† Quote of the Day "God does not fit in an occupied heart." — St. John of the Cross Today's Meditation "[Some people], when they [receive Holy Communion], strive with all their might for sensible sweetness, instead of worshipping in humility and praising God within themselves. So much are they given to this, that they think when they derive no sensible sweetness, they have done nothing, so meanly do they think of God; neither do they understand that the least of the blessings of the Most Holy Sacrament is that which touches the senses, and that the invisible grace It confers is far greater; for God frequently withholds these sensible favors from men, that they may fix the eyes of faith upon Himself . . . All this is a very great imperfection, being against the purity of Faith, and directly at variance with the nature of God." —St. John of the Cross, p. 28
An excerpt from Dark Night of the Soul Daily Verse "Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." — Matthew 16:24-25 | St. Amelia St. Amelia (741-772 A.D.) was born into a noble and pious Christian family in the land of the Ardennes, bordering what is today Belgium and Luxembourg. She was a devout child of strong character who committed her virginity to Christ from a young age. However, because she was such a beautiful and virtuous woman, she was pursued for several years by the young Charlemagne. In one account, Charlemagne broke her arm in a physical struggle to hold her hand, and afterwards her arm was miraculously healed. His romantic interest was rebuffed, and Amelia was eventually able to realize her desire to enter the convent. She spent the rest of her life in the Benedictine abbey of Münster-Bilzen in Belgium, and helped to build a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the Belgian town of Temsche. St. Amelia is said to have performed many miracles, the most famous being the one in which she crossed the Schelde River miraculously while standing on the back of a giant sturgeon fish. St. Amelia is the patroness of farmers, fishermen, and those suffering from arm and shoulder pain. Her feast day is celebrated on July 10th. | Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Hos 10:1-3, 7-8, 12 Israel is a luxuriant vine
whose fruit matches its growth.
The more abundant his fruit,
the more altars he built;
The more productive his land,
the more sacred pillars he set up.
Their heart is false,
now they pay for their guilt;
God shall break down their altars
and destroy their sacred pillars.
If they would say,
"We have no king"—
Since they do not fear the LORD,
what can the king do for them? The king of Samaria shall disappear,
like foam upon the waters.
The high places of Aven shall be destroyed,
the sin of Israel;
thorns and thistles shall overgrow their altars.
Then they shall cry out to the mountains, "Cover us!"
and to the hills, "Fall upon us!" "Sow for yourselves justice,
reap the fruit of piety;
break up for yourselves a new field,
for it is time to seek the LORD,
till he come and rain down justice upon you." Responsorial Psalm Ps 105:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 R. (4b) Seek always the face of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
R. Seek always the face of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.
R. Seek always the face of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. Seek always the face of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia. Alleluia Mk 1:15 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Kingdom of God is at hand:
repent and believe in the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 10:1-7 Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out
and to cure every disease and every illness.
The names of the Twelve Apostles are these:
first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew;
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
Philip and Bartholomew,
Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;
James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus;
Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot
who betrayed Jesus. Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,
"Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town.
Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"
| Daily Meditation: Hosea 10:1-3, 7-8, 12 Break up for yourselves a new field, for it is time to seek the Lord. (Hosea 10:12) Intrigues in the royal court, terrifying threats from foreign enemies, shifting diplomatic alliances, the worship of false gods—Hosea painted a picture of life in the northern kingdom of Israel as they faced exile. God's people seemed to be relying on anything and everything except their life-giving relationship with the One who had made a covenant with them. Instead of condemning his people, though, God called them through the prophet Hosea to seek him and to break up the field of their hardened hearts (10:12). That call still resonates today, whether our lives are just a bit out of focus or we need a bigger course correction. So let's adopt Hosea's metaphor. Think of your life as a field that needs some TLC to become fruitful again. Remember, every time you return to the Lord—pulling out the weeds of sin or plowing up the stony earth of a hardened heart—you are making room for the work that God is already longing to do in you. Breaking up that field doesn't happen overnight. It can be painstaking work. But think of how you've already begun! Then ask the Holy Spirit to spotlight one area where you can make a small, life-giving change. If the Spirit helps you to uproot one weed and plant one seed in its place, you will be that much more ready for God's life to grow in you. The process will look different for each of us. One woman caught herself growing discontented and envious as she thumbed through interior decorating magazines. She chose instead to organize one cluttered drawer and hang a cheery print on her wall. A man who had been scrolling on his phone while eating lunch at his desk decided to take a refreshing noontime prayer walk instead. One man was led to stop into a chapel for Adoration after work, while another headed straight home to lend a hand with dinner and homework. No matter how it looks for you, take that next step to seek the Lord. Keep plowing that field! God promised that if you do, he will send his rain of justice on you to bless you and bring forth life (Hosea 10:12). "Lord, thank you for calling me closer to yourself. Inspire me today as I seek you." Psalm 105:2-7
Matthew 10:1-7 |  Hear AI Read it to you. Updated 7/10/24 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: | In the Holy Scripture we hear today:
"Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,
"Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town.
Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand......" end quote. | From Bishop Barron Today:
"Friends, in today's Gospel, Jesus commissions the twelve Apostles. Perhaps we can see here a fulfillment of his prophetic invitation to the first disciples: "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."
"Come after me." This is a Hebraicism that indicates discipleship. Jesus is not offering a doctrine, a theology, or a set of beliefs. He is offering himself. He's saying, "Walk in my path; enter into the world that I have opened up."
"And I will make you fishers of men." This is one of the best lines in Scripture. Notice the first part of the phrase: "I will make you." God is the one who makes us from nothing. To live in sin is to live outside of the creative power of God, to pretend that we can make ourselves. How wonderful that he tells us that he will make us!
And what he makes us is always a reflection of himself: a fisher of men. God wants to draw all things and all people into a community around him, in him. He is a fisher of people—and so wants us to be....." End Quote Bishop Barron.
This week, something told me to start a new prayer for the Apostles, the 12 chosen Disciples, Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Judas Iscariot who was replaced by Matthias, Matthew, Thomas, James, the son of Alpheus, Bartholomew, Judas Thaddeus, and Simon Zelotes.
Originally, I meant to pray an Our Father, the Lord's prayer every hour from 7 in the morning until 7 in the afternoon. But I only prayed the first hour for St. Peter and work happened, before lunch I realized I had forgotten every hour to pray. And so, now I'm attempting the 7am start of day to pray for each disciple individually for the next few days, so a total of 12 days.
I say this so that you will join me. Why? Because, we need to invoke the 12 disciples to pray for us. How will can we continue the work? The bishops are charged with this task, but we are to help by every which way we can. The Catholic Bishop is a direct descendant of the Apostles. And we are all called to the discipleship, this following of Christ, to reach the ends of the earth right where we are and where we are called to go. If you haven't had a call to go somewhere and do His preaching and reaching, then don't worry, you are right where you are needed right now! Right there at your home, or your job. How much of it is spent evangelizing? Reading? Praying? Can you pray in a busy day? I'm a boss, president of a family business with around 50 employees. I'm very busy. I'm a father of 8, me and my wife are very busy now with kids business. I'm a vice president of a couple of ministries and chairman of a community festival, sponsored by our parish, I'm very busy. But I am not so busy that I cannot find the time to pray. I pray when I jump on my truck, at stoplights, in between calls and meetings, I actually pray all day.
This faith sharing you are listening to and reading, it takes me all morning between meetings and dealings with people. If it comes later, it means I've been very busy! But I always return after putting out fires as much as I can, I return to the true fire that makes my life burn with love.Every day, Pray at 3pm, the divine Mercy chaplet, and also some time pray the Holy Rosary daily, and the best, a daily Holy Mass, and in between speak with God all day, praising and praying for others. If we don't do what God asks, we are doing everything else for nothing.
There is a mission for us on earth. How much of my day has been spent on frivolous and trivial things? We can lose focus quick!
This is the beauty of turning to God, that we remain anchored and focused on the most important first, God who is Love, and then neighbor, all those we encounter all through our day, physically and through prayer.
So remember, to invoke the heavens, the angels, the saints, all to help and guide us all day long. I have found out that our Guardian Angels can actually help us too! When engaging with others. We are not alone.
If you see a sick world, then you must seek the remedy, the healing, the dying need life.
We need our Lord our Savior more than anything! We need to savor life through Him. When His side was pierced, it was the new Adam of God's people that has been made, to reveal God's will, and from his side, the side of Jesus, came the Holy Church, the chosen, to be the salt, the light to spread the life of God all over the world.
All hands on deck. We've been called! Precious Blood of Jesus, Save us!
Let us also begin to pray for His blood drops and wounds to heal us!
There is a chaplet to the holy wounds we can pray. Click for more. | Random Bible Verse 1
Romans 6:14 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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