†Saint Quote
"Seeing the sun, the moon and the stars, I said to myself, 'Who could be the Master of these beautiful things?' I felt a great desire to see him, to know him and to pay him homage."
–St. Josephine Bakhita †Today's Meditation
"A spiritual Communion acts on the soul as blowing does on a cinder-covered fire which was about to go out. Whenever you feel your love of God growing cold, quickly make a spiritual Communion.' 'Quickly!' There's a sense of urgency here. The saints are trying to tell us that we should not limit our union with Christ in the Eucharist to sacramental Communion once a week, or even once a day. We need Christ's living presence in our lives moment-by-moment to nourish us and protect us from sin, so we need to renew our union with Him regularly, especially any time we feel ourselves drifting away. Christ is not merely present in the Eucharist during Mass! The Eucharist is an ongoing fulfillment of Christ's Gospel promise to remain with us: 'Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age' (Mt. 28:20)."
—Vinny Flynn, p. 98-9 An Excerpt From
7 Secrets of the Eucharist †Daily Verse
"I love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies."
–Psalm 18:1-3 |  click to read more | | St. Josephine Bakhita St. Josephine Bakhita (d. 1947) was born into a wealthy Sudanese family near Darfur. She was kidnapped when she was nine years old and forced into slavery. Her kidnappers named her Bakhita ("fortunate" in Arabic). She was sold and resold, beaten and tortured by her "owners" until 1883 when she was purchased by an Italian consul who treated her well. He brought her to Italy to work as a nanny. In 1889, the Italian courts ruled that Bakhita was enslaved illegally and declared her a free woman. She became enamored with the Catholic faith and chose to stay in Italy. Bakhita was baptized in 1890 and received her First Holy Communion from the future Pope St. Pius X. She took the Christian name of Josephine, and in 1896 entered the Institute of Canossian Daughters of Charity. She was affectionately called "Our Black Mother" by the Italians, as her amiable spirit and warm heart won the admiration of many people during her fifty years of religious life. She was known for her charity towards children and the poor, her indomitable spirit during the hardship of slavery, and her joy in religious life. St. Josephine Bakhita is the patron of Sudan, and her feast day, February 8th, has been designated the International Day of Prayer to Stop Human Trafficking. | Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Gn 2:4b-9, 15-17 At the time when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens --
while as yet there was no field shrub on earth
and no grass of the field had sprouted,
for the LORD God had sent no rain upon the earth
and there was no man to till the soil,
but a stream was welling up out of the earth
and was watering all the surface of the ground --
the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground
and blew into his nostrils the breath of life,
and so man became a living being. Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,
and he placed there the man whom he had formed.
Out of the ground the LORD God made various trees grow
that were delightful to look at and good for food,
with the tree of life in the middle of the garden
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The LORD God then took the man
and settled him in the garden of Eden,
to cultivate and care for it.
The LORD God gave man this order:
"You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden
except the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
From that tree you shall not eat;
the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die." Responsorial Psalm Ps 104:1-2a, 27-28, 29bc-30 R. (1a) O bless the Lord, my soul!
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
You are clothed with majesty and glory,
robed in light as with a cloak.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul!
All creatures look to you
to give them food in due time.
When you give it to them, they gather it;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul!
If you take away their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul! Alleluia See Jn 17:17b, 17a
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth:
consecrate us in the truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mk 7:14-23 Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them,
"Hear me, all of you, and understand.
Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;
but the things that come out from within are what defile." When he got home away from the crowd
his disciples questioned him about the parable.
He said to them,
"Are even you likewise without understanding?
Do you not realize that everything
that goes into a person from outside cannot defile,
since it enters not the heart but the stomach
and passes out into the latrine?"
(Thus he declared all foods clean.)
"But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him.
From within the man, from his heart,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile." | Daily Meditation: Genesis 2:4-9, 15-17 The Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground. (Genesis 2:7) You might think the Bible is one book, and it is. But in another way, it's like a library. Some books are historical narrative. Some are poetry. Some are wise sayings. Some are prophetic. All of them have been inspired by God to reveal himself to us. So when we read the Bible, we need to pay attention to what type of passage we're reading. Even more important, we need to consider how God might be using that passage, and the way it was written, to speak to us. The Book of Genesis uses stories and prayers and poetry to describe God's work in his people before they became slaves in Egypt. Take today's creation story, for example. It describes God reaching down and making man from the clay of the ground. He breathes his own life into the man and places him in a beautiful garden with the command to care for it. So what does this story tell us about God and our relationship with him? God is intimately involved in our lives (Genesis 2:7). He is not aloof and doesn't stay far off from us. He "gets his hands dirty," grabbing a handful of clay to form it into his very own son or daughter. God breathes life into each one of us (Genesis 2:7). It's God's own breath that brings us to life. We are not merely material beings. We are infused with God's own Spirit, his breath of life. Yes, we are dependent on him for our most basic physical needs, but his breath of life also opens us up to the spiritual realities of heaven. God has a plan for us, and it involves "taking care" (Genesis 2:15). God placed the man and woman in the garden to cultivate it. That means that they, and by extension each one of us, has a purpose. And it's something outside ourselves, a calling to take care of something or someone else. Because by giving of ourselves, we grow in loving as God loves. How blessed we are—God has given us an entire "library" in the Bible, and he speaks to us on every page! "Heavenly Father, thank you for your word, the Bible. Help me listen to what you have to say today." Psalm 104:1-2, 27-30
Mark 7:14-23 | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being." What does all this mean? Some protestants take all of Genesis as literal form of writing but it is not merely literal....it is much more...deep. Because then He goes on to talk about a tree of life and a tree of wisdom and knowledge. Where are those literal trees today? You see, you can't literalize one thing and not the other! This book in the bible is to make us realize the spiritual aspects of God in man, the very breath of the winds over the ocean, now being breathed into man, and this life given into the nostrils is a life in the Spirit of God. We are to be formed into His image, beautiful, independent and dependent beings. It gets amazing because in speaking of these beings, you are one of them, unique and designed actually for God! His very own child. | We pray today:
"If you take away their breath, they perish and return to their dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. O bless the Lord, my soul!" | In the Gospel today we heard:
"Hear me, all of you, and understand.
Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;
but the things that come out from within are what defile." In much like the same tone as yesterday's Gospel, we have to realize that we are the ones who make things "bad". God didn't make "bad things", we made them, even original sin was brought about Adam and Even by stepping into the forbidden fruit, which involves serpents and serpents that take the form of body parts and body parts becoming swollen and give pain to woman and then a life of pain comes about, all because of original sin.
Good news is, we now know, we aren't all about sin. Our Lord designed us actually to be holy and pure saints, but we have knowledge of our frailties, and now we must deal with them accordingly if we are to achieve original purity, holiness, things that make us saints of God, that is, true children of God our Father. | (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
"But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him.
From within the man, from his heart,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile." And aren't these the things we see mostly darkening the world? Greed? Adultery? Sex outside of marriage? Evil thoughts? Impurity? Robberies everywhere? Murders rampant and the news loves it? Arrogance, especially against Christians? People trying to be sexy? Envious people? Laziness, and living a life of luxury? Lies?
How can we be that fish that swims against the current? We can live opposite of darkness. We can live a life of light.
From one bad to the good:
Greed to Giving.
Adultery to fidelity.
Bad thoughts to holy thoughts.
Impurity to purity.
Death to life.
Dressing modest and living modestly.
From Envy to humility, meaning living joy at others doing good. It's not that complicated to live a life of return...to the Father, of giving Glory to Him by being fruitful. What fruit? Fruits of love, the ones that take great sacrifice to present to Our Father in Heaven.
And it is happening now, in your very life. The harvest is over abundant.
Be not afraid. You have been given what is necessary to give to God the life of love and the love of life. ....†....
Lord, that I may see Thee happy, Your smile would light up the rest of my life.
.......... |  click to hear | Random Bible Verse 1
2 Corinthians 3:4–6 [2 Corinthians 3] 4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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