†Quote of the Day
"Start by doing what is necessary; then do what is possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
–St. Francis of Assisi †Today's Meditation
"Furthermore, let us produce worthy fruits of penance. Let us also love our neighbors as ourselves. Let us have charity and humility. Let us give alms because these cleanse our souls from the stains of sin. Men lose all the material things they leave behind them in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For these they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve. We must not be wise and prudent according to the flesh. Rather we must be simple, humble and pure. We should never desire to be over others. Instead, we ought to be servants who are submissive to every human being for God's sake. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on all who live in this way and persevere in it to the end. He will permanently dwell in them. They will be the Father's children who do his work. They are the spouses, brothers and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ."
—St. Francis of Assisi, p. 333 An Excerpt From
Witness of the Saints †Daily Verse
"He said to them, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.""
–Mark 16:15-16 |  click to read more | | St. Francis of Assisi St. Francis (1181-1226) was born in Assisi, Italy, to a wealthy cloth merchant. He was a spoiled child given to pleasure, fine dress, liberal spending, and worldliness. Handsome and courteous, he was a favorite among the nobility. As a chivalrous young knight he took part in a battle between the Italian city-states and became a prisoner of war in Perugia. After his release he became seriously ill, and while reflecting on his wanton life he had a profound conversion experience. He gave up his frivolous life, cut off his family ties, and embraced a life of extreme penance and poverty in such a dramatic manner that it caused many to think he had gone mad. While praying before a crucifix in the church of San Damiano in Assisi he received a call from Christ to rebuild the Church, "which had fallen into ruin." St. Francis followed Christ in a radical manner by patterning his new life after the example of the Apostles in the most literal way possible: he dressed as a poor peasant, worked odd jobs for food, and went through the countryside preaching repentance, love of Jesus, and peace. His joyful, radical way of life attracted followers, and with them he founded the Order of Friars Minor and the Poor Clares. His order was approved by the Holy See in 1210 and grew rapidly. Two years before his death he became the first known saint to receive the stigmata. His holiness was so widely attested that only two years after his death the Church proclaimed him a saint. St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of peace, ecology, the environment, animals, Italy, merchants, and families. His feast day is October 4th. | Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi Lectionary: 457
Reading 1 Neh 2:1-8 In the month Nisan of the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,
when the wine was in my charge,
I took some and offered it to the king.
As I had never before been sad in his presence,
the king asked me, "Why do you look sad?
If you are not sick, you must be sad at heart."
Though I was seized with great fear, I answered the king:
"May the king live forever!
How could I not look sad
when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins,
and its gates have been eaten out by fire?"
The king asked me, "What is it, then, that you wish?"
I prayed to the God of heaven and then answered the king:
"If it please the king,
and if your servant is deserving of your favor,
send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors' graves,
to rebuild it."
Then the king, and the queen seated beside him,
asked me how long my journey would take
and when I would return.
I set a date that was acceptable to him,
and the king agreed that I might go. I asked the king further: "If it please the king,
let letters be given to me for the governors
of West-of-Euphrates,
that they may afford me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah;
also a letter for Asaph, the keeper of the royal park,
that he may give me wood for timbering the gates
of the temple-citadel and for the city wall
and the house that I shall occupy."
The king granted my requests,
for the favoring hand of my God was upon me. Responsorial Psalm Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6 R. (6ab) Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!
By the streams of Babylon
we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
On the aspens of that land
we hung up our harps.
R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!
Though there our captors asked of us
the lyrics of our songs,
And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:
"Sing for us the songs of Zion!"
R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!
How could we sing a song of the LORD
in a foreign land?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand be forgotten!
R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!
May my tongue cleave to my palate
if I remember you not,
If I place not Jerusalem
ahead of my joy.
R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you! Alleluia Phil 3:8-9 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I consider all things so much rubbish
that I may gain Christ and be found in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 9:57-62 As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding
on their journey, someone said to him,
"I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus answered him,
"Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."
And to another he said, "Follow me."
But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."
And another said, "I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home."
Jesus answered him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God." | Daily Meditation: Luke 9:57-62 I prayed to the God of heaven. (Nehemiah 2:4) Nehemiah was probably quite comfortable. Although he was a Jew living in Persia, he held a prominent position at the table of King Artaxerxes. He likely lived well and enjoyed the privilege of having the king's ear (Nehemiah 2:2-3). Nehemiah may have been comfortable, but he wasn't content. A faithful Jew, he was descended from those who had been exiled to Babylon at the fall of Jerusalem, but he still lived as a stranger in a strange land. He still longed for the day when he could return to the home of his ancestors. Then came the news that the Jews who had been left behind in Jerusalem were struggling. The city had been reduced to rubble, the Temple was in ruins, and enemy tribes were sowing trouble. Hearing all this, Nehemiah fell to his knees and wept. He spent days in fasting and prayer, seeking God's mercy and the courage to ask the king for help (Nehemiah 1:3-4). When the opportunity arose, he breathed another silent prayer and asked for permission to return home as governor to help the people rebuild (2:4-8). Nehemiah willingly put aside his comfortable life and moved to a city that wasn't his home to govern a people he had never met. And he did it eagerly! Love for the Lord and faith nurtured in prayer compelled him to pour himself out in service to God's people. We all have times when we are confronted with an urgent need as Nehemiah was. Part of us wants to help, but another part would rather stay safe and out of the way. We sense that God wants us involved, but we hold back, whether out of fear or selfishness. That's why prayer is so important. It's in prayer that God can compel us to rise above our own self-interests. In prayer he can give us the courage to step out and minister to someone who is suffering. Overwhelming situations seem to shrink down to size when we come into God's presence, and problems that once seemed unsolvable become more manageable. Our fears diminish, and we feel freer to try something new. And when we do, we may just discover the joy that comes as we become Jesus' hands and feet in the world. "Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will." Psalm 137:1-6
Luke 9:57 | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"The king asked me, "What is it, then, that you wish?"
I prayed to the God of heaven and then answered the king:
"If it please the king, and if your servant is deserving of your favor, send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors' graves, to rebuild it."........" end of verse.
. . . Are you interested in rebuilding the city of God? There's lots of repairs needed! And I'm in a microcosm, a smaller version by working in my own parish. If this is a reflection of the greater whole, then, yes, there is so much work! So come on, take charge, grab some tools, come help rebuild.
And I'm not merely talking physical buildings, but the building up of God's kingdom. | We pray today:
"May my tongue cleave to my palate
if I remember you not,
If I place not Jerusalem
ahead of my joy.
Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!......"_ end of Psalm." Is it right that the Lord says He will never forget you? Even if you are left an orphan, even if your mother forgets you, He will not!
So in the inverse, the question is, how could we ever forget Him? It will be eternally impossible! | In the Gospel today we heard:
"he said, "Follow me."
But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."
And another said, "I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home."
Jesus answered him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God."......" end of Gospel verse. | Excuses. I left the blue daily quote on purpose, because it digs deep, about being fruitful, and how the love of God is implemented as a gift, and this gift is not meant to be hoarded! How blessed are you? Give it away! It is the way of St. Francis, when he stripped himself naked before the bishop to renounce everything, family, riches, his whole life, and they say this is the way he died at 33 years of age maybe what, a good 10 or so years later, with the wounds of Christ bleeding out of his body, and he said to strip him naked to die naked on the floor.
This is a total renunciation of life. Who can do this! It is too much! Isn't it? I like a quote Saint Francis said: "Brother Leo, please listen to me. Above all gifts of the Holy Spirit, that Christ Jesus gives to his friends is the grace to overcome oneself, to accept willingly, out of love for Him, all contempt, all discomfort, all injury, and all suffering."
Overcome oneself! How do we get over ourselves! That's tough! Everyone is so selfish! Heck, even Mr. Holy here writing to you, someone just texted me asking for money for the 100th time, after I bought them over 10 cars in the last 10 years it seems, do you know how that feels? To give over and over and OVER AGAIN AND AGAIN?
It's terrible! At first. LOL.
Like starting an ascetic life I bet. Like taking up a new devotion, how could you ever make time? How can you sacrifice yourself? Your money, your riches, your very life?
Ahh, St. Francis has quote for that too: "Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
Did you know this is the way to pay off all your debts too! I just read/heard and audible book Profit First, that says to pay off little things completely, do what you can, and then work your way on to bigger debts. To do Profit first, you must take out the profit from earning first, not last.
And I thought, this is the same for God's Business, we must tithe, give our percentage to Him first. It's what the Church has always asked! And not demanded! You should see how many truly give tithes, of their very lives! It's probably less than 10%
And this means much.
Because it is true too for our Clergy and Laity (non clergy). There's probably about 10% clergy and the rest is us! What do I mean? I mean there's so very few that give their lives to God for the Gospel. And even fewer like St. Francis...their entire being...their heart.
First comes family? No. No looking back at the plow! The world teaches you the inverse.
No. Our Lord is implying to seek ye first the Kingdom of God, then all other things will fall into the right places.
In other words, if I do not love God first, if I do not love LOVE first, what can I give my family? Money? Time? Time for what? To spend for self? Money to spend on ourselves?
And so, I gave the poor person another $50 as I wrote to you, now very convenient through phone apps. But inconvenient to the greedy heart.
Do we not care that what we give is actually given in Heaven?
A thought hit me, "I'd hate to be let into Heaven, as a forced obligation, instead of being greeted with joy for this great gift". If this makes sense, then we have the same spirit of St. Francis of Assisi ........ Let us pray:
Lord, make me an instrument of Your Love! Your Message! Your life! |  Click To Hear | Random Bible Verse 1
James 1:19–20 [James 1]
Hearing and Doing the Word 19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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