.: 05/13/22

Friday, May 13, 2022

† "How Can we Know the Way . . ."

†Saint Quote
"Quote of the Day
"For there are three ways of performing an act of mercy: the merciful word, by forgiving and by comforting; secondly, if you can offer no word, then pray—that too is mercy; and thirdly, deeds of mercy."
–St. Faustina Kowalska

†Today's Meditation
"No one denies that Jesus Christ is our only mediator of justice, and that he by his merits has obtained our reconciliation with God. But, on the other hand, it is impious to assert that God is not pleased to grant graces at the intercession of his saints, and more especially of Mary his mother, whom Jesus desires so much to see loved and honored by all. Who can pretend that the honor bestowed on a mother doesn't redound to the honor of the son? For this reason St. Bernard says, 'We must not imagine that we obscure the glory of the Son by the great praise we lavish on the mother; for the more she is honored, the greater is the glory of her Son.'"
—St. Alphonsus Liguori, p. 3

An Excerpt From
A Year with Mary

†Daily Verse
"A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks."
–Luke 6:45

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St. Juliana of Norwich

St. Julian/Juliana of Norwich (1342–1416) is a Benedictine nun who lived as a recluse in Norwich, England. Little is known of her life with certainty. At the age of 30 she was suddenly struck by a severe illness which almost took her life. During this illness she received a series of visions of Jesus Christ in sixteen separate revelations. When she recovered from her illness the visions stopped. Fifteen years later, Our Lord appeared to her to give her the meaning of her visions. St. Julian wrote her visions down in a book called Revelations of Divine Love, the earliest surviving book in the English language known to have been written by a woman. After these revelations she began to live a solitary life as an anchoress in a little cell built into the wall at the church of St. Julian in Norwich, not far from London. During her life the Church was in schism, and England was caught in a long war with France. The book contains a message of optimism based on the certainty of being loved by God and of being protected by his Providence. She received visitors to her cell and gave them guidance on the spiritual life, becoming a spiritual mother to many. St. Julian is an important medieval mystic whose response to the problem of evil is cited in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Her feast day is May 13th.

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Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Lectionary: 283
Reading I

Acts 13:26-33

When Paul came to Antioch in Pisidia, he said in the synagogue:

"My brothers, children of the family of Abraham,
and those others among you who are God-fearing,
to us this word of salvation has been sent.
The inhabitants of Jerusalem and their leaders failed to recognize him,
and by condemning him they fulfilled the oracles of the prophets
that are read sabbath after sabbath.
For even though they found no grounds for a death sentence,
they asked Pilate to have him put to death,
and when they had accomplished all that was written about him,
they took him down from the tree and placed him in a tomb.
But God raised him from the dead,
and for many days he appeared to those
who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem.
These are now his witnesses before the people.
We ourselves are proclaiming this good news to you
that what God promised our fathers
he has brought to fulfillment for us, their children, by raising up Jesus,
as it is written in the second psalm,

You are my Son; this day I have begotten you."

Responsorial Psalm

2:6-7, 8-9, 10-11ab

R. (7bc) You are my Son; this day I have begotten you.
or:
R. Alleluia.
"I myself have set up my king

on Zion, my holy mountain."
I will proclaim the decree of the LORD:

The LORD said to me, "You are my Son;

this day I have begotten you."
R. You are my Son; this day I have begotten you.
or:
R. Alleluia.
"Ask of me and I will give you

the nations for an inheritance

and the ends of the earth for your possession.
You shall rule them with an iron rod;

you shall shatter them like an earthen dish."
R. You are my Son; this day I have begotten you.
or:
R. Alleluia.
And now, O kings, give heed;

take warning, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice before him;

with trembling rejoice.
R. You are my Son; this day I have begotten you.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Alleluia

Jn 14:6

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father except through me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Jn 14:1-6

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
In my Father's house there are many dwelling places.
If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back again and take you to myself,
so that where I am you also may be.
Where I am going you know the way."
Thomas said to him,
"Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?"
Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me."

Daily Meditation: John 14:1-6

Do not let your hearts be troubled. (John 14:1)

It hangs from the daughter's kitchen wall: a counted cross-stitch in a heart-shaped frame that proclaims Jesus' words, "Let not your heart be troubled." It was crafted by her mother during her battle with cancer. The daughter knew that those words stitched on the fabric had been written on her mother's heart. Was the mother anxious? Troubled? Doubtful? Yes. But spending the days and weeks crafting that project had helped affirm her faith in Jesus. She knew that he remained unchanged no matter what was happening to her. So do not let your heart be troubled. Do not allow the concerns, the anxieties, the doubts to overwhelm you.

It now serves as a reminder for the daughter. Although her mother lost her battle with cancer decades ago, seeing the evidence of faith worked out with needle and thread gives the daughter hope. Hope to hang onto in the face of each day's troubles. Hope and trust that Jesus really is going to prepare a place for us. So do not let your heart be troubled. Hold onto hope as an anchor for your soul.

Jesus' words are for each one of us. He wants us to place our trust in his faithfulness, to believe in his promise of a heavenly home. We've seen that faithfulness in gifts of grace in times of plenty. But that trust is often hard-won through times of challenge or suffering. Each one of us has our own road to follow, and Jesus' words can lift our hearts as we contemplate the heavenly home that awaits us. Do not let your heart be troubled. There are many dwelling places in my Father's house.

You are making your own journey toward that place Jesus has prepared for you—every day, with every choice to love him and follow him. Each time you reaffirm your trust in the Lord, each time you turn to him in your joys or sorrows, his words can bring you hope. They can fan into flame your expectation. So do not let your heart be troubled. Jesus stands ready to lead you to the Father.

"Jesus, thank you that you have prepared a place for me. Lord, help me to renew my trust in you today!"

Acts 13:26-33
Psalm 2:6-11

From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
""My brothers, children of the family of Abraham,
and those others among you who are God-fearing,
to us this word of salvation has been sent."

What is God? Better not know.
Who is God? Better get to know.
Why is God? Better live and let Him Be.
In these answers we will live peacefully...in faith, and in unity. Trusting is security. Any other way is darkness and wars caused with doubts which are fed by sin.

We pray in Psalms:
'And now, O kings, give heed; take warning, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice before him; with trembling rejoice. You are my Son; this day I have begotten you"

If God cares about our hairs, or birds in the airs, how much more does He care about His heir...you who He created so fair, which means beauty? Evil makes you feel worthless but God makes you worth all His blood, body, soul, and Divinity...this is unfathomable love. And mercy is just as crazy.

In today's Gospel we heard:
""Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
In my Father's house there are many dwelling places."

My dad passed away, and boy did he want unity and faith and if he had it his way we would've all lived under one big home...

And our priest, gave a phenomenal Holy Spirit talk at his funeral speaking about the same, how my dad so much wanted unity and faith in our family.

And here I am assuming his position in our family business, and I'm swamped and consumed with daily tasks and worries.

And I feel so often like it'd be so much easier to just give up.
Like it is easy to give up on God.

Give up on family unity, all I get is grief and cursing.

Give up on work, everything seems to always want to fall apart, with broke equipment, hurt guys and lawsuits.

Just writing about it all hurts.

It hurts because I really am not trying to help work for me, but for those trying to hurt me...

And so, it is with faith.
It is sacrifice. My friendship friend, Jesse Alaniz, died few years ago. And he'd never let me forget once when he felt like giving up on the ministry of cursillo, when I said "but Jesse...we are not allowed to give up!". Boy that fired him up till he passed in a car rollover accident.

Life is fleeting and it can be deceiving.

The worries are like choking weeds around us.

Do not let your faith be choked, rather, let us weed ourselves out of sin, and let beauty and fruit come forth for God to come and dwell among us...in our heart...and then we can make His Kingdom Come...in this great humility of faith....