†Saint Quote
"Whenever I go to the chapel, I put myself in the presence of our good Lord, and I say to Him, 'Lord, here I am. Tell me what You would have me do.' If He gives me some task, I am content and I thank Him. If He gives me nothing, I still thank Him since I do not deserve to receive anything more than that. And then, I tell God everything that is in my heart. I tell Him about my pains and my joys, and then I listen. If you listen, God will also speak to you, for with the good Lord, you have to both speak and listen. God always speaks to you when you approach Him plainly and simply."
–St. Catherine Laboure †Today's Meditation
"When you are at Mass, don't just go through the motions. Ask God to help you find Him in the Eucharist. When you hear or read Scripture, prayerfully ask God what He is saying to you through the words. When you pray, don't just say words at God. Bring your whole self to it, rededicate your life and your relationships to Him, and ask for the grace to be His disciple in all you do. And, of course, take a little time each day to learn more about what it means to love and be loved by Him…The more your faith becomes intrinsic, the more you will be able to put aside your anxiety, sit at the feet of the Lord, and let your heart be still, knowing that He is God.
—Dr. Gregory Popcak, p. 67-68 An Excerpt From
Unworried †Daily Verse
"For you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"
–Galatians 5:13-14 |  click to read more | | †St. Catherine Laboure
St. Catherine Labouré (1806 – 1876) was born in Burgundy, France, the ninth of seventeen children of a pious and prosperous farming family. Her mother died when she was nine years old. After her mother's funeral, Catherine kissed a statue of the Virgin Mary in her home, saying, "Now you will be my mother." Catherine was devout and simple, and did not learn to read or write. She cared for her family for many years and, drawn to the religious life, entered the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in Paris at the age of twenty-two. In the year 1830, on the eve of the feast of St. Vincent de Paul, Catherine experienced her first apparition of the Blessed Mother. Mary entrusted to Catherine the mission of spreading devotion to her Miraculous Medal, the design of which she revealed to the saint in a vision. The Blessed Virgin appeared to Catherine two more times, and eventually the Miraculous Medal was mass-produced, widely promoted, and approved by the Church as a sacramental for public devotion. Catherine preferred anonymity and remained unknown as the visionary to whom Our Lady appeared, even to the sisters of her own convent. She continued to live a quiet life in service to the sick. After her death many miracles were ascribed to her relics. St. Catherine Labouré is one of the Church's incorruptible saints: her body is reposed in a glass casket in the chapel where she received the vision of Our Lady. Her feast day is November 28th. | Monday of the First Week of Advent Reading 1 Is 4:2-6 On that day,
The branch of the LORD will be luster and glory,
and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor
for the survivors of Israel.
He who remains in Zion
and he who is left in Jerusalem
Will be called holy:
every one marked down for life in Jerusalem.
When the LORD washes away
the filth of the daughters of Zion,
And purges Jerusalem's blood from her midst
with a blast of searing judgment,
Then will the LORD create,
over the whole site of Mount Zion
and over her place of assembly,
A smoking cloud by day
and a light of flaming fire by night.
For over all, the LORD's glory will be shelter and protection:
shade from the parching heat of day,
refuge and cover from storm and rain. Responsorial Psalm Ps 122:1-2, 3-4b, 4cd-5, 6-7, 8-9 R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
"We will go up to the house of the LORD."
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
May those who love you prosper!
May peace be within your walls,
prosperity in your buildings.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Because of my relatives and friends
I will say, "Peace be within you!"
Because of the house of the LORD, our God,
I will pray for your good.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord. Alleluia See Ps 80:4 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come and save us, LORD our God;
let your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 8:5-11 When Jesus entered Capernaum,
a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,
"Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully."
He said to him, "I will come and cure him."
The centurion said in reply,
"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes;
and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes;
and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,
"Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,
and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven." | Daily Meditation: Matthew 8:5-11 In no one in Israel have I found such faith. (Matthew 8:10) The Roman centurion in today's Gospel reading was a practical man. He had heard about Jesus' miracles and healings, so he knew where to go when his servant was ill. He even trusted that Jesus didn't have to be physically present in order to heal his servant. And so Jesus not only healed from a distance, but praised the centurion for his faith (Matthew 8:10). Why was this Gentile man able to see so clearly the power and authority of Jesus when many of Israel's religious leaders did not? Perhaps it was because he came to Jesus with no misconceptions or assumptions. He saw and he believed. He didn't think, "But this man is breaking the Sabbath" or "But he eats with tax collectors and prostitutes." He didn't have expectations that biased him against the reality of what he had seen and heard. We believe in Jesus' power and authority to heal, but sometimes our own misconceptions can act as obstacles as well. For example, we might think that miraculous healings don't happen today or that only the prayers of saints can heal people. Or we might think that God won't answer us when we pray for healing. Maybe we don't ask for healing because we have become so resigned to the situation that we think nothing will ever change. If any of this describes you, try to follow the example of this Roman centurion. Tell yourself, "I believe that Jesus heals, and so I will ask for this healing," or "Through my baptism, Jesus has given me a share in his authority to heal, so I can pray with this person who is suffering." Then, after you pray, you can surrender the outcome to the Lord. You have acted in faith, and that's all Jesus is asking of you. God wants to heal and wants to use us as instruments to heal other people. It's that simple. So let's clear away any misconceptions or assumptions that tempt us to question that reality. Keep believing and keep praying, and the Lord will praise your faith, just as he did for this Roman centurion. "Jesus, I believe that you can heal. Help me to be ready and willing to pray for healing whenever I see a need." | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"For over all, the LORD's glory will be shelter and protection: shade from the parching heat of day,
refuge and cover from storm and rain." Many times I choose a song for Mass called "Shepherd Me O God", and it says: "Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants, beyond my fears, from death into life. 1. God is my shepherd, so nothing I shall want..."
And to be shepherded my friend, is to be sheltered.
So often school bullies pick on the innocent kids and call them "sheltered" for not "knowing" the nasty stuff the cool kids know. And it comes from the adults, not from the kids, to look down on the pure and the innocent, and even...the gullible. And so, this is how Christians are looked down on with disdain, for not "knowing" evil as they do.
And so, is it so bad then...to be sheltered? It would be better never to sin than to lose one second of Heaven. | We pray today;
"I rejoiced because they said to me, "We will go up to the house of the LORD." And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem." | In the Gospel today we heard our Master and Teacher:
""Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed." We say these words every single time before we receive our Lord under the roof..of our mouth..in our temple of the body.
But let's take into consideration how powerful the centurion's words really are.
For all other healings, Jesus would up and walk to the sick and the dying to cure them, to heal them, and the centurion said "no, no, no! No need for all that trouble. Just say it. Just say it and it will happen!". He believes in the word of God. How did the centurion know all this? And how did he know more than the apostles?
He probably had heard stories and seen enough to just know.
And you? Have you heard stories and have enough to know that Jesus is Lord of all?
Do you commune?
And if you do, do you say these words without thinking? Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, but only say the word, and I shall be healed.
I am not worthy. But only say the Word and I will be made worthy. I think of reconciliation.
Come under my roof. That is, to enter my body, in this common union.
Think of this, if God truly deemed you unworthy, do you think he would enter your body, your temple like that?
No. He makes us worthy...for more.
And so, to be made worthy for more, you must go be made worthy.
I sometimes shed a tear looking at the sky telling God that eternity is not fair. I am not worthy of eternal life, but what an extreme promise for a wretched man like myself. It is too much. Eternal life means just that...an eternal being and common union with God.
And it starts here and now. With a Word becoming flesh.
The centurion believed in the Word.
Do you? | ........................................
Lord, I do believe! Help my disbelief!!
............................................... adrian |  click to hear | Random Bible Verse 1
Philippians 4:4 [Philippians 4] 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
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Random Bible Verse 1
Proverbs 27:5–6 [Proverbs 27] 5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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