†Saint Quote
"The last degree of love is when He gave Himself to us to be our Food; because He gave Himself to be united with us in every way."
–St. Bernardine of Siena †Today's Meditation
"Know this: just as the wood of the ark saved the just from drowning, so too, by the mystery of His wooden Cross, does Christ, the Church's God and King, save us from drowning in the sea of this world. In the symbol of a thing made of wood He gave human beings a foreshadowing of both the judgment to come and the salvation of the just."
—St. Augustine, p.136 An Excerpt From
Augustine Day by Day †Daily Verse
"My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."
–Proverbs 2:1-5 |  click to read more | | St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen (1577-1622) was born with the name Mark Rey in what is today Germany. He studied and taught law and became known for his charity, austerities, and great devotion to God. He gained a reputation for being "the poor man's lawyer" because of his concern for the helpless. He eventually left his profession to become a Capuchin Franciscan friar and priest, taking the religious name "Fidelis," meaning "faithful." His work as a friar was fraught with danger. He lived during the Counter-Reformation, a time of great religious, cultural, and political upheaval in Western Europe. He zealously defended the teaching of the Catholic Church against the Protestant heretics. He wrote many pamphlets against Calvinism and Zwinglianism, and even traveled to Switzerland to preach against the Calvinists both in the pulpits and the public square. His untiring efforts to bring souls back to the Church was so successful that he became a threat to the heretic preachers. One day his preaching provoked a mob that confronted him and demanded he renounce his Catholic faith upon pain of death. He replied, "I came to extirpate heresy, not to embrace it," after which he was bludgeoned to death. Many miracles led to his canonization in the following century. | Acts 6:8-15 Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people. Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyreneans, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. Then they instigated some men to say, "We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God." They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, accosted him, seized him, and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They presented false witnesses who testified, "This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him claim that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us." All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel. Psalm 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30 R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or R. Alleluia.
Though princes meet and talk against me,
your servant meditates on your statutes.
Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors. R.
I declared my ways, and you answered me;
teach me your statutes.
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds. R.
Remove from me the way of falsehood,
and favor me with your law.
The way of truth I have chosen;
I have set your ordinances before me. R.
Gospel Acclamation Alleluia, alleluia.
One does not live on bread alone
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. Mt 4:4b
Alleluia, alleluia. John 6:22-29 [After Jesus had fed the five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the sea.] The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat, but only his disciples had left. Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks. When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" Jesus answered them and said, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal." So they said to him, "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent." | Daily Meditation: Acts 6:8-15 His face was like the face of an angel. (Acts 6:15) "Filled with grace and power" and "working great wonders and signs," Stephen surely made an impression on people (Acts 6:8)! He was so inspiring that no one who debated with him could "withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke" (6:10). Not even the men of the Sanhedrin could ignore his angelic countenance (6:15). That's how stunningly obvious it was! But why was Stephen's face glowing at a time when he must have clearly known that his life was in danger? Perhaps it was because Stephen believed that he had nothing to fear. Jesus had triumphed over sin and death, and now Stephen—like every other believer—knew that he had been raised with Christ. He knew that his own death would usher him into the kingdom of God. That truth filled him with hope and joy and caused him to proclaim the gospel fearlessly. We probably don't walk around looking like angels, but because of Jesus' resurrection, we can have the same hope and joy that Stephen had. In Baptism, we, too, have been raised with Christ, so we don't have to be controlled by the fear of death—or of anything else, for that matter. Because whatever difficulties we encounter in this life, we know that one day we will be ushered into God's kingdom and see our Lord face-to-face. Of course, that doesn't mean we won't experience fear from time to time. It just means that fear doesn't have to dictate how we approach life. Because we know this world is passing away, we don't have to fear losing the things this world values so highly. Because we believe in God's mercy, we don't have to worry that we won't be forgiven when we fail. And because we believe in life after death, we can cling to the hope that we will one day be reunited with our loved ones who have gone before us. You might never proclaim the gospel as forcefully as Stephen did. But as you live your life without being controlled by fear, you'll become a witness to the world of the hope of Jesus' resurrection and of life everlasting just the same. "Jesus, thank you for the promise of eternal life. May it dispel all my fears." Psalm 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30
John 6:22-29 | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
" "This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him claim that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us." end quote. St. Stephen, pray for us so that we too can never stop talking about our Lord and His laws and His ways, His holy desires. | We pray today:
"Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Though princes meet and talk against me,
your servant meditates on your statutes.
Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors" | In the Gospel today we heard: "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent." | From Bishop Barron today:
"Friends, in today's Gospel, the crowd that experienced the miracle of the loaves pursues Jesus to see more wonders. They finally track him down in the synagogue in the lakeside town of Capernaum.
When they ask Jesus how he had got there ahead of them, the Lord chides them: "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life."
Ordinary bread satisfies only physical longing, and it does so in a transient way: one eats and one must eat soon again. But the heavenly bread, Jesus implies, satisfies the deepest longing of the heart, and does so by adapting the one who eats it to eternal life. The Church Fathers loved to ruminate on this theme of divinization through the Eucharist, the process by which the consumption of the bread of life readies one for life in the eternal dimension." end quote Bishop Barron.
. . . . . . . . This is the work of God, that you, my child, believe in the one He sent!
Do you believe in Him? That He is the way out of here?
That He is the Way to live?
That He is the very key to life?
That He is trustworthy?
What does it mean to believe? It means you also do what He says! Right? Let's do what He says. What does He say?
What has He said to you lately?
" you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you". end quote.
We lose focus, and we lose focus quick, don't we?
If we only knew the secrets of God's heart.
Why not go there now? Let's pray:
...†....
Lord, Your wish is my desire...because I love You, not because I owe You, but because, I'm beginning to love You more, the more I get to know You. My faith grows in Love of Thee. | Random Bible Verse 1
Hebrews 13:15 "Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name." | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
