†Saint Quote
"Be sure that you first preach by the way you live. If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing, but live otherwise, and your words will bring only cynical laughter and a derisive shake of the head."
–St. Charles Borromeo †Today's Meditation
"What is this brightness—with which God fills the soul of the just—but that clear knowledge of all that is necessary for salvation? He shows them the beauty of virtue and the deformity of vice. He reveals to them the vanity of the world, the treasures of grace, the greatness of eternal glory, and the sweetness of the consolations of the Holy Spirit. He teaches them to apprehend the goodness of God, the malice of the evil one, the shortness of life, and the fatal error of those whose hopes are centered in this world alone. Hence the equanimity of the just. They are neither puffed up by prosperity nor cast down by adversity.'A holy man', says Solomon, 'continueth in wisdom as the sun, but a fool is changed as the moon.' (Ecclus. 27:12). Unmoved by the winds of false doctrine, the just man continues steadfast in Christ, immoveable in charity, unswerving in faith."
—Venerable Louis Of Grenada, p. 135 An Excerpt From
The Sinner's Guide †Daily Verse
"So we are always courageous, although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight."
–2 Corinthians 5:6-7 |  click to read more | | St. Adrian of Nicomedia St. Adrian of Nicomedia (d. 306 A.D.) lived under the Christian persecutions of the Roman Emperor Galerius Maximian. Thirty-three Christians were seized in Nicomedia, brought before a judge, and ordered to be savagely beaten. With each new torture the men received, they bravely proclaimed their faith in Christ. They argued with the judge that by his tortures he was only increasing their heavenly glory, while guaranteeing his own damnation to hell. Adrian, a man of 28 years, was head of the praetorium and witnessed the steadfast faith of these men. He was moved to the point of conversion, and exclaimed that he, too, would reject paganism to suffer and die for the name of Christ along with the other Christians. One of Adrian's servants ran to tell his wife, Natalie, what her husband had done. Natalie, who was secretly a Christian, ran to the prison in joy at the news of her husband's newfound faith, and encouraged him to stay strong and steadfast in it. After Adrian refused to recant his profession of faith in Christ, he was thrown into prison with the other men and cruelly tortured. His arms and legs were severed on an anvil before finally dying as a martyr. Saint Adrian is the patron saint of soldiers, arms dealers, and butchers. His feast day is September 8th. | Memorial of Saint Peter Claver, Priest • Readings for the Memorial of Saint Peter Claver, priest Reading 1 1 COR 9:16-19, 22B-27 Brothers and sisters:
If I preach the Gospel, this is no reason for me to boast,
for an obligation has been imposed on me,
and woe to me if I do not preach it!
If I do so willingly, I have a recompense,
but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship.
What then is my recompense?
That, when I preach, I offer the Gospel free of charge
so as not to make full use of my right in the Gospel.
Although I am free in regard to all,
I have made myself a slave to all
so as to win over as many as possible.
I have become all things to all, to save at least some.
All this I do for the sake of the Gospel,
so that I too may have a share in it.
Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race,
but only one wins the prize?
Run so as to win.
Every athlete exercises discipline in every way.
They do it to win a perishable crown,
but we an imperishable one.
Thus I do not run aimlessly;
I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing.
No, I drive my body and train it,
for fear that, after having preached to others,
I myself should be disqualified. Responsorial Psalm PS 84:3, 4, 5-6, 12 R. (2) How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
My soul yearns and pines
for the courts of the LORD.
My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest
in which she puts her young—
Your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my king and my God!
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
Blessed they who dwell in your house!
continually they praise you.
Blessed the men whose strength you are!
their hearts are set upon the pilgrimage.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
For a sun and a shield is the LORD God;
grace and glory he bestows;
The LORD withholds no good thing
from those who walk in sincerity.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God! Alleluia JN 17:17B, 17A R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth;
consecrate us in the truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel LK 6:39-42 Jesus told his disciples a parable:
"Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit?
No disciple is superior to the teacher;
but when fully trained,
every disciple will be like his teacher.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?
How can you say to your brother,
'Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,'
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?
You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter in your brother's eye."
| Daily Meditation: 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-2 Run so as to win. (1 Corinthians 9:24) At the sound of the whistle, the runners are off like a shot. As they race down the road, one runner takes a commanding lead. He has terrific focus and is obviously well trained. The crowd hasn't seen anything like it. But wait, what is he doing? He has stopped at the side of the road and is haggling with a police officer who is writing him a parking ticket. It's absurd! What runner would interrupt a big race to argue about parking rules? That's not the time to get distracted! St. Paul draws on a similar racing analogy to teach the Corinthians about focusing on what is really important. They had been arguing over whether they could eat foods that had been sacrificed to idols. And here he uses the image of a runner to help reframe the question for them. He tells them to "Run so as to win" (1 Corinthians 9:24). In other words, stay focused on your goal. Maintain a single-minded dedication to winning the race of discipleship as brothers and sisters in the Lord, and don't get caught up in lesser issues. By spending so much energy arguing over dietary issues, the Corinthians showed that they were missing the big picture of what the gospel was about. In the "race" of following the Lord, they were acting like that runner interrupting himself to argue about a parking ticket. In contrast, Paul says he is willing to "become all things to all, to save at least some" (1 Corinthians 9:19). He was willing to put aside his own preferences or rights because his overriding goal was to help the Corinthians remain united so that they could be a witness to the gospel. What Paul is talking about is keeping side issues on the side and remaining focused on the main goal: proclaiming the gospel through the call to love one another. That's something we can work on too. It may not take too deep an examination of conscience to come up with one or two ways that we are getting sidetracked from that goal. But at the same time, it probably won't take a lot of pondering to figure out how to get back on track. So keep running the race! "Lord, help me to keep my eyes fixed on loving you and loving the people in my life." Psalm 84:3-6, 12
Luke 6:39-42 | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"No, I drive my body and train it,
for fear that, after having preached to others,
I myself should be disqualified." St. Paul had it right. We cannot lose sight of the ultimate goal in life. We get lost in the daily tasks, in the next project. But what about the general goal? The old Catechism had it right, that we are to Know God, Serve God, and LOVE God with all our hearts minds and souls. And to save a soul is to save your own. How many have you saved? How many have you given your life so that they would convert and be saved? How can I? | We pray today;
_"Blessed they who dwell in your house!
continually they praise you.
Blessed the men whose strength you are!
their hearts are set upon the pilgrimage. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!"_ | In the Gospel today we heard:
""Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit?" Can you imagine an eye doctor that can't see well, trying to fix your eye?
Can you imagine an obese person telling you how to get in shape?
Ah, now we are going into thing deep.
Can you imagine you preaching and teaching not with your very life?
Hypocrites, they say one thing but do another, and those without a fire cannot be the fire. | "You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother's eye." We have much to learn from our Lord. How can we have our logs removed from our eyes?
Well, if you are sincere, a Holy Confession will reveal how much of a hypocrite you've been.
You see, you need God's light to shine in your deepest part of your soul.
How else? Christian criticism. Sometimes someone will call you out. And boy, you're not going to like it. Oh, you'll argue back, and want to fight. It's because the truth hurts. I can give various examples on myself, and that's the best guy to use as an example. I've been told "aren't you supposed to be holy?" and "don't it say in the bible not to let the right hand know what the left hand is doing?" as they called me out on how I was boasting on the good deeds we were doing. And to be called flat out a hypocrite, boy, OUCH, that hurts...a person with a conscious. Don't dismiss these things, there is truth, even the devil will call you out in the middle of cursings. It is all in the end...for the greater good. The greater goal, for purity, for us to turn to God. Afterall, this is God's world! AMEN? Lord, help us not lose sight of the truth and the light that only You can provide...true life forever! |  click to hear | Random bible verse generator: Ephesians 6:13
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
