†Saint Quote
"It is a lesson we all need—to let alone the things that do not concern us. He has other ways for others to follow Him; all do not go by the same path. It is for each of us to learn the path by which He requires us to follow Him, and to follow Him in that path."
–St. Katharine Drexel †Today's Meditation
"To [the Holy Spirit], the most delicate, vulnerable, and precious one in God, we must open ourselves up, without defensiveness, without thinking that we know better, without hardening ourselves, so that we may undergo initiation by Him into the Mystery that God is love. Let us not imagine that we already know this ourselves! "In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and send His Son to be the expiation for our sins" (I Jn 4:10). The spirit alone teaches us this reversal of perspective, but through Him we can really learn what, in His view, love is."
—Hans Urs Von Balthasar, p.72
An Excerpt From
Credo: Meditations on the Apostles' Creed †Daily Verse
"Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
–Ephesians 3:20-21 |  click to read more | | St. Patrick of Ireland St. Patrick (387-493) was born in Kilpatrick, Scotland, to Roman-British parents. He was kidnapped by Irish raiders at the age of sixteen and sold as a slave to a Druid high priest. He worked as a shepherd and spent much time in prayer as he labored in the fields. He also acquired a perfect knowledge of the Celtic language and the Druid cult, which later enabled him to evangelize the Celtic people. After six years of slavery, an angel told him to flee his oppressive master and return to his native land. Upon returning to Britain, Patrick desired to devote himself to God's service. He went to France and placed himself under the direction of St. Germain, who ordained him a priest and sent him to evangelize the pagans in Ireland. St. Patrick devoted the rest of his life to converting the island to Christianity. He was ordained a bishop and himself ordained many priests. He divided the country into dioceses, held local Church councils, founded monasteries, and urged the people to greater holiness. He suffered much opposition from the Druids and occult magicians, who, threatened by Christianity, conjured demonic power to defy Patrick. However, the prayer, faith, fearlessness, and episcopal authority of Patrick triumphed, and he was so successful in his endeavor that in the Middle Ages Ireland became known as the Land of Saints, and himself the "Apostle of Ireland." Later, the missionaries sent from Ireland to Europe were largely responsible for the Christianizing of the continent. St. Patrick's feast day is March 17th | Friday of the Third Week of Lent
Lectionary: 241 Reading 1 Hos 14:2-10 Thus says the LORD:
Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;
you have collapsed through your guilt.
Take with you words,
and return to the LORD;
Say to him, "Forgive all iniquity,
and receive what is good, that we may render
as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.
Assyria will not save us,
nor shall we have horses to mount;
We shall say no more, 'Our god,'
to the work of our hands;
for in you the orphan finds compassion." I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;
for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots.
His splendor shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again they shall dwell in his shade
and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine,
and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols?
I have humbled him, but I will prosper him.
"I am like a verdant cypress tree"–
Because of me you bear fruit! Let him who is wise understand these things;
let him who is prudent know them.
Straight are the paths of the LORD,
in them the just walk,
but sinners stumble in them. Responsorial Psalm Ps 81:6c-8a, 8bc-9, 10-11ab, 14 and 17 R. (see 11 and 9a) I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
An unfamiliar speech I hear:
"I relieved his shoulder of the burden;
his hands were freed from the basket.
In distress you called, and I rescued you."
R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
"Unseen, I answered you in thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Hear, my people, and I will admonish you;
O Israel, will you not hear me?"
R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
"There shall be no strange god among you nor shall you worship any alien god.
I, the LORD, am your God
who led you forth from the land of Egypt."
R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
"If only my people would hear me,
and Israel walk in my ways,
I would feed them with the best of wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would fill them
."
R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice. Verse Before the Gospel Mt 4:17 Repent, says the Lord;
the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Gospel Mk 12:28-34 One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
"Which is the first of all the commandments?"
Jesus replied, "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these."
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
"You are not far from the Kingdom of God."
And no one dared to ask him any more questions. | Daily Meditation: Mark 12:28-34 You are not far from the Kingdom of God. (Mark 12:34) How deeply Jesus must have loved and respected this student of the Mosaic law! He could tell that this man had spent many hours reading and pondering Scripture and debating this one central question with fellow scribes: what is the most important of God's commandments? In his answer, Jesus drove right to the heart of the issue. Love is the answer. Love God wholeheartedly, which naturally involves loving yourself and loving your neighbor. The scribe approved of Jesus' answer, and Jesus approved of him. It's easy to imagine Jesus smiling as he said, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God" (Mark 12:34). Jesus smiles at each of us when we show by our actions that we also grasp what is at the heart of God's commands. To each of us, he says, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." We may think that being "not far" from the kingdom means that we are only a step or two away from entering heaven, but the truth is, God's kingdom is all around us. And that means that we can taste its goodness every time we try to love the Lord and our neighbor. Here are some examples: • When you offer your day to God as soon as you get out of bed, you aren't far from the kingdom of God. • When you forgive the family member who slights you, you aren't far from the kingdom of God. • When you stop off at church during lunch and spend five minutes before the Blessed Sacrament, you aren't far from the kingdom of God. • When your coworker mentions a need in her family, and you promise to pray for that need—or even offer to pray with her—you aren't far from the kingdom of God. • When you stop what you're doing yet again to comfort your child during a thunderstorm, you aren't far from the kingdom of God. • When you remember that your friend's spouse died on this date last year and you pray for him and call to check in on him, you aren't far from the kingdom of God. God's kingdom is a lot closer than we often realize. It's only a matter of living in his love. "Jesus, thank you for bringing your kingdom to earth!" Hosea 14:2-10
Psalm 81:6-11, 14, 17 | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"Let him who is wise understand these things;
let him who is prudent know them. Straight are the paths of the LORD, in them the just walk,
but sinners stumble in them." Straight is His path...straight up to the cross of Holiness. Can you meet Him there? Yes. You are given grace, sufficent grace to meet Him. But what keeps us from that encounter? We get sidetracked. We get distracted. Lent is helping us stay straight on the path. And this is a narrow path. Not easy to stay on...if we get distracted, with smoke and mirrors, tricks of temptatioins. Lord help us. | We pray today:
" I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
"If only my people would hear me, and Israel walk in my ways, I would feed them with the best of wheat, and with honey from the rock I would fill them" | In the Gospel today we heard our Lord:
"Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." So tell me my child, do you believe God is God alone and there is no other?
Let's take a deeper look.
my child, do you love your God with all your heart? If you do, then, He should be at the top of your list of all you love, no other thing, no other person, no other fantasy, no other desires. So tell me my child, do you love Him with all your soul? The very core of your being?
So tell me my child, do you love Him with all your mind? Or do you worry more than anything. Or is your mind preoccupied with other issues. Is your mind not at ease. Remember, His burden is light. His burden is easy. Does this make sense? It means to first worry about God's business and stop getting into everyone else's business. It means that your mind should put God first before all other business. Do you not remember the 12 year old Jesus our Lord saying to his worried mom and dad, "did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" So tell me my child, do you love our God, our Father, with all your strength? How can I? Mental strength. Physical strength. Spiritual strength. With all your might they say. Don't have enough? Really, all this strength is strengthened, if you ask for it, if you allow Him to be strength. Once someone asked me how I do it, to do so much. To me, I'm not doing enough. And my answer? The Eucharist. There, in Him is all my might, and strength. Want time to slow down? Spend time with Him. My days without Him go fast, like vapors in the wind...lost, and invisible. God is my strength. He is actually....you ready for this? He is everything. | "The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love others like yourself? What does that mean? Does it mean to treat others as you would like to be treated? Be that love you don't see. Others aren't treating you nice? Be nice to them! It will be like heaping coals on their fury, but you have to show them how you would like to be treated. Can you do that though my child? Someone just insulted you, and boy it hurt! But can you return the insult with grace? Jesus does. Once they struck Him to the face, punched Him across the face...the face of God! And what did He do? He turned the cheek. Once He asked "why do you strike me, if I'm saying the truth?" Does the truth hurt my child? Love hurts. Jesus is hurting today. Sin hurts Him. Turning away from Him, hurts Him.
So how can we love others as self? This is how I love others...I try to remember, that Jesus, our Lord, can be hiding in anybody, at any given point in time. This is scary, because it is true. He can disguise Himself, for He lives in the Spirit. In a stranger. In a person next to you. In family. It would be better to err in love, to love beyond measure. And this is what the second commandment means, to love neighbor with all your mind, heart, soul, and strength...and this is to will the good of the other. And this is to do God's will. You will be given enough and more, to give to others. So do not be afraid to givemy child, give love, give til it hurts. Love is how Heaven operates...and it starts here and now. ....†....
Lord, I desire love of Heaven to let the world know Heaven exists...where love exists, where You God our Father exist...forever.
.......... |  Hear it click | Random Bible Verse 1
Proverbs 10:12 12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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