†Saint Quote
""No one, however weak, is denied a share in the victory of the cross. No one is beyond the help of the prayer of Christ."
–St. Leo the Great †Today's Meditation
"The Blessed Virgin endured a long and cruel martyrdom in her heart for our sakes, and for love of us. Frequently, and with feelings of tender love, contemplate her standing at the foot of the Cross, and join her in bewailing and weeping over sin, which, by causing the death of Jesus, rent in twain the heart of Mary. Pledge your heart to this Mother of sorrows, by some habitual act of devotion and mortification, in remembrance and in honor of her bitter sufferings. Also, endure something for love of her, imitating her patience, resignation, and silence."
—Fr. Ignatius of the Side of Jesus, p. 259 An Excerpt From
The School of Jesus Crucified †Daily Verse
"When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was stupid and ignorant, I was like a beast toward thee. Nevertheless I am continually with thee; thou dost hold my right hand. Thou dost guide me with thy counsel, and afterward thou wilt receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever."
–Psalm 73:21-26 |  click to read more | | St. Louise De Marillac St. Louise De Marillac (1591-1660) was born in Paris, France to a noble family and received her education at a Dominican convent. Her mother died shortly after her birth, and her father when she was sixteen years of age. It was then necessary for her to decide her vocation, and being dissuaded from entering religious life by her spiritual director, as was her desire, she married and bore a son. Later she worried that she had rejected a divine call to the religious life, and vowed that should her husband die, she would not remarry. Two years later her husband died after a long illness. During this time she met a holy priest, St. Vincent de Paul, and placed herself under his spiritual direction. Through his influence she worked among the poor and disadvantaged in Paris, and co-founded the Sisters of Charity with him in 1642. After writing their rule of life she traveled around France establishing her new religious order to work in hospitals, orphanages, and other institutions that aided the poor. She was especially gifted at spiritual guidance and served as the superior of the Sisters of Charity in Paris until her death. St. Louise De Marillac is the patron saint of social workers, the sick, widows, and against the loss of parents. Her feast day is March 15th.
Find a Devotional for This Saint | Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent Lectionary: 231
Reading I Is 1:10, 16-20 Hear the word of the LORD, princes of Sodom!
Listen to the instruction of our God, people of Gomorrah! Wash yourselves clean!
Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good.
Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan's plea, defend the widow. Come now, let us set things right, says the LORD:
Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow;
Though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool.
If you are willing, and obey, you shall eat the good things of the land;
But if you refuse and resist, the sword shall consume you: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken! Responsorial Psalm 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23 R. (23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
"Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you, for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock, no goats out of your fold."
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
"Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline and cast my words behind you?"
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
"When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it? Or do you think that I am like yourself? I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me; and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God."
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God. Verse Before the Gospel Ez 18:31 Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the LORD,
and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Gospel Mt 23:1-12 Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying,
"The scribes and the Pharisees
have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example.
For they preach but they do not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people's shoulders,
but they will not lift a finger to move them.
All their works are performed to be seen.
They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi.'
As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.'
You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called 'Master';
you have but one master, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted." | Daily Meditation: Matthew 23:1-12 You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. (Matthew 23:8) Observe a gifted teacher in his classroom, and what will you see? Someone who carefully prepares the material he wants his students to master yet who is also ready to achieve those learning objectives differently with each unique class. Such a teacher actively engages his students in doing their own learning by asking questions or providing practical examples to help them retain the lesson better. He might even choose students as "classroom helpers" to assist their fellow students and further their own learning. Spiritually, we all need to keep learning. Thank God we have a skilled teacher in Jesus! And thank God that he teaches with the "objective" of bringing us to eternal life with him. The Gospels show us that Jesus was an endlessly creative teacher. He told stories, responded to questions, and related with each individual personally. In the verses just before today's passage, we find him answering an honest question ("Which commandment . . . is the greatest?" Matthew 22:36) and asking a thought-provoking one ("Whose son is he?" 22:42). And in chapter 17, he teaches Peter about the privileges of being a child of God by sending him to catch a fish to pay the Temple tax (17:27). So how does Jesus teach us today? Through the Holy Spirit, he uses a number of methods. Clearly, he speaks to us through the Scriptures. But he also uses "helpers" in the classroom of our lives. He might teach us through the witness of another Christian, in our relationships with family and friends, or through the events we experience every day. As we stay attuned to the Holy Spirit, we will be able to learn something from the people we encounter and discover new lessons in every circumstance of our lives. Jesus, the master teacher, is speaking to you today. Through the Holy Spirit, he is finding creative ways to help you absorb his lessons and stay alert and receptive to his teaching. So try to remain open to him. He always has something new for you to learn! "Holy Spirit, help me to learn from Jesus every day." Isaiah 1:10, 16-20
Psalm 50:8-9, 16-17, 21, 23 | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good." Go wash yourself. Go cleanse yourself in the dirty river. Remember this story about Naaman? Remember the prophet Elisha asking him to go bathe in the dirty Jordan? Is there a significance to this dirty water? Can anything good come Nazareth? We heard in John 1:46: "But Nathanael said to Philip, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Philip answered, "Come and see."
Naaman relented and obeyed, and in doing so was healed. Come and see. The blind man called out all the more to our Lord "Have pity on me!" and our Lord let him see. Come and see. What would my life be like if I became a saint? What would the world turn into? St. Max Kolbe was martyred with who knows how many more in the Nazi concentration camps, all for what? Being Catholic. He sang all the way to death, leading others to great faith and salvation. This kind of Shepherd smells like sheep. Come and see. Cease to do evil. See what will happen. Learn to do good. See what fruit comes. And to see the results from Heaven are spectacular. When a sinner turns from their way, the Heavens rejoice, for true Glory has been given to God our Father. | We pray in Psalms:
""When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it? Or do you think that I am like yourself? I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes. He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me; and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God." To the upright I will show the saving power of God" What does it feel like when the truth thrown in your face? I remember when a loved one grabbed my love handle, the fat around my belly and said something calling out my increasing weight many years ago. Oooh, that gave me an irk, the weirdest feeling. But it wasn't a ridicule, it wasn't to pick on me, it was so weird, just straight up baby talk, like kids telling the truth. And it made me lose the handles instead of flying off the handle all mad and having my pride get hurt. Can we learn from this? Yes. Humility is the way. Jesus is the Way. What will I do next time the truth hurts? Offer it up. Humbled down. Obey. God is calling all of us with pandemics and wars. We have not been on the right path as a whole. I need to repent, and you need to repent. Turn from evil. Just like I told the prisoners, we all make a difference because we are bound together with Christ and in Christ. You make a difference, bigger than you can imagine, for the sake of His sorrowful passion. One person's prayer can save a soul. Can you imagine how powerful this is? | Our Lord speaks:
"As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.'
You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven." So...if we take these words literally, we can't call any teacher "teacher" or "father" father or daddy? Protestants say Catholics are wrong for calling priests fathers or teachers. So was our Lord telling the Jews to change everything? No more Rabbis allowed? No. Otherwise, Mary Magdalene at the resurrection would've made the biggest mistake when she calls our Lord Rabouni! John 20:1-18 "Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means "Teacher").
And the word rabbi means teacher.
So what does our Lord mean?
He means the focus, the center-point, the very original from where all things come.
So much attention was turning to Rabbis that they were detracting from the message, the true message from God our Father.
The same thing with father. They were calling so many father that they were losing focus on the true Father.
What does this mean?
It's not about me. It's not about you.
Remember the focus. Focus!
The death of my dad has opened my eyes to the extreme reality of "we are not of this world" and "death will come when we least expect it, like a thief in the night". "15 ("Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!") Revelation 16:15 "For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord is coming just like a thief in the night." 1Thessalonians 5:2 Can we see how this fits into the season of lent to repent?
I can easily lose my focus by paying attention to family, to work, or to evil, darkness all over the world. It's easy!
Our Lord is asking us to turn from all that, and lose ourselves in Him and for Him.
Perhaps, God will relent and see to it that we become a people restored, for faith has yet to be truly shown as a whole. It's on you, and it's on me. Love shine the way. | from your brother in Christ,
Adrian 1 Peter 2:11 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. |  click to hear | Random bible verse generator: | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
