†Saint Quote
"He who enters into the secret place of his own soul passes beyond himself, and does in very truth ascend to God. Banish, therefore, from thy heart the distractions of earth and turn thine eyes to spiritual joys, that thou mayest learn at last to repose in the light of the contemplation of God."
–St. Albert the Great †Today's Meditation
"Now there's no one who approaches God with a true and upright heart who isn't tested by hardships and temptations. So in all these temptations see to it that even if you feel them, you don't consent to them. Instead, bear them patiently and calmly with humility and long suffering."
—St. Albert the Great, p. 164 An Excerpt From
Manual for Spiritual Warfare †Daily Verse
"All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth."
–Hebrews 11:13 |  click to read more | | St. Albert the Great St. Albert the Great (1206-1280) was born in Bavaria, Germany, the eldest son of a powerful military count. As a youth he was sent to study at the University of Padua where he encountered and entered the newly-founded Dominican order as a mendicant friar, forsaking his inheritance against his family's wishes. He was the first Dominican to earn a Master of Theology degree and was sent as a lecturer to the University of Paris (which at that time was the intellectual center of Europe) before launching a Dominican house of studies in Cologne. He introduced the works of Aristotle to western thought which allowed his most brilliant student, St. Thomas Aquinas, to synthesize the Catholic faith with human reason, that is, the truths established through philosophy. St. Albert the Great was a renowned scholar and a pioneer in the field of natural science, keeping his own laboratory for scientific experiments. He is known as one of the greatest thinkers of his day, called by his contemporaries "the teacher of everything there is to know" for writing an encyclopedia of all human knowledge up to that point in history. St. Albert the Great was also one of the most famous preachers of his day and served as the papal theologian in Rome. He was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1931 by Pope Pius XI. St. Albert the Great is the patron saint of scientists and philosophers. His feast day is November 15th. | Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 RV 3:1-6, 14-22 I, John, heard the Lord saying to me:
"To the angel of the Church in Sardis, write this:
"'The one who has the seven spirits of God
and the seven stars says this: "I know your works,
that you have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
Be watchful and strengthen what is left, which is going to die,
for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.
Remember then how you accepted and heard; keep it, and repent.
If you are not watchful, I will come like a thief,
and you will never know at what hour I will come upon you.
However, you have a few people in Sardis
who have not soiled their garments;
they will walk with me dressed in white,
because they are worthy."'
The victor will thus be dressed in white,
and I will never erase his name from the book of life
but will acknowledge his name in the presence of my Father
and of his angels.
"'Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'""
"To the angel of the Church in Laodicea, write this:
"'The Amen, the faithful and true witness,
the source of God's creation, says this:
"I know your works;
I know that you are neither cold nor hot.
I wish you were either cold or hot.
So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold,
I will spit you out of my mouth.
For you say, 'I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,'
and yet do not realize that you are wretched,
pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich,
and white garments to put on
so that your shameful nakedness may not be exposed,
and buy ointment to smear on your eyes so that you may see.
Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise.
Be earnest, therefore, and repent.
"'Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
then I will enter his house and dine with him,
and he with me.
I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne,
as I myself first won the victory
and sit with my Father on his throne.
"'Whoever has ears ought to hear
what the Spirit says to the churches.'" Responsorial Psalm PS 15:2-3A, 3BC-4AB, 5 R. (Rev. 3: 21) I will seat the victor beside me on my throne.
He who walks blamelessly and does justice;
who thinks the truth in his heart
and slanders not with his tongue.
R. I will seat the victor beside me on my throne.
Who harms not his fellow man,
nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;
By whom the reprobate is despised,
while he honors those who fear the LORD.
R. I will seat the victor beside me on my throne.
Who lends not his money at usury
and accepts no bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
shall never be disturbed.
R. I will seat the victor beside me on my throne. Alleluia 1 JN 4:10B R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God loved us, and sent his Son
as expiation for our sins.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel LK 19:1-10 At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way.
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
"Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house."
And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying,
"He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner."
But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
"Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over."
And Jesus said to him,
"Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost." | Daily Meditation: Luke 19:1-10 Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. (Luke 19:1) Are you a planner? Do you have a schedule or routine that you like to keep? If so, today's Gospel reading is especially for you. It opens with Luke telling us that Jesus had planned to head right through Jericho (19:1). But we know that isn't what happened. Jesus saw Zacchaeus in the sycamore tree, and moved by this man's humility, he changed his itinerary so that he could spend time with him and his friends. And it changed Zacchaeus' life forever. This story tells us that sometimes, like Jesus, we need to hold loosely to our schedule and plans. We need to be ready to put them aside for a moment in order to care for the person in front of us. In theory, this sounds great—of course we want to care for people! But in reality, it's not always so straightforward. Most of us probably don't like unexpected interruptions in our day or last-minute demands placed on our schedules. When such interruptions do happen, we might get annoyed or grumble to ourselves. But when we see how Jesus responded to Zacchaeus, our perspective can change. Maybe these interruptions and inconveniences are really invitations to join him in ministering to someone who needs help, comfort, or attention. Such invitations might come in the voice of a friend whose car has broken down and is asking you for a ride to work. Or you might feel the Lord nudging you to stop and talk to a lonely neighbor even though you'd rather get on with your walk and burn some more calories. Or the Lord might be speaking to you through the voice of your child, who is asking you to play a game with her even though you have so much work to do. The next time you are asked to change your plans, try to see it as Jesus' loving invitation rather than as an annoying interruption. We aren't always able to be flexible with our schedules, but when we are, who knows what might happen? We may just have more of an effect on people's hearts than we think. Just look at what happened to Zacchaeus! "Lord, help me to hear your invitation to love the people around me." Revelation 3:1-6, 14-22
Psalm 15:2-5 | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
""'Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
then I will enter his house and dine with him,
and he with me." There's many MANY things going on in every word our Lord says. Everything He says and does is super rich, especially when He speaks about eating. Behold. Behold is a deep word. It's as if to say to stop what you are doing and "to take in". We are about to read this about Zacchaeus, when our Lord asks him to dine. He knocks. He always knocks. This very message is Him knocking at your very door right now. | We pray today;
"He who walks blamelessly and does justice;
who thinks the truth in his heart and slanders not with his tongue. I will seat the victor beside me on my throne" There are two things I can't wrap my head around but I think it is starting to happen.
1. That I am not worthless.
2. That God is way more immense and amazing than ever imaginable.
This is because of sin in the world, the pull away from God our Father. But as we make our way back, things become amazing..you see your worth. | In the Gospel today we heard our Master and Teacher:
""Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house."
And he came down quickly and received him with joy."
Say what now? A chief tax collector, probably despised by so many Jews for their corrupt lifestyle, and he gets called out to dinner with the Master? What is going on here?
God is at work. And He wants things done with someone that can be "Johnny on the spot".
Bishop Robert Barron asks us to consider how "quickly" Zak was asked to get off that tree to come be with him.
How many of us are sluggish in our response?
Do you know why? Because we have a hard time letting go, of even our own sins or guilt.
But why is there no invitation from God?
Two things are here so let me put it this way.
You're at your house, right? You're cleaning, can't hear the door knocking. Or, you're watching TV, sports, or soap operas, can't hear someone calling. Or you got a party going on, can't hear the door. Or you are asleep, and you can't hear the knocking or calling. Or, some are afraid to answer the door.
Now, these things are not a joke. Either we are busy working, being entertained or entertaining, and we don't got time for God. Or better said...we could care less...not more.
And that is my conundrum with the whole faith thing; how can we love God that we don't know?
The bible says "taste and see" and this is what our Lord says today, "come and see" but even more deeply says "come and let's eat".
God asks Zak for a meal. For service, for friendship, for a more intimate moment and union. Who do you eat with? People you don't care about? I bet most of the time you are picky on when and where and who you eat with. Would you eat with a total stranger? NO. You are God's child. Your FATHER wants to eat with YOU! You are worthy. God is Amazing. This is the knocking you've been having a hard time hearing. | ........................................
Lord, I Love You in the Holy Eucharist, help me love You More and More.
............................................... adrian |  click to hear | Random Bible Verse 1
1 John 3:1 WOW! 3
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
