†Saint Quote
"Keep the joy of loving God in your heart and share this joy with all you meet, especially your family. Be holy."
–St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta †Today's Meditation
"At the foot of the Cross, Mary witnessed the conversion of the good thief, and her soul rejoiced that he had accepted the will of God. Her Divine Son's second word, promising paradise as a reward for that surrender, reminded her of her own second word thirty yeas before, when the angel had appeared to her and told her that she was to be the Mother of Him who was now dying on he Cross…The second word of Jesus on Golgotha [Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise] and the second word of Mary in Nazareth [Be it done to me according to thy word] teach the same lesson: Everyone in the world has a cross, but the cross is not the same for any two of us. The cross of the thief was not the cross of Mary. The difference was due to God's will toward each. The thief was to give life: Mary to accept life. The Thief was to hang on his cross, Mary was to stand beneath hers. The thief was to go ahead; Mary to remain behind. The thief received a dismissal; Mary received a mission. The thief was to be received into paradise, but paradise was to be received into Mary."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen, p. 104
An Excerpt From
The Cries of Jesus From the Cross †Daily Verse
"For through the law I died to the law, that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me." –Galatians 2:19- |  click to read more | | St. Rafqa / Rebecca St. Rafqa / Rafka (Arabic for Rebecca) (1832–1914) was born in Himlaya, a Maronite village in the Lebanese mountains. She was an only child, and her mother died when she was seven. After her father's remarriage there was much family discord as to whom Rafqa should marry. Not wanting to wed any of the men in question, she turned to God and entered religious life at the age of 21. She had a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary which she learned from her mother. She studied and served as a teacher for many years, but, after witnessing and surviving a massacre of Christians, she decided at the age of 39 to become a cloistered contemplative nun living under a strict rule in a monastery. Here, Rafqa prayed earnestly that she might share in the sufferings of Christ. Her prayers were heard almost immediately. She became blind and paralyzed, and over the course of 30 years she struggled with deteriorating health and incredible pain. All of her sufferings she united to the sufferings of Christ without complaint. Under obedience to her superior she worked on an autobiography near the end of her life. She died at the age of 82, and her grave is credited with many miracles. St. Rafqa is a Catholic Maronite saint canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in 2001. She is the patron of sick people, bodily ills, and loss of parents. Her feast day is March 23rd. | Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent Reading 1 Ex 32:7-14
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The LORD said to Moses,
"Go down at once to your people
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt,
for they have become depraved.
They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them,
making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it,
sacrificing to it and crying out,
'This is your God, O Israel,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt!'
The LORD said to Moses,
"I see how stiff-necked this people is.
Let me alone, then,
that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them.
Then I will make of you a great nation." But Moses implored the LORD, his God, saying,
"Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people,
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt
with such great power and with so strong a hand?
Why should the Egyptians say,
'With evil intent he brought them out,
that he might kill them in the mountains
and exterminate them from the face of the earth'?
Let your blazing wrath die down;
relent in punishing your people.
Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel,
and how you swore to them by your own self, saying,
'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky;
and all this land that I promised,
I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.'"
So the LORD relented in the punishment
he had threatened to inflict on his people. Responsorial Psalm Ps 106:19-20, 21-22, 23 R. (4a) Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Our fathers made a calf in Horeb
and adored a molten image;
They exchanged their glory
for the image of a grass-eating bullock.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
terrible things at the Red Sea.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Then he spoke of exterminating them,
but Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach
to turn back his destructive wrath.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people. Verse Before the Gospel Jn 3:16 God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life. Gospel Jn 5:31-47 Jesus said to the Jews:
"If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true.
But there is another who testifies on my behalf,
and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true.
You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth.
I do not accept human testimony,
but I say this so that you may be saved.
He was a burning and shining lamp,
and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light.
But I have testimony greater than John's.
The works that the Father gave me to accomplish,
these works that I perform testify on my behalf
that the Father has sent me.
Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf.
But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form,
and you do not have his word remaining in you,
because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent.
You search the Scriptures,
because you think you have eternal life through them;
even they testify on my behalf.
But you do not want to come to me to have life. "I do not accept human praise;
moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you.
I came in the name of my Father,
but you do not accept me;
yet if another comes in his own name,
you will accept him.
How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another
and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?
Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father:
the one who will accuse you is Moses,
in whom you have placed your hope.
For if you had believed Moses,
you would have believed me,
because he wrote about me.
But if you do not believe his writings,
how will you believe my words?" | DAILY MEDITATION: JOHN 5:31-47
I say this so that you may be saved. (John 5:34) Sometimes Jesus' words make people uncomfortable. In today's Gospel, for example, he calls out the people who don't believe in him. He says that some of them think they have a special "in" with God. They are so focused on interpreting the Scriptures that they can't see that God is standing right in front of them in the person of Jesus (John 5:39-40). If Jesus sounds overly critical to us, we may be missing the message of God's love that is always at the core of his words. So let's see if we can find that message. One way that God showed his love was by preparing his people for Jesus' coming. Through the words of Scripture and prophets like John the Baptist, he urged them to "prepare the way of the Lord" (Isaiah 40:3; see John 5:33-35, 46-47). Jesus' miracles also testified to his divine power (John 5:36). Another way that God showed his love—and continues to do so—was by revealing truth through Jesus. Jesus spoke very bluntly to the people because he wanted to make that truth very clear to them, and to us. He wants us to be aware of our sins and how they can separate us from God: "I say this so that you may be saved" (John 5:34). His desire isn't to punish us, but to lead us into a deeper relationship with his Father so that we will want to serve and follow him. Jesus gave us these proofs of his love in today's Gospel to help us understand and embrace who he is and what he came to do for us. It can be challenging to keep the flame of faith alive in our hearts, and if Jesus' words shake us up a bit, that can be a good thing. Sometimes we need him to fan the flame so that our faith burns more brightly and so that we can think and act more like him in this world. So if this passage is a little hard to hear, look at it as an ever-present call from your loving Father, who is always trying to reach you. Always—always—look for the love that is at the heart of every one of God's messages. And let that love fill your heart and change you. "Jesus, your word is always true and good and beautiful. Open my heart to receive the love you have for me today." Exodus 32:7-14
Psalm 106:19-23 |  click to hear 2cents | Listen to my2cents audio. Share the link if you like: Click to hear it | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"So the LORD relented in the punishment
he had threatened to inflict on his people." The Lord relented...changed his mind on severe punishment...and so...would that change me or you? What if I told you that nothing terrible...or more terrible has happened because He has been merciful? Like the other day...that bad thing happened to us...it could've been much worse! Right? We should live thankful. We should give thanks and love the Lord our God more for it....right? | We pray today:
_"They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
terrible things at the Red Sea. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people | In the Gospel today we heard our Lord:
"Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf.
But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form,
and you do not have his word remaining in you,
because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent." gospel of John. We don't hear the Father because what? We dot believe in the one He sent!
Because God speaks through our Lord who sees and does as the Father sees and does.
The whole purpose of Lent is to leave behind what keeps us from moving forward towards God our Father.
Lent ends in a crucified body...that rises up to the Father. | From Bishop Barron today:
"Friends, in today's Gospel, Jesus establishes his authority for his words and actions.
You will recall that when at the outset of his ministry the Lord spoke in the synagogue at Capernaum, what first got the attention of the crowd was not what he said but the manner in which he said it. What did they notice? "The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes."
We might miss this, but the relevant point is that rabbis and scribes taught through appeal to authorities beyond themselves, ultimately to the authority of Moses. But Jesus did not speak in this manner; rather, he spoke with exousia (authority).
What is being implied is that the Word, which spoke to Moses, and through Moses to every other teacher in Israel, is now speaking on his own authority. Don't believe those who say that the divinity of Jesus is affirmed only in the prologue of the Gospel of John. This passage is, for a Jewish audience, just as clear an affirmation of Jesus' divinity as John's "the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." end Quote Bishop Barron.
. . . .
Our Lord says athend of the gospel today:
"For if you had believed Moses,
you would have believed me,
because he wrote about me.
But if you do not believe his writings,
how will you believe my words?"
End Quote. Let's pray:
....†.... LORD You are the living Word. May You live inside of me. May Your holy will be done!
.......... |  Hear it click | Wow! Random Bible Verse 1
2 Samuel 7:28 " And now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant" | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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