†Saint Quote
"It is the duty of every man to uphold the dignity of every woman."
–St. Therese of Lisieux - The Little Flower †Today's Meditation
"Above all, it is necessary to ask of God every morning the gift of perseverance, and to beg of the Blessed Virgin to obtain it for you, and particularly in the time of temptation, by invoking the name of Jesus and Mary as long as the temptation lasts. Happy the man who will continue to act in this manner, and shall be found so doing when Jesus Christ shall come to judge him. 'Blessed is that servant, whom, when his Lord shall come, he shall find so doing' (Matt. 24:46)."
—St. Alphonsus De Liguori, p. 167 An Excerpt From
The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori †Daily Verse
"Thus says the Lord: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practice steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord."
–Jeremiah 9:23-24 |  click to read more | | St. Raymond Nonnatus St. Raymond Nonnatus (1200-1240) was born in Catalonia, Spain, to a noble family. His life was saved by caesarean section after his mother died in childbirth, earning him the name 'Nonnatus' meaning 'one not born'. Raymond was a pious child drawn to the religious life, but his father had plans for him to serve in the royal court of the King of Aragon. To distract Raymond from his vocation, his father sent him to tend the family fields. This had the opposite effect and gave Raymond greater opportunity to pray in the country chapel. His father eventually allowed him to join the Mercedarians, a religious order which ransomed Christian slaves from their Muslim captors. Raymond became Master General of the order and personally freed hundreds of prisoners. When he ran out of money, he ransomed his own life to release Christians held in captivity. St. Raymond was tortured throughout his imprisonment, yet he converted numerous people to the Christian faith. To prevent him from preaching Christ, his captors pierced his lips with a red-hot iron and closed them with a padlock. He was eventually ransomed by his order and returned to Spain, and died a year later. After his death there was a dispute over who had the right to bury his body. To settle the matter, his body was placed on a blind mule and set loose. The mule went to the country chapel where Raymond had prayed in his youth, and it was there that he was buried. Many miracles were attributed to St. Raymond Nonnatus both before and after his death. He is the patron of children, childbirth, pregnant women, infants, and midwives. His feast day is August 31st. | Wednesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 433
Reading 1 1 COR 3:1-9 Brothers and sisters,
I could not talk to you as spiritual people,
but as fleshly people, as infants in Christ.
I fed you milk, not solid food,
because you were unable to take it.
Indeed, you are still not able, even now,
for you are still of the flesh.
While there is jealousy and rivalry among you,
are you not of the flesh, and walking
according to the manner of man?
Whenever someone says, "I belong to Paul," and another,
"I belong to Apollos," are you not merely men? What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul?
Ministers through whom you became believers,
just as the Lord assigned each one.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.
Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,
but only God, who causes the growth.
He who plants and he who waters are one,
and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor.
For we are God's co-workers;
you are God's field, God's building. Responsorial Psalm PS 33:12-13, 14-15, 20-21 R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
From his fixed throne he beholds
all who dwell on the earth,
He who fashioned the heart of each,
he who knows all their works.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield,
For in him our hearts rejoice;
in his holy name we trust.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own. Alleluia LK 4:18 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor
and to proclaim liberty to captives.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel LK 4:38-44 After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon.
Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever,
and they interceded with him about her.
He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.
She got up immediately and waited on them. At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases
brought them to him.
He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.
And demons also came out from many, shouting, "You are the Son of God."
But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak
because they knew that he was the Christ. At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place.
The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him,
they tried to prevent him from leaving them.
But he said to them, "To the other towns also
I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God,
because for this purpose I have been sent."
And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea. | Daily Meditation: Luke 4:38-44 To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news. (Luke 4:43) If you want one word that characterizes the Christian life, you'd find it hard to do better than "go." Abraham left his homeland to go where God called him (Genesis 12:1). The Israelites left Egypt to go to the Promised Land. Jesus left his heavenly throne to go to his people. And in today's Gospel, he goes from town to town, preaching the good news of his kingdom. It would have been much easier for him to stay put and let people come to him. But he didn't. He was constantly on the move, trying to reach as many people as he could. This pattern continued when Jesus sent his apostles to "Go . . . and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). And go they did! They traveled far and wide, at great personal sacrifice, to tell people about a God who would leave his throne, be crucified, and rise again. This "going" continues even now. Believers serve in soup kitchens and homeless shelters. They provide outreach to prisoners. They offer Bible studies and small groups where they can share their faith and invite other people to encounter the Lord. Some even move across countries and continents to reach people with the gospel. Jesus asks every Christian to go, to leave what's comfortable and familiar and share the hope that we've found. Some of us can participate in parish ministries and mission efforts, and some can't. But everyone can still answer the call to go. We go when we intercede for suffering people miles away and donate to organizations that serve them. We go when we call or visit a sick friend and encourage or pray with them. We go when we offer to drive someone to church or to the grocery store. We go whenever we share our faith with someone else. Going and making disciples often requires sacrifice, but the reward is so great. We get to be coworkers with Jesus (1 Corinthians 3:9). Today, think about how God has gone out of his way to find you and has sent people to care for you. Ask the Spirit to help you find creative ways to go and reach people with his love. "Jesus, I will go for you. Here I am, Lord. Send me." 1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Psalm 33:12-15, 20-21 | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"For we are God's co-workers; you are God's field, God's building."
The Book of Heaven volumes are going through much of what seems to be of a suffering lady that has visions of our Lord, or real apparitions. And she speaks as of our Lord sometimes as if He is literally inside of her being, like in her heart, and she speaks to him There. If I'm hearing things right! But God can choose to reside anywhere, right? Can He reside in You? Can we ask Him to come inside our dwelling place? This building? This building that makes for a bigger building? | We pray today;
_"From his fixed throne he beholds
all who dwell on the earth,
He who fashioned the heart of each,
he who knows all their works. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own"_ | In the Gospel today we heard:
_"they interceded with him about her.
He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her."
And then many more were brought for healing and we heard:
"He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.
And demons also came out from many, shouting, "You are the Son of God."
So wait up a second.
The sick came to be cured, and demons came out shouting?
Are we saying here that demons make people sick?
In my studies of bad spirits, exorcisms and such, I've learned not to go directly blaming everything on the devil. Like this morning, we got struck again, another car accident at work. I wake up, and there's alerts and messages and missed calls, someone struck our vehicle. We've had dear strikes, other car strikes, and here we are struck again. I've already called an exorcist priest for a blessing on the business. You would've thought he'd touch every car and office, but he just said a few prayers and with holy water.
Yet, that's how things work. It only takes the touch of God or a word of God, and it is done.
Lazarus rose from the dead, and died again...physically.
I am delivered from temptation but I get struck again.
What is one to do?
Welcome to a world that lives with evil, and sickness and evil that can cause sickness.
I've also learned that when we are sick, we should see a priest, for anointing of the sick. It's not just for the dying! But, as it stands, most people don't know, and many priests might negate the very notion. Yet, the Sacrament gives strength...in grace.
So what've we to learn from the Son of God?
Susceptibility matters.
Can we make ourselves available to Him?
Can we make Him a dwelling place inside?
Or do we let other things inside that cause dis order and dis ease?
I rather choose order, obedience.
I rather choose grace. And I hope the same for you. Lord, help us make You a beautiful dwelling place...in our hearts for You to live and work and shine! |  click to hear | Random bible verse generator:
2 Timothy 2:2
2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men,1 who will be able to teach others also. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
