.: † ". He Spoke Plainly . ."

Friday, February 11, 2022

† ". He Spoke Plainly . ."

†Saint Quote
"Build an oratory within yourself, and there have Jesus on the altar of your heart. Speak to Him often while you are doing your work. Speak to Him of His holy love, of His holy sufferings and of the sorrows of most holy Mary."
–St Paul of the Cross

†Today's Meditation
"Consider not only that God your benefactor is present but also that He acts continuously in all His creatures. And for whom is this continual action, this work of God in nature? For you. Thus, He lights you by the light of day; He nourishes you with the productions of the earth; in a word, He serves you by each one of the creatures that you use; so that it is true to say that at every moment the bounty, the wisdom and the power of God are at your service and are exercised in the world for your wants or pleasures. This conduct of God toward man should be the model of your conduct toward God. You see that the presence of God in His creatures is never idle; it acts incessantly, it preserves, it governs. Beware, then, of stopping at a sterile contemplation of God present in yourself. Add action to contemplation; to the sight of the Divine presence add the faithful accomplishment of the Divine will."
—St. Ignatius, p. 182

An Excerpt From
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius

†Daily Verse
"Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a word that shall not return: 'To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.'"

–Isaiah 45:22-23

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Bl. Bartholomew of Olmedo

Blessed Bartholomew of Olmedo (1485-1524) was a Spanish Mercedarian priest, and the first priest to arrive on Mexican soil in 1516 at the age of 31. He was chaplain for the expedition of Spanish Conquistador Fernando Cortés, who began the Spanish colonization of the Americas and the downfall of the Aztec empire. Bartholomew was well-liked by the native people. He taught them the Christian faith and exhorted them to end their practice of human sacrifice. He also defended them against injustice and restrained Cortés from acting out in violence against them. Bartholomew taught the native Mexicans devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Mercy, which they embraced. Blessed Bartholomew of Olmedo baptized more than 2500 people before he died in Mexico in 1524 at the age of 39. He was buried in Santiago de Tlatelolco. His feast day is February 11.

Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 333
Reading I

1 Kgs 11:29-32; 12:19

Jeroboam left Jerusalem,
and the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road.
The two were alone in the area,
and the prophet was wearing a new cloak.
Ahijah took off his new cloak,
tore it into twelve pieces, and said to Jeroboam:

"Take ten pieces for yourself;

the LORD, the God of Israel, says:

'I will tear away the kingdom from Solomon's grasp

and will give you ten of the tribes.
One tribe shall remain to him for the sake of David my servant,

and of Jerusalem,

the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.'"

Israel went into rebellion against David's house to this day.

Responsorial Psalm

81:10-11ab, 12-13, 14-15

R. (11a and 9a) I am the Lord, your God: hear my voice.
"There shall be no strange god among you

nor shall you worship any alien god.
I, the LORD, am your God

who led you forth from the land of Egypt."
R. I am the Lord, your God: hear my voice.
"My people heard not my voice,

and Israel obeyed me not;
So I gave them up to the hardness of their hearts;

they walked according to their own counsels."
R. I am the Lord, your God: hear my voice.
"If only my people would hear me,

and Israel walk in my ways,
Quickly would I humble their enemies;

against their foes I would turn my hand."
R. I am the Lord, your God: hear my voice.

Alleluia

See Acts 16:14b

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Open our hearts, O Lord,
to listen to the words of your Son.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mk 7:31-37

Jesus left the district of Tyre
and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,
into the district of the Decapolis.
And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment
and begged him to lay his hand on him.
He took him off by himself away from the crowd.
He put his finger into the man's ears
and, spitting, touched his tongue;
then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,
"Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!")
And immediately the man's ears were opened,
his speech impediment was removed,
and he spoke plainly.
He ordered them not to tell anyone.
But the more he ordered them not to,
the more they proclaimed it.
They were exceedingly astonished and they said,
"He has done all things well.
He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

Daily Meditation: Mark 7:31-37

People brought to him a deaf man. (Mark 7:32)

If you were a movie director filming this scene, you might focus on Jesus and how amazing this miracle was. But a more interesting focus might be the people who brought the man to Jesus. What were they doing just moments before? You can imagine them learning that Jesus was in town. They lead their friend through the crowd, right up to Jesus. One of them gets down on his knees and pleads, "Jesus, I have heard that you can perform great miracles. Please, help our friend."

A scene like that would highlight the fact that Jesus didn't just walk up out of the blue and heal this man. His friends brought him to Jesus. Their faith gave them the courage to ask Jesus to heal him. We don't know how much faith they had. The important thing is that it was enough to ask Jesus for help.

When you hear a miracle story like this, remember that it didn't happen only because of God's stupendous power. Certainly God can do incredible things beyond your power even to imagine (Ephesians 3:20). He is the One who heals; your faith doesn't force his hand. But he does invite you to play a role in those miracles. He invites you to exercise your faith by bringing your needs to him. You don't need extraordinary faith, just enough to trust the Lord and ask him to act.

Our heavenly Father loves it when we trust him. He wants to give his children good things—and not only good things. Sometimes he wants to give us miracles. So take him at his word! Ask him for the healing of a loved one. Ask him for your own healing. Ask him to intervene in a situation that seems hopeless. And leave the results to him, trusting that he will do what is best.

Most importantly, don't think that your faith is too weak for God to care about you. Exercise the faith you have and believe that God can work. Keep asking him for what you need. It's not that he requires your extra prayers to act—but you need them, to stretch your faith and to grow closer to him.

"Lord, I believe you can do the impossible. Please give me the faith to ask for it!"

1 Kings 11:29-32; 12:19
Psalm 81:10-15

From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"Israel went into rebellion against David's house to this day."

How did the people of God go into rebellion against their own? Through sin. From the beginning and again through King Solomon. Future generations are affected by our sin. If you don't see it in your life time, it comes later. The ramifications of our choices...the very free will our Lord has given us.

We pray in Psalms:
""If only my people would hear me, and Israel walk in my ways, Quickly would I humble their enemies; against their foes I would turn my hand." I am the Lord, your God: hear my voice."

Our Lord speaks in the Holy Gospel:
""Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!")"

Then they said "see how He does all things well". It is hard today, if somehow science allows a deaf person to hear. They will go through a long time of rehabilitation, and training to speak, and to speak well. But when our Lord does things, they are perfect. A little girl wakes up from the dead, and He tells them to give her something to eat. She was starving...for the living God. And how about us?

From Bishop Barron today:

"Friends, our Gospel for today has to do with Jesus' healing of a deaf man with a speech impediment. As always, we have to look at the surface and at the depth. Jesus is performing a physical miracle. But every one of his actions should also be read symbolically, so as to uncover a deeper spiritual meaning.

So what does Jesus do? He "put his finger into the man's ears and, spitting, touched his tongue." Jesus establishes, as it were, an electrical current, running from God the Father, through him, to this man. He—almost literally—plugs him into the divine current, compelling him to hear the Word. He says "Ephphatha," be opened. When he does, his speech impediment is immediately overcome. Now he is able to speak the Word of God clearly.

So this deaf man stands for all of us who do not hear the Word of God, who have grown oblivious to it. And what is the result of this deafness? A speech impediment. At the spiritual level, if you don't hear the Word of God clearly, then your capacity to speak it is also severely compromised."

Are we hungry for the Lord? Are we deaf to His Word? Are we starving spiritually? Are we unable to speak about Him to others?

Let's Pray:
Dear Heavenly Father,
we come to you, and we bring our needs always, but how often do we bring our thanks? We starve for various needs and You starve for love, and thanksgiving. Let us fill each other with great Love, both now and forever.

from your brother in Christ,
Adrian

The meeting with the doctors I'd say left hope. And so we are left with our Hope, in Christ our Lord. Let us pray today for His miraculous recovery. Because at this point, I believe the people need to see it, our families need to see it, and all of us praying on our knees need to experience God's healing touch, the very Hope of Life. And so I pray for the impossible, because God does things well. I thank you in advance for such an act of love.
Our Lady of Lourdes Pray for us!

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Random bible verse generator:

Proverbs 18:24

A man of many companions may come to ruin,

but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace

Going4th

For questions or comments contact Adrian@going4th.com. For more go to www.Going4th.com

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