Wednesday, September 29, 2021

† " ...Do You Believe Because I . . ."

†Saint Quote
""Keep to the ancient way and custom of the Church, established and confirmed by so many Saints under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And live a new life. Pray, and get others to pray, that God not abandon His Church, but reform it as He pleases, and as He sees best for us, and more to His honour and glory."
— St. Angela Merici

† MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"Once, while I was wondering why Our Lord so dearly loves the virtue of humility, the thought suddenly struck me, without previous reflection, that it is because God is the supreme Truth and humility is the truth, for it is the most true that we have nothing good of ourselves but only misery and nothingness: whoever ignores this, lives a life of falsehood. they that realize this fact most deeply are the most pleasing to God, the supreme Truth, for they walk in the truth."
— St. Teresa of Avila, p. 175-6
AN EXCERPT FROM
Interior Castle

† VERSE OF THE DAY
"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help."
Hebrews 4:14-16

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THE HOLY ARCHANGELS

The Archangels St. Gabriel, St. Michael, and St. Raphael share a feast day on September 29th. These are the only three angels mentioned by name in Sacred Scripture.
St. Gabriel means "Power of God." He is the messenger or herald angel most famous for appearing to the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Annunciation (Luke 1:11-38).

St. Michael means "Who is like God?" He is the warrior angel, the famous foe of Satan, who is the champion of God's people and guardian and protector of the Church (Rev. 12:7-9).
St. Raphael means "God has healed." He is a companion and healing angel, most famous for curing a man's blindness and for traveling with Tobiah in the book of Tobit (Tob. 12).

Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels

Lectionary: 647
Reading I

Dn 7:9-10, 13-14

As I watched:

Thrones were set up

and the Ancient One took his throne.

His clothing was bright as snow,

and the hair on his head as white as wool;

His throne was flames of fire,

with wheels of burning fire.

A surging stream of fire

flowed out from where he sat;

Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,

and myriads upon myriads attended him.

The court was convened, and the books were opened.
As the visions during the night continued, I saw

One like a son of man coming,

on the clouds of heaven;

When he reached the Ancient One

and was presented before him,

He received dominion, glory, and kingship;

nations and peoples of every language serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion

that shall not be taken away,

his kingship shall not be destroyed.

OR:

Rv 12:7-12ab

War broke out in heaven;
Michael and his angels battled against the dragon.
The dragon and its angels fought back,
but they did not prevail
and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
The huge dragon, the ancient serpent,
who is called the Devil and Satan,
who deceived the whole world,
was thrown down to earth,
and its angels were thrown down with it.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed.
For the accuser of our brothers is cast out,
who accuses them before our God day and night.
They conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
love for life did not deter them from death.
Therefore, rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them."

Responsorial Psalm

138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 4-5

R. (1) In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,

for you have heard the words of my mouth;

in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple

and give thanks to your name.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Because of your kindness and your truth;

for you have made great above all things

your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;

you built up strength within me.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to you, O LORD

when they hear the words of your mouth;
And they shall sing of the ways of the LORD

"Great is the glory of the LORD
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord

Alleluia

Ps 103:21

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Bless the LORD, all you angels,
you ministers, who do his will.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Jn 1:47-51

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,
"Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him."
Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?"
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."
Nathanael answered him,
"Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Do you believe
because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?
You will see greater things than this."
And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Daily Meditation: Psalm 138:1-5

In the presence of the angels I will sing your praise. (Psalm 138:1)

Why does the Church set aside a special feast day for the archangels? In a morning meditation on this day in 2017, Pope Francis provided an answer: "We celebrate three of these archangels because they played an important role in the history of salvation, and also because they play an important role in our journey toward salvation." Let's consider each one in turn.

Francis said that St. Michael is "the one who fights against the devil," as described in the Book of Revelation (12:7-12). "Troubling our lives, he always tries to seduce us as he seduced our mother Eve." St. Michael "helps us to fight against [the devil] and to not be seduced by this evil spirit which deceives us."

St. Gabriel "is the one who brings the good news." Just as he delivered the good news of salvation to Zechariah, Mary, and Joseph, so he is the messenger of salvation for us as well. "With so much bad news or news with no substance, we forget the good news, the one of the gospel," the Holy Father said. "Gabriel himself . . . reminds us of this."

Finally, St. Raphael "takes us by the hand and walks with us; he helps us with the many things that occur along the journey." He is our "traveling companion," Pope Francis said. Just as he guided the steps of Tobiah on his arduous journey (Tobit 5–13), so he guides our steps. We must ask him to help us "not to be tempted to take the wrong step, to take the wrong path."

The archangels are holy and powerful, but as Pope Francis pointed out, our vocation is very similar to theirs: to serve the Lord, to praise him, and to contemplate his glory. Today, let's call upon these mighty servants of God and ask them to intercede for us. As they defend us in battle, remind us of the good news, and accompany us on our journey, they will be helping us to fulfill this great vocation to which we have all been called!

"Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, pray for us!"

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
John 1:47-51

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From Today's Holy Scripture in the book of Daniel:
"Thrones were set up and the Ancient One took his throne. His clothing was bright as snow, and the hair on his head as white as wool; His throne was flames of fire, with wheels of burning fire.
A surging stream of fire flowed out from where he sat;
Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him, and myriads upon myriads attended him."
White hair? Throne of flames? With wheels of fire?

What is this? It is the burning movement of Love, of God our Father. In a vision in prayer, Mother Mary took me under her veil and I saw myriads in a temple, they were presenting gifts to the center of light, and all I could feel was the gifts were gifts of love presented to our Almighty, and the love accepted the gifts into the light. Remain in God and you will remain in Love. Have faith. Believe.

We pray in Psalms:
"In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,

for you have heard the words of my mouth;

in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple

and give thanks to your name."

Temple worship is the call. I've noticed that it's not all about the music, or the homily, the message, but about our Love for God in worship and adoration. The rest helps, and we are to glorify God with all our heart and mind, and soul. Then we will experience the hereafter, the Kingdom of God as it is and ever shall be, world without end.

Our Lord speaks in the book of John:
"Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,
"Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him."
Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?"
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."
Nathanael answered him,
"Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Do you believe
because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?
You will see greater things than this."
And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

This true story is a personal story. It's about one person, and about one God. And so in my meditation before writing, I pondered my vision of so many countless souls coming up to God, and the All-Knowing knew exactly the very being of every soul presenting...His every child. No words necessary, He knows, and so breath and air are not necessary, because He is life. Words are not necessary because the Knowing and the Being is there. Does this make sense? But when a word is spoken, it changes everything.

Think about when God speaks.
Think about when you dare to speak.
What ensues from him is good.
What comes out of our mouth?
And so our Lord amazes Nathanael.
I've noticed that many of my prayers, my prayers of the heart, never spoken, just desired inside, they are answered.
This is a Nathanael Prayer. God sees your truth, your sincerity. God sees His child. Thousands passed and you were not passed. He knows you. He loves you.

"Take courage", says our Lord, and He says "It is I"...and He finalizes with "I Am with You always".

Let's pray:
Lord, I love the Nathanael moments with You.
I love ever moment with You. I am happy just knowing You are with me and watching me. I am glad I am not alone. You even send powerful angels over each of us. And today we honor Archangels, Messengers, Healers, And Warriors.
May we be messengers, healers, and warriors in this world You created for us to live and honor You with all our being!

from your brother in Christ,
Adrian

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Random bible verse generator:

1 John 4:20–21
20 If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot1 love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.