†Saint Quote
"If you truly want to help the soul of your neighbor, you should approach God first with all your heart. Ask him simply to fill you with charity, the greatest of all virtues; with it you can accomplish what you desire."
–St. Vincent Ferrer †Today's Meditation
"I see my Jesus, exhausted and degraded in the dust, prostrate before the face of His heavenly Father. Looking upon His beloved Son, God perceived all the crimes of sacrilege, manslaughter, perjury, etc., and He saw the capital sins, the mortal sins, venial sins, the perfidy, and unfaithfulness of souls favored with the grace of being chosen by God. Consequently, our sweetest Lord endured a double martyrdom; one, of His entire being; the other, a martyrdom of love since He felt rejected by His Father."
—Mother Raohael Lubowidzka of the sweetest Heart of Jesus, CSFN, p. An Excerpt From
100 Holy Hours for Women †Daily Verse
"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few."
–Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 |  click to read more | | St. Vincent Ferrer St. Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419) was born in Valentia, Spain, the son of a knight. From his parents he learned virtue and generosity to the poor. As a child he fasted every Wednesday and Friday and was tenderly devoted to the Passion of Christ and the Blessed Mother. He excelled in his studies and joined the Dominican Order with the support of his parents. He flourished in both austerity and scholarship, and became famous for performing more miracles than any other saint. His miracle-working powers began in the womb with the healing of a blind woman who touched his mother's pregnant belly. He began a preaching career across Europe that continued for twenty years. He was followed by a train of priests, nuns, penitents, and pilgrims that numbered in the thousands. When he arrived in a village his retinue would set up camp, and St. Vincent would preach to great crowds on the subjects of sin, death, heaven, and hell. He would also celebrate Mass and hear confessions daily. He slept on the floor and maintained a perpetual fast. Twice a day the "Bell of Miracles" was rung when all the sick and infirm were brought to him for cures; it was not unusual for him to perform one hundred miracles in a day. He also made scores of converts among the Muslims and Jews. St. Vincent believed that he was a special messenger of penance sent by God to prepare men for the final judgment; at that time the Black Death was ravaging across Europe killing millions, and the Great Schism was rending the Church in two. Through him multitudes were brought to penance and conversion. St. Vincent Ferrer's feast day is April 5th. | Wednesday of Holy Week Reading 1 Is 50:4-9a The Lord GOD has given me
a well-trained tongue,
That I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear;
And I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
My face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting. The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who upholds my right;
if anyone wishes to oppose me,
let us appear together.
Who disputes my right?
Let him confront me.
See, the Lord GOD is my help;
who will prove me wrong? Responsorial Psalm Ps 69:8-10, 21-22, 31 and 33-34 R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother's sons,
because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak,
I looked for sympathy, but there was none;
for consolers, not one could I find.
Rather they put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving:
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not."
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me. Verse Before the Gospel Hail to you, our King;
you alone are compassionate with our errors.
Or
Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father;
you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter. Gospel Mt 26:14-25 One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot,
went to the chief priests and said,
"What are you willing to give me
if I hand him over to you?"
They paid him thirty pieces of silver,
and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
the disciples approached Jesus and said,
"Where do you want us to prepare
for you to eat the Passover?"
He said,
"Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,
'The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near;
in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.""'
The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered,
and prepared the Passover. When it was evening,
he reclined at table with the Twelve.
And while they were eating, he said,
"Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."
Deeply distressed at this,
they began to say to him one after another,
"Surely it is not I, Lord?"
He said in reply,
"He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me
is the one who will betray me.
The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
It would be better for that man if he had never been born."
Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply,
"Surely it is not I, Rabbi?"
He answered, "You have said so."
| Daily Meditation: John 13:21-33, 36-38 Judas . . . left at once. (John 13:30) Just as yesterday's Gospel did, today's Gospel shows us two different characters, this time Judas and Peter, and their roles in Jesus' passion. Neither story goes well: Judas betrays the Lord, while Peter denies even knowing him. Later, when he realized what he had done, Judas "deeply regretted" having sold out the Lord (Matthew 27:3). And when Peter faced up to his act of denial, he "began to weep bitterly" (26:75). But as similar as their stories are, they end very differently. Judas gave in to despair, but Peter found hope through Jesus' mercy. What made the difference? We can make one observation: Judas separated himself from the apostles, while Peter did not. Imagine Judas alone, his betrayal playing over and over in his mind, distressing him so much that perhaps he forgot that the whole reason Jesus came was to offer sinners forgiveness and mercy. Peter, meanwhile, stayed with the other disciples. They all felt lost after having abandoned the Lord, so Peter fit right in with them. Together they could share their feelings of shame, disappointment, grief, and fear. And by leaning on each other, they probably found that the pain was more bearable. So when the risen Lord appeared to the apostles and took Peter aside for a bit, Peter was more open to receiving the forgiveness the Lord so generously offered. Of course, Jesus could have focused on Peter's cowardice and his failure to stand up for him. But instead, he reminded Peter of how much he loved him, and he urged him to spend his energy following him and caring for the others (John 21:1-19). Like Peter, you have a group—the Church! It's not perfect, just as the apostles weren't perfect. But it's ready to support you and hold you in prayer. It's where you can join other believers who are seeking healing, holiness, and a closer relationship with Jesus. It's the place where you can experience the prayer and loving concern of brothers and sisters in the Lord—and where you can offer the same compassion and prayer. How blessed we are to be called together by Christ! "Jesus, thank you for giving us each other. Lord, teach us how to live together in your love!" Isaiah 49:1-6
Psalm 71:1-6, 15, 17 |  click to hear 2cents | Listen to my2cents audio. Share the link if you like:
Click to hear it | "From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, That I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear..."_ end of verse. Every morning, my focus on this daily reflection has been tested. Lots of distractions. I'm fasting for you. And problems keep coming that need answers. From church, to work, to family. How can one handle so many things? Morning after morning he opens my hear that I may hear. I've only to stop...and listen. | We pray today:
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, may your hearts revive! For the LORD hears the poor, and his own who are in bonds he spurns not." Lord, in your great love, answer me." end of Psalm. | In the Gospel today we heard: "On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said,
"Where do you want us to prepare
for you to eat the Passover?" end of verse. The entirety of salvation is culminating in Holy Week, all the actions of our Lord have meaning. | From Bishop Barron today:
"Friends, in today's Gospel, Jesus asks his disciples to go into Jerusalem and prepare a Passover supper.
At the heart of the Passover meal was the eating of a lamb, which had been sacrificed, in remembrance of the lambs of the original Passover, whose blood had been smeared on the doorposts of the Israelites' homes in Egypt. Making his Last Supper a Passover meal, Jesus was signaling the fulfillment of John the Baptist's prophecy that he, Jesus, would be the Lamb of God and the definitive sacrifice.
This sacrifice is made in sacrament present at every Mass—not for the sake of God, who has no need of it, but for our sake. In the Mass, we participate in the act by which divinity and humanity are reconciled, and we eat the sacrificed body and drink the poured-out blood of the Lamb of God" end quote from Bishop Barron.
. . . . .
The other day we heard about Judas betraying our Lord. But since then, I've gone to daily Mass, and I've reflected. And now, I'm beginning to get a weird feeling on how things may have went down in this poor man's soul: That somewhere in his heart, and his mind, he thought his stealing was not that bad, and he had "good" reason to do something bad. This is why I said yesterday, that we do not understand the gravity of sin. We do not have a well formed consciousness when we allow any type of sin to thrive in our hearts...like not holding our tongue, like when belittle another person, or just judge them without even a second thought. These things are things to be reckoned with. Did we not hear today scripture say: "...Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few."_ from Ecclesiastes 5?
I digress.
We are about to enter the Passover tomorrow, and it will usher in the most important gift from Heaven...Jesus himself, on a cross but first in the Bread, turned into His Body. He put Himself into the consecrated Eucharist before His physical body was tortured to death.
And this keeps us alive in our faith. It is then...everything. Let's pray:
...†...
Lord, that I may love You with everything I got, especially in the Most Holy Eucharist, Your very Body, blood, soul and divinity! |  Hear it click | Random Bible Verse 1
Psalm 30:5 "For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime.1 Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning." | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
