.: 10/08/21

Friday, October 8, 2021

† " .I Shall Return To . .."

†Saint Quote
"God writes his name on the soul of every man."
— Venerable Fulton Sheen

† MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"Now, may our God be our hope. He Who made all things is better than all things. He Who made all beautiful things is more beautiful than all of them. He Who made all mighty things is more mighty than all of them. He Who made all great things is greater than all of them. Learn to love the Creator in His creature, and the maker in what He has made."
— Saint Augustine, p. 136
AN EXCERPT FROM
Augustine Day by Day

† VERSE OF THE DAY
"Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love."
1 John 4:7-8

click to read more

BLESSED AMBROSE OF SIENA

Blessed Ambrose (1220-1286) was born in Siena, Italy, the son of a book illuminator. He was born so severely deformed that his parents could not bear the sight of him. They put their son in the care of a nurse who took the child with her to daily Mass at the Dominican church. The child, often fussy, would become calm when he was placed near the altar of relics, and would cry when he was removed. While praying at the altar, the nurse would conceal the child's hideous face with a scarf. This practice continued for a year. One day a pilgrim told the nurse to remove the baby's scarf and prophesied that the child would one day become a great man. A few days later, before the same altar, the child Ambrose stretched out his deformed limbs and pronounced the name of Jesus; from that moment he was miraculously healed into a beautiful and perfectly formed child. Blessed Ambrose grew in piety and was determined to become a Dominican friar. His family and friends opposed his plan and attempted to dissuade such a handsome and talented youth from becoming a poor friar. Ambrose overcame these obstacles and joined the Dominicans at the age of 17. He studied under St. Albert the Great along with St. Thomas Aquinas, and went on to become a preacher, teacher, missionary, diplomat, and peace-broker. His skills with diplomacy earned him the respect of kings and popes alike. His feast day is October 8th.

Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 465
Reading I

Jl 1:13-15; 2:1-2

Gird yourselves and weep, O priests!

wail, O ministers of the altar!
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,

O ministers of my God!
The house of your God is deprived

of offering and libation.
Proclaim a fast,

call an assembly;
Gather the elders,

all who dwell in the land,
Into the house of the LORD, your God,

and cry to the LORD!

Alas, the day!

for near is the day of the LORD,

and it comes as ruin from the Almighty.

Blow the trumpet in Zion,

sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all who dwell in the land tremble,

for the day of the LORD is coming;
Yes, it is near, a day of darkness and of gloom,

a day of clouds and somberness!
Like dawn spreading over the mountains,

a people numerous and mighty!
Their like has not been from of old,

nor will it be after them,

even to the years of distant generations.

Responsorial Psalm

9:2-3, 6 and 16, 8-9

R. (9) The Lord will judge the world with justice.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart;

I will declare all your wondrous deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;

I will sing praise to your name, Most High.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
You rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;

their name you blotted out forever and ever.
The nations are sunk in the pit they have made;

in the snare they set, their foot is caught.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
But the LORD sits enthroned forever;

he has set up his throne for judgment.
He judges the world with justice;

he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.

Alleluia

Jn 12:31b-32

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The prince of this world will now be cast out,
and when I am lifted up from the earth
I will draw all to myself, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Lk 11:15-26

When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said:
"By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons."
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them,
"Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?
For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

"When an unclean spirit goes out of someone,
it roams through arid regions searching for rest
but, finding none, it says,
'I shall return to my home from which I came.'
But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits
more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there,
and the last condition of that man is worse than the first."

Daily Meditation: Luke 11:15-26

By the finger of God . . . I drive out demons. (Luke 11:20)

When Jesus used this dramatic image, his listeners might have recalled two stories from the Hebrew Scriptures. These stories demonstrate—in spectacular fashion—God's triumph over his enemies and his love for his people.

The first comes from the Book of Exodus. Exasperated at the plagues Moses was calling down upon Egypt, Pharaoh's magicians warned their king, "This is the finger of God" (Exodus 8:15). Pharaoh's iron will was eventually broken, and he released God's people from slavery.

The second story comes from the Book of Daniel. While King Belshazzar of Babylon was sipping wine from a goblet stolen from the Temple in Jerusalem, the fingers of a hand suddenly appeared and carved a verdict of judgment into the palace wall. Mere hours later, Babylon was sacked, and Belshazzar was overthrown.

So when, in the Gospel, Jesus describes Satan as a strong man guarding a palace, we might envision Pharaoh or Belshazzar sitting on their thrones oppressing God's people. But we might also recall that like those human overlords, Satan has been overthrown by "one stronger than he" (Luke 11:22). That's Jesus! And Jesus did it with nothing more than the "finger of God" (11:20). It was nowhere near an even match! Jesus is simply that much more powerful than the evil one.

During his life, Jesus entered into conflict with Satan and evil spirits on many occasions. Just think of all the demons he cast out or recall his temptation in the desert. But the greatest conflict—and the most resounding victory—took place on the cross. There, Jesus overthrew Satan's reign and made a "public spectacle" of his enemies (Colossians 2:15). And he did it, not by entering into hand-to-hand combat, but by the humblest, most powerful act of self-giving love the world has ever seen.

Today, how about spending a few moments praising Jesus for winning this battle on the cross? Remember, you don't have to be afraid of evil because Jesus, the stronger one, lives within you. He can protect you with just "the finger of God."

"Jesus, I praise you because you have overthrown Satan and all of his works."

Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2
Psalm 9:2-3, 6, 8-9, 16

Listen to 2cents

From Today's Holy Scripture:
"Blow the trumpet in Zion,

sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all who dwell in the land tremble,

for the day of the LORD is coming;"

This is a good message. For you do not know the day nor the hour. It is good to sound the trumpet, even daily, to proclaim the Word of God to you, your household and from there on out.

We pray in Psalms:
"You rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;

their name you blotted out forever and ever.
The nations are sunk in the pit they have made;

in the snare they set, their foot is caught.
The Lord will judge the world with justice."

Our Lord speaks, the TRUTH speaks:
""When an unclean spirit goes out of someone,
it roams through arid regions searching for rest
but, finding none, it says,
'I shall return to my home from which I came.'
But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits
more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there,
and the last condition of that man is worse than the first."

From Bishop Barron today:
"Friends, in today's Gospel, we learn of a person possessed by a demon. Jesus meets the man and drives out the demon, but then is immediately accused of being in league with Satan. Some of the witnesses said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons."

Jesus' response is wonderful in its logic and laconicism: "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?"

The demonic power is always one of scattering. It breaks up communion. But Jesus, as always, is the voice of communio, of one bringing things back together.

Think back to Jesus' feeding of the five thousand. Facing a large, hungry crowd, his disciples beg him to "dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves." But Jesus answers, "There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves."

Whatever drives the Church apart is an echo of this "dismiss the crowds" impulse, and a reminder of the demonic tendency to divide. In times of trial and threat, this is a very common instinct. We blame, attack, break up, and disperse. But Jesus is right: "There is no need for them to go away."

Watch for the errors of the devil being taught and tempted onto souls. The way to dispel Christians, to disband them is very well known, all you have to do is divide them, make them stop talking to each other. Think of the nucleus, the family unit. All that it takes for a divorce to start brewing is have the couple stop talking. And this goes very deep. We talk, but we talk superficial to those who we don't want to talk (full heartedly) to. Think now, about our relationship with God.

Do you talk frankly and sincerely with Him?
How honest and trusting are you?

Let's pray:
Lord, I try to hide from You and even myself.
I don't want to truly see how I am, and much less be discovered.
But You already know!
Help me then learn true humility.

Help me admit what I am and discover truly who I am...before Your Sacred eyes and heart.

Amen.

from your brother in Christ,
Adrian