†Quote of the Day "We are placed in our different ranks and stations, not to get what we can out of them for ourselves, but to labor in them for Him. As Christ has worked, we too have but to labor in them for Him. As Christ has His work, we too have ours; as He rejoiced to do his work, we must rejoice in ours also."
–St. John Neumann Today's Meditation "For those that devote themselves to mental work, reading can be one of the most habitual forms of laziness. How many people forbid themselves to think, to reflect, to compose—to work hard or to produce something, in whatever field it might be—because they find a journal, a magazine, or sometimes, but more rarely, a book, and they do not resist the temptation to take it and spend their time with it, quite often without much profit. They have the illusion of being occupied. Occupation is the counterpoint to real work. There are many people who are occupied and even busy, but there are few persons who really work, that is, produce. This in turn means to put their soul, or something of their soul, energetically and, if possible, powerfully into the activity which their duty assigns them."
—Raoul Lus, S.J., p. 50-51 An Excerpt From
Uncommon Virtue Daily Verse "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears turned to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against evildoers."
–1 Peter 3:12 | St. John Neumann St. John Neumann (1811-1860) was born in Bohemia in what is now the Czech Republic. He entered the seminary, and when the day came for his ordination to the priesthood, his bishop fell ill and couldn't proceed with the ceremony. However, because Bohemia had an over-abundance of priests, John's ordination was never rescheduled. Undeterred in pursuing his priestly vocation, John decided to go to America to seek ordination. He came to the United States in 1836 as a missionary priest to serve America's European immigrant population. He was ordained in New York, joined the Redemptorists, and was later consecrated a bishop. He is famous for knowing twelve languages and for being the first American man and American bishop to be canonized. St. John Neumann left his impact on the United States by building a vast number of churches, schools, hospitals, and orphanages. The number of parochial school students greatly increased in his diocese. St. John Neumann had a strong effect on the religious life of the laity in the United States, especially in his promotion of devotion to the Holy Eucharist. His feast day is January 5th. | Memorial of Saint John Neumann, Bishop Lectionary: 208
Reading 1 1 Jn 3:11-21 Beloved:
This is the message you have heard from the beginning:
we should love one another,
unlike Cain who belonged to the Evil One
and slaughtered his brother.
Why did he slaughter him?
Because his own works were evil,
and those of his brother righteous.
Do not be amazed, then, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
We know that we have passed from death to life
because we love our brothers.
Whoever does not love remains in death.
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer,
and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.
The way we came to know love
was that he laid down his life for us;
so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
If someone who has worldly means
sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion,
how can the love of God remain in him?
Children, let us love not in word or speech
but in deed and truth. Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth
and reassure our hearts before him
in whatever our hearts condemn,
for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us,
we have confidence in God. Responsorial Psalm PS 100:1b-2, 3, 4, 5 R. (2a) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him; bless his name.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
The LORD is good:
the LORD, whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy. Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A holy day has dawned upon us.
Come, you nations, and adore the Lord.
Today a great light has come upon the earth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Jn 1:43-51 Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip.
And Jesus said to him, "Follow me."
Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter.
Philip found Nathanael and told him,
"We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law,
and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth."
But Nathanael said to him,
"Can anything good come from Nazareth?"
Philip said to him, "Come and see."
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,
"Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him."
Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?"
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."
Nathanael answered him,
"Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Do you believe
because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?
You will see greater things than this."
And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see the sky opened and the angels of God
ascending and descending on the Son of Man." | Daily Meditation: 1 John 3:11-21 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. (1 John 3:15) John's comparison of hatred to murder may sound a bit exaggerated, but somewhere inside us, we can sense there is some truth to it. After all, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus linked anger with killing (Matthew 5:21-22). If he was concerned about anger, imagine what he would say about letting hatred take root in our hearts. We know that God doesn't want us to hate our brother or sister, but sometimes it can be very difficult to feel anything else. This is especially true if that person has hurt us deeply or stands for something we strongly disagree with. In either case, we can get trapped in a cycle of hatred and resentment that poisons our hearts. Unfortunately, holding on to hatred can sometimes feel like the easiest option. That's because hatred is deceptive. It convinces us to avoid addressing whatever is prompting our negative emotions. It tells us that we have every right to hate someone and that we don't need to consider their perspective or their situation. Better to remain locked in this dark abyss rather than work our way out. But St. John is asking us to put aside these extreme feelings and replace our hatred with the love and compassion of the Lord. That's not to say letting go of hatred is easy. It can be very hard! But there is one way we can begin to chip away at it, and it involves both prayer and action. First, make it a point to pray for the person—and for yourself. Ask the Spirit to help you bless that person and to see them as Jesus sees them. Then follow up your prayer with action. Celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Ask the Lord to forgive you for harboring hatred and for the grace to forgive the person who has hurt you. "This is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another" (1 John 3:11). Through the persistent practice of prayer and reconciliation, we can find the freedom we all long for: the freedom to love. "Lord, teach me to put aside all hatred so that I can love every one of my brothers and sisters." Psalm 100:1-5
John 1:43-51 |  click to hear 2cents | Reflections with Brother Adrian:
Audio English | In the Gospel today we heard:
"But Nathanael said to him,
"Can anything good come from Nazareth?"
Philip said to him, "Come and see."
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,
"Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him."......" end of Gospel verse.
. . . | The words from our Lord are forever repeated and engraved in our minds and should be engraved in our hearts.
We always here the famous words "Come and see" in the bible, but the words that are engraved in my mind are our Lord's words "Here is a true child....there is no duplicity in him".
These words are the deepest of invitations for me. These words are invitation to be true to God, as "Israel" basically means the people of God and "quarreling with the Lord".
From all my studies about Heaven, there is to be no sin there, and this is why we hear in 1 Peter: "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears turned to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against evildoers".
Protestants teach you that you can go on sinning all you want, because Jesus has paid for all your sins. These are lies from the pits of hell. Every sin hurts our Lord. Or do you think that killing someone isn't going to hurt the body of Christ? And killing is now abortion and abortions are now in pills. But it goes deeper. Last night I heard one of my boys was saying no to my wife. I explained the commandments. The Top 3 are about God, Love Him above all, do not use His name in vain, go to Mass at least on Sundays, and then? Obey your mom and dad, mother and father. And THEN? The next commandment is do not kill. The first 3 deal with our relationship with God, and then the rest deal with each other, which God still lives in each soul. So obedience is above killing? Well, if you kill the other, you kill yourself. But yes, obedience is above all.
I will go on teaching obedience of God's commands as I myself will try to obey too. I will then, attempt my best to avoid duplicity by following His Way, His Word as best as possible.
And I write in the first person point of view, so that whether you hear it or read it, you will be in a sense doing it yourself. And so, if I write "I Love God", it is not so much Adrian speaking, but on purpose so that you will say it and hear it from your own heart "I Love God".
Nathanael received the highest compliment, "you are a true child".
That is amazing.
The longer you live, the more you realize how frail, and how precious life is. Gray hairs area gift. Most try to cover them up. Old people are seen as useless in our utilitarian death culture as has always been the case.
But what about honor? Honoring thy Father and the preciousness of the frail and innocent?
Mother Mary appears to the true children and so does our Lord.
The Archangel Gabriel appeared to a true child, Blessed Mother Mary.
If you wish to come and see, then be prepared to be terrified. Nothing is as we expect. This is why we should not say we know God. Only those that are intimate with Him will get to know Him.
I'm thinking of intimacy of the Eucharist.
Our Lord came and was amazed.
Our Lord still comes today and can still be amazed.
Show Him you Love Him, at church and in one another. Pray with me: |  Click To Hear | Random Bible Verse 1
Matthew 16:24 [Matthew 16]
Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus 24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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