†Saint Quote
"If you learn everything except Christ, you learn nothing. If you learn nothing except Christ, you learn everything."
–St. Bonaventure †Today's Meditation
"My daughter, faithfully live up to the words which I speak to you. Do not value any external thing too highly, even if it were to seem very precious to you. Let go of yourself, and abide with Me continually. Entrust everything to Me and do nothing on your own, and you will always have great freedom of spirit. No circumstances or events will ever be able to upset you. Set little store on what people say. Let everyone judge you as they like. Do not make excuses for yourself, it will do you no harm. Give away everything at the first sign of a demand, even if they were the most necessary things. Do not ask for anything without consulting Me. Allow them to take away even what is due you – respect, your good name – let your spirit rise above all that. And so, set free from everything, rest close to My Heart, not allowing your peace to be disturbed by anything. My pupil, consider (62) the words which I have spoken to you."
—Jesus to St. Faustina, p. 596 An Excerpt From
Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska - Divine Mercy in My Soul †Daily Verse
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him,and he will make straight your paths."
–Proverbs 3:5-6 |  click to read more | | St. Marguerite Bourgeoys St. Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620-1700) was born in France to a large middle-class Christian family. After having a deep religious experience at the age of 20, Marguerite dedicated her life to God through the Virgin Mary. She then joined an aposolate which served God by educating underprivileged children. When she was 32 the governor of Fort Ville-Marie (now Montreal, Canada), visited Marguerite's town and invited her to be a missionary in the New World as a lay teacher, instructing the children of the colonists and the Native Americans. Marguerite agreed and made the long ocean journey. Realizing the importance of the family in establishing New France, Marguerite mentored young ladies and prepared them for marriage and family life as pioneer women. She signed as a witness on the marriage certificates of many early settlers. As a result of these activities she was affectionately called the "Mother of the Colony." She also worked to build the first church and the first school. She also founded the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal, which is an active religious order to this day. For her great apostolic and missionary activity she is considered the co-foundress of Montreal. She is also the first woman saint of the Catholic Church in Canada. Her feast day is January 12. | Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Heb 3:7-14 The Holy Spirit says: Oh, that today you would hear his voice, "Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion in the day of testing in the desert, where your ancestors tested and tried me and saw my works for forty years. Because of this I was provoked with that generation and I said, 'They have always been of erring heart, and they do not know my ways.' As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter into my rest.'"
Take care, brothers and sisters,
that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart,
so as to forsake the living God.
Encourage yourselves daily while it is still "today,"
so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin.
We have become partners of Christ
if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end. Responsorial Psalm 95:6-7c, 8-9, 10-11 R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God, and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice: "Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me; they tested me though they had seen my works."
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Forty years I was wearied of that generation; I said: "This people's heart goes astray, they do not know my ways."
Therefore I swore in my anger: "They shall never enter my rest."
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Alleluia Mt 4:23 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mk 1:40-45 A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said,
"If you wish, you can make me clean."
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him,
"I do will it. Be made clean."
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
Then he said to him, "See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them."
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
| Daily Meditation: Hebrews 3:7-14 Encourage yourselves daily while it is still "today." (Hebrews 3:13) For many of us, praying has become a familiar and comfortable routine. We have our favorite place to pray—maybe it's a well-worn armchair or a particular pew in our church. And we have our favorite ways to pray, whether that includes praise and worship or praying the Rosary or just talking with the Lord. But "comfortable" isn't always the best thing when it comes to prayer. There can be a thin line between "comfortable" and "complacent." So one way we can encourage ourselves and one another to keep moving forward with the Lord, as the author of Hebrews exhorts us, is to pray with other people. This idea led one woman online, where she found a ten-minute virtual gathering taking place every evening during the nine days leading up to Pentecost. Participants recited a set of prayers, then spent a short time exchanging their own prayer intentions. Some asked for prayers to be more patient with their spouses; others asked for help overcoming common anxieties or temptations. Everyone in the group shared how this gathering helped them experience greater joy, a deeper sense of God's presence in their lives, and renewed strength to follow the Lord. Coming together for prayer, they had "encouraged themselves"! We might find praying this way a little challenging. For one thing, we might be hesitant to pray out loud for fear of sounding foolish. We also may not feel comfortable sharing our needs. Or we might be wondering how we can find the time in our schedules. But the rewards are more than worth it! With a little creativity, you can find a few minutes to pray with someone. Perhaps you could set a time to call a friend every day or every week to spend just five minutes praying together on the phone. Or you could gather with some parishioners for a short time of prayer after daily Mass. You and your spouse might decide to pray together each night before going to bed. You could always ask the Holy Spirit to help you find the right approach. This small commitment can encourage you—and those you pray with—"today" and every day (Hebrews 3:13)! "Lord, help me to find opportunities to pray with other people." Psalm 95:6-11
Mark 1:40-45 | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart, so as to forsake the living God. Encourage yourselves daily while it is still "today," Right where you are my child, you are to encourage others in the walk of Christ, in the truth, the very life that means eternity. The dark rulers want you to turn away from the truth, and the reality of an everlasting life. They don't believe in eternal things unless it is all about themselves, and I'm talking egos, like the ones who want to leave their name proudly marked on their headstones and statues.
But you are called to something more, perhaps invisible to the world, but very visible to God almighty. He is still showing Himself humbly, and to the most least expected. | We pray today;
" I said: "This people's heart goes astray, they do not know my ways."
Therefore I swore in my anger: "They shall never enter my rest." If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts" What does a hard heart look like? A grouch? No, I know grouchy people that actually love a lot. Like this brother at church, gets on everybody's nerves, but I've gotten to know him, and he has a soft spot of great love, to the point that if you hit it just right, he'd give the shirt off his back to the one in need, putting others first. But that's the point, why do we have to hit all the right buttons, all the secret codes to enter the heart? Why does God have to jump through hoops to work through us and to live inside of us, to do His will? | In the Gospel today we heard:
"If you wish, you can make me clean."
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched the leper, and said to him,
"I do will it. Be made clean." Before I forget, remember the guy that I met after church, saying he'd died, and came back to life in the hospital, well he's been coming by frequently, says he needs prayer, wants to work, but if you look at him, he's in bad shape, walks sideways, always turning neck one way, hand movements are strange, says everything started with a fall at work, nerves and tendons messed up in his neck and they've dismissed him and I quizzed him on work comp and insurance, anyhow, I know he needs prayer, as a matter of fact he WANTS prayer, and that is why I bother you, he does wish to be made clean, to be made whole, to be healed.
It is funny, last night I spoke to teenagers in classes about confession, and in another class, one on one, I spoke about healing Sacraments, which includes Confession and Anointing of the sick.
But the most effective Sacrament is when true contrition and faith is involved. | my child, do you wish to be made clean?
I told my student, that sometimes we have to watch it in confession, because sometimes we are really attached to our sins, and they don't want to let go of us. Those sins are called evil spirits. They don't want to leave your temple. And so, the question is again: my child, do you wish to be made clean? Because to do this, something has to give, some sacrifice is going to have to take place. As I was writing, my mom said my cousin went to her house, saying he needs help, wants to confess, but not just to any priest, but someone who will change him, help him change. And me and my mom agreed, that really has to come from within oneself. Step one, take the first step! LOL, right?
What is amazing is the penance. Jesus our Lord and our God gives penances. For someone who is ritually unclean, you must follow the ritual to be made clean. I told my student that protestants say confessions are hogwash. Well, that is only true for someone who refuses to believe the truth, the authority that Jesus has given the Holy Catholic Church, to forgive sins. What's amazing about confessions and anointing of the sick? The priest is not only acting in the person of Christ, but represents the whole body of Christ! I kind of learned that last night as I was teaching. Boy you learn more by teaching! And so you go reconcile with the whole body of Christ which you wounded with your sins! And if you only knew how terrible one little sin is! One lack of charity can cause a tornado, a devastating effect on the body of Christ, hurting so many souls, and this is why we believe in Purgatory, because if you are forgiven, you still may have an affinity, that is, an attachment to sin that you cannot live with in Heaven.
And nobody can avail forgiveness like our Lord. Protestants claim you can confess in the bathroom or your room or anywhere, but that is not a complete confession with an absolution and absolute certainty with the Body of Christ.
I told my student that every single night we are to confess before going to bed by our bedside, it helps, but that is not the same. What if I prayed at night, "Father, forgive me for having offended my child, I yelled at them, or I should've done this good thing for them", but you never get to hear the other side saying "I forgive you"? It's not the same, and it gets worse, when that sin is against the whole church, the body of Christ, because whence you sin against one, you sin against all. We are united in Him, and therefore, Christ HIMSELF suffers. Our sins still hurt Him I told the teens, and you today. .......................†........................
Lord, I want to be a giver of love. A man. A man of God. A human. A human of God. No longer do I want to be just a receiver. May my giving become a receiving of our Father's gift.
.................................................. adrian |  click to hear | WOW!
Random Bible Verse 1
Psalm 28:1–2 [Psalm 28]
The Lord Is My Strength and My Shield
Of David. 28 To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.1 | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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