.: 04/11/22

Monday, April 11, 2022

† ".Let Her Keep This.. . "

†Saint Quote
"Our Lord has created persons for all states in life, and in all of them we see people who achieved sanctity by fulfilling their obligations well."
–St. Anthony Mary Claret

†Today's Meditation
"But you, 'a chosen generation', weak things of the world, who have forsaken all things, so that you may follow the Lord, go after him, and confound the strong; go after him, you beautiful feet, and shine in the firmament so that the heavens may declare his glory . . . Shine over the whole earth, and let the day, brightened by the sun, utter unto day speech of wisdom, and let the night, shining with the moon, declare to the night the word of knowledge . . . Run into every place, O you holy fires, you beautiful fires! You are the light of the world, and you are not put under a measure. He to whom you have held fast has been exalted, and he has exalted you. Run forth, and make it known to all nations."
—Saint Augustine, p.318-319

An Excerpt From
The Confessions of Saint Augustine

†Daily Verse
"Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. Do not give heed to all the things that men say, lest you hear your servant cursing you; your heart knows that many times you have yourself cursed others."
–Ecclesiastes 7:20-22

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St. Gemma Galgani

St. Gemma Galgani (1878-1903) was born in Italy, the fifth of eight children born to a prosperous pharmacist. When she was young, Gemma's mother and three of her siblings died of tuberculous. When she was 18 her father died as well, leaving Gemma to help care for her younger siblings. She rejected two marriage proposals and became a housekeeper while trying to enter the religious life as a Passionist. She was rejected due to her poor heath, and later became a Tertiary member of the order. Gemma developed spinal meningitis but was miraculously healed, which she attributed to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the intercession of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Throughout her life she united herself with the Passion of Christ and experienced great suffering as a result, but not without receiving many remarkable graces as well. She experienced many mystical visions and was often visited by her guardian angel, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary. For this she was known as a great mystic, and, according to her spiritual director, developed the stigmata at age 21. After a selfless life of love given to God for the conversion of sinners, she died on the Vigil of Easter at the age of 25. She is the patron saint of pharmacists, loss of parents, back illnesses, temptations, and those seeking purity of heart. Her feast day is April 11th.

Monday of Holy Week

Lectionary: 257
Reading I

Is 42:1-7

Here is my servant whom I uphold,

my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
Upon whom I have put my Spirit;

he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
Not crying out, not shouting,

not making his voice heard in the street.
A bruised reed he shall not break,

and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
Until he establishes justice on the earth;

the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the LORD,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spreads out the earth with its crops,
Who gives breath to its people

and spirit to those who walk on it:
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,

I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you

as a covenant of the people,

a light for the nations,
To open the eyes of the blind,

to bring out prisoners from confinement,

and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

Responsorial Psalm

27:1, 2, 3, 13-14

R. (1a) The Lord is my light and my salvation.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;

whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life's refuge;

of whom should I be afraid?
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
When evildoers come at me

to devour my flesh,
My foes and my enemies

themselves stumble and fall.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Though an army encamp against me,

my heart will not fear;
Though war be waged upon me,

even then will I trust.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD

in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;

be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Verse before the Gospel

Hail to you, our King;
you alone are compassionate with our faults.

Gospel

Jn 12:1-11

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served,
while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him.
Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil
made from genuine aromatic nard
and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;
the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples,
and the one who would betray him, said,
"Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days' wages
and given to the poor?"
He said this not because he cared about the poor
but because he was a thief and held the money bag
and used to steal the contributions.
So Jesus said, "Leave her alone.
Let her keep this for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."

The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came,
not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus,
whom he had raised from the dead.
And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too,
because many of the Jews were turning away
and believing in Jesus because of him.

Daily Meditation: John 12:1-11

The house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. (John 12:3)

Everyone was shocked that Mary would anoint Jesus' feet with such costly oil. Everyone, that is, but Jesus. He saw it for what it was: a generous, prophetic gesture that was meant to give him glory.

Don't we all wish we could respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as generously as Mary did? But what if the Holy Spirit is calling us to offer something else to Jesus—like our time? Let's consider the story of Sandra.

Sandra was a dedicated, active Catholic mom. Her to-do list was endless, and she used every spare moment to cross off another item on that list.

Last Lent, Sandra attended a parish mission focusing on the theme "Pour Yourself Out on Jesus." On the second night of the mission, Sandra realized that pouring herself out like this meant making Jesus the top priority in her life. In a flash of inspiration, she saw that she rarely included Jesus on her to-do list. So she decided to start every day by spending twenty minutes with him in prayer.

Every morning during Lent, Sandra read the Gospel stories about Jesus' passion, death, and resurrection. And the results were amazing. She began to see how much Jesus loved her. She saw his mercy in a whole new light. And what she saw made her love him more and more.

Sandra's prayer also began to change the way she approached her to-do list. Rather than immediately diving in and checking off item after item, she ended her prayer time by saying, "Lord, you know that I have a lot to get done today, but I don't want my to-do list to keep me from honoring you."

Sandra found it hard at first. But each time she put aside her plans so that she could help someone out, she felt a deep sense of accomplishment. She also discovered that she was usually able to take care of the most important items on her list.

Like the woman in today's Gospel reading, Sandra learned that loving and serving Jesus was the most important thing she could ever do. Let's imitate these two women by pouring ourselves out for the Lord.

"Jesus, thank you for giving your life for me. Help me to give my life back to you."

Isaiah 42:1-7
Psalm 27:1-3, 13-14

From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, Upon whom I have put my Spirit"

And so it happened, that the Holy Spirit descends upon our Lord upon Baptism and now upon us all because in turn, Jesus our Lord gave us the Holy Spirit after ascending into Heaven.

We pray in Psalms:
"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The LORD is my life's refuge; of whom should I be afraid?"

In today's Gospel we heard:
"Jesus said, "Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."

Judas had asked our Lord why he allowed wasted oil on him...oil poured all over him and on the floor...he could just see the money sinking into the cracks of the floor.

And so I ask you. Is it better to give flowers to someone while they are alive or when they are dead? Is it better to waste now, or later? Who will enjoy them later?

And so the question too is for those that complain that the church is too rich, wasting gold and useless people and things...like the Chalice on the altar that holds the very Blood and Divinity of our Lord Jesus.
Woops. Wait a minute. Are we failing to see the true value? You see, Mary valued God with all her life and wanted to spend and show Him what He is worth...everything.
And yet, that is how God loves us, giving us His all in His Divine Son from Heaven. In turn, Jesus pours Himself out to Mary with His blood, and water, everything that is gashed out from Him on the cross. And Judas saw this...and it killed him.
In Mass, I see the sacrifice of God on the Altar. I can also see how sleepy and distracted most of us are, failing to see what is right before us...God Himself.

Lord, Have Mercy, awaken us in our souls a fervent desire to see you with our hearts and souls, to pour ourselves out entirely to You. Help us make this a Holy world, Thy Kingdom on earth.

from your brother in Christ,
Adrian