†Quote of the Day
"Quote of the Day
"Let us make up for lost time. Let us give to God the time that remains to us."
–St. Alphonsus Liguori †Today's Meditation
"If God can use everything and everything is good, then an essential starting point of being able to discern God's will is the gift of being "equal-minded." St. Ignatius of Loyola called this gift being "indifferent," but some modern people interpret this term as not caring about the choices. Better is the term "equal minded," which implies that I am happy to take either this option or that option. Neither option matters to me except insofar as one gives greater glory to God than the other."
–Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ, p. 73 An Excerpt From
How to Listen When God Is Speaking †Daily Verse
"I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace."
–Ephesians 4:1-3 |  click to read more | | St. Wenceslaus
St. Wenceslaus (907–935 A.D.) was the son of the Duke of Bohemia. His grandfather was converted to Christianity by the missionaries Sts. Cyril and Methodius. His mother, Dragomir, was the daughter of a pagan tribal chief who was baptized at her marriage. After the death of his father, Wenceslaus received a Christian upbringing from his grandmother, St. Ludmila, while his mother reverted to her pagan ways. Dragomir reigned as regent, had St. Ludmila killed, and worked to oppose the spread of Christianity in Bohemia. When St. Wenceslaus was 18 he took control of the government and exiled his mother. St. Wenceslaus was described as a pious, humble, and intelligent ruler who worked to established Christianity in the land that would become part of the Holy Roman Empire. He was known for his vow of virginity, his many virtues, and his life of prayer and good works. After a political dispute arose, his mother and his younger brother, called Boleslaus the Cruel, plotted his murder along with a group of disaffected nobles. Boleslaus invited his brother to celebrate the feast of Sts. Cosmas and Damian, and arranged to have him assassinated on his way to Mass. St. Wenceslaus muttered words of forgiveness as he died, and his body was buried at the murder site. His brother succeeded him as Duke of Bohemia. Three years later Boleslaus repented of his crime, and had his brother's remains transferred to the Church of St. Vitus in Prague. Wenceslaus was considered a saint by the people at the time of his death. His feast day is September 28th. | Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 457
Reading 1 Jb 9:1-12, 14-16 Job answered his friends and said: I know well that it is so;
but how can a man be justified before God?
Should one wish to contend with him,
he could not answer him once in a thousand times.
God is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
who has withstood him and remained unscathed? He removes the mountains before they know it;
he overturns them in his anger.
He shakes the earth out of its place,
and the pillars beneath it tremble.
He commands the sun, and it rises not;
he seals up the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads upon the crests of the sea.
He made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south;
He does great things past finding out,
marvelous things beyond reckoning. Should he come near me, I see him not;
should he pass by, I am not aware of him;
Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay?
Who can say to him, "What are you doing?" How much less shall I give him any answer,
or choose out arguments against him!
Even though I were right, I could not answer him,
but should rather beg for what was due me.
If I appealed to him and he answered my call,
I could not believe that he would hearken to my words. Responsorial Psalm Ps 88:10bc-11, 12-13, 14-15 R. (3) Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Daily I call upon you, O LORD;
to you I stretch out my hands.
Will you work wonders for the dead?
Will the shades arise to give you thanks?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Do they declare your mercy in the grave,
your faithfulness among those who have perished?
Are your wonders made known in the darkness,
or your justice in the land of oblivion?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
But I, O LORD, cry out to you;
with my morning prayer I wait upon you.
Why, O LORD, do you reject me;
why hide from me your face?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord. Alleluia Phil 3:8-9 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I consider all things so much rubbish
that I may gain Christ and be found in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 9:57-62 As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding
on their journey, someone said to him,
"I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus answered him,
"Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."
And to another he said, "Follow me."
But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."
And another said, "I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home."
Jesus answered him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God." | Daily Meditation: Job 9:1-12, 14-16 How much less shall I . . . choose out arguments against him? (Job 9:14) Job is a blameless and upright man who fears God and always turns away from evil (Job 1:1). Yet he's suffering—and he wants to know why. Job is angry that God seems to be silent. And the questions Job asks, in this reading and throughout the book, are familiar. Why do some good people suffer? What do calamity and loss say about the all-powerful God? Why does an all-loving God tolerate atrocities? And why doesn't God answer my prayers? Job acknowledges what he knows about God: he is "wise in heart and mighty in strength" (Job 9:4). God "does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning" (9:10). Job knows he can't argue against God. But his questions can't be easily dismissed either. So Job continues to challenge the assertions of his four friends about who God is. He even challenges God himself! And that's the point. Job didn't throw up his hands and lie in the dirt and die. Even in his anger and frustration, he persisted and kept questioning the Lord. He didn't get all the answers he was looking for, even when God eventually revealed himself to Job. But when he encountered God, he could finally say, "By hearsay I had heard of you, but now my eye has seen you" (Job 42:5). When we find ourselves wondering why God allows painful things to happen in our lives, Job can be our model for how to keep going back to the Lord and posing those difficult questions. You don't have to be afraid to challenge him or ask him to help you understand who he is and how he's working in your life or in the lives of your loved ones. God may give you insight into a situation or help you understand his ways more clearly. But even if you don't get satisfactory answers to your questions, know that God is pleased that, like Job, you continue to seek him out, even when your faith is being tested. Some things we won't truly understand until we get to heaven. But the best answer any of us can ever receive is God himself assuring us that he is always by our side! "Lord God, help me to always trust in your goodness and mercy." Psalm 88:10-15
Luke 9:57-62 | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"Even though I were right, I could not answer him,
but should rather beg for what was due me.
If I appealed to him and he answered my call,
I could not believe that he would hearken to my words." Today's first Holy Scripture sets us up for the Holy Gospel...for what does it mean to truly follow Him...His way...the meek...the humble? | We pray today;
"But I, O LORD, cry out to you;
with my morning prayer I wait upon you.
Why, O LORD, do you reject me;
why hide from me your face?
Let my prayer come before you, Lord" We suffer...right? I cry, I'm not ashamed to say it, when nobody is looking, I suffer. And I turn to God, and I hear no voice. I look for signs and I find no consolation. So what gives? I've nowhere to go...but to look down...in humility...faith calls for more than we know. | In the Gospel today we heard:
_"someone said to him,
"I will follow you wherever you go."
And the following word messes up everything..."but". I will go "but". And then the excuse follows. It's as if to say "but, I got something more important to do".
That's what I hear when I invite some to ministry or a church thing many times.
And the excuses are the same as they told our Lord to His face.
The first was a big one: "But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
Family comes first right? RIGHT? I'm hated when I say this is not right.
Truth is, God comes first. What's it like to go off into the army? Can you tell them while on a mission that you need to come home and bury your family member? I'm not in the military but I've never heard of it. I have heard of immigrants that lose their loved ones and cannot go home to bury them or else they may never come back!
You see the senses of God's calling now?
And the next excuse given to our Lord?
"but first let me say farewell to my family at home."
Family again. What's wrong with saying goodbye? Right? What's wrong with burying your own father? Right?
Our Lord is building a sense of urgency that we all lack.
His words are striking for a reason...truth...and humility.
When our Lord strikes...how do you respond?
You should see how hard it is to dedicate oneself to ministry. You should see how hard it is to run a family business you did not come up with and your own bare hands. You should see the problems you just wish you didn't have.
I'm baffled with demands, yet, our Lord calls. He dares to call me amidst all my problems and demands of life.
my child, will you follow Me? Wherever I go? No matter what? Right now?
Drop everything, all your cares, and loves, and do MY WILL at MY beckoning call. Lord, help me hear Your call and respond with my life. |  click to hear | Random bible verse generator: James 1:13–14 [James 1] 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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