized and put under house arrest in order to break their faith and convince them to marry. Instead of weakening, their faith in Christ became more resolute. While under house arrest they sold all of their belongings, gave their money to the poor, and converted the servants and guards who attended them to Christianity. Both St. Victoria and her sister were eventually killed for their faith; first Anatolia, and later Victoria. St. Victoria was stabbed through the heart at the request of her rejected suitor, Eugenius. Her feast day is December 23rd.
Find a Devotional for This Saint | Thursday of the Fourth Week of Advent Lectionary: 199
Reading I Mal 3:1-4, 23-24 Thus says the Lord GOD:
Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me;
And suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD whom you seek,
And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears?
For he is like the refiner's fire, or like the fuller's lye.
He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi,
Refining them like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD.
Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in the days of old, as in years gone by. Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet,
Before the day of the LORD comes, the great and terrible day,
To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the land with doom. Responsorial Psalm 25:4-5ab, 8-9, 10 and 14 R. (see Luke 21:28) Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Good and upright is the LORD; thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice, he teaches the humble his way.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him, and his covenant, for their instruction.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand. Alleluia R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O King of all nations and keystone of the Church;
come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 1:57-66 When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
"No. He will be called John."
But they answered her,
"There is no one among your relatives who has this name."
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name,"
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
"What, then, will this child be?
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him." | Daily Meditation: Luke 1:57-66 No. He will be called John. (Luke 1:60) We might be so used to the story of how John the Baptist was named that we forget the boldness in Elizabeth's response to her family: No. Everyone expected that she would follow tradition and name him after his father, Zechariah. But with that one word, no, she obeyed the angel's command and gave her child the name John. Why did Elizabeth speak with such confidence? Look what had happened. An angel had visited her husband to announce the birth of this special child. She had become pregnant after years of struggling with infertility. As she held her child in her arms, she knew that God was unfolding his special plan for her life, as well as for her son's. She was determined to obey God, even if that meant disregarding tradition and displeasing the relatives. What can we learn from Elizabeth's example? That when God makes clear the path he wants us to take, we should take it—even if it makes the people around us uncomfortable or we face pressure to go along with their expectations. For example, maybe we turn down a lucrative job offer because we are concerned about the company's ethics. Or we insist that our kids go to Sunday Mass, even if it interferes with their sports schedules. Whatever others think of our choices and decisions, however, God's desires for us should be our top priority. Perhaps in time those who had a hard time accepting our decisions will see ways that our obedience bore fruit, whether in our lives or even in their own. God has a good and unique plan for each one of us. Even when his plan unfolds in unexpected ways, as it did for Elizabeth, we can trust that it is always a good one (Jeremiah 29:11). Elizabeth never could have predicted the adventure her life would turn out to be. She probably didn't even live to see all the fruits of her obedience. But she rejoiced in God's goodness to her, and she remained faithful to his commands. That's all that mattered to her. God is writing a story for your life too, and every bold response you offer him allows him to work it out more fully. "Jesus, help me to follow you even when others don't understand." Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24
Psalm 25:4-5, 8-10, 14 | From Today's Holy Scripture:
"Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me"
"To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers" God has spoken always, and mostly always, through messengers. Either prophets, or people, and people that are prophets. And the message is always one of preparation. I remember I heard a lady's testimony about her life and death experience where she saw Heaven...and she saw how there were many building, preparing, almost as if in a rush, with building materials, and she saw people that were crippled on earth and they were running through fields. But the message seems to be constant, on earth as it is in Heaven. Preparations.
How have you been preparing for the Lord's coming lately?
Christmas is a preparation for His first coming.
Easter is a preparation for His final coming.
It is good to be preparing for Him always.
Why? For the day of salvation?
Even more important.
God speaks of a wedding. A groom that is coming.
This means that the Love of our Life is coming to enjoin with us forever, to be bound together intimately.
And it has started in Holy Communion.
How have you prepared for Him?
Have you shown the world that you are crazy in love with Him? | We pray in Psalms:
"All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees. The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him, and his covenant, for their instruction. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand." What causes one to have their head hung low and always looking down? In this instance, it is one of shame, when your soul cannot look up. When you are not in the state of Grace. But the friendship of the Lord is with those who fear Him and follow Him and His promise. Those then have enough grace to look up, with eyes pleading for mercy. And those are you and I. We have grace, in faith, that we can turn to Him and Keep His Word Alive. | We heard in the Gospel today:
"When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her." It used to be that a woman having a child was considered a great blessing from God Himself.
Nowadays, not so much, and in some cases, they see things as a curse.
And so the child that is not born is prosecuted, tried, and found guilty of being the problem. All fingers point.
But notice, when you point the finger, how many point back you. The majority point back to you.
And so, if we don't start seeing children as blessings from God, and start raising them to be God fearing, God loving children, two things will happen: The population will decrease to dismal numbers, and the ones left alive will eat each other alive by worshiping mankind over God himself. | "He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name,"
and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God." Zechariah had seen an angel in the temple. He doubted the message and became mute for doubting.
How many times do you doubt God's message and therefore automatically become a mute in your faith, unable to speak freely anymore about God?
There are many mute and blind people all around us.
How can we be freed from this?
Do God's will. Do as He says.
A command is not a question. The only reason it becomes questionable is because we doubt.
Command is not a demand, but a way of life. And the only reason we go against a command is because of free will.
So how can we live His life then? Give Him our free will. Last night a new family that just moved into our town joined us in our nightly journeying, going from house to house, re-enacting the cold weather nights of Joseph and Mary seeking for an inn, a place to stay, the "Posadas".
They brought a couple of their children, teenagers it seemed.
Seeing we had a shortage of people, I asked their boy to become Joseph, and he was so shy and said no. I looked around, and my own daughter was the same, so shy and trying to hide. In my eyes, they would be a beautiful set of Joseph and Mary for the evening. Seeing no volunteers, the new family mom and dad said they'd dress up and go along. We traveled in the dark and chilly night, house one rejects us (on purpose), then house two rejects us (as planned) and the third house finally lets us in after much singing and begging as the skit goes caroling outside their house.
Once inside the home, we read scriptures. And then we prayed, and then I mentioned how the new family were welcomed into our homes and community and I told them not to be afraid, and by the time all my message was done there were many tear filled eyes, and why? Because God is good. I said "have faith! God will provide". Just like Joseph and Mary had to trust in God and they were already having so much of a hard time, so too, all of us must trust Father.
Why do I mention this?
Because, those who choose to do God's will, will be blessed with Love. The family experienced God's love and that my friend...is all that matters when it comes time to realizing the being...of God. Let's pray:
Lord, Father, God, Thank you. Thank you for allowing us an opportunity to get ready. To make hearts ready for You. To prepare the most beautiful room in our house...every single corner, a beautiful corner to live and love You, the Love of our Life! Help us love you and be ready for You on the day of Your coming, a light in the dark, a warm home for a stranger turned angel, turned savior, a herald, a horn for God, a prophet that expects nothing, but to live for God...forever. Amen. | from your brother in Christ,
Adrian |  click to hear | Random bible verse generator: Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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