.: 04/05/22

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

† ".You Will Look For. ."

†Saint Quote
"My Morning Offering
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, for the salvation of souls, the reparation of sins, the reunion of all Christians, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father this month. Amen.

†Quote of the Day
"I urge you to remain steadfast in faith, so that at last we will all reach heaven and there rejoice together."
–St. Andrew Kim Taegon

†Today's Meditation
"And let me make it quite clear that when Christians say the Christ-life is in them, they do not mean simply something mental or moral. When they speak of being 'in Christ' or of Christ being 'in them', this is not simply a way of saying that they are thinking about Christ or copying Him. They mean that Christ is actually operating through them; that the whole mass of Christians are the physical organism through which Christ acts—that we are His fingers and muscles, the cells of His body. And perhaps that explains one or two things. It explains why this new life is spread not only by purely mental acts like belief, but by bodily acts like baptism and Holy Communion. It is not merely the spreading of an idea; it is more like evolution—a biological or superbiological fact. There is no good trying to be more spiritual than God. God never meant man to be a purely spiritual creature. That is why He uses material things like bread and wine to put the new life into us. We may think this rather crude and unspiritual. God does not: He invented eating. He likes matter. He invented it."
—C.S. Lewis, p. 64

An Excerpt From
Mere Christianity

†Daily Verse
"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few."
–Ecclesiastes 5:1-2

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St. Vincent Ferrer

St. Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419) was born in Valentia, Spain, the son of a knight. From his parents he learned virtue and generosity to the poor. As a child he fasted every Wednesday and Friday and was tenderly devoted to the Passion of Christ and the Blessed Mother. He excelled in his studies and joined the Dominican Order with the support of his parents. He flourished in both austerity and scholarship, and became famous for performing more miracles than any other saint. His miracle-working powers began in the womb with the healing of a blind woman who touched his mother's pregnant belly. He began a preaching career across Europe that continued for twenty years. He was followed by a train of priests, nuns, penitents, and pilgrims that numbered in the thousands. When he arrived in a village his retinue would set up camp, and St. Vincent would preach to great crowds on the subjects of sin, death, heaven, and hell. He would also celebrate Mass and hear confessions daily. He slept on the floor and maintained a perpetual fast. Twice a day the "Bell of Miracles" was rung when all the sick and infirm were brought to him for cures; it was not unusual for him to perform one hundred miracles in a day. He also made scores of converts among the Muslims and Jews. St. Vincent believed that he was a special messenger of penance sent by God to prepare men for the final judgment; at that time the Black Death was ravaging across Europe killing millions, and the Great Schism was rending the Church in two. Through him multitudes were brought to penance and conversion. St. Vincent Ferrer's feast day is April 5th.
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Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Lectionary: 252
Reading I

Nm 21:4-9

From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road,
to bypass the land of Edom.
But with their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
"Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!"

In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,
which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said,
"We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.
Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us."
So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,
"Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live."
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

Responsorial Psalm

102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21

R. (2) O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
O LORD, hear my prayer,

and let my cry come to you.
Hide not your face from me

in the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to me;

in the day when I call, answer me speedily.
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,

and all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion

and appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,

and not despised their prayer.
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
Let this be written for the generation to come,

and let his future creatures praise the LORD:
"The LORD looked down from his holy height,

from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,

to release those doomed to die."
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.

Verse Before the Gospel
The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower;
all who come to him will live for ever.

Gospel

Jn 8:21-30

Jesus said to the Pharisees:
"I am going away and you will look for me,
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going you cannot come."
So the Jews said,
"He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?"
He said to them, "You belong to what is below,
I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I do not belong to this world.
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins."
So they said to him, "Who are you?"
Jesus said to them, "What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I heard from him I tell the world."
They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
So Jesus said to them,
"When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
because I always do what is pleasing to him."
Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.

Daily Meditation: John 8:21-30

When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM. (John 8:28)

What do you see when you raise your eyes to a crucifix?

When the Israelites looked at the bronze serpent, they saw the ugliness of their own sin. They saw reflected back to them the corrosive effect of their complaining and distrust. Their griping had bitten them, and it was deadly.

When you behold Jesus on the cross, you might see your cowardice, your indifference, or your cruelty. You might feel saddened to see this innocent man wounded and disfigured by your sins.

But don't stop there. Continue to gaze at the crucifix, and you'll find more than the effects of your sin. Just as the Israelites realized when they lifted their eyes to the bronze serpent, you'll see that punishment is not God's final word. You'll see the forgiveness and healing that he is offering his wayward people. What you see on this cross is God's solution to our rebellion. God refuses to give up on us. That cross is God's way of dealing decisively with our sinfulness.

Look closer, and you can see in the eyes of Jesus not only sadness but overwhelming love. You can see his arms outstretched in mercy toward you and uplifted in obedience toward his Father. You realize there is no limit to his compassion and forgiveness.

If you linger long enough, you'll see something beyond punishment, suffering, and sin. Something even beyond forgiveness. As Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM" (John 8:28). You'll see that death is not his ultimate end. He will rise, and not only that, but he will raise you up with him. He will bring you into full union with the God who has loved you from before the dawn of creation.

Find a few moments this week to sit, stand, or kneel before a crucifix, whether it's in a church or in your own prayer corner at home. Don't worry about what to say. Just still your heart before Jesus and be there with him. Let him share with you his heartbreak and his overwhelming love.

"Jesus, crucified Lord, help me to grasp more deeply everything that you revealed on your cross."

Numbers 21:4-9
Psalm 10:2-3, 16-2

From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live."

Have you ever wondered what could've been mounted on a pole during this pandemic, to have people look up to it and be saved?
For Moses, it was the very killer that was after them. What is the killer in the pandemic? It was a lab experiment? What is that? Science? We are killing ourselves then? By our own doing we are unraveling? Right? It is proof then, that the higher your Babylon tower is built, the more doom is to come, and what does this mean? It means we are trying to be like God, and thus trying to eliminate Him.

Sounds bad right? And can we point the finger to all the evil people doing this? How do evil people involved in the occult try to control everything? Wait right there. That is the whole deal. You trying to be in control. So you don't have to have faith or depend on God. This is how the lost world operates. Every man out for themself.

We pray in Psalms:
"O LORD, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you. Hide not your face from me
in the day of my distress. Incline your ear to me; in the day when I call, answer me speedily."

In today's Gospel we heard:
"He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?"

How will you follow the Lord (and into Heaven's highest realms) if you do not desire to follow his will?
I say this because where He is, there is pure light, and no darkness belongs in the pure light.
And I speak for I have seen, and the light is terrible. Terrible you ask?

It is terrible for darkness. For a sinner even, who has darkness. Terrible as in fear.

I'm speaking of one with first hand experience. Scared, undeserved. It is true, we put ourselves in hell or purgatory...and He has the righteous judgement to bring souls to Heaven. And all Angels and saints bow down to Him.
Who am I to Him? Nothing?

How about this answer: Everything.
You are everything to Him. No lie. This is truth. And a hardened and sad soul can't hardly believe this, right?
So wait a moment.
If I am everything to Him, if you are everything to Him, what is He to you or me?
That's when the cross comes in. An intersection of heaven and earth.
An intimate moment of being one. Love with love. One realm with another.
And it is everything, no matter how small you think you are.

The greatest of saints dealt with the smallest of people.
And how? They become one with them.
God has now become one with us my beloved.
This is terribly amazing.