Making the World a Safe Home Healthy religion gives us a foundational sense of awe. It re-enchants an otherwise empty universe. It gives people a universal reverence toward all things. Only with such reverence do we find confidence and coherence. Only then does the world become a safe home. Then we can see the reflection of the divine image in the human, in the animal, in the entire natural world—which has now become inherently "supernatural." That is the paradox, and all dualistic language will henceforth fail us. When the divine image is no longer present, why should I respect you, or anything? Why should I talk to you with tenderness if you do not reflect the divine image, if you are just another market product? —from The Wisdom Pattern: Order, Disorder, Reorder
by Richard Rohr, OFM |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
"For He became man that we might become divine; and He revealed Himself through a body that we might receive an idea of the invisible Father; and He endured insults from men that we might inherit incorruption."
— St. Athanasius of Alexandria †MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"Now surely I do see what an immense effect such a doctrine [of the Holy Trinity] must have upon life. It is no mere question for theologians, but one that concerns every living soul. Whatever is allowed by God's power must be guided by His wisdom and urged on by His love. All that happens to me in life, the little worries and the great anxieties, the crises and the daily annoyances, the sorrows and the joys, the harms that reach me through the sins of others, the great crimes of history, the huge and devastating wars, the partings and loves and the whole cycle of human experience are permitted by Power, which is itself wise and loving. These three Persons determine my life, and, since I walk by faith, I must surely grow very patient in my attitude toward life. For how can I complain or criticize God's Providence, since it all comes under that triple influence of Power, Wisdom, and Love? Under the guidance, then, of this mystery, I can walk through the valley of death or the more perilous borders of sin without loss of courage or hopefulness. Nothing can make me afraid. How these are separate, yet one, I do not know, nor can I reconcile in my concrete experience the claims of each. It is always a mystery, but a mystery in which I believe. Whatever Power allows on earth is designed in Wisdom and attuned by Love."
— Fr. Bede Jarrett, p. 10
AN EXCERPT FROM
Classic Catholic Meditations † VERSE OF THE DAY
"I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy works! Thou knowest me right well; my frame was not hidden from thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance; in thy book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."
Psalm 139:14-16 |  click to read more | | ST. ANASTASIUS THE PERSIAN St. Anastasius the Persian (7th c.) was the son of a Persian sorcerer. He became a Zoroastrian soldier in the army of Khosrau II, the Persian monarch who absconded the True Cross of Christ from Jerusalem and took it to Persia in 614. St. Anastasius inquired about the mysterious Cross and the Christian religion and as a result soon converted to the true Faith, left the army, received baptism, and became a monk at a monastery in Jerusalem. He lived there seven years until he was called by God to martyrdom among his people. He went to Caesarea to preach, which was then under Persian rule. He was captured and subject to cruel tortures. He was promised freedom and a high position in the kingdom if he would simply denounce his faith, which he refused. St. Anastasius was strangled and beheaded. His feast day is January 22. | Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children Lectionary: 315
Reading I Heb 8:6-13 Brothers and sisters:
Now our high priest has obtained so much more excellent a ministry
as he is mediator of a better covenant,
enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless,
no place would have been sought for a second one.
But he finds fault with them and says:
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of
Israel and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand to lead
them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they did not stand by my covenant
and I ignored them, says the Lord.
But this is the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds
and I will write them upon their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach, each one his fellow citizen and kin, saying,
"Know the Lord,"
for all shall know me, from least to greatest.
For I will forgive their evildoing
and remember their sins no more. When he speaks of a "new" covenant,
he declares the first one obsolete.
And what has become obsolete
and has grown old is close to disappearing. Responsorial Psalm 85:8 and 10, 11-12, 13-14 R. (11a) Kindness and truth shall meet.
Show us, O LORD, your mercy,
and grant us your salvation.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet. Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mk 3:13-19 Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted
and they came to him.
He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles,
that they might be with him
and he might send them forth to preach
and to have authority to drive out demons:
He appointed the Twelve:
Simon, whom he named Peter;
James, son of Zebedee,
and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges,
that is, sons of thunder;
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus;
Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean,
and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him. | Daily Meditation: Mark 3:13-19 He appointed Twelve, . . . that they might be with him. (Mark 3:14) On this day that the United States bishops have set aside to pray for the legal protection of unborn children, imagine having this conversation with God in prayer: "Lord, when I think about the scourge of abortion, I can get so frustrated. What would you have me do? I want to work and pray for the legal protection of unborn children, and I want to extend mercy and healing to those who have been hurt by abortion. But I also feel pulled by many other issues that seem to demand urgent action. Your children in this world are hurting in so many ways. I want to do something for those who need food, shelter, work, and basic human dignity. I want to be a faithful member of my family, my neighborhood, my church, my workplace, my nation. I want to proclaim the good news to all." Now imagine Jesus' response: "My child, thank you for the love in your heart! I have indeed called you, and there are many things you can do in my strength. But see how I called the first twelve apostles. I knew that I would be sending them out to preach and heal the sick and drive out demons. However, that didn't happen all at once. First, I called them to come to me, to spend time with me. For three years they shared life with me every day. We sat down together for meals. We prayed to my Father together. We marveled together at the natural world. We laughed when things struck us as funny. They brought their concerns, perplexities, and ambitions to me and tried to make sense of my responses. I revealed my priorities and my heart to them. All this gave them the wisdom and strength to do my will in this world. "It is the same for you. Come to me first. Spend time with me every day. Bring me your questions and concerns. Then let me send you. Being sent sometimes takes its form in intercession, like praying for the unborn. Other times, it is more active, like dropping off diapers at a pregnancy center. Either way, you will be my missionary. As you spend time listening for my voice, you'll hear me calling you. The time you spend with me will give you the inspiration, the grace, and the strength for all I call you to do." "Jesus, help me follow your call." Hebrews 8:6-13
Psalm 85:8, 10-14 |  clickable | The face that confronts us is not just the tiny, innocent face of the human baby, whom we have procreated, but the enormous, innocent face of Almighty God, who has created us and the baby. It is His image that abortion kills. That is why we can never give up. For we have no choice. We are not pro-choice. Here we stand. We cannot do otherwise. God help us.
— Peter Kreeft
from his book Three Approaches to Abortion | my2cents:
"I will put my laws in their minds and I will write them upon their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people."
Our Lord's laws are in our spiritual DNA. We are called to be His. | We pray: "The LORD himself will give his benefits; our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him, and salvation, along the way of his steps.
Kindness and truth shall meet."
I saw a drawing of someone showing/inviting a person to the cross (Christianity) ...to do so, the person would have to get out of the long line of people that were following him. I found the drawing interesting. Why? Because of the conversion it calls for? Well, perhaps. But the real reason is that it seemed to call someone to the cross.
Who in their right mind would want to go to a cross/crucifixion? Because that is the way that our Lord chose, self sacrifice. I told this story to some in a class and I said "the picture, though, is incomplete. Behind the cross is the Kingdom of Heaven. Our true home. | In the Holy Gospel we heard: "Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him."
I read a reflection that said that the calling of these men was the result of much prayer...perhaps what we would call rightful discernment. And He called them for a specific reason to "... send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons". Did you know you too have this calling? To preach, to cast out demons. You are perhaps not on the same level as an authorized exorcist, but boy, if you only knew what exorcists say, that if a person would only go make a sincere confession, how much power of deliverance that would bring! Cleanse yourself, cleanse the nation. | We are a body. You are an influence on the body. We speak of the larger body of a person. We are to be the body of Christ. Christ calls us to Himself. I think of Hitler, the Nazi regime, which is being taken out of history books I hear. Can you erase history? Nope, truth will always be revealed. But as I thought, how horrible this man's actions were, to cause the death of millions of innocent people...really, it wasn't just him. He simply proposed ideas, and many followed and were guilty culprits, from the generals, to the soldiers, the NAZI followers, to the ones running the dozers to bury bodies, some that were still alive, albeit skin and bones. There was a whole lot of people making the atrocity happen.
You know where I am going. Abortion. There is a whole lot of people making abortion happen, many who call themselves Catholic too. How does it happen? All one has to do is...be neutral. That's it! That's all the devil calls for, for its peace. Just be neutral. Just don't say anything. It's amazing how much evil can get away with...with permission....yours. How am I permissive? I am the pro-life person in my church. I notice that prayer helps, but making calls works. I don't get automatic subscribers, I have to literally ask in person. Faith without works is dead. And I cannot have death on my hands, on my watch. It's funny that I posted a video on YouTube years ago; it was a music video for a song I wrote and sung, about abortion, about choice. In the video, there was at times images of people relaxing nearly nude on the beach, and then images of suffering Christ, a pic from the movie The Passion of Christ. Not too long ago I received an email from YouTube saying they had taken down the video due to it's violence. I can only think of the bloody body of Christ, (mostly His face) was in the video, that's it! But the real violence pervades, is allowed...nudity (sexual graphics and innuendo). Venerable ArchBishop Sheen said "first comes nudity, then comes violence". The culprit is the apple, and the culprit is filth. Pornography lives on YouTube, and it is the main culprit of violence. Violence to the unborn. Without purity, we will see this violence always. And we will always have darkness, the guise it loves to disguise itself in. And so, we have contraception. All things contra to life, contrary. That is the whole point of contraception...and abortion is seen as contraception, another lie from darkness.
So what can you do, in your own little world? If you are a mother, thank GOD. We have a newborn in our office, every once in a while I GET to hear the baby girl cry. Baby cries are music to God's ears. Cries for please from innocence. But many don't get to live to sing the day. If you are a mother, you have a world to teach your child. Many saints have been spawned from a mother's example and pleas and prayers and supplications for the child.
If you are a father, if you only knew the gift you are charged with. Leadership to God. Most in prison, perhaps 70-80% are there because of a lack of a true father figure. Most women who find themselves in an alternative lifestyle or in sex trades including strip clubs and getting pregnant early, is because of a lack of a loving father that shows a life of God is primary. Perhaps 60-70%. Most faithless children are due to faithless fathers. Most men I know struggle, and most will not admit they have a problem. Addicts. They are addicted to something other than the blood of Jesus. How can I become a Christ leech or a Christ Mosquito? Because these critters don't kill their host, but feed off of it. And it is possible that a critter like this infect the host...think...the body of Christ on earth. That is why, we all must become pure, holy, and clean and receive Him rightly.
And for this, I show you to the cross....self sacrifice. It is the most uncomfortable feeling though. And so we must not go by feelings alone. Feelings will fool you into temptations and divorce and self murder. And so, we must go on a decision. I remember every Friday I would go to an abortion clinic, for years until they closed. Now they opened one up in another city, and now I must make the most uncomfortable decision to go there too. 200 miles roundtrip. To a college town. To attempt to save a life, or two, the life of the unborn, and the life of the mother...her spirit, her soul. How far would you go to save a life? Would you travel hundreds of miles? How about saying something for the innocent? Purify yourself, and you purify the body. The body of Christ. Lord, I pray every day for the unborn. I pray for their precious laughs and cries to be heard. I pray that they are not seen as a nuisance, but as a face to behold and to cherish...Your most precious face Lord. May we become a people of life, a people of true joy, pure and holy, wholly YOURS my Lord, My God, My Father, My ALL. | from your brother in Christ our Lord,
adrian | Random online bible verse:
Amen!
19 It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
