†Quote of the Day
"In the first place it should be known that if a person is seeking God, his beloved is seeking him much more."
–St. John of the Cross †Today's Meditation
"Marriage releases the flesh from its individual selfishness for the service of the family; the vow of chastity releases the flesh not only from the narrow and circumscribed family, where there can still be selfishness, but also for the service of that family that embraces all humanity. That is why the Church asks those who consecrate themselves to the redemption of the world to take a vow and to surrender all selfishness, that they may belong to no one family and yet belong to all. That is why in that larger family of the kingdom of God, the priest is called "Father" —because he has begotten children not in the flesh, but in the spirit."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen, p. 117
An Excerpt From
The Cries of Jesus From the Cross †Daily Verse
"Hark, your watchmen lift up their voice, together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion. Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God."
–Isaiah 52:8 |  click to read more | | St. Joseph of Cupertino St. Joseph of Cupertino (1603-1663) was the son of a poor Italian carpenter. His father died before he was born, leaving his mother destitute. As a result Joseph was underfed and often sick. He was an intellectually dull child who constantly found himself the worse off in every situation. He was awkward, absent-minded, unintelligent, and difficult to be around. Many people thought he was good for nothing–including his own mother, who treated him harshly and considered him a burden. Added to the scorn he received from everyone, at the age of eight he began receiving ecstatic visions for which he was also ridiculed. At the age of seventeen Joseph found work with the Capuchin Franciscan friars, eventually joining their order once they recognized his holiness beneath his irritating demeanor. His ecstasies became more pronounced, and he would often levitate or float as they happened. These ecstasies could be triggered easily through the mention of anything heavenly, or by any mortification. These occurrences became a spectacle and disturbance to others and caused Joseph much suffering; they were a cross he would bear his whole life. For example, as a priest he could not celebrate Mass publicly due to his distracting ecstasies. He was even reported to the Inquisition for fear he was involved in witchcraft. Yet St. Joseph lived a life of deep prayer and severe penance through continual fasting, subjecting himself every year to seven Lents of forty days each. Sometimes called "The Flying Saint," St. Joseph of Cupertino is also the patron of air crews and aviators. His feast day is September 18th. | Monday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 1 Tm 2:1-8 Beloved:
First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers,
petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone,
for kings and for all in authority,
that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life
in all devotion and dignity.
This is good and pleasing to God our savior,
who wills everyone to be saved
and to come to knowledge of the truth. For there is one God.
There is also one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus,
who gave himself as ransom for all. This was the testimony at the proper time.
For this I was appointed preacher and Apostle
(I am speaking the truth, I am not lying),
teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. It is my wish, then, that in every place the men should pray,
lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument. Responsorial Psalm Ps 28:2, 7, 8-9 R. (6) Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard my prayer.
Hear the sound of my pleading, when I cry to you,
lifting up my hands toward your holy shrine.
R. Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard my prayer.
The LORD is my strength and my shield.
In him my heart trusts, and I find help;
then my heart exults, and with my song I give him thanks.
R. Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard my prayer.
The LORD is the strength of his people,
the saving refuge of his anointed.
Save your people, and bless your inheritance;
feed them, and carry them forever!
R. Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard my prayer. Alleluia Jn 3:16 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 7:1-10 When Jesus had finished all his words to the people,
he entered Capernaum.
A centurion there had a slave who was ill and about to die,
and he was valuable to him.
When he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him,
asking him to come and save the life of his slave.
They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying,
"He deserves to have you do this for him,
for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us."
And Jesus went with them,
but when he was only a short distance from the house,
the centurion sent friends to tell him,
"Lord, do not trouble yourself,
for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof.
Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you;
but say the word and let my servant be healed.
For I too am a person subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, Go, and he goes;
and to another, Come here, and he comes;
and to my slave, Do this, and he does it."
When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him
and, turning, said to the crowd following him,
"I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith."
When the messengers returned to the house,
they found the slave in good health. | Daily Meditation: 1 Timothy 2:1-8 I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority. (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Jane was frustrated with her boss and often complained about him to others. For as long as she had worked for him, he had never complimented her for her work or given her greater responsibility. One day, a friend suggested that she pray for her boss and ask God to bless him. Jane decided to give it a try, and as she did, she noticed that her attitude toward him began to change. What's more, she saw an improvement in the way he related to her! Jane's experience highlights the same truth that St. Paul wrote to Timothy in today's first reading: when we pray for others, especially for those in authority, it blesses us as well as them. Paul encouraged Timothy to tell the Christians in Ephesus to pray for everyone—not just other believers, but even for the leaders of the city, unbelievers who held authority over them. Doing so, Paul said, would help the young church to live a "quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity" (1 Timothy 2:2). When we complain or focus on what is wrong in the world, we can create an air of negativity, not only in our own hearts, but all around us. Without even realizing it, we can bring down our friends, family, or coworkers. But when we pray for people instead, our hearts change. We become more loving, patient, and kind toward them. As a result, our demeanor can help dispel any negativity that we might have brought to the people around us. So who should we be praying for? If you're a student, pray for your parents or teachers. If you have a job, pray for your supervisor and the leadership of your company. Pray for the leaders of your town, state, and nation. You don't have to agree with them on everything—or anything! But you can still pray that God's blessing and goodness would be upon them. You can still pray that they fulfill God's purposes for their lives and that they lead as he intended. By doing so, you're helping to fulfill those purposes. And in the process, you're softening your own heart. "Lord, the next time I want to complain about someone, help me to remember to pray for them instead!" Psalm 28:2, 7-9
Luke 7:1-10 | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"For there is one God.
There is also one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus,
who gave himself as ransom for all......." end of verse.
. . . Scriptures are super deep. This one is no exception. That there is one God, we can all agree. But to have a supreme mediator between God and man? And that the mediator gave his life as a ransom for all men?
usually ransoms are more in favor of the kidnapper, or the thief, getting the better end of the deal because are taking something that is not theirs and asking whatever they want to get away with it. It is more than a win/win situation for the thief, isn't it? And God, fully knowing that mankind was hijacked by evil, stolen hearts, with tricks and deceipts, yet He still offers an unjust price to pay...His very self, His very essence, and very divinity. How could have evil accepted this ransom? Evil is a complete rejection of God and Goodness. This is not how evil won the deal.
We are the ones who won in the deal.
We are the ones who have ransacked the world, and we are the ones getting away with murder. We are the ones who called on the blood of Christ through our Jewish ancestors of the faith. We did this to Christ and we still do this to Him with our sins. We allow evil to do this through us.
It is unjust. So what is the deal? Why can't we all just be perfectly holy and pure people of God? Like the atheists and agnostics ask, "why is God allowing so much evil in the world?" More on that, but first let us pray, for this is crucial in every seeking of answers. | We pray today:
"The LORD is my strength and my shield.
In him my heart trusts, and I find help; then my heart exults, and with my song I give him thanks.
Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard my prayer.
The LORD is the strength of his people, the saving refuge of his anointed.
Save your people, and bless your inheritance;
feed them, and carry them forever! ....."_ end of Psalm." | In the Gospel today we heard:
"Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof.
Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed.
For I too am a person subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, Go, and he goes......." end of Gospel verse.
... | From Bishop Barron:
"Friends, in today's Gospel, Jesus is amazed at a Roman centurion's faith: "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." How often the Bible compels us to meditate on the meaning of faith! We might say that the Scriptures rest upon faith, remain inspired at every turn by the spirit of faith.
Faith is an attitude of trust in the presence of God. Faith is openness to what God will reveal, do, and invite. It should be obvious that, in dealing with the infinite, all-powerful person who is God, we are never in control.
One of the most fundamental statements of faith is this: your life is not about you. You're not in control. This is not your project. Rather, you are part of God's great design. To believe this in your bones and act accordingly is to have faith. When we operate out of this transformed vision, amazing things can happen, for we have surrendered to a power already at work in us that can do "far more than all we ask or imagine." Even a tiny bit of faith makes an extraordinary difference."
End quote Bishop Barron.
What amazing faith the centurion had, but this is why:
He had no doubt...in the power of the word.
It only takes a word to make things happen. A yes or a no can be powerful and decisive words. A word of encouragement can launch someone into a whole new life. This is so amazing. And evil knows this too. Most governments are trying nowadays to mess with words, the rhetoric, the story line to make things go the way they want. Like a dictator in a country paints themself to be the hero. They have an image to keep up and they will keep it up using any means necessary, and sadly, it's the case in most world powers and most cases for most souls that have trouble in faith.
But back to the centurion and the word. He said "just say the word, and it shall be done!"
And it happened. The Word of God spoke, and it came to be, a healing, a light in the dark, and then...there was life.
And it happens that we get lost and find ourselves in the dark, and so we wait for the Word of God, but we can call on the Word of God too. The centurion called on the Word of God.
And so the prayer needs two parties, the one asking, and the one giving.
And how often are you asking for something? And how often are you giving something?
There is another important part of the story that we cannot overlook, because there as an intercession made to our Lord to boost the centurion's prayer when we heard: "They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying, "He deserves to have you do this for him,
for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us."
This morning in Mass, our priest asked us to make such an intercession during the collect, the prayers gathered of all the faithful for others.
I remembered a couple of people that I thought: "Lord, I pray for this person, because they deserve you do this for him".
I was thinking of a sick cursillo brother, that was always trying to do good for the Lord until he got real sick and can't hardly move much lately for months.
I am interceding for others. But at times, I need intercession. I am always in need, and I always think of the power of the Word of God.
And it happens in the Holy Sacraments.
The Word speaks, and a souls is reconciled, healed, and a piece of bread is now the Body of Christ! ........ Let us pray:
Lord, my whole life hinges on Your very Word. I desire mercy, and I desire Your word to live through me, that I may show Thee, alive, compassionate, and loving, giving life and light to a dying and dark world. |  Click To Hear | Random Bible Verse 1
Proverbs 15:26 26 The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD, but gracious words are pure. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
