†Saint Quote
"By reason of His immensity, God is present everywhere; but there are two places where He dwells in a particular manner. One is in the highest heavens, where He is present by that glory which He communicates to the blessed; the other is on earth—within the humble soul that loves Him."
–St. Alphonsus Liguori †Today's Meditation
"What made the holy apostles and martyrs endure fierce agony and bitter torments, except faith, and especially faith in the resurrection? What is it that today makes true followers of Christ cast luxuries aside, leave pleasures behind, and endure difficulties and pain? It is living faith that expresses itself through love . . . It is because of faith that we exchange the present for the future."
—Pope Benedict XIV, p. 20
An Excerpt From
Witness of the Saints †Daily Verse
"He who keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble."
–Proverbs 21:23 |  click to read more | |  Listen to the Saint of the Day Here Audio | St. Brigid of Ireland St. Brigid of Ireland (451–525 A.D.), also known as St. Brigit of Kildare, was born to a pagan Irish chieftain and a Christian slave mother. Being the daughter of a slave woman, she also was a slave, and worked as a dairy maid. She became known for her virtuous life and her charity to the poor. Recognizing her great piety and special graces, a Christian king convinced her father to grant Brigid her freedom. Once free to follow her own course in life, St. Brigid refused marriage, consecrated herself to Christ, and became Ireland's first nun. She also formed Ireland's first convent at Kildare and became its abbess. She went on to found many other religious communities, as well as a School of Art famous for its metal working and illuminated manuscripts. St. Brigid was known for her extraordinary spirituality, even converting her father to the faith after he witnessed her fashioning the sign of the cross from strands of rushes. She was also a contemporary and friend of St. Patrick. When she died, her sisters kept a fire burning in an enclosure at her Kildare convent. This fire burned for centuries, tended by the sisters and not burning out until the 13th century. It was later re-lit and burned for 400 more years until the Protestant revolt. St. Brigid is the patroness of Ireland and many other causes, most notably of dairy and milk maids, chicken farmers, travelers, and sailors. Her feast day is February 1st.
Find a Devotional for This Saint | Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Reading I Heb 12:4-7, 11-15 Brothers and sisters:
In your struggle against sin
you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.
You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children: My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.
Endure your trials as "discipline";
God treats you as his sons.
For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline?
At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain,
yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness
to those who are trained by it.
So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.
Make straight paths for your feet,
that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed.
Strive for peace with everyone,
and for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
See to it that no one be deprived of the grace of God,
that no bitter root spring up and cause trouble,
through which many may become defiled. Responsorial Psalm 103:1-2, 13-14, 17-18a R. (see 17) The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him,
For he knows how we are formed; he remembers that we are dust.
R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
But the kindness of the LORD is from eternity to eternity toward those who fear him,
And his justice toward children's children among those who keep his covenant.
R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him. Alleluia Jn 10:27 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mk 6:1-6 Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples.
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished.
They said, "Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?"
And they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them,
"A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house."
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.
| Daily Meditation: Mark 6:1-6 Many who heard him were astonished. (Mark 6:2) You are a lifelong resident of Nazareth, and you know everyone in town, including Joseph the carpenter and his wife, Mary. You've seen Jesus playing at his mother's feet, running through the streets with the other boys, and standing next to his father on the Sabbath in the synagogue. Now he comes back to town and teaches in the synagogue with so much wisdom and grace that you wonder, Could this be the Jesus I know? How can he speak with so much authority? Who does he think he is? Maybe the problem is your familiarity with Jesus. How could someone you have known all your life actually be the long-awaited Messiah? So maybe we can sympathize with the townspeople in today's Gospel for taking offense (Mark 6:3). We might also have a problem with being too familiar with Jesus, but in the opposite direction. We might take offense at the fact that Jesus was really a human being like ourselves. We've grown up knowing him as the God who redeemed us by his cross and resurrection. It can scandalize us to think that he was like us in every way but sin. For example, Jesus probably looked like any ordinary man of his time—maybe someone we wouldn't even notice if he passed by us on the street. And the Son of God had needs: he got hungry and hot and tired. He had emotions: he laughed and cried, he got excited and irritated. And yet he is the Second Person of the Trinity! We celebrated the birth of Jesus only five weeks ago, but the incarnation is a mystery of our faith that we can meditate on all year long. God stooped down to earth to become just like one of his lowly creatures. But don't let that offend you! He did it out of pure love for you and for each one of us. So let's rejoice today. Jesus is our Lord and Savior, yes, but because he is human, he is also our brother and friend. "Jesus, in your humanity, draw me close to you." Hebrews 12:4-7, 11-15
Psalm 103:1-2, 13-14, 17-18 | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
" My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges." A few days ago, I was talking to my nephew, my godson, and a worker in our family business. He saw my late dad as a father figure. And I told him that I was in a sense too, to be a father figure to him as well, because his blood dad and other stepfathers haven't been much of a father figure, in and out of his whole life. I told him to take heart whenever I scold him, that is, try to put him in his place. I often tell people and I've told him too, that he only believes some of the things I tell him. We seem to pick and choose what to believe. Like Pontius Pilate said, "what is truth?". The world offers its philosophies as truth. And in comes our Lord, offering Himself as the truth. | We pray today;
"As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him, For he knows how we are formed; he remembers that we are dust. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him." And I've noticed that there is something particular about fathers. I've seen some out in public, they are putting their kids in their place. Mother's, in their nature, are compassionate, that is good, but there must be a regulator to show an equal compassion, by reproving them, by disciplining them, and scourging the ones who need it, albeit, today, it is not like it once was with corporal punishment. And yet, our Lord suffered such things...He who had no sin to pay for...but yours. | In the Gospel today we heard:
"So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith."
The family of our Lord in Nazareth took offense at Him. That is, they dismissed it immediately, and chose not to believe. How soon many of us receive word from our Lord, or someone in the name of our Lord, and we fail to accept Him?
What do I mean? I mean He comes every single day of our lives, in one way or the other, through messages, through people, and I'm always looking for Him in disguise, calling, needing help, or encouraging one. It would be better to be attentive to the King than to live a passive life, letting things pass by, and Him as well. Because we live in a world of testing. These are proving grounds we live in. You won't really hear this message in protestant splinters. But the Holy Catholic Church calls this world the "church militant" and the purgatory world is the "church suffering" and the church in Heaven "Church Triumphant". Yet, we know and hear, no guts no glory. Yet we hear no suffering, no crown. We think we live in a suffering church, and to a certain degree it could be said that some purgation is ongoing, as well as tastes of Church triumphant.
In essence, we cannot ignore our Lord anymore. Any more and the world will have its way with your life, with its utilitarianism philosophy which declares you are only worth what you are capable of producing for the world. If you are not productive, like the lame, the marginalized, and so forth, then you are no good and are to be discarded. Thus is the pride mentality and it rears its ugly head in communists and dictators across the world over the last few thousand years.
But there is hope. From within your home, our Lord comes. That is the importance of allowing Him to enter your home and thus, your temple. Good things can come from within. Our Lord desires to live inside of us. HE desires for the fruit of true love. And this to come from Loving God above all things and people.
As a leader in various ministries, I notice that I feed off of the people's faith. Great things come when the crowd shows much faith. Not excitement, but belief. I can sense when I'm putting out lots of faith into a great void. And even this is good, because someone has to pour themselves out, there has to be a small candle lit in a dark universe. And the light pierces the darkness, it can light up a whole room, a whole house, a whole life, a whole community, a whole world. | ....†....
Lord, I desire to love You with all my heart, all my mind, and all my soul.
.......... |  click to hear | Random Bible Verse 1
Jude 24–25 [Jude 1]
Doxology 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time1 and now and forever. Amen. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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