†Saint Quote
"Would that I could exhaust myself in acts of thanksgiving and gratitude towards this Divine Heart, for the great favor He shows us, in deigning to accept our help to make Him known, loved and honored; He reserves infinite blessings for all those who devote themselves to this work."
–St. Margaret Mary Alacoque †Today's Meditation
"Oh, how sweet and pleasant to that soul and to Me is holy prayer, made in the house of knowledge of self and of Me, opening the eye of the intellect to the light of faith, and the affections to the abundance of My charity, which was made visible to you, through My visible Only-begotten Son, who showed it to you with His blood! Which blood inebriates the soul and clothes her with the fire of divine charity, giving her the food of the Sacrament . . . that is to say, the food of the Body and Blood of My Son, wholly God and wholly man, administered to you by the hand of My vicar, who holds the key of the Blood."
—St. Catherine of Siena, p. 92 An Excerpt From
Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena †Daily Verse
"[I pray that you] may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
–Ephesians 3:18-19 |  click to read more | | St. Colette St. Colette (1381-1447) was born in Picardy, France, the daughter of a poor carpenter who served the local Benedictine abbey. Her parents conceived her in their old age after praying to St. Nicholas for a child, naming Colette after him. She became well known for her faith and spiritual wisdom from a young age. After the death of her parents she joined the Third Order of St. Francis and became a hermit. She led a life of asceticism and solitude until a dream revealed that God willed her to reform the Poor Clares. She obeyed and joined the Poor Clares in 1406. Her mission of reformation was sanctioned by Benedict XIII of Avignon (the anti-pope) who appointed her superior of each of the convents she reformed. Despite resistance from within the Poor Clares, she successfully reformed several existing convents and founded 17 new ones dedicated to a stricter observance of the Poor Clares, known as the Colettines. She experienced visions and ecstasies of Christ's Passion, and even prophesied her own death. Through her life's work, St. Colette's reformation breathed new life into the Poor Clares and created a lasting model of spirituality. St. Colette's feast day is March 6th.
Find a Devotional for This Saint | Monday of the Second Week in Lent Reading 1 Dn 9:4b-10 "Lord, great and awesome God,
you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you
and observe your commandments!
We have sinned, been wicked and done evil;
we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws.
We have not obeyed your servants the prophets,
who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes,
our fathers, and all the people of the land.
Justice, O Lord, is on your side;
we are shamefaced even to this day:
we, the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem,
and all Israel, near and far,
in all the countries to which you have scattered them
because of their treachery toward you.
O LORD, we are shamefaced, like our kings, our princes, and our fathers,
for having sinned against you.
But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!
Yet we rebelled against you
and paid no heed to your command, O LORD, our God,
to live by the law you gave us through your servants the prophets." Responsorial Psalm Ps 79:8, 9, 11 and 13 R. (see 103:10a) Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
Remember not against us the iniquities of the past;
may your compassion quickly come to us,
for we are brought very low.
R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
Help us, O God our savior,
because of the glory of your name;
Deliver us and pardon our sins
for your name's sake.
R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
Let the prisoners' sighing come before you;
with your great power free those doomed to death.
Then we, your people and the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
through all generations we will declare your praise.
R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins. Verse Before the Gospel See Jn 6:63c, 68c Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life. Gospel Lk 6:36-38 Jesus said to his disciples:
"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you." | Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:36) Jesus knows well the depths of the human heart; he understands how hard it is for us to show mercy at times, despite our best efforts. Yet he also doesn't ask us to do the impossible. So what would help us to follow Jesus' command to be merciful as his Father is merciful (Luke 6:36)? Just as a picture paints a thousand words, so concrete examples show us what mercy looks like in action. And we have such examples—from Jesus himself in the Gospels. In fact, as Pope St. John Paul II once said, "Jesus himself . . . is mercy" (Dives in Misericordia, 2). For instance, look at how he treated the man with leprosy. With mercy, by healing him (Matthew 8:1-4). How did he treat the woman caught in adultery? With mercy, by forgiving her and by not allowing others to condemn her (John 8:3-11). How did he treat Zacchaeus, the tax collector, who had cheated his fellow Jews out of their hard-earned money? With mercy, by inviting himself to Zacchaeus' house for dinner (Luke 19:1-10). How did he treat the man possessed by a demon, who fell down before him and begged him to leave? By freeing him and then sending him on his way (8:26-39). Again and again, Jesus demonstrated what mercy looks like, acts like, and sounds like. He showed us that mercy encompasses not only forgiveness but also compassion, care, and respect for the dignity of another person. This Lent, take some time to consider how you treat the people you encounter each day, especially those you are closest to. Is there one person whom you find especially challenging to love and relate to? What can you do to show them the mercy of God? How can you love them as Jesus loves them? God sent Jesus to earth so that we could see mercy in the flesh. May we always keep this picture of mercy close to our hearts so that we can become witnesses to the abundant, overflowing, and never-ending mercy of our heavenly Father! "Jesus, you are mercy itself. Help me imitate both you and my heavenly Father by bringing your mercy into my most challenging relationships." Daniel 9:4-10
Psalm 79:8-9, 11, 13 | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
""Lord, great and awesome God, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you and observe your commandments!
We have sinned, been wicked and done evil;" There was a video of a [Muslim] Shaykh that was delivering a lesson in Kuwait when an earthquake struck recently posted on YouTube, and he stopped talking and started praying things like "Allah have mercy on us sinners" and he kept praying the like, about having God's mercy and favor turn to us. It was a heartfelt prayer, and one could sense a good faith. Tons of positive comments were on the video, and this is the exact prayer we are hearing from today's 1st Holy Scripture. We are proclaiming how great and how God is, and we pray for His mercy, especially on us sinners, who have been wicked, and have done much evil, more than we will ever know. This indeed, is a good time to repent, all of us, the whole world. | We pray today:
"Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins. Let the prisoners' sighing come before you; with your great power free those doomed to death. Then we, your people and the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; through all generations we will declare your praise." | In the Gospel today we heard our Lord:
"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." Our Lord is saying, "Be like Your Father".
Be Perfect.
Be merciful.
Be loving.
Not judgemental.
Not condemning. Easy stuff huh? Yeah right! | Bishop Barron said, "Friends, in today's Gospel, Jesus charges us to be merciful and to stop judging others. But we cannot perform such behaviors on our own strength—we need God's assistance." So how do we reach perfection? Perseverance.
How do we be merciful? Start practicing mercy. Forgiving. Having compassion on the needy. And watch out, this could very well be a daily thing! You don't feed the homeless once and then proclaim your good to go! LOL. This is daily! You don't forgive once and that's it! You forgive once and always! Mother Angelica, founder of EWTN and hopefully becomes a saint soon, used to say that your enemies grant you something very few friends or any others could do for you...granting you an opportunity to give mercy, and forgiveness.
This my dear, becomes extremely important... a sign of God's love, a beautiful chance to show God you love Him. And the return to you becomes treasure in Heaven.
If I've learned something critically important in faith, in all my studies, and readings, and revelations...it is to be loving. It is to be the Father Himself by allowing Him to work through us! To do something for others, in the name of Love, in the name of the Father, is beautiful offerings and light and warmth for Heaven...and the earth, our world.
It can save the world, and has through our Lord Jesus the Christ.
He has completely changed the world in faith.
He does not judge like we do. He only refines and tills the earth as a farmer or shepherd would do with flocks at appointed times to make the earth fruitful for God our Father.
It is hard not to judge. I looked at teens in Mass and they were whispering, giggling, restless, not all there in Spirit...right before the Eucharistic Presence of our Lord! A stark difference from the night before, as adults we gathered in Holy Hour Adoration. Boy some righteous anger wanted to boil up inside of me, "HOW DARE YOU!".
But I had to swallow that, and not judge. But I did get on the microphone in choir and called their attention to our Lord, stating how few actually believe in our Lord in the Eucharist.
And I began singing quietly, worship songs. Did it work? Who knows, they still kept on. But I do know what works....seeds. You can never say anything because God knows and sees everything we cannot nor ever may see, as fruitfulness for His Holy Kingdom.
All I can say is that I used to be one of them rowdy kids, my body was there, but my mind was not. Maybe some of my heart was there, but not all.
And that has been my challenge...to Love as I ought, and have been taught. Pray with me:
....†....
Master, Teacher, Rabbi, I've much to learn, help us learn to see and hear everything through Your most Precious and Sacred Heart...of Divine Love and Holy Grace, in purity, and holiness, so that we may shine brightly, in an indifferent world. .......... from your brother Adrian@Going4th.com |  Hear it click | Random Bible Verse 1
James 5:8 "You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand." | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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