†Saint Quote
"Each of you knows that the foundation of our faith is charity. Without it, our religion would crumble. We will never be truly Catholic unless we conform our entire lives to the two commandments that are the essence of the Catholic faith: to love the Lord, our God, with all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves."
–Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati †Today's Meditation
"St. Joachim lived with his holy spouse, St. Ann, in continual love and harmony; they made use of their worldly possessions to honor God, decorate the temple, and support the poor; they practiced patience together; they prayed together, and and together consecrated their beloved daughter to God in the Temple. All married persons should follow their example, and, in love and harmony, encourage each other to practice all Christian virtues."
–Thomas J. Olmsted, p.152 An Excerpt From
Manual for Men †Daily Verse
"If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing."
–1 Corinthians 13: 1-3 |  click to read more | | St. Valentine St. Valentine of Rome (c. 270) was a priest who lived in Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius II. Little is known of his life with certainty, except that he ministered to Christians who were persecuted and imprisoned for their faith, and died a martyr. One account has it that the emperor banned all marriages and engagements in Rome, believing this was the reason Roman men were unwilling to serve in the army. Valentine defied this unjust decree and continued to perform marriages for lovers in secret. He was arrested, and while in prison he restored sight to his jailer's blind daughter, causing the jailer and his entire extended household, forty-six people in total, to immediately convert to Christianity. Upon hearing this, Claudius ordered Valentine's execution. St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, whom he had befriended, and signed it "From Your Valentine." He was beheaded on February 14th. St. Valentine is the patron of many causes including bee keepers, betrothed and engaged couples, lovers, love, happy marriages, and young people. His feast day is February 14th. | Memorial of Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop Lectionary: 336
Reading 1 Gn 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10 When the LORD saw how great was man's wickedness on earth,
and how no desire that his heart conceived
was ever anything but evil,
he regretted that he had made man on the earth,
and his heart was grieved. So the LORD said:
"I will wipe out from the earth the men whom I have created,
and not only the men,
but also the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air,
for I am sorry that I made them."
But Noah found favor with the LORD. Then the LORD said to Noah:
"Go into the ark, you and all your household,
for you alone in this age have I found to be truly just.
Of every clean animal, take with you seven pairs,
a male and its mate;
and of the unclean animals, one pair,
a male and its mate;
likewise, of every clean bird of the air, seven pairs,
a male and a female,
and of all the unclean birds, one pair,
a male and a female.
Thus you will keep their issue alive over all the earth.
Seven days from now I will bring rain down on the earth
for forty days and forty nights,
and so I will wipe out from the surface of the earth
every moving creature that I have made."
Noah did just as the LORD had commanded him. As soon as the seven days were over,
the waters of the flood came upon the earth. Responsorial Psalm Ps 29:1a and 2, 3ac-4, 3b and 9c-10 R. (11b) The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Give to the LORD, you sons of God,
give to the LORD glory and praise,
Give to the LORD the glory due his name;
adore the LORD in holy attire.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The voice of the LORD is over the waters,
the LORD, over vast waters.
The voice of the LORD is mighty;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The God of glory thunders,
and in his temple all say, "Glory!"
The LORD is enthroned above the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as king forever.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace. Alleluia Jn 14:23 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord;
and my Father will love him
and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mk 8:14-21 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread,
and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.
Jesus enjoined them, "Watch out,
guard against the leaven of the Pharisees
and the leaven of Herod."
They concluded among themselves that
it was because they had no bread.
When he became aware of this he said to them,
"Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread?
Do you not yet understand or comprehend?
Are your hearts hardened?
Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?
And do you not remember,
when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand,
how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?"
They answered him, "Twelve."
"When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand,
how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?"
They answered him, "Seven."
He said to them, "Do you still not understand?" | Daily Meditation: Mark 8:14-21 Do you not yet understand or comprehend? (Mark 8:17) "Lord, I do want to understand more thoroughly, but there is so much I don't yet grasp about who you are, why you do what you do, and what you want me to do. How should I deal with this kind of confusion? "At least I seem to be in good company, Lord. I can easily identify with the disciples in the boat in today's Gospel. When you warned them about the 'leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod' (Mark 8:15), they supposed you were cautioning them where not to shop for the lunch they had forgotten to pack. But you seemed to have had something bigger in mind. So you started asking questions, taking them back to the times when you fed the crowds (6:35-44; 8:1-9). You showed them that even when they couldn't solve the problem themselves, you were able to take care of everyone—too little bread was certainly not a problem for you! "Lord, just as you patiently entered into dialogue with your disciples, I know you don't mind when I lay my questions before you. Please listen in as I wrestle with them! I trust that, far from making you angry, my questions give you the chance to show me the state of my own heart. So help me to be honest with you about what's bothering or confusing me. Help me to understand myself better. "Lord, please speak to me. I am trying to listen so that this can be a two-way conversation. As you did for the disciples, please bring to my mind the times when you have provided for me and provided for other people through me. I'm open to anything you want to use to speak to me: a mental picture, a familiar hymn, a Scripture passage. I want to be quick to follow your lead, but that means I need to grow in listening and understanding. "So when I'm confused, help me turn to you first. I know that you love me and want the very best for me. Help me to trust that you are at work right now, even though there is so much I don't understand." "Jesus, I long to understand your ways better and better. Help me to keep listening!" Genesis 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10
Psalm 29:1-4, 9-10 | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"Go into the ark, you and all your household,
for you alone in this age have I found to be truly just.
Of every clean animal, take with you seven pairs..." The ark? A covenant? Right? The number 7 comes into the picture, again, as it was from the beginning, and this number means something, it IS a covenant number. That is why we have the 7 sacraments. That is why God made the world in 7 days. To show us that He is all about the covenant. The ark of the covenant, meant salvation. And then later it was carried by the people of Moses. And then later that turned into the Body Of Christ, the Holy Eucharist, still alive and well today. May we enter this covenant relationship now. | We pray today:
"Give to the LORD, you sons of God,
give to the LORD glory and praise,
Give to the LORD the glory due his name; adore the LORD in holy attire.
The Lord will bless his people with peace" I don't know that you know, or that all know, but, we are in a Kingdom.
And there IS a king! I was thinking the other day of making a skit of some types, showing a foreigner entering our country, and the people tell him there is a president. The foreigner will never meet the president, he just has to believe he exists and has rules set out, laws for all his people to follow. The foreigner can accept or reject them and try to usurp the law while nobody is looking. But in the end, all is known. You see, we have a King that is seeing all. But in the case of our Lord, He would actually like to meet us, and get to know each other, as deep as a love as you'd like. His arms are open. | In the Gospel today we heard:
"Watch out,
guard against the leaven of the Pharisees
and the leaven of Herod." Some say that Roman rulers would feed their people, but more out of convenience, to win them over, as a psychological provider, and in trade, you would give your fidelity to them, and it is a psychological matter.
And in the same way, the world is offering you the same psychological vow for your faithfulness. Am I speaking government handouts? A lot of that goes on with back door deals we don't hear about, no matter where you go in the world. But is that what our Lord is talking about? Sure! Why not? LOL, I mean, who are you giving yourself to? Who are you selling your soul to? For some it is for fame, to be popular. They give you something you want to hear so you give them your attention. Sadly, this happens in many new "churches", all feel good churches with fake bread, a fake message, like a fat donut that never fills you really.
So what leaven are we talking here?
Purity. Pure bread. A true covenant bread, and the Jews used to call this the "bread of the presence" and the bread is to be unleavened if you are in haste and on a journey.
Think Eucharist.
What leaven is needed? Yours! Your bacteria in your body is needed, yes, you and all your imperfections can be made something beautiful for the Kingdom of God. | It is amazing how things work. Like electricity, with a positive energy and a negative energy. How a beautiful plant comes out of the dung and waste of the land.
It is Valentine's day. They say they still have the decapitated head of Saint Valentine in a church. Decapitated for not taking the false peace of the rulers, of the Roman times. There is a false peace being offered, a false love in the world. It offers you peace if you give up your religion. Look at all those that don't go to church nor claim any church, they seem to have peace, no more battle for Christ.
I am not writing to them. I am writing to the ones in the Church militant. We wake up to more bad news, and we have to bring on the Good News to counter the effects of darkness.
On your watch, the world can be lit up for Love of God and love of neighbor. ....†....
Lord, on this day of love, I remember Love itself...You, from Heaven, pouring Your heart out for all of us...to love each other FOREVER. I love You God, my Father, My ALL, help us love Thee Rightly Forever
.......... |  click to hear | PERFECT
Random Bible Verse 1
John 3:16–17 [John 3]
For God So Loved the World 16 "For God so loved the world,1 that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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