†Quote of the Day "What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like."
–St. Augustine Today's Meditation "Not to try to live in interior silence is equivalent to giving up the effort to lead a truly Christian life. The Christian life is a life of faith, lived in the invisible for what is invisible. Anyone who is not in constant contact with the invisible world runs the risk of remaining always on the threshold of a true Christian life. … Solitude is the stronghold of the strong. Strength is an active virtue, and our power of keeping silence marks the level of our capacity for action. 'Without this interior cell, we would be incapable of doing great things, either for ourselves or for others.'"
—Raoul Plus, S.J., p. 40-41 An Excerpt From
How to Pray Always Daily Verse "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, says the Lord."
–Jeremiah 29:11-13 | St. Marianne Cope St. Marianne Cope (1838–1918), also known as St. Marianne of Molokai, was a German-born American immigrant. She worked in a New York factory before entering the Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis in Syracuse. She spent her early years serving as a leader in health care and education. When the Hawaiian government was searching for a religious order to run a station for victims of leprosy, the Syracuse sisters volunteered immediately. Mother Marianne and six other sisters left for Hawaii in 1883. She devoted 35 years to caring for those afflicted with Hansen's disease (leprosy) in Molokai, Hawaii. She also opened a hospital and a school for girls on the island of Maui, and took charge of the home St. Damien of Molokai established for men and boys. Mother Marianne changed life on Molokai by introducing cleanliness, dignity, and fun into the colony. Despite her direct contact with leprosy patients over many years, she was not afflicted by the disease, which some consider miraculous. She was canonized in 2012 and her feast day is January 23. | Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 318
Reading 1 2 Sm 6:12b-15, 17-19 David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom
into the City of David amid festivities.
As soon as the bearers of the ark of the LORD had advanced six steps,
he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
Then David, girt with a linen apron,
came dancing before the LORD with abandon,
as he and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD
with shouts of joy and to the sound of the horn.
The ark of the LORD was brought in and set in its place
within the tent David had pitched for it.
Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
When he finished making these offerings,
he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.
He then distributed among all the people,
to each man and each woman in the entire multitude of Israel,
a loaf of bread, a cut of roast meat, and a raisin cake.
With this, all the people left for their homes. Responsorial Psalm PS 24:7, 8, 9, 10 R. (8) Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Lift up, O gates, your lintels;
reach up, you ancient portals,
that the king of glory may come in!
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Who is this king of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle.
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Lift up, O gates, your lintels;
reach up, you ancient portals,
that the king of glory may come in!
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Who is this king of glory?
The LORD of hosts; he is the king of glory.
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord! Alleluia SEE MT 11:25 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mk 3:31-35 The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him told him,
"Your mother and your brothers and your sisters
are outside asking for you."
But he said to them in reply,
"Who are my mother and my brothers?"
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
"Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother." | Daily Meditation: Mark 3:31-35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother. (Mark 3:35) Imagine yourself sitting with Jesus when word comes that his relatives want to see him. As he speaks, Jesus gestures toward you with a warm smile: "Here is my brother and sister and mother." How would that make you feel? This isn't just your imagination. It's true! Through God's free gift, you have been brought into a family relationship with him. Jesus, the eternal Son of the Father, shows us by his example of loving obedience how to live in that relationship. He delights in loving the Father and does not "do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing" (John 5:19). So part of what it means to live as a member of God's family is to do the will of the Father. To be a brother or sister of Jesus is both a fact about who you already are and a calling toward who you will become as you "take on the family resemblance" more and more. If you have been baptized, you have been "born again" as a son or daughter of God (John 3:4). And as this family member whom Jesus looks at with love, you are also called to love God and do his will more and more each day. Today, then, thank your Father for making you his child. Your weaknesses, sins, or failings do not make you unlovable or remove you from his family. He sees you exactly as you are, and he calls you to live with him as a beloved family member. And then, being a son or daughter, he empowers you to live like one, someone who does the will of your Father out of love for him. How can you do God's will today? By doing the simple tasks that God gives you each day. By calling to mind Jesus' presence with you as you work. By asking him for the grace to perform those deeds with a loving, cheerful heart, and offering them to the Lord. These shifts in attitude can change your experience, turning drudgery into joyful service. Whether they feel pleasant or trying, these decisions to do God's will in company with Jesus will bring you even more deeply into your Father's loving embrace. "Here I am, Lord. I come to do your will." 2 Samuel 6:12-15, 17-19
Psalm 24:7-10 |  click to hear 2cents | Reflections with Brother Adrian:
Audio English | In the Gospel today we heard:
"But he said to them in reply,
"Who are my mother and my brothers?"
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
"Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother."....." end of Gospel verse.
. . . | From Bishop Barron:
"Friends, in today's Gospel, Jesus identifies as his mother and brothers those who do the will of God.
The proper attitude in the presence of the saving God is obedience and acquiescence, imitating his moves, responding to his commands, doing whatever he tells us. To live the good life is not finally a matter of autonomy but of obeying commandments: "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love."
Mind you, listening to commands is tied closely to love on the part of the one who commands, and since love is nothing but the willing of the good of the other, the obedience that Jesus speaks of is a surrender to the one who massively wants what is best for the surrenderer.
When, through faith, we see every moment and every creature as an ingredient in the divine plan, we live in joyful surrender and with a sense of wonder. What is God doing for me now? What path is opening up to me? Why did God send that person, that trial, that pleasure to me just now?"
This book of Heaven, now I'm on volume 14 of 36, hours on end of listening over and over, in what seems to be a repetitive message from our Lord to sister Louisa, and she always says our Lord speaks about His will, and about her worried about not doing His will. If you can imagine hours and hours of listening about His will. You would think I would've caught on to what His will is! And we better get to know what it is soon, because this life is not about us, but it is about God's will to be accomplished through us.
It seems to me, that life is passing fast, and His will gets quickly obscured in life, with work, family, and all sorts of things getting in the way of living out God's will, or as sister Luisa says "His volition". What is volition? The using of ourselves to do the will. I'm taking a liking to this new word. Because it puts into action what is churning and should be burning within. It takes effort to please God. What do I mean? To make a conscious decision to choose Him, this effort has a formidable value and power. It is hard to explain, but think of the example, someone comes at an attack against you, and you make a decision to pray, and to not attack back, but let yourself be slapped in the name of the love of God. Or, think of the considerable effort it takes to do something new for God, a daily meditation, or sacrifice, or even going to visit Him at Church daily, or visiting Him in someone that is sick, in the hospital, or a prison. And I say that in that order because it is easier to visit a sick person at home, than in a hospital, or even hardest, in a prison! But there, locked away, as in the tabernacle, is God Himself. Won't you venture to make this volition, this effort to reach God true? There is a power that is formed with this will. It is all that is necessary. Faith. Let us pray today:
Lord, I want my will to be one with Yours. Come inside, make your home in Me, with You, I am in Heaven. |  Click for Audio | Random Bible Verse 1
Philippians 4:13 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
