† Quote of the Day "If we but paused for a moment to consider attentively what takes place in this Sacrament of the Eucharist, I am sure that the thought of Christ's love for us would transform the coldness of our hearts into a fire of love and gratitude." — St. Teresa of Avila - Teresa of Jesus Today's Meditation "The works of man, whether they are good or bad, are not always isolated, transitory acts; more often, especially in the case of the leaders of nations and those who are invested with public authority, they continue to subsist after they are concluded, either in the memory of other men or in public acclaim, as a result of the consequences they have had and the scandal they have caused. Thus, at first sight, a particular, secret crime seems to be only a private, personal deed; but it becomes social on account of its effects. Certainly it is of faith that there is a particular judgment, and that every man, at the instant of his soul's departure from the body, appears before the tribunal of God to hear his eternal sentence pronounced. Yet this judgment cannot suffice, and it is essential that it should be followed by another public judgment, in which God will not examine the actions in isolation and taken in themselves, but will examine them in their effects upon other men, in the good or evil deriving from them for families and peoples—in a word, in the consequences they produced and which those who perpetrated them ought to have foreseen." — Fr. Charles Arminjon, p. 94
An excerpt from The End of the Present World Daily Verse "But you, beloved, remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, for they told you, "In [the] last time there will be scoffers who will live according to their own godless desires." These are the ones who cause divisions; they live on the natural plane, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life." — Jude 1:17-21 | Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (1251 A.D.) is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with the Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites lived as hermits on Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land beginning in the 12th century. In the middle of their hermitages they built a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, who became the protectress of the Carmelites under the title of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a Carmelite hermit, St. Simon Stock, under this title and gave him a piece of cloth—the brown scapular—as a sacramental to be worn by the faithful to whom she promised her special protection. At the apparitions in Fatima, in addition to appearing as Our Lady of the Rosary, the Virgin Mary appeared as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Her feast day is July 16th. | Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Is 7:1-9 In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah,
Rezin, king of Aram,
and Pekah, king of Israel, son of Remaliah,
went up to attack Jerusalem,
but they were not able to conquer it.
When word came to the house of David that Aram
was encamped in Ephraim,
the heart of the king and the heart of the people trembled,
as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind. Then the LORD said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz,
you and your son Shear-jashub,
at the end of the conduit of the upper pool,
on the highway of the fuller's field, and say to him:
Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear;
let not your courage fail
before these two stumps of smoldering brands
the blazing anger of Rezin and the Arameans,
and of the son Remaliah,
because of the mischief that
Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah,
plots against you, saying,
"Let us go up and tear Judah asunder, make it our own by force,
and appoint the son of Tabeel king there." Thus says the LORD:
This shall not stand, it shall not be!
Damascus is the capital of Aram,
and Rezin is the head of Damascus;
Samaria is the capital of Ephraim,
and Remaliah's son the head of Samaria. But within sixty years and five,
Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation.
Unless your faith is firm
you shall not be firm! Responsorial Psalm PS 48:2-3a, 3b-4, 5-6, 7-8 R. (see 9d) God upholds his city for ever.
Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, fairest of heights,
is the joy of all the earth.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
Mount Zion, "the recesses of the North,"
is the city of the great King.
God is with her castles;
renowned is he as a stronghold.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
For lo! the kings assemble,
they come on together;
They also see, and at once are stunned,
terrified, routed.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
Quaking seizes them there;
anguish, like a woman's in labor,
As though a wind from the east
were shattering ships of Tarshish.
R. God upholds his city for ever. Alleluia Ps 95:8 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 11:20-24 Jesus began to reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.
"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum: Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the nether world. For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you." | Daily Meditation: Matthew 11:20-24 Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! (Matthew 11:21) Jesus spoke very candidly about these cities just north of the Sea of Galilee. He had performed many miracles there, and yet nothing seemed to be changing. People remained closed to Jesus' message. And what was his message? "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). Jesus said that if the people of Sodom and Gomorrah—two notoriously wicked cities—had witnessed his miracles, they would have repented quickly. They would have seen his miracles as signs that God was visiting his people, and they would have turned back to the Lord and put away all the obstacles that sin presents. But since the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida didn't repent, they missed out on God's grace. It may not be an attractive topic, but repentance is a vital part of our life in the Spirit. Without it, we would remain subject to the pride and self-centeredness that trapped our first parents—and with dire consequences. If you find repentance hard, it may be due in part to your image of God. Do you imagine a stern overlord who metes out punishment with a firm, unflinching hand? Or do you think of a Father who longs to be reunited with his children? We should never avoid confessing our sins to him because we are afraid of his punishment. This isn't the God that Jesus revealed. This isn't the shepherd who goes in search of the lost sheep, the father who waits eagerly for his prodigal son to come home, or the God who offered up his only Son so that we could be cleansed and purified. Jesus' words against Chorazin and Bethsaida are not the words of an angry God looking to punish the wayward. They are the words of a mournful God lamenting the path of self-destruction the people had chosen. They are the words of a passionate God pleading with his children, "Come back to me so that I can save you from the consequences of your sin!" In prayer today, fix your eyes on God, your heavenly Father. Let his love free you from fear. Open your heart to him, and let him take away your sin. "Father, I want to be set free!" Isaiah 7:1-9
Psalm 48:2-8 |  Hear AI Read it to you. Updated 7/10/24 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: | In the Holy Scripture we hear today:
"For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."....." end quote. | From Bishop Barron today:
"Friends, today Jesus declares judgment on the towns of Galilee that did not believe in him and repent. He stands at the end of the long line of prophets God sent in order to reconcile his people to himself. Like the prophets before him, Jesus is ignored, mocked, and rejected.
What happens as a result of man's refusal of God? Not nothing. God's judgment falls on the unfaithful nation. What is the instrument of God's justice? One of the heathen nations, the Chaldeans, come and destroy the city of Jerusalem, burn the temple, carry off its most sacred objects, and force the Israelites into exile. And then the Romans follow suit in the first century.
Is this bad luck? Just the typical give and take of geopolitical forces? No! The Bible insists that this should be read as God's action, more specifically as God's judgment and punishment. Mind you, this is not an arbitrary punishment, something cruel and vindictive; rather, it is God allowing the fallen nation to feel the effects of its sin.
So what's the lesson? Sin has consequences, and we rarely have to wait for the next world to experience them.
....." end quote from Bishop Barron.
Have you ever met those who say that they have to see to believe? Or maybe you are one of them?
What miracles did Jesus our Lord do in and around Bethsaida?
The village is mentioned several times in the New Testament, as the hometown of Jesus' disciples Philip, Andrew and Peter; the place where Jesus is said to have walked on water, cured a blind man (Mark 8:22-25), and fed 5,000 people with two fish and five loaves.
Making blind people see.
Feeding the hungry, the famished.
Walking on water to save those who were afraid to die.
Yet, they continued on living their same lives as before.
Where the droves that needed to follow Him? Why are people so hard of heart?
And the same could be said of us today. We continue our daily routine and mundane lives, not living out a transformative faith. We fail at giving thanks. We say thanks with words, some don't even say thanks. But what about living out a life of thanksgiving? Gratitude is the proper attitude to reach altitude.
To live humble and thankful, this way, this transformative way elevates us to a closer being with the Almighty, our Father.
I've witnessed miracles, and I've written songs saying "why aren't we thankful after witnessing amazing feats?" And to this day, I am still amazed at how few are truly grateful. As an employer, I get guys that are constantly asking for raises. And I have other humble guys, never asking for raises, they just seem grateful to be here. For those who constantly want more, I know what's coming. There will come a time when someone else will offer more and they will leave. They are not here so much for me, but for themselves.
As for the grateful and humble ones, we have a different bond, one of more than work acquaintances, but of a familial bond, the kind where we trust each other with more than a job relationship; we can count on each other for much more.
The ones who could care less, all they care about is money, I will not be that hurt when they leave, and the humble ones, only God can repay them for what I see. Love. Authenticity.
I cannot pay them ever for what they do. I can only pray that God sees these amazing people.
And it is like that in the faith. We have tons that go, like to this Mass I went to in Dallas, the priest said 'today on 4th of July weekend, we have lower attendance than usual, we normally have 2,000 here" and I was amazed, but not because of the huge attendance which I thought was a full Mass, but I was more amazed at how very few wen to receive the Lord in the Eucharist. The communion time was seemingly less than ours that only has 200 people in Sunday Mass attendance.
And what's worse? Very few will confess. That means, that very few of us will repent.
What Jesus did in His miracles was a message for us to repent.
Blind people, come and see!
Hungry people, come and eat!
Fearful people drowning in despair, reach out to Him and be saved! The message was that, yesterday, today, and tomorrow...which is forever. Jesus, Savior, you are Amazing. Sacred Blood of Jesus, save us, our church, our Nation, the whole world! | Random Bible Verse 1
James 1:19–20 19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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