Daily Feast November 21st is the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary was consecrated to God as a young child; when she reached three years of age her holy parents, St. Anne and St. Joachim, presented her before God in the Jerusalem temple where she was to be educated and raised. This dedication was a result of a promise St. Anne made to God while she suffered from many years of infertility. The liturgical celebration honoring this event appeared in the East much earlier then it did in the West. In the late Middle Ages it was promoted as a feast day for the universal Church.
† Quote of the Day "I ask you to consider that our Lord Jesus Christ is your true head and that you are a member of his body. He belongs to you as the head belongs to the body. All that is his is yours: breath, heart, body, soul and all his faculties. All of these you must use as if they belonged to you, so that in serving him you may give him praise, love and glory." — St. John Eudes Today's Meditation "Since Jesus has gone to Heaven now, I can only follow the traces He has left behind. But how bright these traces are! How fragrant and divine! I have only to glance at the Gospels; at once this fragrance from the life of Jesus reaches me, and I know which way to run: to the lowest, not the highest place!" —St. Therese of Lisieux, p.b153-154 An excerpt from The Story of a Soul Daily Verse "For whatever was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope." — Romans 15:4 | Bl. Maria Franciszka Siedliska (1842-1902) was born to a noble and wealthy family in Warsaw, Poland. When a Capuchin friar prepared her for her First Holy Communion, she began to desire the religious life and made a private act of consecration to God. Her father was greatly opposed and said he would rather see her dead than lost to the cloister. Her vocation was not deterred, and she went to Rome to obtain the Pope's blessing for founding an active apostolic Order modeled on the hidden virtues of the Holy Family. The Congregation of Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth was formed in 1875, and she took the name Mary of Jesus the Good Shepherd. In 1885 the Nazareth Sisters arrived in New York, eventually settling near Chicago where they made their first foundation in the U.S.A. She was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 1989. Her feast day is November 21. | Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary • Readings for the Memorial of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary Reading 1 RV 5:1-10 I, John, saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who sat on the throne.
It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals.
Then I saw a mighty angel who proclaimed in a loud voice,
"Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?"
But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth
was able to open the scroll or to examine it.
I shed many tears because no one was found worthy
to open the scroll or to examine it.
One of the elders said to me, "Do not weep.
The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed,
enabling him to open the scroll with its seven seals."
Then I saw standing in the midst of the throne
and the four living creatures and the elders
a Lamb that seemed to have been slain.
He had seven horns and seven eyes;
these are the seven spirits of God sent out into the whole world.
He came and received the scroll from the right hand
of the one who sat on the throne.
When he took it,
the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders
fell down before the Lamb.
Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense,
which are the prayers of the holy ones.
They sang a new hymn:
"Worthy are you to receive the scroll
and break open its seals,
for you were slain and with your Blood you purchased for God
those from every tribe and tongue, people and nation.
You made them a kingdom and priests for our God,
and they will reign on earth." Responsorial Psalm PS 149:1B-2, 3-4, 5-6A AND 9B R. (Rev. 5:10) The Lamb has made us a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing to the LORD a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
R. The Lamb has made us a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R. The Lamb has made us a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches;
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
R. The Lamb has made us a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
or:
R. Alleluia. Alleluia PS 95:8 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel LK 19:41-44 As Jesus drew near Jerusalem,
he saw the city and wept over it, saying,
"If this day you only knew what makes for peace–
but now it is hidden from your eyes.
For the days are coming upon you
when your enemies will raise a palisade against you;
they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides.
They will smash you to the ground and your children within you,
and they will not leave one stone upon another within you
because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."
| Daily Meditation: Luke 19:41-44 He saw the city and wept over it. (Luke 19:41) As Jesus approaches the city of Jerusalem in anticipation of his passion, he has a surprising reaction. He looks at the city and weeps. His heart breaks because the people there do not recognize "what makes for peace" (Luke 19:42). It's a supreme irony because the name Jerusalem actually means "City of Peace" in Hebrew! So what were the people missing? They had failed to recognize the "time of [their] visitation" (Luke 19:44)—that long-awaited time when, in Christ, God would walk among his people. Their Messiah, their Prince of Peace, was in their midst, but they didn't see him for who he is. He was ready to do for them all that had been prophesied: to forgive their sins, to reconcile them to God, to free them from the fear of death, and to offer them new life. And yet so many rejected him! We, too, are living in the time of our visitation. Can we recognize Jesus? Can we see that he is offering us everything we need that "makes for peace" (Luke 19:42)? By his cross, he offers us a right relationship with God. Through his blood, he offers us forgiveness for our sins. And through his teachings, he offers us the way to live at peace with the people around us. Sometimes we think peace means a life without bumps or bruises, but Jesus is offering us a different kind of peace. And so he asks us to surrender our own agendas and expectations. His peace comes as he assures us that he is with us every day and that we can trust in his good plans, even when we don't understand them. He can set our hearts at rest so that we can bring his peace wherever we go. So let's accept Jesus, our Prince of Peace, today. Let's ask him to open our eyes so that we can see him in our midst. And let's join him in praying for those who have yet to recognize the time of their visitation. May they, too, come to know "what makes for peace"! "Jesus, Lord and Prince of Peace, bring your peace into my life and, through me, into this world." Revelation 5:1-10
Psalm 149:1-6, 9 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Click to hear Audio | In the Holy Scripture we hear today:
" As Jesus drew near Jerusalem,
he saw the city and wept over it, saying,
"If this day you only knew what makes for peace–
but now it is hidden from your eyes.
For the days are coming upon you
when your enemies will raise a palisade against you;
they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides.
They will smash you to the ground and your children within you,
and they will not leave one stone upon another within you
because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."......" end Gospel quote, word of the Lord. | From Bishop Barron today:
"But this is precisely what Jesus does here. I know I've said it to you before, but I will say it again, because it belongs to the heart of the Gospel and it is repeated by Jesus over and over again: nothing in this world lasts. Nothing in this world should, therefore, be the object of our deepest longings or of our most powerful commitments.
The temple represented all of the glitter and glamor of this world, the best it can offer; and the people standing there, entranced by it, stand for all of us down through the ages who stand staring up at the goods of this world. So we must free ourselves from worldly attachments and live for God alone....." end quote from Bishop Barron.
What our Lord said, was accomplished. By His mere word, things come to be. It is the same in the Sacraments. And it is the very words we say before receiving the Blessed Sacrament into our souls, "only say the word...and it shall be done!".
Our Lord wept. And for good reason. Jerusalem, the "city of Peace" was about to be destroyed in many senses. Physically, yes, it was ransacked and razed. What hurt Him? The neglect of His Word, that would cause self destruction to the temple, and also, what the temple was meant to bring to God...all souls. Everything they cherished, He cherished too, but it was at that temple that they had forgotten one crucial thing...meekness, humility to God Himself, the care for the forgotten one. Oh yes, we all pay homage, and we all say we believe, but our hearts can be very far from Him in true love.
They say that the poorest and most terrorist ridden countries that bomb catholic churches in Christmas, like Nigeria, these places have some of the highest output of faith, and priests, pumping out hundreds of priests all over the world.
And in 1st world countries like ours, with all the lush luxuries we live in, have the some of the poorest output of quantity of priests.
And this is important to note. How so? Did we not read that we have been established with a Kingdom of priests? This is crucial to our understanding of faith.
Jesus is the Highest priest. And we are called to be united with Him in this special way as it has been for thousands of years, the priesthood.
Who brings about what we adore? It is the priest. Who do we expect to be the living hands and feet of Jesus? The priest.
Yet who is most often ridiculed and put down in our world? The priest, the Catholic priest.
Today, we celebrate the feast of the presentation of Mother Mary into the temple.
Here we go again. The temple. The priest she would be brought to.
As I read, I imagined a little girl, like my daughter, being brought to the huge temple, and by her little hands, her parents bring her up, and God sees what this little girl is going to grow up and endure, joys, yes, but then, sorrows like no other, because,she will experience the love of God in her and around her like no other, Jesus, and He will be the love of her life, and He will be slaughtered before her very eyes, piercing her soul both now and forever.
This presentation then, is a representation. It is what represents what we are to be to God before His eyes, a precious, so precious and delicate creature, the most exquisite of all the flowers ever created.
To hold, to cherish, and to love our Lord, with all our heart, with all our mind, and with all our soul.
I think now of the first cursillo, women's retreat that is starting in our church for the first time in our history. I think of God's eyes upon them.
What will become of them? God sees already, the joys and the pains. And He would not dare leave us alone ever again, and so He comes in the form of the most holiest and the very being of Love among us...the Holy Spirit.
Everything around us should surround us with Him, for He loves now, the temple He desires to live in, not just one we build, He will be there too, but in your heart, the heart of your soul.
And so, the child in the temple is where love itself loves to reside. The church is where He wants to see the burning love of His child. In obedience, yes, but we should note, that this holy obedience and humility bring about what He wants...a light and a love like no other. |  audio | Random Bible Verse 1
1 John 4:14 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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